Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1911-07-13
THURSDAY, JULY Is, 1911.
Necessity and Invention.

Anyone who scans copy OF the
Patent Office Gazette with the notion
that necessity is the mother OF the
entire brood of inventions therein
contained, is destined to receive a
rude shock. What an enormous fam
lily! Nine hundred and ninetysevcn
thousand to date, and increasing at
the rate of six hundred new little NE
cessities each week! But what an odd
and varied brood, and are they all
really necessities? Here is strange
one that was actually patented-a
scheme for controlling horses by cleo
tricity. If the animal balks, a pow
erful and wellplaced shock will make
him spring forward in spite OF him
self. If he tries to kick, his muscles
will be cranpcd by a paralyzing charge
of electricity. Instead of bride and
rsins, the all-powerful current may
be used to give him a shock on the
left cheek in order to turn into the
right fork of the road, or on the right
to make him turn to the left. In
stead of saving away at the lines, the
driver may sit back in comfort, and
by means of push buttons, typewrite
the beast into submission.
Needless to say, this weird inven-
ton is an intruder in Mother Neces-
sity's family. Alas! there are many
such intruders. But large number
of inventions equally unnecessary are
not so palpably foolish. The worst
offender is the man who is not con-
tent with developing and improving
the arts in which he is regularly en-
ployed, but feels that he must do mis-
sionary work in strange and unfa-
miliar territory. A farmer who has
never been beyond the boundary Of
his own county will invent fire es-
capes for skyscrapers. A city clerk
whose knowledge of the country has
been gained from a trip to Bronx
Park will invent an automobile pillow.
Sailors on the high seas will tackle
the battling problem of making safe
rail joints, while the man from the
Middle West almost invariably turns
his attention to ship proprllers and
wave motors. An idea comes to such
a man and he hastens to the Patent
Office with it. 1t may be that he
will give it superficial examination;
but the chances are he will think it
unnecessary to make his examination
thorough, or else he will be afraid OF
divulging his secret by too searching
an investigation.
Until he has discovered the fact by
rude personal experience, it is usually
hopeless to tell a man with an idea
that his invention is unnecessary. A
man who is dabbling in arts OF which
he knows little or nothing will not
listen to advice. You cannot tell him
that invention, like charity, begins
at home, because it does not, always.
There have been exceptions, and no.
table ones, too, in which man who
is unfamiliar with process or ma
chine for doing certain kind Of work
has attacked the problem from an
entirely original point of view, and
has developed an improvement OF
great value. 1t is these exceptions
that encourage the precipitate man to
begin invention in foreign fields.
We do not wish to create the i'm
preston that it is only the necessary
invention that is worth while. Many
of them appear unnecessary, and ac-
tually are unnecessary until the ne
cessity for them has been naturally
or artificiaily created. Many years
ago thin, elnaciated young man in
Boston who was literally starving,
spent all his time with a series of ex-
periments that seemed absolutely
worthless. He carried his investiga-
ton SO far as to employ a mumnlied
human ear, and many an evening he
spent whispering in this CHASTITY ear,
trying to record the vibrations of the
ear drum. The outcome of these cx-
periments is the telephone of today.
1t was an unnecessary invention when
first patented, scientific toy, and
no one seemed to see any particular
value in it; but the need for it was
built up after the invention was
made. Verify, the successful invent
or must be prophetic, in seeing a real