Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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THE SUN, NEWBERRY, S. C- FRIDAY, AUGUST 2. 1940 First Patent Was Since Then Than Issued 150 Years Ago; Uncle Sam Has Granted More 2,000,000 to His Inventive Sons IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL S UNDAY I chool Lesson By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST. D. D. Dean of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. fReleased by Western Newspaper Union.) Lesson for August 4 Waterlily Motif for Your Luncheon Set By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) J ULY 31 of this year marks the 150th anniversary of a red letter day on the American calendar. It was not the date of a great military or naval victory nor of a significant event in our social or political history. What took place on that day does not, in itself, seem important. For it was simply this: On July 31, 1790, the United States of America granted to one Samuel Hop kins of Vermont a patent for a method of making “Pot and Pearl Ashes.” But this was the first of more than 2,000,000 patents which have been is sued since that time, and written between the lines of the records of those 2,000,000 patents is the story of the in ventive genius which has made possible an economic system capitalized at billions of dollars and has given the United States its position as the greatest industrial and business nation in the world. The American patent system had its genesis in that “Yankee ingenuity” which began to mani fest itself early in the history of English colonization of North America. Nearly 300 years ago (in October, 1641) the Massa chusetts Bay colony granted to Samuel Winslow a patent “for a period of 10 years, for a new method of manufacturing salt.” This was followed by similar grants in other colonies, but mainly in New England, to pro mote the manufacture of iron, the building of grist mills and various other enterprises neces sary for the development of in dustry along with agriculture and trade. So, when the new nation was established, the Founding Fa thers determined to include in the laws of the land statutes which would encourage invention and protect the inventor. During the Constitutional convention James Madison of Virginia and Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina offered the first pro posals for patent and copyright laws. These suggestions, which received the indorsement and encouragement of Thomas Jef ferson and George Washington, resulted in congress passing an act on August 17, 1789, which gov erned the issuance of both pat ents and copyrights. Jefferson, Patent Examiner. During the first session of con gress, applications for patents were filed by 15 inventors. At the second session it was decided to separate the two “rights” in the first law and on April 10, 1790, the first law, applying only to pat ents, was enacted. Jurisdiction over applications under this law was given to the “Commissioners for the Promotion of Useful Arts.” They were three members of Washington’s cabinet — Thomas Jefferson, secretary of state; Henry Knox, secretary of war, and Edmund Randolph, attorney general—and the task of admin istering the patent law was as signed to the State department. So Jefferson became in effect the first patent examiner and his staff for this work consisted of a single clerk. Of the 15 applications made dur ing the first year, three patents were granted. The first went to Samuel Hopkins for his method of making “Pot and Pearl Ashes,” the second was for a ma chine to make candles, flour and meal (a queer combination, that!) and the third for a method of making punches for type. The remaining 12, granted in 1791, were for the following: Im provement in distilling methods, driving piles for bridges, a thresh ing machine, a machine for breaking hemp, a marble cutter and polisher, a tide mill, a ma chine for making nails and thresh ing wheat (another queer combi nation!), a method of diminish ing spindle friction, a formula for making an extract of barks, an improved bedstead, a method of making boots, and a method of using cattle for propelling boats. Under this first act a total of 57 patents were granted. When the seat of government was moved to the new capital on the Potomac, Washington C : ty, in 1800 the patent office equip ment, records and models were loaded on a boat and sailed to Georgetown where they were cart ed to the new quarters on Penn sylvania avenue, between Nine teenth and Twentieth streets, at a cost to the government of $208. As the patent office grew, it became necessary to appoint a superintendent to direct its work. Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se- : lected and copyrighted by International Council of Religious Education: used by permission. THE TWO WAYS I LESSON TEXT — Psalm 1: Matthew 7:24-27. GOLDEN TEXT—For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteousbut the way of , the ungodly shall perish.—Psalm 1:6. I An employee of the Smithsonian institution holds the model of an in vention which was an “improvement in the method of lifting vessels over shoals.” The patent, issued May 22,1849, was granted to an inventor from Illinois, named Abraham Lincoln. (Yes, THE Abraham Lincoln.) J. W. Thornton was the man se lected and he was given a salary of $1,400 a year, allowed a clerk at $500 and a messenger at $72 a year. Later Thornton was given the title of commissioner and re moved the office to “Croker’s 2- story house” on Eighth street. Again in 1810 the patent office was moved, this time to a famous hotel, Blodgett’s on E. street, where it shared quarters with the post office department. Thornton’s Great Service. Thornton deserves to be re membered gratefully by his coun trymen for a deed which he per formed during the War of 1812. When a British force captured Washington in 1814 and began burning the public buildings, Thornton went to the British ma jor who was in charge of the burning in that section of the city, and pleaded his case so earnestly that the patent office with its rec ords and models were spared. Twenty-two years later a force against which his eloquence would have been unavailing nul lified his patriotic effort. In 1836, during the administra tion of H. L. Ellsworth, who be came commissioner of patents upon Thornton’s death in 1828, a fire swept through the patent of fice and destroyed the accumu lation of 7,000 models and all the records excepting one book. For tunately, a clerk had taken that book home the night before the S TZittrty, Calbrt (fa. m nms» *p trsci*ic*fiM u oincg If Drawings of the parts which made np Eli Whitney’s cotton gin. fire. As the result of this dis aster a new patent office build ing was erected at F and Ninth streets, Northwest, and it served as the home of the patent office until 1932 when all departments of the office were moved to the new Commerce building, erected during the administration of Pres ident Hoover, former secretary of commerce. Incidentally, the patent office is the father of the department of agriculture because in 1839 the commissioner of patents was giv en the duty of collecting and pub lishing farm statistics and for many years patent office funds were used to distribute free seeds to the farmers. This arrange ment continued until 1862 when the present department of agri culture was founded. The patent office, with the Smithsonian in stitution also served as the of ficial United States weather bu reau for a time. Its duties over lapped into the agricultural field again in 1930 when it was au thorized to issue patents for new sorts of plants in the “Plant Pat ent” bill for which Luther Bur bank, the “plant wizard” and Thomas A. Edison did some ef fective lobbying. In 1877 a second fire took its toll of more than 200,000 models damaged or destroyed and three years later the patent office dis continued its practice of requir ing inventors to submit models along with their applications for patents. By this time, even with the destruction wrought by the fire of 1877, there was such a great stock of them on hand that their storage became a problem. In 1925 congress passed an act changing requirements for getting a patent. Instead of requiring models and keeping them for inspection' by prospective inventors, drawings and specifications of all patented inventions are now printed in small pamphlets which may be purchased at a small cost and studied at leisure. However, thousands of scientists, engi neers, scholars and others visit the examining room of the patent office in the Commerce building to pore over its records, for here is the largest single source of scientific information in the world. Roll Call of Fame. There the visitor may read the contemporary records of in ventions which .have profoundly affected the course of history, not only in America but in the whole world. There he may be remind ed again of the inventors whose fame ranks with our statesmen and military and naval heroes. Beginning with Eli Whitney and his cotton gin, they include such names as McCormick and his reaper, Morse and the telegraph, Bell and the telephone, Fulton and the steamboat, Sholes and the typewriter, Westinghouse and the air brake, Thomas A. Edison and a score of inventions which gave to the world more than $3,000,000,000 of new property; and Orville and Wilbur Wright and the airplane. Incidentally, away back in 1822 a Philadelphia mathematician named James Bennett presented to congress this statement: “That your petitioner, having invented a machine by which a man can fly through the air—can soar to any height—steer in any direction—can start from any place and light without risk of injury; and, whereas, a like ma chine has never been invented in any country or age of the world, so as to be applied to purposes of practical utility, and it is more than probable that artificial fly ing would not for a hundred years to come, be brought to the same degree of perfection, had not your petitioner, under Providence, ac complished it; and, as it must be evident to all that letters patent would be of little use to the in ventor in consequence of various modifications or improvements which might be made, and which never would have been thought of had not the way first been opened by your petitioner He therefore solicits a special act of the Con- i gress of the United States to se- I cure to him and his heirs for the term of 40 years, or for such other term as in their wisdom may be deemed just, the right of steering flying machines through that portion of the earth’s at mosphere which presses on the United States, or so far as their jurisdiction may extend. By granting your petitioner’s re quest, the honor of the invention shall be conferred on the United States. Bennett’s petition was passed back and forth between various committees in congress. Then he was notified that no action would be taken on it because the mem bers “had so much business of a terrestrial character before them that they felt this matter above their reach.” Thereby they proved themselves “bum guess- ers” indeed—much worse than Bennett. He missed it by only 14 years. He had said that “ar tificial flying” would not be per fected for “a hundred years to come.” The date of the Wrights’ first successful flight at Kitty Hawk, N. C., was 19(W, The most important thing in life is living. That is not an attempt to 1 make a striking statement, but a sincere effort to present a fact i which too often escapes our atten tion. We are so concentrated upon \ making a living, or making money, or making a name for ourselves, | that we often fail to make a life. God is more concerned about what we are than what we do. There are only two ways—the right way and the wrong way. We build our life either on the true foundation or the false. There is no middle way, no half-good founda tion. We must choose, and it is either one or the other. I. Two Roads (Ps. 1). Scripture is not at all concerned about mixing figures of speech, so long as the truth is graphically ex pressed and fully understood. Here it speaks of a man walking in the way, a tree planted by a river, the chaff of the threshing floor; and then returns to the figure of walking in the way. All of these present the same truth, for essentially the idea is that of the two ways in which men walk. 1. Choosing the Way (vv. 1, 4, 6). Even the choice of his way of life marks a man as either blessed or wicked. Some seem to think that they can choose or just drift into the wrong way and still have hope that all will be well. Their choice, or their failure to choose, has put them in the one class or the other. Making a choice is a vital and serious matter. Let us do it care fully. Walking in the counsel or philosophy of the wicked soon re sults in a man lingering in the way of sinners, and before he is aware of it he will find himself so at home, that he will sit among them and scoff. * j 2. Continuing in the Way (w. 2-4). The man who will permit the law 1 of God to control every detail of , life night and day will never go astray, but will prosper in every- j thing he does. Observe that to pros per does not necessarily mean to have money, position or recognition in this world. It means to be a suc cess in the thing which God has given one to do. Much that this world calls pros perity is nothing but an empty show, while at the same time some lives which the world says have been I wasted are prosperous in the sight of God because His will has been done. IT’S PICNIC TIME! (Recipes Below) HouseholdNems 3. At the End of the Way (w. 5, 6). Every road of life comes to an end. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Ah yes—the judgment —what will it be in your life and in mine? The wicked cannot stand in the presence of the divine Judge. All the bold front and boastful talk which went over so well before men, loses its flavor and the wicked man can only expect judgment. It is a dark and dreadful scene, but man need not go in the way which ends there, but may turn to God in faith and repentance. II. Two Houses (Matt. 7:24-27). Two men build houses evidently much alike, but we find that there is a great difference between them. 1. The Builders (w. 24, 26). “Wise” and “foolish” are the build ers, and what made them so was their choice of a foundation. No matter how brilliant a man may seem to be in the learning of this world, if he rejects God’s Word he is foolish and bound to suffer the loss of everything. 2. The Foundations (w. 24, 26). The foundation of life is really everything. Built on the sands of human philosophy or personal de sire and in the rejection of God’s will, man prepares only for disaster. But—and here is a glorious thought —the Son of God says that if a man will hear His sayings and build on them, no storm can destroy his building. Blessed assurance! 3. The Testing (vv. 25, 27). The time of testing always comes. It may come early in life, or it may be delayed, but be certain that it will come. To the believer in Christ it is only that—a testing, to prove that his house will stand. But to the one who has rejected Christ the testing time brings dreadful de struction. Shining in the Heart God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.—II Corin thians 4:6. There’s the Danger If men make their plan of serv ice and then ask God to help them, they may, by that very assertion of self, quench the Holy Spirit Summertime is picnic time, and you pack up your troubles as you unpack your picnic kit. Perhaps one reason why a picnic is such a popular outdoor sport is because its preparations are so easy on the lady of the house . . . sandwiches, stuffed tomatoes (or just small whole toma toes) with hard cooked eggs and a steaming cup of tea, are a tradition al picnic lunch—and that’s an easy meal if there ever was one! No dishes to wash afterward . . . paper cups and plates eliminate all such labor. Carry the tea in a ther mos bottle, if you like, or brew it “fisherman style” over an open fire. One hot dish is important at a picnic; it might be stew, or chow der, baked beans, or a macaroni dish—but do have something hot! There are pic nic hints and menus that you’ll like, in my cook book, “Easy En tertaining”; .here’s a menu for a beach party, a hiking trip and a steak fry, too—with all the recipes you’ll need for this simple form of entertaining. Broiled Baked Bean Sandwiches. Bread, sliced Baked beans Cheese, sliced or cut in strips Bacon slices, cut in halves Arrange bread on broiler. When bread is toasted on one side, turn. Then cover the untoasted sides of the slices of bread with baked beans. Place cheese over the beans and top each sandwich with one-half slice of bacon. Place under broiler and broil until bacon is crisp and brown and cheese is melted. Ginger Creams. (Makes 3 dozen 1 Vi-inch squares) Vi cup shortening 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cups flour % teaspoon soda j,?.;’ Vi teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ginger 1 cup dark molasses 1 egg (separated) 1 cup boiling water Cream shortening and sugar to gether. Sift flour, soda, salt and ginger, and blend with the creamed mixture, using a pastry blender or a fork. Add molasses and egg yolk, and beat well. Then add boil ing water, gradually, and beat well. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg white. Spread batter in greased jelly roll pan (about 11 by 16 inches) and bake in a moderately hot oven (375 degrees) for approximately 18 min utes. Cool, and frost with boiled icing or confectioners’ sugar icing. Cut in squares. Deviled Eggs. 4 eggs, hard cooked Vi teaspoon salt Dash pepper 1 tablespoon butter, melted % teaspoon vinegar 1 teaspoon prepared mustard Cut the hard- cooked eggs in halves crosswise. Remove yolks, mash, and add salt, pepper, melt ed butter, vine gar and prepared mustard. Refill whites with this mixture. One-Dish Meal for a Picnic. 1 pound country style sausage 2 medium size onions (sliced) 1 can lima beans 1 No. 2 can tomatoes 1 teaspoon chili powder Shape sausage into flat cakes and fry with the onions until the sau sage is well done. Drain off all but Vis cup of the fat, add remaining ingredients, and simmer for 30 min utes. Baked Macaroni—Creole Style. (Serves 4) V4 package macaroni 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons onion (minced) 1 green pepper (chopped) 1 No. 2 can tomatoes 1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt V4 pound country style sausage % cup soft bread crumbs (but tered) Cook macaroni in boiling, salted water. Brown onion slightly in the Remember the wonderful ice cream you used to love, as a child—the kind you had at par ties and picnics and Sunday school socials, too? Eleanor Howe has a collection of her favorite ice cream recipes to give you, next week, and recipes for frosty drinks, as well. Watch for her column next week—and then serve one of the delicious des serts or beverages the next time you entertain. butter. Add green pepper, and to matoes. Add sugar and salt and cook until the green pepper is ten der. Make sausage into flat cakes. In a buttered baking dish place a layer of macaroni, then a layer of sausage cakes, and another layer of macaroni. Pour the tomato mixture over the macaroni and top with buttered crumbs. Bake in a mod erate oven (350 degrees) for about 45 minutes. Raisin Drop Cookies. Vi cup butter V4 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs IVi cups cake flour 2 teaspoons baking pov/der V4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 cup seedless raisins 1 tablespoon milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Cream butter and add sugar grad ually. Add eggs, well beaten, and mix thoroughly. Mix and sift dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk and vanilla, beginning with the flour mixture. Add raisins. Drop from a teaspoon on a greased bak ing sheet and place a raisin on the top of each or..:. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees) for 12 to 15 min utes. ^ Crazy Cake. 1 cup sugar 1 egg Vi cup cocoa C'NRICH a new luncheon cloth with this cross stitch water- lily motif, whose distinguishing feature is its simplicity of design. A pastel lily with green leaves is suggested for natural effect. Z9169, 15 cents, gives motils for cloth cor ners and for matching napkins. And when you have finished your set, cool beauty for your luncheon table is the result. Send order to: AUNT MARTHA Box 166-W Kansas City, Mo. Enclose 13 cents for each pattern desired. Pattern No Name Address •••••• Strange Facts I Unfiltered Sunrays Gods Pay Homage Twitching Plant ! C. The ultraviolet rays of the sun, which cause sunburn, are endur able because they have been “fil tered” by the earth’s atmosphere. But at an altitude of 75,000 feet, these rays would destroy the hu man skin in two or three minutes. % cup lard '• % teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder Vfe teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon vanilla 1V4 cups flour (sifted) Vt cup boiling water Placv- all of the ingredients in a bowl in the order given. Do not stir until boiling water is added. Then beat 3 min utes, using a ro tary beater, or 2 minutes if an electric mixer is used. Place in greased 8-inch square pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes in a moderately hot oven (325 degrees). Let ’Better Baking’ Solve Tour Baking Problems. True it is we all have baking problems. Yet, if solved correctly, we save time because fallen cakes don’t have to be made over again and we save money too—because the family simply won’t eat tough, chewy pastry, heavy, soggy cakes, etc. In fact, it is to avoid just such baking failures as these (and many more) that I have compiled this cookbook, “Better Baking.” “Better Baking” brings to you a whole se ries of baking hints, as well as a compilation of many of my own fa vorite baking recipes, including such unusual good-to-eat ones as a frost ed nut spice cake, gumdrop cake, chocolate fudge cake, quick apple cake, and even a maraschino cher- ry cake. To secure your copy of this book, simply send 10 cents in coin and please address, “Better Baking,” care of Eleanor Howe, 919 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) 1 C. The Japanese Observe a “God- i less Month” each year during j which time few of them go to the temples as the gods and lesser, divinities are said to be absent, paying their annual visit of hom age to the mikado at his imperial palace in Tokyo. =sSs== C. The telegraph plant, desmodium gyrans, of tropical Asia, still puz zles scientists, who cannot explain why its lateral leaflets spontane ously jerk up and down every few minutes, even in still air.—Col lier's. INDIGESTION may affect the Heart Gas trapped in the stomach or gullet may act Ilka a hair-trigger on the heart. At the first sign of distraaa smart men and women depend on bell-ana Tablets to set gas free. No laxative but made of the fastest- acting medicines known for add indigestion. If the FIRST DOSE doesn't prove Bell-ans better return bottle to us and receive DOUBLE Money Back. Se. ~'T" To Know Others *1*. He that knoweth himself knows others; and he that is ignorant of himself could not write a very profound lecture on other men’s heads.—Colton. due to Constipation/ Dr. Hitchcock’s All-Vegetable Laxative Powder — an intestinal tonic-laxative—actually tones lazy bowel muscles. It helps relieve that sluggish feeling. 15 doses for only 10 cents. Large family size 25 cents. At all druggists. Dr. Hitchcocks LAXATIVE POWDER Root of Courage Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.—J. F. Clarke. f /OO' IN THE SHADE BUT COMFORT IN YOUR paflVS) SHOES WITH FAMOUS MEXICAN HEAT POWDER. Gives It Tang A little horseradish added to salad dressing or white sauce makes a piquant sauce for fish. Horseradish also may be added to whipped cream and served with baked, boiled or fried ham. Use Chicken Fat Chicken fat may be substituted for butter in cakes and cookies or for creaming or browning foods. Beef drippings may be used for season ing sauces, meats or fowl stuffings or meat loaves. 'All the Traffic Would Bear" • There was a time in America when there were no set prices. Each merchant charged what he thought “the traffic would bear.” Advertising came to the rescue of the consumer. It led the way to the estab lished prices you pay when you buy anything today.