On supporting science journalism
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Periodically—at the end of every six months Or so—it becomes imperatively necessary that we should destroy or otherwise dispose of such models as have been sent to our office for examination, have been declared by us to be not patentable, have then remained uncalled for by their inventors, and have consequently accumulated in our possession. As the commencement of a new year is a period of general cleaning-out and brushing-up in every well-ordered establishment, and constitutes one of the above-mentioned epochs of destruction in our own, we hereby notify all inventors wishing to preserve those of their models which have now lain long in our hands, that they must order them away immediately. The best of the models of unpatentable devices are retained by us, discretionarily, even if they have been in our possession as long as six months ; but we do not keep such as have been so poorly constructed as to be not worth the expense of carriage homeward to their owners, and we do not hold ourselves accountable for any model which has been stored in our office longer than six months. The above remarks equally apply to all models which have been sent to us for the purpose of having engravings prepared from them. Of course, it is almost unnecessary to add that we most carefully preserve all such models as we have received with positive instructions to make applications for patents thereon, and that such are forwarded to the Patent Office at Washington at the earliest opportunity. Finally, we again admonish all who wish to save models which have been long lying in our office, that they must quickly them to be boxed up and shipped to their respective owners ; or otherwise, by and by, the latter will wish to have their models when restitution will be an impossibility.
