Evening star., 1925-08-09

or tdpeWOFk Trap, OF ali lllulili-
mated harness, or any kind or
freak, curious, unique, whimsical, eX-
traordinary, bizarre, eccentric or other
wise odd Contraption-watch out Tor
the forthcoming sale of old models by
the United States Patent Office.
It's a very special sale, specifically
authorized by act of Congress, the
first of its kind ever held. Everything
that goes on sale is a guaranteed an
tiuue, for all of them were constructed
before 1880; all are individually hand
made and most of them are of elabo-
rate workmanship.
In spite of the fact that a special
committee of high-brow experts repre-
senting the patent skill of our country
and the official museum Scientinc au-
thoritieS are now sorting over those
models to select those of the highest
historical interest to be preserved Tor
posterity, every single, individual and
separate device, mechanism and sam
pie of human ingenuity is historic.
Some of them passed under the visa
of Thomas jefferson, who as Secre-
tary of State was our first Patent
Commissioner, when the Constitution
itself provided for the granting OF
patent mOnopolieS-the only monopoly
acknowledged by this Government.
Some of them were preserved for
the forthcoming sale by that dramatic
action of DR.. William Thornton, de
signer of plans for the Capitol, who
succeeded jefferson as Patent Com
siener. When the British captured
WASHINGTON. August "A, 1914, and the
invaders turned the muzzles of their
cannon toward the Patent Office, this
assiduous keeper" planted himself
before those hostile guns and his
storehouSe of treasures and cried out
as he barred his breast:
Are you Englishmen or Goths or
vandals? This is the Patent ONCE,
depository of the ingenuity and inven,
tions of the American Nation, in
which the whole civilized world is in
terested. Would you destroy it? Then
let your charge be over my dead
body"
Providence gave timely support to
this impassioned plea. for at that cru
cial moment a terrific thunderstorm
broke, followed by a deluge of rain,
which sent the military detachment
scurryfng to cover and which at the
same time extinguished the fire the
British had started at the White
House.
Some of these models to be sold are
also survivors of the two great fires
that swept the Patent Office: One in
1886, which practically wiped out the
establishment, and in which some
~
Robert Fulton's own sketches of his
Clermont machinery and the vessel as
it proudly steamed up the Hudson in
1870: and the other which started
September "a. 1877. and destroyed the
model room" then the great museum
of the nation, which contained some
200, 900 models. of American invention
besides other treasures. In this some
ST. 900 models were consumed by the
flames.
ITO those who are seeking some
thing different" a relic of the
vagaries of the human mind, a visual
reminder of how fellow man through
the centuries has sought new ways of
doing things, a trophy of our me-
chanical and industrial development
since 1890, when jefferson approved
only three patents flor making pot
and pearl ashes, manufacturing can
dies and manufacturing flour and
meaD to an average of more than 500
weekly. many of which have revolu-
tionized industry-this Patent Office
sale of old models in a Veritable treas
ure trove.
You will find there: Devices to keep
you from snoring: a contraptlon to
put on the delivery end of a hen to
y
beauty torture to mold the human
form feminine, restore facial SYM
metry or imprint an intriguing dim
pie; a one-wheel vehicle to be attached
as a trailer" to the almost extinct
horse; a velocipede for water trims or
a quadricycle for land or water: a
cannon-plow to fight off Skulking
Indians, or one with an umbrella at
tachment TO ward off hOt-shot from
iSt. liz
poison; sleeoing jacket that will
prevent you from turning on your
back: spectacles for your chickens:
hot-air or hot water heated coat that
contains its own plumbing SYSTEM
wearing apparel that pipes the surplus
heat of your body to your cold feet;
fish bait with a mirror attachment to
attract the female of the species; a
railroad gate that shoots ahead of
locomotive TO prevent grade-crossing
accidents; subsoil anchors for your
house to thwart cyclones; balloon
railway, and chicken hoppleS.
They OUTRAGE the imagination even
of Baron Munchausen, for they are
the accumulation of the thought and
tinkering persistency and genius of
the most thoughtful men and women
of this country through that special
century in which they had to find new
theig limited physical prowess. We
find such outCroppings as: A cows
. tail holder or a false tail for a horse,
sleep-nducers; a "bed-bug buster" or
a tumble fiytrap; a cane with an eye
glass in the handle. a chair in which
you are famed as you rock, with at
tachmentS whereby you churn butter
or rock the cradle as you rest from
more arduous duties; patent watch
from nf
clothing to another; a wallet that as
you hand it to a highwayman dis
charges a revolver in his face; an
illuminated cat to scare away rats and
mice: an adjustable pulpit to fit any
height of preacher: a lovers gate, af-
fording Conveniences to the sparkling
swain, not the least of which is an
effectual barrier to an iT'ate father: Il
double barreled pistol that serves also
as a bootjack; n Snolleless unicycle
driven by steam or clockwork: an
educational balloon or which the child
studies geography and astronomy as
she plays; an envelope in which to
pack furniture; an automatic furnace
fire starter: a grave escape or coffin
alarm; a bed that dumps the sleeper
out when an alarm rings; refriger
ator hat-or. what have you?"
These old models are being sold
many of them will be given away to
institutions-to save Uncle Sam some
Worthwhile money, rather than to
realize any considerable amount by
the sale. There are in all some
155. 900 which are packed in more
than 200 boxes that resemble coffins
more than anything else-coffins in
which are buried the hopes and am
bitions of thousands of the inventors,
though each Was successful in secur-
ing his patent. They are all now
stored in buildings that are costing
Uncle Sam very considerable amounts