CURIOUS PATENTS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 96, 21 April 1883, Page 1

CURIOUS PATENTS.

Some investigating; person has funrshrd tin* New York Times with a hiief IV of patents on small thing* which in many msumces have proved great mine-* of wealth tv the Nicky d : scoverers Tiie dst might he extern led to a much larger number, but we only state those gfven in the Times Annmg these is the favorite toy—the * retun. bdl’—a wooden ball w ith an elas’ic string nttiched. selling for ten cen's each, but yielding to its patentee an income equal to £IOOOO a V 1 ar. T e rubber tip <m the end of lead pencils affords the owner of the royally an independent fortune. The inventor of th-gummed newspaper wrapper is also a rich man. The gimlet-pointed screw has involved more wealth than most silver mines, and the man who first thought of putting copper f : p< to children’s shoes is as well off !is if Ins father had I*-ft h : m United Sta es bonds. Alth ugh rollers skates are not so much used in countries wm*re ice is abundant, in South America, especially in Hnzil, they are very highly esteemed, an I have yielded over £200,000 to their inventor. But he had to spend fully 125,000d015. in England alone fighting infringements. The ‘ dancing Jim Crow,’ a toy, provides an annual income of £15,000 to its inventor, and the common needle threader is worth £2OOO a year to the man who thought of it. The ‘ drive well ’ was an idea of Colonel Gteen, whose troops during the war were in want of waterHe conceived the notion of driving a 2-inch pipe into th - ground until wster was reached, and then attaching a pump. This simple contrivance was patented after the war, and the tens of thousands of farmers and others who have adopted it have had to pay him a royalty, a moderate estimate of which is placed at £600,000. The spring window • shade yields an income of £20,000 a year ; the stylogrnphic pen also brings in £20,000 yearly ; the marking pen for shading in different colors, £20,000, rubber stamps the same A very large fortune has been reaped by a western miner, who, ten years since, invented a nmtal rivet or eyelet at each end of the mouth ef coat and pants pockets to resist the strain caused by the carriage of pieces of ore and heavy tools.