The New era-leader. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1911-1912, 1911-10-27

Brilliant inventors Who Reaped
PitifuI ReWaIde.
DIED IN POVERTY AND WANT.

Some Msn 81 Genius Whs Wsrs Doom
Cd % End Their Days n obscurity,
While Thsir Fruitful tdsas Msde
Millions and Fame For othersL
Now ana again 1 man Is born whose
brain fairly bubbles with inventive
genius. New IDEAS stream from him.
aud all branches Of science are nl;ls
tered with hardly an effort.
Such was Frederic William MARITIME.
one OF those many brilliant Italians
who left their native land to seek
fortune In n foreign country.
Martina came to England. and his
name II most familiar from the Mar
tini-Henry rife. the ~breechbiock Of
which was one Of his In
ventions.
1t Is an irony Of fate that MartinO's
name should go down to posterity
solely through 4 warlike invention
which be himself thought little Of
when his greatest work ri done In
the cause Of peace, for MARITIME was
the discoverer of the process for con-
verting basic Stag into manure, 4 dis
covery which has put millions Into
the pockets OF German manufacturers.
but from which he himself. It II
stated. never reaped q penny.
The 1uted rib for umbrellas, q new
process for the extraction Of nickel
from it, ore, q new development Of
platinoid Immensely important In
electric work-and . brilliant inven-
ton for the reduction Of gold ore.
these are only q few Of Marines dis
coverfes. And yet he was 30 lacking
In business capacity that In spite Of
his extraordinary output Of valuable
ideas he died at Glasgow In 1908 q
comparatively poor and obscure man.
while dozens Of others have been made
richer BY his genius.
In 1880 the chemist LenOir patented
. motor driven by an explosive mix
ture OF air and gas. He used electric
ignition obtained from . battery and
I RuhmkorR coil, actuating q sparkling
plug very similar to that In use in the
modern motor. The system Of valves
by means Of which the suction Of the
piston drew In the charge Of gas for
the next explosion was also designed
BY Lenoir.
In 1852 be actually produced q car
which. IL crude. was similar in all ~
spects to that In use today, save that
he employed coal gas instead Of petrol,
and this he actually drove himself
through the streets Of Paris.
Yet for reasons similar to those
which caused the failure Of MARITIME he
never received the reward Of his gen.
ius, and It was left for Daimler, nearly
thirty years later. to produce the first
OF the practicable autocars.
Lenoir died in 1900, poor and I'M.
known.
Three years later, in 1903. the life OF
George Shergold came to an end in
Gloucester workhouse. Shergold, orig.
inally 4 shoemaker. was the inventor
Of the safety bicycle. He built q ma.
chine Of this order in the year 1874
the front wheel Of which was twenty
seven inches and the rear wheel some
thirty-o n inches In diameter.
In 1900. when It first became gener-
ally known that the man whose inven.
ton had made millions for others was
~ poor as when be had cobbled shoes,
4 public subscription was raised, and
for some time an allowance Of 8 shil.
lings a week was made to Sherg0ld.
But the funds became exhausted, and
poor Shergold ended his life In the
w0rkhouse.
How many people have ever even
heard Of Scheelef Yet this poor Swed'
ish chemist was perhaps the greatest
discoverer Of facts that the world has
ever known.
We always hear In England thai
priegtley was the discoyerer Of oxy.
ZEN. Yet Hcheele made this most I'm
portnnt Of all chemical discoveries 81
simultaneously with Priestley. And 4
vas Scheelo who discovered CHLORINE
sas. Chlorine \ perhaps the mos
important of III gases In commercial
chemistry. II - the great bleacheI
that gives 10 white linen o.. white
straw hats II = also the best disin
~fectant known. It y essential to tha
manufacture Of the great pain killer
chl0roform, and It u used extensively
TOR the extrnction Of gold from its ores
Chlorineis value to the world has
been incalculable, yet Scheele. the maj
who discovered It. lived hungry and
died ! pauper.
Professor Gore died I comparatively
poor man, yet Gore was the inventor
a the modern safety match, o. TIL
method AZ electrodsposition commonly
known ~ electroplating and Of many
other processes which have put mil
liona Into the pockets o. manufactur
- Cores book. ssElectrometallurgt,s
publfDhed n 1870, n still ! standard
work a the subject-London AZ
III N~a..0p.k Hf.1@-