Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-06-02

WASHINGTON. d. c.. June q
Arr women inventive?
"Humph," grunts a conservative
business man. "Women's job has
always been homework, and after
all these centuries. they waste
enough energy to run a steam en-
CINE just doing homework in un-
necessarily troublesome ways. II
women were naturally creative they
would have made housekeeping the
most instead of the least efficient
occupation"
well, says a liberal minded, but
cautious scientist, "all OF the great
inventors have been men, and while
l suppose a woman occasionally
discovers q new way of doing some-
thing. still inyentiveness seems 20
be mainly a masculine turn OF
mind"
So much for samples of prevailing
| opinion. The Wonien's Bureau nf
the Department OF Labor has just
unearthed some facts and figures
from the mass of Patent Office rec
ords showing definitely what women
have accomplished in the inventive
line In a little more than a century.
The Women's Bureau takes pride
in the first patent granted an
American, back in colonial days.
The patent, granted by the British
government, was to Thomas Masters,
planter of PENNSYLVANIA. for a new
invention" for cleaning and curing
| Indian corn. But while this first
American invention vas patented by
a man. the records further states
tha5 the process was found out by
Sybille his wife
This story shows pretty clearly
one reason why women have the
reputation of being inventive. The
Women's Bureau points out that
whether or not the British law
would have permitted Mistress Sy-
billie took out her own patent. il
was conspicuouslY against custom
tor women to do so bold a thing.
So her husband went on record as
the patentee OF the invention.
Our American laws set no definite
restrictions against women p~atentees
but public opinion has always as
sumed that women have no talent
for creative labor worth mentioning.
To prove that this idea is still
prevalent, the Women's Bureau
quotes from an article on American
patent law in the latest issue of a
well known encyclopedia;
Minors and women and even
convicts may apply for patents under
our law" SAYS the encyclopedia. ~
commenting on the liberal view
Lack of Opportunity
Not only have women been dis
tcouraged by the conventions from
displaying any inventive powers they
might possess. but they have lacked
the opportunities of men to develop
their ideas.
A mar who has an idea to sim
plifv some process goes TO a hard.
ware store and carpenter shop and
makes a model to test the practical.
bility OF his idea A woman in.
yentor Is less apt to know how e
make a model or to have one made
and 50 again she faces discourage
merit. Perhaps she turns her ides
over to a man to he developed and
patented by him or perhaps the in
vent.on is never tried out at all
If these facts account for wo.
mems reputation for not being in.
ventiye we should expect to find tina
as women have a more equal oppof
tunity with men their inventive abb
ity would become 0 evident
This is what the patent records d.
indicate.
The report says: 'For 10 year.
after the enactment of the pater
Law in 1890 not a single one Of th'
10000 patents issued was granted
to a woman The first successful APP
plication from a woman was recort
ed in 1909 and was for a method q
weaving straw with silk or thread
Even for a quarter of century after
words there were less than a scort
of patents granted to women"
About the time of the Civil Wa
the number of women ~patentees be
gan to increase conspicuously. Somt
years as MANY az 100 invention
wer patented by women In thu
past decade the rate of increase haI
been more rapid than ever befo'i
and since the war women have beer
taking out roughly between 500 anC
700 patents a year.
This Is a verv small percentage o
the entire number of patents, les
than two per cent to be exact. TIT
Women's Bureau stresses the poir
however. that the rate OF increas'
in women's patents Is the signifcan
factor. since women are still handi
eapped by inexperience and lack .
opportunity for developing and mar
keting inventions.
New Times BRING New Ideas
Another significant point shown
} bv the survey is the range OF inver
tions as shown in a study OF 500;
natents granted to women. IN tes
lsalAatAd xa2Eg &inGA 1905. We nigh