JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post    Daily Dose from Dr. Odd

  [Source:  Google Patents, https://www.google.com/patents/US269766?dq=patent:269766&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyw_r6277JAhUGSiYKHV_eCdkQ6wEILDAC]

Well, there’s not much that one can say about this that the reader is not already thinking.  

The idea was that of J.E. Bennett of Fredonia, Texas, who patented the “trap” in 1882.  He reports that this apparatus has been used before, as a house “alarm”. He states in the patent that  “I am aware that burglar-alarms of various kinds have been used, and which have been connected to windows and doors in such a manner that the opening of the window or door causes a pressure upon a lever which discharges a tire-arm; but in no case have the parts been arranged and combined as here shown and described.”  Indeed.  I think that this sort of “alarm” was declared illegal decades ago because its use employed depraved indifference.  Poor little critter.