Correspondents whose inquiries fail to appear should repeat them. If
not then published, they may conclude that, for good reasons, the
Editor declines them. The address of the writer should always be
given.
Inquiries relating to patents, or to the patentability of inventions,
assignments, etc., will not be published here. All such questions,
when initials only are given, are thrown into the waste basket, as it
would fill half of our paper to print them all; but we generally take
pleasure in answering briefly by mail, if the writer's address is
given.
Hundreds of inquiries analogous to the following are sent: "Who sells
a tool for truing up a crosshead wrist? Who sells tools for refitting
steam valves without unscrewing them from the pipes? Who sells
spoke-turning lathes? Who makes machinery for freeing wool of burrs
and dirt? Where can tungsten, or tungsten steel, be procured, and at
what price? Who sells silicate of alumina and silicate of potash?" All
such personal inquiries are printed, as will be observed, in the
column of "Business and Personal," which is specially set apart for
that purpose, subject to the charge mentioned at the head of that
column. Almost any desired information can in this way be
expeditiously obtained.
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