The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1918-07-02
INVENTIONS ARE
At FLOOD TIDE
PATENTS ISSUED AT RATE
OF 1000 A WEEK AS A RE-
suit OF THE WAR.

yentor's harvest time. In times OF
peace the inventor has hard and
thorny path to travel, but in war
times the man with a really valua-
BILE improvement in guns, armor
plate. submarine detectorS, airpiane
repellers, socks for soldiers or keels
for battleships is not told to come
around next year when business is
better. Ii his invention is good II
is good now.
The whole story of the new IN
yentions that have been developed
in the course of our preparation tor
the war cannot of course be told un-
til the war is over. Even the OF
ficial Gazette of the patent office
is silent on some of the most val
liable devices that have been adopt
ed BY the army and the navy. Now
and then we hear OF some OF them
the Browning gun, for instance, or
the depth bomb, really one OF the
most marvellous achievements OF in
ventive genius in the field OF ex-
plosives.
Some. like the concrete ship, are
too big to be hidden; others, like
the method of making leather shoe
strings out of the uppers OF worn
out shoes, too insignificant to at
tract attention. Between these two
extremes lies host of inventions
that have been tried and tested and
adopted by the government and an
even larger number oil devices
whose inventors haunt the ante
rooms OF the various military bu-
reaus and purchasing committees
by day and spend their evenings IN
the lobbies OF the Washington ho-
tells extolling the merits OF their re-
spective notions to anyone who VIII
listen.
One Thousand Patents a Week.
History is repeating itself in that
rather stuffy. somewhat smelly but
on the whole quite efficient insti-
tuition. The last previous period OF
superaccelerated activity in the pat
ent office was during the Civil war.
In the four years from 1862 to 1900
a larger number OF patents was
granted than in the entire previous
history of the office. Not only were
its files crowded with applications
on all sorts of distinctly military
devices. but 4 huge crop OF TABOR
saving inventions, mothered by the
necessity of carrying on the ma
tons work while most OF the coun-
trv's able bodied men were at war,
began in that period to lay the
foundations OF some OF the big tor
tunes OF generation later
Patents are being issued at the
rate OF nearly 1000 a week. In the
wear ended Feb. II, 1918, there were
40, ,249 patents granted, and at the
close OF business on March !, l9lo,
the patent office contained 1910 APP
plications awaiting action. When
it is considered that 1t took more
than l25 years for the first l,Oo0,Ooo
patents to be granted and that the
present rate will bring the total to
100000 in less than 70 years, some
idea of the rapidity with which
American inventive genius Is deNel-
oping may be had.
And the number OF patents grant
ed does not by any means supply
an index OF the extra work that mas
been loaded on the patent Office as
result OF the war. one oil the
cardinal rules of procedure in the
office is that OF secrecy as to pend
ing applications, rule essential lor
the protection OF the inventor. But
on February 3 the commissioned oil
patents announced an amendment
to this rule By the addition OF a pro-
yiso that authorized officers OF the
army and navy be allowed during
the war TO inspect cases winch, IN
the opinion OF the commissioner,
disclose inventions that might be OF
value in the prosecution OF the war,
4 suitable oath of secrecy being OF
course imposed.
This has been supplemented by
another ruling that whenever IN
time OF war the publication OF an IN
yention by the granting OF a pat
ent might be detrimental to the pub
lie safety or defense, or might as
s;s, ,be .p.nv or endanger the sue
cessful prosecution OF the war, the
commissioner may suspend action on
the application therefor. As re-
suit OF these notifications OF pat
ent office practice every application
for patent that contains what ap-
pears TO be the germ OF a valuable
devices for military purposes is held
up until it can be inspected by the
military and naval authorities.
War Inventions Kept. Secret.
There Is no way OF telling how
many such inventions have come in
to the possession OF the government,
subject. OF course, to suitable com
pensation to the inventors. through
this channel. but there is reason to
believe that the number is large.
Patents will be duly issued after the
war. and in the meantime the gov
eminent will surround these inven-
tions with all possible secrecy.
Perhaps it IS because most OF the
anplications for patents on guns.