INVENTIONS THAT WILL BRING RICHES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 130, 10 September 1910, Page 10

INVENTIONS THAT WILL BRING RICHES

It is agreed on all hands that invention offers one of the surest means of attaining fame and fortune, and one of the shortest, too. Now, there is no lack of inventive genius. There never were so many clever persons in the world as there are to-day; but somehow their energies are not always applied in the right direction, and so they fail. It is just the old story of "eyes and no eyes." Observe a plumber laboriously pouring melted lead over a pipe joint and smoothing it down with a leather pad. Can you not think of a way to join these pipes cold, and do it quickly? If you can, there is a fortune waiting for you. Then, too, there is a nice easy little invention that will certainly bring you thousands annually—that is, just a simple and effective means of fastening panes in window frames. Surely it is a slur on the inventive genius of the age that we should still have to resort to putty in this enlightened twentieth century.

Have you ever watched a car driver or motorman lean over with a long crowbar to shift the switch at the junction, or a man at the corner with a lever for the same purpose? Devise a pjanwherebv the driver or motorman, by simply pressing a footplate on the car of the platform, might move the point or switch whichever w:ay he desires, and many car companies throughout the country will take up your invention. The 'wealth of a Rothschild is waiting for the inventor of a satisfactory paving material. At present the rule seems to hold that what is good for the wheels is bad for the hoofs, and vice versa. That is to say. where the road is smooth and the wheels can run easily, there is no grit for the hoofs, and where, it is roush. the vehicle is hard to drag. Then there is the motor to consider. Propelled bv the back wheels, it is bound to skid if the surface be at all greasy. What is wanted is a smooth, hard, absorbent 'surface, with at the same time a perfect grip. There are scores of little things wanted urgently, for the invention of which no technical knowledge is required. One of them is a really good can-opener—-something that would cut the can open ■with one round sweep, without risk of gashing the fingers or ruining the temper.

An envelope that could not lie opened without detection would lie welcomed by manufacturers. A bottle that cannot be re-filled is still asked for. There are several on the market, it is true, but the right one is yet to come. And a word should be added «s to n shoe find glove fastening. 'Consider how much time is wasted in lacing shoes. Reflect how often the shoe lace breaks. A neat, quick, and simple little device is wanted—something that would cost little to produce and could easily be replaced when worn out. Invent it. and you are wealthy for life.