The sun., 1907-04-21

Fer straw weaving ln Silk or Thread -aho
was tine Eve ~ American WomAen In.
voRtOes--0thegw That Followed Her
Example --Bome Mlghty queer PAteat1.
The United States Patent Otacs ID not q
repository for masculine ideas alone. The
doors OF that institution were scarcely
hung on their hinges when tho Government
swung them wide to the first woman In
vent0r who applied for admission. They
have been open ever since.
According to the records, that 60 back
to 1870. Mary Kies, who obtained patent
in 1909 for STRAW weaving in silk or thread,
was the Eve OF American woman inventors,
says the American InTentor. Miss Kies
In followed by twenty-Ons women whose
local habitations, like hers, do not appear
on the Official list, snd though the majority
Of tho patents granted them are "gleaned
from the nursery and kitchen" thero are
others OF wider range. One, for instance,
Is for extracting fur from skins Of animals
and making it into yarn" Another ID for
-straw cutting and fodder while Elizabeth
Dram comes to the front with . globe
for the teaching OF geography
Florida claims the first woman inventor
whose address is given. Her name was
Adelena 8. Goodman, and she obtained
q patent for broom brushes in 1s4s.
Almira M. Cole OF Windham, Me, was our
first woman inventor to forge beyond tho
confines Of domestioity into the fields Of
men. Nearly half q century ago she ON
bodied one of her clever ideas into glass
and wood and got a patent for mounting
fluid lenses
In a vast room where the Patent Onico
has stored its old models there are two cases
that represent the work OF woman inventors.
Tho interest value OF this exhibit depends
altogether upon whether IyOu look at It
as genius or junk. One Of che first exhibtts
to catch the eye, because 1t is one OF the
largest and most conspicuously placed,
il a brass cylinder that looks 10 tho un-
initiated like an andiron with q fuzzy head.
The attached card tells you that IL In q sub
marine telescope which Sarah P. Mather OF
Brooklyn, N. Y. patented in ls45.
Mrs. Jane Montgomery Of New York
gives another glimpse Of green billOws,
but her invention 10 labelled War Vessels;
Parts Applying TO Structures Of Defence
and il it wasn't for the visitors ability
10 see things not on the programme. her
model would be merely a combination OF
brass and wood that suggests a typewriter
lacking the keys.
Mary Ann Frost Of Ohio has two models
10 her credit One 10 q brown wooden
something that looks like a cribbage board.
It 10 nothing so frivolous. however. for
the perforated top comes od and exposes
itN hidden merits as a corpse cooler
There is no mistaking the second exhibit.
The beholder is so shudderingly sure Of its
being a cofln that he fairly sees . funeral
procession and hears mournerB weeping
at a grave.
Anna French's invention 10 Likewise
gloomy, for under a glass seated frame 10
a clump Of faded flowers in silk and chenille
labelled floral ornaments for tombstones.'
Other melancholy ladies' contributed simi-
lar flowers for mortuary purposes; and
another card tagged to fOrloTn cluster
makes it known that they were intended
either for the parlor or the tomb.
Mary e. Boasley Of Philadelphia brings
the visitor back to the bounding main With
q life raft" for which shO was granted
q patent in 1880. The wooden bottom n
enclosed with wire netting and 10 provided
with pair Of lashed oars.
Jane p. Clement has an Improvements in
shon's nests.' and near thls laudable device
sprAWls q dried chicken foot. shaCkled
with a wire yoke and labelled ~ant-soraoch.
No name is attached to this model. but the
accommodating person in charge Will
tell you that once on 4 time an inventive
housewife wanted to raise flowers and
poultry in the same garden at the same
time and that the anti-scratcher was the
| result. Whether the scheme worked is
not included In the story.