Hammond Times, Volume 16, Number 83, Hammond, Lake County, 25 September 1922 — Page 10

THE FIRST HYPO- DERMIC SYRINGE a MOSQUITO'S APPARATUS (FROM MODEL) THE FIRST PNEUMATIC TUBE-- IT CONNECTS THE CHAMBERS OF THE PEARLY NAUTILUS

THE FIRST COMB THE FIRST "CUPPING" APPARATUS WAS

THE COMB SHELL CARRIED BY AN

THE FIRST BALLOON OCTOPUS- ITS SUCKERS, FROM WHICH IT EXHAUSTS THE AIR THE FIRST BOAT- IN WHICH THE ARGONAUTS SAILS

ORIGINAL OF THE GASFITTER'S PINCERS-- A LOBSTER CLAW

She Started and Continues to Run the First Patent Office, and a Great Many of the Ideas Which We Deem Our Own Were Original With Her. By RENE BACHE

VERY deluge of inventions has

overwhelmed the United States

Patent Office since the war in

Europe ended. The millionth

patent was issued August 8, 1911. but now the business of invention is going ahead with such a rush that No. 1.500.000 will be reached before the end of next year. It might be truly said that invention is ages older than mankind, and that the first Patent Office was organized and conducted by Dame Nature. Indeed. it is surprising to find how many so-called human inventions are mere copies of originals recorded therein. For an example taken at random, consider the sailboat in which the "argonaut." a cephalopod related to the octopus, navigates the seas. It is a boat of snowy whiteness, most gracefully shaped, and so fragile that the wonder is that it should be able to defy the least boisterous waves of ocean. But the occupant in stormy weather sinks far beneath the billows, coming to the surface only in calm weather, and holding up, to catch the wind, a pair of broad membranes into which two of its arms are expanded, and which serve the purpose of a sail. The next time a gasfitter comes to mend your pipes, take notice of the pincers that he uses. They are rather peculiar, only the lower part moving on a hinge, and with teeth to make their grip secure. Examination will how you that they are modeled after the claw of a lobster. The First Bullseye Lantern A deep-sea fish, known to science as the "argyropelicus." Illuminates the darkness of its aqueous surroundings with a score of bullseye lanterns (car

ried along its sides), which are of the most modern and improved pattern, each of them equipped with a doubleconvex lens and a reflector. They are connected with the creature's central nervous system, and doubtless under control from its brain, so that presumably it can turn them on or off at will. The principle of the screw was familiar to the ancients -- though not applied for fastening wood until less than two centuries ago. But conceivably the idea may have been derived from a mollusk called the "terebra." the axis of whose shell is a perfect screw. The shell of another mollusk. the "scalaria," native to Indo-Pacific waters, offers a perfect model for the spiral staircase. Yet another, common in the southern Pacific, was ,certainly the first comb, and is used today by the women of Polynesia to arrange their tresses. It was long spines set in a row like the teeth of a comb, and would make a beautiful ornament for the hair if only civilized fashion were to adopt it. The pneumatic tube might be said to have been invented by the "chambered" nautilus, whose pearl-lined shell is divided into compartments which are connected by a pipe. The animal, a cephalopod. occupies the outermost chamber, having tenanted the others successively during its growth. At each move it builds a wall behind it, continuing the tube, by means of which it is able to control the air-pressure inside of its shell, and thus to rise or sink in the sea at will. A Hint From The Octopus "The "cupping" apparatus used in surgery is merely an adaptation of the principle on which the octopus

operates when it grips an object with the suckers that lie on the under side of its tentacles. They act as vacuum cups, and to detach them the tentacles must literally be torn away. Who was it that invented the suspension bridge? It was none other than Mistress Spider. Also it was she who first made nets for the capture of game. The silk she spins is of so excellent a quality that we would have many beautiful fabrics woven of it, were it not that spiders are fierce creatures and soon eat each other up if kept together in close confinement. Cloth. Lace And Pottery Nature was the first clothmaker. The inner bark of certain trees has an exquisite "weave." the fibers of warp and weft being so interlaced as to furnish a fabric highly satisfactory for clothing. Of such a character is the "tapa" which the women of Polynesia utilize for garments and other purposes. If one would have lace for trimming, it may be obtained in tropical America from the "lace tree," the bark of which when soaked in water splits Into as many as thirty layers of lace-like material, most delicate and beautiful, so that a small piece will yield many square yards. More than three centuries ago the Spanish conquerors in Mexico sent to the King of Spain a magnificent collar of this natural lace for a birthday gift. The crayfish, which looks like a diminutive lobster, was the first worker in clay, building "chimneys" of that material at the top of its burrows. But. if pottery be in question, there is plenty of it that never was made by human hands. In the region south of

the Gila River and west of the Sierra Madre there grows a giant cactus which attains a height of fifty feet. Woodpeckers excavate nests in its trunk, and, for self-protection. It emits a sticky juice which soon hardens, forming a woody lining for each hole. Eventually the huge plant die, and, being composed mainly of water, shrinks to a skeleton, the hole-linings dropping out and making their appearance in the shape of bowls, which the Indians use as receptacles for food. The human body is a complex of wonderful inventions, some of which have been copied for mechanical purposes, or adapted. Thus, for Instance, the idea of the ball-and-socket Joint was doubtless originally derived from observation of the device adopted by nature for attaching a man's arm at the shoulder and his leg at the hip. Eye The Original Camera The first photographic camera was an eye the nerve-screen which lines the latter taking the place of a sensitive plate. But, obviously, the eye is a far better optical instrument than any camera made by human hands. The soaring bird probably gave mankind the first desire to fly. and now we have the airplane which can

fly faster and further than any bird. Fish The First Balloon . What might be called the earliest balloon was a fish which is a common and numerous, species in tidal rivers and estuaries along our Atlantic coast. Fishermen call it the "swellflsh." Its belly is covered with a supplementary skin which resembles in appearance and texture a delicate canvas. When the fish is irritated or alarmed, this covering is inflated with air, giving to its owner an almost globular shape. The creature becomes in effect a balloon. When pursued by enemies. It blows Itself up In this way, and, rising to the surface, skips over the waves before the wind. The phenomenon is so extraordinary as to be deemed until recently a mere fairy tale, but scientific inquiry has proved it to be true. The balloon and the flying machine are today supplemented by the parachute, which enables the air-voyager to descend in safety from any height to the ground. But the idea represented by this contrivance has been long familiar in nature. The common dandelion -- and the same may be said of the milkweed provides each owe of its seeds with a tiny parachute.

by the help of which it may rise and float about miles high in the air. It is an expedient adopted for the purpose of distributing the seeds as widely as possible. The screw propeller, invented by Ericsson, was not copied after any model in nature. Yet one may see its principle operating after a fashion in the seeds of the maple tree, which, equipped with a wing-like attachment, whirls rapidly In falling to the ground. The seeds of many plants are provided with hooks, to anchor them to the ground, or to catch in the hair of passing animals which may carry them, afar. Glass sponges (to revert to the animal kingdom) are covered with double-ended grappllng-hooks which bear so close a resemblance to old-fashioned anchors that the latter might have been copied after themNature As A Fire-Maker

Volcanoes are nature's chemical laboratories, turning out a great variety of products useful to mankind. They were the first smelters of gold, silver, and other metals, bringing them up in solutions from the bowels of the earth and depositing them in cracks and cavities of the rocks where miners find them. Diamonds, rubles, and other gem-stones are all volcanic products. Volcanoes were the first makers of glass. In parts of our West one may see great cliffs composed wholly of this material.

We up-to-date civilized moderns now depend upon the electric furnace for the production of many necessary things. Our government mints have recently Introduced furnaces of this kind for the melting of silver and gold. They represent an expedient for utilizing enormously high temperature, such as in nature only a volcano could engender. In effect, they imitate the volcano. If we would look for the original hypodermic syringe, we shall find a most perfectly constructed' surgical instrument of the kind carried by the every-day mosquito. A fish of the Red Sea was the first patentee of the Yale lock, the principle of which is illustrated by a contrivance for holding erect the foremost spine of its back fin. Inventions Miscellaneous Nature ages ago went into the business of bottle-making on a great scale. We call her bottles "gourds" and "calabashes." She is a wholesale manufacturer of boxes wonderful, too, they are, in variety and cleverness of construction as containers for eggs and seeds. The wasp was the first paper-maker; the tailor bird sews leaves together with neat stitches for its nest; the pearl oyster practiced the ornamental art of plating many millions of years before our most retr.rvt ancestors walked the earth. The "thorny oyster" of the southern Pacific has a hinge of exactly the model now accepted as most improved and up-to-date at our hardware shore The huge hollow head of the "Lantern fly," which flies by night, is iluminated by a phosphorescent "candle" There is, indeed, no end to the inventions filed in nature's Patent Office. Human inventors are drawn: upon them all the time for ideas

AMONG

THE STAIRS

May McAvoy-"One Clear Call" -'They Like 'Em Rough" Irene Dalton "Grandma's Boy"

AY McAVOV was born in New

York City, and was educated

in the New York public schools. She started her

screen career in June. 1918, as leading woman in a film advertisement for a well known brand of sugar. Following this she played extra parts. She played the lead opposite Lionel Barrymore in "The Devil's Garden" and "The Truth About Husbands." Her first really big part came in 'Sentimental Tommy," in which she played "Grlzel." the success she scored in this picture making her a star. Three of her most recent pictures are "A Virginia Courtship," "A Homespun Vamp" and "Through a Glass Window." She will next be seen in "The Top of New York." "One Clear Call" Action In this production is about three characters Dr. Alan Hamilton, the town's most promising surgeon: Faith, a sweet, beautiful girl about whom hangs a veil of mystery, and Henry Garnett, a reticent sort of man who is proprietor of the infamous Owl Cafe and whose acquaintance is avoided by the best citizens. The locale is a small town in Alabama. All that is known of Faith. is that she collapsed in the local hotel shortly after arriving on the evening train. Hamilton falls deeply in love

with her. Knowing that Garnett has

fesses she is Garnett's wife. Hamilton's love for her reverses his views and he begs her not to sacrifice herself by returning to Garnett. Milton Sills, Claire Windsor. Henry B. Walthall and Irene Rich head the all-star cast. "They Like 'Em Rough" , The star. Miss Viola Dana, plays the role of a girl whose aversion to discipline and authority is almost a mania. Discovering that her aunt and uncle, with whom she lives, are plotting to marry her off to a certain young man whom they regard as a most desirable husband, Katharine decides to take matters into her own hands. "I'll show 'em." she says. "I'll go out and marry the first man I meet and bring him back as my husband to the wedding." Now it happened that the first man that she tnet was a big. bearded, rough-looking customer dressed In lumberman's garb. Nothing daunted. Katharine offers him $100 to marry her and after the ceremony says: "Thanks a lot, see you again some time, maybe." He informs her that she will see him from now on. jumps into her car and carries her off to a lumber camp in the mountains. The rest of the story is concerned

with the efforts of the cave-man husband to reduce her to a proper state of

only a short time to live, Hamilton | humility, her escape from the camp.

risks his practice and reputation to be his friend and help him in his last

days. In discussing the case with Faith the doctor scores Garnett's wife for deserting him years before. He has never seen the woman, but he insists that if she had any strength of character she would be with her dying husband, regardless of his unsavory reputation. When Faith con-

and her final discovery that the

and her final discovery that the man whom she has married is not quite the rough cave-man he has pretended to be. Irene Dalton Miss Dalton is less than twentythree years old and is a native of Chicago, where she lived until about two years ago. A want ad. calling for girls to appear In a motion picture attracted her attention. The picture proved

JIMMY

AUBREY AND HELEN

KESLER DO A "SIAMESE TWINS" ACT BETWEEN SCENES OF "THE CHICKEN PARADE"

HAROLD DAVIS IN

"GRANDMA'S BOY"

CLAIRE WINDSON AND MILTON

to be a commercial subject, but Miss Dalton accepted the work and when her acting attracted unusual attention soon found herself in comedies. When Lloyd Hamilton made "the first picture of this season's Mermaid Comedies he selected Miss Dalton as the best type of a girl to be his leading lady. Her work in this picture.

"Robinson Crusoe, Ltd.," was so good that she was signed up for all the pictures of the series in which Mr. Hamilton was to be starred. In addition to "Robinson Crusoe, Ltd.," these pictures had Included "The Vagrant," "The Adviser," "Rolling Stones." "The Rainmaker" and "Poor Boy!"

"Grandma's Boy" The story is about the boy who was afraid. He had no more spirit than a jack rabbit. His most precious possession, was his old fashioned grandmother. She had raised him through croup, measles and whooping cough. Into the boy's life came the girl. Also there came along the rival, a

bullet-headed young man. At the girl's house the rival climaxes a torrid afternoon by dropping the boy into the well. Wet and weary the boy arrives home where he finds a giant tramp. He has not the courage to evict the unwelcome visitor, but tries to do so. with disastrous results. There is a happy gathering at the girl's

house that night. It is interrupted by the arrival of the sheriff who announces that the tramp has shot a man. The boy, along with the rest, la sworn in as a deputy sheriff. The boy rushes home and hides. The old fashioned grandmother knows what Is wrong. She weaves a wonderful story. It is the story of the boy s grandfather who believed himself a coward. A gypsy hag gives him a magic talisman. With it he performs such feats that he lives to see himself praised as one of the bravest soldiers in the Confederate Army. Grandma still has this wonderful talisman. She gives it to the boy. It Is a new world that he now walks In. He goes forth and single-handed captures the tramp. Also he gives the rival the whipping of a life time. Ami then grandma tells him the true secret of success -- self-confidence. The boy then wins his biggest victory---when the girl whispers "Yes" Harold Lloyd is the boy. Mildred Davis, the girl. Cobby Clarke Bobby Clarke, we feel sure. Is a future matinee idol. This little seven-

year-old has numerous stage and screen successes to his credit. Last winter he co-starred with WilliamHodge, in "The Guest of Honor." and

was the sensation of the play. His latest appearance is in "Married People." Bobby is a small golden-haired youngster, and his wealth of acting talent and his winning charm w'JI take him far in the stage and screen world.