Automatic Age

T h e A u t o m a t ic A g e
39
T H O U S A N D S OF MODELS OF IN V E N ­
TIO NS JAM P A TE N T OFFICE
SOME A R E H IS T O R Y M AKIN G
Models o f history-making inven­
tions dating back to the time o f
Abraham Lincoln and even to the
early days o f the republic, along with
thousands o f others o f every type and
description, must be disposed o f
before
very long,
according to
an announcement today from Com­
missioner o f Patents Robertson of
the Commerce Department. Those
considered o f historical or other value
will be selected and preserved. The
others unless applied fo r by some one
may be destroyed or sold, as author­
ized by a recent act o f Congress.
From the first days o f the Patent
Office up to 1880 the law required
that all applicants fo r patents must
submit a model o f the invention with
the application. As a result the
Patent Office acquired over 155,000
models, including such outstanding
inventions as the Bell telephone, the
Howe Sewing Machine, Abraham
Lincoln’s device fo r lifting vessels
over shoals in the Mississippi and
many others. It has cost the Gov­
ernment over $200,000 to take care o f
this collection since 1884, Commis­
sioner Robertson estimates.
An act o f Congress approved Feb­
ruary 13, 1925, provided a commission
“ to select such o f the Patent Office
models and exhibition exhibits as may
be deemed to be o f value and o f his­
torical interest ’ * * and cause
the remainder o f said models and ex­
hibits to be disposed o f by public
auction, gift to Federal, State, or pri­
vate museums or institutions, or re­
turned without expense to the Gov­
ernment to the original depositors or
their representatives, where demanded
in writing by them.”
The Commission composed o f Com­
missioner o f Patents Robertson, Dr.
W alcott, Director o f the Smithsonian
Institution, and Wm. G. Henderson,
© International Arcade Museum
Esq., Patent Lawyer o f Washington,
I). C., has given notice to all Federal,
State or private museums or institu­
tions, and to all other parties entitled
to receive any o f the models or ex­
hibits under the act o f Congress, that
claim thereto must be made in writ­
ing to the commission on or before
July 15, 1925; otherwise may be sold
or destroyed, as authorized by the
act.
Claims and applications should be
addressed to the Patent Office, W ash­
ington, D. C. Commissioner Robei’t-
son urges that intei'ested parties make
application at the earliest possible
time.
The First Subscriber
The first
subscriber to
THE
A U T O M A T IC AGE was W alter J.
Kennedy, 50 Broad St., New York,
Mr. Kennedy is head o f the Invest­
ment Securities Company, brokers in
stocks and bonds, who has taken
especial interest in the vending ma­
chine business.
A Dice Machine
A dandy machine for penny arcades
is a dice machine put out by the
Keystone Novelty Company.
The
total figures on the face o f the dice
pay out given premiums. It operates
with either a penny, nickel or dime.
The player turns a knob on the side
to shake the dice which are enclosed
in an attractive glass case.
The Bermudas may be said to be a
land o f perpetual springtime, fo r
their monthly temperatures average
between 62 deg. and 79 deg. F.
Two thousand plains buffalo have
been liberated by the Canadian Gov-
ei-nment in the Great Slave Lake
country to roam at will.
http://www.arcade-museum.com/