Section 11 Money in Articles of Trade
488. The Tradesman’s Signal.—An automatic device for letting the grocer, butcher, baker, etc., know when he is wanted, saving time both to the household and trade. Sure to sell.
489. Barrel Gauge.—A dial with hands to be attached to a barrel or keg to indicate the amount of its contents.
490. Elastic Chimney.—An elastic glass chimney which will expand with the heat and not break would sell by the million.
491. Air Moistener.—A apparatus for moistening the air in the room. It should avoid the objectionable feature of all present devices which sprinkle minute drops of water to the damage of goods. All large manufacturers and proprietors of large stores, where many workmen and clerks are employed will pay handsomely for such a machine.
492. Automatic Lubricator.—Every wheel, axle, pulley and joint, in labor’s great beehive needs oil. A vast amount of valuable time is consumed in the work. Invent an oil-can which will work automatically, and you can name your own price.
493. Short-Time Negative.—A process by which the negative of a photographic camera may be developed almost instantly instead of consuming the time now required. An immediate fortune is assured to the discoverer of this art.
494. Drying Apparatus.—An invention by which dry air could be produced in abundance so as to dry clothes or be employed in the preservation of fruits would make its deviser independently rich.
495. Rotable Hotel Register.—A revolving frame for a hotel office, so that the register is alike accessible to the clerks within and the guests without.
496. Glass Dome.—The inventor of the little glass bell for hanging over gas jets made a fortune, but as the gas fixture is commonly attached to a movable bracket it does not always occupy the same place. A glass dome which shall be a part of the gas fixture would be a great improvement and bring much money to the inventor.
497. Round Cutting Scissors.—A scissors or shears that will cut round as well as straight. It would be bought by every one who uses a needle.
498. Casket Clamp.—Three thousand people die every day in this country. Undertakers want a clamp which will keep the casket from moving in the hearse either laterally or longitudinally.
499. Self-Winding Clock.—An arrangement such that when the weight of the clock touches a certain point it will set in operation a mechanism which will wind. The prize for perpetual motion has never yet been awarded. Possibly the solution is in the self-winding clock.
500. Dose Stopper.—A thimble-like contrivance which shall act both as a bottle-stopper and a cup to contain the exact dose.
501. Faucet Measure.—A device for measuring the quantity of liquid that passes through the faucet. Invaluable for store-keepers.
502. Automatic Feeder.—A feeding rack so constructed that the hay or grain will be fed automatically with a cut-off when the proper amount has been given.
503. Coupon Cash Book.—At present persons who pay cash are charged the same as those who trade on credit, a practice which is manifestly wrong. A cash-book should be made so that those who pay immediately for goods should receive a rebate. Every merchant would purchase a quantity of these books, since the great bane of merchandise is bad debts.
504. Gas Detective.—A device to be placed on a gas fixture to ascertain instantly whether it leaks. Often there is an odor of gas when it is difficult to tell whence it proceeds.
505. Paper Towels.—Paper towels having the quality of cloth, yet designed only for a single use, will doubtless be a feature of the near future. They will “make” their first maker.
506. Water Filter.—A cheap device for use in every household, one which could be attached to the water faucet, and which would insure pure water. It would sell enormously.
507. Pneumatic Freight Tube.—If small packages for store and post office use can be sent by tubes, why may not the principle of compressed air be extended so that grain and fruit may be transported thereby, thus saving the great expense of handling and of car freightage? Some day the greater part of our freight will be carried by this means, and he who is first in the field will coin a mint of clean dollars.
508. Storm Warning.—Apply the principle of the barometer to a large glass globe, placed on the top of a public building, by means of which the contained liquid shall be colored red on the approach of a storm; or construct an instrument which will give forth a sound when bad weather is to be feared. Such an invention would be wanted everywhere.
509. Heat Governor.—If a regulator could be placed upon heat pipes so as to keep the heat at a desired temperature, the inventor would reap untold millions. Florists, poultry raisers, and in fact every housekeeper needs this device.
510. Automatic Oil Feeder.—An invention which will feed oil to a lamp at a uniform rate, and which is provided with a cut-off whereby the supply can be stopped when the light is extinguished.
511. Paint Brush Feeder.—A brush with a reservoir of paint so that when the painter finds the uplifted brush growing dry he has but to reverse it in order to have it replenished.
512. Inside Faucet.—The outside faucet is awkward and interferes with cartage. One which could be worked on the inside by a button on the outside is demanded. Improvements in faucets have made two or three inventors rich, but the right one is yet to come.
513. House Patterns.—Thousands of people like to plan for themselves the building of their homes. At present the only means provided is that of pencil and drawing paper. Wooden blocks adapted for the purpose, and ready-made joints would fill a long-felt want.
514. Extension Handle.—A handle which may be applied to any kind of a brush, and which will enable painters, window-scrubbers, and others who have to work at high elevations, to do their work from the ground.
515. Wire Stretcher.—Thousands of tons of wire are manufactured annually, but the wires often are slack. Invent a cheap, simple device which will keep spring beds even and wire fences taut.
516. Price Tag.—A price tag which can be instantly attached to a piece of goods. Merchants would buy it by the thousands if made for a trifling cost.
517. The Handy Vise.—In the course of time a hundred things need fixing in every house. What is needed is a small vise which can be readily attached to a kitchen table, and which would not cost over fifty cents.
518. Folding Ladder.—A light ladder which is portable and extensible would pay well.
519. Smokeless Fuel.—A kind of kindling which will be as ignitable as wood, but which will not smoke. The inventor will have money to burn.
520. Finger-Ring Gauge.—A cylindrical piece of metal to which are loosely attached a number of rings of the same material, serving as a gauge to measure the finger, each ring differing from the others by a slight fraction.
521. Laundry Bag.—Hotel keepers want a bag adapted to the carrying of washing, so as to avoid the unsightly baskets of washerwomen. A large ornamental bag should be constructed with apartments for different kinds of wearing apparel.
522. Sole Cement.—A cement which could take the place of pegs, nails, and threads in the manufacture of shoes would revolutionize the trade and make money for the patentee.
523. Goods Exhibitor.—On an upright column attach a number of steel or wooden rods radiating like the spokes of a wheel, and made to turn by clock-work machinery.
524. Shoe Stretcher.—A metal frame made adjustable to any shoe by having its parts extended or depressed and worked by a tiny crank. The extension of the frame when the crank is turned stretches the shoe.
525. Cork Ejector.—A simple means by which the cork can be ejected from within would supplant all prevalent methods and bring wealth to the inventor.
526. Lemon Squeezer.—A squeezer of a new type, having a tongue to pierce the fruit, and making a hole just large enough for the juice to be extracted by the squeezer, but not large enough for the pulp to escape. The only squeezer which presses the lemon without cutting it in half. The inventor of the glass lemon squeezer made a large fortune.
527. Spring Wheel.—A wheel with inner and outer rim, and the space between filled with springs would afford much easier riding than the present method.
528. The Plural Capsule.—Capsules made so as to be divided in order that one-half or one-quarter the quantity can be taken.
529. The Dose Bottle.—This might be called the neck measurer. A bottle whose neck holds exactly the dose, and an arrangement for closing the lower end of the neck when it is full.
530. Fisherman’s Claw.—A large, steel claw somewhat on the principle of a net, but with many advantages, might be invented. The claw when opened should cover three or four square yards of water. It closes with a spring attached to the handle. Quite as much sport in this as with the hook and line. The right article ought to have great sales.
531. Pocket Scale.—A little scale capable of being carried in the pocket, so as to be instantly at service in weighing small articles would be appreciated and purchased by almost every one.
532. Toy Bank and Register.—There is needed for the holding of children’s money a bank with a device attached for registering the amount which it contains. A cheap device of this kind would be a great improvement on the present toy bank. The inventor of one of the principal banks for children now in use is said to have made half a million dollars out of his invention.
533. The Paper Match.—“The time-honored scheme of rolling up a piece of paper and using it for a lighter could be utilized by an inventor in the manufacture of matches,” says the National Druggist. “The invention would revolutionize match manufacturing, because the wood for this purpose is constantly growing scarcer and more costly. The matches would be considerably cheaper than the wooden ones, and also weigh less, a fact which counts for much in the exportation.”
534. Illuminated Type.—Here is an idea which if properly worked ought to put the inventor on the high road to fortune. Why could not our newspaper-type, by the use of phosphorous, after the manner of the illuminated watch dial, be illumined so that the print could be read in the dark? Illuminated type may be a newspaper feature of the coming century.
535. Paper Bottles.—If a paper bottle could be made as serviceable as glass, its many other advantages would make it an El Dorado for the inventor. Its lightness in transportation and its freedom from breakage would cause it to come into general use. Especially on shipboard, where bottles are constantly broken by the roll of the vessel, would such an invention be hailed with joy.
536. The Paper Sail.—“Paper sails,” says the Railway Review, “are meeting with considerable favor. They are cheaper than canvas sails, and they are soft, flexible, and as untearable as the original article.” There is room for invention here. Treated with the proper solutions, it may be that paper will entirely displace cloth in the wings of our ships.