Chapter XV: Money in Patent Rights (1)

Nearly 100 Patents Issued Every Day--The Easiest Way to Get
Rich--Crystallize Your Idea Into a Coin--Six Billion Dollars of
Capital Based on Patents--Great Returns for American Genius--What a
Patent is Worth--A Million Dollar Patent Discovered by Accident--A
Fortune in a Needle’s Eye--The Man who Invented the “Donkey,” and
What He Made by It--What “Pigs in Clover” Netted the Lucky
Inventor--How to Get a Patent--What to Invent for Profit.

Probably no enterprise has yielded so great profits with so little capital as the work of the inventor. The small outlay, resulting in mammoth fortunes, has often consisted in little more than the set of stools and the cost of the patent. Of course, there must be brains and hard thinking. The sale of articles protected by patent rights is a stimulus to invent them, and has been the source of fortunes for more people in the United States than in any other country in the world. The United States Patent Office issues every year about 25,000 patents, and the number is constantly increasing. Nor are the patentees in all, or even in a majority of cases, men of genius, or persons who have been learned in the occupations in which they have achieved distinction. The greater part of them have been issued to persons in humble walks of life, who made their lucky discovery either by accident or by close application of thought.

In every department of human industry there are possibilities of improvement. He who can find a cheaper, quicker, or better, way of doing anything will get rich. Cyrus H. McCormick thought out a better way of cutting grain than with the old scythe. The result was the McCormick harvester, known all over the world. His patents made him a millionaire. Charles Goodyear accidentally mixed a bit of rubber and sulphur on a red hot stove. The result set him to thinking. He discovered the process of vulcanization, which is the basis of the great rubber industry throughout the world. His patents made him enormously rich. Elias Howe wondered if there could not be some better way of sewing than by the bone and muscle of weary woman’s hand. He tried and tried in vain. At last he had a dream in which he saw a needle with the eye at the point instead of at the head. He awoke exclaiming, “I have it!” The result was the sewing machine. Mr. Howe received every year more than $100,000 royalties on his patent needle. Eli Whitney, watching some slaves cleaning cotton, set to work to find a better way. He invented the cotton-gin by which one machine performs the labor of five thousand persons. This invention reaped for him untold wealth.

These were men of genius, but there are inventions which, being simple, lie apparently within the reach of all men. Mr. Parker, whose invention of the tobacco box fastening, is nothing but a “bulge and a dent,” and which it would seem any child might have thought out, made an immense fortune. Another inventor obtained a patent for a washing machine, and sold it in about fifteen months for $50,000. A man obtained a patent for a windmill, took a model through the Western States, and in eight months returned with $40,000 in cash. Probably the simplest device of all which has afforded amusement for millions is the game of the “Donkey Party,” which is nothing more than the picture of a tailless donkey placed upon the wall. The game costs less than one cent, but millions are annually sold. A copyright costing $5 insured this windfall to the inventor. The “Parlor Target and Dot” patent brought $35,000. The chief examiner of the Patent Office says: “A patent, if it is worth anything, when properly managed, is worth and can easily be sold for from $10,000 to $50,000.”

According to an estimate by the Commissioner of Patents seven-eighths of the manufacturing capital of the United States, or upwards of $600,000,000 is based upon patents, either directly or indirectly. A very large proportion of all patents prove remunerative; this is the reason so many are applied for, and so many millions of capital invested in their workings. There is scarcely an article for amusement, convenience, or necessity, in use to-day that has not at some time or other been the subject of a patent either in whole or in part. The sale of every such article yields the inventor a profit. If we purchase a box of matches a portion of the price goes to the inventor; if we buy a bicycle the chances are that we pay royalty to a dozen or more inventors at once.

There are gold mines in every walk in life. There are fortunes hid in the smallest and meanest of things. So far from the field being exhausted, more inventions are now being patented than ever before. The world is inexhaustibly full of nuggets for him who can find them. Every sphere of enterprise is like the children’s play of “hide the thimble.” Friend, shall you be the first to spy the golden rim? The cost of a patent in the United States is about $60. This includes the government fee, and that of a patent attorney. The way to get a patent is first to think it out; then make the design and take it to a lawyer who makes a business of procuring patents. The government does not now request a model, but it requires a drawing and a specification, and these must be prepared by some competent attorney, in the legal form prescribed. The following are a few suggestions in the various departments of toil where inventions are needed, or where the pry of the brain will disclose the flashing ore.

_Section 1. Money in Bicycles._

372. A NON-PUNCTURABLE BICYCLE TIRE.--Any improvement in the universal wheel means a fortune to the inventor. The Dunlap tire sold for $15,000,000.

373. A BICYCLE-HOLDER ATTACHMENT.--One that will make it stand upright when not in use. There is a fortune here.

374. THE BICYCLE UMBRELLA-HOLDER.--It should not be difficult to fit to the wheel a small attachment for holding an umbrella. The device should be made so as to allow the umbrella to turn at an angle. Most bicyclists would want this invention.

375. A BICYCLE CYCLOMETER CLOCK.--A small clock or a watch to be fixed to the front part of the bicycle with cyclometer attachment, so as to give the time of day, the number of miles traversed, and the rate of speed.

376. THE DOUBLE-POWER BICYCLE.--One in which the hand or the foot may be used in propelling, to be employed alternately, the one as a rest for the other, or jointly, as when pedaling against the wind or uphill.

377. THE FOLDING WHEEL.--One that can be carried lightly on the shoulder and packed in small space for storage or shipment.

378. A BICYCLE SUPPORT.--A contrivance for holding the wheel in place when the rider stops but does not wish to dismount. A large sale guaranteed.

379. THE CUSHION SADDLE.--The chafing, painful experience of many bicycle riders would be obviated if some one would invent a saddle top as durable as leather, and yet affording a much softer seat.

380. A BICYCLE GUARD.--One which will enable a lady with a long dress to ride without fear of her skirts being entangled in the wheel. Almost every lady in the land would ride a wheel if this difficulty could be obviated.

381. A COMBINATION BICYCLE LOCK.--One million bicyclists want a cheap lock which can be operated without a key and fastened to any object.

382. A BICYCLE TRUNK.--One made of light material and adapted to carrying on the rear of a wheel.

383. THE UNICYCLE.--The wheel of the future will doubtless be single. The man who is the first to invent a practical unicycle will reap a gigantic fortune.

384. A BICYCLE COVER.--One which will protect the frame and handle bars when the rider is overtaken by rain, and one which can be packed into a very small compass.

385. A PACKAGE HOLDER.--One adapted to be kept on the bicycle frame. As all bicycle makes are nearly uniform in size, this invention should be an easy one.

386. HANDLE-BAR CYCLOMETER.--Let the indicator or dial face be fixed to the handle-bar instead of the wheel. Every bicyclist would want it.

387. THE ALL-SELLING WHEEL.--A pneumatic bicycle tire with a non-puncturable coating would easily bring a million, and might even rival the popularity of a Dunlap.

388. TOE-AND-HEEL CLIP.--An appliance to the bicycle pedal which would hold the heel as well as the toe, and which would not increase the difficulty of mounting, would have immense sales.

389. THE EXTENSION BICYCLE.--A wheel which may be made as convenience requires into a tandem or single wheel by addition or removal of parts would be in great demand.

390. A BICYCLE SHOE.--A sole adapted to be attached to an ordinary shoe, and with means for retaining a hold on the pedals.

391. THE STIRRUP PEDAL.--A pedal which is shaped like a stirrup, holding the foot and doing away with toe-clips.

392. THE HOME BICYCLE.--The use of the bicycle in certain hours every day has become indispensable to the health of thousands, but there are many rainy and inclement days as well as weeks and months in the winter when it cannot be used. Invent a home bicycle by means of which one can have all the exercise of the ordinary wheel in all kinds of weather.

_Section 2. Money in Building Contrivances._

393. THE ORNAMENTAL FLOOR.--Ornamental floors, for ballrooms, summer hotels, and all rooms where carpets are not indispensable.

394. THE SECURE WINDOW BLIND.--The present appliances for holding back the window blind permit it to shake to and fro, giving unpleasant noises in the night. There is needed a device that will hold it securely in place.

395. THE SELF-LOCKING WINDOW.--Doors are made self-locking; why not windows? Who will invent a means by which the shutting of a window at the same time locks it?

396. THE ADJUSTABLE BLIND.--A mechanism by which a blind or shutter can be worked from within. A toothed wheel with crank inside the window, and a connection by an iron rod with the shutter whereby the blind or shutter can be held wide open, can be closed, or held in any position whatever, by simply turning a crank.

397. THE DOLLAR DOOR CLOSER.--The automatic door closer made the inventor rich, but it is expensive; we want a door closer that can be fastened to every door and sold as low as $1.

398. SECTIONAL WINDOW.--A window built in horizontal sections of two or more with a spring or casing to hold it up--much cheaper than weights.

399. ADJUSTABLE STORM DOOR.--Devise a simple door which can be readily brought into place in time of storm, and which will be unnoticed or not seem unsuitable when not needed.

400. A HINGE LOCK.--A hinge which operates as a lock, when the door is closed, and can only be opened by a key. Operated the same as a spring lock, but with less mechanism.

401. THE DOUBLE WINDOW.--Here is a plan for window ventilation. It is the idea of a French physician, but he has not patented it. Have a double window with openings at the bottom of one, and at the top of the opposite one through which the air comes in freely without any one feeling it. The plan is said to possess simplicity, efficiency, and cheapness. Let the American carpenter take notice and profit thereby.

402. HOT-BLAST FURNACE.--A small hot-blast furnace for drying walls. Builders who have to wait days for walls to dry call for such a machine.

403. THE WEIGHTLESS WINDOW SASH.--When the window can be opened the desired width and kept there without the aid of a rope that finally breaks and involves trouble and expense, a great want will be supplied.

404. A FLOOR COVER.--Carpets are expensive; matting is not elegant. Discover something in place of both, cheap and ornamental, and you will reap one of the richest financial harvests of the century.

405. SASH BALANCE.--A system by which the force which holds the lower sash up may exactly balance the force which holds the upper sash down, both sashes being opened at the same width, and thus insuring both the outflow of impure air and the inflow of fresh.

406. PAINTING MACHINES.--Why may not painting as well as so many other modern arts be done by machinery? Something on the order of the garden-hose and spraying nozzle could do the work of the painter more rapidly, cheaply, and with less risk of life and limb. Inventors, give us a painting machine.

407. THE PNEUMATIC WATER TANK.--Instead of the unsightly water tank on the top of isolated buildings or country dwellings, with its liability of leakage and destruction of property, why not have a water tank in the cellar operated by means of compressed air? By being placed in the cellar or underground, there would be the additional advantage of having the water drawn cool and fresh. In winter also, it would be much better protected from freezing than when placed on top of a building. Some one will find money in a pneumatic water tank.

408. THE WOOD-PULP FLOOR.--Floors have been accused of great sins. If the timber is not thoroughly seasoned they warp; if the boards are not properly laid they creak; and the cracks are all at times filled with injurious dust and dangerous germs. Why not invent a wood-pulp floor which shall have no warps, and no cracks, and no creaks? Dry the pulp to powder to facilitate transportation, mix with a small amount of cement, to increase the resistance of the floor, and then after making it a gelatinous mass pass it between rollers. When dry, paint it to imitate oak or other wood. Besides avoiding all the inconveniences and annoyances of the ordinary floor, it will be soft to the foot, and though somewhat more expensive than the entire boards, it will yet be the floor of the future in all comfortable homes.

_Section 3. Money in the Kitchen._

409. THE CHEAP WASHER.--For all the many washing machines, most of our women in middle-class and lowly life are still bending painfully over the old tubs. What is needed is a cheap washer that everyone will buy.

410. A MEAT CHOPPER.--One which has a large number of small blades dividing the meat ten or twenty times with one stroke, where now the large blades divide it only one-fourth or fifth that number of times. The scroll bread-knife netted a princely revenue to its fortunate inventor.

411. AUTOMATIC STOVE-DAMPER.--One to take the place of the heedless servant, and close when the state of the fire warrants it. Thousands of dollars’ worth of coal could annually be saved to housekeepers by this device.

412. POTATO EXTRACTOR.--Apply the principle of the glass lemon-squeezer to the raw potato and you have not only a new invention but also a new preparation of the common vegetable. The potato in the form of the raw pulp can be cooked in various ways, and will have a decidedly new and agreeable flavor. As a salad or a dressing it would be invaluable.

413. KNIFE SHARPENER.--One for the kitchen use, that could be sold for twenty-five cents; almost every housekeeper would want one.

414. COLD HANDLE.--A separate handle which could be instantly applied to utensils on the stove and remove them without burning the hands waits to enrich the inventor. The cold-handled smoothing-iron brought much money to its inventor.

415. THE ELECTRIC STOVE.--Cooking by electricity will be the domestic feature of the next century. There is a rich field here awaiting some inventive brain.

416. FRUIT-JAR HOLDER.--A device for holding fruit jars during the preserving process so that the can will neither burn the hand nor spill the fruit.

417. CAN OPENER.--All the women are crying for an effective can opener. Those on the market are not satisfactory. They must be made to sell very cheap. A gold mine in a can opener.

418. ODORLESS COOKING VESSELS.--An attachment whereby the odors of cooking will be carried into the chimney instead of out into the room.

419. COAL-FILLED FLAT-IRON.--Construct a hollow flat-iron so that it can be filled with live coals, and thus keep in proper heat much longer than those now in use.

420. AUTOMATIC SOAPER.--A washboard so arranged that the soft soap is fed to the clothes by the simple act of rubbing.

421. DISH-WASHING MACHINE.--A dish-washing machine which can be sold for $5. There are plenty of machines on the market, but they are too expensive for use, except in hotels or in rich households. A cheap machine could be sold in every house.

422. A STOVE ALARM.--Proper cooking requires the heat of the stove to be kept equable. Invent a contrivance by which when the heat exceeds a certain degree an alarm will be sounded.

423. THE ELASTIC CLOTHES LINE.--Save washerwomen and housekeepers the nuisance of tying and untying of hard knots by inventing the elastic clothes line.

424. COMBINATION LINE AND PIN.--If the old-fashioned line is to be used, why not invent a cheap clasp which remains permanently on the line, and is capable of being moved in either direction. Clothes pins are lost, broken, or not at hand when required.

425. A FRUIT PRESS.--A cheap press which will be as much a part of every furnished kitchen as a range. Every housewife needs one for the extracting of juices.

426. THE CAN-SLIDE.--The opening of hermetically sealed cans is one of the difficulties of life. All can openers so far invented are more or less ineffective. A vast fortune awaits a man who will invent a can-slide which will effectually keep the food air-tight, and which at the same time may be easily opened.

_Section 4. Money in the Parlor._

427. THE CHAIR FAN.--A slight vertical motion of the foot is much less tiresome than a lateral motion of the hand. An ingenious man could attach a fan to a chair so as to cool the face by the action of the foot.

428. ROCKING-CHAIR FAN.--A fan to be attached to the top of a rocking-chair and operated by the motion of a rocker.

429. CHRISTMAS-TREE HOLDER.--A device for holding the tree upright in any spot without further support. Would sell once a year by the million if made for twenty-five cents.

430. PICTURE-FRAME FASTENER.--A device such that every one can frame his own picture, the parts of the frame being attached without hammer or nails.

431. ADJUSTABLE HEAD REST.--One that can be attached to any chair and adjusted to any position.

432. IMITATION COAL FIRE.--The asbestos back-log was quite a hit. Now let some one invent a fire where gas may be used in the same manner, but the representation be that of red, live coals.

433. MUSIC TURNER.--A piece of music has only a few leaves. It is easy to arrange a series of markers between each leaf with a handle for turning. It may be an ornament as well as a convenience.

434. ROLL-FRONT FIRE-SCREEN.--It is to be constructed on the principle of the roll-top desk, with the difference that it rolls sidewise from one side or from both sides of the fireplace.

435. REMOVABLE ROCKERS.--A chair with rockers easily adjustable, so that it may be a rocker or an ordinary chair as desired.

_Section 5. Money in the Bedroom._

436. A NOISELESS CLOCK.--Many nervous people are annoyed by the ticking of clocks. Who can invent one which will perform this work silently?

437. A NARCOTIC PILLOW.--Will not some one give us a pillow composed of the dried flowers or leaves of soporific plants? The nervous, overworked persons who could thus get a night’s sound sleep would bestow upon the lucky inventor the money which he now expends in drugs.

438. THE ELECTRIC FIRE IGNITER.--In almost every household some one on a winter’s morning shivers over a cold stove and suffers much till a fire is well started, but if the fuel were laid over night and the stove equipped with an electric wire running to the bedroom, one could press a button with the satisfaction of soon entering a warm kitchen. Such a device would pay the inventor well.

439. BEDCLOTHES FASTENER.--A clamp or clasp which shall fix the cover to the board so that children shall not kick or pull the clothes off in their sleep.

440. THE EASY-WORKING BUREAU.--Who will contrive some device by which a bureau drawer will open readily and evenly at both ends? The present working of these drawers is a vexation of the soul.

441. THE EXTENSIBLE BEDSTEAD.--A bedstead that can be extended to accommodate two or three persons, or when room is wanted contracted to the use of one person.

442. MOVABLE PARTITION AND FOLDING BED.--Some one should invent a partition that will form a part of the wall of a room, and which will inclose a bed when the latter is not in use. In the economy of space which forms so important an element in the construction of city houses, it is strange no builder has not yet thought of this.

443. AN ATTACHABLE CRIB.--A combined bed and crib so arranged that when the crib is not in use it may be folded in or under the larger bed of an adult.

444. PULSE INDICATOR.--Hardly one in a hundred can take the beats of his own pulse. The first thing the doctor does is to feel your pulse. Invent an instrument so delicate that its clasp on the wrist will accurately tell the pulse.

445. DRESS-SUIT HANGER.--The device for a dress coat should be extended to other parts of a gentleman’s wear. Give us a dress-suit hanger which will cause the suit to appear when not in use very much as it does when on the body of a man.

446. THE ANTI-SNORER.--It should not be difficult to invent a simple mouth or nose attachment to prevent the intolerable nuisance of snoring.

447. THE VENTILATED MATTRESS.--Housekeepers take pains to air their beds, but the mattress remains for years a mass of unventilated feathers or hair, and a fruitful soil for the deposit of disease germs. A kind of honeycombed mattress might be constructed, through the holes of which the air could circulate freely. It might be possible on this plan to have the spring and mattress in one piece.

_Section 6. Money in the Cellar._

448. A FURNACE FEEDER.--Every householder would buy an automatic feeder for the furnace, thus saving the arduous labor of shoveling coal. There should be a bonanza in the right invention.

449. ICE MACHINE.--The study of the large ice machines now in use, with a view to produce one on a scale so small and cheap as to be introduced into every household has boundless possibilities of wealth for a fertile-brained inventor.

450. STOVE ASH-SIFTER.--The waste of coal in unsifted ashes is enormous, but the process of sifting is disagreeable. What is needed is an attachment beneath the grate by means of which the ashes will be thrown into one pan and the unconsumed coals into another. An immensely paying invention.

451. JOINTED COAL CHUTE.--Much time could be saved in unloading coal if some one would give us a coal chute jointed so as to be swung at an angle, thus avoiding delay where the driveway is too narrow to permit the straight chute to be inserted properly.

452. COMBINED PAN, CAN, SIFTER AND ROLLER.--A useful article would be the pan beneath the grate of the furnace, which could be used also as a can containing a sifter and provided with rollers so that it could be easily transferred to the street.

453. ASH BARREL.--Much annoyance is caused, especially on windy days, by the blowing of ashes from the carts of the ash gatherers. This might be avoided by the construction of a patent ash barrel which could be transferred to the cart and exchanged for an empty one, on the same principle as oil cans are exchanged by the venders.

_Section 7. Money in the Library and Schoolroom._

454. A PAPER BINDER.--One that will bind newspapers and other periodicals, and which can be sold for twenty-five cents. Those on the market are too expensive.

455. THE CORRESPONDENT’S DESK.--A desk with compartments specially arranged for correspondents would save much time and annoyance on the part of letter-writers. Paper, pen, ink, envelope, postage stamp, answered letters, letters requiring immediate reply, and letters which require time for consideration, would then be relegated to the most fitting place, and be available when wanted.

456. BOOK DUSTER.--There is needed some simple attachment to a bookcase whereby the dust which has gathered on the books may be quickly removed when one wishes a volume without soiling of the hands.

457. THE PORTABLE LIBRARY.--A useful device would be a combined box and bookcase, so that in packing for removal the books need not be disturbed, the doors of the bookcase serving as a lid for the box.

458. POCKET LUNCH BASKET.--A lunch basket which can be folded and put in the pocket when empty. Ten million school children want this article.

459. THE MULTIPLE-LEAVED BLACKBOARD.--A blackboard attached to the wall and opening outwardly with several leaves so that it can be used by a number of pupils at once, and when not in use can be folded back so as to occupy a small space.

_Section 8. Money in Meals._

460. BUTTER AND CHEESE CUTTER.--A device which cuts butter and cheese into small square blocks. It should be shaped like a caramel-mold with sharp edges, cutting ten or twelve blocks with a single insertion.

461. PAPER TABLE CLOTH.--The constantly increasing use of paper for new articles is a feature of the times. We have paper napkins, but why could not a paper be manufactured of a little better quality so as to serve for a tablecloth?

462. SCROLL-EDGE MEAT KNIFE.--The scroll-edge bread knife is being manufactured as fast as possible, the factories running night and day. Construct a meat knife on the same principle, with difference only sufficient to secure a patent, and a fortune is yours.

463. CARVING-KNIFE HOLDER.--A small wooden or wire frame with depressions for knife and fork when not in use would conduce to cleanliness and save much vexation on the part of those who carve.

464. LAMP COOKER.--A wire frame with hooks on the bottom for clasping a lamp-chimney could be placed on the top of a lamp, and would make an excellent patent cooker for light dishes. Think of the convenience of cooking your supper on your lamp chimney!

465. WINE TABLETS.--Here is an idea for the trade. We have lemonade tablets; why not those of wine? The grapes should be pressed in the ordinary way, and then by means of a knife transferred to an apparatus where they can be evaporated in a vacuum, the vapor to be drawn off by a pump and condensed. As soon as the mass has the consistency of a syrup it is to be mixed with the pulp. Thus a sort of marmalade is produced, containing eighty per cent. of grape sugar. Makers of the lemonade tablets have done well, but the inventor of the wine tablets would have an immensely larger market.

466. EXTENSION TABLE.--Difficulty is experienced with the present extension table. The boards are not at hand when wanted, and frequently will not go into place readily. A table is needed in which the boards fold underneath, and can be readily brought into place by the turning of a crank.

_Section 9. Money in the Business Office._

467. THE KEYBOARD LOCK.--A combination lock on the principle of the cash register. Instead of carrying certain combinations of numbers in your brain, you simply remember a definite order of keys, and push them in turn as you would in playing a light air on the piano. This patent would be a great improvement on the present system, and contains barrels of money.

468. AUTOMATIC SAFE OPENER.--Run by clockwork, and set so as to open automatically at a certain hour of the day, and impossible to open at any other time.

469. PAPER BINDER AND BILL HOLDER.--A flat stick, concave at each end, so as to hold a large number of elastic bands. Slip a band over each bill, and you may have a hundred or more papers preserved in compact form.

470. BOOK LOCK.--A pocket contrivance which can be attached to the edges of a book. Notebooks, diaries, and private correspondence, could then be guarded during the momentary absence of the writer. A great sale predicted.

471. THE PERPETUAL CALENDAR.--A calendar which will show on what day or month any event fell or will fall for all time.

472. THE LIGHTNING ADDER.--It is possible by a system of keys to invent a machine which will set down almost as quick as lightning the sum of any column of figures, thus dispensing with much of the service of a bookkeeper.

473. COPYHOLDER.--Typewritists want a copyholder capable of being adjusted to any size of manuscript and which can be sold as low as twenty-five cents.

474. ENVELOPE MOISTENER AND SEALER.--Construct a narrow brass or iron plate, one-fourth of an inch wide and shaped like the flap of an envelope. A shallow vessel of water is placed underneath, into which by the manipulation of a screw, the plate is occasionally dipped. Above the plate is fixed a second plate which acts as a sealer, and which operates with a screw-head.

475. MULTIPLE LOCK.--A device for locking with one movement all the drawers in a desk or bureau.

476. OFFICE DOOR INDICATOR.--One to be operated instantly and easily, showing that the occupant is out, and with a dial face to indicate when he expects to return.

477. AUTOMATIC TICKET SELLER.--It is entirely feasible to have an automatic ticket seller which will both date and deliver tickets. A machine of this kind has been fixed in the Hammerton Station at North London, and is said to work satisfactorily. But there is room for improvement on the part of brainy inventors.

478. PERFORATED STAMP.--The chief of the London Stamp office said the government was losing $500,000 a year through the dishonest practice of removing stamps from official papers and using them again; and he offered a large sum or a life office at $4,000 a year to any one who would invent a stamp which could not be counterfeited.

_Section 10. Money in the Packing Room._

479. NONREFILLABLE BOTTLE.--Such a bottle is an absolute necessity to beer and liquor manufacturers, sauce and patent medicine makers, yet no one has yet supplied the demand. Here is a chance, and there are millions in it.

480. THE COLLAPSIBLE BOX.--A box that cannot be refilled for fraudulent purposes. Must be so built that it cannot be opened without destroying it. It would be purchased by every maker of confections.

481. BOTTLE STOPPER.--There are mines of wealth in a cheap substitute for cork. An inventor will some day make a fortune by the inventing of a paper stopper.

482. COMBINATION CORK AND CORKSCREW.--A bottle stopper which can be removed by simply turning it around like the top of a wooden money-barrel made for children. Must be made to sell cheap.

483. THE COLLAPSIBLE BARREL.--A barrel arranged in a series of parts each one above smaller than the one below, and so contrived that when not filled the parts sink into each other like the pieces of a field glass. A barrel of such convenience for reshipping would be bought by the hundred thousand, and would be full of gold for its inventor.

484. SELF-STANDING BAG.--A device whereby bags will stand alone with wide-open top while being filled, thus dispensing with the services of an extra man. All shipping merchants would pay largely for such a bag.

485. BARREL FILLER AND FUNNEL CUT-OFF.--Barrel filling by the ordinary funnel is slow. Provide four openings at the bottom instead of one. A small rubber hose will connect the opening of each barrel, and a cut-off or a string attachment at the end of each hose cuts off the flow when the barrel is full, and permits the contents of the hose to be carried back to the barrel and thence into one of the unfilled barrels, thus avoiding waste.

486. FOLDING CRATE.--The transportation of fruit and other produce would be greatly facilitated and cheapened if some one would invent a folding crate. An empty crate occupies as much room as a full one.

487. PAPER BARREL.--Who will invent a paper barrel which will be as serviceable as the present wooden one, and have the advantage of being light? It would have a universal sale.

_Section 11. Money in Articles of Trade._

488. THE TRADESMAN’S SIGNAL.--An automatic device for letting the grocer, butcher, baker, etc., know when he is wanted, saving time both to the household and trade. Sure to sell.

489. BARREL GAUGE.--A dial with hands to be attached to a barrel or keg to indicate the amount of its contents.

490. ELASTIC CHIMNEY.--An elastic glass chimney which will expand with the heat and not break would sell by the million.

491. AIR MOISTENER.--A apparatus for moistening the air in the room. It should avoid the objectionable feature of all present devices which sprinkle minute drops of water to the damage of goods. All large manufacturers and proprietors of large stores, where many workmen and clerks are employed will pay handsomely for such a machine.

492. AUTOMATIC LUBRICATOR.--Every wheel, axle, pulley and joint, in labor’s great beehive needs oil. A vast amount of valuable time is consumed in the work. Invent an oil-can which will work automatically, and you can name your own price.

493. SHORT-TIME NEGATIVE.--A process by which the negative of a photographic camera may be developed almost instantly instead of consuming the time now required. An immediate fortune is assured to the discoverer of this art.

494. DRYING APPARATUS.--An invention by which dry air could be produced in abundance so as to dry clothes or be employed in the preservation of fruits would make its deviser independently rich.

495. ROTABLE HOTEL REGISTER.--A revolving frame for a hotel office, so that the register is alike accessible to the clerks within and the guests without.

496. GLASS DOME.--The inventor of the little glass bell for hanging over gas jets made a fortune, but as the gas fixture is commonly attached to a movable bracket it does not always occupy the same place. A glass dome which shall be a part of the gas fixture would be a great improvement and bring much money to the inventor.

497. ROUND CUTTING SCISSORS.--A scissors or shears that will cut round as well as straight. It would be bought by every one who uses a needle.

498. CASKET CLAMP.--Three thousand people die every day in this country. Undertakers want a clamp which will keep the casket from moving in the hearse either laterally or longitudinally.

499. SELF-WINDING CLOCK.--An arrangement such that when the weight of the clock touches a certain point it will set in operation a mechanism which will wind. The prize for perpetual motion has never yet been awarded. Possibly the solution is in the self-winding clock.

500. DOSE STOPPER.--A thimble-like contrivance which shall act both as a bottle-stopper and a cup to contain the exact dose.

501. FAUCET MEASURE.--A device for measuring the quantity of liquid that passes through the faucet. Invaluable for store-keepers.

502. AUTOMATIC FEEDER.--A feeding rack so constructed that the hay or grain will be fed automatically with a cut-off when the proper amount has been given.

503. COUPON CASH BOOK.--At present persons who pay cash are charged the same as those who trade on credit, a practice which is manifestly wrong. A cash-book should be made so that those who pay immediately for goods should receive a rebate. Every merchant would purchase a quantity of these books, since the great bane of merchandise is bad debts.

504. GAS DETECTIVE.--A device to be placed on a gas fixture to ascertain instantly whether it leaks. Often there is an odor of gas when it is difficult to tell whence it proceeds.

505. PAPER TOWELS.--Paper towels having the quality of cloth, yet designed only for a single use, will doubtless be a feature of the near future. They will “make” their first maker.

506. WATER FILTER.--A cheap device for use in every household, one which could be attached to the water faucet, and which would insure pure water. It would sell enormously.

507. PNEUMATIC FREIGHT TUBE.--If small packages for store and post office use can be sent by tubes, why may not the principle of compressed air be extended so that grain and fruit may be transported thereby, thus saving the great expense of handling and of car freightage? Some day the greater part of our freight will be carried by this means, and he who is first in the field will coin a mint of clean dollars.

508. STORM WARNING.--Apply the principle of the barometer to a large glass globe, placed on the top of a public building, by means of which the contained liquid shall be colored red on the approach of a storm; or construct an instrument which will give forth a sound when bad weather is to be feared. Such an invention would be wanted everywhere.

509. HEAT GOVERNOR.--If a regulator could be placed upon heat pipes so as to keep the heat at a desired temperature, the inventor would reap untold millions. Florists, poultry raisers, and in fact every housekeeper needs this device.

510. AUTOMATIC OIL FEEDER.--An invention which will feed oil to a lamp at a uniform rate, and which is provided with a cut-off whereby the supply can be stopped when the light is extinguished.

511. PAINT BRUSH FEEDER.--A brush with a reservoir of paint so that when the painter finds the uplifted brush growing dry he has but to reverse it in order to have it replenished.

512. INSIDE FAUCET.--The outside faucet is awkward and interferes with cartage. One which could be worked on the inside by a button on the outside is demanded. Improvements in faucets have made two or three inventors rich, but the right one is yet to come.

513. HOUSE PATTERNS.--Thousands of people like to plan for themselves the building of their homes. At present the only means provided is that of pencil and drawing paper. Wooden blocks adapted for the purpose, and ready-made joints would fill a long-felt want.

514. EXTENSION HANDLE.--A handle which may be applied to any kind of a brush, and which will enable painters, window-scrubbers, and others who have to work at high elevations, to do their work from the ground.

515. WIRE STRETCHER.--Thousands of tons of wire are manufactured annually, but the wires often are slack. Invent a cheap, simple device which will keep spring beds even and wire fences taut.

516. PRICE TAG.--A price tag which can be instantly attached to a piece of goods. Merchants would buy it by the thousands if made for a trifling cost.

517. THE HANDY VISE.--In the course of time a hundred things need fixing in every house. What is needed is a small vise which can be readily attached to a kitchen table, and which would not cost over fifty cents.

518. FOLDING LADDER.--A light ladder which is portable and extensible would pay well.

519. SMOKELESS FUEL.--A kind of kindling which will be as ignitable as wood, but which will not smoke. The inventor will have money to burn.

520. FINGER-RING GAUGE.--A cylindrical piece of metal to which are loosely attached a number of rings of the same material, serving as a gauge to measure the finger, each ring differing from the others by a slight fraction.

521. LAUNDRY BAG.--Hotel keepers want a bag adapted to the carrying of washing, so as to avoid the unsightly baskets of washerwomen. A large ornamental bag should be constructed with apartments for different kinds of wearing apparel.

522. SOLE CEMENT.--A cement which could take the place of pegs, nails, and threads in the manufacture of shoes would revolutionize the trade and make money for the patentee.

523. GOODS EXHIBITOR.--On an upright column attach a number of steel or wooden rods radiating like the spokes of a wheel, and made to turn by clock-work machinery.

524. SHOE STRETCHER.--A metal frame made adjustable to any shoe by having its parts extended or depressed and worked by a tiny crank. The extension of the frame when the crank is turned stretches the shoe.

525. CORK EJECTOR.--A simple means by which the cork can be ejected from within would supplant all prevalent methods and bring wealth to the inventor.

526. LEMON SQUEEZER.--A squeezer of a new type, having a tongue to pierce the fruit, and making a hole just large enough for the juice to be extracted by the squeezer, but not large enough for the pulp to escape. The only squeezer which presses the lemon without cutting it in half. The inventor of the glass lemon squeezer made a large fortune.

527. SPRING WHEEL.--A wheel with inner and outer rim, and the space between filled with springs would afford much easier riding than the present method.

528. THE PLURAL CAPSULE.--Capsules made so as to be divided in order that one-half or one-quarter the quantity can be taken.

529. THE DOSE BOTTLE.--This might be called the neck measurer. A bottle whose neck holds exactly the dose, and an arrangement for closing the lower end of the neck when it is full.

530. FISHERMAN’S CLAW.--A large, steel claw somewhat on the principle of a net, but with many advantages, might be invented. The claw when opened should cover three or four square yards of water. It closes with a spring attached to the handle. Quite as much sport in this as with the hook and line. The right article ought to have great sales.

531. POCKET SCALE.--A little scale capable of being carried in the pocket, so as to be instantly at service in weighing small articles would be appreciated and purchased by almost every one.

532. TOY BANK AND REGISTER.--There is needed for the holding of children’s money a bank with a device attached for registering the amount which it contains. A cheap device of this kind would be a great improvement on the present toy bank. The inventor of one of the principal banks for children now in use is said to have made half a million dollars out of his invention.

533. THE PAPER MATCH.--“The time-honored scheme of rolling up a piece of paper and using it for a lighter could be utilized by an inventor in the manufacture of matches,” says the _National Druggist_. “The invention would revolutionize match manufacturing, because the wood for this purpose is constantly growing scarcer and more costly. The matches would be considerably cheaper than the wooden ones, and also weigh less, a fact which counts for much in the exportation.”

534. ILLUMINATED TYPE.--Here is an idea which if properly worked ought to put the inventor on the high road to fortune. Why could not our newspaper-type, by the use of phosphorous, after the manner of the illuminated watch dial, be illumined so that the print could be read in the dark? Illuminated type may be a newspaper feature of the coming century.

535. PAPER BOTTLES.--If a paper bottle could be made as serviceable as glass, its many other advantages would make it an El Dorado for the inventor. Its lightness in transportation and its freedom from breakage would cause it to come into general use. Especially on shipboard, where bottles are constantly broken by the roll of the vessel, would such an invention be hailed with joy.

536. THE PAPER SAIL.--“Paper sails,” says the _Railway Review_, “are meeting with considerable favor. They are cheaper than canvas sails, and they are soft, flexible, and as untearable as the original article.” There is room for invention here. Treated with the proper solutions, it may be that paper will entirely displace cloth in the wings of our ships.

_Section 12. Money in the Street._

537. STREET SWEEPER.--A device like the present carpet sweeper to be used on paved roadways will command a large sale.

538. PHOSPHORESCENT STREET NUMBERS.--Who has not been vexed in trying to locate an unfamiliar house in the dark? In many streets not one number in a hundred can be seen in the night. Contrive some means of illuminating these numbers, and you will confer a boon to others and reap a reward for yourself.

539. BUGGY TOP ADJUSTER.--A contrivance for raising or lowering the buggy top so that it can be readily operated from the buggy-seat.

540. SHOULDER PACK.--Men persist in carrying in their hands that which could be borne between the shoulders with much less strain. Who will give us a convenient pack to be carried upon the back?

541. ADJUSTABLE CART BOTTOM.--A cart with device for lowering the bottom to the ground or nearly so, for the easy reception of the goods, with jack for raising the same when loaded. Every merchant, carter, and expressman would hasten to possess himself of this invention.

542. NAILLESS HORSE SHOE.--A rubber shoe, which can be easily adjusted to a horse’s foot without nails. The advantages would be many and the sales numerous.

543. ELASTIC RING.--An elastic ring for hitching horses. One with snap buckle for opening so as to receive both the bridle and the object to which it is to be attached. As the ring is elastic, it will fit any hitching post or tree. It would be welcome to everybody who owns a horse.

544. HEEL CYCLOMETER.--An indicator fixed in the heel of a boot or shoe so that each step records itself, and by which the pedestrian is enabled to tell the distance he has covered.

545. WHIP LOCK.--A cheap device to be placed in the whip-stock of a carriage for securing the whip against theft. If it could be sold for ten cents every driver would have one.

546. REIN-HOLDER.--A contrivance attached to the dashboard and which holds the reins securely in position and prevents them from being switched under the horse’s tail.

547. AUTOMOBILE.--The horseless carriage is sold at prices ranging from $1,800 to $3,000. Josef Hofman, the great pianist, says he is confident he can build one for $300. Here is a great opportunity for mechanical electricians.

548. THE LOW TRUCK.--It would be a great advantage to carters if a truck could be constructed whose body would be much nearer the ground than the one in present use. Great expense as well as expenditure of muscle would be saved if by some arrangement the cart body could be as low as eighteen inches from the ground.

549. AUTOMATIC HORSE-FASTENER.--The man will make a fortune who can devise some means whereby the rider can fasten his horse and unfasten him without alighting from the vehicle.

550. THE FOOT-CYCLE.--Persons who know the ease and exhilaration of skating as compared with walking will be interested in an effort to invent a foot-cycle which will do for the foot on the ground what the skate does on the ice. The roller-skate does this in a measure, but it is adapted to hard surfaces only. What is needed is something in the order of a miniature bicycle--a machine capable of going over surfaces hard and soft, in fact, a sort of bicycle skate. Here is vast room for a fertile inventor.

_Section 13. Money in Farming Contrivances._

551. A CORN CUTTER.--A machine to run between the rows and cut the stalks on each side would sell to every farmer; and there are 4,565,000 farmers in the United States.

552. FROST PROTECTOR.--A chemical combination whose product when ignited is chiefly smoke. All farmers suffer from late and early frosts. They would pay liberally for a smoke producer which would protect their crops, for it is known that a very little smoke acts as a mantle to keep off the frost. They should be made cheap so that half a hundred might be placed to the acre. Farmers are the most numerous class of people, and fortunes await those who can invent anything for their benefit.

553. A FARM FERTILIZER.--Wanted--a fertilizer more powerful and less bulky than those in use. We have condensed meat extracts for the table; why not better condensation of food for the farm? Chemists will find no better paying employment for their brains than in this direction.

554. A POSTLESS FENCE.--For posts substitute a windlass at each corner of the field so as to keep the wires taut. If the field is large or irregular, more windlasses would be required, but they could be manufactured at a cost much less than that of posts.

555. AUTOMATIC GATE OPENER.--Fix an iron bar or rail with a spring contrivance in such a way that the pressure of wagon wheels on one side of the gate releases a spring and causes the gate to fly open, while the pressure on the opposite side causes it to close. The arrangement of the contrivance on one side is of course the reverse of that on the other.

556. CORN PLANTER.--A long, hollow cylinder filled with seed corn and having rows of holes placed at regular intervals for dropping the kernels, and wedge-like or plow-shaped pieces of iron between the rows so as to throw up a light covering of soil, would plant easily twenty-nine acres a day. Such a simple contrivance would cost only a few dollars, and would command a ready sale to agriculturists.

557. THE ALL-SEED PLANTER.--A device like the above, the wheels and gearing remaining the same, but with the cylinder fixed so as to be readily detached, and other cylinders substituted, having the rows and sizes of holes adapted to the planting of any kind of seed. These sets of cylinders would make the machine much more expensive than the one in the former article, but it would be much cheaper than separate machines for different seeds.

558. FERTILIZER DISTRIBUTOR.--One constructed on the plan of the street-sprinkling cart would make much of the farm labor easier than it now is.

559. BONE CUTTER.--Farmers want a cheap bone cutter--cost not to exceed $5--by which bones and sea-shells can be cut into small bits for fowls. Bone is an egg-producer, but no cheap means has been invented for utilizing this kind of refuse.

560. BUCKET TIPPER.--A bucket with an attachment at the bottom connecting with a finger-piece at the top, so that the bucket can be tipped and its contents emptied without the wetting of the hands.

561. POST HOLE DIGGER.--A four-sided metal casing is driven into the ground by a sledge-hammer. A small handle sunk in one side of the casing pulls a metal plate through the earth at the bottom, thus making an earth-filled box. Two more stout handles on the top are for lifting the digger and its contents. A digger which could be made for $5 would sell by the ten thousand.

562. WELL REFRIGERATOR.--Farmers often keep articles in the well; but if an accident to the rope occur, the articles of food are often spilled, thus spoiling the water in the well, and entailing great annoyance and expense. Invent a way by which a well may be a safe ice-box.

563. MULTIPLE DASHER CHURN.--A churn which is constructed on the principle of the common egg-beater, and which is operated from the top instead of the side or end. A fortune in this.

564. FRUIT PICKER.--An open bag fixed at the end of a long pole with a shears operated by a string in the hand of the picker.

565. PORTABLE FENCE.--A fence in which the posts are made of steel or iron two inches in diameter, and tapering at the end so as to be readily driven into the ground. Such a fence may be carried in a wagon and set up anywhere in a few minutes.

566. POULTRY DRINKING FOUNTAIN.--A round wooden dish with a large cone occupying the central space, except the narrow channel near the rim. This will prevent the fowls from getting their feet in the water and fouling it, while at the same time the cone is a reservoir of supply. There should be a faucet allowing the water to drip slowly so as to keep the channel filled.

567. POULTRY PERCH.--A movable perch, with an erect post and numerous projecting arms. It has the advantage that it can be removed and cleansed.

568. MOLE TRAP.--One of the greatest pests of the farmer, and the most difficult to catch is the mole. Invent a trap whose upper part shall be somewhat like an old-fashioned hetchel, full of sharp spikes; the under part is a platform, and releases a spring when the mole steps upon it.

569. SEED SOWER.--Apply the principle of the revolving nozzle in the lawn sprinkler to a machine for the sowing of seed.

570. MILKER AND STRAINER.--Construct a pail in two parts, the upper part to receive the milk directly from the cow while a strainer separates it from the lower part. Thus the milk can be taken from the barnyard already strained.

571. PAPER MILK CAN.--In time milk cans will probably be constructed of paper. The saving in cost of transportation would cause every farmer to hail the construction of such an invention.