Originality.

Progress, Volume II, Issue 5, 1 March 1907, Page 187

Originality.

By Peter Ellis, Wellington.

Except through exigency, there is little merit in copying what has already been done. He who expects to move the world, must do so by originality. To be original is to be progressive through the outcome of many failures ; indeed failures may be considered as incidental to real progress, since from them we learn our best lessons. It is worthy of note that some of the most successful inventors have very large scrap heaps, scrap heaps which speak persistence, and persistence generally spells success. It has been said of Edison that, when in search of one of nature's secrets, m answer to an enquiry concerning his success his words were, " No, but I know where not to look I " After all to know "where not to look" constitutes a great part of the inventor's skill. Had more of this kind of knowledge been possessed by erstwhile pseudoinventors of the so-called perpetual motions, much stress of mind and wasted energy would have been saved and 'perhaps employed m useful channels. Provided an inventor is working on reasonable lines (and so many marvels have astonished the world lately that he is a bold fellow who will limit possibilities), he should not be discouraged by a succession of failures ; the flying-machine will come, but it is not yet. Failures are strewn all along the line. Motor cars were failures time and again, yet they are with us to-day, not quite perfect 'tis true," but they have arrived. Persistency coupled with reason is the main road to success. Unfortunately, however, many talented inventors tire of their work, while others are crippled in resources, leaving a great accumulation of flotsam and jetsam in the patent offices of the world, containing priceless gems of real merit among a chaotic mass of unfinished ideas. " There is nothing new

under the sun," which seems to say there is no originality. Though there be " nothing new," there certainly may be new combinations, and it is chiefly in original combinations that originality lies. One can hardly say to an inventor : "Be original." To be an inventor he must be so, and his success is likely to be in proportion to his discernment of facts, his knowledge of failures, and his perseverance. Strictly orthodox engineers look coldly on originality, but a moment's thought suggests that but for it their occupation would be gone. The steam turbine and many other inventions have fought their way through discouraging opinions and still come out on top. The wisest of men's powers are limited, and the ever-flowing stream of progress cannot wait for the theories of the learned. It will burst the banks of science and overflow the dams of philosophy.

The Mephan Ferguson Patent Locking Bar Steel Pipe Company, at Avondale, Auckland, have finished the contract for supplying pipes to the Auckland city council, and have also nearly finished delivery of the same. These pipes, though light compared with cast iron, are very strong, bearing a test of over 400 Ifo per sq. in. Though the plant to make these is large and in many parts heavy, it is intended to remove it to wherever pipes in quantity are required.

Ballooning has a curious effect on the vision. The pressure on the visual organs decreases and the sense of sight becomes so keen that at an altitude of 6000 ft. a bottle dropped to a body of water below may be observed in detail as it disappears beneath the surface.

No man can blaze his way through the world with his grandfather's hatchet.