The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1915. PRACTICAL INVENTIONS AND OTHERS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 7 August 1915, Page 2

The Chronicle PUBLISHED DAILY. LEVIN. SATURDAY, AUGUST 7, 1915. PRACTICAL INVENTIONS AND OTHERS.

lnveiitoifc iind their oarliLvst rcconlcd protulypei) in Grecian liist-ury. Irom Archimedes Lu Hero oi Alexandria, but doiiljtlejsi these had their predecessors in a, liny that stretched to Troy. England's diiel exanipJar is the Mari]uii> ul' Worcester, of wliom ue read i.i the belle letlres ol the ol Charles the Second; ho wan an inventor nho ksiied in book form , ''A Cen-

tury ol 'Inventions," which ranged Irom a working steam engine down io a device lor loading dice so perfectly that tho wary manipulator oi thv?iu ■would be a sure winner of gambling .stakes! Patents in these days tiro directed to more reputable ends, but the money sunk in preliminaries to money-making inventions is enormous, and there are a host of haul-up people whoso poverty is trace able directly to the piirtsuit of this ignk i'atuus. Zealand has her low siicoetisful inventors and her many linaiieial failures wln'.Bo ideas were gooil cr otJieruiae, but whose luck was abominable. One of these latter, a ■I'olativi. of the present writer, spent Jiall li'-> yeaits and all his money in perfectiny a new idea in ilax-strippiny <hums. tlie principle which underlies , the cunrso pursued in hundreds of ihux nulls to-day. A similarly lucrative but less practical device oi the same inventor was a spring-heeled shoe lor running races in. To ourselt was to be given the distinction oi making the lirst public use of the snoe, but as to our mind it smacked too much ol the Marquis of Worcester's dice device, we ran in our ordinary racing shoes, and on that particular occasion got spiked for our pains at the end of a. false (start.

TJio foregoing reminiscences, also a lew others that may uo recorded u sumo future issue, are evoked by a perusal ol' tlio latest report of tile Zealand Registrar of Patent* wherein no note ithafc since the louadiition ot the office, twenty-seven yeans ago, a sum of nearly ninety thousand pounds sterling has been paid ior registration of rights in New Zealand, A su'in ol jL7072 was received. during 1 1 J1-1 lhirty-t/wo applications were received i'roin women inventors (nine less iha-u in i ( Jl3), ID being in respect of domestic appliances and seven lor articles ol drees. The effect ol the war lias been' felt by the office in tne fewer applications recorded, the- number lor the last four months amounting to only 20.33 per cent of the year's total. While this has involved a falling-off in fees payable on filing, it is noteworthy that the payments for the renews of existing patqnts has been fully maintained. Under tlie special legislation passed last session rules have been made enabling the Governor-iu-Council to order the avoidance or suspension of patents or trademarks of subjects of a State at war with His Majesty. .No application has so tar been received for the avoidance or suspension of any patent or the grant ol a license thereunder, but applications have been' made for the avoidance or suspension of the registration in .New Zealand of two trade-marks of Her- | man proprietary. In each case suspension in favour 01 the applicants Ins been approved, subject to certain conditions. The Act also enabled j rules to be made for suspension of proceedings in respect of applications for patents or registration ol .trade-marks of enemy subjects. .No such applications are accepted or patents issued, but a special license permits the pay-, ment of renewal fees, and in these j cases they are accordingly received anTl recorded. The regulations under the Act further enable the time for filling any document or paying any fee to lie extended where a person lias been prevented from doing so by reason of active service, enforcocl absence from the country, or from any other circumstances arising from the present state Of ( ■war. An extension may also be grant- i ed for any act the doing 01 Which would j l>y reason'of the circumstances arising, from the present state of iwar bo pro- j judicial to tho rights or interests of i any .applicant , or ..proprietor..; ■