Alaska sentinel., 1907-02-21
FORTUNE BY ACCIDENT.
Inventions Which Have Made the |
 Largest Returns to Investors.

Inventions Which Have Made the
 Largest Returns to Investors.
 It pays to thInk-eyen about trifes. Not long ago a young man who was visiting In a strange city had that ex- perience known to so many when rid ing on street cars. He wanted to get of at a certain street, the name of which be knew. but the locality of which he was h ignorance. The car was crowded. He had told the conduc- tor the name of the street, but, as Is not unusually the case. the conductor forgot
 Your streets two blocks back" said tho conductor suavely when the young man asked him If he had arrived yet More or less angrily, the youth said:
 Its a wonder somebody wouldn't think of something that would tell passenger when he got to his street"
 "Well, why don't you invent some thing?" asked the conductor.
 The young man got to thinking and to working. The other day he refused s200,000 for a street car device that could be utilized to show the names of the streets automatically. He thinks It Is worth more. The man or woman who conceives an idea that is patent able almost invariably has visions of immense wealth, but how the dream Is realized may be found by consulting the patent office authorities, the men who handle thousands of these "chil- dren of the brain" that never bring to their inventors even the amount Of money necessary for getting them pat ented. But, on the other hand, there Ire a great many patents that have made their originators Immensely wealthy, and famous as we'll.
 One would naturally suppose that the greatest returns would be from the large affairs, such as the electric rail- road, the telephone and the telegraph, but such Is not the case, for the small household inventions, mechanical toys md puzzles have given quicker returns md greater profits for the money ex- pended than any of the large affairs.
 The man who invented Pigs in Clov. IT" happened to strike the public fan y, and millions of people all over the country were chasing the little marbles into the middle pen. That man made millions on his simple puzzle because he launched It at the right time.
 J. ". McGill in 1867 invented the little metal paper fastener, without which no office Is now considered con- plete, and though but trihe 1t made wealth for Its inventor. Such little thing as the rubber tip on a pencil brought S2OO.0OO to its inventor, Fly man L. Lipman, and that small piece of metal which you wear on the heel of your shoe to protect 1t had made up to 1887 over s1.0O0,0O0 for Its protector.
 A man named Garfield first hit upon the notion of making armpit shields seamless with a sheet of cloth covered with rubber, and 1t brought him an in- come of many thousands a year. The man who invented the metal fastenings for buttons must have been bachelor, for 1t did away with sewing but 1t made him a millionaire.
 The oarbed wire fence, about which many have said unkind things as they disentangled themselves, was worth over S1.5Oo.0 900 in royalties to the orig inator. A countryman, whose loss from eggs being broken on their way to mar. ket was a serious thing, evolved the Idea of packing them h seperate con- partments, and this simple device Is now used altogether, and that country. man Is not obliged to toll for his daily bread.
 Criminals have played an important part In some of the worlds greatest inventions, and some have made small fortunes out of their discoveries. Charles Filler, who devised the new lockstltch sewing machine, was serving his fourth term for burglary when his Idea was perfected. When be was re- leased his Idea was backed by some capitalists and he was given a salary of 5000 . year to superintend the construction of the machines, in addi. ton to a royalty. At the same time he sold his English rights for s50,0O0 cash and $25,000 worth of stock of the En. giish company.-Chicago Inter Ocean
 But" protested the pert young you ought to take on some thing for the holes in these doughnuts." "very well. madam" replies the wise baker; "I'll allow you one cent each for the holes when you return them."- l,I Iloilxr NoxrS