Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-11
Some Things You Want to Know
Peculiar Patents.

while in still another instance what ap-
pearH 70 be a harmless law book is really
the outside covering OF a liquor flask. IL
is 80 arranged that when not In use the
neck of the bottle disappears.
The vacuum flack in which automobilists
carry hot coffee or cold water may be con-
paratlvely new. but Ions before they had
made their appearance. the same idea was
applied TO a mans foot gear. The boot had
a vacuum space between two covers, and
IL was guaranteed that the foot OF the
wearer would have difficult time getting
cold.
In the line Of labor savers the man who
invented q chicken house that would shut
itself deserves the palm, He had the roost
so adjusted that II could be set to give
down an inch whenever any prearranEed
weight was upon It. The chicken grower
was supposed 10 ascertain the weight Of
his flock. and as soon as the last chicken
flew upon the roost Il would turn the
balance and close the door to the hen
house. In the morning the first chicken
that flew down from the perch would turn
the balance back and open the door TO the
hen house The same idea was applied
10 the bee hives on the plantation. When
the chickens went 10 roost they shut UP
the bees, and when they came out again
they opened Up the hives once more.
Some years ago a Minister from a neigh
boring city went TO washington and con-
suited the chief Of the drafting division
Of the patent office about a key hole that
could be found in the dark. The patent
office man wanted 10 know how It was that
a minister should see the need OF such
thing, observing that he would understand
II IN the case Of others. The minister was
new, and a stack OF patents on the same
subject was produced to prove IT, They all
embrace the idea Of q large sunken de-
precision in which the keyhole is the low
est part, OF an inverted V-shaped band
with the top OF the keyhole in the sharp
angle Few men care to advertise their
sometime inability to find the keyhole, so
the patent was never a highly profitable
one.
The horrors of being buried alive are in
tensely real TO some men and they have
worked many years 10 perfect something
that would allow the victim OF such
burial 10 announces the fact. In one in
vention q bell above the grave is 20 ad-
justed that IL will be made 20 ring when
ever the victim begins to breath. Another
provides a miniature telephone system
from the grave to the keepers office. stil
another has a little push button which
will light an electric light above the grave.
No one Of these ghastly inventions has
been put TO a practical test
A combination cane and stool is one OF
the things that deserved greater success
than seems TO have attended it. When
closed up It resembles a hSsvy walking
stick. but when opened l: makes a very
decent substitute for a camp stool.
gopher exterminator is another interesting
affair. II has q screw on the end and
flexible shaft like one sees on q dental
engine This shaft Is attached TO an ordi-
nary carpenters brace and the screw is
inserted into the hole. II winds its way
onward after the gopher until IL drives
him out OF the rear entrance TO his home.
II also can be applied To rats, ground
squirrels, moles and otier 6urrowing ami
mails
Humane tendencies often show up In
patents issued in Washington. In one case
there is cat made OF cardboard covered
with phosphorescence. II is made TO simu-
late the position Of live cat at a rat hole.
When a mouse or a rat sees the ghost in
the dark near its home II Immediately de-
cldes that fits palace is a haunted one, and
leaves that vicinity. The inventor says he
is able TO hasten this leaving process by
perfuming the ghost-cat with peppermint
which ndor he says is very offensive to the
olfactory organs OF the mouse and the rat
A cheese skipper extermlnator is the in
vention Of an enterprising grocer. He con-
cludes that the presence Of shippers in
cheese does not injure It AZ all, and that
by enclosing the cheese and It's Inhabitants
in an alright box he can smother the
Inhabitants without harming the cheese
He finds that when the air becomes close
in the cheese the shippers will make a
bee line for the surface, where they die for
want Of air. Another grocer has invented
combination CRATER, slicer. fly trap and
mouse trap, which he declares 10 be a new
and useful invention. A medicine dealer
has a patent on a bottle stopper that is
unique. 1t has a little mill race and bicycle
water wheel attached 10 It, and when the
medicine is all gone the child can convert
the bottle into q little lake and drive his
water wheel with the water stored in g.
Au Engllshman many years ago invented
gun with a round and a square barrel:
the square one to shoot the Turks and the
round one 10 shoot Christians
III R2EDEGIc J. HAaKxM.
Tomorrow-Th0 BupromS 0OErt.