ve placed his kneading machine in many of
the first-class bakeries and hotels in Boston and New York, from which
he receives a substantial royalty.

So far as is known to the writer Miss Miriam E. Benjamin, of
Massachusetts, is the only colored woman who has received a patent for
an invention, and the principle of her invention, that of a gong
signal, has just been adopted in the United States House of
Representatives in signalling for the pages to attend upon members who
want them for errands. Formerly the pages were signalled by members
clapping their hands, and the noise incident to this method was
frequently a great disturbance of the House proceedings. The new
system just adopted involves merely the pressing of a button on the
member's chair, and this rings a small gong while displaying a signal
on the back of the chair.

Another invention by a young colored man which has attracted
considerable attention is the rapid-fire gun by Mr. Eugene Burkins, of
Chicago. This gun has been examined by officers of the War and Navy
Departments, and has been pronounced a valuable contribution to the
scientific equipments for military and naval warfare.

The following description of Mr. Burkins' gun appeared in Howard's
American Magazine some months ago:

"A brief description of the gun is not exactly out of place,
although the Scientific American and other technical
journals have long since given it to the world. It is an
improvement upon all that has yet been done in the way of
ordnance, and the principles involved in its construction
can be applied to any size of gun, from a one-inch barker to
a thirty-six-inch thunderer. The model as it now stands
weighs 475 pounds, measures four inches at breech, and is
constructed of the finest of gun brass at a cost of $3,500.
There is a magazine at the breech in which a large number of
heavy shells can be held in reserve, and in the action of
the gun these slip down to their places and are fired at the
rate of fourteen a minute, an improvement on the Maxim gun
of four shots. The gun is elevated upon a revolving turret
with electrical connections, enabling the gunner to direct
the action of the machine with a touch of his finger.
Firing, reloading and ejection of shells are all effected by
electricity, and a child could conduct the work of manning
the gun as easily as anyone."

These inven