Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1911-07-04
Accidental Inventions.

The bayonet is said to have derived
its name from the fact that 1t was first
made at Bayonne, and its origin illus
trates the proverb Necessity Is the
mother of invention"
A Basque regiment was hard pressed
by the enemy on q mountain ridge
near Bayonne. One of the soldiers
suggested that as their ammunition
was exhausted they should fix their
long knives into the barrels of their
'muskets. The suggestion was acted
upon. The first bayonet charge was
made, and the victory OF the Basques
led to the manufacture OF the weapon
at Bayonne and its adoption into the
Not infrequentiy an invention has
been suggested by some trivial event
which would have passed unnoticed
had not a man with eyes and brains
seen 1t.
Argand. a poor Swiss, invented a
lamp with a wick fitted into hollow
cylinder up which current OF air was
allowed to pass, thus giving supply
of oxygen to the interior as well as to
the exterior of the circular frame.
At first Argand used the lamp with
out any chimney. One day he was
busy in his workroom and sitting be-
fore the burning lamp. His little
brother was amusing himself by plac-
ing a bottomless oil flask over differ
ent articles. Presently he placed 1t
upon the flame of the lamp, which In
stantly shot up the long, circular neck
of the flask with increased brilliancy.
t did more, for 1t flashed into Ar
gands mind the idea Of the lamp by
which his invention was perfected.
One day the children Of a Dutch
spectacle maker were playing with
some of their fathers glasses before
the door of his shop. Setting two or
the largest glasses together, they peep
ed through them, and were surprised
to see the weathercock Of the opposite
church brought close to their eyes.
They called their father to see the
strange sight He looked through the
glasses and what he saw suggested to
him the possibility Of constructing a
curious toy.
Calico, hearing of the toy which
made distant things appear close at
hand, saw at once what a yaluaol"
help 1t would be in studying the heay-
ems. He set to work, and soon made
the telescope.
An accident helped Senefelder to
invent lithography. He was a sort or
jack all trades, a writer Of verses
and comedies, an actor, hddler,
painter, an engraver and a printer.
He worked at etching on copper
but the coppersmith refused to let him
have any more plates unless he paid
cash for them. He then tried to util-
ize the old plates by rubbing of the
etchings with a soft limestone.
At last the copper became useless
through many rubbings, and he tried
etching on the stone, a plan that did
not work very we'll. One day, while ne
was polishing off stone which he In
tended to etch his mother asked him
to write out list Of the linen which
the laundress was waiting to carry of.
Not finding a slip Of paper or drop
of ink, Senefelder wrote the list on the
stone with printing ink prepared from
wax, soap and lampblack, intending
to copy It at his leisure.
A few days later when he was about
to wipe the writing from the stone he
thought he would learn what would be
the effect of writing with the prepared
ink on the stone II 1t should be writ
ten IN with aqua fortis. He bit away
to about the hundredth part Of an inch,
charged the lines with the ink, took
several impressions and discovered
that he had invented the art Of lith-
graphy.-Harper's Weekly.