INCOMES OF SUCCESSFUL INVENTORS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7433, 20 June 1902, Page 2

INCOMES OF SUCCESSFUL INVENTORS.

SOME LARGE FORTUNES. a- " ' v ■' I '-. Some of the largest fortunes appear toi rave been derived from the invention of rivialities and novelties, suoh as the. once >opular toy known as " Dancing Jimcrow," vhieh for several years is said to _av_ fielded it* patentee an- annual- income of ipwards of £15,000. The sale of another >oy — "John Gilpin "—enriched its lucky nventor to the extent pf £20_000 a year as dng as it continued to enjoy the unexpected popularity that greeted it when first riaced upon the market. Mr Plimpton, lie inventor of the roller skate (says a, irriter in the "Scientific American "), made 1 8200,000 out of hiks idea, and the gentlenan who 1 first thought of placing a rubber 4 ip at the end of lead pencils made) quite 320,000 a year by means of his simaple im>rovement. Whea Harvey Keonedy introduced the ihoelace he made £500,000, and the ordin-i-ry umbrella benefited six people by "as. nutfh as £2,000,000. The Howard patent or boiling sugar; in vacuo proved a lucraivo investment for the -capita-list--, whovere able to remunC*£te tlie ie veil tor on, \ ioiogsa. _ca!e. 'It is estimated that his iuome averaged between £40,000 aoid £50,000 >er annum. At first the process .proved n entire failure, and had to be laid aside _ useless. It was nofc until an. old Geraan wwkntan casually made a swgge-tioni or a possible improvement that it was odce lore tried. The -Uggestion was imp-roved ipon, and the invention rendered successful. .11 sugar refiners who. used the new method illowed Mr Howard a royalty of one shiling per cwt on the raw material passing hrough into process. Sir Jo_ia.h Mason, ihe inventor of the improved steel pen, made an ett'ormou* forune, and on his death Eflglifeh cM-aties* benefited by some millions of pounds. The lady who invented the modern baby arriage enriched herself to the extent of DIO,OOO, and a young lady living' at" Port Elizabeth, South Africa, devised the simple oilet requisite known as the " Mary Anderr on " curling iron, from which she derives oyalt.es amounting to £100 <a year. Ifc vas the wife of a -lergy__»n who designed! iri improvement 'for the corset and made a ortune out oi it. The gimlet-pointed crew, the idea of a little- -girl, brough* oany millions of dollars to the iciever in--entor. Miss Knight, a young lady cf exleptional talents, was fitted with, wonderul mechanical 1 , as will be seen- by he complicated mechanism of her machine or making, paper bags. We are told she ■efused £10,000 far it shortly after taking! rut the patent. The machine with which the Brothers tforley, in the latter years of the eighteenth sentury, mode their enormous fortune was he stocking loom, invented three generalon* earlier by tho Rev Wflliam Lee, a Mlow of St John's College, Cambridge, England. Lee's life story _■ full of _adLess. According to one/account, Let', fallng in love and .marrying an innkeeper's laughter, lost his fellowship, and was ccn;equently reduced to extreme poverty. The vife knitted stockings for a living, and the msband, sitting by her side as she worked, vatched the intricate movement- of her lands, and was thereby led to -peculate H. the possability ol constr_cta»g a maihine tha* would do the Vr_tfk _ftor_ expelit_ou»ly. Lee came to grief, because hds rtaehine was believedi to be a device for browing people out of employment. He vent ultimately to France, ..where he died roor and friendless, cv disappointed man. Che frame completely revolutionistd tite rfcocking trade, producing fifteen huudrcd oops per minute, as against the hund-ed oops in skMed hand-knitting. Prior to 1854 postage stamps were issued n sheets, the pui-chaser having to cut themi rp in the way he found most _opven_eo*. in 1848 an Irishman, named Archer intra? luced a machine for cutting smaii slits •ound each stamp. .Eve_ib_al]y the matter vas placed before the Select Committee of .he House of Commons, and- the pertilacioits inventor, was awarded £2000, vhieh, considering his apparatus- m «. few rears saved the Government many thou»ands sterling, was not excessive. AUTHENTIC MEDICAL OPINIONS .VORTH KNOWING :— Dr Osborne says : •I use SANDER and SONS' EUG'ALYPCI EXTRACT as a spray for nasal caarrh low fever, asthma, etc.j. with great ucess I find this preparation superior » "ail others." Dr Stahl : "I have used rftrious preparations of Euoalptus, but I o? best results from SANDER AND ONS' EUCALYPTI EXTRACT than rent any other." Dr Preston : " I never i«o any Eucalyptus preparation other than SANDER AND SONS', as I found the (thers to be almost useless.' Dr Hart: •It coes without saying that SANDER _ND SONS' 'EUCALYPTI EXTRACT is he best in the market." In influenza, all evers throat and lung trouble, diphtheria, liarrhcea, dysentery, kidney complaints, heumatism, wounds, sprains, -ulcers, etc., c is invaluable. See that you get SANGER AND SONS', reject spurious reparations, which are' sometimes supdied by unscrupulous dealers. — (Advt.) The oldest living cricketer in England is Vlr Herbert Jenner-Eust, who is bearing ightly the burden of ninety-one years. As Serberfc Jenner (the Fust was a subsequent iddition) he appeared at Lord's for Eton igainst Harrow in 1822, fifteen years beore the Queen c_me to the throne, and five rears later played for Cambridge against .xford.