go over a greater length of rail than the inside wheel, though both are secured rigidly to the same axle. The train has a tendency to go straight ahead; the outside rail being higher causes it to constantly slip a little. The bent rail keeps prying the flange over, as it were, and the train is brought around the curve safely.

Sometimes it pays to learn some things not generally considered as being immediately connected with one's regular calling. I heard of a noted Chinese doctor who had a very bright son who was studying medicine at college. An epidemic set in, the doctor was sent for and went from one case to another. He was quite an athlete and a good swimmer. Soon the village people concluded the doctor was the cause of all the sickness and decided to thrash him. The doctor ran for his life, the crowd close on his heels. Finally he came to a river, plunged in and swam to the opposite side. No one in the crowd could swim—the doctor was safe. He went home and the bright young son answered the door and said, "Father, I need the money for some books at college the teacher recommends." The father's mind was full of thought of the experience he had just gone through, and he said, "My son, with due respect to your teacher, I advise that you first learn to swim; it may some day be more important than any of your studies."

Do I think ladies could invent? Well, at the present moment I feel like saying most decidedly yes. Why, you yourself made a splendid observation. Don't you recall saying the horses lost a great portion of their food by tossing their heads about while eating? Well, yes, the flies are annoying, but I think there is another reason. Well, you see they strap the full feed bag to the horse's head. At first the adjustment is good enough, but as the horse eats the surface of the food recedes and soon the adjustment becomes bad. The horse can no longer reach the food, and tosses his head about in an effort to get it. Well, we observed, thought, and as a consequence have a problem to work out. Yes, I think we might overcome the difficulty. Why, exactly, splendid; we can properly adjust the springs and fasten them in the handle or hanging straps that hold the feed bag to the horse. Then, as he eats and the weight becomes less, the springs will cause the bag to rise and the adjustment will be proper throughout. Yes, that is a real invention. We are inventors. We will use a perforated bag. Why, I think we might call it "The Automatic Ventilated Feed Bag." The horse will thank us, and we will become so rich. Salt cellars don't work good in damp weather—the salt cakes. You should work out that problem by the "Think a little" rule. A flagpole to operate the flag on the principle of the spring roller window curtain; make the political banner collapsible. Pass tops by, too many already; besides I have been sore on them since youth, when I tried to make one to wind up with a key and run all day. It was a long time before I replaced my watch, the works of which I used in that top. Did it spin? "Nope." Postage stamp affixer. No, pass it. It may do later on when you are more experienced. I had some dealings with a simple kind: it looked and worked like a rubber stamp, but the moisture from the sponge soon got in among the stamps—impractical. It should be quite easy to make a chute wagon that would unload coal while standing lengthwise along the curb, so as not to block the cars.

Suppose you wish to cause a toy man to pass around a six-inch circle and at the same time constantly revolve, could you contrive to make it work by turning a crank? It is good practice to work all puzzles and problems you find. It cultivates reasoning and gives you splendid practice on concentrating your thought. It makes you a close observer and becomes a valuable asset for use in any walk of life. Some people don't seem to notice anything—or, at least, very few things. I one time had an amusing debate with a man. He insisted he moved his upper jaw in eating. He proved it conclusively to himself by biting on his finger. How many of you know the difference between a horse and a cow in getting up? I hope a half dozen dozen and six dozen dozen don't look alike to you. You must get things exactly as they are in your mind; then only will you have a true basis to reason from. Don't go through life with the idea that everything is "about the size of a piece of chalk."

Many people will say to those who invent, "How did you come to think of it? I could never think of anything." The main trouble is they don't think at all. If they would take an interest in things and examine them closely, study them until they can clearly explain every detail, it would be a reasonably short time until they would think of other things and invent. The inventor should be sanguine and hopeful. It spurs him on and helps him to wade through discouragement. Possibly as like produces like, like thoughts produce like thoughts, fear thoughts produce fear thoughts. You must have a little of the big I in you.

I don't mean that you should sit down and expect to invent by mere weight of thought. That would be like watching the clock to see the hour pass by. I mean you should make the start. Begin by noticing how things are done. Interest your thoughts on the subject. Keep the matter in mind. Time will pass by pleasantly and some morning you will find your mind engrossed with an idea of an invention or an improvement on one, and that day will appear the brightest in your life. The more you study over what others have done, the sooner you will do something yourself. I fear you won't study. Now let me see; take that trick box. In No. 1 they tilted the box to get the cent out. Well, by tilting the box they simply put the flat bottom on a slant and the cent slid out. That could be improved in working by making a slanting bottom. Again, in No. 1, after they worked the outer sleeve up so that the openings registered and allowed the cent to slide out, they then worked the outer sleeve back into position, so that the side of the cap hid the slot. That work could be saved by inserting a spring, and so you should take up each feature, learn the reason why, and impress it on your mind. Confine yourself to the very simple things. Later on you will take interest in the larger ones, but at first they would likely discourage you, though the large inventions are only a combination of simple ideas. The telegraph sounds big. In the first place, it was simply a discovery. The electric current magnetized the wire so that it attracted metal, and would do so no matter how long the wire (within reason). Now, they could not well arrange to move the magnet over the paper to do the writing, so they thought to make it stationary and move the paper. The machine to do this was the biggest part of the invention. The code or Morse alphabet followed, by arranging the dots and dashes to represent the letters. If a massive structure were built of bricks, broad, high walls, square and round towers, high, commanding, arched doorway, facades, ledges, etc., you would stand and gaze in bewildering admiration at the grand, colossal structure. Yet it is only a combination of bricks. And what are bricks, pray? Only clay molded into shape and baked in an oven. No man ever invented a great machine unless he was an adept in the line of simple things, or he engaged assistance from those who were. Don't underrate the importance of these simple ideas. Take each one up, consider and go over it as carefully as though it were new—your own thought—and as though you were going to apply for a patent on it. If you can't enthuse and work or study in earnest on