Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 July 1889 — Luminous Numbers Wanted. [ARTICLE]

Luminous Numbers Wanted.

Anyone who has been forced to se t reh for a house number after dark will appreciate the words of a Western newspaper man who is at present visiting this city. “A fortune and the gratitude of his fellow men,” said he, “await that person who shall discover some practical method of applying phosphorus to the manufacture of luminous street numbers. Comparatively few of the houses of this or any other large cities have the street numbers so placed as to take advantage of the light from the hall gas jet, and there are many houses and buildings where no light is kept burning during the evening. Many of the numbers are on outside doors, and as it seems to be 'fherfule to leaye them open, the number is lost to view from the sidewalk.

•Their,-if' a man happens to Beta search of a particular number after the regulation bedtime, his chances for prowling around for an hour or more, not to mention mcTde filial annoying experiences, are excellent. -At such times how much unnecessary profanity might be prevented by some simple illuminative device. It seems strange that some inventive genius don’t turn his mind to this subject.”—New York Times.