Show 1 h- h T N o I I J I Years of Invention 1 I Patents Issued by u U. U S. S to Date Dat ii i By y ALEXANDER R. R GEORGE WASHINGTON WASHINGTON From From 1790 to 1940 from tallow candle to watt 1000 lamp from 10 miles mUes an hour to from hor horseback e ack messenger to world the telephone and from bI blood ol od letting to miracles in surgery surgery an and conquest at df f disease from an average life expectancy of 34 years to 61 61 On April 10 Inventors and Patent day the nation will com commemorate the anniversary of the first United States patent laws It took took President Washington who signed the first federal patent patent patent pat pat- ent seven days to travel by ch coach from froni Mt Vernon to New York his fo fol foi his inauguration ration Today the trip can an be made by plane In less than two hours Only three patents were issued In 1790 the 1790 the first year of federal control control No 1 1 going to Samuel Hopkins of Massachusetts for Making pot and arid pe peal l ashes or common lye More than patents are now rung up yearly on Uncle Sams Sam's register The grand total Is crowding the mark One Prophecy Henry L. L Ellsworth retiring as patent commissioner in 1844 told congress his resignation was of no great concern since mankind had achieved about all of which it was capable in the direction of material perfection 1 That was before the telephone the electric light the automobile airplane and radio Patents of record then were less than Today 50 miles of corridors In Inthe inthe inthe the huge huge department of commerce commerce com corn merce building are lined with shelves of patent records rangIng ranging rang rang- ing from the toilet trap and potato to Invisible glass and transoceanic airships A million and one other lesser m hm m conveniences and elude eyeglasses for comforti i it roo self self lighting lighting Tf I making machines f and a shi rt tall tail guaranteed to rt stay itay r Put ut New tools and processes a big hand in increasing tW j bad i the capita wealth of the nation per in 1850 to 2677 2671 in fr fria according to bureau 1930 figures of cen Trends in Patents I What of the future In Scientific observers noted these trends hav f 1 The typical invention for foe merly was a mechanical cnn con put together by an in In genious individual to meet sol definite need Now it is a con coni electrical device chemical process worked Or a awell well equipped d laborato laboratory out l In i 2 2 Older fields of invention have been pretty well out and a new Worked works generation ha haJ less chance to develop invent inventive facilities in a a. button push a age aie which hides the the working part par parts of many mechanisms 3 In newer fields however 1 such as chemistry r and every every new discovery is a a. ste step ping stone to dozens of other C with no limit In In sight in th the ej ex horizon of science 4 The trend is from the ama I to the professional from t the individual to the i organized m in group More and mor more I. I inventions result from planned I attack by large industrial la lab oratories Despite the shift from nj vidual to group workers i in laboratories the free lance ii in still tops the list a. a as aJ i patent recipient Of the patents paten issued In a year ear per cent cen go to individuals to sma small corporations per cent to to tol large corp corporations rations and 54 per cent to foreign n corporations ons i u u rW T r W l hf 1 7 N u 2 tJ Y f u y 1 t i I F Fr r r. r j t In number of important inventions Thomas A. A Edison above first phonograph heads the list of famed U. U S. S inventors of theo the thi o last last l O 3 ean ears V 1 |