El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-20


in any civ OF town where there Is a
trolley road running out to the cemetery.
The vehicle Is occupied by the relatives
and friends of the late lamented, and
the coffin Is placed on top.
To Mark Ocean Routes.
Reuben H. Plass, of Brooklyn pro-
poses to mark the transatlantic lanes"
traversed by steamships with a series
of small floating lighthouses. anchored
a few miles apart. These. however. are
to be more like huge buOYs than Ordi-
nary lighthouses of them provided
with an automatic fOghorn and a beacon
so arranged as to require attention only
once in four months. Shipwrecked per-
sons may gain admittance to any one of
them by opening a keyless door, finding
food and shelter within. The opening
of the door breaks a circuit which sends
an alarm by wire along the line of sta
tons, and rescue is soon at hand.
Another marine suggestion, offered by
J. w. Powers, of Chicago, is the wreck
ing balloon In actual practice several
of these balloons would be used together
for lifting a sunken vessel from the bot
tom of the sea. They would be lowered
collapsed, each one carrying graphing
hooks. and, having taken firm hold of
the ship. would thereupOn be inflated
through rubber tubes connecting them
with the wrecking craft on the surface.
The buOvancy thus given them is ex-
pected to fetch the wreck to the top OF
the water.
The Patent Office has recently put to-
gether a series of epoch-making inven-
lions, assembling them for the sake OF
their historic interest One of these IS
the first breech- loading firearm, which
came into being through pure accident.
1t was patented April 8. 1885, by Rollln
White, who was employed at the time in
Colts pistol factory. He broke a pistol
cylindeT-COlt had invented the revolver
: in 1S26-and, in trying to mend it, he
accidentally found that he could load
the weapon from the rear. Up to that
time it had always been taken for grant
ed that every pistol or gun must be
loaded from the muZzle.
This was only one OF many instances
wherein poor mechanics have hit upon
great ideas. L c. CTOwell was working
for DAVIS wages when he produced the
folding attachment for printing presses
which made possible the huge editions
of manv-paged modern newspapers
Mergenthaler was making telescopes
when the notion of a typesetting ma
| chine first struck him. w. NJ. Jenne
and c. !. Sholes, who are chiefly respon-
sible for the development of typewritlne
machines. were both of them mechanics
| So likewise was William Painter, VINO
( devised the scheme of crimping a piece
I of thin metal around the neck OF bot
/ tie to take the place of 9 cork.
Matchmaker Invents Time Recorder.
Charles !. Van De Poole. the inventor
! of the undermining trolley. was cab,
! netmaker of Detroit. The originator oil
] the workmen's ''time recorder nov
used all over the world to Keep tab
] on employees in factories and other Dusl'
/ ness establishments, was watchmakel
named Bundy. Augustus Shuz was al
! most starving when he invented thu
/ modern method of tanning, which has
J shortened the process Of making leather
! from a wear or two to a few weeks
/ Gramme. who invented the rlng DYNAMO
was a Belgian carpenter. Emile BerhnC
/ was 4 clerk He paid a mechanic 81
/ cents a night to teach him something
about electricity, and later on evolved
/ ideas which made the long-tlstance teie,
! phone possible. Corliss. the creator o.
] steam engines, made his experiments
/ after working u hours a day as 8
/ meatcutter.
/ Few people know that the first com
4 missioner of patents was William Thorn
7 ton. who planned the capitol at Wash
1 ington He was an inventor as well a!
| an architect, and experimental Wit
| Fitch on steamboats, before Fulton De
gan. It was he who, in 1914, seeing
! British cannon aimed at the patent OF
! flee. rode I'D to the enemy's ranks, anC
placing himself in front of the gun called
| out: @Are you Englishmen, or Goth
and Vandals? This IS the patent office
the depository OF the inventive genius
I of America. in which the whole civilized
| world is concerned. Would YOU destroy
! It? If so, fire away, and let the charg'
| pass through my body!"
Hs appeal prevailed. The British dit
not fire on the patent office. and Thorn
ton carried the records and models to hi!
country house, where he kept them unit
| peace with Great Britain was established
He died in 1928. Rene Bache.