Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1912-05-05

process Of building war vessels. blu
most OF them confined to bandages. medi
cine and comfort for the sick.
A strange feature OF women's inyen
tons as shown by patent office record
Is that child's toy was not patented b,
a woman until as late as 1867. when Ellz
abeth Hawks procured Patent No. a,10
on a plaything for babies.
Where woman's skill shines,
The great majority Of patents granted
to women have to do with articles Of
dress and domestic or farming apparatus
improvements in corsets and new de-
| signs In these garments get more atten.
ton from the woman inventor than any
other one thing. But the other articles
OF dress run a close second, especially In
more recent years. when improved meth.
DDS Of manufacture have made possible
so many variations in underwear. I'm
proved and new designs In underwear.
In childrens garments, in hose support
ers. In shoes, caps. hatplns. safety pins,
stockings, all get a great deal Of atten-
ton from women inventors, again closely
pressed by her interest in kitchen and
garden utensils and In farming tools,
Occasionally the woman inventor takes a
dive into more obstruse realms and gets
patent on a means for disappointing
ore, or mounting fluid lenses, or an i'm
proved method of guiding traction en-
gines, but the vast bulk Of her inven-
tons relate either TO her dress or those
things which more Immediately sur
round her In her household life.
But the fair sex has not confined It's In.
Fsntivs faculties either to strictly fem
mime matters. nor to science. art, manu.
facture or the art OF war. Among the
patents granted TO women are many de-
voted to masculine comfort. among which
are to be noted trouser tree, a mus
tache guard. a machine TO- making ciga-
rettes, mans necktle clasp and holder
protector for dress shirts, a folding
for travellers. etc.
Lest some should think that because no
woman has yet made great and epoch
making invention therefore she Is ant
to make ridiculous inventions and obtain
those freak patents so beloved by the
comic Photographer, let IL be said that the
number Of freaks patented by woman Is
small in proportion TO the total number
'f patents she has obtained. Nor Is this
hard TO understandable faculty Of In
Fention is not as yet largely developed.
therefore, It does not oyergrow itself or
run to seed" Freak inventions. Of |
which men produce so many, are re-
Iuit OF an unbridled. unframed inventive |
aculty. which. properly directed or edu-
ated, might result in good. Woman sell
Iom makes these varieties of inventions,
nd strange TO say when she does get /
nto the freak class she is often discon-
ertingly close 10 the practical, and
hough one laughs at the freak he can
ot but see that there was a real idea to
he fore, even II the means and the result
re somewhat outre.
An "AII-womau" Patent.
No story Of womau's inventions would
e complete which failed TO mention the
feminine" patent taken out by Minnie
Lgnes Phelps Of Chicago. III. This is a
eceut patent. which still has eleven years
D run, having been granted December II,
% II is remarkable as being the in
enion Of d woman. the application Il
-hich was prosecuted by a woman attor-
ey. Miss Florence King. and the wit
esses TO which were both sOnien. Jennie
b Fisks and Cora \. schriver Il is an /
all woman" patent. and TO complete the
sntimeni, It's subject is one particularly :
woman's domain. The patent Is for
certain new and useful improvements IN !
combined to-ster and warming oven. {
There are about saea applications for !