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Steve · 05-13-2018, 02:18 AM

I just came across this YouTube video about Lincoln's patent that I thought was interesting:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=WuY0nIkt7lE

RJNorton · 05-14-2018, 04:00 AM

Lincoln had quite the sense of humor when discussing patents. He told stories that he was going to seek patents on these two devices that his mind had invented.

The first device was called a 'hen walker' which would prevent hens from scratching up the garden, and consisted of a movable brace attached to the hen's legs so that at each scratch the hen was propelled forward, and so by successive scratches all the way out of the garden.

The other device was called a "double-back-action hen persuader," which was so adjusted under the hen's nest that as each egg was laid it fell through a trap door out of sight of the author, who would then be persuaded to lay another egg.

These recollections came from Seth Stimmel (one of Lincoln's mounted guards) and David Homer Bates (author of Lincoln in the Telegraph Office).

Eva Elisabeth · 05-14-2018, 05:57 AM

Thanks, Roger, I think the hen walker was new to me! I would like to see it in action.

LincolnMan · 08-12-2018, 07:37 AM

Somehow I never knew that Lincoln built a model of his ship for the patent. The video said he whittled it. That’s amazing in itself.

Eva Elisabeth · 08-12-2018, 08:20 AM

I don't think you would get a patent without a model - for something entirely "theoretical"!

AussieMick · (This post was last modified: 08-12-2018 08:51 PM by AussieMick.)

As for "The other device was called a "double-back-action hen persuader," which was so adjusted under the hen's nest that as each egg was laid it fell through a trap door out of sight of the author, who would then be persuaded to lay another egg."

I hadnt heard of that invention about Lincoln ... but I did accidentally have a contraption like that once.
We had 5 very good layers , but suddenly they all stopped producing any eggs. Day after day I'd go to the back of the chook shed and lift a flap at the back near their cosy wooden box with a straw 'nest' 1 metre off the ground where they sat and normally laid eggs. Nope no eggs. For 5 or 6 weeks. Yes, I know they sometimes go 'off lay' . But all of them at the same time ???
Anyway for one reason or another I looked under the cosy spot (which was enclosed).
Yep, there were about 3 dozen eggs which had fallen through the straw and out of a hole.

I never made a very good farmer.

Eva Elisabeth · 08-13-2018, 06:11 AM

I love that real life story! What was the condition of the eggs when you found them? (Didn't they break and smell?)

RJNorton · 08-13-2018, 06:18 AM

(08-13-2018 06:11 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: I love that real life story!

I second Eva!

AussieMick · 08-13-2018, 06:48 AM

(08-13-2018 06:11 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: I love that real life story! What was the condition of the eggs when you found them? (Didn't they break and smell?)

Most looked perfect, I think only two or three were cracked. Eggs are very strong and they had fallen onto soil. Those that had cracked had probably fallen onto other eggs ... there was quite a pile (sob).
But I just had to be wasteful and throw them all away. Couldnt take the risk. I wouldnt have known which had been laid 3 weeks ago and which today.

Fortunately with chooks you really get many more eggs that you need. So it wasnt long before I was back to normal (having repaired the nest box).

Eva Elisabeth · (This post was last modified: 08-16-2018 10:17 AM by Eva Elisabeth.)

Well, a friend of mine is less fortunate as for eggs - despite all "safety measures" fox and marten dine more on the chicks than the family on the eggs...

As for freshness - if you drop the eggs in a pot with water and they sink to the bottom they are good. If they swim atop they are not good anymore. More gas, less egg white /yolk inside (shrank).

AussieMick · 08-16-2018, 06:55 AM

(08-13-2018 07:30 AM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote: Well, a friend of mine is less fortunate as for eggs - despite all "safety measures" fox and marten dine more on the chicks than the family on the eggs...

As for freshness - if you drop the eggs in a pot with water and they sink to the ground they are good. If they swim atop they are not good anymore. More gas, less egg white /yolk inside (shrank).

I didnt even think of doing that at the time, Eva. I now recall being aware of that from school lessons (or TV science programs) ... but , no, I just dumped the lot. Not sure if I would have risked it even if I had thought of it.

LincolnMan · 08-19-2018, 09:32 AM

I’ve read and heard two seperate incidents in Lincoln’s life that provided the inspiration for his boat invention. Both stories are the same esentially- with Lincoln observing vessels getting stuck in the water. He is said to have assisted with the freeing of one those boats. The big difference with the stories is one took place on the Sangamon River and the other on the Detroit River. Of course, both incidents could have been true.

RJNorton · 08-19-2018, 03:13 PM

In The Prairie Years (volume 1) Carl Sandburg wrote:

"In a corner of his Springfield office Lincoln whittled and shaped a wooden model of a steamboat with "adjustable buoyant air chambers," "sliding spars," ropes and pulleys. On the Detroit River he had seen a steamboat stuck on a sand bar; barrels, boxes and empty casks forced under the vessel lifted it off. Lincoln finished a model, wrote a description of its workings, and the next year had it patented."