The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1909-08-12
FATE OF GREAT
INVENTORS

Az Al VIM |
The race with death between the in
Nentors of flying machines and the OPP
orators of submarines goes merrily on.
Nearly every issue of a well-conducted
newspaper contains an account Of an
accident to either one or the other In |
Chicago our old friend Mattery, whose
airship at the Tri-State Fair grounds |
figured as target for the active and
assertive pistol of the late Mike Shan
ley, dropped from space last week and
now lies in Il lakeside ehOspital, strug- |
Cling to regain his health, with broken
bones and bruised flesh as reminder
Of an unsuccessful flight On Monday
came the announcement that subma-
rine boat had made famous dive
against time and had not returned TO
the surface, report which was subse-
quently cOntradicted
But all of this goes to show how I'M
certain is the life of the inventor His
tory is filled with accounts of investi-
gators who have persisted from injuries
received in the abratory or dissecting
room.
As he breathed his last, Wesson, the
famous inventor of the revolver which
bears his name, sighed; 81 am the VIC
tim of my own invention" He died
in great fear, nervous wreck and pur-
sued to the last with the dread that he
would be killed with one Of the revOlV-
ers of his invention. 1t so terrorized
him that his health and mind gave
way and he died as he sighed on his
bed of death victim of his own inven-
ton,
The guillotine, OF improved type,
used for beheading political offenders
and condemned criminals In France,
claimed its inventor as one of Its vic
Tins. Prompted by humane motives
10 make the suffering of the condemn
ed us slight as possible, DR., Guillotine
had the opportunity of eventually test
ing the success of his fatal invention,
sharing the fate of many others who
were beheaded during the days of rev.
olution.
James Watt, inventor of the steam
engine, died as the result of Over-exer-
ton and exposure while working on
his sculpture copying machine. This
was his last and only unfinished in
Vention. 1t was finally revised and
completed and is now extensively used
throughout the civilized would.
Goodyear was bankrupt when the
idea of Vulcanizing rubber came to him
as a bright inspiration. He melted his
first pot of rubber while in jail. The
fact is that he was seldom out of prison
whole year from 1885 to 1871, and was
never out of danger from arrest. An
accident suggested process which was
step toward his final success. 1t was
patented. A partner and ample CAPT
tai joined him, and he prepared to
manufacture on large scale, engaging
store on Broadway for the sale of his
products. In the midst of the prepa-
tions his zeal in an experiment cost
him an injury from which he never re-
covered. He had generated large
quantity Of poisonous gas in a close
room and narrowly escaped death from
suffocation, never completely recover
ing himself. He died in disappoint-
ment after having devoted twenty-Sev-
Ell years to the study of his invention.
He lived just seven weeks TO realize
what he had accomplished.
Webster Wagner, senator and inven-
or of the Wagner sleeping car, was run
ovef and killed by one Of his cars al
Spuyten Duyvil, N. Y. William A.
Bullock, the inventor of the rotary
press, while handling one Of his favor
lite inventions, received an injury from
which he afterward died. Palissay,
the French Huguenot potter, who pro-
duced the white enamel sought so long
unsuccessfully for the process and en-
dured during these sixteen years the
Sneers and ridicule of his companions,
that when the secret was at last OBJ
tanned his mind gave way and he died
in an insane asylum, unable to enjoy
any of the great benefits which his in
Vention brought to his wife and family.
History is filled with just such con-
tradictions, Lives of men have been
filled with rugged toll in the everlast-
ing research of some hidden secret, only
TO fhld death after successful cumi-
nation of the search. Few men have
been allowed to enjoy the full measure
of their inventions, and so far two OF
the Wright brothers have barely escar.
ed Ieath and their great invention has
not yet rea ,hei It's full fIuition.
mercial-Appeal.
ur RrnNn Mptr, n0lia Ill