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Proceedings and Addresses
CELEBRATION
OF THE
• -BEGINNING • •
• • • OF THE • • •
SECOND CENTURY
OF THE
American Patent System
AT
Washington City, D. C.
April 8, 9, 10, 1891.
PUBLISHED BY THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
WASHINGTON, D. C:
Press of Gedney & Roberts Co.
1892.
Copyright, 1892, by the Executive Committee of the Patent Centennial Celebration,
Geo. C. Maynard, Acting Chairman, J. Elfreth Watkins, Secretary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Proceedings and Addresses,
Patent Centennial Celebration.
PAGE
History of Movement 3
Organization, IvIST of Committees, etc 11
Proceedings at the Meetings, Reception at the Patent
Office, and Excursion to Mount Vernon 21
Address by Hon. Benjamin Harrison, President of the
United States, opening the Congress 23
Formation of the National, Association of Inventors and
Manufacturers 37
Banquets of the Board of Trade and of the Washington
Civiiv Engineers 39
Addresses Dei^ivered at the Congress 43
RESOI^uTions passed by the Executive Committee upon the death of
Hon. John Lynch, Chairman of that Committee 485
Subscribers to the Guarantee Fund 487
IvisT OF Members of the Congress 488
Newspaper Comment upon the Cei,ebration 499
Index 523
Addresses Delivered at the Congress.
BY
Hon. CharIvES Ei«ioT Mitcheli., Commissioner of Patents. — " Birth
and Growth of the American Patent System " 43
Hon. O. H, PI.ATT, U. S. Senator. — "Invention and Advancement," 57
Hon. Carroi^i, D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor. — ** The Rela-
tion of Invention to Labor" 77
Hon. SamueIv BiyATCHFORD, Justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States. — "A Century of Patent Law" iii
Hon. Robert S. Tayi,or.— "The Epoch Making Inventions of
America" 121
Hon. JohnW. Daniei., U. S. Senator.— "The New South as an
Outgrowth of Invention and the American Patent Law " 129
Hon. A. R. Spofford, Librarian U. S. Congress. — "The Copyright
System of the United States : its Origin and its Growth " 145
Octave Chanute, President of the American Society of Civil En-
gineers.— "The Effect of Invention upon the Railroad and
other means of Inter-Communication " 161
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Thomas Gray, Professor of Dynamic Engineering, Rose Polytechnic
Institute, Terra Haute. — *'The Inventors of the Telegraph and
Telephone" i75
Col. F. A. SERI.Y, Principal Examiner U. S. Patent Office.— " Inter-
national Protection of Industrial Property" 199
Edward Atkinson, of Massachusetts. — "Invention in its Effects
upon Household Economy" 217
S. P. LangI/EY, Secretary Smithsonian Institution, Presiding at Ses-
sion afternoon of April 9, 1891 235
WiLWAM P. Trowbridge, Professor of Engineering School of Mines,
Columbia College.— "The Effect of Technological Schools
upon the Progress of Invention " 239
Robert H. Thurston, Director and Professor of Mechanical Engi-
neering, Sibley College, Cornell University. — "The Invention
of the Steam Engine" 251
Cyrus F. Brackett, Henry Professor of Physics, College of New
Jersey, Princeton. — " The Effect of Invention upon the Progress
of Electrical Science" 287
Major C1.ARENCE E. DutTON, Ordnance Department, U. S. A. — "The
Influence of Invention upon the Implements and Munitions of
Modern Warfare " 293
F. W. Ci^ARKE, Chief Chemist U. S. Geological Survey.— "The
Relations of Abstract Scientific Research to Practical In-
vention " 303
J. M. Toner, M. D., of Washington, at Mount Vernon. — "Washing-
ton as an Inventor and Promoter of the Useful Arts" 313
Hon. Benjamin Butterworth, of Ohio, U. S. House of Represent-
atives.— "The Effect of our Patent System on the Material
Development of the United States " 381
Hon. Wm. T. Harris, Commissioner of Education. — "The Relation
of Invention to the Communication of Intelligence by News-
paper and Book" 393
Otis T. Mason, Curator in the U. S. National Museum.— "The
Birth of Invention" 403
Dr. John S. Bii,i.ings, Curator, U. S. Army Medical Museum.—
"American Invention and Discoveries in Medicine, Surgery,
and Practical Sanitation " 413
Addresses at the Banquet of the Board of Trade.
Washington, D. C,
BY
Hon. M. M. Parker, President Board of Trade. —Address of Wel-
come 423
Hon. John M. Hari^an, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States.—" The Supreme Court of the United States as Related
to the American Patent System 425
Hon. John W. Nobi^e, Secretary of the Interior.— "The Future of
the American Patent System " 426
Hon. Chari.es Foster, Secretary of the Treasury. — " American
Patents from a Financial Standpoint" 432
Hon. W. H. H. Mii,i,ER, Attorney General. — " Relation of Patents
to the Law" (letter) 433
TABLE OF CONTENTS. v
Geii. Lewis A. Grant, Assistant Secretary of War. — " American
Patents in the Army " 434
Hon. J. R. Soi^EY, Assistant Secretary of the Navy. — "American
Patents in the Navy " = 439
Hon. S. A. WhitFieIvD, Assistant Postmaster General. — "American
Patents in the Postal Service " 441
Hon. Benjamin ButTERWORTh, Secretary World's Columbian Ex-
position.—"American Patents at the World's Exposition " 444
Hon. Richard Pope, Commissioner of Patents Dominion of Canada.
"The Canadian Patent Office " 450
Papers upon U. S. Patent Office Topics.
Robert W. Fenwick, of Washington, D. C. — "The Old and the
New Patent Office" 453
W. C. Dodge, of Washington, D. C— "The Origin, Nature and
Effect of Patents" 473
James L. Ewen, of Washington, D. C— "The Minor Inventions of
the Century" 481
Proceedings of the Congress
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
The celebration of the beginning of the Second Century of
the American Patent System was the outgrowth of a spon-
taneous desire to recognize publicly the benefits which that
system has conferred upon our Nation and upon the world.
This movement took practical shape when, at the last of
several meetings, duly advertised in the papers, held at the
Arlington Hotel, November ii, 1890, of which Mr. Robt. W.
Fenwick was Chairman and Mr. James T. Dubois was Secre-
tary, the Chairman was * * empowered to appoint a committee
of seven to make arrangements for the celebration, ' ' having
in view the successful accomplishment of two purposes, to wit:
I St. The celebration in an appropriate manner of the begin-
ning of the Second Century of the American Patent System by
the reading of scientific and historical papers by eminent citi-
zens of the United States, and other exercises.
2d. The formation of a National Association of Inventors
and Manufacturers of Patented Articles.
The following gentlemen were then chosen members of the
Central Committee :
JOHN W. BABSON, Chief of Issue and Gazette Div., U. S.
Pat. Office.
BRAINARD H. WARNER, President, Columbia National
Bank.
Prof. OTIS T. MASON, Curator, U. S. National Museum.
MYRON M. PARKER, President, Washington Board of
Trade.
Hon. JOHN LYNCH, President, Potomac Terra Cotta Co.
MARVIN C. STONE, Manufacturer of Novelties.
J. ELFRETH WATKINS, Curator, U. S. National Museum.
To which were added the Chairman (Robt. W. Fenwick),
and Secretary Qames T. Dubois), of the public meetings.
Extracts from the newspapers relating to the movement
will be found in the Appendix.
At the first meeting of the Central Committee, held Decem-
ber ist, 1 89 1, John W. Babson was chosen Chairman, and
J. Elfreth Watkins, Secretary.
4 HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
It having been decided to issue an address to the public
which should embody the objects and aims of the Celebration,
the following, "Circular No. i," was prepared and given to
the press for publication. Several thousand copies were sub-
sequently printed and distributed throughout the country.
To THE Inventors of America and the Manufacturers
OF Inventions.
The completion of the First Century of the American Patent
System marks so important an epoch in the history of the
Nation that it is eminently proper that the beginning of the
second shall not pass unnoticed.
The centennial anniversaries of other important national
events have been celebrated in a manner worthy of a people
proud of their country and its growth. Surely the system
that has aided the agriculturist in the field, the mechanic in
the shop, and the toiler in the mine ; that has stimulated in-
vention and helped every branch of ^podern industry, has
played no small part in a history so full of the triumphs of
human achievement.
Believing that the American inventor and manufacturer of
inventions will regard it a privilege as well as a duty to co-
operate in making due recognition of these facts, it is proposed
to hold a celebration at the National Capital in April, 1891,
which shall in a fitting manner commemorate the important
event and place on record the Nation's appreciation of the
labors of those whose ingenuity, patience and tireless effort
have exercised such a potent influence in accelerating the
prosperous growth of the Nation, and in aiding the progress
of our civilization.
The necessity for a National Association of Inventors organ-
ized for mutual benefit has been frequently discussed in the
technical and other journals. No time could be more oppor-
tune for the formation of such an association than when men
from every part of the country meet to celebrate so important
an anniversary. Surely the occasion is most inspiring.
All inventors and manufacturers and others interested are
requested to cooperate with this Committee in the purpose
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT 5
above set forth. Correspondence appertaining thereto should
be addressed to
J. Bi^FRETH W ATKINS, Secretary,
U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C.
This circular elicited many favorable comments from the
public press, and inventors and manufacturers of patented
articles expressed by letter their desire to cooperate in the
movement.
On the 1 6th of February the following circular was mailed
to such persons who it was thought would be interested in the
formation of a National Association of Inventors and Manu-
facturers:
Office of the Executive Committee
FOR THE
CELEBRATION OF THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND
CENTURY OF THE AMERICAN PATENT SYSTEM
BY INVENTORS AND MANUFACTURERS OF
PATENTED INVENTIONS.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE :
„ ^ 8ii G Street N. W.,
Hon. John I,ynch,
Chairman. WASHINGTON, D. C.
J. Elfreth Watkins,
Secreiarj/.
J. w. babson, February i6th, 1891.
Geo. C. Maynard,
Marvin C. Stone.
Dear Sir : Your attention is invited to the accompanying
circulars relating to the Patent Celebration to be held in
Washington on the 8th, 9th and loth of April next, which it
is hoped you will attend.
It is proposed on that occasion to organize a permanent
National Association of Inventors and Manufacturers of Pat-
ented Articles for the purpose of securing cooperation in all
proper matters tending to the improvement of the American
Patent System.
At this time, when social and economic questions of the
gravest importance fill the public mind, the influence of judi-
cious organized effort can be beneficially exerted to remedy
existing defects and to provide against danger in the future.
6 HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT
You are earnestly requested to unite in the formation of this
Association, and to contribute your personal assistance and
cooperation to that end.
The annual report of the Commissioner of Patents to Con-
gress, bearing date January ist, 1891, again calls attention to
the well-known need for more office room, lack of sufficient
examining force and inadequate pay of every Patent Office
official. The Commissioner remarks that ' ' the pace kept up
in the Patent Office now, as in all recent years, is inconsistent
with that high degree of care which the patent system calls
for," and that '*a patent should evidence such painstaking
care in examination that upon its face it should warrant a pre-
liminary injunction, and there can be little doubt that the con-
tinuance of the 'American ' examination system depends upon
so conducting examinations into the novelty of alleged inven-
tions as to make the seal of the Patent Office create a powerful,
if not a conclusive, presumption that the patent is valid."
The Commissioner further reports that during the past year
the Patent Office has earned a surplus over every expense of
the Office of $241,074.92, and that the total balance now in the
Treasury of the United States is $3,872,745.24, and adds that
the statement that the inventors of the country cannot under-
stand why the government takes their money and then fails
to provide necessary facilities. The prime reason of this state
of affairs is that the inventors of the country have never
brought concerted effiart to bear upon their representatives in
Congress to the end that proper laws should be enacted, nor
have they properly supported the government officials in their
attempts to secure adequate office space and means to facilitate
the carrying out of present regulations.
Many of the most prominent Inventors and Manufacturers in
the country have expressed decided opinions to the effect that
concerted effi)rt at this time, on the part of those most inter-
ested, may be the means of effecting such improvements in
the patent system as shall secure to every owner and user of a
patented invention the just and speedy enforcement of his
rights.
The Executive Committee of the Patent Celebration, de-
siring to cooperate with persons interested in the organization
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT J
of the proposed Association, have provided a suitable place for
its deliberations, and will arrange the program to accommodate
those who desire to take part both in the Celebration exercises
and in the business meetings of the Association.
An expression of your views upon the subject is requested.
If you find yourself unable to attend the meetings, you are in-
vited to bring such matters as you desire before the Association
by letter. Correspondence may be addressed to
J. K. Watkins,
Secretary.
N. B. — If you desire to address the Association upon any
subject, please furnish the committee with an abstract of ad-
dress, and state length of time to be consumed in delivery, in
order that the preliminary organization may have information
to govern them in arranging the program for meetings.
Ths President Accepts the Invitation to Preside.
The following letter addressed to the President of the United
States, inviting him to preside at the first meeting of the Con-
gress on April 8th, elicited a favorable reply :
Washington, January 24., 1891.
The President: On the eighth, ninth, and tenth of April next
there will take place in this city a National Celebration of the
Beginning of the Second Century of the American Patent
System. This is being organized by the Inventors and Manu-
facturers of the whole country, and it is expected that thou-
sands of representative men of these classes, from every part of
the United States, will attend the meetings.
A number of prominent men have promised to deliver
addresses upon this occasion, and the topics to be discussed,
as you will see by the enclosed provisional list, relate to the
history of the Patent System, its effect upon the progress of
invention and its relations to industrial and social progress in
every direction.
It is deemed eminently fitting that the President of the
United States should be asked to be present at the opening
of this Celebration, which is a tribute from the citizens of
the United States to the long-continued efficiency of one of
the branches of the general government. As Chairman of the
8 HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
Executive Committee, in behalf of all interested in the success
of the movement, I have the honor to invite you to take the
chair at the first meeting, on the afternoon of Tuesday, the
eighth of April. Respectfully,
John IvYNCH,
Chairman of Executive Committee.
Invitations were also extended through the Executive Com-
mittee to the oflScials of the various foreign patent bureaus to
attend the celebration.
The following is the form of invitation :
Cki^ebration of thk Beginning of the Second Century
OF THE American Patent System at Washington,
U. S. A., April 8, 9, 10, 1891.
Sir : I have the honor to inform you that arrangements have
been made to celebrate, in an appropriate manner, the begin-
ning of the second century of the American Patent System, in
the city of Washington on the 8th, 9th and loth of April next.
This celebration is being organized by American Inventors
and Manufacturers, and it is expected that thousands of repre-
sentative men of these classes from every part of the United
States will attend the meetings.
Prominent statesmen, jurists, engineers and political econo-
mists will deliver addresses upon topics relating to the history
of our patent system, its effects upon the progress of invention,
and its relations to industrial and social progress in every
direction.
You are requested to unite with these citizens of the United
States in this celebration, which is their tribute to the long
continued efi&ciency of one of the branches of the general
Government.
In behalf of all interested in the success of the movement, I
have the honor to invite you and such citizens as you may de-
sire to accompany you to take part in this celebration.
Very respectfully yours,
(Signed) John I^ynch,
Chairman of the Executive Committee.
(Signed) J. E. Watkins,
Secretary of the Executive Committee.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT. 9
A number of the replies to the invitations are published
below.
The following is the form of the invitation that was sent to
inventors and others whose presence at the Celebration seemed
desirable.
CE1.KBRAT10N OF THE Beginning of the Second Century
OF THE American Patent System by Inventors
and Manufacturers of Patented Inventions, in
THE City of Washington, April 8, 9, 10, 189 1.
Dear Sir : You are cordially invited to become a member
of the Congress of Inventors and Manufacturers of Inventions,
to be held in the City of Washington, April 8, 9, 10, 1891, to
celebrate the beginning of the Second Century of the American
Patent System, which marks so important an epoch in the
history of the Nation.
The centennial anniversaries of other important National
events have been celebrated in a manner worthy of a people
proud of their country and its growth.
Not less worthy of commendation is the system which has
aided the agriculturist in the field, the mechanic in the shop,
and the toiler in the mine ; and has stimulated invention in
every department of modern industry.
In the belief that American Inventors and Manufacturers
will regard it a privilege as well as a duty to cooperate in the
movement, definite steps have been taken to hold this celebra-
tion, which shall in a fitting manner commemorate the import-
ant event and place on record the Nation's appreciation of the
labors of those whose ingenuity, patience and tireless effort
have exercised such a potent influence in accelerating the
prosperous growth of the Nation, and in aiding the progress of
our civilization.
It is expected that one of the outgrowths of this Congress
will be a National Association of Inventors and Manufacturers
of Inventions, the necessity for which Association has fre-
quently been discussed. No time could be more opportune
for the organization of such a society.
lO HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
It is earnestly hoped that you will take part in this celebra-
tion.
If you desire to accept this invitation, you are requested to
sign your name to the enclosed blank, and to forward it, accom-
panied by a fee of five dollars, to Col. A. T. Britton, President
American Security and Trust Co. , and Treasurer Patent Cele-
bration Fund, 1419 G street n. w.
This action will constitute you a member of the Patent Cen-
tennial Congress and will entitle you to attend the public
meetings (admission to which will be by ticket), as well as the
proposed excursion to Mount Vernon on the anniversary of
the signing of the first American Patent Law by Washington.
Each member will receive all the publications of the Con-
gress, which are expected to consist of two or more hand-
somely printed volumes which shall contain the addresses
delivered at the celebration by the eminent statesmen and
political economists whose names appear upon the programme,
together with a series of biographies of the great American
inventors. These volumes will contain the most valuable
contributions to the history of invention and the American
Patent System ever published.
In behalf of the Executive Committee.
J. E. Watkins,
Secretary.
To.
Regulations governing the preliminary arrangements for
the Celebration were adopted by the Central Committee and
published early in February, substantially as follows :
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT II
ORGANIZATION, LIST OF COMMITTEES,
DUTIES, Etc.
The Advisory Committee.
A first act was to secure the earnest cooperation of men
prominent in ofi&cial positions, high in literary and scientific
attainments, and actively interested in the welfare and growth
of our country, to give support to this undertaking. The
letters placed on file from the gentlemen named below, selected
as an Advisory Committee, were of the most inspiring character
and express the warmest sympathy with the movement :
Hon. H. M. TBIvLBR, Chairman, Committee on Patents, U. S.
Senate.
Hon. O. H. PIvATT and Hon. GBORGB GRAY, Members of
Committee on Patents, U. S. Senate.
Hon. BBNJAMIN BUTTBRWORTH, Chairman, Committee
on Patents, House of Representatives.
Hon. H. B. PAINB, Bx-Commissioner of Patents.
Hon. BLIvIS SPBAR, Bx-Commissioner of Patents.
Hon. B. M. MARBIvB, Bx-Commissioner of Patents.
Hon. M. V. MONTGOMBRY, Bx-Commissioner of Patents.
Coiv. F. A. SBBIvY, Principal Examiner, U. S. Patent Office.
J. B. MARVIN, Chief of Draughtsman's Division, U. S. Patent
Office.
Prof. A. GRAHAM BBLL.
Prof. S. P. IvANGLBY, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
Dr. G. BROWN GOODB. Assistant Secretary in Charge, U. S.
National Museum.
Major JOHN W. POWBIvL, Director, U. S. Geological Survey.
Prof. T. C. MBNDBNHALL, Superintendent, U. S. Coast and
Geodetic Surve5\
Hon. a. R. SPOFFORD, Librarian of Congress.
Hon. BDWARD WILLITS, Assistant Secretary ©f Agrculture.
Coiv. A. T. BRIXTON, President, American Security and
Trust Co.
Dr. J. C. WBIvLING, President, Columbian University.
REV. J. HAVENS RICHARDS, President, Georgetown Uni
versity.
T. B. WAGGAMAN, Trustee, Catholic University of America.
Rev. J. B. RANKIN, President, Howard University.
REV. BYRON SUNDBRIvAND.
Hon. THOMAS WILSON, Smithsonian Institution.
Hon. jambs BUCHANAN and Hon. GBORGB D. TILL-
MAN, Members of Committee on Patents, House of Rep-
resentatives.
12 HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
Hon. CHARLES ELIOT MITCHELL, Commissioner of
Patents.
Hon. ROBERT J. FISHER, Assistant Commissioner of
Patents.
Coiv. MARSHALL MCDONALD, Commissioner of Fish and
Fisheries.
Hon. CARROLL D. WRIGHT, Commissioner of Labor.
Gen. a. W. GREELY, Chief Signal Officer, U. S. A.
Gen. M. C. MEIGS, U. S. A.*
Commodore WM. M. FOLGER, U. S. A.
Surgeon JOHN S. BILLINGS, Army Medical Museum.
Captain R. W. MEADE, U. S. N.
Generai. W. S. ROSECRANS, Register, U. S. Treasury.
Dr. F. O. ST. CLAIR, Chief of Consular Bureau, Depart-
ment of State.
Hon. J. W. DOUGLASS, Commissioner, District of Columbia.
Hon. J. W. ROSS, Commissioner, District of Columbia.
Col. H. M. ROBERT, Commissioner, District of Columbia.
Hon. M. G. emery. President, Second National Bank.
J. M. TONER, M. D.
GEORGE C. MAYNARD.
Hon. SIMON WOLF.
A. L. BARBER, President, Barber Asphalt Co.
CROSBY S. NOYES, Editor, Evening Star.
Hon. BERIAH WILKINS, Daily Post.
GEN. H. V. BOYNTON.
CHAS. A. ELLIOT.
A. D. ANDERSON, Secretary, Board of Trade.
Coi.. WM. M. MEREDITH, Chief, Bureau Engraving and
Printing.
The Executive Committee.
By resolution of the Central Committee the Executive Com-
mittee is charged * ' with the duty of arranging the program
for the celebration ' ' ; and all other committees are directed to
"report to and receive their instructions from the Executive
Committee"; *' no indebtedness shall be incurred, except by
the authority of the Executive Committee, and no expendi-
tures shall be made from the funds collected for the purposes
of the celebration except upon vouchers approved by said
committee."
* Gen. M. C. Meigs was elected chainnan of this committee at its first meeting, and
served in that capacity at each subsequent meeting.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT. 13
The chairman of each sub-committee will be ex-officio a
member of the Executive Committee when matters pertaining
exclusively to his committee are under consideration.
The Executive Committee will determine the time and place
or places for holding the public meetings, and the character
of the literary exercises and entertainments afforded the mem-
bers of the convention ; and also have the general oversight
and arrangement of all affairs pertaining to the celebration.
It will prepare and issue to the public and distribute to in-
dividuals, in the best possible way, such circulars, letters and
invitations as will secure a full attendance of those persons
whose cooperation is desired.
It will cause to be printed and bound the volumes of the
papers read at the literar}^ sessions of the Congress, together
with such portions of the proceedings of the business sessions
as may be determined upon, and will forward to each member
of the convention, who has paid a membership fee of jSve dol-
lars, one copy thereof.
It will provide tickets of admission to the literary and busi-
ness sessions of the convention, and to all entertainments and
receptions, and determine the regulations under which they
shall be distributed.
All sub-committees will report to the Executive Committee
at least once a week (on Tuesday evening), and oftener if
necessary, at the rooms at No. 811 G street, which will be
open daily from 9 A. m. to 5 p. m. until the close of the con-
vention.
Sub-committees can hold their meetings in these rooms by
giving notice to the Secretary.
Hon. JOHN LYNCH, Chairman.
J. ELFRETH WATKINS, Secretary. MARVIN C. STONE.
JOHN W. BABSON. GEORGE C. MAYNARD.
14 HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
Thk Committee on I,iterature.
The Committee on I^iterature will designate what subjects
shall be discussed at the public exercises and will provide the
persons to deliver the addresses, and will receive, examine and
prepare for publication, or other proper disposition, such addi-
tional addresses or papers as ma^y be offered.
Dr. G. brown GOODB, Chairman.
Hon. AINSWORTH R. SPOFFORD. lylvBWBLLYN DHANE.
The Finance Committee.
The Finance Committee will be charged with the duty of ob-
taining the necessary funds for the expenses of the celebration,
giving suitable acknowledgment to all persons contributing.
All funds when collected will be paid over to Col. A. T. Brit-
ton, Treasurer.
The character and value of the papers to be read before the
Congress by the eminent gentlemen who have volunteered to
prepare them being such that their preservation is desired, it
has been determined to publish them in book form, together
with such portions of the proceedings of the Association as
may be determined upon. These will make one or more
volumes of 400 pages. Bach subscriber will be entitled to a
copy, together with a ticket of admission to all public meet-
ings of the Congress, and to all excursions, entertainments and
receptions, upon the payment of a fee of five dollars.
From these fees it is expected that a large revenue will be
derived, and that the first receipts will be available sufficiently
early to so far provide for current expenses that twenty per
cent, only of the subscriptions will be called for before
March 31st.
Subsequent calls will be determined by the receipts of fees.
No more calls will be made than are necessary to meet exi-
gencies. Whatever funds accumulating from membership fees
remain on hand after the expenses of the convention are paid
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT 15
will be returned to the subscribers to the guarantee fund, and
pro rata to the amount paid in.
JOSEPH K. McCAMMON, Chairman, 1420 F street.
Hon. W. W. DUDLEY, Pacific Building.
REGINALD FENDALIv, 344 D street.
H. V. PARSELIv, 458 Pennsylvania avenue.
JAMES T. DUBOIS, 715 Eleventh street.
GEO. C. MAYNARD, 1409 New York avenue.
JOHN C. POOR, 411 Tenth street.
CHAS. E. FOSTER, 931 ^ street.
JAMES H. GRID LEY, Pacific Building.
Hon. WM. McMICHAEL, Mills Building, N. Y.
CHARLES C. LISTER, Drexel Building, Phila.
Hon. J. W. WHELPLEY, 300 East Capitol street.
WHARTON Mcknight, 44 Penn. avenue, Pittsburg, Pa.
M. I. WELLER, 326 Pennsylvania avenue, S. E.
MUNN & CO., New York, N. Y.
Capt. GEO. E. LEMON, 615 Fifteenth street N. W.
Committee on Public Comfort.
This committee will negotiate for quarters, either at hotels
or private houses, for persons desiring them, and will invite
and obtain the names, addresses and rates of such householders
as will furnish accommodations for visitors. They will keep
a list of obtainable accommodations at headquarters, 811 G
street northwest, from which information can be given to
those who apply in person or by letter, and will take such
other steps as will, in their opinion, insure the comfort of the
guests.
W. C. DODGE, Chairman.
W. G. HENDERSON, F. E. TASKER,
J. H. whitaker, henry calver,
W. H. FINCKEL, NELSON J. DITTO,
E. T. FENWICK, A. M. SMITH,
L. W. SINSABAUGH, R. S. LACEY,
T. J. JOHNSON, JAMES A. ASHLEY,
BENJAMIN POOLE, HENRY H. BLISS,
J. L. EWIN, JAMES F. DUHAMEL,
A. H. EVANS, G. H. HOWARD,
C. J. GOOCH, M. E. GREGG.
i6
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
The Reception Committee.
Upon the Reception Committee will devolve the duty of
receiving and extending proper courtesies to distinguished
guests during their stay, and the providing of sub-committees
to be in attendance at receptions and entertainments, and, as
may be necessary, at the sessions of the Convention.
WM. CRANCH McINTIRE, Chairman.
DeWITT C. LAWRENCE, Vice -Chairman.
a. a. wilson,
marcellus bailey,
M. W. GALT,
L. P. WRIGHT,
Hon. THOMAS WILSON,
JAMES P. WILLETT,
Dr. WM. B. FRENCH,
O. C. GREEN,
Dr. G. W. HARRIS,
ROBERT BOYD,
JOHN KEYWORTH,
L. J. DAVIS,
J. J. HALSTED,
R. G. Du BOIS,
M. W. BEVERIDGE,
JNO. A. BAKER,
GEORGE E. LEMON,
R. G. DYRENFORTH,
G. T. HOWARD,
H. SEMKEN,
GEO. W. COCHRAN,
W. H. COLLINS,
W. B. COOLEY,
HENRY SHERWOOD,
FRANK R. WILLIAMS,
H. S. EVERETT,
H. L. CRANFORD,
T. M. GALE,
T. H. ALEXANDER,
CLEM. W. HOWARD,
H. O. TOWLES,
Dr. D. S. LAMB,
GEO. B. WILLIAMS,
J. J. HARROVER,
H. A. SEYMOUR,
JNO. F. WAGGAMAN,
PHILIP T. DODGE,
WM. F. MATTINGLY,
JAMES F. BARBOUR,
FRANK HUME,
CHARLES EARLY,
GEO. M. LOCKWOOD,
JNO. PAUL JONES,
R. H. VOORHEES,
E. E. ELLIS,
EUGENE PETERS,
OCTAVIUS KNIGHT,
R. D. S. TYLER,
C. A. SNOW,
LLOYD B. WIGHT,
W. T. FITZGERALD,
W. D. CABELL,
E. G. DAVIS,
B. LEWIS BLACKFORD,
GEO. W. CASILEAR,
EDWIN LAMASURE,
D. P. LIEBHARDT,
E. M. DAWSON,
FRED. BRACKETT,
JOHN TWEEDALE,
Prof. HARRY KING,
W. V. COX,
A. HOWARD CLARK,
WALTER HOUGH,
Dr. THOMAS TAYLOR,
PHILIP WALKER,
MAGNUS S. THOMPSON,
N. S. FAWCETTE,
HENRY W. RAYMOND,
Coi,. F. G. BUTTERFIELD,
MARTIN B. BAILEY,
E. A. DICK,
THOS. S. HOPKINS,
JAS. W. WHITE,
J. LOWRIE BELL,
ARNOLD B. JOHNSON,
W. J. HOFFMAN,
JAMES A. RUTHERFORD.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
17
Committee on Transportation.
This committee will by interviews and correspondence en-
deavor to secure reduced railroad and steamboat rates from all
points in the United States to this city, for the members of the
Congress and their friends who accompany them. They will
also be charged with the duty of making the necessary arrange-
ments for the excursion to Mount Vernon.
Coi,. W. B. THOMPSON, Chairman.
JAMES L. TAYLOR,
GEORGE W. BOYD,
W. P. CAMPBELL,
C. C. DUNCANSON,
S. M. BRYAN,
Lieut. CHAS C. ALLIBONE,
C. C. SCULL,
CHARLES R. BISHOP,
CapT. W. T. ROESSLE,
CapT. a. a. THOMAS,
MORRELL MAREAN,
Coi.. JOS. C. McKIBBEN.
The Committee on Halls.
This committee will be charged with the duty of obtaining
a hall for the principal place of meeting for the convention,
and such other halls as may be needed for special or overflow
meetings, and seeing that they are properly arranged and sup-
plied with the requisite attendants and conveniences.
M. D. helm, Chairman.
F. W. PRATT,
W. H. RAPLEY,
W. X. STEVENS,
B. R. CATLIN,
t. j. w. robertson,
w. h. singleton,
hervey s. knight,
f. a. lehmann,
\vm. e. boulter,
F. C. SOMES,
WARREN H. ORCUTT,
AUGUST PETERSON,
GEO. S. PRINDLE,
EUGENE W. JOHNSON,
H. H. DOUBLEDAY,
W. P. KENNEDY,
J. NOTA McGILL,
H. N. LOW.
The Committee on Badges and Medals.
This committee shall cause designs for badges and medals
and the cost thereof to be submitted to the Executive Com-
mittee for approval, and, when authorized, secure and deliver
i8
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
the same to the chairman of the several committees or officers
for appropriate distribution.
SCHUYLER DURYBB, Chairman.
V. D. STOCKBRIDGB,
W. A. BARTLBTT,
ALBX. S. STBWART,
P. G. RUSSBLL,
G. P. WHITTLBSBY,
J. R. LITTBLL,
C. H. FOWLBR,
W. H. DOOIvlTTLB,
F. L. BROWNB,
IvIvOYD B. WIGHT,
A. S. BROWNB,
WALIvACB GRBBNB.
P. MAURO,
Dr. F. W. RITTBR,
C. ly. STURTBVANT.
COMMITTKE ON PrBSS.
The Committee on Press will make arrangements for the
collection and dissemination of news, and for the accommoda-
tion of the Press, extending to them all necessary facilities.
S. H. KAUFFMANN, Chairman, Evening Star.
F. A. RICHARDSON,
Baltimore Sun.
RICHARD NIXON,
N. O. Times.
H. W. SPOFFORD,
Scranton Republican.
W. B. STBVBNS,
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
F. A. G. HANDY,
Chicago Tribune.
O. O. STBAIvBY,
Louisville Courier-Journal.
M. G. SBCKBNDORF,
N. Y. Tribune.
JUI,BS GUTHRIDGB,
N. Y. Herald.
PAUL WOLFF,
Staats-Zeitung .
W. G. STBRRBTT,
Galveston News.
RICHARP WBIGHTMAN,
Age-Herald, Birmingham, Ala.
O. P. AUSTIN,
Press News Association.
B. B. WIGHT,
Boston Journal.
B. C. HOWLAND,
Philadelphia Press.
LOUIS J. LANG,
N. Y.^ Press.
FRANK HATTON,
Post.
D. R. McKBB,
Associated Press.
H. V. BOYNTON,
Commercial Gazette.
JBROMB J. WILBBR,
Associated Press.
J. H. SOULE),
Sunday Herald.
BDWARD W. BRADY,
Critic.
JOHN M. CARSON,
Philadelphia Ledger.
JOHN McBLROY,
National Tribune.
W. L. CROUNSB,
N. Y. World.
W. B. CURTIS,
Chicago News.
P. V. DeGRAW,
United Press.
B. G. DUNNBLL,
N. Y. Times.
J. J. NOAH,
Kansas City Times.
LUTHER B. LITTLE,
St. Paul Pioneer Press.
DsB. RANDOLPH KEIM,
Philadelphia Inquirer.
WILLIAM C. FOX.
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT. 19
Committee on Music.
The Committee on Music will be charged with the duty of
providing such instrumental and vocal music as may be deter-
mined upon for the sessions of the convention, excursions,
receptions and parades, subject to the approval of the Execu-
tive Committee.
W. R. IvAPHAM, Chairman.
W. D. McFARIyAND, W. R. B. ATKINSON,
H. O. SIMONS, J. C. PENNIB,
J. R. BDSON, J. R. NOTTINGHAM,
GEORGE R. BYINGTON, F. D. JOHNS,
L. S. BACON, FRANK L. MIDDLETON.
F. H. HOUGH, WILIv E. DYRE,
FRANK Iv. DYER, H. J. ENNIS.
Committee on Carriages.
The Committee on Carriages will make arrangements with
the livery stables to provide sufficient and suitable carriages
for the use of the members of the convention while in the city
at reasonable and uniform rates, to be furnished upon tele-
phonic call of the committee or a request by its authority.
A representative of the committee will be on duty at head-
quarters, 811 G street, during the time of the convention.
O. E. DUFFY, Chairman.
A. E. H. JOHNSON, ALLEN S. PATTISON,
HENRY ORTH, HERBERT E. PECK,
CHAS. S. JONES, W. E. AUGHINBAUGH,
W. N. MOORE, GEORGE W. STOKES,
HARRY F. SLOCUM, FREDERICK A. HOLTON, '
SHIPLEY BRASHEARS, WALTER ALLEN,
CHAS. J. STOCKMAN, JAMES L. SKIDMORE.
EDSON S. DENSMORE,
Committee on Parade and Military Organizations.
Returning from the excursion to Mount Vernon on Friday,
April loth, by invitation of the Secretary of the Navy the boat
will land at the Navy Yard, and an opportunity will be given
the inventors and their friends to inspect the ordnance shops,
after which a military parade from that point through the city
is contemplated. The Secretary of War has already given
20
HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.
favorable consideration to the matter, and it is expected that
the Regular Army and the District National Guard and the
High School Cadets will participate. The arrangements are
under the charge of the following committee :
Gen. AIvBHRT ORDWAY, Chairman.
GEN. CECIL CLAY, Maj. W. C. McINTIRE.
Coi.. W. G. MOORE, Maj. T. M. GALE.
F. N. LANE.
Committee on Banquet.
If it be determined to hold a banquet during or at the close
of the Convention, the arrangements therefor will be placed in
the hands of the following committee, who will make due
announcement of the time, place, etc. :
LAWRENCE GARDNER, Chairman.
A. B. BROWNE, RHESA G. DUBOIS,
WALTER JOHNSON, FRED. W. PRATT,
JOHN JOY EDSON, H. L. BISCOE,
JOHN W. BOTELER, WM. J. STEPHENSON,
JOHN C. EDWARDS, R. G. MONROE,
WM. R. SINGLETON. E. W. ANDERSON,
C. S. WHITMAN, A. A. CONNOLLY.
Special Committee for the Reception of Foreign
Officials and Guests.
As it is desirable to pay special attention to official and
other foreign guests who may be present in response to invita-
tions sent to the Patent Offices, Societies, and distinguished
citizens of other countries, that duty has been devolved upon
a special committee, consisting of
Gen. CYRUS BUSSEY, Chairman.
Hon. ROBERT P. PORTER, EUGENE M. JOHNSON,
A. S. SOLOMONS, ANTHONY POLLOCK,
Hon. THOMAS WILSON, HENRY ORTH,
Hon. N. L. FROTHINGHAM, LOUIS BAGGER,
EDWIN B. HAY, GUSTAV BISSING,
ALVA S. TABOR, FRANCIS R. FAVER, Jr.
Gen. L. T. MICHENOR, JOSE M. YZNAGA,
M. L. MORRIS, WILLIAM H. BECK,
JOSE) J. RODRIGUEZ.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
FIRST MEETING.
The Congress of Inventors and Manufacturers of Inventions to
celebrate the Beginning of the Second Century of the American
Patent System convened at the Academy of Music (formerly
Lincoln Music Hall) in Washington, D. C, Wednesday, April
8, 1 891, at 2:30 p. m. The first meeting was presided over by
the President of the United States, and among other distin-
guished guests upon the stage were Hon. John W. Noble,
Secretary of the Interior ; Hon. John Wanamaker, Postmaster-
General ; Prof. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution ; General Cyrus Bussey, Assistant Secretary of the
Interior ; Hon. Edwin Willits, Assistant Secretary of Agri-
culture ; Senators O. H. Piatt and J. W. Daniel ; Hon. John
H. Pope, Minister of Agriculture, Canada ; Mr. Wm. J.
Lynch, Cashier, and Mr. J. McCabe, Chief Examiner of the
Patent Office, Ottawa, Canada; Hon. Charles E. Mitchell,
Commissioner of Patents ; Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commis-
sioner of Labor ; Mr. E. W. Halford, and the Commissioners
of the District of Columbia.
The boxes were occupied by Prof. Alexander Graham Bell,
the inventor of the telephone, Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard, and
their families. Mrs. Amanda Vail, the widow of Alfred Vail,
who designed and constructed the first complete magneto-
electric telegraph instrument, and who was associated with
Prof. Morse in the invention of the electric telegraph, was an
honored guest upon the stage. In the audience were seated
many distinguished inventors, among them being Dr. Gat-
ling, General Berdan, George W. Maynard (son of Dr. Edward
Maynard), inventor of guns, rifles and ammunition ; Frederick
E. Sickles, inventor of the Sickles engine cut-off and the steam
steering apparatus ; E. Berliner, of telephone and phonograph
fame ; D. G. Weems, inventor of the fast-speed electrical loco-
motive and railway ; Colonel Price, of Scran ton, Pa., inventor
22 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
of appliances to utilize coal dust ; Thomas Shaw, of Phila-
delphia, inventor of apparatus to purify and regulate the
ventilation of coal mines ; John Y. Smith, of Doylestown, Pa.,
whose patented air-brakes are in use on many European rail-
ways. There were also many other distinguished men present
who have aided in the world's progress by their inventive
genius.
After an overture by the orchestra, Hon. John Lynch, Chair-
man of the Executive Committee of the Patent Celebration,
announced the following officers of the * * Congress of Inventors
and Manufacturers of the United States assembled to celebrate
the Beginning of the Second Century of the American Patent
System"—
President — The President of the United States.
Vice-Presidents — Hon. John W. Noble, Secretary of the In-
terior ; Hon. Frederick Fraley, President National Board of
Trade ; Prof Samuel P. I^angley, Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution, and Prof. Alexander Graham Bell, Washington,
D. C.
Honorary Vice-Presidents — General Russell A. Alger, De-
troit, Mich.; Prof. W. A. Anthony, Manchester, Conn., Presi-
dent of the Institute of Electrical Engineers ; John Birkinbine,
Philadelphia, President of the Institute of Mining Engineers ;
Mr. Justice Bradley, United States Supreme Court ; Hon.
B. K. Bruce, Washington, D. C; Charles F. Brush, Cleveland,
Ohio ; General Thomas I,. Casey, Chief of Engineers, U. S. A. ;
Octave Chanute, Chicago, President of the American Society
of Civil Engineers ; George W. Childs, editor and publisher,
Philadelphia; Thomas A. Edison, Menlo Park, N. J.; Norvin
Green, President of the Western Union Telegraph Company,
New York ; Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, New York ; Hon.
Gardiner G. Hubbard, President National Geographical So-
ciety, Washington, D. C. ; Hon. John Jay, President of the
American Historical Association ; Charles F. Mayer, President
of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, Baltimore;
Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, Washington, D. C; Oberlin Smith,
President of the Society of Mechanical Engineers, Bridgeton,
N. J. ; Elihu Thomson, L,ynn, Mass.; Frank Thomson, Esq.,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 23
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Philadelphia, and Joseph M.
Wilson, Philadelphia, President of the Franklin Institute.
The President being introduced by Chairman Lynch, ad-
dressed the Congress, as follows :
Opening Address by the President op the
United States.
My fellow-citizens, members of this first convention of In-
ventors and Manufacturers, assembled to observe the Centennial
of the Patent System of the United States : My connection
with this meeting must necessarily be very brief, and may
seem to be quite formal. Other engagements will prevent the
enjoyment by me of the treat that is in store for you in the ad-
dresses which will be delivered by the distinguished men whose
names are upon the programme. I can only by my presence
here, and these few introductory words, opening and constitut-
ing this Congress, express my appreciation of the importance
of this occasion, and my hope that your gathering may be pro-
motive of those branches of science and art in which you are
respectively interested.
It distinctly marked, I think, a great step in the progress of
civilization when the law took notice of property in the fruit
of the mind. (Applause.)
Ownership in the clumsy device which savage hands fash-
ioned from wood and stone, was obvious to the savage mind ;
but it required a long period to bring the public to a realization
of the fact that it was quite as essential that invention, taking
shapes useful to men, should be recognized and secured as
property. That is the work of the patent system as it has
been established in this country. It cannot be doubted by
any, I think, that the security of property in inventions has
been highly promotive of the advance our country has made
in the arts and sciences. (Applause.) Nothing more stimu-
lates effort than security in the results of effort. (Applause.)
Rev. Byron Sunderland, Pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church, then invoked the divine blessing upon the delibera-
tions of the Congress, and gave thanks to the Supreme Being
24 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
for the benefits whicli have accrued to the world * ' through the
genius of men, inspired from on high."
After the invocation the President placed the Congress in
charge of the first Vice-President, Hon. John W. Noble, Secre-
tary of the Interior, who introduced Hon. Charles K. Mitchell,
U. S. Commissioner of Patents, to address the Congress on
**The Birth and Growth of the American Patent System."*
This address was followed by Senator O. H. Piatt, of Con-
necticut, whose theme was * * Invention and Advancement, ' ' a
scholarly production, which was received with applause.
"The Relation of Invention to Labor," was discussed by
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labor. During
this address the Justices of the Supreme Court, headed by
Chief Justice Fuller, entered in a body amid applause and
were shown to seats upon the stage. This courtesy to their
distinguished colleague, Hon. Samuel Blatchford, who was the
next speaker, was a most pleasing incident of the celebration.
The Executive and Legislative branches of the government
had already paid their tribute to the long continued efiiciency
of the American Patent System, and this action by the repre-
sentatives of the highest judicial branch was only needed to
render the recognition complete.
Justice Blatchford, who enjoys a high reputation as a jurist
versed in patent law, then addressed the Congress on "A Cen-
tury of Patent Law."
The last address of the afternoon was delivered by Hon.
Robert S. Taylor, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, upon "The Kpoch-
Making Inventions of America," and upon its conclusion the
meeting was adjourned until 7:30 p. m.
SECOND MEETING.
The second meeting was called to order at 7:30 p. m., Wed-
nesday, April 8, 1891, by Hon. John W. Noble, Secretary of
the Interior, who delivered a timely address, wherein he
*The addresses are published in full, and, as far as practicable, in the
order in which they were delivered. See index.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 25
referred to the growth of the Interior Department, the import-
ance of the Patent Ofl&ce, the necessity for increasing its facil-
ities, and spoke enthusiastically of its future usefulness as a
factor of civilization.
Secretary Noble then presented Hon, John W. Daniel, U. S.
Senator from Virginia, who spoke of ' ' The New South as an
Outgrowth of Invention and the American Patent Law," his
remarks being received with applause.
The programme concluded with a paper from Hon. Bdwin
Willits, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, on ' * The Relation
of Invention to Agriculture."
Thk Reception at the Patent Office.
After adjournment, the members of the Congress and the
ladies accompanying them repaired to the Patent Office to
attend the reception tendered in their honor by the Secretary
of the Interior and the Commissioner of Patents. The invita-
tion, which was accepted by several thousand persons, read as
follows :
* * Congress of Inventors and Manufacturers of Patented Inven-
tions for the Celebration of the beginning of the Second
Century of the American Patent System.
' ' The Executive Committee requests the presence of your-
self and ladies at a reception by the Secretary of the Interior
and Commissioner of Patents in honor of inventors and manu-
facturers, at the Patent Office Building, Washington, Wednes-
day, April 8th, 1891, at 9:30 p. m.
''John Lynch, George C. Maynard,
" J. W. Babson, Marvin C. Stone,
"J. K. Watkins.
*' Present this card at the Seventh-street entrance."
The scene in the interior of the Patent Office was a brilliant
one. The walls of the broad corridor on the F street side of
the building were hung with flags, among which were intro-
26 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
duced countless electric lights. The rotunda in which the
receiving party stood was ablaze with light and color. At the
opposite end of the corridor, the large space behind the
columns was furnished with rugs and divans as a resting place
for those who did not desire to participate in the promenade.
Mr. Wm. Cranch Mclntire made the introductions to Secretary
Noble, who in turn presented each guest to Mrs. Noble and
the receiving party, consisting of Commissioner and Mrs.
Mitchell, Mrs. Frothingham, wife of the Assistant Commis-
sioner of Patents ; Mrs. layman, wife of the Civil Service Com-
missioner ; the Misses Halstead, the Misses Mclntire, Mrs.
Woodruff, of New York ; Mrs. George Bartlett and Mrs. T. S.
Bishop, of New Britain, Conn., and others.
Among the guests present were Assistant Commissioner
Frothingham, Mr. Robert Mitchell, Mrs. Coston, Mrs. Ran-
dolph Keim, Miss Sarah C. Deen, of Reading ; Prof, and Mrs.
A. Graham Bell, Dr. TeunisS. Hamlin, Dr. and Mrs. G. Brown
Goode, Senator Manderson, Postmaster- General Wanamaker,
Gen. Berdan, Gen. Butterfield, Hon. Robert P. Porter, Super-
intendent of the Census ; Maj. J. W. Powell, Hon. John H.
Oberly, Mr. William C. Fox, Mr. B. H. Fox, Prof. W. D.
Cabell, with a number of young ladies ; Prof, and Mrs. Wood-
ward, Mr. and Mrs. William Lapham, Dr. Luce, Mrs. Kuehling*,
Mrs. H. L. King, Mr. and Mrs. Byrne, Dr. Gatling, Mr. Mat-
thew G. Emery, Mr. H. E. Ogden, Dr. J. B. Hamilton, Surgeon
General, Marine Hospital Service ; Col. E. B. Hay, Rev. Dr.
Corey, Senator Daniel, Commissioner Lyman, Mr. and Mrs.
Powell, Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Mr. O. L. Pruden, Mr.
Sevellon A. Brown, Mr. F. W. Smith, Mr. F. W. Flowers,
Maj. Benjamin F. Pike, Mr. Thomas S. Chappell, Mr. J. G.
Howland, Mr. W. D. Swan, Mr. O. B. Brown, Maj. J. P.
Sanger, Mr. J. N. Morrison, Capt. W. S. Patten, Mr. A. C.
Towner, Mr. William R. Lapham, Mr. William R. Ryan, Mr.
James J. McDonald, Mr. Henry G. Potter, Mr. Edmond Mallet,
Mr. Manning M. Rose, Mr. H. H. Bates, Mr. Roger Welles,
Mr. William Burke, Mr. W. G. Perry, Miss C. M. Richter, Mr.
R. M. Layden, Mrs. D. W. Lewis, Mr. Charles P. Lincoln,
Mr. W. W. Barker, Dr. M. F. Gallaher, Mr. Frank H. Allen,
Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Clark, Mr. Geo. C. Maynard, Mr. and Mrs.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 27
Marvin C. Stone, Hon. John lyynch, Prof, and Mrs. J. Elfreth
Watkins and Miss Ruth Hannah, Mr. William B. Shaw, Mr.
John W. Babson, Mr. B. R. Tyler, Mr. J. W. Jayne, Mr.
George M. Holtzman, Mr. Frank R. Williams, Mr. John
Hyde, Mr. Wiliam C. Hunt, and nearly every official connected
with the Interior and the other Departments of the government.
THIRD PUBLIC MEETING.
Hon. Frederick Fraley, President of the National Board of
Trade and of the American Philosophical Society, who was
expected to preside over the third public meeting, held at 2
p. M., Thursday, April 9th, 1891, was deterred from this duty
by illness. His place was filled by Mr. Oberlin Smith, Past
President of the Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Honor-
ary Vice-President of the Congress.
Hon. Benjamin Butter worth, who was announced to address
the Congress on "The Effect of Our Patent System on the
Material Development of the United States, ' ' was unavoidably
delayed in Chicago, rendering a change in the programme
necessary.
Hon. A. R. Spofford, lyibrarian of Congress, who has ad-
ministered the affairs of our great national library for twenty-
seven years, then read the first paper of the session, entitled
* * The Copyright System of the United States : its Origin and
its Growth."
Owing to the illness of Prof. Octave Chanute, President of
the American Society of Civil Engineers, his paper, next in
order upon the programme, * * The Effect of Invention upon the
Railroad and Other Means of Intercommunication," was read
by Prof. J. Howard Gore, of the Columbian University, Wash-
ington.
' ' The Inventors of the Telegraph and the Telephone ' ' was
the title of an address delivered by Prof. Thomas Gray, of
Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Indiana. This ad-
dress attracted additional attention from the fact that Professor
Gray is the author of the articles on the ' ' Telegraph ' ' and
28 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
'"Telephone" in the last edition of the Encyclopaedia Britan-
nica. A further coincidence in connection with this address was
the presence in the audience of Mrs. Alfred Vail, widow 6f one
of the inventors of the telegraph ; Prof. Alexander Graham
Bell, the inventor of the telephone, and Mr. Bmilie Berliner,
of telephone fame.
Col. F. A. Seely, a Principal Examiner in the Patent Office,
contributed a paper on * ' International Protection of Industrial
Property." The fact that Colonel Seely had only recently
been called upon to represent the United States in a conference
relating to International Patent Laws at Madrid, Spain, made
it possible for him to utilize the results of these deliberations
in his discussion of this important subject.
The last paper of the afternoon session, '' Invention in its
Effect upon Household Economy," prepared by Dr. Edward
Atkinson, of Boston, Massachusetts, who was unable to be
present, was read by Prof. G. K. Gilbert, of the United States
Geological Survey. The theory of this address was, that we
pay many penalties for the progress of invention, but these
penalties are being gradually removed by further improve-
ments in the same line.
The meeting then adjourned until 7:30 p. m., April 9th, 1891.
FOURTH PUBLIC MEETING.
Prof. S. P. Langley, Secretary of the Smithsonian Insti-*
tution, presided over the fourth public meeting, which was
called to order at 7:30 p. m., April 9th. He delivered a short
address, and called attention to the fact that the Smithsonian
Institution in its early days was the inheritor of many of the
treasures of the Patent Office.
The presiding officer then introduced Prof William P.
Trowbridge, of the School of Mines, Columbia College, New
York, who spoke of the " Effect of Technological Schools upon
the Progress of Invention," his remarks being frequently ap-
plauded.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 29
Dr. Robert H. Thurston, Director of Sibley College, Cornell
University, New York, followed Professor Trowbridge with an
able address on ** The Invention of the Steam Engine," replete
with interesting facts and conclusions regarding steam.
The third paper of the evening, * ' The Effect of Invention
upon the Progress of Electrical Science," was read by Prof.
Cyrus F. Brackett, of Princeton College. The fact that Pro-
fessor Brackett occupies the chair founded to commemorate the
life work of Professor Henry, the great discoverer of the laws
of electro-magnetism, rendered his selection to speak upon this
subject peculiarly appropriate.
Maj. Clarence E. Dutton, of the Ordnance Department,
U. S. A., who was to address the Congress on " The Influence
of Invention upon the Implements and Munitions of Modem
Warfare, ' * being unavoidably absent in Mexico, his paper was
read by Capt. Rogers Birnie, U. S. A.
The last address of the evening was delivered by Prof.
F. W. Clarke, Chief Chemist of the U. S. Geological Survey,
on * ' The Relations of Abstract Scientific Research to Practical
Invention, with Special Reference to Chemistry and Physics."
The meeting then adjourned.
30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
ANNIVERSARY DAY.
EXCURSION TO MOUNT VKRNON.
One hundred and one years ago — upon April lo, 1791, the
first American Patent I^aw, '*An Act to Promote the Progress
of the Useful Arts," was signed by George Washington. It
was therefore especially appropriate that this annversary
should be celebrated by an excursion to Washington's tomb,
at Mount Vernon. At 11 a. m. the steamer Excelsior left her
wharf, carrying six hundred people. The Naval Band from
Annapolis accompanied the excursionists by permission of the
Secretary of the Navy, a courtesy which was greatly appre-
ciated. On arriving at Mount Vernon the Annapolis Band
headed the procession, and a solemn march was made up the
hill to the tomb, where, with uncovered heads, the visitors
viewed the crypt containing the marble sarcophagus of Wash-
ington. The excursionists then proceeded to the lawn in front
of the mansion, where the large group was photographed ; the
mansion house and its interesting historical relics were then
visited and examined, after which Dr. J. M. Toner, the orator
of the day, was introduced by Mr. Watkins, Secretary of the
Executive Committee, who said :
' ' It seems eminently proper that upon this important anni-
versary you should be addressed by one, a large portion of
whose long life has been devoted to preserving the history of
the Father of our Country. As a son of Virginia, standing
upon this historic ground, it is indeed an honor to be per-
mitted to introduce the orator of the day, Dr. Toner, of Wash-
ington. ' '
Dr. Toner then delivered an address upon ' * Washington as
an Inventor and Promoter of Useful Arts."
Upon the conclusion of the exercises the party proceeded to
the steamboat, where a felicitous address was delivered on the
return trip by ex- Commissioner of Patents Hon. Benjamin
Butterworth, upon * * The Influence of the Patent System on
the Prosperity of the Country. ' ' At the close of Mr. Butter-
worth's stirring address, the Canadian Commissioner of Patents
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 31
spoke briefly, congratulating the government and the various
committees on the success of the celebration, and the inventors
of the United States upon their patent system and individual
achievements. He further stated that Canada was trying to
model her patent system after that of the United States, this
remark being received with gratifying applause.
The excursionists reached Washington at 4 p. m., and imme-
diately repaired to the Executive Mansion to witness the mili-
tary parade in the White I^ot, and to attend the reception
tendered them by the President.
The Military Parade and Reception at the
White House.
A special and impressive feature of the Centennial Celebra-
tion was the military review and parade in honor of the visitors.
This imposing spectacle occurred in the White I^ot, south of
the Executive Mansion, where the military was reviewed by the
President, all the U. S. troops from the Arsenal and Fort Myer,
the militia of the District of Columbia, and the High School
Cadets being in line. The Third Artillery Band, the National
Guard Band and the Naval Academy Band and Drum Corps
furnished the music. After being reviewed by the President,
the companies continued their march along Pennsylvania
Avenue to the Capitol. The battalion of six companies of the
High School Cadets was one of the most interesting parts of
the parade, their precision in marching being especially com-
mended by the visitors.
The military display was pronounced by competent judges
to be perfect in every detail, the discipline manifested being
worthy of special mention.
With the President upon the reviewing stand were a number
of prominent inventors, army and navy officers and government
officials. After the review the members of the Congress pro-
ceeded in a body to the White House, where they were formally
presented to the President by Hon. John Lynch, Chairman of
the Executive Committee. This was a most pleasant feature
in the programme of entertainment, and the courtesy was
greatly appreciated by the visitors.
32 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
FIFTH PUBLIC MEETING.
In opening the fifth and last public meeting of the Congress,
Friday, April loth, at 8 p. m., Hon. John Lynch, the Chairman
of the Executive Committee, introduced the presiding officer
in the following words :
**I have the pleasure of introducing as President of this
concluding session of the Congress a man of world-wide fame,
whose name is at this moment literally ringing throughout the
civilized world, Professor Alexander Graham Bell."
Professor Bell, upon taking the chair, delivered a thoughtful
and interesting address.
The first regular address of the evening was delivered by
Hon. William T. Harris, Commissioner of Education, on "The
Relation of Invention to the Communication of Intelligence
and the Diffusion of Knowledge by Newspaper and Book."
This was followed by a paper on * * The Birth of Invention, ' ' by
Prof. Otis T. Mason, Curator of the Department of Ethnology,
U. S. National Museum, showing the growth of inventive ideas.
"American Inventions and Discoveries in Medicine, Surgery
and Practical Sanitation ' ' was the title of the last paper, which
was read by Dr. J. S. Billings, Curator, U. S. Army Medical
Museum.
Secretary J. Elfreth Watkins then read a number of tele-
grams and communications from the officials of European
Patent Offices and several scientific societies. Among them
were the following :
Office of thk Prksidknt of the
Imperiai, German Patent Office,
Berlin, March 23, 1891.
Honored Sir : I have the honor to herewith respectfully
acknowledge the receipt of your valued communication of the
2d instant. It is with great interest that I see from it the
worthy manner in which the citizens of the United States of
America intend to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of
the day on which the patent system was established. Allow
me to express to you my congratulations upon this resolution,
no less, however, upon the manner in which you hope to carry
it out.
It is with great propriety that you and those seconding your
efforts in the arrangement of the celebration point to the im-
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 33
portant part which the patent system has had in the growth,
development and prosperity of your home industries. Did
nothing else speak for the high value of the patent law, the
one circumstance would be of sufficient proof that the American
people, as a whole, are bringing to the celebration the heartiest
sympathy, and that you will have the honor and the pleasure
to greet as participants men of science as well as those of
practical experience, whose names are held in high honor far
beyond the boundaries of your own land.
I join with you in recognizing in the protection of inven-
tion a practical means of increasing the prosperity of the
people, and praise with you the deed which was performed one
hundred years ago, and rejoice with you at the fruits which
have obtained to your citizens, and with them the cultured
nations of the earth, to the nurturing of inventive genius in
America.
With these sentiments I beg you to consider me, though not
present, as with you on the 8th of April and the following days,
and look upon me as a participant in the celebration. I greatly
regret that circumstances will prevent my leaving Berlin at
this time, where official matters require my attention, and
further, the conclusion of arrangements necessary for a journey
at this time would be impossible, even if the time necessary for
them was shorter than it is.
I beg you to accept these lines as an expression of my most
hearty thanks for your remembrance of me and to excuse my
absence. With the assurance of my most respectful considera-
tion, I have the honor to remain
Your most obedient servant,
BOJANOWSKI,
Hon. John Lynch, etc. President.
Frankfort-on-Main,
Germany, April 10, 1891.
Secretary of the Patent Centenary Celebration, Washington, D. C. :
The undersigned beg to congratulate the United States
upon the beginning of the second century of the American
patent system which has contributed so much to the develop-
ment and promotion of electrical science and art.
Electro Technical Society,
Frankfort-on-Main .
34 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
25, Southampton Buii^dings,
Chancery I,ank,
London, W. C, 19th March, 1891.
Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 2d inst., and in reply to ask you to be good
enough to convey to the chairman of the Executive Committee
my best thanks for the courteous invitation to attend the cele-
bration of the beginning of the second century of the American
patent system, and at the same time to express to him my re-
gret that it will not be possible for me to be absent from
England at the date fixed for holding the celebration.
I have the honor to be, sir.
Your obedident servant,
H. Reader Lack,
J. EivERETH Watkins, Esqre. Comptroller- General.
Bureau Fe;de)ral
DE I.A PrOPRIE;T1§: lNTEI.IvECTUEl.IyE,
Berne, le 18 May, 1891.
To the Hon. John Lynch, Chairman of the Executive Committee
of the Celebration of the Beginning of the Second Century of
the Am^erican Patent System, Washi7igton, U. S.
Dear Sir : In expressing to you our thanks for the invita-
tion with which you have honored us, we are compelled to de-
cline it on account of the distance from Washington.
With our best wishes for the full success of the celebration
of the beginning of the second century of the American patent
system, we have the honor to be, my dear sir, with assurances
of high regard,
Bureau F^jdi^raIvDE i^a Proprie^t^ Inteli.ectueli.e
I,E DiRECTEUR, HalLER.
Den K0NGE1.1GE NoRSKE Regerings,
Departement for det Indre,
departement-schefen.
Christiania, den 18 April, 1891.
Sir : While having the honor to offer my thanks for the in-
vitation received to take part in the celebration in Washington,
on the 8th, 9th and loth inst., of the beginning of the second
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 35
century of the American patent system, I regret very much
to be prevented by circumstances from uniting in this cele-
bration.
I am, sir, respectfully yours,
W. KONOW.
To Hon. John Lynch,
Washington.
The Swedish Commissioner of Patents sent the following
cablegram from Stockholm :
* * On your Centennial the Royal Patent Ofl&ce sends cordial
greetings, with best wishes for continued success. ' '
The French Commissioner of Patents recognized the import-
ance of the occasion, and sent cordial greetings.
The reading of these communications having been com-
pleted the following resolution was offered by H. T. Simons,
of Ohio :
Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress of Inventors and
Manufacturers of Patented Inventions here assembled be ex-
tended to the President of the United States, the members of
the Cabinet and the Judges of the United States Supreme
Court for their honored presence at our meetings ; to the
learned and distinguished gentlemen who presided over and
addressed the Congress of Inventors at the several public
meetings ; to the Hon. John W. Noble, Secretary of the In-
terior ; Hon. Charles K. Mitchell, Commissioner of Patents,
and the ladies assisting them in the brilliant reception tendered
this Congress at the Patent Office ; to the Washington Centen-
nial Committee for the enjoyable excursion to Mount Vernon
and the magnificent military review ; to Hon. John Lynch and
Professor J. E. Watkins, for their arduous labors in behalf of
the Congress of Inventors and Centennial Celebration ; to the
Executive Committee, the several sub-committees, and the
citizens of Washington for their kind and courteous efforts for
our comfort and entertainment, and finally to the several news-
papers and reporters for their fair and honorable reports of the
proceedings of our meetings.
The resolution was unanimously adopted amid applause,
and Professor Bell then declared the Congress adjourned for
one hundred years.
36 PATENT CENTENNIAL BADGES.
Badges worn by Committees, Members and Guests
DURING THE Patent Centenniai. Cei^ebration.
The following badges were worn by committees, members
and guests during the celebration :
BADGES.
COMMITTEES. BOWS. Ribbons.
1. Central Purple Gold Gold
2. Advisory Gold Purple Purple
3. Executive Red Red Red
4. Literature Blue White White
5. Finance White Red Red
6. Public Comfort Red White White
7. Reception White White White
8. Transportation Blue Blue Blue
9. Halls Red Blue Blue
10. Badges and Medals Blue Red Red
11. Press — Gold White White
12. Music White Blue Blue
13. Carriages Purple White White
14. Parade and Military Organizations, Purple Purple Purple
15. Banquet White Purple Purple
16. Members (Button). Blue Red White
17. Guests '' White Red Blue
18. Foreign Reception *' Gold Gold Gold
19. National Committee '' U.S. flag Red White
20. Auxiliary State Committee * ' Red White White
A handsome medal of jiure aluminum bearing the seal of the
patent ofi5ce and the inscription ' ' Patent Centennial Celebra-
tion, Washington, April 10, 1891," was one of the souvenirs
of the celebration.
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INVENTORS. 37
Thk National Association of Inventors and Manu-
facturers.
The expectation that one of the outcomes of the celebration
would be the establishment of an association of inventors and
manufacturers of patented inventions was realized.
The first meeting of the National Committee from the
different States, and representing various industries, met
according to call in Parlor 10 of Willards Hotel at 10 A. M.
on Wednesday, April 8.
Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard, of Washington, was chosen
Chairman and J. Elfreth Watkins, Secretary.
A sub-committee was appointed, to whom was referred the
question of the advisability of establishing an association.
This committee was requested to examine all of the corre-
spondence relating to the formation of an association which had
been received by the Executive Committee of the Patent
Celebration, with directions to report at a general meeting to
be held at 10 A. m. the following day.
At the meeting on Thursday morning this sub-committee
made a brief report.
The questions as to the advisability of forming an associa-
tion at once, or of leaving the matter in the hands of a com-
mittee to get into touch with inventors and manufacturers
throughout the country before definite steps were taken, were
earnestly and thoroughly discussed.
As those who favored the former course were in the ma-
jority, the committee was requested to submit a form of con-
stitution and by-laws to the meeting which was to be held on
Friday, on the steamboat en route for Mount Vernon.
As the committee to whom the matter was referred was
unable to complete its deliberations in time, no meeting was
held until 6 p. m. on Friday, April 10, at Lincoln Hall, when
a constitution and by-laws were adopted.
38 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INVENTORS.
Officers.
At the meeting of the members of the American Association
of Inventors and Manufacturers held after the adjournment of
the Congress at Lincoln Hall, at lo p. M. on Friday, April
loth, 1 89 1, the following officers were elected for the ensuing
year :
President— Tt^. R. J. GATLING, of Hartford, Connecticut.
First Vice-President— GARDINER G. HUBBARD, of Washington, D.C.
Second Vice-President— THOMAS SHAW, of Philadelphia, Pa.
Third Vice-President— Fkof. W. A. ANTHONY, of Manchester, Conn.
Fourth Vice-President— Bni^JAMlN BUTTERWORTH, of Cincinnati, O.
Secretary—]. ELFRETH WATKINS, of Washington, D. C.
Treasurer— MARVIN C. STONE, of Washington, D. C.
The following Board of Directors ' ' were separately voted
for ' ' and unanimously elected to serve during the periods
prescribed by the Constitution :
CHAS. F. BRUSH, Cleveland, Ohio.
OTIS T. MASON, Washington, D. C.
R. B. MUNGER, Birmingham, Ala.
F. E. SICKI.es, Kansas City, Mo.
JOHN Y. SMITH, Doylestown, Pa.
OBERLIN SMITH, Bridgeton, N. J.
D. M. SMYTH, Northwood, N. H.
ROBERT H. THURSTON, Ithaca, N. Y.
DAVID G. WEEMS, Baltimore, Md.
BOARD OF TRADE BANQUET. 39
The Banquet op the Washington Board of Trade.
The closing feature of the Congress, and one which will be
remembered with pleasure by the participants, was the banquet
given on Friday evening, April loth, by the Washington Board
of Trade at the Arlington Hotel, to celebrate at one and the
same time the centenary of the American Patent System and
that of the District of Columbia. The company numbered
over two hundred guests, comprising members of the Cabinet
and other distinguished government officials, noted men who
attended the Patent Centennial celebration, besides many
prominent and representative citizens of the District. The
spacious dining-hall was tastefully decorated and the table was
artistically arranged with flowers. In the menu, decorations,
and general appointments the banquet was a memorable one,
even in Washington, where the art of giving dinners has grown
to be a science. At each plate was placed a menu card artistic
in design, bearing a representation of the genius of invention
and containing the seal of the Patent Office in gold.
Menu.
Blue Points
Clear Turtle Soup
Anchovies Olives Radishes
Striped Bass, a la Chambord
Cucumbers Bermuda Potatoes
Chicken Croquettes
Green Peas
Filet of Beef, with Mushrooms
Asparagus
Lobster, a la Newbourg
Punch, Lalla Rookh
Grouse, Roasted
Lettuce and Tomato Salad Currant Jelly
Ice Cream Napolitaine
Fancy Cakes.
Coffee Cigars.
Wines:
Haut Sauteme Sherry Claret
G. H. Mumm's Extra Dry
40 BOARD OF TRADE BANQUET.
The banquet will be long remembered on account of the
distinguished men present, every department of the govern-
ment being represented, and for the character of the speeches
delivered. The beauties of the city of Washington and the
great benefits of the patent system were exploited in eloquent
words by those who responded to the toasts.
Mr. Myron M. Parker, President of the Board of Trade,
presided. By his side was Justice Harlan of the Supreme
Court, and near him were Hon. Charles Foster, Secretary of
the Treasury ; Hon. John W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior ;
Hon. Lewis A. Grant, Assistant Secretary of War ; Hon.
J. R. Soley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy ; Hon. S. A. Whit-
field, First Assistant Postmaster- General ; Hon. C. K. Mitchell,
Commissioner of Patents; Hon. Benj. Butterworth, ex- Com-
missioner, and Mr. K. D. Anderson, Secretary Board of Trade.
At the close of the dinner President Parker delivered an
address of welcome, which, with such of the responses to the
following toasts as have direct reference to the American patent
system, will be found in the subsequent pages.
I. Address of Welcome, Mr. M. M. Parker, President
Board of Trade. 2. The President of the United States.
3. The Supreme Court of the United States, Mr. Justice Har-
lan. 4. The Future of the American Patent System, Hon. John
W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior. 5. American Patents from
the Financial Standpoint, Hon. Charles Foster, Secretary of the
Treasury. 6. The Relation of Patents to the Law, Hon. W.
H. H. Miller, Attorney-General. 7. The Centenary of Wash-
ington City, T. W. Noyes, Esq., editor Evening Star 8. The
District of Columbia, Hon. John W. Douglass, President Board
of District Commissioners. 9. American Patents from an In-
ternational Standpoint, Hon. F. O. St. Clair, Department of
State. 10. The Capital of the Foremost Republic, Hon. J. L.
M. Curry. 11. American Patents in the Army, General Lewis
A. Grant, Assistant Secretary of War. 12. Washington,
the Educational Centre of America, Rt. Rev. Bishop Keane.
13. American Patents in the Navy, Hon. J. R. Soley,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy. 14. The First Century of the
American Patent System, Hon. C. E. Mitchell, Commissioner of
Patents. 15. American Patents in the Postal Service, Hon. S.
A. Whitfield, First Assistant Postmaster-General. 16. Ameri-
BOARD OF TRADE BANQUET. 41
can Patents in Agriculture, Hon. Edwin Willits, Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture. 17. American Patents at the
World's Exposition, Hon. Benjamin Butterworth, Secretary
World's Columbian Exposition.
Ths Guests.
The following is a partial list of those present at the ban-
quet :
Hon. Charles Foster, Secretary of the Treasury ; Hon. John
W. Noble, Secretary of the Interior ; Hon. Lewis A. Grant,
Assistant Secretary of War ; Hon. James R. Soley, Assistant
Secretary of the Navy ; Hon. Charles E. Mitchell, Commis-
sioner of Patents ; Bishop Keane, Hon. J. L- M. Curry, Arch-
bishop Ireland, Dr. Gatling, Hon. A. M. Soteldo, Prof. Harry
King, M. D. Leggett, Hon Richard Pope, Commissioner of
Patents Dominion of Canada ; Hon. W. J. Lynch, Cashier
Commissioner, and Hon. Thos. McCabe, Chief Examiner of
the Canadian Patent Office ; District Commissioners Douglass,
Ross and Robert, Ethan Allen, Prof. Henry Morton, H. E.
Parsons, Henry W. Smith, W. H. Bagley, C. F. Z. Caracristi,
E. W. Halford, C. C. Chase, Marshal D. M. Ransdell, Con-
troller of the Currency E. S. Lacey, H. B. F. Macfarland, C.
M. Hendley, W. E. Aughinbaugh, D. B. Ainger, E. M. Daw-
son, J. G, Beckham, M. B. Harlow, E. E. Downham, Hon.
W. H. Amoux and Capt. P. H. McLaughlin, Prof. Alexander
Graham Bell, Dr. J. M. Toner, Dr. John S. Billings, Prof.
Cyrus W. Brackett, ex-Representative Butterworth, Prof. F.
W. Clarke, Maj. C. E. Dutton, Prof. Thomas Gray, Col. F. A.
Seely, Hon. Robert S. Taylor, Prof. R. H. Thurston, Prof. W.
P. Trowbridge, Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of
Labor, and Hon. W. T. Harris, Commissioner of Education.
Of the Central Committee: Messrs. J. W. Babson, B. H.
Warner, O. T. Mason, George C. Maynard, M. C. Stone,
J. E. Watkins, John Lynch, J. T. Dubois and R. W. Fenwick.
Of the National Committee : John H. Bartlett, Mendes
Cohen, T. N. Ely, G. G. Hubbard, R. J. Howard, W. J. John-
son, J. A. Price, Oberlin Smith, George F. Simonds, D. M.
Smyth, D. J. Weems, Eli Whitney and George Westinghouse.
Chairmen of the local committees : Schuyler Duryee, Hon.
Cyrus Bussey, Lawrence Gardner, W. C. Mclntire, W. B.
42 ENGINEERS' BANQUET.
Thompson, J. K. McCammon, M. D. Helm, W. R. Lapham,
O. B. DufFey and S. H. Kauffmann.
Of the Advisory Committee : Hon George Gray, H. B.
Paine, Bllis Spear, Prof. J.W. Powell, Col. Marshall McDonald,
Dr. J. C. Welling, Rev. J. B. Rankin, N. L. Frothingham,
Dr. G. Brown Goode, M. V. Montgomery and Thomas Wilson.
In addition to the above about two hundred and fifty mem-
bers of the Board of Trade participated in the banquet.
The Bngineers' Banquet.
On Thursday evening, April 9th, the Washington and Balti-
more members of the American Society of Civil Bngineers
gave a banquet at Welcker's Hotel. It was originally intended
as a compliment to Prof. Octave Chanute, the President of the
Society of Civil Bngineers, who was unfortunately prevented
by illness from delivering his address at the patent celebration.
The members of the Society attending the banquet were :
Horatio G. Wright, Mendes Cohen, William S. Rosecrans,
Henry T. Douglas, Francis H. Hambleton, Andrew Rose-
water, John A. Partridge, Channing M. Bolton, Bernard R.
Green, Alonzo T. Mosman, Henry ly. Marindin, David B. Mc-
Comb, Mordecai T. Bndicott, Frederick H. Smith, Herbert M.
Wilson, James I,. Lusk, Julien A. Hall, George B. Hazlehurst,
Conway B. Hunt, Francis R. Fava, Jr., Charles B. Ball,
J. Blfreth Watkins, Owen L. Ingalls and David S. Carll.
As invited guests there were present Oberlin Smith, Past
President of the American Society of Mechanical Bngineers,
and Prof. R. H. Thurston, of Cornell University.
A permanent organization for the purpose of occasional
social meetings was effected by the election of Bernard R.
Green, of Washington, D. C, as President, and Charles B. Ball
as Secretary, for one year.
The Loan Bxhibition.
In connection with the regular programme of the Congress a
loan collection was installed in the lecture hall of the National
Museum, where machines of antique design, models, early in-
ventions and patents were inspected and studied by many
visitors, drawn to Washington by their interest in the Patent
Centennial. A description of this collection in detail will be
found in the Appendix.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 43
BIRTH AND GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN
PATENT SYSTEM.
By Hon. Charles Eliot Mitchell, Commissioner of Patents.
The patent system had its birth in a statute against monop-
olies. That statute was enacted by a British parliament to
restrain the British throne. From the earliest times the right
to grant exclusive privileges had been asserted as a royal
prerogative. Sometimes the power had been exercised benefi-
cently. With vastly more frequency it was employed to bring
in revenue to the royal coffers. More and more, as the sov-
ereign struggled to govern without the aid of parliament, the
power was abused and perverted until, in the days of Elizabeth,
monopolies were conferred upon favorites of the court, extend-
ing to the most ordinary articles of commerce and consumption.
In aid of these illegal monopolies arbitrary powers of search
were granted, and heavy penalties were inflicted upon English
merchants for engaging in occupations which had been of
common right for centuries. Of course such tyranny could
not continue, and in the year 1623 the famous statute of James
was enacted, destroying all illegal monopolies by a single
stroke, and declaring that in future all patents should be
to inventors of new manufactures, and to them only for a
limited time. It is to this statute that legal writers ascribe
the modern patent system.
It is true that the statute of James was declaratory of the
common law, as it was understood by the judges ; it is true
that after its enactment the king's pleasure was still, in theory,
the source whence the grant proceeded ; it is true that subse-
quent monarchs chafed under its restrictions, and at times even
trampled them under foot ; but, nevertheless, in a large way
and in a very vital sense, the patent system had its birth in the
remedial statute of 1623. In an hour of moral and political
exaltation England had declared that odious monopolies
44 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
should cease, and that patents for inventions should be
granted. That declaration has been law to the present hour.
And it should never be forgotten by the friends of industrial
progress that the same great statute which restored the free-
dom of established industries to m9nopoly-ridden England,
created also the modern patent system and placed it upon an
enduring basis in justice and public policy.
But although the patent system is ascribed to the statute of
1623, its administration was long pervaded by a spirit hostile
to inventors. The benefactor of the public had to crawl before
the king as a suppliant for favor. If his cringing was suc-
cessful his patent was granted, but he was dismissed with the
poor privilege of proving the novelty of his invention as best
he could. The patent was not even prima facie evidence
that the patentee had made an invention. When it came into
court it was construed in a technical spirit, a spirit which
assumed everything in favor of the crown and nothing in
favor of the subject, and it is hardly too much to say that
some of the earlier decisions in patent causes betray a temper
that would have better befitted a permit to sell gunpowder in
the streets of London.
It is Coryton, the law-writer, who tells us that to the
patentee alone "no margin was conceded for possible error.
An unapt title to his invention, an ill-judged word in his
description, an incautious experiment, the least disclosure of
his secret before letters were sealed, and his privileges are at
an end."
In view of this judicial hostility, which robbed the law of its
beneficence and transformed the statute into an ambuscade, it
is no wonder that for one hundred and fifty years scarcely more
than one thousand patents were granted. It could make but
little difference whether patents were denied, or having been
granted were denied protection.
But a more enlightened sentiment developed. Watt had
harnessed machinery to steam and Arkwright had harnessed
spinning to machinery. The patent to Watt, granted in 1769,
had been extended by an act of Parliament in 1775 and had
run unscathed the gauntlet of the judges. Patents were
granted with increasing frequency, and the useful arts received
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 45
a might}^ impetus. Powerful infringers sought to trample
upon the rights of patentees, and law-suits followed that were
fierce as battlefields. Judges began to regard inventors not as
mere recipients of royal favor, but as public benefactors worthy
of the world's great prizes. Then came those days, memorable
in judicial annals, when jurists who were in touch with human
progress discussed anew the relationship of the inventor to the
public, and, as if they had foregleams of the new industrial
era, laid down those broader and more generous principles
which have become the foundation and framework of the patent
law. The statute of James followed the Mayflower across
the ocean. In the year 1641 the General Court of Massachu-
setts Bay granted a patent to Samuel Winslow for a method of
making salt, and prohibited others ' ' from making this article
except in a manner different from his." In 1646 a patent was
granted to Joseph Jenks for ' ' an engine for the more speedy
cutting of grass," the invention substituting for the short and
clumsy English scythe a long slender blade supported by a rib
along its back, a construction easily recognized as that of the
modern scythe. The invention seems also to have extended to
machinery for scythe-making.
The name of Joseph Jenks — how inconsiderable the place
which it occupies in colonial history ! The antiquarian stum-
bles upon it and makes a memorandum in his note-book, while
the student of events that thrill and startle passes it without a
thought or utterance. Nevertheless, a deep human interest
invests it, and more and more it shall attract attention. Nor
do we honor him the less because the mowing machine and the
reaper have eclipsed in brilliancy his humble achievement, as
there in the early wilderness he appeals to the General Court
for protection, so that, as he quaintly says, ''his study and
cost may not be in vayne or lost."
The colony of Connecticut was far-sighted and liberal in
encouraging inventors. Between 1663 and 1785 many acts
were passed granting exclusive privileges in inventions relat-
ing to nearly all branches of industry practiced in the colony.
Indeed, Connecticut passed a general law, which appeared
in the revision of 1672, declaring that "there shall be no
monopoly granted or allowed amongst us of but such inven-
46 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
tions as shall be adjudged profitable to the country, and for
such time as the General Court shall deem meet." This
statute, by implication, held out inducements to inventors, and
it is reasonable to associate with its enactment, a hundred years
before the Revolutionary War, the fact that the people of Con-
necticut have taken out more patents per capita from year to
year, down to the present time, than those of any other State.
In 1785 Maryland granted protection to James Rumsey for
making and selling "new invented boats" on a model made
by him ; also, in 1787 to Oliver Evans for making and selling
"two machines for the use of merchant mills," and "one other
machine, denominated a steam carriage," the right of recovery
against infringers being upon condition that the grantee should
not * * be proven not to be the original inventor. ' ' It will be
noticed that this proviso reversed the burden of proof, as it
stood under the English law, making the grant evidence of
novelty unless the contrary should be shown as matter of
defense.
In 1787 New York granted to John Fitch "the sole right
and advantage of making and employing for a limited time the
steamboat by him lately invented." During the next year
New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware granted to the same
John Fitch the exclusive privilege ' * to navigate their waters
with vessels propelled by steam."
I have thus alluded to some of the patents granted before
the adoption of the Federal Constitution, because they show
how deep-seated was the understanding, wherever the law of
England had been inherited, that it was a just and beneficent
exercise of the power of governments to protect inventions by
patents for limited periods. I have done so, too, because the
spectacle of John Fitch and James Rumsey and Oliver Evans
applying to the several States for the limited protection which
they could furnish will prepare us to expect that the constitu-
tional convention will not overlook the subject in the midst of
its important duties. We shall also expect to find that when a
patent system common to all the States has been developed it
will follow in the line of American precedent, and to a corre-
sponding extent depart from the English sj^stem, by causing
an examination before the patent is granted, in analogy to the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 47
legislative methods practiced by the colonial and State
assemblies.
The constitutional convention in Philadelphia had been in
session nearly three months before its attention was directed to
patents and copyrights. On the i6th of August, 1787, Madison
submitted for the consideration of the Committee on Detail two
propositions for powers to be exercised by Congress, one of
them * ' to secure to literary authors their copyrights for a
limited time ; ' ' the other ' * to encourage by premiums and pro-
visions the advancement of useful knowledge and discoveries. ' '
On the same day similar provisions were submitted by Charles
Pinckney, one of them "to grant patents for useful inven-
tions, ' ' another, * * to secure to authors exclusive rights for a
certain time." On the 31st of August such propositions as had
not been acted upon were referred to a committee composed
of one member from each State, and on the 5th of September
this committee recommended that Congress have the power
"to promote the progress of science and the useful arts by
securing for limited times to authors and inventors the ex-
clusive rights to their respective writings and discoveries."
In the final revision this clause became paragraph 8 of section
8 of Article I of the Federal Constitution.
Wise and illustrious men were they, those Constitution
framers, but they had no conception of the importance of what
they did, when, just before the curtain fell upon their labors,
they decreed that the exclusive rights of inventors should be
secured. They thought they were applying finishing strokes
and touches to an edifice which was otherwise complete, when
they were really at work upon its broad foundations. For
who is bold enough to say that the Constitution could
have overspread a continent if the growth of invention and of
inventive achievement had not kept pace with territorial ex-
pansion. It is invention which has brought the Pacific Ocean
to the Alleghanies. It is invention which, fostered by a single
sentence of their immortal work, has made it possible for the
flag of one republic to carry more than forty symbolic stars.
On the 23d of June, soon after the first Congress assembled
in New York, Benjamin Huntington, of Connecticut, reported
a bill to carry into effect the constitutional powers for promot-
48 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
ing the progress of science and the useful arts. In this bill,
for the first time in history, appeared the idea of a general law-
providing affirmatively for the granting of letters patent. For
some reason, which does not appear, its consideration was
postponed until the next session. On the 4th day of January,
1790, Congress having again assembled, a committee was ap-
pointed to report upon unfinished business brought over from
the previous session. Before this committee could report.
President Washington, clad in a broadcloth suit, made by Col.
Jeremiah Wadsworth, of Hartford, addressed for the first time
the assembled Houses of Congress. In that address he said :
' ' I cannot forbear intimating to you the expediency of giving
effectual encouragement, as well to the introduction of new
and useful inventions from abroad as to the exertions of skill
and genius at home." Three days later the committee which
had been appointed made a report, in which they said : " It
also appears that there was postponed for further consideration
until this session a bill to promote science and the useful arts. ' '
This bill was thereupon referred to a committee consisting of
Edward Burke, of South Carolina ; Benjamin Huntington, of
Connecticut, and Lambert Cadwallader, of New Jersey, who
made a report on the i6th day of February, 1790. The bill
thus reported, after discussion and amendment, was duly
passed, and receiving the signature of the President, April 10,
became the celebrated statute of 1 790. The enactment of that
statute this audience, unprecedented in its character in all
history, now joyfully celebrates.
The law of 1790 was brief and simple. The applicant was
required to describe his invention, but no claim or oath was
called for. No discrimination was made between citizen
and alien. A drawing was to be furnished and, in certain
cases, a model also. In two respects the statute embodied a
radical departure from English methods. It required an ex-
amination, and it made the patent prima facie evidence that
the invention was truly described and the patentee the first
inventor. The Secretary of State, the Secretary of War and
the Attorney-General were to determine in each case whether
a patent should be granted. From April to July they awaited
a successful applicant. He comes at last, and three Cabinet
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 49
officers — Jefferson, Knox and Randolph — sitting in solemn
dignity, determine that Samuel Hopkins is entitled to a patent
for his new method of making pot and pearl ashes.
Does any one say that the office then discharged was un-
worthy of such a tribunal ? Let him then remember that that
patent of July 31, 1790, was the first of four hundred and fifty
thousand patents. I^t him ask himself what adequate reason
exists for the wizzard-like transformations of a century, except-
ing the stimulus afforded by patent legislation. Let him com-
pare the saddle and the pillion with the parlor car, the tallow-
dip with the electric light, the post-boy with the lightning
mail, the telegraph and the speaking telephone. Let him
make a corresponding comparison in every department of life,
along every line of development, and he will see in the signing
of that patent to Samuel Hopkins an act of historic grandeur.
Fifty-seven patents in all were granted under the statute of
1790, one of them being to our old friend John Fitch, whom
we have met in the State assemblies. On October 24, 1791, we
find James Rumsey presenting a petition to Congress that the
act of 1790 might be amended and rendered more effective. A
year later, November 7, 1792, he presented another petition,
this time praying for the revision of the act.
It is familiar to all that a new act was passed on the 21st of
February, 1793 ; but it is a fact not usually known that Mr.
Williamson, of North Carolina, chairman of the committee
having the measure in charge, in advocating the principles of
the bill said that it was ' ' an imitation of the patent system
of Great Britain, and that its provisions were such as would
circumscribe the duties of the presiding officer within very
narrow limits." An oath was required to the application, and
the patent was still to be prima facie evidence ; the fees were
increased to thirty dollars, aliens were cut off from receiving
patents, provision was made for determining the rights of com-
peting applicants by arbitration, the assignability of inventions
was recognized and provided for, and the duty of granting
patents was conferred upon the Secretary of State alone.
It would give me pleasure to speak with some detail of the
history of the patent office between 1793 and 1836. But the
patent system, and not the patent office, is my subject, and I
50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
must pass on to consider the great act of 1836, remarking,
meanwhile, that in 1800 the right of obtaining patents was
partially restored to foreigners, and in 181 9 power was con-
ferred upon the circuit courts to prevent the violation of the
rights of authors and inventors by granting injunctions accord-
ing to the principles and practice of courts of equity.
The act of 1836 created an epoch. An eminent statesman
has pronounced it the most important event from the Constitu-
tion to the civil war. I^ess than 10,000 patents preceded it ;
more than 450,000 have followed in its train. Under it the
Patent Office was established ; under it the first Commissioner
of Patents was appointed, and hardl}'^ had the approving sig-
nature of Andrew Jackson been affixed before the walls of
yonder Doric temple, already completed in design, began to
rise.
The most important change brought about by the act of
1836 was the restoration of the examination system and the
establishment of an examining corps of experts. The English
system, developed on executive lines, relegated all investiga-
tion to the courts ; the American plan, developed on legislative
lines, made the investigation precede the grant. The law of
1790 followed the American trend developed in the colonies,
and Jefferson and his associates formed an examining board.
Then came the act of 1793, which avowedty imitated the
English system, and permitted a patent to be issued to any
one who should allege that he had made an invention and
should make oath that he believed himself to be the true in-
ventor. Its workings are described in 1837 by Mr. Ellsworth,
the first Commissioner under the new act. ' ' The Patent
Office," said he, "only examined names and dates, and
granted all applications presented in proper form. Of course
duplicates and triplicates were issued for the same invention.
The rights of parties were referred to legal tribunals, and in
the meantime spurious claims were selling throughout the
United States."
The act of 1836 restored the American system. The Patent
Office was vested with quasi -judicial as well as with executive
functions, the patent being adjudicated upon in advance, and
possessing, as soon as it was granted, the attributes of a patent
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 51
which under the old system had been tested by expensive liti-
gation. The importance to inventors of the system of prelim-
inary examination has been declared to be inestimable. It
places at the service of the humblest inventors the services of
trained experts in law and mechanics. It makes the patent
something more than ^n assertion of right, something more
than a challenge to the world to show that the patentee was
not the true inventor. It bears testimony that it has been
compared with prior patents and publications, domestic and
foreign, and with all that has been done in the United States,
so far as known, and that the device or process claimed is what
it professes to be — a new departure in the arts. Thus the
patent acquires an immediate commercial value — a value which
is enhanced just in proportion as means are supplied by the
government for making an inquiry as complete and exhaustive
as it is in human powder to make it.
Another important feature of the act of 1836 was the distinc-
tion drawn between the description of the invention and the
claim. It would be a mistake, however, to ascribe the first
appearance of the claim to the act of 1836. Its history shows
that it was evolved in practice before it emerged in law. The
first American patent which contained anything like a claim,
so far as the restored records of the Patent Office indicate, was
that of Isaiah Jennings, November 20, 1807, for manufacturing
thimbles for sails of ships. In the Franklin Journal for 1828
appears an article prepared by Dr. Jones, then Superintendent
of the Patent Office, which contains the suggestion that,
although it is perfectly proper to describe an entire machine,
' ' after doing this the applicant should distinctly set forth what
he claims as new, and this is best done in a paragraph at the
end of the specification."
The requirement of a claim added greatly to the value of
patents. It set definite walls and fences about the rights of the
patentee, which were not less effective because they were in-
corporeal. A fruitful source of contention was done away
with, and the chances lessened of being obliged to resort to the
courts of law.
Time will not allow me to dwell upon the other changes
wrought by the act of 1836, but I must introduce its author
52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and champion, that *' unaccredited hero," John Ruggles, Sen-
ator from Maine. Elected to the Senate in 1835, he signalized
the beginning of his senatorial career by his conspicuous serv-
ice as chairman of the committee in charge of the new measure,
which he seems to have largely originated as well as cham-
pioned. He received substantial aid from Henry L. Ellsworth,
afterward the first Commissioner of Patents ; and, if tradition is
to be relied upon, Charles M. Keller, afterward a renowned
advocate in patent causes, rendered invaluable assistance.
Subsequent laws, passed in 1837 ^^^ 1839, provided that
where the patentee had made his claims too broad, through
inadvertence, accident or mistake, he might file a disclaimer of
the excess of claim, to become in efiect a part of the original
specification, and also prevented the forfeiture of the right to a
patent by any use or sale of the newly-invented article prior to
application, unless such prior use or sale covered a period of
more than two years. The latter provision gave the inventor
an opportunity to actually use his invention for a sufficient
period to demonstrate its practicability and usefulness before
applying for a patent. In 1842 the patenting of ornamental
designs was authorized. In 1861 the term of a patent was
extended from fourteen years to seventeen, and the right to
obtain an extension, which had been conferred by an act of
1838, was abolished. In 1870 the patent law was revised, but
the revision was in the nature of a consolidation of the statutes
then in force. When the laws of the United States were gen-
erally revised in 1875 the act of 1870 was re-enacted without
substantial change.
All the statutes since the law of 1836 have been in substan-
tial accord with the policy inaugurated by that act, and have
had for their object to carry that policy into efiect, with such
modifications as experience has shown to be necessary.
In 1790 three patents were granted ; in 1890 the number was
twenty-six thousand two hundred and ninety-two. In 1790
the receipts were about $15 ; in 1890 they were $1,340,372.60,
an excess over all expenses of $241,094.72. In 1790 the work
could only have required the infrequent services of a single
clerk ; in 1890 the number of employes, including the examin-
ing, clerical and laboring force, was five hundred and ninety
men and women.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 53
In order to distribute and dispatch the work the ofl&ce is
divided into thirty examining divisions, and inventions are
divided according to subject-matter into two hundred classes
and four thousand two hundred and ninety-five sub-classes.
All applications as they are received are assigned to the assist-
ant who has in charge the proper sub-class of invention. It
is only by careful classification and division of labor that it is
possible to conduct successfully the enormous amount of work
which now, at the close of the century, is devolved upon the
Patent Ofiice.
The growth of the patent system has been brought about by
the friendly laws which I have mentioned exercising their
influence for the most part in four different channels :
1. The patent system has stimulated inventive thought.
Benjamin Franklin, a man of science, stood by the side of the
old hand lever printing press for a generation, and left it where
it was left three centuries before by Guttenberg. It remained
for Hoe and other inventors, who worked under the stimulus
of the patent laws and patented their inventions, to produce
that marvelous machine for disseminating knowledge that has
made the world a university. A century ago the apprentice
learned the skill and secrets of his craft and jogged along con-
tented with his acquirements. To-day no workman expects to
leave his craft or calling without lifting it to a higher plane
and providing it with better instrumentalities. A new power
of achievement has come into human thinking. Men of all
callings seem to have acquired the faculty, and no explanation
of the change is plausible which ignores the stimulating influ-
ence of a century of patent law.
2. The patent system has stimulated men to transform their
thinking into things. It is a long and toilsome road from the
first fugitive suggestion, through failure and discouragement
and temporary defeat, to an invention in a form perfected. If
men were not induced by the rewards of a patent system to
cling to their new ideas through all the vicissitudes of an in-
ventor's experience their hands would drop in discouragement.
The story of the lost arts has never been told, even by Wendell
Phillips, and decades and centuries of possible progress have
been wrapped up in inventions which have dawned upon the
human consciousness only to disappear and be forgotten.
54 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
3. The patent system encourages men to disclose their in-
ventions. The duty of men to disclose their discoveries is one
which, if it exists at all, has never been recognized. It is not
so, however, when patent laws prevail, and for a hundred years
men have hastened to share with the public their newly ac-
quired ideas because of the invitation contained in the patent
system, and the phenomenon of rediscovery is now a very rare
experience.
4. The patent system enables inventors to make their efforts
fruitful, and saves them from the folly of misdirected labor.
The Ofl&cial Gazette of the Patent Ofl&ce publishes to the world
the claims and one or more drawings of each patent. Each
number of the Gazette may be likened to a series of maps,
exhibiting that borderland adjacent to the illimitable unknown
upon which the sun of human invention has shed its radiance,
while clocks and watches have registered a week of time. In-
ventors need not and do not, as formerly, delve in exhausted
mines.
It is a gratifying feature of this centennial era that the
patent system is now at peace with all the world. Voices are
heard in favor of amendatory statutes, opinions differ as to
methods of administration, but no audible utterance, the wide-
world over, challenges the policy of patent laws. In 1868
Count Bismarck in Germany and Lord Stanley in England
declared, the former that patent laws should be abolished, the
latter that he was ready to vote against them. But the Cen-
tennial Exposition at Philadelphia, that second declaration of
independence, startled the nation with its splendid demonstra-
tion of the results of a liberal policy toward inventors. Sir
William Thompson, in reporting upon the Centennial Expo-
sition, said: *'If England does not amend its patent laws
America will speedily become the nursery of useful inventions
for the world." Mr. Hulse, the English judge of textiles at
the Exposition, in reporting to Parliament, said : ''The extra-
ordinary extent of ingenuity and invention existing in the
United States, and manifested throughout the Exposition, I
attribute to the natural aptitude of the people, fostered and
stimulated by an admirable patent law system." Similar
reports were made by the representatives of other nations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 55
The effect of these reports was speedily manifest. England,
which had been discussing seriously whether or not the patent
system should be abolished, passed a new act in 1883 upon a
basis more liberal and popular in its character. Germany
revised its law in 1877, and in a further and more radical
revision, to take effect in October, 1891, European traditions
have been largely disregarded, and to a considerable extent
the American system has been imitated ; and Switzerland,
long cited as a state prospering without a patent system, in
1887 threw aside all its ancient traditions and enacted a wise
and generous patent law. It is true that in our country con-
gressional indifference has thwarted every forward movement
in recent years, but nowhere in the popular mind does there
seem to be a spirit hostile to the inventor's recompense. The
demonstrations everywhere of the usefulness and importance
of patent laws have been so overwhelming, and upon such a
conspicuous scale, that upon no other subject relating to the
internal policy of nations is there such profound repose.
Let us hope that the United States, whose place in the van-
guard of progress is so largely due to its great inventors, may
not now, through indifference to its patent system, fall back in
the procession of the nations. Let us hope that an aroused
public sentiment, set in motion by this celebration of the
achievements of a century, may demand for the patent system,
and for the oiBfice which administers its functions, just recog-
nition of its mighty influence and of its rights and needs as it
enters upon the second century of its usefulness.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 57
INVENTION AND ADVANCEMENT.
By Hon. O. H. Pi.att, Lly.D., of Connecticut, U. S. Sbnator.
Neither the genius of Irving nor the exquisite acting of Jeflfer-
son was required to give the legend of Sleepy Hollow a lasting
hold upon the popular heart. It was not wholly the miracu-
lous flavor in the story of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus that
preserved that early Christian myth. In all such tales the
mutual astonishment of the awakened sleeper and the wonder-
ing beholders is largely due to the fact that the changes which
have occurred during the lethargic sleep are suddenly and
sharply forced upon the attention. But in all of them it is the
domestic, the political, or the social revolution that is thus
outlined.
The legend in which the awaking dazed sleeper and the
bewildered witnesses shall realize and feel the material, intel-
lectual, and humanitarian development of the last century has
yet to be given shape and skillful touch. The marvel is tran-
scendent, but the story will never be wrought. Genius cannot
describe nor the public mind appreciate what of human prog-
ress has occurred, what of human development has taken place
in the United States during the last hundred years. I know
of no place where it may be more fitly illustrated or more
sharply fofced on the attention than in this city of Washing-
ton. Imagine, if you can, an individual who witnessed the
laying of the corner-stone of the Capitol, now nearly one hun-
dred years ago, to have been suddenly withdrawn from the
associations of men, and with the scenes of that day vivid in
his mind permitted to stand again upon the spot graced by
the completed building, but which to him had been a rural
waste. We would appear to him like the inhabitants of a new
world, while he would seem as strange a being to us as a visitor
58 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
from some other planet. The Potomac flowing as before, the
outline of the hills, the dip of the valley, the sun and the
sky above would be the only features of what to him was
the scene of yesterday. The city, with its noble avenues,
its architectural structures, and the residences of its people,
would have grown as if by magic in a night. These things
he might with wonder dimly comprehend. But the steam-
boat on the river would startle him as the ships of
Columbus startled the natives whom they approached.
The wavy lines of black smoke and white vapor escaping
from chimneys and steam -pipes would be as incomprehensible
and awesome as the aurora borealis. The incoming and
outgoing locomotives with their trains ; street railroads and
vehicles moving thereon apparently without propulsive force ;
the tick of the telegraph, transmitting thought from the ends
of the earth ; the voice of man sounding through half the
continent in his ears, would be as truly miraculous to him as
the raising of Lazarus from the dead. The light that illumines
our nightly darkness to him would be as truly a miracle
as was to Moses that bush which burned with fire and was not
consumed. He would find the people engaged in occupations
and pursuits of which he had no knowledge. Machinery
would have no meaning to him ; the thought of his fellow-
men and their language in large part would be incomprehen-
sible. Doubtless he would regard us all as crazy, and would
probably repeat to himself the old familiar nursery rhyme, as
true now as in his childhood :
There was a mad man,
And he had a mad wife,
And the children were mad beside ;'
So on a mad horse,
They all of them got,
And madly away did ride.
As the miraculous change began to dawn upon his mind,
and he began by degrees to understand that it was real — that
he had returned after an absence of a hundred years, and that
during the centur>^ a thousand years of growth and develop-
ment and increase of human knowledge and comfort and
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 59
happiness had occurred — his first question of the bystanders
would be; '*What has done all this? Is this enchantment?
What magician has transformed nature and changed man-
kind ? What force, what power has been at work ? " And the
answer, if truly given, would be, "The spirit of invention
has accomplished this ; the creative faculty in man hath
wrought these wonders."
How little we have realized the progress of the century;
how silent its footsteps have been, and how little we have
stopped to analyze or appreciate its cause. How barren of
suggestion are the standard works on political economy and
sociology as to the real underlying cause of the great trans-
formation. Change, improvement, advancement have come
to be so large a part of our history that we should the
rather wonder if they ceased to go forward with accelerated
motion. We are satisfied with nothing else. The world would
be slow and dull and intolerable to us if in every decade we
did not outstrip the performance of a century. We seem to
care as little about the cause of it all as we do about sunlight
and air, and health and strength. We enjoy it as our right.
We write and speak of the incidents of progress, the new
phases of our existence, of visible results, and magnify them
in our minds above the invisible force which has produced the
results. Away out in the busy world, if my thought shall
ever reach it, men will receive my statement, that invention is
to be accredited with this great progress, with a sceptical
sneer. But you who are workers in the field, who are planning
and devising methods by which still greater progress is to be
achieved, will understand me.
Books without number have been written, showing how man
emerged from savagery to barbarism, from barbarism to civili-
zation. The whole world has been explored for relics by which
to measure the progress of man on the long and toilsome way
from his prehistoric condition to the period of civilization.
Audiences gather to hear it explained, and go away satisfied
that the weapon, the tool, or the implement dug up from its buried
resting place unerringly proves how much progress mankind
had made at the time it was used. Science divides the periods
of human progress into ages, and calls them the stone age, the
6o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
iron age, the bronze age, but has failed to comprehend that
there is another age, the age in which we are living — the
machine age. The first tool that man invented that he might
more easily satisfy his wants does not more truly mark his ad-
vancement than does the invention of the marvelous devices
and contrivances by which his comfort and happiness are a
thousandfold multiplied in the present time. Savagery, barba-
rism, civilization — have we reached the end of human growth
and development ? Shall we not the rather understand that a
new name must be given to the condition of human society
upon which we are about to enter, if w^e have not already
entered it ; that we are reaching or have reached in our
progress the age of spirituality. I do not use the word in its
religious sense, but as meaning that, in the future of human
achievement, mind is to triumph over matter, brain over
muscle ; that man is entering that period in which he is to
subjugate all forces of nature and make them his servants.
Time will not permit me to paint the picture of our progress
in detail ; a few striking outlines must sufiice. I must leave
realistic touches to others. Nor can I closely analyze causes ;
I can merely suggest and generalize.
The establishment of constitutional liberty, the granting
of patents for inventions, and the introduction and use of
Webster's Spelliiig Book were practically coincident with the
opening of the century, the closing of which we celebrate.
Freedom, invention, popular intelligence were thus inaugu-
rated. Who can fail to appreciate their intimate relation ?
During the century and a-half that preceded the year 1791
we had only succeeded in obtaining a permanent lodgment on
the continent. We occupied only what has been called the
selvedge of a great country. Our growth and progress had
been slow. When the patent system was established we were
less than four millions of people, differing little in character,
ability, and pursuits from the men who settled at Jamestown
and Plymouth. To-day we are more than sixty- three millions,
so different in character and civilization that the traces of the
Cavalier and Puritan are scarcely discernible. Then our
westernmost States were Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky,
and Georgia ; now the line of Commonwealths is unbroken
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 6l
from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Then the Mississippi River
marked the western boundary of our possessions, and we had
just passed an ordinance for the government of the unoccupied
territory northwest of the Ohio River ; now we are asking the
nations of the world to join us in the Columbian Exposition on
the shores of L,ake Michigan. Our coal mines, with a present
out-put of more than one hundred and thirty million tons per
annum, were then practically unknown ; our iron mines, with
a present annual production of fourteen million tons of ore,
were mainly un worked. The railroad was undreamed of;
now our railroad trackage would encompass the earth six and
one-half times. The steamboat was but an expectation ; now
we are using six thousand with an aggregate carrying capacity
of two million tons. The telegraph then lay in the realm of
the miraculous ; to-day our telegraphic wires would reach
from the earth to the moon, return to earth and again to the
moon, with enough spare wire to girdle the earth three times.
We had in those days about nineteen hundred miles of post-
routes, over which the mail was carried at intervals and
deposited in about seventy-five offices ; now our post-routes
cover more than four hundred and twenty -five thousand miles,
and our post-offices number more than sixty thousand. The
mail matter carried during the past year weighed more than
one hundred and eighty-two thousand tons, and the persons
engaged in carrying it (not including * * free-delivery ' ' carriers)
traveled three hundred and twenty-seven million miles. Then
we had a depreciated and really worthless currency, little of
private wealth, and no public credit. Our sound currency
now exceeds two billions ofdollars ; our national credit stands
highest among the nations of the earth; and the aggregate
wealth of our people is estimated to be more than sixty billions
of dollars. Then a few weekly, semi-weekly or tri-weekly
newspapers, scarcely larger than a sheet of foolscap, supplied
and satisfied the popular demand for news. There were no
reporters or editors then. These words are new, as are the
professions they signify. It was the "printer" whom the
public knew in connection with the newspapers of those days.
The entire newspaper publication of 1791 is now surpassed in
the weakest of our Territories ; and a single newspaper of our
62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
day, The New York World, has circulated nearly six hundred
thousand copies in a single day, requiring for their printing
ninety-four tons of paper.
Manufactures, except in the household, were practically
unknown. There were no "mechanics" in the meaning of
the word as now used. Men knew how to sow and plow,
hoe and chop, reap and mow and cradle, break flax and hackle
it, thrash with the flail, winnow with the blanket or fan, and
to shell corn by hand ; the women knew how to spin, card,
weave, and knit. Mechanical knowledge was monopolized by
the blacksmith, the carpenter, the millwright, and the village
tinker. Production was a toilsome, weary matter, limited by
the capacity for muscular endurance. In the absence of reli-
able statistics we only know that in 1790 the value of our
manufactures was but a few millions of dollars, the larger part of
which consisted of linen and woolen cloth made in households.
The value of our manufactured products in 1880 was between
five and six billions. Statistics for 1890 are not at hand, but
the sum total of our manufactured products within the census
year can hardly be less than eight billions. But I must for-
bear; our material advancement surpasses the wildest dream
of the most vivid imagination. Neither philosopher nor mad
man could have predicted it. It is incomprehensible; the
mind does not and cannot grasp it. We know that it is great;
we try to realize it as in our feeble way we try to comprehend
the infinite.
If you would in a measure form a conception of how large a
factor invention has been in this progress, try to imagine what
our social, financial, educational, and commercial condition
would be with an absolute ignorance of how steam and elec-
tricity can be used in the daily production of things for our sus-
tenance and comfort; with an absolute ignorance of the steam-
boat, the railroad, the telegraph, the telephone, the modern
printing press, and the machinery in common daily use. Men
who acknowledge that the development of invention and na-
tional progress have kept even pace in all that makes the
people great and happy are yet slow to comprehend that in-
vention has contributed in any large degree to such progress.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 63
To satisfy the doubts of such, a little careful thought is
needed. We may well inquire what it is that marks the
superiority of our people. And to answer this we need to read
the lesson which history teaches — that the people which has
known most of the laws of nature, and has had with that
knowledge the greatest capacity to apply natural forces in
economic production, has always attained the highest point in
human development. Human superiority consists in superior
capacity to know and superior ability to do. If I understand
how it is that invention has promoted the progress of our
people, it is because it has enabled them to know more, and
has given them the power to do more than any other people.
Invention needs a new definition ; it has outgrown that
given in the dictionary; we must inquire what it really is. To
say that it is merely the act of * ' finding out, ' ' the ' ' hitting
upon," the "coming upon" something new, feebly expresses
the meaning of the word. A recent law writer* more happily
conveys to our mind its real force. He says : ' * Invention
means the finding out, the contriving, the creating of some-
thing which did not exist, and which can be made useful and
advantageous in the pursuits of life, or which can add to the
enjoyment of mankind."
Mr. Justice Matthews felicitously expressed the same idea
when he said it was * ' that intuitive faculty of the mind put
forth in the search for new results or new methods, creatiiig
what had not before existed, or bringing to light what had
lain hidden from vision."
We must understand that to invent is to create, and that the
thing created must be beneficial to mankind. We are wont to
say that we live in an environment of invention — ^that every-
thing we touch, taste, handle, or see, is the result of an inven-
tion. We might more properly say that we live in a new crea-
tion. Literally, the old things have passed away and all things
have become new. Human society is full of creators. For-
merly we ascribed creative faculty or force to the Divine Being
alone ; our commonest thought of God was that He was the
Infinite Creator. We said as we gazed on the forms, animate
*Prof. W. C. Robinson,
64 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and inanimate, which surrounded us and which we believed
contributed to our happiness, " Behold the expressed thought
of the Creator — God! " and we were lost in wonder, love, and
praise. Now, when we look upon the wondrous contrivances
and inventions everywhere contributing to our life wants and
adding to our life enjoyments, we are forced to exclaim: " Be-
hold the expressed thought of the creator — man! " Inventions
have given us a new and higher idea of the capacity of man.
We begin to see how nearly he is related to Divinity ; we have
found a new meaning in the phrase, ' ' So God created man in
His own image." Shakespeare's words — the highest and
noblest uninspired estimate of man seem real to us at last —
* * How infinite in faculty * * * * in apprehension, how
like a god."
I^et me illustrate. Men have often wondered and adored
the Infinite Creator as they have dwelt upon the words — ''And
God said, ' lyCt there be light,' and there was light." But the
hours are not all light ; there is the night and darkness as well
as the day and light. Now, if you will think as you come to
this place this evening how the thought of man has trans-
formed black coal and viewless electricity into the agents
which light your pathway, you will feel it scarcely irreverent
to exclaim : ' 'And man said, ' I^t there be light, ' and there
was light."
If you will let your mind dwell steadily on the development
during the century of the creative faculty in man, you will
discover one prominent reason for the advancement of man-
kind. You will see that the creative faculty is no longer
limited to a few great souls, but that it is possessed by the
many. You will see that the gap between the scientific dis-
coverer and the practical workman is slowly but surely being
closed. When we survey the field of invention our eyes rest
inevitably on the figure of Watt. He stands out before us as
the great leader in the inventive world. We give him highest
place among those who have wrought for mankind. We put
him above Alexander and Napoleon. They were destroyers ;
he was a creator; they devoured; he developed the world's
capacity to produce. But do we realize that many greater
than Watt are here ? There are thousands of men in our
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 65
midst whose praises are never sung, who pursue their intense
work quietly and unnoticed, for whom the world erects no
pedestal of fame, but each of whom knows more of the nature
and power and adaptation of steam than Watt ever dreamed of.
We sing the praises of Morse ; we write him down among our
greatest ; we give him a conspicuous niche in our temple of
fame ; the world pays tribute to his greatness, to his creative
skill; he will go down in history as the first man who by his
invention made it possible to crowd into a day's time transac-
tions which would otherwise require a month's time for their
accomplishment; who enabled everj'- man who can buy a
penny paper to behold as in a moving panorama the events
transpiring throughout the whole world. But many greater
than Morse are with us. There are thousands of girls in our
country who know more of the laws of electricity, and better
how to apply their knowledge of these laws in the transmis-
sion of human thought, than ever Morse imagined. Such men,
such inventors, famous by right in the world's history, were
after all but prospectors, locating the rich mine of human in-
vention. They thought out, or by accident discovered, a
limited possibility in the application of new forces to the sup-
ply of human wants. Then the world's thought became focused
like a great burning lense on that possibility, and other men
wrought the possible into the actual.
Thus it is with every invention. Watt, in a crude way,
was the first to use that force which we call steam to move
engines and machines, and for that he will ever stand in the
first rank of inventors. But will you tell me who first used
that greater force which we call electricity, and which some
day will supersede steam as a motor power and add to the
number of the marvels of our civilization ? For aught I
know he may sit before me, but to me he is unknown. In
that he first made application of that more subtle and potential
force of nature in the working out of productive results bene-
ficial to mankind, he is doubtless a greater inventor than
Watt ; but the world has no crown for him. And why ?
Possibly, because man has so advanced in capacity to know and
do that the achievement of to-da}' must outrank the achieve-
ments of the past in order to confer great distinction on the
66 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
doer; possibly, because there are now so many capable ones
seeking the same result that the discovery of the germinal
idea is no longer the work of one man.
So we see that each invention, great or small, by its own
inherent force and power wonderfully stimulates and increases
the inventive or creative faculty of man. Reduction to prac-
tice requires knowledge and skill equal to that of the man who
conceives the idea, and the use of the invention necessitates
knowledge akin to that of the inventor. The woman who
uses the sewing machine must have knowledge in kind, at
least, if not in degree, equal to that of Howe. The field
laborer who uses the harvester must know as much of the
operation, if not of the principle, of the machine as McCor-
mick. What an advancement in average human knowledge
this signifies in the country where we live and move and have
our being among inventions ! And if, as Bacon said, knowl-
edge is power, how greatly have we advanced in power!
Another thought in this line. Our library shelves are filled
with books, written to prove the ennobling influence of the
fine arts upon mankind. Painting, sculpture, and music are
lauded because they educate and refine society, because they
improve and elevate men and women, and advance them in the
scale of being. But, is the contemplation of a painting more
inspiring than the intelligent study of an engine ? Is a statue
more beautiful than a machine ? The one copies nature, the
other compels nature ; in the one there is repose and in-
action, the other is instinct with life and energy. Are the
waves of song more rythmic than the undulations which fall
on the ear from the movement of myriad inventions ? The
one touches sentiment, the other sings to us of human peace
and plenty.
Again. There are books without number which tell us how
man grows by the contemplation of nature, of the subtle
influence exercised upon the character of man by the scenes
in which he dwells, by mountain and forest, by brook and
river and ocean, by clear sky and fleecy clouds, by the rare
tints of sunset and dawn, by breaking billow and roaring
blasts. All this has been portrayed since books were first
written — by poet, philosopher, and moralist alike. But who
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 67
has written, who shall write, of that greater and subtler
molding influence exercised upon the character of man by his
subjection of the forces of nature to become his ministering
spirits ? Compare the man who muses on nature, who drinks
in the influence of the mountain from afar, with the man who
pierces that mountain to make a highway for the distribution
of the world's products, or digs out from their dungeon the
imprisoned metals, to be wrought into implements for his use,
and tell me which man grows most or best. Which is the
more a man, he who gazes with awe on the dark storm-cloud
and sees in the lightning only the manifestation of the wrath
of an angry God, or he who subdues the lightning and makes
it his servant, and sends it to and fro on missions of mercy and
sympathy to his fellow-man ?
Thus far I have spoken of the indirect influence of inven-
tion on the progress of mankind, on human advancement.
Let me for a moment be more specific and direct. Man is
ever wanting something. He may be said to be the creature
who wants ; and the greater his attainment the more numer-
ous his wants. The man who wants least in the world is of
the least use to the world. Sometimes we call this craving,
unceasing want of man, aspiration. Our fathers called it the
pursuit of happiness, and declared it an ''inalienable right."
Whatever we may call it, this is true : The more numerous
and complex the wants of man (provided they are not born of
vicious desire) and the more easily they are satisfied, the
better, abler, happier, and nobler mankind becomes. Every
human want involves production ; something must be pro-
duced to satisfy it, and production is useless and objectless
except to satisfy human wants. Man's first want is to
appease hunger and quench thirst; his next, to be protected
from the extremes of cold and heat. If these are all, we call
him a savage, and production stands at its minimum. With
every step of advancement toward 'civilization and spirituality
his wants multiply, and production must increase. His com-
fort and happiness, his present and future, depend upon the
ease with which he can obtain wherewith to satisfy and gratify
these wants.
68 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Now, the true problem of invention — its only purpose and
object, indeed — is, first, to enable man to satisfy his present
wants with less of effort and cost than before ; and, second, to
create in him the new wants incident to his higher plane of
existence, and the means of supplying those wants, so that as
the years go on man can have more of comfort with less of per-
sonal effort than ever before. If this does not constitute
human advancement, I do not know what does.
Is it true that invention does this? It is the test by which
the patentability of every invention is tried. It is the test
applied by the inventor, the Patent Office, the courts, to deter-
mine whether the machine, or process, or product is really an
invention. The machine or process must be * ' new and use-
ful," (what pregnant words) ; that is, it must produce things
adapted to the existence and comfort of man, cheaper and bet-
ter than they can be produced by any known process. If the
invention be of a new product, the same law defines and limits
it. The new product must be "useful; " it must be one that
man can use, and, from its use, be benefited. If the inventor
does not believe this capability resides in his invention, he
abandons his effort. If the Commissioner of Patents cannot
find this quality in the supposed invention, he rejects it. If
courts cannot discover this essential characteristic, they say it
is not entitled to be called property. That man must be blind
and deaf and dull to the degree of stupidity who does not see
that in this country during the last century inventions have
laid their magic fingers upon every means and source of pro-
duction, have improved and cheapened every product, have
multiplied new products until now our entire population has
more of comfort and less of want, more of happiness and less
of misery, more of pleasure and less of pain, than any
people that now exists or has ever existed — and all these with
less of weary, wearing toil, with less of anxiety and less of
hardship.
When and why we began to count the world's life by cen-
turies, as men count human life by years, we hardly know.
There are years in almost every individual life during which a
man's character, habits, and effort undergo radical change —
some forceful cause makes him a new man. So in a short
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 69
hundred years the spirit of invention has changed the current
of human thought and purpose and enterprise in our country —
it has made a new world. The America of to-day is radically
different from the America of 1791. We call our improvement
the development of Christian civilization ; and I would not for
a moment forget nor disparage the great influence of Christian-
ity in molding our institutions and directing our pursuits. But
what kind of a Christian civilization would it be with the
spirit of invention still dormant ? Improved printing presses,
telegraphs, and the means of rapid communication have given
us a different Christianity, and taught us the lessons of the
Master more correctly. The religious polemics of a former
century interest men no longer. Reasoning
Of providence, fore-knowledge, will and fate,
Fixed fate, free-will, fore-knowledge absolute,
is as obsolete now as the argument to prove witchcraft a
reality and of satanic origin. Men no longer wander in the
mazes of abstract speculation ; they seek for practical truths
and practical results. The clergyman who should preach the
sermon of a hundred years ago would speak to empty pews.
The present religion is one that seeks to better man's physical
and social condition. We care less for doctrine, and more for
human improvement ; and we have come at last to dwell with
intense satisfaction upon the thought that our Saviour went
about "doing good."
Thus we see how the inventive spirit of the age has been
working this change ; how the very essence of an invention is
to do good to man, to minister to the comfort, the happiness,
and the higher intelligence of the people; how it works hand in
hand with the spirit of a true religion. For the first time in the
history of the world we seem to be making real headway against
superstition and bigotry. We no longer count the mysterious
as miraculous. What seemed miraculous has in our day too
often come to be commonplace to let us sit down in wonder
before it. For the first time we have come to learn that true
rivalry in manly achievement is the struggle to accomplish
most for the benefit of mankind, and that the only real hap-
piness consists in enabling others to become happy.
^o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Nor is the change in the method and system of our educa-
tion less radical than that in religious thought and effort. The
college president of a hundred years ago would bring financial
ruin to any college in a twelve-month. We more and more
demand that our children shall study the present, and that
their expansive powers shall not be imprisoned in the dun-
geons of a dead past. Roman and Grecian manners, customs,
literature and art are no longer the only models upon which
we seek to develop the character of our sons. They must be
fitted to explore the storehouse of nature and to bring out
therefrom unseen treasures for a true enrichment of their
fellows. Nothing more strikingly illustrates this change than
the public demand for scientific, industrial, and manual training
schools. Consider for a moment how impossible such schools
would have been when our Constitution was framed, and how
their felt necessity is now changing all our educational methods.
No education is complete to-day that does not fit the student to
deal with the great problems of applied science, the solution of
which is still more to enrich and bless mankind. Education is
not finished now in the college or professional school; it goes
on in the workshop, in the laboratory, by the lathe, in the field,
in the mine, in the forest, wherever and so long as man is called
upon to wrestle with these great problems. And how intense
life has become in consequence ! Slow and toilsome processes
of thought are now no longer possible by the side of the
swiftly -moving machine ; thought has been wedded to intui-
tion. Evidence is not wanting that invention and discovery
have resulted in lengthening the average of human life. But
whether this be so or not, if we count life by its action and
experience and what we gain in it and by it, our term of life
has been wonderfully lengthened.
The change in human enterprise may be illustrated by con-
trasting what were once the Seven Wonders of the world with
the seven wonders of American invention. The old wonders
of the world were : The Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, the Phidian Statue of Jupiter, the Mausoleum, the
Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the
Pharos of Alexandria. Two were tombs of kings, one was the
playground of a petted queen ; one was the habitat of the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 71
world's darkest superstition ; one the shrine of a heathen god ;
another was a crude attempt to produce a work of art solely to
excite wonder, and one only, the light-house at Alexandria,
was of the slightest benefit to mankind. They were erected
mainly by tyrants ; most of them by the unrequited toil of
degraded and enslaved laborers. In them was neither im-
provement nor advancement for the people.
Let me enumerate the seven wonders of American inven-
tion : The cotton-gin ; the adaptation of steam to methods of
transportation ; the application of electricity in business pur-
suits ; the harvester ; the modern printing press ; the ocean
cable, and the sewing machine. How wonderful in concep-
tion, in construction, in purpose, these great inventions ; how
they dwarf the Pyramids and all the wonders of antiquity ;
what a train of blessings each brought with its entrance into
social life ; how wide, direct, and far-reaching their benefits!
Kach was the herald of a social revoluion ; each was a human
benefactor ; each was a new Goddess of Liberty ; each was a
great emancipator of man from the bondage of labor ; each
was a new teacher come upon earth ; each was a moral force.
I should not do justice to this subject if I omitted to speak
of one thing, which, however, it will hardly be thought
necessary in this gathering to urge as a defence of the patent
system. Our patent system needs no defence. When our
fathers asserted constitutional authority for Congress to pro-
mote the useful arts, by granting to inventors for a limited
time the exclusive control of their inventions, they builded
better than they knew. But it may be said that without the
stimulus afforded by the prospective reward of the inventor
this development of invention would never have occurred —
that the inventor is spurred and lured on by the expectation
of a fortune. I do not deny that every inventor expects and
hopes for pecuniary gain to be derived from his invention, and
that if there were no gain the spirit of invention might be
checked. It is right that the man who benefits mankind
should be rewarded. Our instinct of justice revolts at the
short-sighted policy which has ever sought to stifle inventions,
and we rejoice at the liberal policy founded upon the good
judgment of mankind vv^hich has sought to encourage them.
72 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The world has nothing but contempt for the Emperor Tibe-
rius who, when approached by a skillful workman who had
discovered the secret of making glass malleable, inquired of him
whether he alone possessed the secret, and upon being assured
that he was the only one, ordered his head to be struck off
immediately, lest his invention should prove injurious to the
workers in gold, silver, and other metals. I deny, however,
that the hope of pecuniary gain is the only motive of inven-
tion, or indeed the most powerful motive. Two others, at
least, are more potent : The insatiable desire of man to see the
invisible, to touch the intangible, to know the unknown, to
conquer the unconquered, is one ; to benefit the human race is
the other. The prospect of money reward alone would never
absorb and concentrate and intensify the faculties of the
inventor. He is an enthusiast. I,ike prophet and poet, he
seems possessed by a semi-madness. A passion to accomplish
and achieve what seems impossible takes hold of him. He is
a philanthropist, too ; the desire to furnish his fellow-men
with something new and useful absorbs him. There are men
sitting before me, no doubt, whose waking and sleeping hours
are given to the exploration of new fields, that they may
discover, control, and apply new forces ; who are striving to
bring forth inventions more wonderful and beneficial than the
world has yet known. Ask them, and see if they do not tell
you that I am right, and if they do not scout the idea that the
pecuniary profit which they may derive from their invention
is the only, or indeed the principal, motive that impels them.
If they can but discover the germs of new inventions which
are to cheapen production, which are to minister to the present
and prospective wants of mankind, they will be satisfied with
their life-work and feel that they are entitled to a place among
the world's great doers, though others shall enter in and reap
more abundantly the money reward. There never yet was a
true invention from which the public did not reap infinitely
greater pecuniary reward than the inventor. However selfish
his purpose may be, it is an inevitable law of invention that it
holds greater benefits in store for the masses than for the
inventor.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 73
I must not fail to notice at this point a more or less preva-
lent idea that the result of invention is to enrich the few at the
expense of the many — that capital is assisted while labor is
injured. I have little patience with this belief. It is the wail
of the pessimist rather than the opinion of the intelligent.
Men who give utterance to it forget that in social economy
man always builds on the ruins of the past. The first effect of
every useful invention is to destroy capital. In the inventive
realm the fittest only survives. No invention answers its pur-
pose that does not either supersede the old methods of produc-
tion or bring forth a new product. If some new motive power
should be discovered which would enable us to produce those
things which men must have for their sustenance and happiness
better and more cheaply than water power, air power, steam
power, and electrical power, the capital thus invested would be
gradually but surely destroyed ; whereas all experience teaches
us that there would be no injury to labor — there would simply
be a readjustment of labor and an increased demand for it.
There would be a demand for more intelligent labor, more
skillful labor, more brain labor, as well as a greater demand
in new fields for what we term muscular labor.
An illustration or two conclusively proves this. In the
beginning of the century there w^ere no railroads ; all trans-
portation was by wagons, carts, horses, and oxen. The rail-
roads of the country last year, in railroad parlance, moved
sixty-eight billion tons of freight one mile. To have accom-
plished the same work would have required more horses than
there are in the United States, and two-thirds of the able-
bodied men of the country to drive them. But all the horses
in the country were needed for other work — work which,
except for the railroads, would not have been done. With
the introduction of the railroad the men who had driven
horses found that their services were in demand at prices
which teamsters never expected to receive. There would be
no such carrying trade as we now have if it had not been
developed by the railroads. People who think that invention
lessens the demand for labor should remember that millions
of people find profitable employment in localities where
Indians would now be hunting the buffalo were it not
74 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
for the inventions which go to make up that vast system
of railroads, which is itself one great conglomerate ma-
chine acting with the precision of mechanical law. They
should remember, too, that to operate the railroads of
this country nearly a million persons are employed to fill
places that have been created by the railroad, in which
intelligence and skill of a high order are required. They
should take account, too, of the men who have worked in
mines and forests, who have built furnaces and mills, who
have produced the rails for one hundred and sixty thousand
miles of railroad track, and the necessary equipment of loco-
motives and cars ; of the men who have leveled and graded the
roads — who have pierced the mountains and filled up the
valleys ; of the men who have found employment in supplying
all these laborers and artisans with food and comforts and
luxuries. That man is sadly deficient in the intelligence of
the age who cannot see that every true invention greatly
increases the demand for labor, improves the quality of labor,
and thereby enhances its price.
About thirty-five years ago men discovered a natural pro-
duct unknown before ; they called it petroleum. Invention
seized upon it and began to work it into useful forms for the
production of useful results and to supply unquestioned needs.
It was a timely discovery. Without it, we can hardly conceive
how it would be possible to light the homes of our people.
In every stage of its treatment invention has been called into
use. By the aid of those inventions the crude article has been
resolved into more than one hundred and fifty separate
products, each one of which has its commercial designation,
its beneficial use — many of them supplying wants unfelt and
unknown before. All this has created an army of workmen
engaged in employments unheard and unthought of but for
the discovery, and for the inventions which have so multifari-
ously utilized the product. What labor has been displaced or
injured thereby ? So with every invention since the creation
of man. Not one of them but has made life more to be
desired by the toiler ; not one but has made his station more
honorable, his environment more agreeable. I count it one of
the chief benefits of our unrivaled inventions that labor in
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 75
the United States has become more intelligent, more skillful,
and therefore commands the highest price. I count the
advancement of our laborers as the chief wealth of our
people. A people may have gold and not be rich, may have
lands and be indigent ; but a people with intelligence and skill
and energy is truly rich and truly great. It is brain power
that constitutes real wealth. The old poet of the sixteenth
centur}^ who sang, * ' My mind to me a kingdom is, ' ' had a
better conception of the true nature of wealth than the man
who counts only the millionaire as the wealthy man.
One other thought I commend to the pessimist. If, as he
believes, invention has augmented and concentrated capital
and clothed it with power which is used to the public detri-
ment, it has also made possible the organization and associa-
tion of labor. Without the railroad, the telegraph, and the
press, associated labor could not exist ; without these children
of invention, no labor combination or organization would ex-
tend beyond the city or town in which it was organized. By
adding to the intelligence of the masses, by the opportunity
which it gives for association, invention has wonderfully
increased the power of the masses. The laborer is no longer
an isolated toiler. Invention has clothed him with strength as
a garment. God grant that he may use it wisely.
We stand in the doorway of a new century. What of the
future ? Has invention reached its zenith ; has man attained his
highest development ; has he already reached the goal of
human progress ; can he advance no farther ? I ask these
questions because I firmly believe that the limit of human
invention is also the limit of human advancement; that he
who writes the history of invention will write the history of
mankind; that if invention has already done its perfect work,
man is all he can ever hope to be in this life.
For one, I cannot entertain the gloomy thought that we have
come to that century in the world's life in which new and
grander achievements are impossible. For one, I am persuaded
that we have but just entered the era of improvement ; that at
no period in his existence has man been so well equipped, so
well fitted by his ability, knowledge, and high resolve, to
grapple with the problems of life and to make new conquests
76 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
in the field of invention. Invention is a prolific mother ; every
inventive triumph stimulates new effort. Man never is and
never will be content with success, and the great secrets of
nature are as yet largely undiscovered. Though we seem to
have accomplished much, we really know but little. Who
knows what electricity is ? Who understands the properties
of any material substance ? Who has solved the mysteries of
the atom and the germ ? Who knows what forces men have
passed by in their search for motive power ? Who has even
catalogued the forces of nature ? What wondrous possibilities
are yet locked in her storehouse ? But, after all, the real wonder
of the earth is man ; never so wonderful as when he boldly
challenges nature to unlock her doors and reveal her mys-
teries that he may use them for the improvement and advance-
ment of his kind.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 77
THK RELATION OF INVENTION TO,I.ABOR.
By Hon. Carroi,i. D. Wright, of Massachusetts,
Commissioner of Labor.
The lines of industrial history are dimly drawn. The
writers of civil history have been too thoroughly engrossed
with political events and with wars to give much attention to
the development of the industries of different peoples. Here
and there a paragraph or a page may give some hint of the
state of the industrial arts during different periods and in
different countries ; but the necessity of giving connected and
extended accounts of industrial progress has not yet seemed to
possess them. The beginning of the history is, of course, as
nebulous as the beginning of all history. It runs back into
the ages, beyond tradition, even, for we cannot conceive of
the first step in civilization having been taken without the
assistance of the industrial arts. When the Greek could find
no trace of his own origin, it is unreasonable to suppose that
the historian can give the origin of those arts which have been
potent in developing civilization. The history of the develop-
ment of the mechanic arts must be largely the history of
civilization ; at least each reflects the history of the other,
for it is true that as advancing civilization has begotten higher
and finer types of production, the higher type of artisan has
been the productive element in social progress. It is im-
possible, with this condition of things historically, to treat of
the relation of invention to labor, or, more broadly, of the influ-
ence which invention has had upon labor during the earlier
historical stages.
The civil historian finds it convenient to make three g^eat
divisions of history — ancient, medieval, and modern. The
historian of the industrial arts can make use of but the first
and the last of these periods, the two great divisions, ancient
and modern — the ancient extending almost to our own time, the
78 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
modern finding its birth in that wonderful period of invention
practically beginning with the year 1760. We are, then, actu-
ally living in the early generations of the modern history of
manufactures, for the whole ancient period saw but little
change and but little invention, beyond the few contrivances
by which people met their simple wants. Certainly invention
had not been prolific in processes of production. The period
of ancient history, as defined, has not even ceased for a great
proportion of the inhabitants of the world.
The grand divisions which the archaeologist finds essential
are far more applicable to manufactures than those of the civil
historian. He takes three great ages — the stone age, the
bronze age, and the iron age — and these divisions more accu-
rately mark the progress of manufactures, for in them we find
the peculiar changes which mark the growth of the inventive
genius of the world. The limits of these ages, however, are
not found to be contemporaneous, so far as beginning and end-
ing are concerned, for while the stone age may have ended
in one country and the bronze age been evolved from it, the
stone age may have lingered for centuries longer in another
country, or the bronze age may have continued far beyond the
birth of the iron age among an adjacent people, or it may have
been omitted because of the conquest of a people still living in
the stone age by a people who had reached the iron age.
These great distinctions of ages, which the archaeologist finds
so convenient, are not continuous steps in the development of
natural history, except in a philosophical sense. Logically
they are true divisions, and so far as nearly all the peoples of
the world are concerned they are true divisions chronologically.
The history of civilization is not that of successive steps, ex-
cept as we view great cycles of time ; so the various industrial
systems which have prevailed in the world — the slave system,
the feudal system, and the wage system — are not successive
universally, but only successive in individual nations. Even
in the case of special nations, one or the other of these systems
may have been omitted through the circumstances growing
out of conquest, or, it may be, treaty, though in the growth or
evolution of industrial events the steps are quite regular. The
natural division of industrial history really involves two great
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONC^RESS. 79
features — hand-production and machine-production. Hand-
production prevailed until the last half of the eighteenth cen-
tury, and, as already remarked, inventive genius had not been
applied in this direction, except in the simplest way. During
the last half of the eighteenth century the history of machine-
production, or of the age of mechanical invention, really
began ; it is with this age that I have to deal, for it is only
since invention has been applied to productive processes that
it has had any specific influence upon the labor of man, either
in an economic or an ethical sense.
The age of invention found its birth in the development of
spinning and weaving, and as these two arts lay at the very
foundation of the industrial arts of the ancients, so they are
the basic arts of the modern system of industry. Until the
decade of years beginning with 1760, the machines in use for
weaving, as well as for spinning, were nearly as simple as
those in use among the ancients. The principles adopted by
the ancients, of course, are those still in force. The processes
of spinning and weaving were generally performed under the
same roof, the weaver continually pressing upon the spinner
for a suppl}'- of weft or warp ; but the weaver's own family
could not respond with a sufficient quantity, and he had much
difficulty in collecting it from neighboring spinsters. The
first influence of invention, paradoxical as it may seem, aggra-
vated this difficulty by a device for facilitating the progress of
weaving. This occurred by the use of the fly-shuttle, invented
in 1738, by one John Kay, by which device one man alone
was enabled to weave the widest cloth, while prior to Kay's
invention two persons were required. One can readily see how
this increased the difficulty of obtaining a supply of yarn ; for
the one-thread wheel, though turning from morning till night
in thousands of cottages, could not keep pace either with the
weaver's shuttle or with the demand of the merchant. In the
same year, 1738, John Wyatt invented an elementary me-
chanical contrivance whereby he expected that a single pair of
hands could spin twenty, a hundred, or, on a perfected me-
chanical construction, even one thousand threads. This inven-
vention of Wyatt's, patented by royal letters-patent in 1738, in
the name of Lewis Paul, really embodied the method of spin-
8o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
ning by rollers, for Wyatt's specification describes the very
principle of spinning by rollers which distinguished the spin-
ning machine brought into use thirty years later by Sir
Richard Arkwright, and which was universally adopted, and
of which Sir Richard is generally supposed, even at the present
day, to have been the inventor. Wyatt did not succeed, either
in making his fortune, or in introducing his machine into use.
He lacked the pecuniary means, and could not hold out long
enough to realize the success his genius merited ; but, more
than all, as often happens with many advanced inventions —
inventions made in advance of the times — he lacked the time
and attendant circumstances, with all their subtle influences,
which accompanied the train of inventions relating to spinning
and weaving which came into use a generation or so after
Wyatt's time. His invention slumbered for thirty years, until
it was rediscovered, or, what is just as probable, until its prin-
ciples came accidentally to the knowledge of Arkwright, who,
previous to 1769, had been a barber at Preston. These primi-
tive efforts — that of John Kay, in the invention of the fly-
shuttle, and that of John Wyatt, in the invention of spinning
machines where rollers were used — formed the germs from
which sprang that great line of inventions which has revolu-
tionized industry, and whose influence upon labor has been so
widely marked in every direction.
The invention of the spinning jenny came just in time to
have its usefulness adopted. One day while a spinner of Eng-
land was at work with his single wheel, in what poetry has
called a * ' cottage, ' ' but what history denominates a ' ' hut, ' ' sur-
rounded by his children, they accidentally overturned the wheel,
and while it lay on the earthen floor in a horizontal position,
the wheel, which was revolving at the time it was overturned,
continued to revolve, and of course the spindle revolved through
the power conveyed to it. This little accident suggested to the
intelligence of James Hargreaves the idea that a spindle could
be run in a position perpendicular to the motive-power, as well
as horizontal, and that the same power might be carried to
two or more spindles. He therefore set himself to work and
constructed, between 1764 and 1767, a crude machine, subse-
quently called a spinning jenny, which had several spindles
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 8 1
driven by cords or belts from the same wheel. He was thus en-
abled to multiply his production of yarn. This result brought
him increased wages, and made him the envy of his neighbors,
who, fearing that the machine would ultimately affect them
injuriously, became excited, broke into Hargreave's house, and
destroyed not only the machine but nearly all of his furniture.
The inventor was so severely persecuted that he left his native
county and went to Nottingham, at which place he was fur-
nished with means and was enabled to perfect his invention,
taking out royal letters-patent in 1770. But the year previous,
1769, Richard Arkwright, of whom I have spoken, took out a
patent for his invention of spinning by rollers. These two
men, therefore, can be called contemporaneous inventors, and,
so far as practical results are concerned, the original inventors
who gave to the world the birth of the age of invention.
The mule-spinning machine, which Samuel Crompton in-
vented in 1776, was a combination of the principles of the
jenny and the water-frame of Arkwright, and entirely super-
ceded the use of the jenny ; but the machines of Hargreaves
and Arkwright broke down the barrier which had so long
obstructed the advance of the cotton manufacture, and the
breaking down of this barrier inaugurated the factory system,
which really dates from their period.
In 1785 Dr. Edward Cartwright invented the first power-
loom. This was improved upon by various inventors till 1806,
when power-looms began to be used in factories. Prior to
this invention all the yarn spun by power-machines had been
woven into cotton by hand-loom weavers, and of course the
introduction of the power-loom caused a repetition of the scenes
of riot which followed the introduction of the spinning machine.
The power-loom closed the catalogue of inventions necessary to
the inauguration of the era of mechanical supremacy.
To give in detail an account of the invention of the great
processes in all departments which have affected civilization or
which have constituted, or marked, practical epochs in indus-
trial evolution, is not my province. Others who speak to you
will give you this information. But the influence upon the
labor of man, of the age which was born when the spinning
and weaving machinery of England was perfected, constitutes
82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
a theme to which I am called upon to address myself. This
influence has V^een great, and has been felt along two principal
lines or directions, those of economics and of ethics. Eco-
nomically speaking, the influence has been felt in two directions
also, but in diametrically opposite ways. These ways are what
are called, in popular speech, " the displacement of labor " and
"the expansion of labor." By the displacement of labor is
meant what would be expressed more specifically by another
term, the contraction of labor ; that is, where a machine has
been invented by which one man can do the work, with the
aid of the machine, of several men working without its aid ;
and by the expansion of labor is meant where, through inven-
tion, more men are called into remunerative employment
than would have been employed had not such invention been
made. In considering these economic bearings or influences of
inventions, we must deal with labor abstractly, while under
the ethical influence we not only deal with labor abstractly,
but with man as a social and a political factor. This, of course,
leads at once to the remark that the ethical influence, or the
ethics of the question, becomes the most prominent feature of
any treatment of the relation of invention to labor. Before
touching this, however, I desire to call your attention to some
of the more marked economic disturbances which have taken
place.
Thk D1SPI.ACEMENT OR Contraction of Labor.
The facts relative to the so-called displacement of muscular
labor by machinery have been drawn from the First Annual
Report of the U. S. Commissioner of Labor.
That labor-saving machinery, so-called, but which more
properly should be called labor-making or labor-assisting
machinery, often displaces labor so far as men, individually,
are concerned, and temporarily, cannot successfully be denied.
All men of sound minds admit the permanent good effects of
inventions ; but the permanent good effects do not prevent the
temporary displacement, which displacement, so far as the
labor displaced is concerned, assists in crippling the consuming
power of the community in which it takes place. It is, of
course, exceedingly difficult to secure positive information
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 83
illustrating a point so thoroughly apparent ; yet from the
source I have named a sufficient amount of information can be
drawn to show clearly and positively the influence of inven-
tions in bringing about what is called displacement.
In the manufacture of agricultural implements new machin-
ery, during the past fifteen or twenty years, has, in the
opinion of some of the best manufacturers of such implements,
displaced fully fifty per cent, of the muscular labor formerly
employed, as, for instance, hammers and dies have done away
with the most particular labor on a plow. In one of the most
extensive establishments engaged in the manufacture of
agricultural implements in one of the Western States it is
found that 600 men, with the use of machinery, are now doing
the work that would require 2,145 men, without the aid of
machinery, to perform ; that is to say, there has been in this
particular establishment a loss of labor to 1,545 men, the
proportion of loss being as 3.57 to i. In the manufacture of
small arms, where one man, by manual labor, was formerly
able to "turn " and " fit " one stock for a musket in one day
of ten hours, three men now, by a division of labor and the
use of power machinery, will turn out and fit from 125 to 150
stocks in ten hours. By this statement it is seen that one man
individually turns out and fits the equivalent of 42 to 50
stocks in 10 hours, as against one stock in the same length of
time under former conditions. In this particular calling,
then, there is a displacement of 44 to 49 men in one operation.
I^ooking to a cruder industry, that of brick -making,
improved devices have displaced 10 per cent, of labor, while
in making fire-brick 40 per cent, of the labor formerly em-
ployed is now dispensed with, and yet in many brick -making
concerns no displacement whatever has taken place.
The manufacture of boots and shoes ofiers some very
wonderful facts in this connection. In one large and long-
established manufactory in one of the Eastern States the
proprietors testify that it would require 500 persons, working
by hand processes and in the old way in the shops by the
roadside, to make as many women's boots and shoes as 100
persons now make with the aid of machinery and by congre-
gated labor, a contraction of 80 per cent, in this particular
84 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
case. In another division of the same industry the number of
men required to produce a given quantity of boots and shoes
has been reduced one-half, while, in still another locality, and
on another quality of boots, being entirely for women's wear,
where formerly a first-class workman could turn out six pairs in
one week, he will now turn out eighteen pairs. A well-known
firm in the West engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes
finds that it would take 120 persons, working by hand, to
produce the amount of work done in its factory by 60
employes, and that the hand-work would not compare in
workmanship and appearance by 50 per cent. By the use of
Goodyears' sewing machine for turned shoes one man will sew
250 pairs in one day. It would require eight men, working by
hand, to sew the same number in the same time. By the use
of a heel-shaver or trimmer one man will trim 300 pairs of
shoes a day, while formerly three men would have been required
to do the same work ; and with the McKay machine one
operator will handle 300 pairs of shoes in one day, while
without the machine he could handle but five pairs in the same
time. So, in nailing on heels, one man, with the aid of
machinery, can heel 300 pairs of shoes per day, while five men
would have to work all day to accomplish this by hand. A
large Philadelphia house, which makes boys and children's
shoes entirely, has learned that the introduction of new
machinery within the past thirty years has displaced about
six times the amount of hand-labor formerly required, and
that the cost of the product has been reduced one- half.
The broom industry, which would not seem to offer a large
field for speculation in reference to displacement, has felt the
influence of invention, for the broom sewing machine facilitates
the work to such an extent that each machine displaces three
men. A large broom-manufacturing concern which a few
years ago employed seventeen skilled men to manufacture
500 dozen brooms per week, now, with nine men, aided
by invention, turns out 1,200 dozen brooms weekly ; so in this
case, while the force is reduced nearly one-half, the quantity
of product is more than doubled.
To look at a carriage or a wagon, one would not suppose
that in its manufacture machinery could perform very much of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 85
an office, and yet a foreman of fifty years' experience has in-
formed me that the length of time it took a given number of
skilled workmen, working entirely by hand, to produce a
carriage of a certain style and quality was equal to thirty -five
days of one man's labor, while now one man produces sub-
stantially the same style of carriage in twelve days. Machin-
ery has been employed in making the parts necessary to the
construction of a carriage or a wagon, and thus has simplified
the work and reduced the time essential for the production of
the completed product.
In the manufacture of carpets there has been a displacement,
taking all the processes together, of from ten to twenty times
the number of persons now necessary. In the spinning of
carpet material alone it would take, by the old methods, from
seventy-five to one hundred times the number of operatives
now employed to turn out the same amount of work, while in
weaving there would be required at least ten times the present
number. A carpet-measuring machine has been invented
which brushes and measures the product at the same time,
and by its use one operator will accomplish what formerly
required fifteen men.
Very many people would say 4;hat in the manufacture of
clothing there has been no improvement, except so far as the
use of the sewing machine has facilitated the manufacture ;
yet in the ready-made clothing trade, where cutting was for-
merly done by hand, much of it is now done by the use of dies,
many thicknesses of the same size and style being cut at one
operation. So in cutting out hats and caps with improved
cutters, one man is enabled to cut out a great many thicknesses
at the same time, and he does six times the amount of work
with such devices as could formerly be done by one man in the
old way.
While the age of machinery began with improvements for
the manufacture of textiles, so the manufacture of textiles, and
especially cotton goods, ofiers perhaps as striking an illustra-
tion as any of the apparent displacement of labor. With a
hand-loom a weaver used to weave from sixty to eighty picks
per minute in weaving a cloth of good quality, with twenty
threads of twist to each one-quarter square inch. With a
86 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
power loom he now weaves one hundred and eighty picks per
minute of the same kind of cloth. Even in power machinery,
a weaver formerly tended but one loom. Now one weaver
minds all the way from two to ten looms, according to the
grade of goods. In a large establishment in New Hampshire,
improved machinery, even within ten years, has reduced mus-
cular labor 50 per cent, in the production of the same quality
of goods. This, of course, is true in other localities given to
the manufacture of cotton goods. In another line labor has
been displaced to such an extent that one-third the number of
operatives formerly required is now in employment. In the
days of the single-spindle hand- wheel, one spinner, working
fifty-six hours continuously, could spin five hanks of number
thirty-two twist. At the present time, with one pair of self-
acting mule-spinning machines, having 2,124 spindles, one
spinner, with the assistance of two small boys, can produce
55,098 hanks of number thirty-two twist in the same time. It
is quite generally agreed that there has been a displacement,
taking all processes of cotton manufacture into consideration,
in the proportion of three to one. The average number of
spindles per operative in the cotton mills of this country in
1831 was 25.2 ; it is now over 72, an increase of more than 185
per cent. ; and along with this increase of the number of spin-
dles per operative there has been an increase of product per
operative of over 145 per cent., so far as spinning alone is con-
cerned. In weaving in the olden time, in this country, a fair
adult hand-loom weaver wove from forty-two to forty-eight
yards of common shirting per week. Now a weaver, tending
six power-looms in a cotton factory, will produce 1,500 yards
in a single week.
Marvelous as these facts appear, when we examine the
influence of invention as applied in the newspaper publishing
business we perceive the magic of inventive genius. One of
the latest quadruple-stereotype perfecting presses manufactured
by R. Hoe & Co., of New York, has an aggregate running
capacity of 48,000 eight-page papers per hour ; that is to say,
one of these perfected presses, run by one pressman and four
skilled laborers, will print, cut at the top, fold, paste and
count (with supplement inserted if desired) 48,000 eight-page
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 87
papers in one hour. To do the press-work alone for this
number of papers would take, on the old plan, a man and a
boy working ten hours per day one hundred days. A paper
now published in the morning, printed, folded, cut and pasted
before breakfast, would, before the edition was completed under
the old system, become a quarterly.
And so illustrations might be accumulated in very many
directions — in the manufacture of furniture, in the glass
industry, in leather-making, in sawing lumber, in the manu-
facture of machines and machinery, in the production of metals
and metallic goods, of all kinds, or of woodenware, in the
manufacture of musical instruments, in mining, in the oil
industry, in the manufacture of paper, in pottery, in the
production of railroad supplies, in the manufacture of rubber
boots, of saws, of silk goods, of soap, of tobacco, of trunks,
in building vessels, in making wine, and in the production of
woolen goods.
It is impossible to arrive at an accurate statement as to the
number of persons it would require under the old system to
produce the goods made by the present industrial system with
the aid of invention and power-machinery. Any computation
would be a rough estimate. In some branches of work such
a rough estimate would indicate that each employe at the
present represents, on an average, fifty employes under the old
system. In many other branches the estimate would involve
the employment of one now where three were employed.
I^ooking at this question without any desire to be mathematic-
ally accurate, it is fair to say, perhaps, that it would require
from 50,000,000 to 100,000,000 persons in this country, work-
ing under the old system, to produce the goods made and do the
work performed by the workers of to-day with the aid of
machinery. This computation may, of course, be very wide
of the truth, but any computation is equally startling, and
when it is considered that in spinning alone 1,100 threads are
easily spun now at one time where one was spun under the
old system, no estimate can be successfully disputed.
All these facts and illustrations simply show that there has
been, economically speaking, a great displacement of labor by
the use of inventions ; power machinerj^ has come in as a
88 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
magical assistant to the power of muscle and mind, and it is
this side of the question that usually causes alarm. As in the
early day, when Hargreaves and Arkwright were struggling
to supply the weaver with a sufficient quantity of yarn, and
the spinners looked only to the immediate effect upon them-
selves, so now, no good answer can be made to the man who
finds his labor a superfluity in a market overstocked with
labor. Enlightenment has taught the wage-receiver some of
the advantages of the introduction of inventions as his
assistants, but he is not yet fully instructed as to their influ-
ence in all directions. He does see the displacement ; he does
see the difficulty of turning his hand to other employment or
of finding employment in the same direction. These are
tangible influences which present themselves squarely in the
face of the man involved, and to him no philosophical, eco-
nomic or ethical answer is sufficient. It is therefore impossible
to treat of the influence of inventions, so far as the displace-
ment of labor is concerned, as one of the leading influences,
on the individual basis. We must take labor, as I have said,
abstractly. So, having shown the powerful influence of the
use of ingenious devices in the displacement or contraction of
labor, as such, it is proper to show how such devices have
influenced the expansion of labor or created employments and
opportunities for employment which did not exist before their
inception and application.
Thk Expansion of I,abor.
As incredible as the facts I have given might appear to one
who has not studied them, the ability to crystalize in individual
cases and show the fairly exact displacement of labor exists.
An examination of the opposite influence of inventions, that
of the expansion or creation of employments not before exist-
ing, reveals a more encouraging state or condition of things,
but one in which the statistician can make but very little head-
way. The influences under the expansion of labor have vari-
ous ramifications. The people at large, and especially those
who work for wages, have experienced these influences in
several directions, and contemporaneous with the introduction
and use of inventions, the chief economic influence being in
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 89
the direction of expansion, the other influences being more
thoroughly ethical, and these should be considered under that
broad title. The science of statistics helps us in some respects
in studying the expansive power of inventions, and especially
in the direction of great staples used as raw material in manu-
facturing processes and in the increase of the number of people
employed relative to the number of the population. If there
has been a great increase in the consumption per capita of
great staples for manufacturing purposes, there must have been
a corresponding expansion of labor necessary for the produc-
tion of goods in like directions. Taking up some of the lead-
ing staples, the facts show that the per capita consumption of
cotton in this country in 1830 was 5.9 pounds ; in 1880, 13.91
pounds, while in 1890 the per capita consumption had increased
to nearly 19 pounds. These figures are for cotton consumed
in our own country, and clearly and positively indicate that
the labor necessary for such consumption has been kept up to
the standard, if not beyond the standard, of the olden time — I
mean as to the number of people employed. In iron the in-
crease has been as great proportionately. In 1870 the per
capita consumption of iron in the United States was 105.64
pounds, in 1880 it had arisen to 204.99 pounds, and in 1890 to
283.38. While processes in manufacturing iron have been im-
proved, and labor displaced to a certain extent by such pro-
cesses, this great increase in the consumption of iron is a most
encouraging fact, and proves that there has been an offset
to the displacement. The consumption of steel shows like
results. In 1880 it was 46 pounds per capita, and in 1890,
144 pounds. The application of iron and steel in all direc-
tions, in the building trades, as well as in the mechanic arts,
in great engineering undertakings, and in a multitude of
directions, only indicates that labor must be actively em-
ployed, or such extensions could not take place. But a more
conclusive offset to the displacement of labor, considered
abstractly, is shown by the statistics of persons engaged in all
occupations. From i860 to 1880, a period of twenty years,
and the most prolific period in this country of inventions, and
therefore of the most intensified influence in all directions of
their introduction, the population increased 59.51 per cent.,
90 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
while during the same period the number of persons employed
in all occupations-r-manufacturing, agriculture, domestic serv-
ice, everything — increased 109.87 per cent. In the decade of
years, 1870 to 1880, the population increased 30.08 per cent.,
while the number of persons in all occupations increased 39
per cent. An analysis of these statements shows that the in-
crease of the number of those engaged in manufacturing,
mechanical, and mining industries, those in which the influ-
ence of inventions is most keenly felt, for the period from
i860 to 1880, was 92.28 per cent., as against 59.51 per cent,
increase in the total population. If statistics could be as
forcibly applied to show the new occupations brought into
existence by inventions, I believe the result would be still
more emphatic. If we could examine scientifically the num-
ber of created occupations, the claim that inventions have
displaced labor on the whole would be conclusively and
emphatically refuted. Taking some of the great industries
that now exist, and which did not exist prior to the inventions
which made them, we must acknowledge the power of the
answer. In telegraphy thousands and thousands of people
are employed where no one has ever been displaced. The
construction of the lines, the manufacture of the instruments,
the operation of the lines — all these divisions and sub-divisions
of a great industry have brought thousands of intelligent men
and women into remunerative employment where no one had
ever been employed before. The telephone has only added to
this accumulation and expansion, and the whole field of
electricity, in providing for the employment of many thousands
of skilled workers, has not trenched upon the privileges of
the past. Electro-plating, a modern device, has not only
added wonderfully to the employed list by its direct influence,
but indirectly by the introduction of a class of goods which
can be secured by all persons. Silverware is no longer the
luxury of the rich. Through the invention of electro-plating,
excellent ware, with most artistic design, can be found in
almost every habitation in America. The application of
electro-plating to nickel furnished a subsidiary industry to
that of electro-plating generally, and nickel-plating had not
been known half a dozen years before more than thirty
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 91
thousand people were employed in the industry, where no
one had ever been employed prior to the invention.
The railroads offer another grand illustration of the expan-
sion of labor. It now requires three-quarters of a million of
people to operate our railroads, and this means a population of
nearly four millions, or one-sixteenth of the whole population
of the country. The displacement of the stage-coach and the
stage-driver was nothing compared to the expansion of labor
which the railroad systems of the country have created. The
construction of the road-bed and its equipment constantly
involve the employment of thousands and thousands of
mechanics, while the operation of the roads themselves, as I
have said, secures employment to more than three-quarters of
a million of people. All this work of the railroads has not,
in all probability, displaced a single coachman ; on the other
hand, it has created the demand for drivers and workers with
horses and wagons through the great expansion of the express
business, of cab-driving, of connecting lines and in other
directions, which could not have taken place under the old
stage-coach regime.
When the sewing machine was invented it was thought that
the sewing girl's day was over. So it was in a certain respect.
She can now earn more money with less physical exhaustion
than under the old system. Abominably poor as are the
results of her efforts now, they are far better than they would
have been without this invention. But as a means of the
expansion of labor the sewing machine is a striking illustration.
It has displaced no one ; it has increased demand, and it has
been the means of establishing great workshops to supply the
thousands of machines that are sold throughout the world.
The inventions of Goodyear, whereby rubber gum could be
so treated as to be made into articles of wearing apparel, have
resulted in the establishment of great industries as new
creations. We need not in this place consider the great
benefits through the use of water-proof clothing. The mere
fact that great industries have arisen where none existed
before is sufficient for our purpose. I might take up much
time in simply accumulating illustrations showing the ex-
pansive force of inventions in the direction of creating new
92 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
opportunities for remunerative employment. The facts I have
given show conclusively that displacement has been more than
offset by expansion. Yet, if the question be asked, Has the
wage-earner received his just and equitable share of the eco-
nomic benefits derived from the introduction of machinery?
the answer must be, No. I mean by this his relative share,
compared with that going to capital. In the struggle for
supremacy, in the great countries devoted to mechanical
production it probably has been impossible for him to share
equitably in such benefits. Notwithstanding this, his share
has been enormous, and the gain to him such as to change his
whole relation to society and the state, such changes affecting
his moral position.
It is certainly true — and the statement is simply cumulative
evidence of the truth of the view that expansion of labor
through inventions has been equal or superior to any displace-
ment that has taken place — that in those countries given to
the development and use of machinery there is found the
greatest proportion of employed persons, and that in those
countries where machinery has been developed to little or no
purpose poverty reigns, ignorance is the prevailing condition,
and civilization consequently far in the rear.
The Ethicai, Influknck of Inventions.
According to Mr. Herbert Spencer, ethics comprehends the
laws of right living ; and that, beyond the conduct commonly
approved or reprobated as right or wrong, it includes all con-
duct which furthers or hinders, in direct or in indirect ways,
the welfare of self or others ; that justice, which formulates
the range of conduct and limitations to conduct hence arising,
is at once the most important division of ethics ; that it has to
define the equitable relations among individuals who limit one
another's spheres of action by co-existing, and who achieve
their ends by cooperation ; and that, beyond justice between
man and man, justice between each man and the aggregate of
men has to be dealt with by it.
This constitutes a very broad definition of ethics, and the
propositions laid down by Mr. Spencer, taken by themselves,
are such as no moral philosopher can for a moment reject, nor
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 93
should they be rejected by economists, for a moment's reflec-
tion upon their bearing shows conclusively that material pros-
perity is best subserved by their incorporation as chapters in
the laws of trade, commerce, and production. So the relation
of the wage receiver to his fellow-man and to society becomes
ethical, purely so ; but it is certainly ethico-economical, and
his wages, the standard of his living ; his working time, the cost
of his living ; his education, his interest in religious and liter-
ary matters, in art, and in all that adorns life, are features
surrounding him which must be contemplated from the ethical
point of view. This thought is all the more emphatic when it
is considered that invention has brought with it a new school
of ethics. It is the type and representative of the civilization
of this period, because it embodies, so far as physics and eco-
nomics are concerned, the concentrated, clearly wrought-out
thought of the age. Books may represent thought ; machinery
or invention is the embodiment of thought. From an intel-
lectual point of view, then, it becomes perfectly legitimate to
speak of the ethical influence of inventions, and no considera-
tion of the relation of inventions to labor would be complete
without showing in a more deeply philosophical sense the
ethical influence upon the individual laborer.
We are living at the beginning of the age of mind, as illus-
trated by the results of inventive genius. It is the age of
intellect, of brain — for brain is king, and machinery is the king's
prime minister. Wealth of mind and wealth of purse may
struggle for the mastery, but the former usually wins, and
gives the crown to the Huxleys, Darwins, Tyndalls, Proctors,
Woolseys, and Drapers, rather than to the men who accumu-
late great fortunes. It is natural and logical that under such
a sovereignty inventions should not only typify the progress of
the race, but that they should also have a clearly marked influ-
ence upon the morals of peoples, a mixed influence, to be sure,
as men are what we call good or evil, but on the whole with
the good vastly predominant.
The philosopher of the pessimistic school usually finds in
the economic influence of inventions a great displacement of
labor or back- work, and he calls the attention of the thinkers
of the present day to the supposed glories of the past. He
94 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
calls up for consideration what he designates the peaceful and
happy days of labor under the domestic system ; he sees in the
growing importance of inventions what he is pleased to call
the destruction of the individuality of men and their retrogres-
sion to mere puppets, without the intelligence of the machinery
he deplores ; he sees in the division of labor what is to him a
sure corollary of invention, the degradation of labor, the dwarf-
ing and narrowing of the mind, and the complete subjugation
of all manly qualities ; he fails to comprehend work as any-
thing more than mere manual labor, the expenditure of muscle,
and never realizes that work means employment — occupation —
the means by which all sane people secure happiness for them-
selves and for those whom they love, and that whatever is done
in the name of service to mankind is work, and that the work
which calls out the highest faculties of the worker, whether of
endeavor or aspiration, is for him the highest employment.
He also fails to comprehend, or, at least, he overlooks the fact,
that under the domestic system of labor displaced by invention
the most demoralizing conditions prevailed. He finds some-
thing exceedingly poetic in the idea of the weaver of old Kng-
land, before the spinning machinery was invented, working at
his loom in his cottage, with his family about him, some card-
ing, others spinning the wool or the cotton for the weaver, and
so falls into the idyllic sentiment that the domestic system
surpassed the present. This idyllic sentiment has done much
to create false impressions as to the results or influence of
inventions. Goldsmith's Auburn and Crabbe's Village do not
reflect the truest picture of their country's home life under the
domestic system of labor, for the domestic laborer's home,
instead of being the poetic one, was very far from the character
poetry has given it. Huddled together in his hut, not a cot-
tage, the weaver's family lived and worked, without comfort,
convenience, good air, good food, and without much intelli-
gence. Drunkenness and theft made each home the scene of
crime and want and disorder. Superstition ruled, and envy
swayed the workers. If the members of a family, endowed
with more virtue and intelligence than the common herd, tried
to so conduct themselves as to secure at least self-respect, they
were either abused or ostracized by their neighbors. The
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 95
ignorance under the old system added to the squalor of the
homes under it, and what all these elements failed to produce
in making the hut an actual den was faithfully performed, in
too many instances, by the swine of the family. The reports
of the Poor I^aws Commissioners of England are truer expo-
nents of conditions than poetry, and show more faithfully the
demoralizing agency of pauperism and of all the other evils
which were so prolific under the hand-system of work.
The influence of invention at this particular time in the
history of mankind is usually overlooked by the philosopher
with a pessimistic turn of mind, and he also overlooks the
fact that if there is any one thing in individuals that this age
insists upon more than any preceding age, it is work — employ-
ment of some kind. Once it was enough to be good ; now one
must prove himself valuable or he becomes, if not an actual,
a social and a moral tramp. St. Paul said: "To him that
worketh, reward is reckoned not of grace, but of debt." Yet
when a man is employed to the extent of the support of him-
self and his own, the reward must be reckoned of grace ; and he
is capable of a better and purer religion, for a poverty-stricken
people cannot well be a religious people. Ethics and pure
religion most assuredly have much to do with everything that
affects the conduct of life ; they constitute the art of living
well, not merely of dying well, and they are the science of
being and of doing. The aim of the modem Christ would be
to raise the whole platform of society, says an ethical writer *
of our day. The modern Christ would not try to make the
poor contented with a lot in which they cannot be much better
than savages or brutes, and he would not content himself with
denouncing sin as merely spiritual evil. On the other hand,
he would go into the economic causes of sin and destroy the
flower by cutting at the very roots, which are poverty and
ignorance ; and the lowest, the most harmful and the most
expensive ignorance of to-day is ignorance of work — the want
of some technical knowledge which enables a man to earn his
own living outside of penal institutions. Poverty and pure
religion cannot exist among the same people, for such a
religion cannot prevail unless the people are engaged in that
* Dr. C. C. Everett.
96 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
class of employment which tends to broaden all their faculties,
to awaken not only their sense of duty to their kind, but also
to develop their love of beauty, of art, and of all that adorns
and ennobles life ; and such employment cannot be maintained
without the vitalizing use of inventions as the enduring,
working and perfect embodiment of human ingenuity. We
are hardly aware of the silent working influence of machinery
upon the morals of the world ; it is recognized in this thought
I have outlined, that poverty and religion are not now, as
once, twin virtues. Christianity only prevails in industrious
communities. The people of America, with all their faults and
foibles, are more religious in the truest sense than any other
people ; and this, I am sure, is because amongst a democratic
people, where there is no hereditary wealth, every man works
to earn a living, or has worked, or is the son of parents who
have worked, the notion of labor therefore being presented to
the mind on every side as the necessary, natural and honest
condition of human existence. A wealthy man even thinks he
owes it to public opinion to devote his leisure to some kind of
industrial or commercial pursuit, or to public business. He
would think himself in bad repute if he employed his life
solely in living {a). This idea of life or of active living is
stimulated by all the elements which make up the essential
characteristics of our period.
Professor Kverett, of the Harvard Divinity School, in an
admirable paper entitled * ' The new Ethics, ' ' gives an excel-
lent illustration of this truth. "The time has been," he says,
' ' when poverty was felt to be to some extent a mark of
sanctity. Your tramp would lack little of being regarded, if
not as a saint, at least as a very good representative of one.
Poverty was regarded as, in a double sense, a means of grace.
The poor themselves were not far from the Kingdom of
Heaven ; at the same time they furnished one of the readiest
means of salvation to their rich neighbors. It was the poor
who carried the souls of the rich to heaven. Thus poverty
was to be comforted and solaced. It was to be in some way
ameliorated. The poor were at any event to be kept alive.
But the idea of doing away with poverty would have been
a. Democracy in America, by De Tocqueville.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 97
considered if not sacrilegious, at least hardly desirable. This
life of poverty was, indeed, the ideal life." This ideal life of
poverty continued to be the leading thought so long as the
domestic system of labor prevailed. The age of machinery, of
invention, of active mental competition, as set over against
purely muscular competition, has changed this whole state of
things; for now it is considered that poverty is not the
blessing, but the curse of society, and the whole social effort is
not so much to ameliorate as to abolish it. Charity, instead of
being regarded as the ideal virtue, is, at least under its old
form, regarded as a weakness, if not as a vice. To help men, we
must now help them to help themselves. We must give work —
employment, mental or muscular occupation, and in it find not
the cure-all, not the panacea for all of the evils that threaten
society, but a great uplifting influence, which in time will
become a panacea for some of the evils ; but in order to have
this great influence induce the very best conditions for the
reception and growth and home of a high state of morals, the
prerequisite of religious advancement, the employment or work
should be of the very highest grade. If the lowest grade of
employment leads to self-respect, and the dignity and repose
even, which come of self-support (a proposition which cannot
be denied), how ennobling must be that employment which
not only stimulates the highest faculties, but also excites
admiration for the perfect and love for the beautiful ! A man
cannot superintend the movements of a complicated piece of
machinery and not feel this silent working influence, and,
maybe, become the better for his experience. His mind intui-
tively takes on the harmony of action and finds itself running
in tune to something which represents embodied thought. Any
man witnessing the operations of the wonderful mechanism of
the needle machine feels a continued influence from his ob-
servations. There is something peculiarly educational in the
very presence of the working of mechanical powers. The
witnessing of the automatic movements of a machine stimu-
lates thought, and, coupled with necessity or desire, makes the
beholder not only the inventor of other movements, but also
brings him to a higher respect for the inventions of the world
and creates in him a mental activity which places him on a
98 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
higher standard than that on which he lived prior to his
invention. In the first steam engines a boy was constantly
employed to open and shut alternately the communication
between the boiler and the cylinder, according as the pistons
either ascended or descended. One of these boys, who, like
most boys, loved to play with his companions, observed that
by tying a string from the handle of a valve which opened this
communication to another part of the machine, the valve
would open and shut without his assistance and leave him at
liberty to divert himself with his fellows. Probably there was
a displacement of labor, for one of the greatest improvements
that has been made upon the steam engine since it was first
invented was the discovery of a boy who wanted to save his own
labor. And so it has been that very many of the machines
made use of in manufactures have been invented by workmen
who, being employed in some simple operation, have turned
their thoughts toward finding out easier and readier methods
of performing it (b).
These things stimulate industry, and, as I have said, indus-
try and poverty are not hand-maidens ; and so as poverty is
lessened, good morals thrive. If labor — employment of the
mind — is an essential to good morals, then the highest kind of
employment — that requiring the most application, the best
intellectual effort — means the best religion and the best morals.
If it were not so, then the continued employment at the
crudest muscular labor would be the best for mankind. But
the condition I have named, I take courage to assert, is super-
induced eventually by the employment of so-called labor-saving
machinery and the division of labor, and the reverse of this
condition is superinduced by the continued and exhausting
application of much muscle and the use of little intellect.
In the early history of political economy we find that prog-
ress was supposed to be the result of the division of labor ;
to-day it is very often the b^le noir of a class of philosophers
who do not look beyond the apparent displacement of muscular
labor by the use of improved machinery. These philosophers
make out a most excellent prima facie case, as I have shown
by the facts cited relative to the displacement or contraction of
b. Adam Smith : Wealth of Nations.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 99
labor. The error lies in taking the prima facie case for the
conclusive evidence, which is found in joining the facts per-
taining to the expansion of labor. Now the optimist sees in
the division of labor what may well be called the emancipation
of labor, and instead of the dwarfing of minds, the undue stim-
ulation of industrial enterprises and moral retrogression, he
sees the fuller development, in every direction, of minds, of
industries, of moral relations ; and he sees in the clouds created
by the modern philosophers the warm showers which will
sprout the germs of the solution of some of the vexed questions
of labor. Communism, which means the destruction of labor,
cannot co-exist with machinery. It must be true that without
machinery the world would retrograde to superstition and con-
sequent irreligion, and that without machinery the ingenuity
of man must assume its old place among the unused faculties
of the mind.
These truths, or what to my mind are truths, are easily and
conclusively illustrated by many every-day observations. In
some of the Spanish localities of New Mexico the plow of to-
day is the bent stick of the Egyptians ; but as the railroad cuts
through the land and through the ignorance of New Mexico,
it straightens out the plows as it straightens out the streets of
that country — by the sheer influence of parallel lines. When
a railroad is run through a straggling town, with houses
thrown together as a child leaves its toys upon the floor, the
first thing is to set it to streets running parallel with and at
right angles to the railroad. The whistle of the locomotive
has shrieked out a vast amount of civilization during the past
fifty or sixty years, for with its shriek and as its cinders fell to
the ground, the spelling-book and the New Testament have
been lodged as fixtures in the new country.
All such illustrations are common-place, indeed, but they
are necessary in a discussion of the influence of inventions upon
labor.
The division of labor has grown finer and finer as machinery
has grown more and more essential to the production of goods.
The consequence is that trades are hardly essential now, and
the mechanic of a generation ago feels grieved because the
artisan of to-day is not obliged to spend from three to seven
lOO PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
years in learning a trade, and thereby be robbed to a great
extent of the results of his labor. The apprentice boy, if
bright, could learn his trade in less than the time required, but
he could not become a journeyman until he had been pro-
nounced such by the time spent at learning a trade ; and after
he had become skillful his wages were exploited to the extent
of his skill, and he was obliged to contribute more in the way
of actual earnings than he received. But this was not the
worst. Finding that he was robbed by the system, he finally
undertook to earn no more than he was paid, and so acquired
habits of unthrift which would follow him through life. The
apprentice boy has disappeared from the industrial world, but
the old-school workman, instead of glorying in the fact that he
has disappeared and that the time has come, or is coming, when
the years spent in learning a trade are considered as partially
lost time, feels the absence of the apprentice as a menace. But
the intelligent workman, I am happy to know, has changed
his views in this respect, and finds that through manual train-
ing and the results of the trade school, a boy can utilize his
whole time, and as soon as accomplished or equipped in his
trade, can command the wages legitimately his due ; and the
boy who has had the experience of good training schools has
the advantage over the old apprentice, for he discovers that
instead of one trade at which he can secure a living, he may
seek remunerative employment through his handy skill in
other trades when the chosen one does not furnish sufficient
employment. This enables the world to go on in the diversity
of employment or development, or the versatility of talent,
which is the secret of that future distribution of labor so much
to be desired before the full results of the readjustment of
industrial forces from the domestic system to the age of
machinerj'^ shall be complete.
With this diversity of employment will come still shorter
hours of labor and, consequently, increased opportunities for
mental and moral improvement. This age has already brought
greatly increased wages, a greatly reduced working time and
a largely reduced cost of the principal articles of consumption.
I cannot analyze in the space and time allotted me the
deductions of statistics which emphatically prove these things ;
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. lOi
nor is it essential. Such statistics exist. Wages have been
increased, and one illustration must suffice, and I will draw
this illustration from the cotton industry of this country, the
first to feel the effects of invention. The ratio of wages for
1828 and 1880, in producing common cotton cloth, was as
2.62 in the former year to 4.84 in the latter year, while in the
cost of production the ratio was reversed, it being as 6.77 in
1828 to 3.31 in 1880. The hours of labor have been reduced
from twelve or thirteen per day in the same industry to nine
and one-half in England and ten generally in this country.
An examination of statistical tables will convince anyone that
for most divisions of labor in cotton factories wages have very
nearly doubled during the past sixty years, not only in Great
Britain but in this country, and an examination of the wage
statistics of very many industries shows the same results with,
however, a varying percentage of increase.
As to production, the facts given in the earlier part of this
address must suffice. There can be no question in regard to
this feature of the influence of inventions.
With inventions there came the discussions and agitations
of England for the amelioration of the condition of operatives,
resulting in less hours of labor, machinery guarded against
accident and all the beneficent laws for the elevation of the
British factory workers to the plane of men and women. This
work is still incomplete, but is progressive.
The inevitable result of machinery to enable man to secure a
livelihood in less time than of old is grand in itself if none other
had been secured. But this is not so much the effect of legislation
as of changed conditions brought about bj^ the use of inventions.
It must be considered that as the time required to earn a living
grows shorter civilization grows up, and that that system which
demands of a man all his time, or a great portion of it, for the
earning of mere subsistence is demoralizing in all respects.
It cannot be successfully denied that the direct influence of
inventions has been felt in these three ways I have just
outlined — the increase in wages (and I mean by this the
increase in actual earnings in a given time), the reduction of
working time, and the decreased cost of articles of consump-
tion, whereby wages are made more efficient.
I02 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Another exceedingly important influence which has grown
from the division of labor by the use of machinery in produc-
tion relates to the length of life and to the means of comfort-
able living. We are told that in the good old times so many
sick or feeble people were not seen as now. This is true,
because they died. The feeble could not live under the old
conditions ; only the most robust and sturdiest physical
natures could survive, and none others were seen. To-day
the presence of feeble men and women of advancing years
does not show degeneracy of the race ; they must be looked
upon as a living glory of our civilization, which enables them
to exist. It shows elevation of the race, and that now, under
the conditions of life, the result of all the various inventions
which look to the comfortable existence of people, the com-
paratively feeble cannot only live, but can, if they choose,
support themselves in a great measure, for feeble and dainty
hands can perform work to which, in the good old time, only
a giant would have been assigned. I need not specify the
lines on which invention has perfected or established these
conditions. They are too familiar to every one. In warm and
comfortable clothing, in water-proof material, in heating and
lighting, in a thousand ways, invention has carried with it
comfortable conditions, increased health and an increased
longevity ; for now the average life is at least ten per cent,
higher than in the olden time.
The beauty, the art, the enthusiasm, which belong to good
morals can only grow to the wage receiver with a high order
of employment and the division of labor, and with a high
order of employment not only for profit, but for recreation —
for art even. The age of inventions, or periods given to the
development and practical adaptation of natural laws, raises
all people coming under their influence to a higher intellectual
level, to a more comprehensive understanding of the world's
great march of progress.
L,ow grades of labor are constantly giving place to educated
labor. The man who used to do the most detestable form of
work is being displaced by the professional who superintends
some device brought into use by invention, and the constant
promotion of luxuries to the grade of necessaries of life also
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 103
marks the forward steps of civilization and positively demands
the fullest play of the ingenuity of man to place them within
reach. By invention, what were luxuries to one class are
now the necessaries of life to a class that might be considered
below the first. The manufacturer often finds that he is
obliged to sell for old metal the grand mechanical construction
of a decade ago. Old successes are constantly giving place
to the new, which make old mechanical perfections bungling
in our present sight, and they must be destroyed to give place
to the new. An examination carried on in any direction
demonstrates the proposition that all progress, every step in
advance, is over apparent destruction, and, like every pioneer
who has ever startled the world with his discoveries and by
them benefitted his kind, is over the graves of men individu-
ally or over their aspirations. Ignorance in men, as well as
the men of ignorance, is in the way of progress, and must
give way to intelligence.
As space and time have been overcome, inordinate differences
in values have been overcome ; the markets of the world have
been equalized, sectional resources have become cosmopolitan
in their character, as peoples of all the world have become
acquainted. All these influences have disarranged trade, up-
set old principles ; and we of the present time are living in a
transition period of readjustment, or rather adjustment, that is
like the early days of convalescence from fever — painful from
lingering weakness, but joyous in the full knowledge of prog-
ress. In this adjustment individuals go down. The divine
plan to perfect all the creations which make up the universe
takes no notice of individuals, and is apparently profligate of
human life ; but goes on with the work, crushing if need be,
killing if it must, but always polishing, always purifying,
always perfecting.
The wheel of progress rolls on, destroying the old as it rolls,
crushing out ignorance ; but it rolls all the time, and man is
often obliged to give way before it, as the old machine is
thrown aside for the new. Educated labor, as the pioneer,
must step over human graves, over buried ambitions and lost
opportunities ; the law is infallible, even if in our short-sight-
edness we call it cruel.
I04 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
All the benefits of the division of labor and the application
of invention, like the reduction of working time, corresponding
increase of wages, the decreased cost of production, etc., are
benefits particularly marked during the past century, and they
have given to man a wonderfully enhanced power to command
what rulers a century ago, with all the appointments of war
and the adjuncts of unlimited exchequers, could not command.
The individual profits, as well as his kind, which claims the
reward of improved conditions. We can hardly realize that
there should have ever been a time when a linen sheet was
worth thirty -two days of common labor, and when a gridiron
cost from four to twelve days labor. Nor can we fully com-
prehend the moral influence which has come in other directions.
It is hard to understand that even within the memory of men
now living the first change in the way of speed in transporta-
tion or in the interchange of intelligence came to the world.
Prior to the generation which precedes the present the fastest
time that could be made was through the speed of man, or of
horses, or of sailing vessels, except, perhaps, in the occasional
transmission of intelligence by signals. So, as oddly as the
purely economic changes seem to us, they strike with much
less marvel then the reflection that Cyrus, when he had turned
the river Euphrates from its channel and captured the city of
Babylon, could inform his associates at home of his feat as
quicklj^ as could Washington the American Congress of the
defeat of Cornwallis ; or that Alexander after the battle at
Arbela could send the news of his great victory for civilization
to his capital in the same time it took Jackson to inform the
Government of the United States that the British army had
surrendered to him at New Orleans, and so won the already
granted peace for this country.
It has been reserved for the age of machinery, and for ma-
chinery itself, to cure the difficulties in the way of national
and grand movements which beset the governments existing
back of this epoch, and now the great engineering enterprises
of the day are being developed, and are thus solving the prob-
lem of how to relieve congested cities and of how to give to the
wage-worker, who must save time as between his lodging and
his work, the benefits of healthful surroundings in the country.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 105
Rapid transit, through the application of electricity to street
cars in the city of Boston within a few months, has added one-
half hour of the day to the workingman's available time. This
is the influence of invention, and a moral influence, for it
betters his condition, helps him to a higher plane, facilitates
social intercourse, and in every way gives him better oppor-
tunities for enjoying all that belongs to his environment.
These grand movements are the movements of great com-
munities, but by inventive skill, by the application of ingenuity,
the gain to the individual has been exceedingly marked, and
perhaps in a more specific way than to communities at large.
To create is the province of the Omnipotent. The second
great attribute, through the agencies established by Omnipo-
tence, is to develop, and this allies man to his Creator. Can
such a thought be illustrated by figures ? Most surely ; for
educated labor, with applied natural forces, has developed a
pound of cotton costing 13 cents into muslin which sells for 80
cents ; into chintz which sells for $4. It has developed 75
cents' worth of common iron ore into $5 worth of bar iron, $10
worth of horse shoes, $180 worth of table knives, $6,800 worth
of fine needles, $29,480 worth of shirt buttons, $200,000 worth
of watch springs, $400,000 worth of hair springs, and $2,500,000
worth of pallet arbors {c). Intelligent, skilled labor, with its
product of mind has accomplished this, and the individual, as
well as the state, has profited by the development. Under
such development a common man can ride to his work or upon
his travels in palaces that would have been the envy of kings,
and he can send the word of his arrival with a flash. He has
learned that the wants of a free people increase as fast as there
are means of supply, and that ''contentment with one's lot is
"the virtue of the subjects of a despotically governed and
** non-progressive state, and self-denial the virtue of a poor
' ' and unprosperous people ; ' ' and he has learned, too, that
the ranks of the skilled and intelligent workmen are not thinned
by the workhouse and the penitentiary, but that the ranks of
ignorant labor are prolific in stocking such institutions. He
will learn in the future that diversity of employment, and the
consequent practical versatility of his talents, will enable him
{f) Technical Education. By Geo. Woods, LIv.D., Pittsburg, 1874.
io6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
to secure the essentials of life in a few hours, and that he can
swell his income by artistic employment upon articles which
may now be denied him.
The inevitable result, it seems to me to be, is, that while we
shall alwaj^s have the unfortunate with us, made so from a
variety of causes, all this will be palliated to a large degree by
the capacity to use inventions to not only employ one's time,
when enfeebled, upon profitable work, but also to bring with
such employment corresponding joy.
The common man has learned furthermore, or he will learn,
that the sacredness of private property lies in the fundamental
principle or interest of self-preservation — in fact, that private
property finds its institution in this instinct ; for property is
the means by which not only is self preserved, but by which
species may be perpetuated. His experience with inventions
teaches him this, and that from a rude instrument of toil he
has become an intelligent exponent of hidden laws ; that he is
not simply an animal, wanting an animal's contentment, but
that he is something more, and wants the contentment which
belongs to the best environments. To accomplish these things
it is desirable to increase his ability to consume, and this is
done by improving his physical and moral conditions. So the
nearer we get to the point where a man shall have control of
mechanical powers, thereby simplifying muscular motions, the
quicker will his physical condition be improved — not his mere
muscular strength developed, but his sound physical condi-
tion— for the higher w411 be the efficiency of his mere muscular
labor, and it is certainly true that the higher physical condition
begets the better moral condition.
Every machine that is invented marks some progress in a
useful art ; it accomplishes some useful end not before attained,
or it does some old work better and cheaper. It makes more
valuable the day's work of an operative. * ' The man who rides
the mowing machine all day should get more than the man
who swings the scythe, and the weaver in the cotton mill
should get more than a weaver at a hand loom, partly because
labor is a unit as well as capital, partly because some machinery
must be very skillfully, and all of it very carefully, used, and
partly because so much more grass is cut and so much more
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 107
cloth is made. The advantage of machinery should not belong
exclusively to capital," and civilization must see to it that the
advantages of inventions are equitably adjusted.
The argument that the use of machinery brings into indus-
trial work an ignorant class of workers is often made by men
who see in machinery the arch enemy of the mechanic. The
argument is entirely baseless. There is no more ignorance in
the world on account of inventions, but by their perfections an
ignorant class can often do perfectly what an intelligent class
used to bungle over, and at the same time the intelligence of
the ignorant is raised. The ignorant laborer of to-day is, in
all that makes up condition, more than the peer of the skilled
workman of a few generations ago ; and the fact that as the
country increases in wealth, the numbers employed in miscel-
laneous industries and what Mr. Wells calls incorporeal func-
tions ; that is, artists, teachers, and others who minister to
taste and comfort in a way that can hardly be called material,
increase disproportionately to those engaged in the production
of the great staples, answers the idea that inventions foster
ignorance in production. Inventions have, indeed, superin-
duced the congregation of ignorant laborers, and thereby given
the appearance of creating ignorant labor.
Phillips Bevan, of England, writing in 1877 of the industrial
classes of his country, remarked that ''few people are aware
of the immense development of the last twenty-five years found
in the condition for the better of English operatives especially,
whether in a monetary, social, educational, sanitary or legisla-
tive light. It is very doubtful whether the bulk of workingmen
themselves take heed of the strides they have made, or of how
little they have to lament that the * good old times ' are past
and gone ; ' ' and Mr. Bevan might have added that in most of
the directions named by him invention had been the cause, for
it was not until the factory system was thoroughly fixed as the
industrial system of England that the Parliament of England
began to make changes looking to the education of the masses.
What a commentary is this hardly won development upon
the fantastical and pernicious sentiment with which the pessi-
mistic philosopher calls up ages and conditions from which it is
the greatest of blessings that we have been wholly delivered.
io8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
In art directions the development has been as great as in the
purely mechanical field, for, by the aid of mechanical powers,
the work of our artisans is rapidly making the taste of the
people artistic, for trained and inventive skill, as exhibited in
machiner}^ puts art into wood and metal, showing ' * the high-
est discipline of the mental faculties, the direction and the
subordination of all its manifestations for some clearly-defined
purpose." Kvery step marks some progress in industrial art.
The stove manufacturer, in order to meet the demands of the
common people, in the production of his goods must secure
the services of an artist, that the design of the kitchen or the
parlor stove shall not offend the artistic eye.
The ethical influence of the more modern system has been
marked indeed, and especially in our own country, for the
American workman demands, as a necessity, the culture to be
gained by reading, music, and the lyceum, and from his moral
and educational standpoint he participates in the government,
and has raised from his ranks some of our very best and most
revered Chief Magistrates, State and National ; and he will
demand in the future general admission to the ranks of the
aristocracy of mind, where his name even now occupies so
bright a place.
The development resulting from the influence of inventions
has reached the economic side of industry, and this economic
side, as it is better understood by our workingmen, will bring
about truer and happier industrial relations. At present the
manufacturing world is often disturbed by a succession of
strikes and labor controversies. Do not, I beg you, make the
mistake of assigning the cause of such strikes and contro-
versies to retrogression, or to supposed increasing antagonism,
or to any anarchistic desire to destroy or in any way abridge
the grand results of the past developments. On the other
hand, think for a moment that the man who works for wages
has been taught to realize the conditions of a higher civiliza-
tion ; has been taught to appreciate, understand and desire
still greater mental, moral and social progress. He has been
taught, and through invention enabled, to enjoy art and
music and literature, to understand that he is one of the
sovereigns of the land, that he is a political and a moral factor ;
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 109
and with all this he finds he still keeps the position of a wage
receiver in enterprises in which his skill, as well as his hand,
is a necessity. The honest and the intelligent workman, so
far as he is engaged in the controversies of the day, is the
conservator of all the required forces of industry, but he seeks
in this conversation to become more closely allied to the factor
of capital, which without him is dead material. He begins to
see that while he has outgrown, through the aid of inventions,
the purely phj^siological relation which labor bears to produc-
tion ; that is, the position of the animal, he now furnishes the
developed mental qualities of the man, and, seeing this, he
sees that he vitalizes the material side of production, which is
capital. He therefore asks that he may become more closely
associated with capital in the great productive enterprises of
the day, and also secure a more just share of the benefits
arising from the use of machinery than now falls to him.
How a new system shall be established, with perfect justice to
capital and to labor, recognizing the moral forces at work
contemporaneously with the industrial, is the problem of the
age. I feel so sure that this problem will be solved on the
broadest business basis through the practical application of
the moral principles of cooperative work that I have little
anxiety for the industrial future of the country. I know no
one element can come in as a panacea for ills, but I feel
morally certain that a combination of elements can be so
applied, and will be so applied, as to relieve industry of the
present apparent warfare. Progress has been so rapid that we
fail to see the intelligence underlying the industrial contro-
versies. Ignorance, selfishness and, maybe, dishonesty are
all interwoven with intelligence, and sometimes so closely that
it seems as if the unhappy conditions subordinated those of
intelligence, and this leads many to think that mechanical
development has reached such a point that it is safe, and they
have the courage to declare that we have arrived at the end of
the regime of machinery ; so, indeed, we have, but it is the
first end, and not the end they would have it, which to them
means retrogression. The development must go on. The
future of the achievements of inventive genius in the mechani-
cal, chemical, and other sciences is bright indeed, and holds
no PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
out to humanity its best boons and most munificent endow-
ments, not only in moral and industrial directions, but in a
better, and a greater, and a more equal diffusion of wealth,
and all that wealth means. Machinery is young ; in fact, is
only the forerunner of great undiscovered wonders which will
make the inventions of the past seem like toys thrown away
as childhood steps into manliness through growth, through
strength, and through perfection, which in itself is weakness
as compared with the perfection of the invisible power, the
manifestation of whose presence constantly reminds us that
the future holds the golden age, and not the past.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. Ill
A CENTURY OF PATENT I^AW.
By Hon. Samuei, BIvATchford, Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States.
I have been requested by the committee which has charge
of the ceremonies of this celebration of the beginning of the
second century of the American patent system, to address you
on the subject of '*A Century of Patent Law."
As we derive the principles of our statutory and administra-
tive patent law from England, it seems proper to regard the
subject as covering English patent law, to a certain extent.
Prior to the English statute of 21 James I, chapter 3, passed
in 1623, entitled "An act concerning monopolies and dispensa-
tions with penal laws and the forfeiture thereof, ' ' commonly
called * * the Statute of Monopolies, ' ' it was customary for the
King, by virtue of his prerogative, to grant exclusive privi-
leges or monopolies to individuals according to his pleasure,
and not because of any invention or discovery which the indi-
vidual had made, or had been the first to introduce into the
kingdom. To such an extent was this carried, that Edward
III granted to two persons a patent of privilege for the sole
making of "the Philosopher's Stone;" and, by subsequent
sovereigns, patents were granted for the sole manufacture of
playing cards, and for an exclusive right to sell various
necessaries of life.
By the Statute of Monopolies, all monopolies were abolished
as contrary to law, excepting grants to the first inventor of
any manner of new manufacture, of the sole privilege of work-
ing or making the same. The statute did not bring such
grants into existence, but excepted them out of the grants of
monopolies, and left them to depend upon the common law for
their legality.
James I, in 16 10, had made a public declaration that all
grants of monopolies and of the benefit of any penal laws, or
112 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
of power to dispense with the law, or to compound for the for-
feiture, v/ere contrary to the laws of the kingdom, and had
commanded that no suitor should presume to move the King
for matters of that nature.
Section i of the Statute of Monopolies declared that all
monopolies theretofore granted, or thereafter to be granted,
for the sole making or using of anything should be void. Sec-
tion 6 of the act provided that the inhibition should not extend
to a patent of privilege ' ' of the sole working or making of any
manner of new manufactures within this realm to the true and
first inventor" thereof, which others at the time of making
the grant * ' shall not use, so as also they be not contrary to
the law, nor mischievous to the State, by raising prices of
commodities at home, or hurt of trade, or generally incon-
venient, ' ' their duration to be for twenty-one years from their
date, in respect to patents theretofore granted for more than
twenty-one years, and to be for fourteen years or under in
respect to patents thereafter to be granted.
For many years after the passing of this statute, the arts and
manufactures continued in a low state in England, and few of
the inventions patented were of any value. Until the reign
of George III, the law reports are almost entirely silent re-
specting patent privileges ; and almost the only case reported
during that period is that of Edgeberry and Stephens (2 Salkeld,
447), where it was held, construing the statute of 21 James I,
that '*if the invention be new in England a patent may be
granted, though the thing was practiced beyond the sea before ;
for the statute speaks of new manufactures within this realm,
so that if they be new here it is within the statute ; for the act
intended to encourage new devices useful to the kingdom, and
whether learned by travel or by study it is the same thing. ' '
Since that decision it has been the uniform practice in Eng-
land to grant letters patent to a person who introduces an
invention not used before within the kingdom ; and Parlia-
ment has repeatedly recognized the principle, by granting
exclusive privileges to such introducers.
The first case of importance respecting a patent was an
action of scire facias brought against Sir Richard Arkwright
{The King v. Arkwright^ i Webster ^ 60) to repeal his patent
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 113
for an invention of a machine for preparing material for spin-
ning, which action was tried in June, 1785.
About ten years afterwards the important cases of Boulion
and Watt v. Bull (2 Hen. Black, 463) and Hornblower v.
Boulton and Watt (8 Term R.y 95) in regard to the great in-
vention of James Watt in steam engines were tried, in which
the patent law was much discussed and many of its difficulties
and obscurities were cleared away. In the second of the
above cases the patent granted to Watt in 1769 was held by
the Court of King's Bench to be valid. Since that time the
issue of patents for inventions has increased steadily, the inter-
ests involved in them have assumed immeasurable importance
and magnitude, and the principles of law applicable to them
have been developed and applied by judicial decisions of the
highest value.
A few words may be added in regard to the invention of
James Watt, which substantially created the steam engine and
gave to it that usefulness and efficiency, the further develop-
ment of which has revolutionized the trade and manufactures
of the world. Watt was a Scotchman. He was born in 1736
and died in 18 19. He learned the business of a philosophical
instiniment maker in London, and at the age of twenty-one
became mathematical instrument maker to the University of
Glasgow. At that time the most advanced type of steam
engine was that of Newcomen, which was applied only to the
pumping of water for draining mines ; but it was so clumsy
and wasteful of fuel that it was very little used. In 1764,
Watt's attention was particularly directed to it. In New-
comen's engine the cylinder had a vertical position under one
end of the beam, and was open at the top. Steam at a pressure
scarcely greater than that of the atmosphere was admitted at
the lower end of the cylinder, under the piston, and the piston
was pulled up by a counterpoise at the other end of the beam.
Communication with the boiler was then shut off, and the
steam in the cylinder was condensed by injecting a jet of cold
water. The pressure of the air on top of the piston then forced
it down, and the counterpoise was raised ; and the injection
water and condensed steam were drawn out of the cylinder by
a pipe.
114 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The observation of Watt was, that the alternate heating and
cooling of the cylinder caused the engine to work slowly and
with an excessive consumption of steam. The metal having
been chilled by contact with the condensed steam and the cold
injection water, it required the use of a large quantity of steam
to heat the chilled surfaces before the cylinder could be filled
and the piston rise again. As in almost all efficient mechanical
operations, there had to be a reconciliation of antagonisms ;
and, as in almost all important inventions, the genius was
invested in first recognizing the existence of the antagonisms,
and in then devising a method of reconciliation. Watt saw
that the temperature of the condensed steam ought to be as low
as possible, or the vacuum would not be good, and, to use his
own words, '' that the cylinder should be always as hot as the
steam which entered it." In 1765 the idea occurred to him
that if the steam were to be condensed in a vessel distinct from
the cylinder, it would be practicable to obtain a low tempera-
ture of condensation, and still keep up the temperature of
the cylinder. For that purpose, he provided a separate vessel
into which the steam from the cylinder entered, which vessel
was to be kept cold either by injecting cold water into it or
by letting cold water fall over the outside of it, and so a
vacuum could be maintained in a separate vessel. Thus
the steam which passed over from the cylinder would be con-
densed, the pressure in the cylinder would be as low as the
pressure in the condenser, and the temperature of the metal of
the cylinder and piston would be kept up, since no cold injec-
tion water would come in contact with them. On putting the
apparatus to a test, it operated as was expected ; and, to main-
tain the vacuum in the separate condenser, Watt added an
air-pump to remove the condensed steam and injection water,
with any air that might gather in the condenser.
He added several subsidiary inventions, such as more tightly
packing the piston ; closing the upper end of the cylinder ;
enclosing the piston with a steam-tight stufiing-box on top of
the cylinder ; causing steam instead of air to press on top of
the piston ; casing the cylinder in a non-conducting material ;
and introducing a steam-jacket between the cylinder and an
outer shell. All these features were specified in his first
patent, which was obtained in January, 1769. *
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 1 15
By an act of Parliament, passed in 1775, that patent was
continued for twenty-five years, and Watt, in connection with
Matthew Boulton, who owned some engineering works at Bir-
mingham, entered upon the manufacture of steam engines. At
first the only application of the engine was to pumping water
from mines, but Watt soon made other inventions to fit the
engine for other uses, and took out further patents in 1781,
1782 and 1784. These inventions covered the method of con-
verting the reciprocating motion of the piston into a rotary
motion, so that ordinary machinery could be driven ; making
the engine double-acting by putting both ends of the cylinder
in communication, alternately, with the boiler and the con-
denser instead of only one end ; introducing the system of
the expansive working of the steam, instead of admitting it
through the whole stroke of the piston ; and the well-known
parallel motion.
Watt's principal patent was sustained by the courts of Eng-
land, and he enjoyed the fruits of it until it expired in the year
1800. To his great invention we owe the development of the
steam engine as used now for traffic and transportation by
water and land ; for, without it, there could be no practical or
efficient steam engine.
The statutes which now regelate the granting of patents in
England are those of August 25, 1883, (46 & 47 Vict. ch. 57),
and December 24, 1888, (51 & 52 Vict. ch. 50). It is not
necessary that a person should be a British subject to apply
for a patent. The application must state that the applicant is
in possession of an invention, of which he claims to be the true
and first inventor. The word "inventor" in these statutes
covers an introducer. It is declared by the act of 1883 that
the word "invention" means "any manner of new manu-
facture, the subject of letters-patent and grant of privilege,"
within section 6 of the act of 21 James I, chapter 3, and
includes an alleged invention. There must be either a pro-
visional or a complete specification. If there is only a pro-
visional specification, there must be a complete specification
within nine months after the application. There is a limited
examination, which extends only to an inquiry whether the
nature of the invention has been fairly described, and whether
ii6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
the application, specification, and drawings, if any, are in due
form, and whether the title sufiiciently indicates the subject-
matter of the invention. The acceptance of the complete
specification is to be advertised, and any person may, within
two months thereafter, give notice at the Patent Ofiice that he
opposes the grant of the patent on the ground that the appli-
cant obtained the invention from him or from a person of
whom he is the legal representative, or on the ground that the
invention was patented in Kngland on an application of prior
date, or on the ground that the complete specification describes
or claims an invention other than that described in the pro-
visional specification, and that such other invention forms the
subject of an application made by the opponent in the interval
between the making of the two specifications. The patent is
to be granted for fourteen years, but is to cease if certain fees
are not paid within specified times. Disclaimers and amend-
ments of specifications are provided for, but no amendment is
allowable which would make the specification, as amended,
claim an invention substantially larger than, or substantially
different from, the invention claimed by the specification as it
stood before amendment. At least six months before the time
limited for the expiration of the patent, the patentee may apply
for an extension, which may be granted on a favorable report
from the judicial committee of the Privy Council, for a further
term not exceeding seven, or, in exceptional cases, fourteen
years ; and a patent may be vacated by a court on certain
specified grounds.
Let us pass now to the patent statutes of the United States.
The Constitution, in article i, section 8, declares that the
Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science
and useful arts by securing, for limited times, to inventors the
exclusive right to their discoveries.
The first act of Congress on the subject was that of April
ID, 1790, entitled "An act to promote the progress of useful
arts." This provided for the granting of a patent to the
inventor or discoverer of any ' ' useful art, manufacture, engine,
machine, or device, or any improvement therein, not before
known or used." A written specification, with drawings, and,
if admissible, a model, was required. No examination as to
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 117
the novelty of the invention was provided for. On an appli-
cation made to a judge of a District Court within one year
after the grant of a patent, if it was obtained surreptitiously or
upon false suggestion, or if it should appear that the patentee
was not the first or true inventor or discoverer, the judge
might repeal the patent.
Further acts in regard to patents were passed in 1793, 1794,
1800, and 1832.
On July 4, 1836, an act was passed reorganizing the patent
system and repealing all prior acts. By that act patents
were to be granted for fourteen years, with the privilege of an
extension by the Commissioner, in a proper case, for seven
years more. It was required that the applicant should have
discovered or invented a new and useful art, machine, manufac-
ture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improve-
ment thereon, not known or used by others before his discovery
or invention, and not, at the time of the application, in public
use or on sale, with his consent or allowance, as the inventor
or discoverer. He was required to deliver a written descrip-
tion of his invention or discovery, and of the manner and
process of making, constructing, using, and compounding the
same, in such full, clear, and exact terms, avoiding unnecessary
prolixity, as to enable any person skilled in the art or science
to which it appertained, or with which it was most nearly
connected, to make, construct, compound, and use the same ;
and, in case of a machine, to explain fully the principle and
the several modes in which he had contemplated the applica-
tion of that principle or character by which it might be
distinguished from other inventions ; and particularly to
specify and point out the part, improvement, or combination,
which he claimed as his own invention or discovery. Drawings
were provided for, and specimens of ingredients of a composi-
tion of matter, and a model of machinery, where admissible.
A system of examination was instituted, and the patent was
to issue if it should not appear to the Commissioner that the
alleged invention or discovery had been invented or discovered
by any other person in this country, prior to the alleged inven-
tion or discovery by the applicant, or that it had been patented,
or described in any printed publication, in this or any foreign
Ii8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
country, or had been in public use or on sale with the appli-
cant's consent or allowance, prior to the application, and if the
Commissioner should deem it to be sufficiently useful and
important. On the refusal of a patent, an appeal was provided
for to a board of three examiners. An interference with another
pending application, or with an unexpired patent, could be
declared with an appeal to a like board. In case a patent
should be inoperative or invalid by reason of a defective or
insufficient description or specification, or by reason of the
patentee claiming in the specification as his own invention
more than he should have a right to claim as new, if the error
arose by inadvertency, accident or mistake, and without any
fraudulent or deceptive intention, the Commissioner, on the
surrender of the patent, could cause a new patent to be issued
to the inventor for the same invention, for the residue of the
period then unexpired for which the original patent was
granted, in accordance with the patentee's corrected descrip-
tion and specification. This was called **a reissue." Pro-
vision was made for special defenses in actions for damages for
infringement, and for giving to the plain tifi" thirty days' notice
before the trial, of the defense of prior use ; also for a remedy
by bill in equity in the case of two interfering patents, or of
the refusal to grant a patent on the ground of its interference
with a previous unexpired patent. Equity jurisdiction by the
Circuit Courts of the United States was created, with the
power of granting injunctions against infringement. An ex-
tension of a patent for seven years was provided for, on its
appearing that the patentee, without neglect or fault on his
part, had failed to obtain reasonable remuneration.
The foregoing features of the patent system were sub-
stantially reenacted in the act of July 8, 1870, the provisions
of which are embodied in the Revised Statutes ; but by statute
a patent is now granted for only seventeen years, and no pro-
vision is made for an extension.
In the administration of the patent laws by the courts of the
United States, the proper rights of inventors have been firmly
maintained, while the abuses which crept in, in consequence of
improper reissues of patents, have been corrected. Patents
for important and meritorious inventions have been sustained,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 119
notably in the case of Morse's telegraph, which was held valid
in the case of O'Reilly v. Morse, (15 Howard, 62), the opinion
being delivered by Chief Justice Taney.
Samuel F. B. Morse was a historical painter, and had gone
to Europe in 1829 to perfect himself in his art. In October,
1832, on board the packet-ship "Sully," on her passage from
Havre, in France, to New York, he conceived the invention
which he afterward patented. Before he landed in the United
States he sketched the form of an instrument for an electro-
magnetic telegraph, and arranged and noted down a system of
signs, composed of a combination of dots and spaces to repre-
sent figures, which were to indicate words to be found in a
telegraphic dictionary, where each word was to have its
number. He also conceived and drew out the mode of apply-
ing the electric or galvanic current so as to mark signs by the
chemical effects. He persevered in his invention, and by the
forepart of the year 1836 he had constructed an instrument
which marked down intelligibly telegraphic signs, and demon-
strated by actual operation its capacity to accomplish his
purpose. Further experiments were made, and in the latter
part of September, 1837, a caveat was drawn up and in the fol-
lowing month was filed in the Patent OfiSce. In February,
1838, a new instrument was exhibited by Professor Morse in
the Franklin Institute at Philadelphia, where it operated with
success through a circuit of ten miles of wire ; and a committee
of the Institute made a report of its success. It was then re-
moved to the city of Washington, and publicly exhibited in
the hall of the House of Representatives. On the 3d of March,
1843, Congress appropriated $30,000 to test the capacity and
usefulness of the telegraph by constructing a line, under the
superintendence of Professor Morse, between the cities of
Washington and Baltimore, which was done in the year 1844.
The United States patent having been granted to him on June
20, 1840, it was reissued in January, 1846, and came before
the Supreme Court of the United States at its December term,
1853. It was sustained after a vigorous opposition.
The principle on which the patent laws are based is to give
an inventor an exclusive right, for a limited time, in considera-
tion of his fully disclosing his invention, so that it may be
I20 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
made and used by the public after the limited term shall have
expired. Under this stimulus there has come into existence
the briliant succession of inventions which have contributed so
greatly to the progress of science and the arts, and to the
material welfare of nations and individuals. In this career our
own country has played no small part, and it is quite certain
that in the future American inventors will do their full share
toward illustrating the beneficent operation of the patent laws,
and that when, a hundred years hence, there shall be another
centennial celebration like the one through which we are now
passing, there will have occurred no diminution of the im-
portance and value of American inventions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. I2l
THE EPOCH-MAKING INVENTIONS OF AMERICA.
By Hon. Robert S. Tayi^or, of Indiana.
The real and enduring wealth of the world is its thoughts.
It is the capacity to originate, communicate and preserve
thoughts that makes civilization possible.
Some great thoughts are like jewels — precious for their
beauty ; some are like seeds — ^precious for their fruits ; some
are like mines — jdelding treasures of wealth to the world long
after their discovery.
It is with the thoughts of the inventor that we have to do
to-day, and with those productions of his thought which are of
such scope and character that they can fitly be called epoch-
making inventions. That phrase was itself a happy invention
on the part of the committee — vividly descriptive of those
creations of the inventor's brain which enter so widely and
intimately into the lives of men and the course of events that
they divide history into epochs.
It would matter little to the world that one man went bare-
foot all the year. But if all the world had been going barefoot
and one tender-footed man should invent shoes, and all other
men, seeing how comfortable they were, should take to wearing
them, the race would enter upon a new epoch in its history, for
which it would owe thanks to the inventive thought of one man.
The sum of human happiness is made up of little things af-
fecting the life of individuals. All existence is an adjustment
of forces. It requires only a slight readjustment to produce a
new existence. It is estimated that a fall of eighteen degrees
in the average temperature upon the earth's surface would
bring on a glacial period. The addition of one daily comfort,
the taking away of one item of daily drudgery, is enough to
give a new complexion to life. To do that for all men in one
particular is to make an epoch.
122 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
It wants now just a year of a century since there flashed
across the mind of a young Georgia school teacher the thought
that a machine could be made which would separate the cotton
fibre from the seed by the action of saw teeth. I do not know
that the circumstances which attended the birth of this idea in
the brain of Eli Whitney have been preserved. It would be
of dramatic interest to know, if we could, in what wakeful
hour of night, or receptive mood of day, there came into the
mind of one man the revelation of a thought so simple in
itself, and yet so big with blessing to the world. If he could
have foreseen at that moment in one prophetic glance all the
consequences that would flow from it, he would have fallen
down and turned his face away from the brightness of his own
invention, as Moses turned his face from the glory of the I,ord
in the holy mountain. It was the beginning of the epoch of
cheap cotton cloth. It was a distinct step in the evolution of
the race. It marked an advance in industry, trade, comfort,
health and morals. It touched the whole world like a new
element in sunshine.
Forty-six years later Klias Howe patented his sewing
machine. It would be foreign to my topic to discuss the
claims of rival inventors, and I take Mr. Howe as the repre-
sentative of the group of inventors, who, in quick succession,
brought out the various inventions which have emancipated
human fingers from the most monotonous, wearisome and
slavish of all forms of labor. It is too soon yet to estimate
the full efiect of the sewing machine upon human life and
destiny. It ushered in an epoch of cheap clothes, which
means better clothes for the masses — more warmth, more
cleanliness, more comfort. It is entirely true to say that the
cotton gin and the sewing machine together have given the
human body an improved skin. But the indirect conse-
quences of the invention of the sewing machine reach furthest
beyond our ken — time was when half the human race were
occupied chiefly in making clothes. When the machines took
that avocation away from them they turned to other employ-
ments. The invasion of all occupations by women, and the
sweeping changes which have taken place in their relations to
the law, and society, and business, can be ascribed in large
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 123
measure to the sewing machine. Where the end will be needs
a bold man to say.
Robert Fulton once said that the three men who had con-
ferred the greatest good upon their fellows were Arkwright,
Watt and Whitney. Speaking for the time when he lived I
should be disposed to name him as the fourth. For what one
other cause has so metamorphosed life in all of its interests — its
business, its pleasures, its peace, its war, its society, its traffic —
as the application of steam to transportation and travel ? It
has made the w^orld so small that a man can go round it at his
leisure four times a year. At the same time, measured by
what we can see of it, and find on it and get from it, steam
travel has made it ten times as large as it was to our fore-
fathers.
Whither the great journey onward and upward which the
race has begun on its steamboats and steamers will take us,
is beyond conjecture. The epoch of travel has only begun.
It means not merely the running to and fro of men, and inter-
change of commodities, but the opening of a training school
wherein all mankind are pupils. To-day the armies of men
who are making and managing the steam machinery used for
traUvSportation are the brainiest, widest-awake great body of
men in the world. To that large extent to which the business
makes the man, this business makes the best men.
Of course, the invention of Fulton was the barest beginning
of this great epoch. But it is quite true that as the Clermont
awkwardly steamed her way up the Hudson on her trial trip
the border of a new age came into view, as the border of the
new continent greeted the vision of Columbus three hundred
years before. The discovery was made. To enumerate the
inventors who have developed and perfected it would be as
impossible as to enumerate the navigators and pioneers who
completed the conquest of the New World.
Nor am I unmindful of the fact that the railroad and its
locomotive are not conceded to the American inventor. But
these are only an evolution from their aquatic congener. All
life begins in the sea. And very like the evolution of birds
from fishes was the evolution of the Chicago L,imited from a
paddle-wheel steamboat.
124 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
To recognize adequately in this connection the individual
merits of inventors in this great field is impossible. But every
one who has crossed the sea ought to pay tribute to the
memory of Ericsson, and those of us who are here from distant
homes, remembering how comfortably and safely we came, can
afford a word of thanks to Pullman and Westinghouse.
It was entirely natural that in the progress of man's con-
quest over the forces of nature he should attack last the
most mysterious, powerful and uncontrollable of them all —
electricity. And it must ever be a source of pride to Ameri-
cans that since Franklin drew the first submissive spark from
heaven his countrymen have been foremost in this great field
of discovery.
Electricity had had the faculty of speech in a thundering
and unintelligible way long enough before Professor Morse's
day. But to him was reserved the task of teaching it to write.
With the invention of the telegraph the world entered upon a
novel epoch. In the nature of things human progress is for
the most part a course of improvement in known processes.
But here was a new process. In this respect there was noth-
ing preceding to be compared with it except the invention
of the steam engine. To the breath of iBre and muscles of iron
which that gave the world, this added the nerves of the body
politic, which to-day radiate from their ganglionic centers in
the great cities to every part of the world. By these organs
of sensation society feels the shock of a massacre at New
Orleans as instantly as a man feels a burn on his hand, and by
the same channels an impulsive government calls home its
minister as a man strikes at an insect which has stung him.
Next day the same messengers convey to the world the digni-
fied utterances of a government so great and strong that it can
afford not to get angry.
The revolutions in commerce, which the telegraph intro-
duced, were of themselves sufficient to mark an epoch in
history. But there is a deeper significance in the universality
of information and action which it makes possible. Supple-
mented by the daily newspapers, the telegraph advises the
whole world every morning of all that happened on the planet
the day before. All public men and public bodies discharge
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 125
their duties in the concentrated light of universal observation.
Every notable event is followed immediately by criticism and
discussion, and by some judgment of the general intelligence
upon the merits of the case. And there is thus developed a
force in society — a governing force — which knows neither
form of government or lines of jurisdiction, but which power-
fully affects the affairs of men. It is the force of enlightened,
unified, world-wide public opinion.
In the production of the electric light the genius of man has
come nearer to creation than in any other achievement. When
the Almighty said * ' Let there be light ' ' and there was light,
it was, as I believe, electric light. I have no doubt that the
light of the sun and all the self-luminous stars is produced by
electricity transformed by processes substantially identical with
those that produce lightning in our clouds and arc light upon
our streets.
This epoch of artificial sunlight distributed in fragments
has so recently burst upon us that we have hardly yet recov-
ered from its first dazzling effects. But we may be sure that it
is the beginning of an age of increasing enjoyment for man-
kind. It is one of the revolutions that will not go backwards.
The human eye once charmed by a better light is never con-
tent to return to a poorer.
The electric light was the result of the work of a great many
students and inventors through a long period of time. I know
of no other invention to which so many persons have con-
tributed. But we are justly proud of the fact that in the
successful practical solution of the problem, our countrymen,
Charles F. Brush and Thomas A. Edison, were clearly the
pioneers — one in the field of arc lighting and the other in the
incandescent light. It is incredible to think that it is little
more than a decade since their inventions came into public
use, so universal have they become.
When the Master said to those who stood about Him,
"Which of you by taking thought can add a cubit to his
stature ? " no one held up his hand. But Professor Bell by
taking thought has added, not a cubit, but miles to the length
of our tongues and our ears. I think this is the most gratify-
ing of all inventions. I can make no personal use of the
126 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
telegraph. I go about a dynamo filled with wonder and
admiration, but mindful not to become too familiar with it.
But to have in my house an instrument which is ears and
mouth for everybody, and which enables me to hold conversa-
tion with all my neighbors from my own back hall, gives me a
sense of personal triumph over the impediments of matter and
space every time I use it.
Time fails me to speak of the epoch of news which was
made possible by Hoe's cylinder press, or the epoch of vertical
growth in American cities which began with the Otis elevator,
or the epoch of farming by machinery which began, I may say,
with McCormick's reaper, and which opens the era of cheap
and abundant food.
One more invention, recent, bright and beautiful, shall close
this category. It is the typewriter — the sewing machine of
thought — which takes up with nimble fingers the drudgery
of writing as that of sewing, and clothes our ideas as that
clothes our bodies. It introduces the epoch of legible manu-
script, with all the saving of time, labor and profanity which
that implies.
All that I have said points to one final thought. We look
backward over a century of unparalleled progress. To this so
many causes have contributed that it is impossible to measure
exactly the effect of each. It is natural that we should think
most of those that spring from political freedom, which, in-
deed, it is not easy to over-rate. But the essentials of human
happiness are not found in mere form of government. Per-
sonal liberty, a fair chance in the race of life, under the pro-
tection of equal laws, are all that is fundamental. The wants
of man — the animal, to be fed, clothed and housed ; the higher
wants of the man — homo, to learn, read, think, travel, com-
municate and receive — it is in the amplest supply of these to
the largest number of individuals that the greatest sum total
of human happiness is to be found. And in these this age
and this country surpass all others.
We do not often stop to think how or whence our blessings
come. We accept them with a dim sense of gratitude to some-
body or something as a flower smiles its thanks to the sun-
shine. But in the light of the reflections which this occasion
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 127
suggests we can realize faintly how vast is the obligation
which we owe to the inventors of America. Not a garment
that we wear, not a meal that we eat, not a paper that we read,
not a tool that we use, not a journey that we take but makes
us debtor to some American inventor's thought. Measured
by what we can learn, see, do and enjoy in a lifetime, we live
longer than Methuselah, we are wiser than Solomon, richer
than Croesus, and greater than Alexander. Archimides has
found his fulcrum ; it is the brain of the inventor.
We can realize too, to-day, how wise the fathers were be-
yond anything they could have known in providing in the
Constitution for the encouragement and reward of invention.
On twenty-two words — only twenty-two words — in that great
Charter the American patent system rests. What other
twenty-two words ever spoken or penned have borne such
fruit of blessing for mankind ?
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 129
THE NEW SOUTH AS AN OUTGROWTH OF INVEN-
TION AND THE AMERICAN PATENT LAW.
By Hon. John W. Daniki., Iv.Iv.D., of Virginia, U. S. Senator.
I deem it great honor to stand in this presence and to
unite in paying tribute to the inventive genius of our country-
men. You, Mr. Secretary, are to be congratulated upon the
admirable exhibit of the Bureau of Patents — under your
charge. It fulfills our democratic-republican conceptions of
good government in every aspect. It records great achieve-
ments of mind ; it indicates our wonderful progress ; it is utili-
tarian in a high degree, and it is more than self-supporting.
But the reach of its usefulness far transcends the lines of its
economic administration, and its dignity is not to be measured
by figures.
The Romans of old assigned the highest place in the Elysian
fields to him who had improved human life by the invention of
arts, and surely our own race — the most inventive of men, and
our own country the most inventive of nations — will not refuse
the highest honors to those creative minds which have con-
tributed so much to make it the foremost of mankind.
** The West Indies," says Eord Bacon, "had never been
discovered without the discovery of the mariner's needle." All
America is therefore an evolution of invention, and the in-
ventor must be hailed as one who cried in the wilderness before
the coming of the Great Columbus.
The inventive faculties are stimulated by mechanical pur-
suits. The North was early impelled to such pursuits by its
hard climate and rugged soil. The development of its inven-
tive faculties was instantaneous and progressive — greater than
the like development in the South, which by favoring condi-
tions of soil and climate was attracted to agriculture and the
proprietorship of land. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Penn-
I30 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
sylvania, New York, Rhode Island — these were the States that
led, and won first honors.
If you ask me the cause of the Northern victory in the
Civil War, I would look beyond the smoke of battle and point
to its inventors, mechanics and manufacturers. For through
them it accumulated its preponderating wealth, numbers and
material forces.
The Southern people, however, have taken deep interest in
the promotion of arts and sciences. They have applauded the
achievements of Northern mechanical genius ; they are not
themselves deficient in inventive gifts, and many Southern
names are companions in the list of inventors. Amongst them
are Sibley, of lyOuisiana, and his conical tent ; Gatling, of North
Carolina, and his terrific gun ; McCormick, of Virginia, and his
reaper and mower ; Gibbs, of Virginia, and his sewing machine ;
Janney, of Virginia, and his car coupler ; Gorrie, of lyouisiana,
and his ice machine ; McComb, of lyouisiana, with his '' arrow "
cotton tie ; Gaynor, of Kentucky, and his fire telegraph ; Stone,
of Missouri, and his grain roller-mill ; Remberts, of Texas,
with his roller cotton compress ; Clarke, of the same State,
with his envelope machine, and Campbell, with his cotton
picker ; Bonsack, of Virginia, with his cigarette machine ;
Coffee, of Virginia, with his tobacco stemmer ; Stevens, of
Florida, with his fruit wrapper ; I^aw, of Georgia, with his
cotton planter ; Avery, of Kentucky, with his plow sulky.
Watt & Starke, of Virginia, with their plows — these are some
of the names that greet us in our history ; Rumsey with
his steamboat ; Maury with his map of the sea, which has
made his name the synonym of benefactor to the navigator and
to commerce ; McDonald, of our own day, with his fish ladders
and hatcheries filling our streams with fish. These, from scores
of Southern names, should remind us that the South has not
been an idler in the vineyard. And when we read in the
annals of the Patent Ofiice that some three thousand patents
were issued in 1890 to Southern inventors, we must, realize
that the South vies in generous rivalry in every branch of
intellectual achievement.
Worthy it is of mention that the first native born American
woman to get a patent was Agdalena S. Goodman, of Florida,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 131
for improvement in broom brushes. Were I to follow this
suggestive fact a speech might be made on the inventions of
women. They are varied — varying from straw hats to horse-
shoes, and from deep-sea telescopes to sewing machine attach-
ments. Woman's intuitions are proverbial ; when she turns
them to mechanical invention the possibilities of achievement
surpass the scope of prophecy.
Many notable events of progress have occurred on Southern
soil.
James Rumsey, a native of Maryland and a Virginian by
adoption, exhibited to Washington here on the Potomac in
1784 the model of a boat for navigating rivers against the
current by the force of the stream acting on setting poles, and
in 1 789, the same year that Fitch made his experimental trip
on the Delaware, Rumsey exhibited his steamer here on the
Potomac, propelled by an engine and mechanism of his own
invention.
Both Fitch and Rumsey received patents for their inven-
tions. The conception of the steamboat seems to have oc-
curred to them simultaneously, but Fitch's experiment was a
little prior in time. Rumsey 's patents were allowed by New
York, Missouri and Virginia, and also by England, France and
Holland. Benjamin Franklin was a member of the Rumsey
Society, of Philadelphia, formed to aid him in his inventions.
In 1792 he made a successful trip in England on the Thames,
and in 1839 Congress voted to his son, James Rumsey, a
gold medal, "commemorative of his father's services and
high agency in giving to the world the benefit of the steam-
boat."
The first great American canal was proposed by Washington.
It was begun in 1785 and was finished to Westham in 1789,
and afterwards carried as far as I^exington and Buchanan at
immense cost. Finally, in recent years it was superseded by a
railroad.
The first telegraph line in the United States was established
between Baltimore and Washington in 1844, and about the
same time and place appeared the first electric locomotive.
The South was in the front rank of railroad projection and
construction. Amongst the earliest experiments with a steam
132 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
locomotive on a railroad in this country were those made by
Peter Cooper on the Baltimore and Ohio in 1829 and 1830,
contemporaneous with Stevenson's work on the Liverpool and
Manchester, in England. About the same time at Honesdale,
Penn., the ** Stourbridge Lion," a locomotive engine imported
from England, was making a trial trip on a mine railroad con-
structed of strap iron. This event occurred August 8, 1829,
and was probably the first of its kind in the Western Hemis-
phere. Horatio Allen, who superintended the experiment, was
living in 1888, and gave an account of it in a letter which appears
in the proceedings of the National Museum for that year.
But the South Carolina Railroad, from Charleston to Hamburg,
was the first road commenced in this country with a view to
the use of steam. It was chartered in 1825, begun in 1830,
completed in 1833. For it was constructed the first loco-
motive ; it was the first steam road that carried the United
States mail, and when completed, in October, 1833, it was the
longest railroad in the world.
The South Carolina Colony, as early as 169 1, passed an act to
encourage the making of engines for propagating * ' the staples
of this Province," and in 171 7 an act "for encouraging the
making of potash and saltpeter." And in 1784 it passed a
regular patent law for the encouragement of the arts and sci-
ences giving inventors exclusive benefit of their labors for
fourteen years.
The early settlers of the South — and they were the pioneers
of our race in the United States — brought with them some
knowledge of the useful arts and manufactures from the mother
country, and while they were building block houses to defend
against the savages, their rude establishments of industry were
rising in the wilderness.
With Captain Newport there came to the Colony of Virginia
in 1608, twelve years before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth
Rock, a number of citizens to make glass, and others to make
tar, pitch and soap-ashes. A mile from Jamestown was estab-
lished the first manufactory in the United States — a factory for
making glass bottles. A saw-mill, driven by water and used
for cutting wainscoating and boards, soon followed this
infant industry. Ere long boat-building began, salt works
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 133
were established, and skillful vine-growers planted a vineyard
in 1620. In 1623 the Virginia Legislature required settlers to
plant mulberry trees, in order to raise silk-worms and produce
silk ; and, as the story goes, Charles II wore at his coronation
in 1 65 1 a robe and hose of Virginia silk, the art of weaving
having been introduced into England in 1620.
In 1 62 1 " the first cultivation of cotton in the United States
deserves commemoration. This year the seeds were planted as
an experiment, and their plentiful coming up was at that early
day a subject of interest in America and England." So writes
George Bancroft, the historian.
Not less notable is the fact that the first works for smelting in
America were set up in 16 19 on Falling creek, a tributary of the
James river, which enters it some seven miles below Richmond.
Here the brown ore was found lying on the surface, and good
progress was made toward completing the works under Mr.
John Berkley, who was in charge of them. But before the
consummation Berkley and all his workmen were slain and the
works destroyed in the Indian massacre of March 22, 1622. It
is curious to note that about the same time that the Indians
were scalping the pioneer iron-makers in Virginia an ignorant
mob in England destroyed the works of Lord Edward Dudley,
for smelting ore with pit coal by a new process of his in-
vention. Savagery and ignorance go together.
McMasters, in his history of the people of the United States,
ascribes to Thomas Jefferson the glory of the American
patent system, and declares that he inspired it and took so
deep an interest in its workings that he is entitled to be called
its founder. This view consists with the traditions of the
Patent Office. Certain it is that the subject was congenial to
the practical scientific mind of Mr. Jefferson, and certain it is
that he took deep interest in the development of the system
and in all that concerns the useful arts and scientific methods.
Amongst the powers conferred upon Congress by the Federal
Constitution is the power ' ' to promote the progress of science
and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries." In this provision was compromised the con-
tention on the one hand that authors and inventors had a
134 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
property right in all copies of their works, and the adverse
contention that they had no rights whatever entitled to legal
protection in such copies. Jefferson thoroughly expounded
this subject in his correspondence, showing that authors and
inventors have an equity to protection for a reasonable time,
but that inventions are not property. " It would be curious,"
he said, ' ' if an idea — the fugitive fermentation of an individual
brain — could of natural right be deemed an exclusive and
stable property." " Nature," he said, "made ideas like fire,
expansible over all space without lessening their density at
any one point ; and like the air in which we breathe, move
and have our physical being, incapable of confinement or ex-
clusive appropriation." Again, **He who receives an idea
from me receives instruction himself without lessening mine ;
as he who lights his taper at mine receives light without dark-
ening me." On such clear perceptions rests our Constitution
and our patent system, and they have universal respect because
of the equity and justice that underlies them in granting ** ex-
clusive rights for limited times."
In the Federal Convention which framed the Constitution,
James Madison of Virginia and Charles Pinckney of South
Carolina suggested the provisions as to copyright and patent-
right which resulted in the formulation of the constitutional
clause which I have quoted. The author of the identical
language is not known, but it emanated from the Committee
on Style, of which Dr. Johnson was chairman. The first act
of Congress on the subject was reported by Mr. Burke of South
Carolina on the loth of April, 1790, from a committee of which
he, Mr. Huntingdon of Connecticut, and Mr. Cadwalader of
New Jersey were members. The first American patent was
issued on July 31, 1790, and bears the signatures of George
Washington, the President of the United States ; Thomas
Jefferson, the Secretary of State, and Edmund Randolph, the
Attorney- General. The reorganization of the Patent Office
occurred in 1836, under the administration of Andrew Jack-
son, a Southern President. What mighty strides have been
made within the century past is attested by the records. Only
three patents were issued in 1790, thirty-three in r79i, and
eleven in 1792, that is forty-seven in three years; and only
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 135
twelve within the first fifty years. Now more than these are
issued in one year ; and in the year 1890 over 26,000 were
issued for every variety of invention and improvement. And
within a single century the United States, surpassing all the
older nations, has taken the foremost rank and risen to ' ' the
highest heaven of invention."
It is from the soil that all men gain their sustenance, and as
a people who long made its tillage their chief vocation, the
South is first indebted to those who have ameliorated the
methods of its cultivation. The ancients plowed with a
crooked stick — the crotch of a tree. The plows of the
colonists in America were made wholly of wood, and it was
only in the last century that they were tipped with iron.
Farmers were slow to welcome improvements, and even con-
tended that cast-iron plows poisoned the ground, produced
weeds and spoiled the crops. The first cast-iron plow seen
in this country was after the War of the Revolution. It was
imported from Holland, and was the invention of James Small
of Berwickshire. Again Thomas Jefferson comes to the front.
He was the first American to study and improve the plow,
inventing a new form of mould-board and fixing its curvature
to avoid friction. His son-in-law. Colonel Randolph, invented
a hill-side plow. Soon the field was entered by many in-
ventors; and in 18 16 eleven patents had been issued to
citizens of New York, eight to Maryland, three to Connecti-
cut, two to Virginia, one to Kentucky, and one to New Jersey.
There are now over 2,000 establishments in the United States
for manufacturing agricultural implements. They employ
over 40,000 hands, their product is worth over $68,000,000 ;
there are 200,000,000 acres of ground plowed, requiring the
service of over 2,000,000 teams for eighty days during the
year. Harrows, rakes, cultivators, diggers, reapers and mow-
ers in bewildering array arise before us, and farming has
become a fine art, requiring as much brain and method for
success as any of the learned professions, and our agricultural
machinery is sent all over the world, its superiority being
acknowledged.
To all the great inventors the South is as much indebted as
is any other portion of the civilized globe for the blessings
136 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and comforts which they have conferred on mankind. To
Watt and the steam engine, to George Stephenson and his
locomotive, to Morse and the electric telegraph, to Edison,
the wizard, and all of his electrical and other inventions, to
Bell and his telephone, to Howe, to Singer, Willcox and
Gibbs, and Weed and their sewing machines, to Hoe and his
printing press, to Fulton and Fitch and Rumsey and their
steamboat, to Davy and the safety lamp, to Westinghouse and
his air-brake, and Pullman and his sleeper — each and all of
these should be remembered as benefactors of the world. But
if I were asked to designate the two inventors to whom the
South is perhaps more peculiarly indebted than to others, I
would answer with the names of Kli Whitney, the inventor
of the cotton-gin, and Henry Bessemer, the inventor of the
modern process for making steel.
The invention of Henry Bessemer consists in the process of
eliminating carbon and silicon from iron by passing a stream
of oxygen through the melted mass. This converts it into
steel. He also constructed the machinery for accomplish-
ing this result of exquisite adaptation to its purposes. A
Bessemer converter, weighing with its contents twenty or
thirty tons, is moved on its axis by the touch of a hand and
receives thereby a blast so powerful that every particle of the
metallic mass within is heated to the highest temperature, and
by the infusion of oxygen is turned into ingots of steel.
Twenty-two Bessemer works had been established in this
country in 1884. Rolling mills at Chicago produced the first
steel rails by this process in 1865. Now great steel works are
starting up in many directions. Since 1880 Rhode Island and
Vermont have abandoned steel-making, and three Southern
States have begun it ; that is, Alabama, Virginia and West
Virginia. The trend is southward. It is this cheap steel that
is upsetting the values of the great land-holdings of the British
nobility, and is pouring into the lap of commerce the crops of
the South and West. The "Age of Steel " dates from the
success of Bessemer.
A Southern iron master — William Kelly, of Eddyville,
Kentucky — preceded Bessemer in the discovery of the pneu-
matic principle of the Bessemer process, and successfully
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 137
antagonized him in claiming priorty of invention in a contest
in the Patent Oj05ce. But Bessemer, with the aid of Robert
Mushet, was more successful in the application of his principle
to the production of steel, and the machinery was successful
from the first in its operations.
In 1793 Kli Whitney, a young school teacher from Massa-
chusetts, located in Georgia, and was the guest of Mrs. Greene,
widow of General Nathaniel Greene, of Revolutionary fame.
She got into trouble about her tambour frame. He fixed it.
Conversation one day turned on the separation of cotton from
the seed. "Send for Mr. Whitney," she said, ** he can make
anything." Whitney studied the subject, and the cotton-gin
was the result. This instrument could be worked by a man or
woman, and could clean more cotton in a single day than could
be done by a person in several months by hand. It had an
enormous effect upon the development of cotton planting in the
South and of cotton manufactures in the North. Five English
inventors — Kay, who invented the fly shuttle ; Hargreaves,
who, watching his wife at the spinning-wheel in his cottage,
took the hint from her nimble fingers and invented a machine
to which he gave her name, the " Spinning Jenny " ; Richard
Arkwright, the inventor of the water frame ; Samuel Cromp-
ton, of the spinning mule, and Edmund Cartwright, of the
power loom — these five inventors had laid the foundation of
cotton manufacture as one of the greatest of the world's in-
dustries. *'For this industry has," as Towle writes, " in a
century created the English Manchester out of a stragglmg
rural hamlet and Liverpool out of an obscure fishing village,
and has transformed the English County of Lancaster from a
dreary and barren waste into a noisy network of dense busy
towns and crowded factories. ' ' Now came Eli Whitney, giving
to Southern agriculture the one machine needed to give cotton
its imperial position amongst the great products of the world,
and feeding New England with the staple of manufacture out
of which arose splendid prosperity.
In 1787 the first American cotton mills were erected (in
Massachusetts), but so slow was progress that in 1807 only
fifteen mills (chiefly in Rhode Island) were in operation, with
about 8,000 spindles, producing some 300,000 pounds of cotton
138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
yarn a year. In 1807 came the embargo and non-importation
act, under the second administration of Jefferson. Within less
than two years nearly $4,000,000 were invested in cotton mills,
4,000 persons employed, the number of spindles doubled, and
arrangements made for increasing them from 8,000 to 80,000.
An impetus was given to New England's manufactures which
has known '*no retiring ebb."
The vast importance of these and kindred inventions to the
South cannot be estimated until we remember what a wonderful
land it is, and how richly nature has endowed it with the ele-
ments of wealth. We call it the South, but its southernmost
point is 1,700 miles north of the Equator. It is a part of our
northern continent. It lies wholly in the temperate zone, and
while its suns are warm enough to stimulate the fruits of
nature and the energies of man, they are not so hot as to
parch the one or to enervate the other.
It is washed for over 2,000 miles by the Atlantic ocean.
It is intersected by the Father of Waters and by many rivers.
It produces all the cereals and grasses to perfection, and an
infinite variety of fruits, from the apple to the banana, and
from the peach and apricot to the orange and lemon. It is a
land of com and oil and wine, and milk and honey ; it is
a land of rice and sugar and cotton and tobacco ; it is a land
of coal and iron, and of green pastures and virgin forests.
The value of the raw cotton that we sent abroad in 1890 was
$250,000,000 ; a hundred million more than the value of all
the breadstuffs we export ; a hundred millions more than all
the manufactured products we export ; a hundred millions
more than all the meat and dairy products we export ; eight
times more than all the cattle, sheep and hogs we export.
It is the chief item of our foreign trade. It secures to us the
balance in our favor. It is the under-pinning of our financial
system, that keeps our gold with us and sustains the value of
our investments. There is not a nation on the earth that does
not clothe itself with cotton. There is no nation that can vie
with us in its production, and the South is the only part of our
country that produces it.
The inventor has given a new value (estimated at $2.50 per
acre) to the cotton field. For seventy years the seed were
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 139
thrown away ; now they are turned into oil and oil-cakes, and
are the basis of an industry valued at $50,000,000. Cotton
seed mills are operating in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia,
Illinois, I/Ouisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Two Virginians,
Digges of Albemarle as far back as 1820, and Glowes of
Hamilton in 1825, invented oil presses, and seemed to discern
the future use of cotton seed. Now there are inventions by
the score of presses and processes for their utilization.
Cotton, iron, wool, wood and the various clays are the most
important raw materials of manufacture. In all these the
South abounds. It is a mass of coal and iron. The great
Appalachian range, stretching 700 miles and penetrating the
very heart of the South, contains every variety of bituminous,
block, splint and cannel coals. Here is forty times as much in
sight as is accessible to economic production in Great Britain.
The coal field is covered with virgin forests of white, black,
Spanish chestnut and best oak, yellow poplar, yellow pine and
walnut. It is stored also with iron ore and limestone.
Kdward Atkinson has expressed the opinion that you can
stand on the summit of the Great Smoky mountain in this
range and behold the situs of the future iron-center of the world.
Iron is the king metal as cotton is the king vegetable fiber.
Solon was right. When Croesus boasted of his golden treas-
ures, he said : " If another comes that hath better iron than
you he will be master of all this gold."
The epochs of the world have been marked by the weapons
and utensils of its inhabitants. First, the stone age, when
they were of stone and flint or wood or bone. Then the
bronze age, w^en they were of a metal composed of copper
and tin. Then came the iron age, and now, since the Bes-
semer process has been inaugurated, the age of steel. Myriad
are its uses : baby toys and ironclad navies, cannon balls and
knitting needles, railroad tracks and surgical instruments,
bridges and houses and fortifications, locks and keys and
buttons, the steam engine and the delicate watch, the nail,
the axe, the saw, the plow, the pen, the sword.
The United States is the greatest consumer of iron and steel
in the world. We make 35 and use 40 per cent, of the world's
I40 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
product. In eleven years Great Britain's product decreased
from 45 to 33 per cent., while ours increased from 16 to over
30 per cent.
There are vast bodies of Bessemer ore at the South out of
which Bessemer pig can be made at ten dollars per ton.
Carroll D. Wright, Esq., the Commissioner of Labor, com-
pared the cost of making iron from the ore at twenty-five
Northern furnaces and at twenty -five Southern furnaces. The
highest cost at the Northern furnaces was $15.78 per ton, the
lowest $12.42, the average $13.97 At the South the highest
cost was $12.91, the lowest $8.55, the average $10.75, an
average difference of $3.22 per ton.
The last decade of Southern progress has indeed been a
revelation and a revolution. Northern brains and capital
have freely mingled with our own, and every season empha-
sizes the truth of Judge Kelly's prophecy that the South is the
coming El Dorado of American adventure. There are southern
cities to-day with ten, twenty or thirty thousand inhabitants,
which a few years ago were scarce a local habitation or a name.
Witness Anniston, with 1,000 in 1880 and 10,000 in 1890;
Birmingham, with 3,000 in 1880 and 26,000 in 1890. Chatta-
nooga sprang from a village to a city of 30,000, and Roanoke
from a way station to a cit}^ of near 20,000.
It is estimated that within the decade $800,000,000 has been
expended on southern railroads. Its railway mileage has
increased from 20,000 to 40,000 miles, and it is now construct-
ing more mileage than all the rest of the country.
Its coal output within the same period has increased from
6,000,000 to 20,000,000 tons, and its product of pig iron from
390,000 to nearly 2,000,000 tons. Its cotton mills have in-
creased from 160, with 660,000 spindles, to 355 with over
2,000,000 spindles. Its live stock has increased in value from
$390,000,000 to near $600,000,000, and its agricultural pro-
ducts from $600,000,000 to nearly $1,000,000,000.
We are sending coal and pig iron to Pennsylvania, making
cars for New England railroads, making woolen goods for
Northern markets, shipping cotton goods to New England,
and producing a variety of manufactures which it would take
a dictionary to catalogue, but they range from egg-crates to
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 141
iron bridges, from a tooth-pick to a locomotive, from paper
bags to the armor of ironclad battle-ships.
The Superintendent of the Census, R. P. Porter, Esq., has
kindly furnished me with these advance figures of the coal
product :
Comparative Statement of Product of Coal for the
Southern States, Tenth and Eleventh Census.
Tenth Census. Eleventh Census.
(Short Tons.) (Short Tons.)
Alabama 323>972 3.572,983
Arkansas 14,778 279,584
Georgia 154,644 226, 156
Kentucky 946, 288 i , 933, 643
Maryland 2,228,917 2, 939, 715
Missouri 556,304 2,557,823
North Carolina 350
Tennessee 495 , 1 3 1 1,925,689
Virginia 45,896 865,786
West Virginia 1,839,845 6,180,757
Total 6,606,125 20,482,136
Not less eloquent are the figures from the same source that
show comparatively the product of the mineral industries of
the whole United States in 1870, and those of the Central
Southern States in 1890.
Mineral Industries.
Production of the Production of the
United States in Central Southern
1870. States in 1890.
Tons. Tons.
Bituminous coal 15,000,000 17,772,945
Iron ore 3, 163,839 2,917,529
Pig iron 2,052,821 1,780,909
Thus we are now nearly up to the mark of the entire pro-
duction of iron in the United States in 1870 ; and in coal are
now nearly 3,000,000 of tons ahead of its entire product then.
142 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
This item of the foreign trade of the United States is scarce
less instructive. From July i, 1890, to January i, 1891, there
was an increase in our foreign exports of $7,000,000, but from
the South of $8,000,000 — that is, a decrease of $1,000,000 from
the whole country but for the Southern increase. The most
striking item was the increase at Newport News, Va., of
$4,736,000 as compared with $2,387,209 for the corresponding
period of the previous year, a gain of nearly 100 per cent.
In such facts as these the stars of empire gleam. In 1893
the navies of the world will assemble in Hampton Roads, off
Norfolk, Newport News and Fortress Monroe, preparatory to
the grand review at New York inaugurating the Exposition
at Chicago. They will there behold the seat of a coming
commerce and industrial movement that will tell a tale of
progress in the next census as wonderful as any page in the
history of the New South.
The commanding position of Great Britain amongst modern
nations is vastly due to the fact that it has drawn the raw
materials of its factories from all quarters of the globe, giving
employment to skilled artisans at home, and at once sustaining
its commerce and enriching its merchants and manufacturers.
When it had lost the brightest of its crown jewels by the
obstinacy of George III, and Burgoyne and Cornwallis had
surrendered America, British inventors and mechanics were
developing machines which restored the prestige lost by arms
at Saratoga and York town.
The Northern and Eastern States have copied upon the
English models, and the raw materials produced by the South
have vastly aided them — being first carried North to their
factories, and then returned South in manufactured articles.
The secret of the great economic change that has come over
the South lies in a nutshell — it possesses the richest and most
diversified supply of the staple raw materials — it has begun on
a vast scale to manufacture them where they can be manu-
factured cheapest — that is, at the mine and in the field and
forest that produces them. It will henceforth give employ-
ment to millions of skilled artisans. It will henceforth employ
only the most improved methods of production. Its industries
will be more diversified than those of any other people. Under
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 143
its genial skies, on the banks of its many rivers, beside its
wide-stretched cotton and grain fields and orchards and pas-
tures, in its noble forests, and at the mouths of mines that
pour forth inexhaustible treasures will rise teeming cities, and
in its broad ports the merchantmen of the world will assemble
its fleets of commerce.
In the great work of renovation and advancement the
inventor will lead. The inventor of an idea is the discoverer
of a special providence, and he who knows how to use it
** hitches his wagon to a star." The world has grown wise
enough to know that with every invention that saves labor
luxury is laid at the feet of the toiler, and skillfiil hands and
brains are released from menial tasks for others more exalted.
Ignorant mobs will no longer break the shuttles of a Kay, or
drive the smelters from the coal pits of a Dudley.
The inventor has redeemed us from the curse of poverty,
dissipated the mysteries of humbug, and destroyed the
monopoly of knowledge. He has torn down the idol in the
temple and driven the false god from the grove and the moun-
tain. He has tamed the spirit of the savage with his power,
and inspired the spirit of Christ with his benefactions. He
has compelled peace by making war too terrible to tamper
with.
He has instituted fraternity by bringing distant ones in con-
verse and in contact. He has established the union of mankind
by disclosing the unity of the universe. The oceans which he
has mapped, the waves which he has bestridden, the lands
which he has woven and banded together with steel, the winds
whose coming and going he has foretold, and whose whispers
he has interpreted ; the very stars whose secrets he has read,
and the lightnings which he has made to utter speech, to
illumine darkness, and to bear burdens — all these proclaim
him as earth's true conqueror and man's best friend.
Ere long I trust a great National Hall of Sciences will rise
here at the Capital to display the mechanical achievements of
American genius, and I would that Washington might teem
with the statues of inventors.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 145
THE COPYRIGHT SYSTEM OF THE UNITED
STATES— ITS ORIGIN AND ITS GROWTH.
By Hon. Ainsworth R. Spofford, LI^.D., Librarian U.S. Congress.
"The chief glory of every people," says Dr. Samuel John-
son, ' * arises from its authors. ' ' The history and present
condition of the law of literary property in the United States
possesses both for writers and readers a commanding interest.
Amid all uncertainties which have beset the proper protection
of the rights of authors, and the sometimes conflicting decis-
ions of the courts thereupon, the fact that this protection has
always been recognized as due stands prominently out. And
its foundation appears to be broader and deeper in this country
than in any other, since it is distinctly laid in the Constitution
of the government itself. That instrument declares that ' ' the
Congress shall have power to promote the progress of science
and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and
inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and
discoveries. ' '
Upon this broad and salutary provision are founded all the
statutes regulating copyright in books, from the earliest act
signed by George Washington, in 1790, to the most recent
legislation of the last Congress enacting international copy-
right.
To James Madison belongs the honor of having first offered,
on the 1 8th of August, 1787, in the Federal Convention which
framed the Constitution, a provision for this, among other
powers, as ' ' proper to be added to those of the general legis-
lature," namely: **to secure to literary authors their copy-
rights for a limited time." Mr. Pinckney of South Carolina
submitted other proposed grants of power to Congress, among
which was this : "To secure to authors exclusive rights for a
certain time." These were coupled, in each case, with an
independent proposition empowering Congress to grant patents
146 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
for useful inventions. All the propositions were referred to
the "committee of detail," who formulated the desired pro-
visions into the clause ultimately adopted in the Constitution,
and previously cited. This ultimate provision amalgamated
what were two independent propositions, as drawn by their
authors, into one, doubtless for the sake of greater economy of
words, in an instrument remarkable for its condensed style
and plain, perspicuous language.
It is a very notable fact that the United States of America
was the first nation that ever embodied the principle of pro-
tection to the rights of authors in its fundamental law. Thus
anchored in the Constitution itself, this principle has been
further recognized by repeated acts of Congress, aimed in all
cases at giving it full practical effect. No right is ever com-
plete without a remedy ; and our National I^egislature has
very properly guarded the conceded rights of authors by pro-
visions of law, designed to secure to them an exclusive privi-
lege in the benefits to be derived during the term prescribed,
and enforcing these rights by ample penalties.
The first copyright act was passed early in the first Con-
gress, and received the presidential approval of Washington
on the 31st of May, 1790. By its provisions the term of dura-
tion of each copyright was limited to fourteen years, with a
further right of renewal for fourteen years longer, provided
the author were living at the expiration of the first term. If
it is asked why the authors of the Constitution gave to Con-
gress no plenary power, which might have authorized a grant
of copyright in perpetuity, the answer is, that in this, as in
many other provisions of the Constitution, British precedent
had a great, if not a controlling influence. Copyright in
England, by virtue of the statute of Anne, passed in 1710 (the
first British copyright act), was limited to fourteen years, with
right of renewal, by a living author, of only fourteen years
more ; and this was in full force in 1787, when our Constitu-
tion was framed. Prior to the British statute of 17 10, authors
had only what is called a common law right to their writings ;
and however good such a right might be, so long as they held
them in manuscript, the protection to printed books was
extremely uncertain and precarious.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 147
It has been held, indeed, that all copyright laws, so far
from maintaining an exclusive property right to authors, do in
effect deny it (at least in the sense of a natural right), by
explicitly limiting the term of exclusive ownership, which
might otherwise be held (as in other property) to be perpetual,
or during the lifetime of the owner. But there is a radical
distinction between the products of the brain, when put in the
concrete form of books and multiplied by the art of printing,
and the land or other property which is held by common law
tenure. Society views the absolute or exclusive property in
books or inventions as a monopoly. While a monopoly may
be justified for a reasonable number of years, on the obvious
ground of securing to their originators the pecuniary benefit
of their own ideas, a perpetual monopoly is generally regarded
as odious and unjust. Hence society says to the author or
inventor: "Put your ideas into material form, and we will
guarantee you th^ exclusive right to multiply and sell your
books or your machines for a term long enough to secure a
fair reward to you and to your children ; after that period we
want your monopoly, with its individual benefits, to cease in
favor of the greatest good of all." If this appears unfair to
authors, who contribute so greatly to the instruction and the
advancement of mankind, it is to be considered that a per-
petual copyright would (i) largely enhance the cost of books,
which should be most widely diffused for the public benefit,
prolonging the enhanced cost indefinitely beyond the author's
lifetime ; (2) it would benefit by a special privilege, pro-
longed without limit, a class of book manufacturers or pub-
lishers who act as middle-men between the author and the
public, and who own, in most cases, the entire property in the
works of authors deceased, and which they did not originate ;
(3) it would amount in a few centuries to so vast a sum, taxed
upon the community who buy books, that the publishers of
Shakespeare's works, for example, who under perpetual copy-
right could alone print the poet's writings, would have reaped
colossal fortunes unequaled by any private wealth yet amassed
in the world.
If it is said that copyright, thus limited, is a purely arbi-
trary right, it may be answered that all legal provisions are
148 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
arbitrary. That which is an absolute or natural right, so long
as held in idea or in manuscript, becomes, when given to the
world in multiplied copies, the creature of law. The most
that authors can fairly claim is a sufficiently prolonged exclu-
sive right to guarantee them for a lifetime the just reward of
their labors, with, perhaps, a reversion for their immediate
heirs. That such exclusive rights should run to their remotest
posterity, or, a fortiori, to mere merchants or artificers who
had no hand whatever in the creation of the intellectual work
thus protected, would be manifestly unjust. The judicial
tribunals, both in England and America, have held that copy-
right laws do not affirm an existing right, but create a right,
with special privileges not before existing, and also with
special limitations.
To return to the provisions of the earliest copyright enact-
ment of 1790 — granting the exclusive privilege of printing
his work to the author or his assigns for 14-1-14, or twenty -
eight years in all : it prohibited all others from printing, pub-
lishing or selling the same work, under penalty of forfeiture of
every copy to the author or proprietor, and the further penalty
of fifty cents for every printed sheet found in possession of the
offender or exposed to sale. This latter pecuniary penalty was
found in practice to entail the payment of damages to such
heavy amounts that they could not be enforced in many cases,
and the law was changed to provide for the awarding of such
damages, for violation of copyright, as may be recovered on
trial of the case.
The act further required (i) entry of the title, before publica-
tion, in the office of the Clerk of the United States District Court
in the State where the author or proprietor resided ; (2) an entry
fee of sixty cents for recording, and sixty cents for a copy of
the record, or $1.20 in all ; (3) an advertisement of the copy of
record of each title, by author or proprietor, in some news-
paper for the space of four weeks ; (4) the deposit of a copy of
each publication in the office of the Secretary of State at
Washington within six months from date of issue.
This remained the law, with slight amendment, until 1831,
when a new copyright act extended the duration of copyright
from fourteen to twenty-eight years for the original, or first
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 149
term, with right of renewal to the author (now first extended
to his widow or children, in case of his decease) for fourteen
additional years, making forty -two years in all.
By the same act the privilege of copyright was extended to
cover musical compositions, as it had been earlier extended
(in 1802) to include designs, engravings, and etchings. Copy-
right was further extended in 1856 to dramatic compositions,
and in 1865 to photographs and negatives thereof. In 1870 a
new copyright code, to take the place of all existing and
scattered statutes, was enacted, and there were added to the
lawful subjects of copyright, paintings, drawings, chromos,
statues, statuary, and models or designs intended to be per-
fected as works of the fine arts. And finally, by act of
March 3, 1891, the benefits of copyright were extended so as
to embrace foreign authors, coupled with securing to American
authors full copyright in such foreign countries as may extend
copyright privileges to Americans.
The law of copyright, as codified by act of July 8, 1870,
made an epoch in the copyright system of the United States.
It transferred the entire registry of books and other publica-
tions, under copyright law, to the city of Washington, and
made the I^ibrarian of Congress sole register of copyrights,
instead of the clerks of the District Courts of the United
States. Manifold reasons existed for this radical change, and
those which were most influential with Congress in making it
were the following :
I. The transfer of the copyright records to Washington it
was foreseen would concentrate and simplify the business, and
this was a cardinal point. Prior to 1870 there were between
forty and fifty separate and distinct authorities for issuing
copyrights. The American people were annually put to much
trouble and expense to find out where to apply, in the compli-
cated system of District Courts, several of them frequently in
a single State, to enter titles for publication. They were
required to make entry in the district where the applicant
resided, and this was frequently a matter of doubt, involving
special inquiry. Moreover, they were required to go to the
expense and trouble of transmitting a copy of the work, after
publication, to the District clerk, and another copy to the
I50 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
lyibrary of Congress. If both copies were mailed to Washing-
ton at once, this double duty would be diminished by half.
Next, the books would be received at Washington while fresh
from the press, instead of, as formerly, several months after
issue, or not at all. Then the copyright records would be con-
stantly at hand, where the publications to which they relate
were deposited. This would simplify and facilitate reference
to the greatest possible degree. In the then existing compli-
cated system, a person seeking to establish the validity of a
copyright must sometimes go to two or three widely separated
localities to verify the various points of evidence, and would
perhaps fail at last from the very imperfect manner in which
the law regarding copyright entries and deposits was executed.
How much less is the time and trouble required to transact
the business through the mails, instead of dispatching a special
messenger with each title for entry and each book for deposit,
it needs but a moment's consideration to perceive. Out of the
many thousands of authors and proprietors of copyrights in
the United States, it i& probable that less than two hundred
resided in the immediate vicinity of a District clerk's office.
The unnecessary delays and expenses, therefore, in the regis-
try and deposit of copyright publications, were clearly much
greater under the once existing system than under a uniform
system of registry at Washington, as in the parallel case of
patents, which have been registered in one central office at the
seat of government from the beginning.
2. The advantage of securing to our national library a com-
plete collection of all American copyright publications can
scarcely be over-estimated. If such a law as that enacted in
1870 had been enforced since the beginning of the government,
we should now have in the lyibrary of Congress a complete
representation of the product of the American mind in every
department of science and literature. Many publications
which are printed in small editions, or which become " out of
print" from the many accidents which continually destroy
books, would owe to such a library their sole chance of preser-
vation. We ought to have one comprehensive library in the
country, and that belonging to the nation, whose aim it should
be to preserve the books which other libraries have not the
room nor the means to procure.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 151
3. This consideration assumes additional weight when it is
remembered that the Library of Congress is freely open to the
public throughout the year, and is rapidly becoming the great
reference library of the country, resorted to not only by Con-
gress and the residents of Washington, but by students and
writers from all parts of the Union, in search of references and
authorities not elsewhere to be found. Its complete catalogue
system lends an additional value to its stores. The advantage
of having all American publications thoroughly catalogued
and accessible upon inquiry is one which it may require some
reflection fully to appreciate, but which would be an invaluable
aid to thousands. Its effect would be to build up at Washing-
ton a truly national library, approximately complete and freely
open to all the people.
4. It was urged with reason that the proposed reform of
the unsatisfactory methods of recording and perfecting copy-
rights would take away the objections so freely brought
against the law. It was complained of by authors and pub-
lishers (and upon valid grounds) that they were put to much
trouble and some expense to secure a privilege of uncertain
value. There were so many points required to be complied
with to perfect a copyright title, and these points were so
subject to the mistakes and omissions of many officials con-
cerned, as well as to those of the author or proprietor, that it
might be said of most copyrights taken out that they rested
under a cloud, which an ingenious or unscrupulous person
might take advantage of to invalidate them. In the first place,
the deposit of a copy of the publication in the office of the
clerk of the District Court was frequently neglected, and this
omission invalidated the copyright. Secondly, the records of
the District clerk's office were often so imperfectly kept as to
show no deposit of the publication even when made, and this
might invalidate the copyright. Thirdly, the transmission of
a second copy to the Library of Congress was very frequently
neglected, as is shown in the fact that more than one thousand
requisitions for publications, whose proprietors had not com-
plied with the law, had been issued in a single year ; and in
each of these instances the copyright was void until the law
was complied with. And what motive had the publishers to
152 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
use more zeal in complying with the law and transmitting
copies of their publications through the District clerks to the
Patent Office, when they saw that the books were thenceforth
lost and buried, so that not even their authors, or the owners
of the copyrights could find them again ?
5. The proposed change, it was urged, would be a great
economy for the government. It saved the Patent Office the
trouble, expense and room of providing for a great library of
material which it could not use and did not want. It left its
officers and its space free to be concentrated upon the great
and rapidly-growing inventive art of the country. A copy-
right is not an invention or a patent ; it is a contribution to
literature. It is not material, but intellectual, and has no
natural relation to a department which is charged with the
care of the mechanic arts ; and it belongs rather to a national
library system than to any other department of the civil
service. The responsibility of caring for it would be an
incident to the similar labors already devolved upon the
Librarian of Congress ; and the receipts from copyright cer-
tificates would much more than pay its expense, thus leaving
the treasury the gainer by the change.
These considerations prevailed with Congress to effect the
amendment in copyright registration referred to. The Com-
missioner of Patents, then Hon. Samuel S. Fisher, gave his
hearty cooperation to the measure, and the Hon. Thomas A.
Jenckes of Rhode Island, chairman of the Committee on
Patents, which had charge of the whole matter, lent the
resources of his active and vigilant mind to formulating the
law, to answering objections, and to carrying the measure
through Congress.
By the enactment of the statute of 1870 all the defects in the
methods of registration and deposit of copies were obviated.
The original records of copyright in all the States were trans-
ferred to Washington, and all records of copyright entry were
thenceforward kept in the office of the lyibrarian of Congress.
All questions as to literary property, involving a search of
records to determine points of validity, such as priority
of entry, names of actual owners, transfers or assignments,
timely deposit of the required copies, etc., could be determined
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 153
upon inquiry at a single office of record. These inquiries are
extremely numerous, and obviously very important, involving
frequently large interests in valuable publications in which
litigation to establish the rights of authors, publishers or
infringers has been commenced or threatened. By the full
records of copyright entries thus preserved, moreover, the
Library of Congress (which is the property of the nation) has
been enabled to secure what was before unattainable, namely,
an approximately complete collection of all American books,
etc., protected by copyright, since the legislation referred to
went into effect. The system has been found in practice to
give general satisfaction ; the manner of securing copyright
has been made plain and easy to all, the office of record being
now a matter of public notoriety ; and the test of experience
during twenty years has established the system so thoroughly
that none would be found to favor a return to the former
methods.
Th^ Act of 1870 provided for the removal of the collection
of copyright books and other publications from the over-
crowded Patent Office to the Library of Congress. These
publications were the accumulations of about eighty years,
received from the United States District Clerks' offices by the
Department of State and at the Patent Office, under the old
law. By request of the Commissioner of Patents all the law
books and a large number of technical works were reserved at
the Department of the Interior. The residue, when removed
to the Capitol, were found to number 23,070 volumes, a much
smaller number than had been anticipated, in view of the
length of time during which the copy tax had been in opera-
tion. But the observance of the acts requiring deposits of
copyright publications with the Clerks of the United States
District Courts had been very defective (no penalty being pro-
vided for non-compliance), and, moreover, the Patent Office
had failed to receive from the offices of original deposit large
numbers of publications which should have been sent to Wash-
ington. From one of the oldest States in the Union not a
single book had been sent in evidence of copyright. The
books, however, which were added to the Congressional
Library, although consisting largely of school books and the
154 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
minor literature of the last half century, comprised many
valuable additions to the collection of American books, which
it should be the aim of a National Library to render complete.
Among them were the earliest editions of the works of many
well-known writers, now out of print and scarce.
The first book ever entered for copyright privileges under
the laws of the United States was * * The Philadelphia Spelling
Book, " which was registered in the Clerk's Office of the District
of Pennsylvania, June 9, 1790, by John Barry as author. The
spelling book w^as a fit introduction to the long series of books
since produced to further the diffiision of knowledge among
men. The second book entered was "The American Geogra-
phy," by Jedediah Morse, entered in the District of Massachu-
setts on July 10, 1790, a copy of which is preserved in the
Library of Congress. The earliest book entered in the State
of New York was on the 30th of April, 1791, and it was
entitled "The Young Gentleman's and Lady's Assistant, b}^
Donald Fraser, Schoolmaster."
It should not be inferred, from the foregoing recital, that no
copyrights were granted in America prior to the act put in
operation by the general government in 1 790 ; on the contrary,
Massachusetts and Connecticut had both, through their legis-
latures, granted copyrights to authors for a term running to
twenty-one years. This was in 1783 ; and in the same year
Mr. Madison offered a resolution in the Congress of the Con-
federation (which had no legislative powers) recommending to
the several States to pass acts securing copyrights to authors
for the term of fourteen years. In 1785 Virginia, acting in
accordance with this recommendation, passed a copyright law,
and New York and New Jersey, in 1786, followed with
statutory provisions securing a fourteen years' copyright to
authors.
But none of these various copyright enactments could operate
to secure any protection to authors beyond the limits of the
State in which they lived. It was necessarily reserved to a
government embracing all the States within its paramount
constitutional functions to give such protection to authors as
should avail them throughout the United States.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. I55
Objection has occasionally, thoug^h rarely, been made to what
is known as the copy-tax, by which two copies of each publica-
tion must be deposited in the National Library. This require-
ment rests upon two valid grounds: (i) The preservation of
copies of everything protected by copyright is necessary in the
interest of authors and publishers, in evidence of copyright, and
in aid of identification in connection with the record of title ; (2)
the library of the government (which is that of the whole people)
should possess and permanently preserve a complete collection of
the products of the American press, so far as secured by copy-
right. The government makes no unreasonable exaction in say-
ing to authors and publishers : "The nation gives you exclusive
right to make and sell your publication, without limit of quantity,
for forty-two years ; give the nation in return two copies, one for
the use and reference of Congress and the public in the National
Library, the other for preservation in the copyright archives, in
perpetual evidence of your right."
In view of the valuable monopoly conceded by the public, does
not the government in effect give far more than a quid pro quo
for the copy-tax ? Of course it would not be equitable to exact
even one copy of publications not secured by copyright (the daily
newspapers, for example), in which case the government gives
nothing and gets nothing ; but the exaction of actually protected
publications, while it is unfelt by publishers, is so clearly in the
interest of the public intelligence, as well as of authors and pub-
lishers themselves, that no valid objection to it appears to exist.
In Great Britain five copies of every book protected by copyright
are required for five different libraries, which appears somewhat
unreasonable.
Regarding the right of renewal of the term of copyright, it is a
significant fact that it is availed of in comparatively few instances,
compared with the whole body of publications. Multitudes of
books are published which not only never reach a second edition,
but the sale of which does not exhaust more than a small part of
the copies printed of the first. In these cases the right of renewal
is waived and suffered to lapse, from defect of commercial value
in the work protected. In many other cases the right of renewal
expires before the author or his assigns bethink them of the privi-
lege secured to them under the law. It results that more than
156 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
nine-tenths, probably, of all books published are free to any one
to print, without reward or royalty to their authors, after a very
few years have elapsed. On the other hand, the exclusive right
in some publications of considerable commercial value is kept
alive far beyond the forty-two years included in the original and
the renewal term, by entry of new editions of the work, and
securing copyright on the same. While this method may not
protect any of the original work from republication by others,
it enables the publishers of the copyright edition to advertise such
unauthorized reprints as imperfect, and without the author's or
editor's latest revision or additions.
The whole number of entries of copyright in the United States
since we became a nation considerably exceeds three-quarters of
a million. This is no place for detailed statistics of the extensive
and steadily growing copyright business of the country. It may,
however, be of interest to give the aggregate number of titles
of publications entered for copyright in each year since the trans-
fer of the entire records to Washington in 1870 :
1870 5,600 1877 15758 1884 26,893
1871 12,688 1878 15,798 1885 28,410
1872 14,164 1879 18,125 1886 31,241
1873 15,352 1880 20,686 1887 35,083
1874 16,283 1881 21,075 1888 38,225
1875 14,364 1882 22,918 1889 40,777
1876 14,882 1883 25,273 1890 42,758
Total 476,353
The reduced number of copyrights registered in 1875 and years
immediately following was due to the transfer to the Patent Office,
by Act of June 18, 1874, of the registration of all labels and prints
illustrative of articles of manufacture. These had been, from the
beginning of the government, entered as copyrights, thus en-
cumbering the records with a great mass of so-called publications
which have no relation whatever to literary copyright, but belong
to the mechanic arts. The number of these entries was about
5,000 annually, and, notwithstanding their withdrawal, the increase
in the aggregate of other publications has been so large as to
exhibit the greatly advanced progress in the publishing activities
of the country above recorded.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 157
It will readily be seen that this great number of copyrights
(now about twice as large as the annual average registry of
patents) does not represent books alone. Many thousands of
entries are periodicals claiming copyright protection, in which
case they are required by law to make entry of every separate
issue. These include a multitude of weekly journals, literary,
scientific, religious, pictorial, technical, commercial, agricultural,
sporting, dramatic, etc., among which are a number in foreign
languages. The entries of periodicals also embrace nearly all the
leading monthly and quarterly magazines and reviews, with many
devoted to specialties — as metaphysics, sociology, law, theology,
art, finance, education, and the arts and sciences generally. An-
other large class of copyright entries (and the largest next to
books and periodicals) is musical compositions, numbering re-
cently some 8,000 publications yearly. Much of this property is
valuable, and it is nearly all protected by entry of copyright,
coming from all parts of the Union. There is also a large and
constantly increasing number of works of graphic art, comprising
engravings, photographs, photogravures, chromos, lithographs,
etchings, prints, and drawings, for which copyright is entered.
The steady accumulation of hundreds of thousands of these vari-
ous pictorial illustrations will enable the government at no distant
day, without a dollar of expense, to make an exhibit of the prog-
ress of the arts of design in America, which will be interesting
and instructive in a high degree. An art gallery of ample dimen-
sions for this purpose is provided for in the new National Library
building, now rapidly rising on Capitol Hill.
It remains to consider briefly the principles and practice of
what is known as international copyright.
Perhaps there is no argument for copyright at all in the pro-
ductions of the intellect which is not good for its extension to all
countries. The basis of copyright is that all useful labor is worthy
of a recompense ; but since all human thought when put into
material or merchantable form becomes, in a certain sense,
public property, the laws of all countries recognize and
protect the original owners, or their assigns to whom they
may convey the right, in an exclusive privilege for limited
terms only. Literary property therefore is not a natural right,
but a conventional one. The author's right to his manuscript is,
158 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
indeed, absolute, and the law will protect him in it as fully as it
will guard any other property. But when once put in type and
multiplied through the printing-press, his claim to an exclusive
right has to be guarded by a special statute, otherwise it is held
to be abandoned (like the articles in any newspaper) to the
public. This special protection is furnished in all civilized
countries by copyright law.
What we call " copyright " is an exclusive right to multiply
copies of any publication for sale. Domestic copyright, which is
all we have hitherto had in this country, is limited to the United
States. International copyright, which has now been enacted,
extends the right of American authors to foreign countries, and
recognizes a parallel right of foreign authors in our own. There
is nothing in the constitutional provision which restrains Congress
from granting copyright to other than American citizens. Patent
right, coming under the same clause of the Constitution, has been
extended to foreigners. Out of about 20,000 patents annually
issued, about 1,000 (or 5 per cent.) are issued to foreigners,
while American patents are similarly protected abroad. If we
have international patent right, why not international copyright?
The grant of power is the same ; both patent right and copyright
are for a limited time ; both rights during this time are exclusive ;
and both rest upon the broad ground of the promotion of science
and the useful arts. If copyright is justifiable at all, if authors
are to be secured a reward for their labors, they claim that all
who use them should contribute equally to this result. The
principle of copyright once admitted, it cannot logically be con-
fined to State lines or national boundaries. There appears to be
no middle ground between the doctrine of common property in
all productions of the intellect — which leads us to communism by
the shortest road — and the admission that copyright is due,
while its limited term lasts, from all who use the works of an
author, wherever found.
Accordingly, international copyright has become the policy of
nearly all civilized nations. The term of copyright is longer in
most countries than in the United States, ranging from the life of
the author and seven years beyond, in England, to a life term
and fifty years additional in France and Spain. Copyright is
thus made a life tenure and something more in all countries except
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 159
our own, where its utmost limit is forty-two years. This may
perhaps be held to represent a fair average lifetime, reckoned
from the age of intellectual maturity. There have not been want-
ing advocates for a perpetual copyright, to run to the author and
his heirs and assigns forever. This was urged before the British
Copyright Commission in 1878 by leading British publishers, but
the term of copyright is hitherto, in all nations, limited by law.
Only brief allusion can be made to the most recent (and
in some respects most important) advance step which has
been taken in copyright legislation in the United States. This
act of Congress, providing for international copyright on pre-
scribed conditions, was signed by the President on the 3d of
March, 1891, and is aimed at securing reciprocal protection to
American and foreign authors in the respective countries which
may comply with its provisions. There is here no room to
sketch the hitherto vain attempts to secure to authors, here and
abroad, an international protection to their writings. Suffice it to
say that a union of interests was at last effected, whereby
authors, publishers and manufacturers are supposed to have
secured some measure of protection, not before enjoyed, to their
varied interests. The measure is largely experimental, and the
satisfaction felt over its passage into law is tempered by doubt in
various quarters as to the justice, or liberality, or actual benefit to
authors of its provisions. What is to be said of a statute which
was denounced by some Senators as a long step backward
toward barbarism, and hailed by others as a great landmark in
the progress of civilization ?
The main features added to the existing law of copyright by
this act, taking effect July i, 1891, are these :
1. All limitation of the privilege of copyright to citizens and
residents of the United States is repealed.
2. Foreigners applying for copyright are to pay fees of $1 for
record or $1.50 for certificate of copyright, instead of 50 cents for
record or $1 for certificate.
3. Importation of books, photographs, chromos or lithographs
entered here for copyright is prohibited, except two copies of any
book for use and not for sale.
4. The two copies of books, photographs, chromos or litho-
graphs deposited with the Librarian of Congress must be printed
i6o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
from type set, or plates, etc., made in the United States. It fol-
lows that all foreign works protected by American copyright must
be wholly manufactured in this country.
5. The copyright privilege is restricted to citizens or subjects
of nations permitting the benefit of copyright to Americans on
substantially the same terms as their own citizens, or of nations
who have international agreements providing for reciprocity in the
grant of copyright, to which the United States may at its pleasure
become a party.
6. The benefit of copyright in the United States is not to take
effect as to any foreigner until the actual existence of either of the
conditions just recited, in the case of the nation to which he
belongs, shall have been made known by a proclamation of the
President of the United States.
There are some doubtful questions involved in the interpreta-
tion of the act, which is not free from ambiguity, and which must
wait for their solution upon the construction placed upon it by
the judicial tribunals. Meanwhile, authors and publishers should
await the results of such measure of international copyright as has
been achieved, doing what they may to guard their interests,
while the experiment is being fairly tried. A measure which
was regarded as worth so many years effort to secure should be
worth a little patience on the part of those who have secured it.
In conclusion, the writers of America, with the steady and
rapid growth of the art of making books, have come more and
more to appreciate the value of their preservation, in complete
and unbroken series, in the library of the government, the appro-
priate conservator of the nation's literature. Inclusive and not
exclusive, as this library is wisely made by law, so far as copy-
right works are concerned, it preserves with impartial care the
illustrious and the obscure. In its archives all sciences and all
schools of opinion meet and mingle. In the beautiful and ample
repository, now being erected and dedicated to literature and art
through the liberality of Congress, the intellectual wealth of the
past and the present age will be handed down to the ages that
are to follow.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. i6i
THE EFFECT OF INVENTION UPON THE RAIL-
ROAD AND OTHER MEANS OF INTERCOM-
MUNICATION.
By Octave Chanutb, of Ii^wnois, President of the American
Society of Civii, Engineers.
A century ago, Washington being then President of the
United States, the art of transportation, both by land and by
water, was practically still in the same stage of development,
as measured by speed of transit as well as by cost, which had
prevailed for the preceding eighteen hundred years, or since
the establishment of the Roman Empire.
Upon the sea there had been, it is true, considerable increase
in the size of vessels, and some changes in the mode of their
rigging, especially since the length of the voyages had been
increased by the discovery of America ; but the sail was still
the sole means of propelling ships, and the speeds attained
were little, if anj^ greater than those in antiquity. An average
progress of one hundred miles per day, under varying con-
ditions of wind, was considered satisfactory, and the quickest
passages between New York and Liverpool were performed in
twenty days, or at the rate of 176 miles per day.
Upon the land there had been, since the days of the Roman
Empire, many fashions in carriages, but the common road was
still the principal way traveled, and the horse was the power
chiefly used in transporting passengers and freight. There
were canals, it is true, but the average speeds were only two to
three miles per hour, and the charges were from six to ten
cents per ton per mile. Upon the turnpikes the maximum
speed for mail coaches was from eight to ten miles per hour,
and a fair day's travel at that period of time may be stated as
averaging about 100 miles in twenty-four hours.
Extraordinary performances might attain to twice that
speed. Thus, upon his disastrous return from Moscow the first
Napoleon, anxious to reach his capital in the shortest possible
time, rode in his traveling and sleeping carriage from Smorgoni
to Paris, a distance of 1,000 miles, between the 5th and loth of
i62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
December, 1812, and this speed of say 200 miles a day may
be considered as the utmost that man, with unlimited resources
at his command, could then accomplish on a thousand miles
journey.
Freight rates by wagon were twenty-seven cents a ton a mile
between London and Leeds, and thirty cents a ton a mile be-
tween Liverpool and Manchester.
All this has been changed by one mighty invention, bringing
in its train a multitude of other inventions. Steam came into
the world to transform into mechanical energy and speed the
light and heat of past ages, stored in the coal during the car-
boniferous period ; and applications to various means of trans-
port soon followed, so that to-day a fair day's journey for a
steamship may be stated at 400 miles, and runs of 500 miles in
twenty-four hours are not uncommon, while the distance of
1,000 miles, traveled by Napoleon in five days, can now be
done by rail in twenty-four hours without the necessity of
becoming an emperor to accomplish the feat.
Indeed, one of the most remarkable characteristics of the
improvements which have occurred in methods of transporta-
tion within a century is the fact, that they have chiefly bene-
fited the mass of the people. So that the man in moderate
circumstances now travels as rapidly and as cheaply as the
wealthy, and that enormous economies have been accomplished
in the transportation of freight and in the exchange of com-
modities.
All this, clearly, has been entirely the effect of invention.
Improvement has followed upon improvement, because inven-
tion has been more active and successful than at any period in
the world's history.
It would take much too long to pass in review, even in the
most cursory manner, the various steps through which this era
of invention has passed ; but now, practically, one hundred
years after the commercial acceptance of the steam engine by
the industrial world, it seems a good time to inquire, in a gen-
eral way, what has thus far been accomplished and what the
future may have in store for us.
It will be remembered that Fulton built the first commer-
cially successful steamboat in 1807, and that the "Savannah "
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 163
was the first steamship to cross the ocean in 181Q. In those
days, and for many years thereafter, the speeds of steam
vessels were small, and the consumption of fuel was great, say
four to ten pounds per horse-power per hour. Invention has
since been busy with the marine engine, and advancing step
by step it has now reduced the coal consumption to one and
three-quarter pounds per horse-power per hour, while the
speed has been increased 50 per cent. As stated by W. C.
Church, the biographer of Ericsson, it is now possible to carry
across the Atlantic 2,200 tons of freight with 800 tons of coal,
where it was in 1870 only possible to carry 800 tons of freight
with 2,200 tons of coal.
This is the result, it need scarcely be said, of the substitu-
tion of the screw-propeller for the paddle-wheel, of surface
condensation, of high steam pressures, and double, triple and
now quadruple expansion ; each of them a successive step
resulting in such growth, that steamers now plow every sea,
and their aggregate tonnage is nearly as large as that of the
sailing vessels.
The following table, compiled from data published in con-
nection with the large model of the globe at the Paris Exposi-
tion of 1889, exhibits the estimated number of sailing vessels
and steamships now belonging to the various nations of the
world :
Marine of Principal Nations.
country saii^ing vessei^. steamships.
No. Tonnage. No. Tonnage.
England 14,030 4,510,000 4,870 6,592,000
United States.... 5,900 1,975,000 400 532,000
France 2,050 363,000 430 722,000
Norway 3,660 1,345,000 270 150,000
Sweden 1,910 390,000 370 149,000
Germany 2,190 796,000 540 628,000
Italy 2,700 782,000 180 243,000
Spain 1,410 262,000 340 388,000
Russia 2,150 464,000 220 159,000
Holland 910 261,000 160 198,000
Greece 1,380 279,000
Austria no 143,000
Denmark 910 261,000 170 125,000
Other countries.. 3,040 740,000 650 597,000
1 64 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
It is a source of regret that the United States has not main-
tained upon the sea the rank which it occupied earlier in the
century. It is now the second in sailing vessels and the fourth
as to steamships among the nations of the earth. Many reasons
have been assigned for this state of affairs, chief among which
are probably our navigation laws and the higher scale of
wages which prevails in this country, while vessels engaged in
the ocean trade have to compete with all nations.
It is just possible that some labor-saving inventions, ap-
plicable to steamship service, may diminish the relative im-
portance of the wages upon the aggregate cost, and eventually
enable us to occupy upon the sea the same position in the
world's advance, that the railway has given us upon the land.
The RAII.WAY.
In discussing the effect of invention upon the railroad, it may
be interesting to allude to its early history, which is now being
forgotten.
It seems to be popularly supposed that the railway dates no
further back than the lyiverpool and Manchester Railway in
1829. This, to be sure, was the first great success and com-
mercial recognition, but railways, like most human inventions,
had previously gone through a process of experiment, evolu-
tion and improvement, which prepared the way for the final
result.
Tramways had been used in operating coal mines in Eng-
land for many years. They were crude structures, generally
laid with cast-iron plates or rails about three feet long, and
worked by horse-power.
Trevithic built a fairly good locomotive in 1804, but the
road was not strong enough to carry it, and it was speedily
abandoned. Stephenson built his first locomotive in 18 14, and
he gradually improved upon its construction in subsequent
locomotives placed upon the coal tramway with which he was
connected, until an opportunity was offered of embodying his
skill and experience in the three locomotives furnished to the
Stockton and Darlington Railway, of which he became the
engineer.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS., 165
This was practically the first line built for public use and
intended to convey freight and passengers. It was twelve
miles long, and its opening, September 27, 1825, marks the
beginning of the present railway era.
Although it was a great advance upon what had been done
before, its construction was still crude and left plenty of room
for subsequent invention. About half of the track was laid
with cast-iron rails, and the remainder with wrought-iron rails,
weighing twenty-eight pounds to the yard*. These were of the
** fish-bellied " pattern, being two inches in depth at the joints,
where they rested upon chairs, and three and one-quarter
inches deep in the middle or bellied part ; the top of the rail
being two and one-quarter inches broad, with the flange three-
quarters of an inch thick.
I remember seeing rails of this pattern still in use on a side
track at East Albany in 1851, it having been the impression at
an early day among engineers that the best results were to
be obtained with rails, by following the practice which pre-
vailed for cast-iron girders.
For some years the Stockton and Darlington Railroad was
worked in a mixed sort of way, by both horses and locomo-
tives. The latter ran at speeds of four to six miles per hour,
although occasional performances of twelve to fourteen miles
per hour are recorded, and it was not till 1829, when at the
public competition of locomotives for the I^iverpool and Man-
chester Railway, the "Rocket," built by Stephenson, attained
a speed of twenty-nine miles per hour, and the * ' Novelty, ' ' by
Ericsson, ran at twenty-eight miles per hour, that the merits
of steam for railway propulsion became fully recognized, and
that the active nations of the world began commercially the
construction and operation of railways.
This commercial movement at once enormously stimulated
invention, and a host of ingenious men took up the various
problems connected with the railways. Experiment and im-
provement rapidly followed each other, and a large number of
inventions and devices were introduced in all departments,
including the track, the motive power, the rolling stock, and
the organization.
Indeed, these devices and inventions were so numerous, that
many which were fairly good have since been eliminated.
1 66 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Thus Messrs. Zerah Colburn and Alexander L. Holley, in
their report upon the "Permanent Way of European Rail-
ways," in 1858, described and figured no less than sixteen
systems of English track as the principal types of what had
been tried, and of these but three have survived.
For the sleepers or ties, stone blocks were used and found
too rigid ; timber was laid, both as longitudinal stringers and
as cross-ties, and many forms of cast-iron sleepers had been
experimented with before any cross-tie system, whether of
wood or of metal, became universally accepted.
For rails, after the ''fish-bellied," came the strap rail and
its attendant snake heads. Then followed the edge rail,
whether double-headed or with a flat foot, the inverted " U "
rail, the ** saddle-backed " rail bearing directly upon the
ballast, and a whole host of compound rails in several pieces,
together with an almost endless variety of joints, from the
cast-iron chair to the fish-plate, until the present time, when
the double-headed rail still obtains favor in Europe, while the
foot rail is uniformly used in this country ; there being in all
countries considerably less diversity of practice than there was
in 1858.
In locomotives almost numberless experiments have been
tried, and yet the improvement has been rather one of degree
than of kind. Stephenson's "Rocket" owed its superiority
over all predecessors to the simultaneous introduction in its
construction of the multitubular boiler, and of the steam
exhaust up the chimney to create draft over the fire ; and
these are still the distinctive features of modern locomotives.
These engines are, to be sure, much heavier, more simple,
and especially much more economical than their original pro-
totype, but the speeds are not considerably greater than were
obtained within the first few years of the railway era.
In rolling stock, a long series of successive inventions has
largely added to the comfort of passengers, and to the useful
freight load in proportion to the weight of the car ; while in
the organization, improvements in the methods of handling
business, among which may be mentioned signals and the
application of the telegraph, have very largely increased the
efliciency and diminished the cost.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 167
And since the telegraph has been mentioned, further refer-
ence may be made to the marvelous development of electrical
science and its applications within the railroad era. A century
ago Franklin had shown the dependence of certain phenomena
upon electricity, but it was still a scientific toy confined to
laboratory experiments. As soon, however, as Morse, Henry,
Vail and Wheatstone harnessed it to conveying thought, in
1845, it became the adjunct and indispensable companion of
the railway, and the telegraph line found its home upon the
railroad right of way.
lyater on came the telephone and the domestic uses of elec-
trictity about our homes, in which it has proved such a nimble
and effective servant, until these latter days when it has been
pressed into service to convey power as well as intelligence,
and is now applied to the running of motors for hundreds of
purposes, and to the supplying of light and heat.
Probably the most remarkable growth among these purposes
has been for street railroads, of which nearly 3,000 miles have
been opened in the United States during the last five years,
which are operated by electric motors. These have been found
so much more rapid, economical and capable of overcoming
gradients than those operated by animal power, that the day
seems not very distant when the horse will be superseded on
the street railway line, just as he has been on the general
trafl&c railway.
Allusion may also briefly be made to the effect of the rail-
road upon the art of bridge building. A century ago such
structures were comparatively few in number, and a span of
one hundred feet was considered a long one. Masonry was the
recognized material with which to build, but the necessities of
the railroad brought about an evolution, first with wood and
then with iron construction, which resulted last year in the
opening of the Forth Bridge, the greatest present achievement
in this art, with two channel spans each 1,710 feet in the clear,
and a clear headway of 150 feet under the bridge.
Whether these tremendous spans are to remain the limit, or
whether man will spin an iron web across still greater dis-
tances, will mainly depend upon the railroad necessities of the
future, for it is only the concentrated traffic of the railway
which will warrant such very expensive structures.
1 68 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Now, let us inquire as to what extent the various nations of
the earth have availed of the railway.
Progress in civilization may fairly be said to be dependent
upon the facilities for men to get about, upon their opportunity
for intercourse with other men and nations, not only in order
to supply their mutual needs cheaply, but to learn from each
other their wants, their discoveries and their inventions.
Prior to the invention of the steamer and of the railway such
opportunities were but few, so that there have been ages in the
world, that of the crusades for instance, where war itself was
not a wholly unmixed evil, in consequence of the beneficial
new ideas which it introduced among men.
In order to arrive at the railway mileage of the world I have
started from a table published in the last issue of "Poor's
Railroad Manual," which furnishes the statistics up to the
close of the year 1888. These are the latest data available,
and they have been compared with a similar statement pub-
lished in * * Archiv fur Kisenbahmweser ' ' covering the same
date, which shows 804 miles more than Poor's table.
From these tables, knowing the annual rate of recent in-
crease, which was 63,941 miles for the four years from 1884 to
1888 (say 16,000 miles a year), and allowing for decreasing
or increasing activity in the various countries, as chronicled
in the daily and the technical press, I think it is possible to
make an estimate which shall approximate closely to the
actual facts on the ist of January, 1891. Such a statement,
believed to be pretty nearly correct, will be found in the sub-
joined table.
Estimated Raii^road Mii^kage;, January, 1891.
r,^„«fr^ Knd 1888 Increase Estimated ^/^i"^^^^ tj^«„1oH«« tion^per
Country. j^.^^g 2 years. 1891 Miles. ^°f°i"°- Population. ^^^^^ ^^
"^^^- railway ^
United States i55,8oi 10,724 166,525 3.3,200 62,600,000 376
Canada 12,764 1,236 14,000 2,660 5,300,000 378
Mexico 4,168 632 4,800 770 11,000,000 2,292
Central America... 1,900 200 2,100 420 8,100,000 3,857
North America 174,633 12,792 187,425 37,050 87,000,000 464
South America 13,850 2,150 16,000 2,880 32,000,000 2,000
Europe 132,836 8,164 141,000 64,860 347,000,000 2,461
Asia 17,618 2,382 20,000 4,200 789,000,000 39,450
Africa 5,152 848 6,000 960 197,000,000 32,833
Australia 10,409 2,591 13,000 2,340 38,000,000 2,933
Totals 354.498 28,927 383,425 112,290 1,490,000,000 3,886
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 169
From this it seems to appear that there are at the present
time 383,425 miles of railroad in the world, operated by
112,290 locomotives, without including street lines in cities, at
mines or in connection with various industrial enterprises. Of
these, 187,425 miles, or nearly one-half, are in North America,
and the latter, if placed end to end, would reach around the
earth seven and one-half times, without counting the double,
triple or quadruple tracks, or the sidings. The total mileage
of the globe would encompass it fifteen and one-half times,
and would reach more than one and a-half times to the moon
(237,840 miles), if there were only supporting ground to lay
the track upon.
It is estimated that there are 112,290 locomotives, and as a
fair average will give them about 500 horse-power each, they
are seen to be equivalent to no less than 56,145,000 horses.
It will be noticed how tardy some of the oldest nations have
been in availing of this improved means of inter-communica-
tion. The 789,000,000 inhabitants of Asia, for instance,
have but 20,000 miles of railway, this being chiefl}^ in British
India. If the whole world were as well provided for in this
respect as North America, where there are 2,154 miles of rail-
road for each million inhabitants, there would be on this earth
more than 3,000,000 miles in the aggregate, or eight times the
present mileage.
There is therefore still a good deal for the railway builders
and organizers to do, and foreign fields may yet be opened to
the energy of Europeans and North Americans, should some
of the Asiatic nations, like China, for instance, enter upon
an epoch of railroad construction, or have the good fortune,
like India, to fall into strong hands.
Perhaps the latter country exhibits more than any other the
beneficial effects of railway construction. Before the British
conquest it was very poor, torn by internal strifes and subject
to periodical famines. Now it is successfully exporting wheat
in competition with the United States and Russia, and it is
also supplanting China in the production of tea, a fact as yet
but little appreciated ; while in the meantime, wages, though
still low, have more than doubled within the century.
lyo PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
In Africa there are 6,000 miles. We have all been following
with deep interest the various journeys of Mr. Stanley across
this continent. Bach of them occupied nearly three years of
tremendous effort, and the thought that the actual distance
traversed from coast to coast could have been gone over by rail-
road in three or four days, may cause us to realize the economy
of labor and of time which has been brought into the world by
the effects of invention on the railroad.
It is almost impossible to estimate in money, even approxi-
mately, what has been the economical effect upon the world.
There have been so many concurrent causes in the increase of
wealth that it seems impracticable to isolate any one of them.
We may, however, gain some idea by estimating what the
present volume of traffic would cost at prices prevailing a cen-
tury or less ago, and for this purpose we may select the United
States.
It has been said that the cost of freight hauling was 27 and
30 cents a ton a mile in England. In this country it used to
be 20 cents a ton a mile between New York and Buffalo before
the opening of the canal, and within thirty-five years it was
29 cents a ton a mile across the plains from the Missouri River
to Denver. In order to avoid all possible cavil as to the cost
being diminished by increased volume of traffic, we will assume
a freight rate of 16 cents a ton a mile, which corresponds to the
hauling of a ton of goods on a turnpike twenty-five miles per
day at an average cost of $4.00.
For passenger rates we will assume that a century ago they
were 10 cents per mile. Now, the freight traffic of the railroads
of the United States in 1889 was equal to 68,604,012,396 tons
miles, and the passenger business was 11,965,726,015 passen-
gers one mile. If we carry these out at the assumed prices,
and deduct from the account (in which the miscellaneous earn-
ings are included at the same figure on both sides to make it
complete) the actual amounts collected by the railroads from
the people in 1889, we have the following balance sheet :
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. VfX
Nationai. Balance Sheet with Raii^roads, 1889.
68,604,012,396 ton miles of freight, @ i6c §10,976,641,983
11,965,726,015 passenger miles, @ loc 1,196,572,601
Miscellaneous earnings 66, 685 , 396
Total earnings at prices of 1791 $12,239,899,980
lyess freight earnings, 1889 $666,530,653
Less passenger earnings, 1889... 259,640,807
Less miscellaneous earn' gs, 1889. 66,685,396 992,856,856
Estimated national saving $11,247,043,124
Which is more for one year than the entire cost of our rail-
roads, as represented by their stock, bonded debts, liabilities
and current amounts, v\^hich in 1889 aggregated a sum of
$9,931,453,146. So that the annual saving to the nation, over
the prices prevailing in 1791, seems to be greater than the
whole capital invested in railroads, if we assume the possi-
bility of the volume of traffic having been the same.
This assumption is, of course, a fallacy, because the prices
prevailing a century ago would have been largely prohibitory,
and the volume of traffic would be much smaller, yet this
estimated national saving may bring some comfort to the
citizens who think that the rapidly-vanishing railroad rates do
not go down fast enough, and who say that these corporations
are impoverishing the people.
We may also gain some idea as to how greatly the improved
means of inter-communication have benefited other countries
which have availed of them, by considering the vastly-increased
scale of national expenditures which prevail among them, as
compared with their national expenses a century ago. Some of
them, indeed, are now enabled to keep a considerable portion
of their working population in idleness, in their standing
armies, and yet the comfort and prosperity of the remainder is
far greater than that of their people a hundred years ago, while
among those nations in Asia and Africa which have failed to
avail of the new methods of transportation, wages are still very
low, and occasional famines still prevail.
But man is still unsatisfied with what has been accomplished,
and all over the civilized world invention is still trying to im-
172 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
prove means of transport. The sea, the land, the air, are being-
experimented upon to gain higher speeds or more economical
modes of transit.
It may be perhaps doubted whether greater cheapness will
be attained than with the steamer or the railroad, but it is
believed that greater speeds are possible in the near future.
On the sea the great transatlantic steamers have^ attained
within the past two years speeds of twenty and twenty -one
knots per hour ; while various experimenters hope to get, with
novel means of propulsion, the fabulous speed of thirty to forty
miles per hour.
Upon the land inventors calmly talk of superseding the
present maximum railroad speed of 70 miles an hour with
velocities of 120 to 150 miles per hour. Recent developments
in electrical science have given good hopes for this, and
both European and American inventors are experimenting.
Among the latter may be mentioned the ' ' Weems Electric ' '
system, by which speeds of 115 miles per hour have already
been attained on a most imperfect track ; the "Williams Porte-
Electric ' ' system, of attracting forward at high velocities, a rail-
road car forming a magnetic core, through a series of helices or
coils charged with an electric current, and the ' ' Chemin de
Fer Glissant ' ' system or water borne railroad cars which was
exhibited at the Paris Exposition of 1889.
Allusion may be made to the "bicycle locomotive," with
which it is claimed that far greater speed can be obtained than
with the engines in general use ; the principal object of in-
ventors in every case seeming to be to gain higher velocities
than those which have hitherto been found practicable.
In the air, man gazes at the birds and longs to imitate them.
I know personally of eight or ten perfectly sane men in the
United States, in England, in France, in Australia, and in
Egypt, who are experimenting with flying machines — not
dirigible balloons, with which a measure of success has already
been accomplished, although only low velocities are to be
expected from them, but real flying machines, depending like
the birds upon the reactions of the air for their support.
Of these experimenters, probably the best equipped is Mr.
Maxim, the inventor of an electric light and of the automatic
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 173
macliine gun, who made the remarkable statement last No-
vember, in a letter to the New York Times, that his experi-
ments show that as much as 133 pounds may be sustained in
the air by the expenditure of one horse-power ; that he has
succeeded in making a motor which will develop one horse-
power for every six pounds of weight, and that a speed of 100
miles per hour would seem to be attainable.
If his,experiments, which are now being carried on in Eng-
land on a large and skillful scale, succeed as he hopes, or if
some other of the many inventors who are working on the
problem hits upon the right combination, there seems to be no
reason why man may not emulate eventually the flight of the
swallow, whose speed is computed at 150 miles per hour, or
that of the swifter martin, which is said to flash through the
^ir at the rate of 200 miles per hour.
v:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 175
THK INVENTORS OF THE TEI.EGRAPH AND
TEI.EPHONE.
By Thomas Gray, C. B., F. R. S. B., Professor oi^ Dynamic Bn-
GiNEERiNG, Rose Poi<ytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Ind. '
The word telegraph was introduced about one hundred years
ago as a name for a means of conveying intelligence to a dis-
tance by means of signs. The signs were produced in a variety
of ways, as for example, by the shapes or positions of bodies
placed on high poles, or by letters or words of sufl&cient magnif
tude similarly exposed. The meaning of the word, telegraphy
interpreted by its original use, would thus be to write or make
signs at one place in such a way that they could be read oj
interpreted at a distant place. It appears, therefore, that so
long as we confine our attention to early methods of telegraphy
ing, the signs or signals were made at the sending station an^
read from the receiving station. Modern usage gives a slightl}^
different meaning to the word, namely, a means of producing
visible, audible or written signs at a distance. That is to say>
the signs are to be produced at the receiving station. Thi|
was first accomplished on an extensive scale and at greaf;
distances by means of electricity. Methods of transmitting
sounds, or even speech, to moderate distances by means of tubes
and by means of what we now call string or mechanical tele-
phones have, however, been known for several centuries.
Methods of conveying intelligence to a distance have been
known and used from very early times. Fires seem to have
been the earliest means employed for giving signals, and we
find such signs referred to in the writings of the Prophet Jere-
miah, of Eschylus, of Polynius and others. Schottus, in his
* ' Technica Curiosa, ' ' proposes the application of the telescope
to view posts erected on an eminence at a distant station, and
on which signs were to be placed. The Marquis of Worcester,
in his " Century of Inventions," enumerates a day and a nigh^
telegraph ; and Kessler, in his *' Concealed Arts,*' proposes to
176 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
cut out letters in boards and make them visible at a distance
by placing them over the end of a cask in which a light is
burning, the letters or other characters being exposed in
proper succession any message can be transmitted.
One of the earliest telegraphs of which we have now a direct
representative was the flag signals introduced about the middle
of the seventeenth century by the Duke of York (afterwards
James II of England), who was at that time admiral of the
English fleet. This was the beginning of the flag telegraph still
used for communicating between ships at sea ; originally intro-
duced for the purpose of directing the manoeuvres of the fleet.
In 1684 Dr. Robert Hook communicated to the Royal Society of
lyondon a proposal for a telegraph. In this method the signs
were to consist of bodies of different shapes placed on high
poles in an exposed position. Some years afterwards a similar
method was proposed to the Academy of Sciences bj^ M. Amon-
tons, a French natural philosopher. In 1767 Mr. R. E- Edge-
worth proposed to telegraph b}^ means of the arms of a wind-
mill, the positions of the arms of the mill to be used to indicate
the signals. In 1784 the same author proposes to make the
signals indicate numbers, and to interpret by means of vocabu-
laries of numbered words. In 1794 the semaphore telegraph
of M. Chappe was adopted by the French government. This
telegraph consisted of a high post and two bars of timber, the
middle of one pivoted to one end of the other, and the free end
of this second bar pivoted to the top of the post, so that the
whole of the motions could take place in a vertical plane. The
positions, relative to the vertical or horizontal, of the two arms
indicated the signal. These and other modifications of the
semaphore have been at various times used, and are still used
on railways for train signals.
The chief interest of these early telegraphs, a great many
forms of which might be enumerated, is in illustrating the
fact that some means of corTveying intelligence to a distance
quickly and without a messenger has, from the earliest times,
been recognized as of great importance. It is well also to keep
before us the things that have been done in earlier times when
we attempt to judge of the advances which have been made by
modern invention.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 177
The telegraph of to-day is almost entirely electrical, and in
its present form it is of comparatively recent growth. It may
be well, however, in this branch also to glance briefly at the
early history of the subject. To begin with what we may
call the fable period, we find in the year 161 7 an allusion in
one of Strada's " Prolusiones Academicse " to the belief that
there existed a sympathy between needles which had been
touched by a species of loadstone, which caused them always
to set parallel to each other if the}^ were free to take up such
positions. Two such needles it was said, could be used to
convey intelligence to any distance, because if they were
pivoted on cards marked with letters or words and the card
properly placed, so that corresponding letters occupied similar
positions, when one needle was made to point to any letter or
mark the other needle would immediately point to the corre-
sponding mark on its card. The same belief is referred to by
Galileo in one of his dialogues in 1632, and again by the Abbe
Barthelemy in a work entitled * ' Voyage du Jeune Anacharsis, ' '
published in 1788. So far this may be said to be mere fable,
but it gives an idea of what were then looked upon as possibili-
ties in magnetism, and we can hardly help comparing with
these ideas some almost equally extraordinary ones which are
occasionally expressed at the present day with respect to
electricity.
The discovery of Stephen Gray, in 1729, that the electrical
influence could be conveyed to a distance by means of an insu-
lated wire, is probably the first of direct influence in connec-
tion with telegraphy. As a result of this discovery, and the
investigations which followed it, we find a considerable number
of proposals to use electrical forces for the transmission of
intelligence. The first of these of which there is any record
was made by Charles Morrison, of Renfrew, Scotland, in a letter
to Scot's Magazine, written in 1753, and signed "CM." As
many insulated wires as there were characters to be signaled
were to be erected between the two stations. At the receiving
station the ends of the different wires were to be connected to
a series of balls, underneath which the characters, printed on
light pieces of paper, were to be placed. If any one of the
wires became electrified by the distant end being put in contact
1 78 PROCEEDINGS OF -'^T^E* CONGRESS.
with the source of electricity, the character under the ball on
t;^e end of it would be attracted and thus indicate the signal.
An interesting modification was suggested in the same letter,
namely, to replace the balls by. a series of bells of different
pitch, arranged, in' stch a way -that when the wires became
eleotrified they would discharge into the bells and cause them
t^ sbund : ,*. . ..' . '''the electric spark, breaking on bells of
difietent size, will inform his correspondent by the sound what
wir^ have been touched;,* and thus, by some practice they may
c6me td understand, the language of the chimes in whole words
wkkout being put to the trouble of noting down every letter.'*
A/^itailar telegraph was invented in 1767 by Joseph Bozolus, a
Jesuit and a lecturer on natural philosophy in Rome. (See a Latin
poem, entitled * * Mariani Parthenii Blectrocorum, " in VI Libros^
Roma, 1767, p. 34). In 1774 a telegraph on the same principle
was established by Le Sage. In this system each wire term-
inated in a pith-ball electroscope, and the signals were read in
accordance with the indications of these electroscopes, of
which twenty-four were used. This telegraph was improved
upon by Lomond in 1787, one wire only being used, and a
code of signals forming the means of interpretation. A
similar proposal was made by Betancourt in the same year
and again by Cavallo in 1795. The latter proposed to use
combinations of sparks as a code of signals. In 1794 Reizen
proposed to cut letters out of tinfoil, leaving a series of short
interruptions of the tinfoil at short distances apart, so that a
discharge of electricity around the tinfoil would illuminate the
letter by a series of sparks. This method of producing illumin-
ated patterns is still a common class-room experiment in physi-
cal lectures. The next to propose the use cf static electricity
for telegraphic purposes seems to have been Ronalds, of Ham-
mersmith, in 1 8 16. In this telegraph the letters were printed
oiiAa disk which was mounted on the seconds arbor of a clock.
One of the clocks was placed at the sending and the receiving
stations, and arranged to bring corresponding letters simul-
taneously opposite a small window in the dial of the clock.
When the proper letter was exposed a signal was sent by
means of a pith-ball telegraph. This telegraph was more com-
plicated than several which have been mentioned above, and
required two clocks going synchronously.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 179
In the year 1767 an important observation was made by
Sulzer. He found that when two plates of different metals
were placed one above and the other below the tongue, a
peculiar sensation and taste was felt when the metals touched
each other outside the tongue. Sulzer failed to find the expla-
nation of this phenomenon, and no further advance was made
until the well-known frog experiments of Galvani gave fresh
impetus to the subject. The discoveries of Voka and the
invention of the voltaic pile shortly followed. In the same
year (1800) an attempt to close the circuit of a voltaic battery
by means of a drop of water led Nicholson and Carlisle to the
discovery that water is decomposed by the galvanic current.
This gave rise to the galvanic or electrolysis telegraphs ot
Sommering, Coxe and Sharpe, and is the basis of all the
chemical printing and copying telegraphs which have in more
redent times been produced. Sommering' s telegraph was in-
vented in 1809, and was similar in principle to that of Morrison,
except that the decomposition of water and consequent accumu-
lation of gas in a series of tubes gave the necessary indications.
To call attention, it was proposed in connection with the tele-
graph to liberate an alarm bj^ means of an accumulation of gas.
Professor Coxe, of Pennsylvania, described a similar telegraph
in 18 10, and proposed to use either the decomposition of water
or of metallic salts. Mr. J. R. Sharpe proposed a voltaic
telegraph in 18 13, and exhibited it before the Lords of the
Admiralty, ' * who spoke approvingly of it, but added, that as
war was over and money scarce, they could not carry it into
effect." (See Repertory of Arts, Second Series, Vol. XXIX,
P- 23).
Perhaps the most important electrical discovery in its influ-
ence on telegraphy was made by Romagnesi, of Trente, in 1805,
but received little attention and no development until it was
rediscovered by Oersted in 18 19. This was the discovery that
a wire conveying an electric current is capable of deflecting a
magnetic needle. In the following year Schweigger discovered
that the deflecting force was increased when he wound the wire
several times round the needle. These two discoveries formed
the foundation for the construction of the galvanoscopes and
galvanometers since so much used in connection with electrical
l8o PROCEEDINGS Oh THE CONGRESS.
appliances and measurements. One of the most extensive
applications has been to telegraphy.
Galvanoscopic, or, as they have been more commonly called,
needle telegraphs resulted very shortly from these discoveries.
In this field of invention we find, prominent among the early
workers, the distinguished names of Ampere, Gauss and
Weber. Ampere proposed a multiple wire telegraph with
galvanoscope indicators in 1820. A modification of Ampere's
telegraph was carried out by Ritchie, and afterwards exhibited
in Edinburgh by Alexander. In this telegraph thirty wires
were used, twenty-six for the letters of the alphabet, three for
signs of punctuation and one for the end of a word. The gal-
vanoscope needles each carried a small screen which in its
normal position covered the letter, but which, on the passage
of a current through the wire, was drawn aside exposing the
letter to view. The transmitting keys were arranged like the
keys of a piano-forte. With the exception of the use of gal-
vanic instead of static electricity this telegraph was not much
in advance of the proposal of Morrison. A single circuit tele-
graph was invented in the year 1828 by Tribaoillet, who also
used a galvanoscope as the indicator.
In 1832 a five-needle telegraph was invented by Schilling,
who also used a single needle and single circuit telegraph,
using reverse currents and combinations of signals for an alpha-
bet. Models of this telegraph were made and exhibited before
the Emperor Alexander and others, but Schilling unfortunately
died before any practical result was attained. In 1833 Schill-
ing's telegraph was developed to some extent by Gauss and
Weber, who used it for experimental purposes. The chief
modification introduced by these experimenters was the sub-
stitution of induced currents, produced by the motion of a coil
of wire surrounding a bar magnet, for the galvanic currents
used by Schilling. The following translation of a part of a
report of the magnetic observations of these physicists given
in Poggandorf's Annalen, 32, p. 568, is quoted from "Sabine's
Electric Telegraph," ''There is, in connection with these
arrangements, a great and until now in its way novel project,
for which we are indebted to Professor Weber. This gentle-
man erected during the past year a double-wire line over the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, i8i
houses of the town (Gottingen) from the Physical Cabinet to
the Observatory, and lately a continuation from the latter
building to the Magnetic Observatory ; thus an immense gal-
vanic chain (line) is formed, in which the galvanic current,
the two mtiltipliers at the ends being included, has to travel a
distance of nearly 9,000 (Prussian) feet. The line wire is
mostly of copper, of that known in commerce as 'No. 3,' of
which one metre weighs eight grammes. The wire of the
multipliers in the Magnetic Observatory of copper, 'No. 14,'
silvered, and of which one gramme measures 2.6 metres.
This arrangement promises to offer opportunities for a number
of interesting experiments. We regard, not without admira-
tion, how a single pair of plates, brought into contact at the
further end, instantaneously communicates a movement to the
magnetic bar, which is deflected at once for over a thousand
divisions of the scale. ' ' And further on in the same report :
" The ease and certainty with which the manipulator has the
direction of the current, and therefore the movement of the
magnetic needle, in his command, by means of the communi-
cator, had a year ago suggested experiments of an application
to telegraphic signaling, which, with whole words and even
short sentences, completely succeeded. There is no doubt
that it would be possible to arrange an uninterrupted telegraph
communication in the same way between two places at a con-
siderable number of miles distance from each other. ' '
The method of producing the currents in Gauss and Weber's
experiments was an application of the important discoveries of
Faraday and Henry in the induction of currents by currents
and by magnets, which have since borne so very important
fruit in the field of dynamo-electric machinery.
On the recommendation of Gauss this telegraph was taken
up by Steinheil, who following their example also used induced
currents. The important contributions of Steinheil were the
discovery of the earth circuit, made while attempting to use
the rails of a railway as telegraphic conductors ; the invention
of a telegraphic alphabet and a recording telegraph. Of these
the discovery of the earth circuit, made in 1837, has proved of
great value. An interesting description of Steinheil' s tele-
graph, together with illustrations of the magneto-electric and
1 82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
recording apparatus used on the line erected in 1837, between
Munich and Bogenhausen, will be found in Sturgeon's ''Annals
of Electricity," (Vol. III). This account, written by Steinheil
himself, shows that he had at that time an excellent apprecia-
tion both of the mechanical and electrical properties which a
good practical electric telegraph should have, and also that he
was well versed in the knowledge then existing of electrical
science. The relative merits of scopic, acoustic and recording
telegraphs are discussed, and the advantages, which experience
has since brought into prominence, of the acoustic telegraph is-
pointed out. A very good discussion of the most economical
method of arranging signals for a telegraphic alphabet wdll also
be found in this paper.
Schilling's telegraph, which we have just seen, was the model
on which Gauss and Weber's and, therefore, also Steinheil's
telegraphs were based, was, as we shall see presently, also#the
basis of Cooke's, and of Cooke and Wheatstone's needle tele-
graphs.
Previous to the date which we have now reached (1837) ^.n-
other epoch-making discovery had been made, which has had
great influence on telegraphy. This was the discovery of the
magnetizing influence of the current. The discovery of Oersted
was followed up by Ampere in a long series of researches, in
which, among other things, he established the mutual attrac-
tions and repulsions of wires carr5dng currents, the fact that the
voltaic element itself acts on a magnet like any other part of
the circuit, and that a spiral of wire forming part of a circuit
would magnetize steel needles. In the same year M. Arago
found that a wire conveying an electric current attracted iron
filings, and in 1824 the law of the variation of magnetic force
with varying distance from the wire was investigated by Bar-
low. In 1825, Sturgeon found that a bar of soft iron was ren-
dered temporarily magnetic if surrounded by a helix of wire
through which an electric current was passing. In the year
1827, Ohm propounded his celebrated law of the conduction of
currents. In 183 1, Faraday in England, and Henry in America,
discovered the induction of currents by currents and by mag*
nets. We see from these leading facts that in the twelve years
succeeding Oersted's discovery the knowledge of electricity and
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 1 83
of magnetism in the directions important for telegraphic appli-
cation was very great, and we shall see that it quickly bore
fruit.
Schilling's telegraph was exhibited at a meeting of German
naturalists held at Bonn in 1835, and was there seen by Prof.
Muncke, of Heidelberg, who, after his return to Heidelberg,
made models of the telegraph and exhibited them in his class-
room. These models were seen by Cooke in the early part of
1836, and gave him the idea of introducing the electric tele-
graph in England. Cooke immediately set to work to construct
a telegraph on a similar plan, and worked out a three-needle
system of signals, which has been to some extent confounded
with the five-needle telegraph afterwards patented and intro-
duced by him in conjunction with Wheatstone. While arrang-
ing for experiments on the I^ondon and Manchester Railway,
Cooke was introduced to Wheatstone, and afterwards consulted
him as to difficulties he had met with in his experiments. A
partnership soon followed, which led Wheatstone to devote
considerable attention to the subject. The result has been the
production of a considerable variety of telegraphic apparatus
of great value and ingenuity.
Steinheil was anticipated in the idea of making the electric
telegraph self-recording by Morse, of New York, who, accord-
ing to a considerable amount of evidence brought forward by
Morse himself, thought out some arrangement as early as 1832.
Exactly what Morse's first ideas were seems somewhat doubtful,
and he did nothing till 1835, when he made a rough model of
an electro-magnetic recording telegraph. This telegraph con-
sisted essentially of a pendulum, which carried a marking
pencil on its lower end, and which could be deflected by an
electro-magnet. The deflections of x^he pendulum were re-
corded on a band of paper, which was moved forward by clock-
work under the pendulum, and simple combinations of deflec-
tions were to represent numbers. The interpretation of the
message was to be made by means of a telegraphic dictionary,
in which the words, phrases or sentences were to be numbered.
There was no hint at this time of the alphabet with which we
are now so familiar as the ' * Morse Code ' ' or the ' ' Morse
Alphabet." This alphabet now almost universally used and
1 84 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
which has probably done more than anything else towards
perpetuating the name of Morse, being that which perpetuates
the name " Morse System," was not invented by Morse but by
Vail, who was associated with him in the development of the tele-
graph. The dictionary of numbered words proposed by Morse
was proposed by Kdgeworth in 1794 in connection with his
semaphore telegraph. The model made in 1835 shows little
mechanical i^genuit3^ The method of transmitting the signals,
which was by means of type moved through a contact-making
device, was somewhat crude and much less convenient than
the simple make-and-break circuit devices of several previous
workers, and the electro-magnet used to deflect the pendulum
showed almost complete ignorance of the principles then known
of electro-magnetism. The chief points of interest in connec-
tion with the early history of the Morse telegraph lie in the
proposal to use electro-magnetism as the motive force to move
the recording pendulum and the idea of making the telegraph
self-recording. Morse made positive claims to have been the
first to do both of these, and it seems proper that his claim
should be examined.
After the discovery of Sturgeon in electro-magnetism became
known among scientific men the subject was taken up by Pro-
fessor Henry, who was then teaching ph3^sics in Albany
Academy. An account of part of Henry's experiments was
pubHshed in *'Silliman's American Journal of Science" for
January, April and July, 1851.
The following, among other things, were subjects of investi-
gation in these experiments : The laws which govern the mag-
netizing effect of a helix under varying conditions as to num-
ber of turns in the helix, nature or arrangement of the battery,
and length of the external circuit. The carrying power of
magnets having different kinds of winding and different
lengths of wire in the coils. The construction of an electro-
magnetic engine. The transmission of power to a distance by
means of his electro-magnetic engine. Among the applica-
tions were the closing of a distant electric circuit by means of
the armature of an electro magnet, the coils of which were in-
cluded in another circuit passing through an operating or
transmitting station, and the transmission of signals to a dis-
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 185
tance by causing the armature of an electro-magnet to strike a
bell each time a current was sent through the coils of the mag-
net from the transmitting station. The latter of these applica-
tions was illustrated by means of a model apparatus included
in a long circuit of wire taken several times round one of the
rooms in Albany Academy. The following claims made in
this connection by Professor Henry are well founded, and de-
serve quotation :
*' I. Previous to my investigations the means of developing
magnetism in soft iron were imperfectly understood, and the
electro-magnet which then existed was inapplicable to the
transmission of power to a distance. ' '
** 2. I was the first to prove, by actual experiment, that in
order to develop magnetic power at a distance a galvanic bat-
tery of ' intensity ' must be employed to project the current
through the long conductor, and that a magnet surrounded by
many turns of one long wire must be used to receive this cur-
rent."
"3. I was the first to actually magnetize a piece of soft iron
at a distance, and to call attention to the fact of the applica-
bility of my experiments to the telegraph."
"4. I was the first to actually sound a bell at a distance by
means of the electro-magnet. ' '
V 5. The principles I had developed were applied by Dr.
Gale to render Morse's machine effective at a distance."
It is to Henry, undoubtedly, that is due the credit not only
of first pointing out the application of electro-magnetism to
telegraphy, but also of supplying the requisite knowledge of
how to make magnets suitable for the transmission of signals
through long distances, which rendered the practical applica-
tion possible at that time. Besides this, we see that Henry
actually constructed an experimental line and made the first
electro-magnetic sounder, which consisted of a receiving mag-
net with a polarized armature, one end of which was attracted
by the magnet and the other end made to sound a bell. Again,
in the method of closing one circuit by means of a magnet in
another circuit, we have the electro-magnetic relay, afterwards
reinvented by Morse and others, and now very widely used on
long telegraph circuits both for closing "local circuits" and
for "translation."
1 86 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The credit of inventing the electro-magnetic telegraph was
claimed by and has usuall}^ been, popularly at least, given to
Morse. There has been some dispute as to who first suggested
the idea, it having arisen out of a conversation among the
passengers on board the ship Sully during a passage from
France to New York in 1832. Dr. Jackson, of Boston, claimed
to have been the originator of the idea, and it seems not un-
likely that information which he is said to have given with
reference to the early experimental telegraphs then being
worked on and exhibited in various parts of Europe did orig-
inate the idea. It is not clear, however, that the use of the
electro-magnet was suggested by Jackson, and there is sufficient
evidence to show that Morse had had opportunities of seeing a .
copy of Sturgeon's magnet in Professor Dana's laboratory in
New York. The magnet made by Morse was itself almost an
exact copy of this, and it w^as only after failure with it that he
appealed to Dr. Gale for assistance. Dr. Gale gave the necessary
information and supplied the materials for making the change,
afterwards informing Morse that he had learned how to ar-
range such an apparatus from the writings of Professor Henry.
Probably the idea of using an electro-magnet was original with
Morse. He didn't know of Henry's work or, indeed, anything
about the subject beyond the few experiments in which he had
seen Sturgeon's magnet used, and would naturally turn to that
means of obtaining motive force. It is not necessary, however,
when giving Morse due credit for his originality to ignore the
fact that, although unknown to him, the scientific part of the
invention had already been worked out by Henry, and besides
that, through Dr. Gale, Morse actually made use of Henry's
discoveries before he succeeded in making his scheme practica-
ble. Morse afterwards objected to Henry's claims, which were
brought before the public by enforced testimony in the law
courts, and not by any individual motion on Henry's part.
The public have lauded Morse and have paid him liberally for
the little he actually did, while it was with great difficulty that
Congress could be persuaded to make a petty allowance to
Henry's family, although he had been for many years a public
servant, and besides had probably added more than any other
man to the scientific reputation of the United States. Many
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 187
people think that scientific men ought not to patent their dis-
coveries. Which is the better known name, Henry or Morse ?
Would not Henry have gained both in popularity and in scien-
tific reputation if he had patented and made the public pay
liberally for his discoveries ?
From the brief sketch just given it will be seen that in look-
ing over the history of the early endeavors to produce a
telegraph many ideas have been brought forward as to codes
of signals, alphabets, telegraphic dictionaries, methods of calling
attention by alarm apparatus, methods of arranging and oper-
ating the circuits, and so on, that only required an efficient
motive force to render them practical and reliable sj^stems. In
looking over the subject, therefore, we are forced to the conclu-
sion that the telegraph was not the invention of any man, but
the result of a gradual growth towards which many minds,
some of them the ablest the scientific world has known, have
contributed.
, We have now reached a stage in the history of this subject
when inventors may be said to have had the fundamental prin-
ciples of the subject, as it now. stands, before them and we
have simply to look for developments. These developments
have been great and of a very varied character. It is impossible
in this address to do more than sketch a few of their leading
features.
As alread}'- stated the telegraph of Schilling, through a
model exhibited bj^ Professor Muncke, of Heidelberg, gave the
idea of an electric telegraph to Cooke in the year 1836. It
appears, also, that Wheatstone was aware of these early ex-
periments, and had himself paid some attention to the subject.
His experiments on the velocity of electricity, made in 1834,
are sufficient to show that he was at that time aware that sig-
nals could be produced at the end of long circuits of wire by
electrical means. The joint work of Cooke and Wheatstone
led, within a few years, to considerable improvements in the
needle telegraphs. The various forms of needle telegraph
used by them, resulting in the final adoption of the single-
needle system, for a long time extensively used in England,
were passed over in a few years. Various modifications of
the needle telegraph were, somewhat later, patented by the
I88 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
brothers H. and B. Highton, including an interesting form
in which the current was passed through a strip of gold leaf
placed in front of the pole of a magnet. Bach time the current
passed the gold leaf was deflected, and thus served in place of
an index needle.
A patent was granted to Wheatstone and Cooke in 1 840 for
improvements in giving signals and sounding alarms at distant
places by means of electric currents. In this patent the first
form of the letter showing, dial or A, B, C telegraph, as it has
been variously called, is described. Improvements were sub-
sequently made in this apparatus by Wheatstone, and several
modifications have been made by other inventors, of which the
best known are Brequet's, Froment's, Siemens' Chester's,
Kramer's, Siemens and Halske's, and Hamblet's. The first
apparatus devised by Wheatstone was actuated by voltaic
electricity, but in the later forms magneto-electricity was
applied. One or other of these methods have been used in
the other forms of apparatus for the same purpose. Wheat-
stone also worked on a type-printing telegraph, which was a
modification of his A, B, C instrument, but it never came into
practical use. Probably the greatest achievement of Wheat-
stone, judged at least by its practical results, was his auto-
matic recording telegraph, which is so largely used for press
and other long despatches in Bngland, and which has attained
to marvelous speeds for a mechanical recorder.
Morse's telegraph first came before the Patent Office in the
form of a caveat filed by him on the third of October, 1837. The
following inventions were specified : First, a system of signs by
which numbers, and consequently words and sentences, are
signified ; second, a set of type, adapted to regulate and com-
municate the signs, with rules in which to set up the type ;
third, an apparatus called the port rule, for regulating the
movement of the type rules, which rules, by means of the
type, regulate the times and the intervals of the passage of
electricity ; fourth, a register, which records the signs perma-
nently ; fifth, a dictionary, or vocabulary of words, numbered
and adapted to this system of telegraph ; sixth, modes of laying
conductors to preserve them from injury.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 189
This caveat gives a good idea of the invention by Morse of
the recording telegraph previous to his partnership with Vail.
The partnership was agreed upon in September, 1837, and
according to it Mr. Vail undertook to construct at his own ex-
pense and exhibit before a committee of Congress one of the
telegraphs "of the plan and invention of Morse;*' that he
should give his time and personal services to the work, and
assume the expense of exhibiting the apparatus and of procur-
ing patents in the United States. In consideration, Vail was to
receive one-fourth of all the rights in the invention in the United
States. Provision was also made for securing to Vail an interest
in any foreign patents which he might furnish the means to
obtain.* A large amount of documentary evidence bearing on
the development of the telegraph exists in the possession of Mr.
Vail's family, and in the National Museum at Washington.
From this evidence there seems no doubt but that Morse
assumed and has been accorded very much more than his
share of the credit of the invention of the telegraph as it is
now known. The patents taken out in Morse's name included
many important improvements which were entirely due to
Vail, and for which Morse promised to give him credit, a
promise which was never publicly redeemed. The alphabet
now used was, as I have already said, worked out by Vail,
who, it appears, first began its formation by an attempt to
classify the letters of the alphabet according to frequency of
occurrence, with the view of giving to these letters the simplest
signs. After working on this for some time, it occurred to him
that valuable information might be obtained in a printing
ofi&ce, and a visit to an adjacent newspaper office showed him
the whole problem solved in the printers' type tray. The
alphabet which he afterwards formed is still used in this
country and also, with some simplifications, as the European
and international code. The modification of the recording
apparatus from the vertical pendulum and recording pencil to
the compact instrument with a horizontal lever and metallic
stylus, marking by indentation, used on the first telegraphic
line between Washington and Baltimore, was also due to Vail.
* See F. L. Pope in the Century Magazine ^ Vol. XXXV, p. 924 et seq.
I90 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Many other things might be mentioned to show that in the
early stages of this invention, which has marked so wide a step
in our modern civilization, the name of Vail deserves a promi-
nent place. It is very unfortunate that his own modesty^
together with his confidence in Morse's promises to do him
justice, prevented the matter from being publicly ventilated
during the lifetime of the inventors.
After several unsuccessful attempts to induce Congress to
assume the expense of building a line of sufficient length to
practically test the proposals of Morse, an appropriation of
$30,000 was made in March, 1843, for the purpose of building a
line from Washington to Baltimore. This line was completed
and successfully opened on the 24th of May, 1844. The system
practically introduced with the opening of this line, modified in
some of its mechanical details, has continued to be the principal
one used, and is the basis of most of the recording telegraphs in
all countries. One important modification should, however, be
mentioned, that is the wide use of the click of the armature for
reading the message in preference to the recorder. This is a.
return to the electro-magnetic acoustic telegraph of Henry. It
gives one of the simplest possible receiving instruments, and, as
was long ago pointed out by Steinheil, possesses the great ad-
vantage that it leaves the eyes of the operator disengaged.
Of other forms of telegraphic apparatus, the most important
are the type-printing telegraph. Among the early inventors of
these we find Vail, who invented a type-printing telegraph as
early as 1837, ^^^ Wheatstone ; but the first instrument practi-
cally used was invented in 1846 by Royal K. House, of Ver-
mont. This instrument was used for some time in the United
States, and was brought to a considerable degree of perfection.
It worked on the step-by-step principle and was patented in
1846. Another type-printing telegraph of great ingenuity was
invented by D. B. Hughes, of Kentucky. This apparatus
embodies many of the features of the apparatus used at present
in this country, which is a modification of Hughes's instrument
due to Mr. Phelps. The Hughes instrument is still largely
used in France and to some extent in other European countries^
The Hughes patents in this country were purchased in 1856 by
the American Telegraph Company, and the apparatus has
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 191
undergone successive modification at the hands of Mr. Phelps,
tending towards simplification, accuracy of working, and in-
creased speed. One of the latest modifications is known as the
Phelps's Electro-Motor Telegraph, in which the mechanism is
driven by means of an electro-motor which, running at a high
5peed, allows the trains of clock-work to be short and light. The
principle here used is the synchronous movement of a trans-
mitting shaft on the transmitter and the type-wheel of the
receiver. Synchronism is obtained by a governor, and con-
tinuous rapid motion is kept up. The letter printed is regu-
lated by the position of the transmitting shaft when the circuit
is closed, this position being under the control of the operator.
Phelps is also the inventor of stock telegraphs and private
line printing telegraphs, and, besides his, similar instruments
have been invented by Laws, Calahan, Gray and others. These
instruments work on the step-by-step principle and all of them
are beautiful specimens of mechanism and scientific ingenuity.
Another system of recording telegraph messages requires
notice — that is the chemical method.- We have seen that very
early in telegraphic history the decomposition of liquids and
of solutions of salts were made the basis of telegraphs. It was
soon found that a ribbon of paper or cloth saturated with cer-
tain chemicals could be very readily marked by the passage
through them of the electric current. One of Morse's first
plans appears to have been a chemical telegraph, but that, I
believe, was never worked out. The first patent for such a
telegraph was given in England to Edward Davy in 1838, but
the system never came into practical use. It was complicated
in construction and required four line wires. One interesting
feature was the use of an electro-magnetic escapement for mov-
ing the paper, an idea which had occurred to Cooke and to
Wheatstone some years earlier. The first successful chemical
telegraph was due to Bain of Edinburgh, and was patented in
1846. In this system it was proposed to transmit the message
by an automatic transmitter, using a punched slip of paper.to
regulate the contacts. Some difiiculties with the mechanical
operation of preparing the necessary stencil slips prevented this
being very successfully used, but the chemical record was used
for some years both in England and America. With the
192 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
apparatus now available for transmission, very high speeds can
be attained by this method of recording the signals.
The chemical method of recording has been mostly used for
copying or autographic telegraphs, and of these a considerable
number have been devised. The automatic method of trans-
mission has been brought to a high state of perfection. Among
others who have worked at the subject are Wheatstone, Sie-
mens and Halske, Garnier, Humaston, lyittle, Edison, Park,
Thomson.
The next important step in telegraphy was the employment
of one line-wire to convey more than one message at the same
time. A solution of the problem of sending two messages, one
in each direction, was attempted by Gintl of Vienna, in 1853,,
and in the following year by Frischen and by Siemens and
Halske. These methods were not very successful, but they
were mechanically sufficient for the purpose. They, however,
left an important item out of the account, namely, the elec-
trostatic capacity of the line. The proper solution of the
difficulty was given by J. B. Steams of Boston, in 1871,
who solved the problem completely, so far at least as land lines
were concerned. The same principle is sufficient for all pur-
poses, but some important modifications in detail are necessary
for submarine cables. These modifications were successfully
made by Muirhead of London, and at the present time duplex
working is an ordinary accomplishment. The chief workers
in this field were Frischen, Siemens and Halske, Stark, Bd-
lund, Gintl, Nystroin Preece, Fur Nedden, Farmer, Maron,
Winter, Steams and Muirhead.
Next the problem of sending two messages in each direction
was worked out. This involves the additional problem of the
simultaneous sending of two messages in the same direction.
The solution of this problem was attempted by J. B. Stark, of
Vienna, in 1855, and during the following ten years it was
worked at by Bosscha, Kramer, Maron, Schaak, Schreder^
Wartman, and others. The first to obtain success was Kdison,
in 1874 ; and his method, with'some modifications, is still used.
Systems of quadruplex were also invented by Gerrit Smith of
the Western Union Company, in 1875 and 1876, and a modifi-
cation of Kdison' s method was made by Prescott and Smith.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 193
Smith's 1876 method is known as the Western Union Company's
Standard Quadruplex. *
A system of multiple transmission was devised by M. G.
Farmer, of Salem, in 1852, in which, by a commutation ar-
rangement, the line-wire was put successively in contact with a
number of local circuits. A similar system was exhibited by
Meyer at the Vienna Exposition in 1873, and an improved
form was introduced a few years ago by Delany, which is in
use in several countries. These systems are of use if the line-
wire is capable of doing more work than any one of the stations
is capable of supplying, and may be likened to one of the main
wires from the central to a district telephone exchange, with
this exception — that all the correspondence goes on simul-
taneously, and there need be no difficulty as to precedence.
Distinctive from these is the harmonic telegraphs of Klisha
Gray, Kdison, and Bell. In this system, which has been most
completely worked out by Gray, any number of messages may
be sent simultaneously, without reference to speed of trans-
mission. In principle, the method consists in causing each of
a number of vibrating reeds at one end to produce pulsations
of the current flowing through the line, which have the same
period as the vibrations of the reed. A corresponding set of
reeds at the receiving end of the line are arranged so as to be
acted on electro-magnetically by the current. Each of these
receiving reeds will, providing the periods of the different reeds
forming any one set are incommensurable, respond only to the
pulsations of its own natural period, and hence only to the
vibrations of the corresponding reed at the sending end. The
continuity of these vibrations may be broken up by means of
a sending key, and thus a message transmitted in the ordinary
* ' Morse ' ' alphabet.
The autographic or writing telegraphic apparatus, which has
been developed of recent years, is of great interest, both from
the fact that the handwriting of the sender is reproduced in
fac-simile, and from the great ingenuity of the apparatus em-
ployed. The writing telegraph of Cowper and the telautograph
of Elisha Gray are good examples of this mode of transmitting
messages.
194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
In Cowper's system two rectangular components of the
motion of the pen are made to vary the resistance, and con-
sequently the current, in two line wires. These currents act
on two electro-magnets at the receiving station, and the arma-
tures of the electro-magnets are arranged to produce two rect-
angular components of the motion of the receiving pen.
Bands of paper are kept moving at approximately the same
rate under each of these pens, and hence the characters traced
by the motions of the transmitting pen are reproduced with
considerable accuracy by the receiving pen in consequence of
the varying positions of the armatures of the receiving magnets,
caused by the variations of the current. In Gray's apparatus
two rectangular components of the motion of the transmitting
pen send pulsatory currents into the line- wire. These pulsatory
currents cause corresponding movements of the armatures of
two receiving magnets, which are made to move the receiving
pen in the direction, in corresponding directions, and through
proportionate distances. Separate electro-magnetic arrange-
ments lift the pen off the paper between the words and at the
end of the lines, and allow the receiving pen to be moved back-
wards or forwards without marking the paper. Still another
electro-magnetic arrangement is used to move the paper forward
between the lines. Anything that can be made with a pen —
such as a sketch or drawing — can be telegraphed in this way.
The whole apparatus is exceedingly ingenious, but much too
extensive and complicated to admit of clear description here.
Although the mere extension of telegraphs from land to sub-
marine lines can hardlj^ be called an invention, yet very many
new problems presented themselves for solution in this exten-
sion. Many of these problems were of a more purely scientific
character than those presented in the developments which had
been in progress, and consequently tested the knowledge then
existing of the laws of electricity much more severely. It was
very soon discovere(f, for example, that the rate at which signals
could be transmitted, and the battery power or other electro-
motive force necessary to effect the transmission, did not, as in
land lines, depend almost entirely on the size and length of the
conductors used. The electrostatic capacity of the line imme-
diately began to play an important part, and signals were found
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 195
not to be transmitted so instantaneously as they were on exist-
ing land lines. Again, there was no opportunity of using
relays, so as to effectively shorten the longer lines, and the in-
vestigations of Thomson led him to point out that the rate of
signaling would be inversely as the square of the length.
Such difficulties as these, combined with the very evident dif-
ficulties involved in manufacturing and submerging a cable in
deep water, were, to say the least, discouraging. Experiments
on short lengths in the English Channel and elsewhere proving
successful, faith in the possibility of longer cables grew, and
very soon, through the enterprise of a few American and Eng-
lish business and scientific men, an attempt was made to lay a
cable across the Atlantic. The history of that undertaking
and its various failures are almost common knowledge, but
perseverance conquered all the difficulties, and to-day no one
thinks of the probability of failure when a long cable is pro-
posed.
The laying of long cables brought out the fact that, as had
been anticipated, existing telegraphic apparatus was not of
great enough sensibility to render moderately rapid signaling
possible. This difficulty was almost immediately met by the
mirror galvanoscopic receiver of Thomson, followed some
years later by his siphon recorder, which is undoubtedly by far
the most sensitive recording telegraph known. Improved
methods of working cables soon followed, among which, in the
early days, probably the most notable is the introduction of
condensers between the ends of the cable and the earth by
Varley. The successful duplexing of cables by Muirhead has
already been referred to, but it is somewhat curious to note that
although the electricians interested in cable working were
familiar, as early as 1856 and perhaps earlier, with the difficulty
which had prevented success on land lines, no one seems to
have thought of applying the remedy. As early as 1858 a
patent was taken ont by Thomson, in which he proposed to
overcome the difficulty of duplexing a cable by a mechanical
arrangement for varying the compensating currents at the same
rate that the signaling current varies. He has since said that
he did not propose the use of condensers, because a means of
producing a sufficiently good model cable was not then known.
196 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Such a model cable was not available for nearly twenty years
after the above date, and was finally produced by making prac-
tically a copy of the actual cable, using tinfoil strips for the
conductor insulated from an earth plate by means of thin paraf-
fined paper, so as to give electrostatic capacity.
The invention of the telephone constitutes one of the greatest
advances that have been made in telegraphic communication.
This is an acoustic telegraph, which has the very important
merit that the audible signals are spoken words, and hence the
instruments can be used by any one who can hear and speak
and who understands the language in which the message is.
transmitted.
It is well known that sound is transmitted through the air
from the source to the hearer by waves of condensation and
rarefaction, which affect the drum of the ear. Wheatstone, as-
early as 1831, showed that these waves could be transmitted
from one place to another, at a moderate distance, through
wooden rods and afterward conveyed to the ear by the vibra-
tions given to the air by the end of the rod. Similarly, vibrations
given to one diaphragm can be conveyed to another, at a con-
siderable distance, by connecting the two diaphragms together
by a stretched cord or wire. This appears to have been known
for several centuries in the central districts of India, and a
similar apparatus was described by Hook in 1667. A similar
apparatus is now used and known as the mechanical telephone^
To cause the vibrations of one diaphragm to produce corre-
sponding vibrations in another diaphragm, at a distance, through
the agency of an electric current, was the problem of the electric
telephone. The first to propose this seems to have been Charles
Bourseul, who, in 1854, suggested the use of two plates — one
at the transmitting station, which, by the varying pressure of
the air due to the sound waves, would open and close an electric
circuit ; while the other was to be acted on at the receiving
station by an electro-magnet, through which the coils of the
electric current passed. The varying strength of the electro-
magnet, due to the rapid succession of currents, was thus to be
taken advantage of to give the proper succession of impulses
to the receiving diaphragm. In 1861 Philip Reis, of Fried-
richsdorf, proposed, in a lecture delivered before the Physical
Society of Frankfort, to use an instrument, which he called a
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 197
telephone, for the reproduction at a distance of music and
human speech. The apparatus consisted of a stretched mem-
brane forming part of one side of a box, into which, by means
of a mouthpiece, the sounds could be directed. This mem-
brane was made to open and close an electric circuit at each
vibration. At the receiving end an electro-magnet, consisting
of a thin rod of iron surrounded by a coil, was placed. The
successive interruptions and closings of this electric current
was, in accordance with a discovery made by Dr. Page, of
Salem, Mass., in 1837, to produce sounds of the same pitch as
those of the sound directed into the box of the transmitter.
This method failed for speech, for the simple reason that speech
has more characteristics than pitch ; and it was only partially
successful for musical sounds, from its inability to produce*
with any approach to accuracy, the necessary variations of
loudness and quality.
To produce not only the frequency of vibration, but also the
loudness and quality of the sounds evidently required a trans-
mitter and a receiver which did not depend for its action on
simple interruption of the current, but which varied it in an
undulating manner, similar to the variations of pressure to
which the diaphragm receiving the sound vibrations was sub-
jected due to the sound waves. Such an apparatus of a very
perfect type was produced by Graham Bell in 1876, who, in the
descriptions of his apparatus given in his patent specifications
and elsewhere, shows that he thoroughly understood what had
to be done. We all know from actual experience that the in-
strument which he produced did it. Since the publication of
Bell's invention a great many modifications have been pro-
duced. Most of them have, however, been held to embody the
same essential principle as that of Bell, the variation being
simply one of mechanical arrangement. One field of investiga-
tion has, however, been fruitful of improvement. In the
original patent of Bell, and also in a caveat filed almost simul-
taneously by Blisha Gray, it is pointed out that the variations
of the current may be produced by causing the vibrations of
the diaphragm to vary the resistance of the circuit. This idea
has proved of great value in increasing the loudness of the
sounds given out by the Bell telephone when used as a receiver.
A great many forms of these ' ' microphone ' ' transmitters have
198 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
been invented. Among those who have made important con-
tributions we may mention Berliner, Blake, Bdison, Gower,
Gray, Hughes and Hunnings.
Another form of telephone has been proposed by Professor
Dolbear. In this telephone system one diaphragm of the
receiver is made to foim one plate of an electric condenser, and
the varying electric force on this plate, due to the fluctuations
•of the charge, causes it to vibrate in response to the varying
electro-motive force produced by the transmitter. This con-
denser telephone can evidently be used either as a transmitter
or as a receiver, and, as Dolbear has pointed out, may be ren-
dered sensitive by keeping one plate of the condenser at a high
potential.
Another interesting discovery in this subject should be
mentioned, namely, the transmission of speech from one place
to another by means of beams of light or radiant heat. This
was based originally on the discovery by May and Smith of
the variation of the electric resistance of selenium when ex-
posed to light or radiant heat. Many other substances have
«ince been found to have the same property in a greater or less
■degree. The experiments of Bell and Sumner Tainter have
shown that if a beam of light be reflected from a thin mirror,
and, by means of lenses or otherwise, made to pass as a
parallel beam from the transmitter to the receiving station, and
there received on a bar or series of bars, or a coil of a sub-
stance having the properties of selenium, the resistance of this
substance will be afiected by vibration of the mirror. If, then,
the mirror be used as a transmitting diaphragm, like that of a
telephone transmitter, words spoken to the mirror will be
repeated by a telephone, in the circuit of which the selenium
is placed and through which an electric current is kept flowing.
In this address an attempt has been made to sketch very
briefly the development of the application of electricity to the
transmission of intelligence. Many important applications
(as, for example, fire-alarms and railway signal systems, etc.)
have not been referred to, and a host of important contributors
have, as a matter of necessity, been entirely ignored. To go
into detail, and do justice to every one who has contributed
to the present state of the electric telegraph was an impossi-
bility and has not been attempted.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 199
INTBRNATIONAI, PROTECTION OF INDUSTRIAI^.
PROPERTY.
By F. a. Seely, a. M., of Pennsyi^vania, Principai. Examiner.
U. S. Patent Office.
The convenient phrase Industrial Property, recently natu-
ralized into our language, comes to us from the French, who
are more apt than we in finding terms to express generic ideas.
It does not include all property employed in industry, but only
incorporeal property related to production and trade, and has its
analogue in the phrase Literary and Artistic Property. The
latter includes the property of the author and artist in the pro-
ductions of their labor and genius ; such, in fact, as we usually
define by the term copyright. Industrial property includes a
wide field of incorporeal rights, such as are embraced in
mechanical and design patents and trade-marks, including
many for which the English language scarcely has names.
The phrase Good-Will is made with us to cover a number of
rights constituting a sort of property, for which the French
have specific names and a place in their jurisprudence.
For an occasion like this I shall not attempt to traverse sa
wide a field as implied by the title assigned to me. The
general acquiescence of the commercial world in the sentiment
that the name and trade-mark of a manufacturer are his prop-
erty under the law of nations, long proclaimed in Europe,
makes their international protection comparatively easy. It
has been accomplished by treaty stipulations in many in-
stances, in others it has been conceded without question as a
common law right. In few cases, except where shameless
piracy of trade-marks is countenanced by a corrupt trade
morality, is there serious difiiculty in securing their protection.
There are some differences in definition yet to be adjusted,
some minor obstacles to be removed, but commerce is wielding
its mighty influence to bring the nations of the world into
constantly closer relationships, 'and to throw down the barriers
200 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
that civilization and Christianity have found hitherto insupera-
ble. Everything leads to the belief that before long the inter-
national character of this kind of property will be completely
recognized and full protection accorded to it in all commercial
nations. Dismissing, therefore, this branch of the subject, I
shall consider briefly the history of International Protection for
Mechanical Inventions and its present aspect from an American
standpoint.
The world was very slow in coming to the notion of Indus-
trial Property. No trace of it exists in ancient laws or customs.
Athens could reward with a laurel crown the originator of a
new idea in art, but could not conceive that he possessed any
rights in its exercise. In Sparta industry was scorned as the
lot of the slave, whose rights were systematically crushed. In
Rome the laborer had neither rights nor property, and in the
systems of law derived from Rome there is no recognition of
the rights of inventors or artisans. During the dark period of
the Middle Ages many industries flourished, but under the
restrictions of the feudal system, and the more oppressive
tyranny of trade corporations, the personal rights of the arti-
san were lost sight of. When even the right to work was a
privilege, accorded by favor and hampered by arbitrary and
cruel regulations, the notion of a property-right in an inven-
tion, or an improvement in the arts, or a trade-mark, was
inconceivable.
Under the fixed rule of the Guilds the introduction of a new
improvement was next to impossible, and the marks affixed to
merchandise to indicate its origin were property in about the
same sense that the brand and chains of a convict are his.
They served to point out the producer of merchandise in order
that if it failed to come up to the required standard the harsh
and irrational penalties which the times permitted might be
visited upon the proper victim.
It is not till the darkness of the Middle Ages has passed,
and the more reasonable ideas of modern times are gleaming
in the horizon, that the notion is evolved of remuneration to
the inventor of a new and useful art. Under the Tudors in
Kngland, among other privileges that flowed from royal favor,
the exclusive right was sometimes accorded to exercise within
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 201
the realm the entire industry in which the beneficiary had
made a useful improvement. Such privileges, going by grace
rather than as of right, were allied to the mass of other privi-
leges and monopolies which were slowly crushing the life from
^English industry.
Two years after the landing of the Pilgrims on Plymouth
Rock the first step in the history of the world was taken to-
wards the recognition of Industrial Property by the enactment
of the law of monopolies ofjames I, which abolished privileges
wrhile reserving to the Crown the right to grant patents to the
authors of new and useful inventions. It would be a mistake
to assume that the sentiment expressed in this law recognized
a right of property in an invention. The patents granted under
it still flowed from royal favor. They were less arbitrary than
the privileges which preceded them, since they were granted
for limited times, and the monopolies they created were re-
stricted to the enjoyment of the new invention of which they
were the object. For this reason they ceased to be an obstacle
to industry, but became the reward of the inventor, and laid the
foundation for the vast industrial supremacy Great Britain has
so long enjoyed.
A hundred and forty years later, by a decree of I^ouis XV,
December 24, 1762, a similar step was taken in France. The
preamble to this decree recites that the privileges conferred for
the purpose of compensating inventors had failed of their ob-
ject, because, being accorded for unlimited time, they had be-
come rather an hereditary patrimony than a personal reward to
the inventor. Their term was therefore fixed at fifteen years.
This legislation, like all before it, recognized no rights of the
inventor, but left the concession to the caprice of power, and
its exercise subject to the malicious opposition of the corpora-
tions. The first step toward the acknowledgment of the rights
of inventors in France was in an edict of the same king, March
12, 1776, of which the philosophic Turgot was the author, and
which recognized these rights as natural and common. * ' God, ' *
said this edict, * ' in giving to man needs, and in making neces-
sary to him the recourse of labor, has made the right to labor
the property of every man ; and this property is the first, the
most sacred, and the most imprescriptible of all rights." This
202 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
concession of the rights of labor was a wonderful one for the
old regime in France ; but feudalism still reared its head, and
the conditions growing out of its arrogant claims, and the arbi-
trary power of the trade corporations, were an insuperable ob-
stacle to the complete enfranchisement of industry.
Not many years were to elapse, but a new light was to flash
over Europe from a source scarcely conceivable at that time.
We may confidently claim that the Constitution of the United
States, in giving to Congress the power to secure to authors and
inventors for a limited time the exclusive right to their respect-
ive writings and discoveries, was the first practical and effective
step in the history of the world for the recognition of property
in inventions.
The act of April lo, 1790, quickly followed, enforcing the
provision of the Constitution and establishing for the United
States the rights of the inventor. It is conceivable that this
feature of the Constitution may have been suggested in part by
the French edict of 1776 ; but it is certain that France was
prompt to welcome back the principle ; and in the law of Jan-
uarj^ 7, 1 791, the National Assembly provided for the protec-
tion of new inventions. The preamble of this law is a noble
statement of what is true in principle and wise in policy. It
runs thus :
''The National Assembly, considering that every new idea^
whose manifestation or development may become useful to so-
ciety, belongs to him who has conceived it, and that not to re-
gard an industrial invention as the property of its author would
be to attack the essential rights of man ; considering at the
same time how much the lack of a positive and authentic dec-
laration of this truth may have contributed till now to discour-
age French industry by occasioning the emigration of numerous
distinguished artists, and by causing to pass out of the country
a great number of new inventions from which this Empire ought
to have drawn the first advantages ; considering finally that all
the principles of justice, of public order, and of national inter-
est, imperatively command that it determine for the future the
opinion of French citizens with regard to this class of property
by a law which consecrates and protects it, decrees — "
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 203
The law which followed, firmly establishing the principle of
property in inventions, survived in France through all her po-
litical changes for the next half century, being superseded b}^
a new law in 1 844. Meanwhile nearly all the countries of Con-
tinental Europe had enacted patent laws ; and the principle,
originating in the mutterings of discontent that led to the Rev-
olution in England, carried to its full extent as the logical se-
quence of American independence, and finding its foothold in
Continental Europe during the feverish intellectual and politi-
cal conditions of the French Revolution, has become the com-
mon heritage of the civilized world.
Those who declaim against patent rights as grinding monop-
olies for the oppression of the artisan may possibly learn from
this history that in the economics of modem life the patent sys-
tem is the first fruit of the protest of labor against enthroned
and ancient privilege. It is the offspring of revolution and the
very reverse of monopoly. It was created on the demand of the
common people simultaneously with the overthrow of monopo-
lies and with the establishment of civil and religious freedom.
It is a perpetual token of the concession made to the rights of
labor by power and privilege. In its last analysis the right in-
volved in a patent is the right to work and to the legitimate
rewards of intelligent industry ; and we wonder why the world
so long refused it recognition, or that, as its nature has been
better understood, opposition to it should have been maintained.
But nothing dies harder than error and prejudice, and indus-
trial freedom was only to be secured at the cost of such revolu-
tions on both continents as have established other human rights
by the overthrow of thrones and the dismemberment of empires.
There is always room for dispute about the efi&cacy of dif-
ferent systems for the protection of the inventor and for the
encouragement of industry, but the truth of the declaration
solemnly made in France a century ago grows ever clearer,
until it is hard to find an intelligent person to dispute it, that
' * not to regard an industrial invention as the property of its
author is to attack the essential rights of man."
The establishment among European nations of the idea of
property in inventions, and of its protection by law, was at last
achieved. It was a step magnificent in what it embodied, and
204 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
its results upon industry, commerce and social life have passed
all computation. But the new conditions which it created
quickly proved that the limited protection accorded by national
laws failed to a great degree of its purpose. The swift and con-
stant intercommunication of ideas, to which national frontiers
were no barrier, carried the improvements in the arts made in
any nation to the confines of the civilized world, and for these
improvements, beyond the limits of his own nation, the inventor
had no rights that other nations would respect. An invention
patented in one country was denied protection in others, and
thus, while it contributed to promote the industries of all, pro-
tection was accorded to its inventor in only one, and was,
therefore, disproportionate to the benefits the world derived
from it.
Such a state of things is repugnant to human sense of justice.
The same conception of the rights of the inventor that had
found expression in the constitutions of the United States and
of the French republic forced thinking men to the conclusion
that the rights in question could not be bounded by geographic
lines, but that the protection of the inventor should be co-
extensive with the benefits he has conferred upon mankind.
Hence the idea of international protection.
How far the earlier patent laws fell short of recognizing the
rights of alien inventors may be seen by a brief inspection of
the successive statutes of the United States.
The act of 1790 grants patents without restriction to ''any
person ;" but this thoughtless liberality was restricted by the
act of 1 793, by which patents were granted only to * * any
person being a citizen of the United States, ' ' thus cutting off
the alien from the privilege. The pendulum had swung too
far, for it could not but be seen that in a new country inviting
immigration the prospective citizen ought to enjoy the same
rights as the citizen in this respect ; and in the first section of
the act of 1800 all rights respecting patents were given to
aliens who had resided two years in the country, conditioned
upon an oath that the invention had not been known or used
in this or in any foreign country. In this act the pendulum
appears to have swung too far the other way, since under it
two years residence in the country, without intention to remain
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 205
or to become a citizen, gave the alien inventor all the rights of
the citizen. But this continued the law until 1832, when it was
further amended so as to give the privilege of a patent to the
alien who at the time of petitioning was a resident of the United
States, and had declared his intention to become a citizen, a
condition which practically survives in the existing law for
caveats. This act guarded against abuse by providing that the
patent should be forfeited if the inventor failed to become a
citizen within the earliest period possible for him.
It is noticeable that as yet there is no indication of protecting
foreign inventors, only those of citizens of the United States
and alien residents, and the inventions of the rest of the world
are left free to appropriation by all who chose to employ them,
while a prior foreign patent is made a bar to a patent in this
country.
In 1836 the barriers to granting patents to aliens were thrown
down. Any person might now receive a patent, as under the
act of 1790, but with the remarkable provision that, while the
fee in an application to be paid by a citizen or resident alien
was but thirty dollars, the fee to be paid by foreigners generally
was fixed at three hundred dollars, and that to be paid by Brit-
ish subjects was five hundred dollars. This was reciprocity
with a vengeance ; but these invidious distinctions remained in
the law until they were completely wiped out by the act of 186 1.
Under the act of 1836 a prior patent or printed publication
in a foreign country constituted a bar to the grant of a patent
in the United States, but this bar was removed by the sixth
section of the act of 1839. Since that act, and since the re-
moval in 1 86 1 of discriminating fees, the benefits of the patent
law of the United States have been freely open to all the world.
Our law gives to all men of all nations the same privileges, and
recognizes to the fullest extent the international character of
property in inventions. In this respect, as in the original com-
plete recognition of the rights of the inventor, the United States
may claim to have led the world and to be leading it still.
Had the nations of Europe in the development of their patent
systems been led to adopt similar wise and liberal principles,
the difficulties that now environ international protection could
never have been experienced. The features of these systems
2o6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
which stand in the way of complete reciprocity are now to be
considered.
The patent systems of European nations have not been framed
upon the same model, but their clearly defined purpose is to
promote the useful arts by rewarding the inventor of a new im-
provement, in securing to him the exclusive enjoyment of his
invention for a limited term. Agreeing in this general prin-
ciple, they differ widely in details of procedure and in their
exactions of the inventor and patentee. Among the most im-
portant differences are those between systems which require and
those which dispense with preliminary examinations into nov-
elty, between those which grant the patent to the first appli-
cant on the assumption that he is the inventor, and those which
require of the applicant evidence that he in good faith be-
lieves himself to be the first inventor, and between those which
publish as incidental to the application, and those in which
publication is only incidental to the grant. Since in theory
the patent under all laws goes to the inventor, little difficulty
would arise in affording international protection if the practice
were made to conform to the theory of law, and no patent
granted except on showing by his own oath, or otherwise, that
the person filing the application was the true inventor of that
for which he seeks protection. It is out of this defect in prac-
tice, and the provision in the laws of many nations that the
grant of a patent for an invention already published is void,
that the difficulty in securing international protection arises,
since it results that an inventor, having first patented his in-
vention at home, is excluded by virtue of official publication in
his own country from securing protection abroad, while any
other person may anticipate the true inventor by depositing an
application in another country, and so secure to himself the
protection not justly his. Systems like these fail of their
avowed object, and stimulate industry by the encouragement of
piracy. They date from a period when no nation cared for the
rights of the alien, when the recognized standard of trade mo-
rality sanctioned the refusal in one country of protection to the
incorporeal rights of the citizens of another, and when the in-
ternational protection of industrial property was not dreamed
of. And now, when broader views prevail of the rights of aliens.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 207
the narrow ideas embodied in laws long outgrown form the
obstacle to the accomplishment of the object desired. These
laws are sustained by the same spirit of conservatism in which,
in all ages, every ancient evil has intrenched itself.
The laws of the leading patent-granting nations of Europe —
England, France and Germany — may be taken as the type of
all. In the two latter the patent is refused or void if a prior
publication has been made of the invention anywhere. In
England, if prior publication has occurred within the realm.
Considered with relation to the United States these conditions
are practically identical, and cut off the American inventor
from protection after the grant of his patent at home. Neither
nation requires an oath of invention, and the American inventor
is, therefore, helpless against the unscrupulous person who,
having acquired knowledge of his invention, may, during the
pendency of his application at home, take steps to secure a
patent abroad.
This is the American aspect of the conditions which, in these
and other countries, bear so hard upon the alien, and which the
ingenuity of inventors and the craft of statesmanship have
sought for many years to remove.
The question how to protect the true inventor simultaneously
in all countries has baffled those who could not see clearly that
the only difficulty arises from narrow and ungenerous laws, the
repeal of which by common consent would resolve the whole
problem. In this state of things it has been necessary to con-
sider how the result may be accomplished under existing laws.
Protection has been secured by the difficult and often hazardous
process of depositing applications on the same day in all the
States in which protection is desired, whereby the legal bar of
.antecedent publication is avoided in all. The United States
patentee modifies this arrangement by filing his application in
the countries of Europe on the same day upon which his
patent is granted at home. This serves two purposes, it avoids
vitiating his foreign patent by reason of a prior publication
here, and it avoids the consequences of an unfortunate feature
of our law, which abridges his domestic patent by reason of a
prior patent abroad. This system, though ingenious, is costly
2o8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and liable to failure through a variety of accidents, but it is the
best hitherto devised under present conditions.
It seems possible to find some way acceptable to all commer-
cial nations, and harmonious with all patent systems, by which
a plain and easy road could be opened to the international
protection of the inventor without resort to tricks, and not
subject to accident or unreasonable expense. It may be that
the statesmanship of the Old World has by some defect of
vision failed to see the way out of the difficulty which lies
directly under its eyes. It is at least remarkable that with the
consensus of Europe that publication of an invention must be a
bar to the grant of a subsequent patent in another country, or
vitiate one if obtained, it has not occurred to their wisdom that
absolute relief would be afforded if (by a slight modification of
their laws) they would provide that such publication shall not
be a bar to the true inventor if made in pursuance of the laws of
his own country, and incidental to protection there. Without
entering into details it would seem that, if there is an honest
purpose to protect the inventor, so much of a concession should
be made to him, with such limitations as to time and otherwise
as might seem just, but on the whole relieving him of the hard
conditions under which he forfeits his rights abroad by virtue
of obedience to the law at home. Such action by the various
nations would lay the foundation for true reciprocity. If it
would be an assimilation to the law of the United States it is
because that law, far in advance of those of Europe, already
recognizes the international principle. If to this amendment
were added another, to the effect that patents granted in the
different countries should be independent of each other in
respect to their duration, a point in which our own law is still
at fault, international protection would be practically accom-.
plished. The features of some patent laws, involving the pay-
ment of dues and the working of the invention to keep the
patent in force, may be disregarded so long as they subject the
alien to no unequal burden beyond what conies from his re-
moteness, a difficulty that neither laws nor treaties can remedy.
To the average American intellect such a proposition appears
equitable, logical, straightforward, and adapted to its end. But
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 209
it has not so appeared to those who have heretofore attempted
to solve the question by international compacts.
The outcome of efforts hitherto made in this direction in
America and Europe is to be found in two notable schemes,
recently brought to the attention of the people of the United
States. The first of these is the International Convention for
the Protection of Industrial Property, framed in Paris in 1880,
and signed by plenipotentiaries of many American and Euro-
pean powers in 1883. This Convention forms the basis for the
International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property,
of which the United States became a member in 1887.
Having been drafted by a committee appointed by the French
Government, it necessarily embodies French ideas. It was
earnestly discussed by delegates from various powers ; but, the
United States being represented by one of our Ministers at a
foreign court, who had no particular knowledge of the subject,
the peculiar features of our law were not brought to the atten-
tion of the conference. The treaty was adopted with slight
modifications of the original draft. Its vital point is the provis-
ion of a limited period (called a period of priority) within which
an inventor, having first filed an application for a patent at home,
may secure protection in other countries without having his
rights vitiated by reason of the publication of the invention in
his own country, or even by the grant of a patent for the same
invention to a third party during the period. This is a long
step toward international protection, but signally defective in
principle, and from our aspect of it a practical failure. It is
not the deposit of an application in one country that vitiates
a subsequent patent in another, but the publication conse-
quent on such deposit. And it would seem to have been the
practical course to make the period of priority run from the
publication, which follows deposit at a greater or less interval,
but is always the act fatal to the subsequent patent abroad,
rather than from the deposit, which has no such fatal character.
In respect to countries where the interval is .short between de-
posit and publication the arrangement is effective ; but where,
as here, the two events are unrelated in time, and months or
years may elapse between them, this period of priority, well
conceived as it is, is practicall}^ without value. It is too late
2IO PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
now to determine whether the provisions of the fourth article
of the Convention of Paris might not have been modified if the
features of American law had been brought to the attention of
the conference of 1880. Unfortunately this was not attempted.
The Convention of Paris in providing that a person who has
filed an application for patent in one of the contracting States
is entitled, by virtue of such deposit, to priority of right in any
other State, provided he file his application there within the
prescribed interval, assumes that the grant of a patent neces-
sarily follows the deposit of the application. It ignores the
examination into novelty required by our law, and for that
reason is incompatible with it.
Therefore, without scrutiny of the details of that Convention,
many of which are wise and free from objection, and according
to it its full meed of praise for the exalted purpose it embodies,
it must be said of it that it fails of its purpose through its
omission to recognize the wide difierences in patent systems.
Further than this, by its establishment of a period of priority
dating from deposit rather than from publication, it has created
a source of danger to patents for the first six months of their
existence. The British patentee cannot know until seven
months of the life of his patent have passed, but that some
American inventor may file in the British Patent Ofiice an
application for the same invention, and, by virtue of an earlier
application in the United States, cause the existing British
patent to be annulled. This is no imaginary source of danger,
as is shown by the history of a case published in the Illustrated
Official Journal oi the British Patent Office, January 22, 1890.
It appears that Main, an American, having filed an application
in the United States April 18, 1887, made an application in
Great Britain, November 18, 1887, the very last day of the
period of priority. The grant of a patent to him was opposed
on the ground of a prior patent, to wit, No. 8262, of June 8,
1887, already five months in existence. Under the provisions
of the Convention of Paris, and of section 103 of the Patent
Act made in pursuance thereof. Main demanded to have his
application dated back to April i8th, the date of his application
in the United States. This was allowed by the Comptroller,
who was sustained on appeal by Sir Richard Webster, Attorney
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 211
General, the prior British patdit being thereby rendered void.
An ambuscade of this character would be impossible if the
period of priority, whether long or short, were made to run
from the official publication.
The proposition of the United States to amend the Conven-
tion in this respedl was earnestly contended for by our dele-
gates in the Madrid Conference of 1890. Objections to it were
not so much to the principle it embodied, as on account of the
difficulty of changing existing laws, which in several countries
had already been modified to accord with the terms of the
Convention. The United States delegates were not prepared
with an answer to this objection, and they could only hope by
an intelligent presentation of their proposition, and by bring-
ing it to the attention of the governments and peoples of the
other States, that through its equity and logical consistency
and practical character it might, in course of time, be more
favorably entertained.
The second projedl for the international protedlion of inven-
tions is contained in the draft of a treaty agreed upon in the
International American Conference, held in this city last year.
This draft was reported to the Conference on March 3, 1890, and
adopted without discussion. It is unfortunate that, in a Con-
gress assembled at this capital to consider a subjedl like this,
pains should not have been taken to become acquainted with
the United States patent law before formulating the terms of a
treaty. Had this been done, it might have been possible to
frame a series of articles consistent with our law, and at the
same time acceptable to the other American nations.
The report presented by the Committee on Copj^right, Trade-
Marks and Patents is full of exalted sentiment respecting the
rights represented by these terms, and their just claim to inter-
national prote<5lion. The treaties recommended for adoption
concerning these three subjects were the same that had been
agreed upon in an International Congress at Montevideo, in
which all the South American States but three took part.
They are presumably acceptable to most of the South American
nations ; but that upon patents, with which alone we are now
concerned, is very far from agreement with the laws of this
country, and must be wholly unacceptable to our people.
212 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The first article provides that any person having a patent in
one of the contracting States shall enjo}^ in all the others all
the rights of inventor, provided he shall, within a year, cause
his patent to be registered in such States. When it is con-
sidered that, with scarcely an exception, the governments
of South America grant patents without inquiry into novelty ;
and further, that in the United States the registration of a
patent granted abroad is an unknown thing, it will be seen
how widely at variance this proposition is with our S3^stem.
The third article provides that questions regarding priority
of invention shall be settled according to the date of applica-
tion for the respective patents in the countries where they were
granted. This ignores the principle at the foundation of the.
United States patent system, that patents shall be granted to
the first inventor, and the elaborate system of interference pro-
cedure, by which contests for priority are determined.
The fourth article prohibits the grant of patents for inven-
tions or discoveries already made public, either in any of the
contracting States or elsewhere. This is as v\^idely at variance
with the United States law as are the first and third articles,
since under our law a printed publication at home or abroad
is no bar to a patent to the inventor who is able to show that
he made the invention before the date of the publication, and
has not abandoned it.
Those who look for a complete realization of the idea of in-
ternational protection for inventions must deeply regret the
failure of the American nations to profit by the magnificent
opportunity afibrded them by the International American Con-
gress at Washington. It can be no exaggeration to say that a
week's work of the United States Patent Office is more than
a year's work of the patent ofi&ces of all the other American
republics combined, and that a system, the evolution of a
century of experience, and the most potent factor in the un-
rivaled industrial progress of this country, was entitled at least
to be recognized in a congress of that character convened at its
capital. But with this regret comes the hope that as the
American nations draw closer together in the bonds of com-
mercial intercourse to which sentiment invites, and which wise
statesmanship fosters, the opportunities may not be far distant
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 213
when this subject shall be renewed with clearer light, and with
better assurance of results advantageous to all the nations con-
cerned.
What has been practically accomplished aside from these
two projects may not be overlooked. Complete international
protection exists between us and our nearest neighbor, the
Dominion of Canada, by virtue of no treaty or concession, but
by the enactment of laws in that country as liberal towards the
alien as they need to be, and in some respects more judicious
than ours. Any person, citizen or alien, may secure a patent
in Canada, provided the invention has not been in public use
or on sale in the country, with the consent of its author, for
more than one year prior to the application. A prior foreign
patent is no bar if the application is filed in the Dominion
within one year from its grant, a wise restriction which we
might profitably adopt, since our law as it stands creates
conditions sometimes prejudicial to vested rights of our own
citizens. The Canadian statute differs from ours in many par-
ticulars, but the two are so nearly assimilated in respect to the
rights of aliens that through them the ideal of international
protection has been nearly accomplished. Our liberal and
progressive sister republic, Venezuela, permits the true inventor
to secure a patent after having first obtained protection in his
own country, and permits public use of the invention in the
country for two years before application for patent. The little
realm of Hawaii has bodily adopted our law ; and so we have
the nucleus for an International Union of four self-legislating
governments, created by no formal convention, but called into
existence by the recognition in each of the rights of the
inventor, and the refusal to limit those rights on account of acts
done in order to secure protection under the laws of another
country, provided he avail himself of his privileges within a
reasonable time. To this list should be added Sweden, whose
law, imitating our own in many respects, gives a foreign in-
ventor a limited time after the grant of his home patent during
which he may file his application in the kingdom.
Nor is this all. A year ago, when the Conference at Madrid
refused the American proposition, the delegates from this
country did not believe that the last word had been said.
214 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Their demand was so fair and logical that it could not fail to
impress itself on thoughtful minds. And now comes the news
that the most powerful empire of Europe, which up to this time
has refused to accede to the International Convention because
not in harmony with her laws, is contemplating an amendment
to them that will amount on her part to an acceptance of that
proposition. A commission of the Reichstag has reported in
favor of an amendment, which will give to inventors belonging
to nations which give corresponding privileges to German sub-
jects the right to file applications for patent in the empire within
three months from the date of the official publication of the
description of the invention in the country of origin, without
fear of having their German patents invalidated by reason of
such publication.* Since we already grant that privilege to
German subjects, we are prepared to step in and reap the ad-
vantage of the proposed legislation the moment it is in force.
This step on the part of Germany is not dictated by senti-
ment, but by rigid policy. It carries further the principle em-
bodied years ago in her treaty with Austria-Hungar)^, which
was for the mutual advantage of the people of both empires.
It profiers to the other nations of Europe a privilege hereto-
fore denied them, provided they can grant the reciprocal privi-
lege; and will almost compel these nations to concede to
Germany what they could so easily refuse to us. It puts
Germany in line with the United States in the demand we
made upon Europe in the Madrid Conference, but in a better
position, since Germany has something to give in return which
we had not. The adoption of this amendment to the German
law will put a new face on the whole subject of international
protection of inventions; and it is not unreasonable to expect
that when delegates from the United States shall renew our
proposition at Brussels in 1893, it will meet with more favor
than at Madrid ; and at no distant day the truth may repeat
itself, that the stone refused by the builders has become the
head of the corner.
In considering the prospects of international protection for
patent rights in harmony with American ideas, the thought
constantly intrudes whether our liberality to the alien has not
*This law went into effect in Germany, October i, 1891.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 215
been excessive. Those who have sought in conference with
the representatives of other nations to secure some concession
advantageous to American inventors have been met by the
demand, * ' What can you give in return ? ' ' We have nothing
to give, since for many years we have lavished everything on
the alien, in placing him on precisely the same footing as the
citizen in the Patent Ofl&ce and in the courts. But diplomatic
agreements are seldom anything but bargains. They are
affairs of barter, in which each party strives to secure the best
for himself. In this market those fare best who are able to
give real value in exchange for what they desire. Those who
have nothing to give are apt to get nothing in return. Our
liberal legislation, in throwing wide open our doors to the in-
ventors of every nation, had its origin in the doctrine embodied
in the Constitution that the useful arts are encouraged by the
protection of inventors, and in the belief that the just reward
of the inventor should not be withheld from him, though he
chance to be an alien. This theory of our law is the only sound
theory of international protection. But many a noble theory
has worked badly in practice ; and so, while we have been
promoting industrial progress at home by beneficent laws,
protecting alike the citizen and the alien, we have been un-
able to secure for our own citizens in foreign lands the rights
we have so freely conceded. The golden rule, admirable and
exquisite in its simplicity, fails by its very simplicity of appli-
cation to the complex affairs of diplomacy. The first duty of
a government is to its own citizens, and while we act with all
beneficence toward the people of other States, our own people
have the right to demand that this beneficence shall not be
exercised to their injury.
International protection is not to be attained, it is rather
hindered, by unlimited concession on the part of a single gov-
ernment. If ever reached it must be through mutual conces-
sions from all. In the progress of the world toward this result
the United States, with our present liberal legislation, can be
little else than a spectator. We may proudly point to the
results of our system, and invite the world to imitate it, but
we cannot purchase concessipn, because we have no longer any
thing to give in return. We can scarcely take steps backward,
2l6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
though it is plain we should stand better if we could recover
some of our squandered privileges.
But in our attitude of watchful spectator we can take careful
note of the timid steps by which the nations of the world by
slow degrees are drawing nearer to our position. Such mutual
concessions as other governments may make towards the pro-
tection of the true inventor, by amelioration of the hard laws
which have robbed him of his rights, are all steps leading
them nearer to the principles of the American system. As
such steps are taken it must be the part of American diplomacy
to secure to American inventors the benefits they may confer.
From our vantage point, far in advance of the other nations
of the world, we may watch their rivalries, their contentions^
their reciprocal demands and proffers ; may note the mutual
concessions, each bringing them nearer to us, by which sooner
or later they attain to harmonious and profitable relations^
until universal comity shall have been reached ; in which, and
in every advantage realized in the course of its achievement^
we shall be prepared to share.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 217
INVENTION IN ITS EFFECTS UPON HOUSEHOLD
ECONOMY.
By Edward Atkinson, Ph.D., LL.D., of Massachusetts.
THE HOUSE ITSELF.
Upon first putting pen to paper in order to describe the effect
of invention upon the household I have at once become av.-are
that what can be said within the limit of time permitted, must
be a mere brief which might well be extended into a volume.
When that volume had been completed it would be more of a
record of what we have not accomplished than of what has 3'et
been done to render the art of living simple and sincere, to the
end that true life may be developed in the dwelling place and
that the bodies of which life makes use for a few years may be
fitly housed. There are now, perhaps, proportionately more
houses in which people dwell in greater or less numbers —
tenement houses for instance — than there formerly were. How
many homes are there, relatively to our numbers, as compared
to former days ? Let us not boast overmuch.
In dealing with this subject I must perforce be governed by
my own environment, therefore my obser\^ations must be
limited by what I have seen and what I know of New England.
From what better standpoint, one may ask, could observ^aticns
have been made ? Has not the Yankee always been striving to
invent an easier, if not a better method of doing everything
under the sun ?
In what respect has progress been made in establishing
homes In the land during the century of patents ?
Let us first consider the mere aspect of the house.
Until a very recent period the century has been one of decad-
ence, and we have but just now entered upon a period of true
renaissance. This decadence may be almost wholly attributed
to the progress of invention ; yet invention must be justified
because it had made it easier to build a house than it was
formerly. It has also made it easier for many people to become
21 8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
householders. But has not invention for a long period almost
destroyed the beauty of the house itself?
What could have been more simple and sincere, and more
consistent with all the surroundings than the old farm house,
which took the place of the log cabin and may have been
developed from it.
The house was well placed, facing the south, under the shel-
ter of great trees ; it was framed in solid oak ; low studded ;
the timbers showing everywhere in their true places; it was
ventilated by way of the great chimneys, in which cheerful
fires gave warmth and light to the very life itself.
Again, witness the pleasant aspect of the village dwelling,
with its gable end upon the street, the doorway opening upon a
pleasant yard, the gambrel roof well framed and solid, holding
living rooms within, and not mere attics, the whole house of
solid frame work, closed walls, well filled.
Each of these dwellings was a true development, in a section
where timber was abundant, where solid wooden walls are
warmer and dryer than brick or stone ; and where true archi-
tects would have been born, by whom a school of architecture
might have been established which should have been wholly
consistent with the climate, the soil and the building material
of the country, except for progress in invention.
Again, bring into view the houses, aye, the homes of the
gentry of old time. The old Colonial type was an example of
true architecture in the highest sense, although hardly any one
then claimed the title of architect. There Were builders and
craftsmen in those days who knew their trade, and although
they assumed not to be artists, yet the artists of the present day
are copying their designs, and in this period of renaissance are
giving the eye a restful sense of almost unconscious relief from
the crazy roof of mustard and pepper-pot design, set ofi^ by jig-
saw decorations, with which sham houses have in later days
been covered ; roofs made of open boarding full of leaky valleys,
sheathed with slates which may keep out water, but surely let
in all the heat of the summer sun.
To whom can this period of decadence in household art and
architecture be attributed, if not to the pestilent inventor of the
buzz-saw ?
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 219
Who made it so easy to destroy good, solid timber and to
erect hollow shams of basket-like structure, of bad form,
badly roofed, badly worked in what is miscalled decoration,
in which fire and vermin may go anywhere at their own free
will ! Who but the innumerable inventors of wood-working
machinery ? To whom it is nevertheless due that many of us
can get a house to live in of anj^ kind ; for they have made
shelter less costly and have given a sort of home to multitudes
who might have had none except single rooms covered in with
mud or logs. Yet for these inventions have we not paid for a
century a fearful price ?
A word of warning here to the people of the great South-
land. You have the world's supply of hard wood timber upon
your mountains — the country's supply of hard pine, yellow
pine and ash upon your plains. Why copy, as you are doing
in many places, all the faults of northern types of house from
which we are just emerging by way of what I have called a re-
naissance in domestic architecture.
The climate and conditions of the Northern States require
compact houses, chimneys enclosed within, powerful heating
furnaces as distinguished from the warming apparatus required
in the more moderate winters of the South. Why not develop
the Southern type of open construction, the true Southern
dwelling with open ways between the living rooms, the sleep-
ing rooms, and the dining room, the kitchen and laundry ? Wh
not develop the Spanish and Moorish type of quadrangle en-
closing the patio or courtyard ? Why not adopt the thick,
solid, flat roof, which is almost universal in the hot countries of
Europe ? Cover it, if you please, with a pent house or second-
ary roof of picturesque form, to keep the heat from the true
roof, thus making it a pleasant, shady resort in Summer. This
secondary roof is not closed in at the ends, and merely attached
to the frame of the house proper. This whole roof space on
the true flat roof and under the pent house may be clear, for
the very reason that the Southern chimney should not be en-
closed within the house. What better play space for children
in hot or wet weather ?
One may well envy the upbuilders of the new town and cities
of the great Southland, because they can, if they will, avoid all
the blunders which we have made in our hap-hazard growth
220 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
in the North and our hasty growth in the West ; our Southern
friends may now find men who will make use of all the varied
contour lines of hill and valley in laying out the town. They
can now find architects capable of inventing houses which may
be built of timber in such a way as to make them seem to have
grown where they are.
They can find men who can also combine clay tiles and steel
in solid and incombustible structures in the more crowded
towns or cities, as the Moors built with cohesive tiles in Spain
many centuries ago. In this mode of construction, structural
steel may now be combined so as to bind tiles and steel together
in simple forms. Far better thus, than to copy the brick, stone
and iron shams of our great Northern and Western cities,
which serve only as screens for the products of the buzz-saw
which are put together within in cellular form, plastered over
with lime putty worked up in such a way as to hide but not to
conceal the sham. The apparent motive being to secure com-
plete destruction by fire from the smallest cause.
When the next centenary of invention is celebrated, the
greater part of the inventions in house building which have
been applied in the past hundred years will have ceased to en-
cumber the face of the land. Their places will have been taken
by the products of many inventions, which are just beginning
to be applied. I may venture to name a few of them :
Cohesive tiles of fire clay.
Terra cotta lumber.
Structural steel in combination with light and porous con-
cretes in the construction of floors.
Plaster board.
Adamant and other kinds of adhesive plastering.
Inside walls finished with lime plastering laid on metallic
lathing without concealed spaces behind.
Vulcanized timber.
Incombustible paints and varnishes.
Wood pulp mouldings and covering for roofs.
Vitrified brick — moulded brick and various kinds of marble
work for inside walls, stairways and the like.
It may well be remembered that if skill and intelligence be
applied to the framing and disposal of heavy timber and plank,
a better house can be built from these materials where wood
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 221
is abundant at less cost than the common basket-work of joists
combined with thin boards on walls and roof.
Wood is the best of all non-conductors of heat which can be
used for building. A house made of three-inch plank laid on
suitable timbers and posts set wide apart, roof as well as wall,
will be cooler in summer, warmer in winter, and dr>^er all the
time than any house that can be built of stone, brick, or iron,
except at an excessive cost for double or vaulted walls. Such
a house is but an evolution of the log cabin of the mountain
section of the Land of the Sky ; its further evolution offers a
wide field for the inventions of the architect, the builder, and
the artist.
This is but a transition period in house building. From the
age of mud walls, tents of skin, and cobbled walls of stone,
we have passed, or are passing, through the age of light wood
and plaster and shams of stone, perhaps through a temporary
stage of iron, of which some of the worst and most hazardous
forms have been devised, to the age of clay ; for the present the
clay may be combined with structural steel ; perhaps this
period may end in the use of clay only, either baked into
bricks, tiles, or porous blocks, or clay converted into the
lightest kind of metal — alluminum. So much for the house
itself.
HOUSE FITTINGS.
To the matter of fixtures not much time or space can be
given. The application of modem tools and machinery has
not been inconsistent with the greatest progress in effectiveness
and in artistic design. Locks, hinges, door handles, window
fastenings, and all other fittings, both low-priced and high-
priced as well, are, in their best forms, most conspicuous exam-
ples of true improvement, in which the inventors and manufac-
turers of this country have taken the leading and most conspic-
uous part.
WATKR SUPPLY AND DRAINAGE.
During the century the change from the ' ' Old oaken (bac-
terial) bucket that hangs by the (contaminated) well has given
place to various methods of supplying water by the use of ves-
sels or pipes that will not decay, from sources of supply that
may not become contaminated. But the progress in drainage
222 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and in the removal of sewage has not keep pace with this more
abundant supply of water ; hence there is hardly a more import-
ant field for future invention than in these directions. The
drainage of the cellar and of the soil about the house may now
be readily accomplished through the invention of tile drains
and of cheap and durable earthen tiles for their construction.
In the matter of sewage more remains to be accomplished
than has yet been done. The two sources of danger are
kitchen grease and foecal matter. It is probable that the re-
moval of foecal matter by the application of heat will take the
place of wet methods of carrying it off" mixed with water in a
manner most liable to contaminate the surroundings of the
house. Already methods of reducing foecal matter to innocu-
ous ashes have been invented by Fuller, Warren & Co. and
others, which are being applied in many factories and school-
houses in suitable places outside the main buildings and with
complete success. The washing of greasy pots, pans, and dishes
may perhaps be made much safer by substituting some of the
antiseptic products of petroleum for soap in the process of
scouring as well as by doing away with a great part of the
waste of grease by a complete revolution in the whole practice
of domestic cooking.
IvIGHTING.
In nothing has there been greater progress than in the trans-
mission of the light of day from without, or in the production
of artificial light within the house.
Limiting the consideration of this subject to the isolated
dwellings which are out of reach of illuminating gas or elec-
tric lights, in which category will be found by far the greater
number of houses.
Therefore, taking no note of the marvels of invention in re-
spect to gas and electricity, a few words may be given to matches,
glass and lamps.
Nothing remains to be done in the direction of reducing the
cost of '' striking a lighV although there is yet a wide field
.for making the process safer than it now is.
No branch of industry has been more fully promoted by in-
vention than the making of glass, and there is no occupation
which presents a more complete example of the rule, that in all
arts to which invention and improved processes are applied the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 223
cost of labor is diminished while the rate of wages rises and the
price of the product is reduced.
Thus, although the progress of the glass manufacture has
been obstructed by high duties on many of the materials which
are used, as well as upon the finished products of like kind im-
ported from foreign countries, yet such are our many advant-
ages in the quality of the sand which is converted into glass,
and in the abundance of food from which the large amount of
physical force or potential energy that is called for in this pur-
suit is derived, that we have accomplished much in the im-
provement in quality as well as in the reduction in cost.
In that monumental volume, No. XX of the census of 1880
upon wages and prices, compiled by Mr. Joseph D. Weeks, it
appears that in one of the principal glass works of Pennsyl-
vania the following changes had occurred, the wages of every
class of operatives had advanced between i860 and 1880, yet
more as compared with 1851. The average earnings of all
classes in 1861 were $1.23 per day, in 1880 they were $1.62.
The absolute cost of labor per amount of product had been di-
minished although the percentum of labor in the product had
increased. But, through economy of fuel and other applica-
tions of invention, it had become possible to reduce the prices
of given sets of glass bowls, goblets, wine glasses and tumblers
from $18 in i860 to $3.50 in 1880. (See pages 87, 88, Vol. XX,
Census 1880.)
The changes have not been as great or as conspicuous in the
matter of window glass, but since 1866, the year of conspicuous
paper money inflation, the cost of labor per box of fifty feet has
been diminished from $1.75 in paper to $1.10 in gold, while the
price to consumers of the same quantity has been reduced from
$5.50 to $2.75.
This extraordinary volume, containing the results of able
and scientific research, is full of most instructive examples and
proofs of the rule that I lAve presented, to wit : In propor-
tion to the application of science and invention to the arts of pro-
duction the price of labor is augmented^ the rates of wages risCy
the cost of labor is diminished ^ and the price of the product is
reduced. This volume also gives the most conclusive proof of
the inherent power of an intelligent people to keep on in their
material progress, in spite of civil war, of the debasement of
224 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
the currency, and of the obstruction of bad methods of taxation
by which free commerce with the world is restricted, and by
which labor is diverted from its most profitable course : the
home market for the surplus products of the field, the forest,
the factory, and the mine being by the same obstructive policy
prevented from expanding.
In the matter of artificial light it maj^ be held that while the
introduction of illuminating gas and electric linghting have
increased the quantity and greatly facilitated the distribution
of light, neither invention has to any extent reduced the cost,
"but on the contrary, by increasing the demand for light every-
where these inventions have doubtless increased the general
expenditure.
On the other hand the discovery of petroleum, the applica-
tion of invention to its preparation and distribution and the
invention of innumerable varieties of lamps, have reduced the
cost of household lighting both absolutely and relativelj^ to
the end that there is now nothing so cheap in the household as
an abundance of light. Yet there are inventions hardly yet
known which remove almost the last vestige of hazard from
the kerosene oil lamp burning a reasonably high standard oil,
doing away also under ordinary care with smoke and smell,
while another invention promises to remove all the odor from
kerosene oil and to raise the flashing point to 500 or 600° F.
FURNISHING.
Strong and durable as the furniture of the house was a
century ago, not much can be said for its comfort. Time will
not suffice to deal with the application of invention to the art
of furnishing, in which the artist and the skilled mechanic have
done so much. Suffice it that the Centennial Exhibition of
1876 gave a greater impetus in this direction than in almost
any other, and it is from that event our greatest progress may
be dated.*
* Note. —I may venture at this point to render the credit to Professor
John D. Runkle, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is
his due. He had the sagacity to discover in the Russian method of
manual instruction the germ of the system of manual training which is
now^ becoming an integral part of common school instruction all over our
land. He applied and developed it in the manual workshops of the
Institute of Technology in Boston, and from that first object lesson the
•conception has spread everywhere.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 225
HEATING AND COOKING.
We now come to the two most important processes of house-
hold economy, in which it may almost be affirmed that the
progress of invention has been backward.
In the matter of the combustion of fuel we may measure our
ignorance by the height of our chimnej^s and the strength of
our drafts.
It would be out of place to deal with the crude methods of
combustion in the conversion of coal into power. The ten-
dency toward gaseous fuel is very marked and may ultimately
lead to much greater economy.
In dealing with the household art of applying heat to the
conversion of crude food material into nutritious food, the posi-
tion may now be taken that any method of combustion that
requires the draft of a chimney and any stove that requires a
chimney flue is almost unfit to be used. In the art of nutrition
we have given our attention almost wholly to the nutrition of
the soil, the plant, and of the beast ; but until within a very
few years we have wholly overlooked or neglected the nutrition
of man.
Taking advantage of this neglect by the true scientist, the venal
masters of scientific perversion have exhausted the art of decep-
tion in compounding quack medicines for the cure of ailments
which are sometimes imaginary, but which when they exist are
mainly due to ignorance and incapacity in the art of cooking.
The brick oven and the open fire of a century ago required
time and close attention, but the results of the work under the
direction of a good housewife were wholesome, nutritious, and
appetizing.
The introduction of iron stoves and ranges and of anthracite
coal have taken the life out of the house, out of the air, and out
of the food as well.
It is only within a very few years that any attention has been
given even to chemical physiology ; as yet hardly any progress
has been made in bringing the lessons derived from science ap-
plied to nutrition into the form of an art which may be easily
mastered.
I have been led to the study of this matter through the de-
velopment of the fact by the compilation of statistics, that even
226 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
in this land of abundance one-half or more of the income of
about 90 per cent, of the population is expended in the mere
purchase of food material.
Add to this the time, the attention, the discomfort, and the
waste of energy which are spent in the conversion of good ma-
terial into food of which the average quality is bad and we
begin to have some comprehension of a field which is almost
unoccupied, and in which science and invention have yet to
work most beneficent results.
Had I undertaken to deal with this branch of invention in
the household arts for mere purposes of personal profit, it would
be unsuitable to treat this matter at this time. But since my
purpose and my present practice is to devote the income that I
may derive from my own crude inventions to the further devel-
opment of the science of nutrition, I may devote the remainder
of this treatise to this branch of the subject.
Without the aid of Mrs. Ellen H. Richards, of the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology, and of Prof Wm. O. Atwater,
of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, I should
have been unable to deal with this branch of the subject in the
way in which I shall present it. I may also quote from the
standard authorities, Sir Henry Thompson, Sir Lyon Play fair,
Prof. Voit, Dr. Pavey, and others, without again referring to
them by name.
The sole condition on which the application of heat to the
conversion of food material into cooked food without constant
watching is that a measured heat shall be under complete con-
trol.
The two rules for cooking are as follows :
I. Take some heat of the top of a lamp and put it into a box.
II. Take one part of gumption and one part of food, mix to-
gether, put them into the box with the heat ; the heat will do
the work.
These rules cannot be applied in the use of any iron stove or
oven heated by the combustion of coal under a strong draft
Cooking on such stoves calls for constant attention, and for the
discomfort due to close proximity to the stove.
If meats are subjected to a high heat in the effort to cook
them quickly in an oven, or by any process except broiling,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 227
which requires great skill, the fats are dissociated or ' ' cracked, ' '
as it is termed, the volatile portion is diffused, bearing away
the finest flavor, and the remainder of the fat is left in an uiidi-
gestible condition, in which it fails to be assimilated.
In fact the process of cooking is a fine process of chemical
conversion and when we put appliances which are not suitable
to the process into the hands of incapable persons who are en-
tirely ignorant of the theory, we have no right to expect to get
any better results than those with which we are all too familiar.
It would be unsuitable both to the occasion and for myself
to describe the processes which I propose to substitute for those
which are commonly practiced. I will only give the objective
point of my researches and a statement of what has already
been accomplished ; much more remains to be done.
The proportions of the nutrients which are necessary to the
effectual support of a man at moderate work, according to the
American standard, are as follows :
Protein or nitrogenous material 125 grains.
Fats 125
Carbo-hydrates or starchy material 450 * '
700
Disregarding fractions a little over one pound (adv.) of
starchy food and a little over a quarter of a pound each of fat
and of protein.
Professor Atwater has converted these nutrients into calories
or units of heat. These chemical elements of nutrition, Vv^ith
the mineral elements which will be found on almost all varieties
of food, must supply the working man who is engaged in mod-
erate work with 3,520 units of heat per day : a less supply
sufl&ces for women. The variations which may be made for
hard work or for sedentary work, or for sex, are few in number
and may be readily defined by percents of variation.
If we add for unavoidable waste about 10 per cent., the unit
of nutrition for a man at moderate work is 4,000 calories per
day. This potential energy will be yielded from the nutrients
which are contained therein by certain measurable quantities
of vegetable and animal food consumed in about the usual pro-
portions. The proportions of animal and vegetable food may
vary according to the special appetite and digestive powers of
228 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
each person, but dealing in a broad and general way, such is
the standard or unit of daily nutrition.
In the purchase of food material at the retail prices in cities
and towns, grain, flour and vegetables may be considered as
constants in price each season or year according to the crop, the
prices of animal food as variable according to kind and quality.
Lists of prices having been prepared, the following course is
now within the power of any intelligent person to adopt.
If a dietary be made up for thirty da3^s, for the consumption
of the tougher and cheaper parts of meat and of the cheaper
kinds of fish, with the right proportion of bread, grain vegeta-
bles and sugar the cost of food per thousand calories in Boston
at the present time will not exceed three and a-half cents. A
man requiring 4,000 calories may therefore purchase a day's
full supply for 14 cents, or at the rate of 98 cents per week.
A woman occupied in sewing, teaching, or in attendance in a
shop may purchase 3,400 calories, which is in excess of ordinary
need, at 12 cents per day or at 84 cents per week.
These tough portions of meat may be made as tender as the
choicest cuts by the application of moderate heat for a sufficient
length of time, and are in every respect as nutritious.
If the consumer wishes to purchase the medium cuts of meat
and to enjoy a greater variety, the expenditure may be in-
creased to 5 cents per thousand calories or 20 cents a day —
$1.40 per week for men : 17)^ cents a day, $1.23 per week for
women, the addition being spent on meat and fish.
If the consumer wishes to purchase the choicer cuts of meat,
the best quality of poultry and fish, together with a more
ample supply of milk, butter and sugar, the price per thousand
calories may be advanced to seven cents.
At this standard the cost per day for men will be 28 cents or
$1.96 per week ; for women, 24)^ cents per day or $1.72 per
week. Any expenditure beyond this last standard of seven
cents per thousand calories will be either an absolute waste or
for absolute luxury.
This daily unit of nutrition for one person can now be
cooked in the best manner in the crockery vessels in which it
may be served, in a cooking pail of my invention, with the
heat derived from any common kerosene hand lamp or from
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 229
any common gas burner over which the pail may be suspended,
and while the housewife sleepeth the lamp will do its work.
Multiples of this ration may be cooked in a portable oven of
my invention, either by baking, roasting, simmering, stewing
and braising, or in imitation of broiling and frying, at the rate
of forty to fifty pounds per day in a series of four charges to the
oven, with the heat that may be taken from the top of the
chimney of a common kerosene oil lamp with a circular wick
of one and a-half inches in diameter, consuming one quart of
oil in the eight hours required for work.
The work may be done anywhere. Therefore the kitchen
and its chimney, the iron stove or range, and the miscellaneous
collection of iron pots and pans Inay, so far as the process of
cooking is concerned, be wholly displaced. The room can then
be put to a better use if the heating of the room itself and the
water for circulation about the house be relegated to the heat-
ing furnace in the cellar in winter and to a small special water
heater in summer.
I venture to conclude this treatise with the suggestion that
the agricultural experiment stations of the United States which
are now being so well developed under the general supervision
of the Secretary of Agriculture, and under the special super-
vision of Prof. W. O. Atwater, should not be limited wholly
to the nutrition of the soil, the plant, and of the beast.
They will not be complete until a Cooking Laboratory is
attached to each, in which the science of the nutrition of man
may be developed, to the end that it may become a part of the
common knowledge of the whole people, and that the simple
rules, of which I have given some examples, may be incorpo-
rated in the arithmetics used in the common schools in place
of some of the logical puzzles which perplex our children
without educating them.
At present I can claim for these computations only theoretic
accuracy. Arrangements have been made by myself for the
beginning of laboratory practice from which a more definite
direction may be given in this almost unoccupied field of ap-
plied science.
A few words more upon the general topic. The progress of
society and the progress in household economy, like progress
230 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
in the mechanism of the factory, appear to follow one and the
same rule; each beginning in the arduous simplicity of earlier
days, each evolving new ways and means of combination by
way of new inventions and discoveries, leading up to the ut-
most complexity, accompanied, however, by greater abundance.
Yet this complexity is but a prophecy of more effective sim-
plicit}^ in the fullness of time. Both in society and in the
household we seem now to be in the transition period of ex-
treme complexity.
We are compelled to think more of living and less of life.
We possess more comfort, but do not enjoy it, because it in-
volves more care. We have many more servants and much
less help. We can spare more time, but we get less leisure.
We pay for more amusement and are less amused. We may
read more books but we do less thinking. We strive to be
independent, while we become more and more dependent. We
condemn legislators, yet w^e constantly appeal for more legis-
lation. We admit that the progress of humanity can only
come in the development of the individual character. Then
we take up all sorts of fanciful fads, which would sink the
individual in the collective mass. We boast of our power to
manage our own affairs, yet we appeal to Congress to force us
to take up unprofitable occupations at the cost of our neigh-
bors. The laborer is proud of his liberty, yet calls upon the
Legislature to restrict the use or his time. We ask not to be
led into temptation, then we pass laws which convert that
which is not criminal in itself into a legal crime. We try to
earn all the money of the best kind that we can get, and we
call upon the Government to coin a poor kind, and to pass a
law to enable us to force our creditors to take it. On Sundays
we praise the Lord who has made of one blood all the nations
of the earth, and on the week days we ask Congress to forbid
tfs to exchange services with our brothers in blood of other
races. We preach the gospel of peace, good will and plenty
among the nations, while each nation builds iron, steel and
nickel-clad vessels of war for the next inventor to render use-
less and innocuous.
To w^hom do we owe all this complexity ? Again to the pes-
tilent inventor. Who but the inventor of the turbine wheel
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 231
brought masses of people into the narrow valley of the river
below the fall ? Who but the inventor of the steam engine and
of illuminating gas made it so necessary for the workman to
live near his work that we have generated the slums out of
that crowded condition promoted by these very inventions?
Who but the inventor of the vertical railway, which we call an
elevator, placed household over household in disregard of the
separate home ? All this is but transition.
Next appears the inventor who sends speech and light and
power over wide areas ; the inventor who, like the one who
devised the multiplex telegraph, sends the rapid car at higher
speed above the slow-moving carriages on the street below.
But now comes his peer, who, adopting the Irishman's receipt
for making a cannon, takes a round hole and puts an under-
ground tunnel of iron and concrete outside of it, and who, bor-
ing through sand and clay and rock, wnll carr>^ the multitude
from the crowded streets of the city to the wide area of the
suburbs.
Again comes the inventor who, converting hydrogen, oxygen,
and carbon into fuel gas, w^ill presently furnish heat at little
cost wherever small pipes can be laid, in which this kind of gas
can be forced under high pressure over long distances. In
every direction we make progress by invention which destroys
great volumes of capital previously accumulated at great cost,
thus diminishing the relative share in every service which the
capitalist may take over to himself, w^hile increasing both abso-
lutely and relatively that which may rightly fall to the indus-
trious and intelligent workman.
There is nothing constant but change, and throughout all
these changes we witness progress toward that objective point
when the family will again become the unit of society ; when
a good subsistence and a suitable"" shelter will be so readily at-
tained by men of common intelligence, rectitude, and industry
that it will no longer pay to become rich, and leisure will be
found in the diligent and intelligent use of time.
I venture again to call attention to the sequence of events.
The collective or factory system of industry was practically
unknown until the development of the modem water-wheel,
the application of steam to power and illuminating gas to
232 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
lightning. These inventions brought about a change from
separate household industry to this collective method, accom-
panied by an extreme subdivision of labor. It was a step in
moral as well as in material progress, although in its earlier
stages it was subject to many abuses. It may have reached its
highest point in its application to the pursuits of this country,
yet, if we analyze the occupations of the people as given in
the census of 1880, we shall find that if we put into the cate-
gory of the operatives in our great factories all who are occu-
pied in the textile arts, the iron and steel works and machine
shops, the clothing, boot and shoe factories, and all other mis-
cellaneous occupations, which can be conducted in the best
way by great subdivision of labor, and by bringing great
masses of people into single buildings, we barely reach ten per
cent of all who are occupied for gain. There are, of course,
great masses occupied under analogous conditions, but in col-
lective pursuits like the railway service, the building trades and
others individual aptitude and intelligence count for as much
or more as the mere manual or mechanical aptitude which is
so necessary in a factory. Great factories are conspicuous by
their very mass. They appeal to the imagination and may
sometimes mislead.
Again, the construction of the railways into undeveloped
territory has scattered the population occupied in agriculture
under conditions, which, in some respects, are as adverse to the
development of men as the massing of crowds in cities. These
are the penalties which we pay for invention, and they have
occupied a century in their development. May it not be prob-
able that in the progress of invention other new forces, to which
I have referred — power, light, speech and heat, carried over
wide areas and placed at the control of the household on the
tap of a button, may bring about a return to household indus-
try of the highest type under the least arduous conditions of
life perhaps wholly free from the monotony of the great fac-
tory ; distributing the urban population and doing away with
the causes of the slums, so far as those causes may be found in
external influences rather than in the individual character or
want of character in those who rest contented in the slums.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 233
Again, the intensive system of fanning, the adoption of the
silo, the application of improved methods in dealing with all
the products of the field, are leading to the treatment of land
as a laboratory rather than as a mine ; thus bringing together
into neighborhoods that part of the population which has been
too widely scattered, also closer to the factory population which
has been too much concentrated.
If such may be the prophecy to him whose vision leads him
to visionary and optimistic views, then we may call upon the
inventor of the future and of the present to continue on his way
undoing the work of his predecessors by doing it better.
We may bid God-speed especially to the inventors of warlike
implements of destruction, perhaps the only method of over-
coming the ignorance and stupidity of mankind. That igno-
rance and stupidity finds its most extreme expression in the
construction of great vessels of war, especially by European
countries such as Italy and Germany, where the weight of tax-
ation is already depriving great masses of the population even
of the measure of food which is absolutely necessary to the
maintenance of life. The long list of the iron and steel-clad
vessels of war belonging to these nations may be taken as the
tokens of the barbarism of that system which forbids mutual
service among the States which comprise what are called the
civilized sections of the globe.
In that provision of the Constitution of the United States
which assures the utmost liberty in mutual service among the
States of this Union we have found the closest bond. Since
slavery destroyed itself by aggressive warfare we have ceased
to require an army except for police services, and when the in-
ventor of the most effective gun shall render approach to any
of our harbors by armed vessels as impossible as the fear of such
approach would be ridiculous, if also we are then as free to ex-
change services and products with other nations as we are
among our own States, the true century of good will, peace,
and plenty will have been fairly entered upon.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 235
ADDRESS OF S. P. I^ANGIvEY, I.I..D.,
SECRKTARY OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION,
Vice-President of the Congress, Presiding at the Session on
THE Afternoon of Aprii< 9th, 1891.
If this Centennial is a memorable occasion in the history of
discovery it is so also in that of science, which time out of
mind has been so intimately related to it. It is possibly to this
that I owe the honor of being here to assure you of the especial
interest which is felt in this gathering by the scientific men of
Washington, who form perhaps a greater body of professional
discoverers than there is in any other city of the country.
Nearly a half a century ago Congress transferred from the
shelves of the Patent OflSce to the Smithsonian, the very few
objects of curiosity the government then possessed, and these
have since grown into great groups of illustrations of the
history of man's thought, as displayed in discovery and inven-
tion— groups which are among the most interesting of the
collections of the National Museum.
I hope all here will find opportunity to see them, but I
allude to these in connection with this centennial occasion,
only to notice a suggestion they give of general application to
the history of discovery, for so long as man is a tool- using
animal, nearly every inventor is still engaged in making a tool
or machine of some sort, and the history of the very first tool
that was made, may have a bearing on the present of inven-
tion, and even throw some light on its future.
We have all seen an Indian axe-head which has been made of
stone, by rubbing one piece on another, and looked on it per-
haps as the most primitive of tools. This, however, was not
the first tool, but an improvement on something still ruder, for
you may see in these Smithsonian collections, roughly -broken
stones which were made by primitive man before the art of
rubbing one on another was invented, and which antedate this
comparatively modem form by perhaps hundreds of thousands
236 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
of years. The thing to note in this connection is, that it took
man probably over a hundred thousand years to make this, his
first invention — if we can call it one — and that possibly millions
of years, but probably a period longer at any rate than the whole
progress of world-wide discovery since, was spent by the inven-
tive minds of all united mankind in evolving the one idea, that
by rubbing one stone on another you can get a cutting edge.
It seems incredible that invention could ever have worked as
slowly as that ; yet it did so, and only after myriads of years
brought about the polished stone age.
Now, we observe, not so much how inventions grow, as how
the rate of discovery grows ; when we find that the next great
improvement was evolved in a time short, compared with the
first ; for instead of myriads of years, inventive thought had so
gained in quickness that it took *' only " a few thousand years
to make the next invention, which was that of a tool of bronze.
But the third stage, the development of the tool of iron,
shows a yet further quickening of the rate of thought, for this
stage began only a few centuries ago, and yet has been thought
out, with its immensely greater developments, in a fraction of
the former time ; in centuries, that is, instead of thousands of
years, and not, we must observe, merely because there are
more inventors, but because the inventive mind itself is be-
coming of finer and prompter quality.
If this short history — this philosophy teaching by ex-
amples— means anything, we can now, I think, predict that
whether the fourth stage on which we are entering, is to be
the age of aluminum, or whatever else ; that the requisite in-
ventions will be made, the problems worked out, and perhaps
the material face of the civilized world altered, largely in our
own lifetimes.
It has been said that even less than a hundred years ago, if
the most powerful and enlightened potentate on earth wished
to travel faster on the land or sea, or to send a message quicker
than was done in the days of the patriarchs, he could not do
it ; for if Abraham had mounted his messenger on his best
steed, the united wealth, and power, and knowledge of the
world, toward the end of the last century, could have only
furnished a possibly swifter horse than his, and could have done
no more.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 237
Of the important conquests over time and space, which have
"been made in the past six thousand years, most have come, then,
in the life-time of living men. I have myself long personally
known the man who competed with Stevenson for the prize for
the first locomotive, and am privileged to count among my
friends, in the inventor of the telephone, one still a young man.
With this incessant achievement, and this increasing rate of
progress on the inventor's part, what can we deny to the pos-
sibilities of even the coming decade ?
It would be rash to predict what these all may be, butl de-
sire to express my personal conviction that one at least, which
has been the mere dream of enthusiasts in the past, is soon to
become a reality, and to venture the statement that the air may
probably be made to support engine-driven flying machines,
heavier than the air itself, before the expiration of the present
century.
I will detain you no longer from listening to the distinguished
speakers who are to address you, but only say that in view of
this fabulously increasing rate and value of reproduction, you,
as inventors, are certainly taxable with no overestimate of your
true importance, if you believe yourselves becoming each day,
more and more the real creators of the changes which make
this nation materially great, and entitle you of right to the
place of honored guests, and to the welcome all extend to you
in its Capital.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 239
THE EFFECT OF TECHNOLOGICAIv SCHOOLS UPON
THE PROGRESS OF INVENTION.
By W. p. Trowbridge, Ph.D., LL.D., of New York, Professor
OF Engineering Schooi. of Mines, Coi^umbia Coi,i,ege.
The place now occupied by technical schools in the general
system of higher education may be regarded as a direct result
of the advance of knowledge, in the natural sciences, which
has so signally marked the successive years of the century
which now draws to a close.
Living in the midst of the grand developments in material
progress at the present day, we can fully appreciate the extent
to which these developments are due to the applications of
scientific discoveries only by contrasting the state of knowl-
edge at the beginning of the century with that of our own
times : and by tracing the changes which have brought about
the rise and growth of the new fields of education represented
by technical schools, and the reciprocal effects of these institu-
tions in promoting scientific research and the applications of
science to useful purposes.
One hundred years ago natural science was in a condition of
the greatest speculative crudity. During the century preced-
ing— Newton, Leibnitz, Bernoulli, DesCartes, d'Alembert and
others had formulated most of the fundamental propositions in
the mathematical and mechanical sciences, very much as they
are understood and accepted at the present time, but the appli-
cation of dynamical laws and general theorems to practical
purposes, in the arts and manufactures, had hardly yet been
systematically attempted. Teachers of chemistry in the Uni-
versities accepted the old Phlogistic theory as late as 1780 and
1790, when Priestly, Watt, Boulton, Smeaton, and others were
accustomed to meet together in Birmingham as members of the
* ' Lunar Society ' ' to discuss matters relating to the progress of
the natural sciences and their useful applications.
240 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The Lunar Society may be said to have represented more
truly, during its twenty-five years of existence, the state of
those natural sciences which have a special bearing on material
and useful applications, and the extent to which such applica-
tions had been carried, than any association then in existence.
Among its members were to be found distinguished inventors^
manufacturers, iron-masters, engineers, chemists, physicians,
and philosophers, all of whom seemed as much interested in
improvements in the arts and industries as in purely scientific
discovery.
The Society held monthly meetings in Birmingham at the
time of full moon, these times being selected in order that the
members might have the benefit of moonlight in returning to
their homes. The discussions, which were preceded by a gen-
erous dinner, extended informally far into the night, and al-
though no records of the discussions were kept, yet from letters
of the members, which have been preserved, this Society seemed
to have been a true exponent of the condition of knowledge, at
that time, as far as it related to material developments.
Priestly had but recently made his remarkable discoveries of
oxygen, hydrogen, carbonic acid and other gases, but explained
these discoveries to the members of the Society on the old
theory which had been held for one hundred years, and main-
tained that the gases which he had found were different kinds
of air from which an imponderable substance — Phlogiston —
had been eliminated or evolved. Neither he nor his greatly-
interested associates in the Society had at the time any true con-
ception of the nature of chemical combinations, and although
the discoveries of Priestly led to the otherthrow, by Lavoiser
and others, of the Phlogistic theory and the establishment of
the true nature of chemical action before the end of the century,
yet Priestly himself remained until his death, in Pennsylvania
in the year 1804, a firm believer in this absurd theory, which
had been so long taught and accepted, and which if now main-
tained would be received, not with incredulity, but derision.
Not less remarkable, as it now appears to us, is the fact that
another member of the Lunar Society, the distinguished in-
ventor of the steam engine, then engaged near Birmingham
with his partner, Boulton, in the construction of engines, could
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 241
be furnished by men of science with no other theoretical basis
for the explanation of the action of steam than that heat, the
source of the power which his engines were transforming into
useful work, was a material substance ; a belief maintained by
the great mathematician of that age, La Place, up to the time
of his death, in the year 1827.
The true theory of this important branch of physics was not
finally established and universally accepted until about the year
1845, after Joule had definitely demonstrated that heat is a form
of kinetic energy, by determining the exact and invariable
dynamical relations which govern the reciprocal transmuta-
tions between this physical agent and ordinary forms of work
or energy.
The new science of Thermodynamics, based upon these dis-
coveries, soon became reduced to mathematical analysis, revolu-
tionizing all the physical sciences and leading directly to the
establishment of the important principles of the correlation of
forces, or the conservation of energy, and finally in more recent
times to the recognition of the fact that electricity is also a form
of energy subject to exact dynamical laws which, like those of
heat, have become developed into a mathematical science.
The otherthrow of the Phlogistic theory about the beginning
of the century, attended by the introduction of the true science
of chemistry, and the definite foundation of the new science of
heat, with its far-reaching consequences, are the two great
events which mark the last one hundred years of scientific
progress.
Previous to the introduction of the steam engine by Watt
mills were dependent upon water or wind power, and were
necessarily few in number. Hand labor in the fabrication of
implements and the preparation of useful material was the main
resource. Ocean and river commerce were dependent upon the
winds, and a knowledge of masonry, carpentry and hydraulics
were the chief acquirements of the engineer.
In the Universities, although science was taught, yet its
domain was limited, and the instruction given was merely an
incident in the education leading to degrees in the professions
of law, medicine and theology.
242 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
A spirit of experimental inquiry had, however, been
awakened, which was destined to spread and continue with
increasing activity, and which under the later impetus given to
scientific thought by the discoveries of the laws of heat and the
science of energy, led to the establishment of new sciences, new
professions and new fields of labor and invention.
Scientific discoveries were quickly taken up and brought to
useful purposes, and in colleges and universities it became
recognized, though reluctantly, and not without much contro-
versy that the broad domain of scientific progress was not only
giving rise to new learned professions, but that special bodies
of teachers, special departments, and even special institutions
of learning, with independent faculties, were required to meet
the demands of a new education.
Thus originated, in this country at least, the technical schools,
which in one form or another are now found connected with
most of our great educational institutions, and often exist as
true and independent seats of learning, having the full power
of conferring technical degrees.
A new principle or motive has thus been introduced in higher
education, which recognizes professions that demand not only
profound learning in the mathematical and natural sciences,
but knowledge and skill in their useful applications.
Academic, as well as popular honors, are now considered to
be due to him who makes a scientific discovery useful as well
as to him who makes a useful scientific discovery.
The technical schools are thus not only departments of re-
search in science, but, in their teachings, the exponents of
material progress.
They are sought by a large number of young men who
finally enter upon vocations intimately connected with engi-
neering and industrial enterprises, and who contribute directly,
in many ways, to the diffusion of scientific knowledge among
the people.
These are the conditions now existing, under which we have
to consider more particularly the effect which technical schools
have upon material progress or the progress of invention.
One important feature of these institutions is, that the in-
struction given aims not only to acquaint the student with the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 243
fundamental laws of science by systematic demonstrations and
explanations, but also with the methods and the limits of the
applications of those laws to useful purposes.
Teaching is illustrated by examples drawn from practice, or
by the examination and discussion of hypothetical problems,
chosen with special reference to practical applications.
The student is constantly reminded of the fact, that while
no successful device or combination, of whatever character,
can violate the fundamental laws of science and of nature, yet
there is a vast difference between a theoretical conception and
its practical and useful realization ; that the circumstances and
conditions of use are of no less importance than fundamental
principles.
The training of the drawing-room and the exercises in the
mechanical, chemical, physical and electric laboratories are de-
signed to give not only a mastery of the principles of drawing,
of mechanism, and of chemistry and physics, and thus furnish a
broad foundation in scientific learning, but also to cultivate
discrimination and judgment, by which errors in practice are to
be avoided and time and money saved, which might otherwise
be expended in costly or fruitless experiments or constructions.
Technical schools exert a primary and important influence
also in developing and enlarging the fields of applied science,
not only by investigation and research, but by stimulating and
encouraging the applications of new discoveries to the arts
and manufactures ; by reducing such applications to laws and
general principles, and by contributing to the maintenance of
scientific scocieties and scientific publications devoted to the dif-
fusion of the knowledge gained by practice and experience.
One hundred years ago important inventions like those of
Watt were submitted to a few learned men only, who alone could
tmderstand or appreciate their significance. To-day the sci-
entific press scatters far and near, in language easily compre-
hended, a knowledge of all new discoveries and new devices ;
and critics are found in the work-shop, on the farm, and in the
household, who are able intelligently to discuss the subjects
thus brought before them ; and if an invention successfully
passes the ordeal of such discussions, it may be said to be fairly
entitled to favorable attention.
244 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The age in which we live is thus intensely practical and ex-
cites the inventive spirit ; and they who are deceived by what
is false in pretended applications of science, are generally mis-
led on account of inexcusable ignorance and a failure to in-
form themselves through ordinary and accessible channels of
knowledge. To technical schools is to be credited in no small
degree this diffusion of exact scientific knowledge in its appli-
cations to the arts and industries, and in promoting and quick-
ening popular comprehension of the principles which form the
basis of all progress.
The cultivation of certain arts of manipulation and of experi-
mental research, which is carried to the highest degree in
technical schools, deserves mention, inasmuch as these arts are
often not only essential requisites to successful inventions, but
furnish the only means for their perfect illustration and expla-
nation. Among these arts are instrumental drawing, methods
of chemical analysis, and the use of testing instruments and ap-
paratus in engineering physical and electrical investigations ;
all of which not only contribute to the formation of habits of
exactness in professional work, but suggest ideas which might
not otherwise have presented themselves.
Few persons understand, for example, the value of the art
of instrumental drawing. A correct drawing is generally re-
garded as a kind of language which conveys definite ideas from
one person to another ; but it is not so universally understood
that the drawing-board, to the designer or inventor, is more
than a tablet for the presentation or record of his ideas by a
peculiar sign language ; that it is a most efficient instructor,
assisting the imagination and furnishing new ideas, or new
proportions, as the work of designing progresses. As a ready
and complete vocabulary in written or spoken language not
only furnishes a great variety of shades of expression, but sug-
gests appropriate illustrations and even new thoughts, so does
the drawing-board in the hands of a skillful designer prompt
new combinations, new proportions, and often different modes
of treatment of a practical problem.
A complete knowledge of the methods of making proper
measurements and tests, by which is to be investigated the
practicability or usefulness of a supposed discovery, or process,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 245
in any of the branches of applied Physics, Mechanics or Chem-
istry, is best obtained by practice and experience in the labo-
ratories of the technical schools. These laboratories are in
fact the only resource of the inventor in cases where private
laboratories are not available, or where tests and experiments
require apparatus and appliances which are found only in the
equipments devoted to research and investigation furnished by
educational institutions.
Graduates of technical schools in this country in large and
increasing numbers go out to the various communities, carry-
ing with them the broad and thorough acquirements in theo-
retical and practical knowledge which they have gained, and
the facilities in drawing, analysis, testing and measurement
attained in their laboratory practice, and become teachers in
their professions, diffusing sound principles of science in its
applications to every art, manufacture and industry.
While it is impossible, except in a very general way, to esti-
mate the important influences of technical schools in all these
respects, yet these influences are universally recognized as
familiarizing the public mind with the true agencies of material
progress, and as furnishing to inventors, continually, new
points of departure for future improvements.
The knowledge thus acquired and diffused tends also ta
cultivate definite and true distinctions between what is old, or
unpatentable, and what is new ; and also a discriminating^
judgment in regard to what is practicable and useful.
That the Patent Ofiice of the government recognizes the
value of this new education is evident from the fact, that of the
one hundred and fifty -seven assistant examiners one-third are
graduates of technical schools. These are employed to a great
extent in the divisions which cover the largest industries, suck
as steam engineering, chemical applications and manufactures,
metallurgy', and the manufacture of textile fabrics ; where in
each a wide range of knowledge in the applied sciences is re-
quired.
Another important field of usefulness for technical training,
in connection with inventions, is in the drawing up of specifica-
tions and claims to accompany applications for patents, and also
in legal practice connected with patent cases. The inventor
246 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
needs both legal and technical advice in preparing his claims
and specifications, and his rights are apt to be endangered or
sacrificed if such advice is not well founded. It is here that
questions of ' * equivalent devices, " of " novelty, ' ' and of ' ' use-
fulness" should be profoundly considered. Although such
questions, in case of litigation, must be finally decided by the
Courts, yet vast expenditures in the aggregate, both of time and
money, depend on a correct analysis of an invention and a
proper statement of the specifications and claims of the inventor.
This involves the competence and technical acquirements of the
solicitor or agent ; and there is no doubt that this branch of pro-
fessional practice has been placed upon a more certain and se-
cure basis of late years through the influence and teachings of
our technical schools.
In cases of patent litigation, expert testimony has become a
necessity. Questions of fact involved are not, as in other cases
which come before the courts and juries, matters of observation
merely, but depend often upon a proper interpretation of ob-
served phenomena in a realm of knowledge which often lies
beyond the comprehension of unskilled or ordinary witnesses.
On account of the great extent of the various fields of art and
industry which offer opportunities for new and useful discover-
ies or inventions, the Courts are obliged to avail themselves of
the knowledge of special witnesses, who from their education
and training are presumed to be competent to make explana-
tions, to give sound advice, or to express opinions based upon
the infallible laws of science and nature. Expert witnesses
often take a partisan view of their positions it is true, and con-
sider themselves in duty bound to try to win the cases on which
they are engaged. While this is an evil, the tendency of which
is to bring all such expert testimony into contempt, yet the
discrimination of the Courts is a corrective influence through
which the truth is finally established.
Among the important influences arising from the more gen-
eral dissemination of exact knowledge in the applied sciences
through technical schools, is to be considered also the ability
of the public to detect and reject what, for an invention, is
falsely claimed or pretended. The utility of an invention is a
question of practical demonstration ; and while many valuable
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 247
discoveries or devices undoubtedly fail to be brought into use
for want of means to procure thorough and exhaustive tests,
yet many on the other hand absorb large sums of money in
fruitless trials, when a simple scientific investigation would at
a comparatively small cost have demonstrated their commercial
or industrial inutility.
If the history of the scrap-heaps of our machine shops could
be written there would be a startling exhibit of money wasted in
such unnecessary^ experiments. It is true that without trials of
some sort there could be no progress, but there is a vast differ-
ence between experiments based upon sound principles and
reasonable probabilities of success, and those undertaken upon
scientific fallacies. It is precisely here in the distinction of
what is possible and probable in the use of an invention, and
what is impossible or extremely improbable, that exact tech-
nical knowledge lends its powerful aid, saving money on the
one hand or promoting what is useful on the other.
When those who have superabundant means are induced to
aid in costly experimental trials of an invention, success or
failure is to them a matter of small moment, but to those who
are persuaded to risk their small savings in the success of a
patent the matter is more serious, and their greatest safety lies
in the increase and diffuson of popular scientific knowledge.
Perhaps at no time during the progress of invention has the
necessity of safe-guards against unsound projects been greater
than at present. The marvelous successes, financially, of a few
patents during late years, while stimulating the inventive spirit,
have also tended to create widespread desire among certain
classes in all communities to invest, in what, in a certain sense,
may be called the "patent lottery." An announcement of a
discovery of a new source of power, or of methods by which
known sources of power may be economized to a degree beyond
all present belief or expectation, and the arts of progress thus
practically revolutionized, is one which is sure to command the
attention and to enlist the aid of persons, here and there, who
know just enough of the laws of energy to make them easy
victims, but who with a little better knowledge might have
saved themselves and others from serious pecuniary loss. At
one time it is the bi-sulphide of carbon engine, which is to save
248 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
two-thirds of the coal now used by the steam engine. An
inventor imagines that the vapor of sulphide of carbon if inter-
posed as a working fluid between the steam boiler and the con-
denser will in some undefined way increase enormously the
power derived from the combustion of a given amount of coal
in the boiler. He induces a few friends to aid him in an ex-
perimental trial, which is apparently highly satisfactory ; a
company is formed with an immense capital, the stock, under
an inflated scheme, sells at high prices ; a few make money by
the sale of the stock, but the many stockholders suffer the loss
of their investments.
At another time it is discovered by some genius that naptha
mixed with steam at the nozzle of a steam pipe and directed
upon incandescent fuel furnishes a brilliant combustion and a
high temperature, and the discoverer becomes possessed with the
idea that the steam is burned — that he has found a process for
burning water. A cheap apparatus for showing the phenomena
is exhibited ; extravagant possibilities are claimed for the inven-
tion and the inventor proceeds to sell ' ' territories, ' ' realizing a
handsome fortune. And although he may possibly honestly
believe in his invention, through ignorance, yet, like the other,
it fails to produce the enormous results claimed for it.
A complete revolution in the propulsion of vessels in naviga-
tion is another prolific theme. An inventor imagines that the
great secret of economy and speed lies in jet propulsion. A
new idea is propounded, that a very small jet of water driven
by pressure at a high velocity from the stern of a vessel is the
long looked-for, but hitherto unrecognized, secret of obtaining
at the same time great velocity and economy. The "ocean
greyhounds" are to be sent across the Atlantic in thirty hours,
being propelled by a jet of water a few inches in diameter,
forced at a high velocity from the sterns of the ships.
These are not ideal cases, but are unfortunately taken
from real life — from actual occurrences during the last decade.
The money lost and the time lost in costly attempts to demon-
strate what could have been proved to have been fallacious
might have been saved to those who were misled, if they had
been willing to listen to a few plain, simple explanations of
the laws of applied science in the first instance.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 249
The new science of energy, to which reference has been
made, has not only furnished clear and definite ideas of the
relations to each other of the various sources of power in
nature, but has defined the limits, respectively, of their useful
and economical applications, and the most elementary scientific
discussion of such cases as are above given, illustrative of
efforts to find new and extraordinary sources of power or
methods hitherto unknown of applying to useful work those
sources of power which are known, would have been sufficient
to have shown the fallacies under which the attempts were
conceived and executed.
Important inventions leading to widespread improvements in
the arts or to new industries do not come by chance, or as sud-
den inspirations, but are in almost every instance the result of
long and exhaustive researches by men whose thorough famil-
iarity with their subjects enables them to see clearly the way to
improvements. Almost all important and successful inventions
which have found their way into general use and acceptance
have been the products of well-balanced and thoughtful minds,
capable of patient, laborious investigation, and have been
prompted mainly by the hope or sentiment of giving something
useful to mankind.
This sentiment has characterized the labors of the men in this
country whose names make up a long roll of illustrious inven-
tors, and whose works have not only contributed largely to the
national prosperity, but have exalted the national reputation.
These are not the men who proclaim in advance the great
value of their devices, and endeavor to reap rich profits before
the utility of their discoveries has been demonstrated ; but on
the contrary, among the names composing the long list of pub-
lic benefactors, whose inventions have given substantial benefits
to millions, are found those of men who have received little re-
ward for their personal sacrifices, when a grateful people would
have been glad to have showered upon them both pecuniary
benefits and public honors.
So rapid is the progress at the present day of both practical
and scientific discovery that there is a universal consciousness
of the existence of a sort of intellectual vis viva in practical and
theoretical science, which, reversing the law of material or
250 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
kinetic energy, seems to increase in proportion to the resistances
which have been overcome. Theory and practice have become
thoroughly united, the deductions of the former being instantly
brought into use by the latter, while both contemplate fqr the
future greater achievements based upon the strong foundations
of the past and present.
Electrical, Physical, and Chemical Laboratories were never
more active in leading the way for the Engineer, the Metallur-
gist, and the Manufacturer to follow in the tide of industrial
and manufacturing progress ; and never before has there been
a time when so many young men, splendidly equipped for the
work before them, have been added yearly to the ranks of sci-
entific workers.
The field of invention thus grows larger and its aims higher.
As one branch of practical knowledge becomes in a degree ex-
hausted to the inventor another springs up to take its place.
In this great and continued movement every man is a bene-
factor who contributes to that kind of useful knowledge, whether
it be theoretical or practical, which increases the conveniences
and comforts of living for the great masses of the human race,
and through the infiuences which he thus helps to create, lifts
them up to higher planes of intellectual and social life.
With all such workers Technical Schools arejn full sympathy
and active alliance.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 251
THE INVENTION OF THE STEAM ENGINE.
By Robert H. Thurston, A. M., LL. D., Dr. Eng'g of New York,
Director and Professor of Mechanicai. Engineering, Sib-
I.EY Coi.i<EGE, C0RNE1.1, University.
There can be, as it seems to me, no more fruitful and inter-
esting subject of investigation and study, in the history of the
race, than that which notes the influence of the earlier and the
later methods in philosophy upon the material progress of
the world, and which observes the result of the introduction of
great inventions into the midst of a society, on the one hand,
absolutely without sympathy for that inclination which stimu-
lates the contriver, and without ambition to avail itself of the
advantages offered by his inventions, or, on the other hand,
among people hungry for them, and for the advantages which
they promise.
Of this difference between the older and younger civiliza-
tions, between Greek and Roman and modem Anglo-Saxon,
no better illustration can be found than in the History of the
Growth of the Steam Engine. Known two thousand years or
more ago, it was made a toy by the speculative and unutili-
tarian Greek ; tendered by Watt to a modem world, it is made
the foundation of all material and even intellectual progress.
Greece and Rome, like their predecessors Babylon, Nineveh,
Thebes, and Kamak, reaching a certain point in their civiliza-
tion, stood comparatively at rest, and presently only changed
to retrograde, while handing on their civilization to later rep-
resentatives of human advancement.
The world of the nineteenth century moves on with a mighty
and accelerated velocity ; gaining more in a century than all
mankind had advanced in its whole previous history.
It is to Science, pure and applied, that the world owes all
these wonderful advances that we are witnessing now, even
more than in the immediate past. It is to the truth-loving
quality of Science that we owe the recent rapid growth of the
arts. Only the exact truth is sought, and everything yields to
252 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
fact. "For her the volume of inspiration is the book of
Nature, of which the scroll is ever spread before the eyes of
every man. Confronting all, it needs no societies for its dis-
semination. Infinite in extent, eternal in duration, human
ambition and human fanaticism have never been able to tamper
with it. On the earth it is illustrated by all that is magnifi-
cent and beautiful ; on the heavens its letters are suns and
worlds." The study of science, directed, as it usually seems
to be, to the improvements of the physical condition and the
surroundings of Man, actually leads, very directly and
promptly, to the improvement of his moral and intellectual
character. It gives him the means of performing all necessary
work in a shorter time than formerly, and thus sets free the
intellect and the soul to carry on their highest work. The ap-
plications of science to the useful arts not only give us better
and cheaper clothing, a greater variety of wholesome food, and
means of rapid and easy transportation, but permit man to
think out, in more and more frequent leisure moments, occa-
sional leisure hours, the problems of life, to adjust himself bet-
ter to his environment, to consider the needs of his fellows,
to find opportunity for exercise of his sympathies, to improve
his intellectual powers, to acquire knowledge on which to ex-
ercise them, to think out the great moral problems of life and
of death, and to thus ascend into a higher and better atmos-
phere, a nobler sphere in a boundless universe of mind.
No one has summarized the work of science in this century
better than Macaulay : "It has lengthened life; it has miti-
gated pain ; has extinguished diseases ; has increased the fer-
tility of the soil ; given new security to the mariner ; furnished
new arms to the warrior ; spanned great rivers and estuaries
with bridges of form unknown to our fathers ; it has guided
the thunderbolt innocuously from heaven to earth ; it has
lighted up the night with splendor of the day ; it has extended
the range of human vision ; it has multiplied the power of the
human muscles ; it has accelerated motion ; it has annihilated
distance; it has facilitated intercourse, correspondence, all
friendly offices, all dispatch of business ; it has enabled man to
descend to the depths of the sea, to soar into the air, to pene-
trate securely into the noxious recesses of the earth ; to
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 253
traverse the land in cars which whirl along without horses ;
to cross the ocean in ships which run many knots an hour
against the wind.- These are but a part of its fruits, and of its
first fruits, for it is a philosophy which never rests, which is
never perfect. Its law is progress. A point which yesterday
was invisible is its goal to-day, and will be its starting point
to-morrow. ' '
The intellectual, and largely the moral, progress of mankind
depends, in a very great degree, upon the material progress of
the race ; but this in turn is the product of the labors of the
inventor and the laboring classes. The gain of wealth, on
which we must inevitablj^ and always depend for any real and
permanent advance in whatever field, must inevitably and
always in turn depend upon two principal results of the work
of the engineer's, the inventor's, the mechanic's brain : (i) the
reduction of the cost, in money or in labor as the best gauge, of
those necessaries of life and of progress which are in their use
subject to destruction, such as food, clothing, protection from
the weather ; (2) the rapid and permanent accumulation of the
permanent forms of wealth, such as constitute the real measure
of prosperity and give to a nation the comforts and luxuries
which are either essential or conducive to leisure and thought,
to intellectual development and moral growth. Poverty and
enforced asceticism give unquestionably large opportunity for
the development of certain phases of the strongest characters,
but only leisure and voluntary asceticism can produce the
highest development of character and mental growth combined.
It is to the producer of ever^^ facility for the cheap supply of
perishable and destructible necessaries that we must mainly
look for aid in the laying of a foundation for continual progress
in higher fields. It is to the inventor and mechanic that we
must appeal mainly for the means of easily sustaining life while
seeking time and opportunity to give to the race the means and
the opportunity to advance to a higher plane in civilization and
mental existence. It is the wonderful result of the work of the
inventor in the past century, largely stimulated by modem
scientific knowledge, and perhaps even more by modem
methods of legal encouragement of the inventor, and of assur-
ing to him the full possession of the fruits of his brain, that we
254 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
owe the marvelous gain of a century. Watt would have accom-
plished little had he not at the very start hit upon the scien-
tific principles of the steam engine. He would probably have
accomplished little except for the patent system. He would
hardly have had the heart to attempt much, even then, nor
probably would his financial partner and backer, Matthew
Boulton, have felt it safe to invest his capital, no less essential
than the invention itself, in such an enterprise had not the
new patent system furnished him security for the investment
required — in shops, tools and financial operations attendant
upon the introduction of the new machine. Machinery and the
patent system are the basis of the world's prosperity to-day.
Watt made inventions and the capitalist furnished the means
of their construction and use, while the patent system gave
security to both inventor and capitalist, and assured them of
fair return of their investments of time, thought and money.
As has been often suggested, a new invention is simply the
materialization of a new idea of scientific character and useful
purpose ; an idea capable of supplying to mankind new com-
forts, new conveniences, new safeguards against want, pain,
disease and death. Every new advance, even in pure science,
is sure of ultimately finding use in the advancement of the race
materially and, indirectly, intellectually and morally. The
perfection of a science is the means of perfection of an art, and
the improvement of the arts is the direct means of promoting
the highest as well as the lower interests of mankind. It is
thus that it has come to pass that ' * Machinery, actuated by the
forces of nature, now performs with ease and certainty work
that was formerly the drudgery of thousands. Every natural
agent has been pressed into man's service — the winds, the
waters, fire, gravity, electricity, light itself!" On the shelves
of my library stand, side by side, as I observed a few days
ago — so placed by some curious accident — a copy of the tales of
the ' * One Thousand and One Nights ' ' and two or three little
volumes of stories of inventors and their inventions, and of
modern discoveries. Comparing these two sets of fruits of the
human intellect, I find the results of the * ' scientific use of the
imagination " on the whole far more impressive and, in many
respects, far more marvelous — not to say, to the unfamiliar
mind, more incredible — than those of the romancist.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 255
The military art has always been the sustainer, as it was
originally the parent, of the mathematical and physical sciences.
The Greek camp and Alexander's army were the progenitors
of the great school of Alexandria. Alexander the Great was
the progenitor of the intellectual offspring of Archimedes and
of Euclid, as of the the theories of Newton, and ancient Greece
has been the source of inspiration of all modern life. The
polytechnic schools of Alexandria substituted for the specula-
tive methods of Plato the logical philosophy of Aristotle ; they
employed the reason in place of the imagination in all physical
and scientific departments of knowledge. The home of Eratos-
thenes and of Hipparchus and of Ctesibus, the instructor of
Hero, was the successor of the camp of the Grecian con-
queror, and, conquests being ended, real knowledge became
the object of ambition. Speculation gave way to investigation,
and the triflings and aimless disputations of the older schools
were succeeded by the serious labor of research and of the
accumulation of real knowledge. This serious and fruitful
labor gave an impulse that was never wholly lost, though
often seemingly almost extinguished by the combined forces of
the political and the military spirit of later times. A thousand
years of trifling, the whole period of the dark ages, could not
wholly destroy it.
In the history of the world there have been two distinct pe-
riods of marked advance ; the one mainly philosophical, the
other mainly material. These are the times of the Greek
philosophers, and notably of the growth and prosperity of the
Alexandrian school, and the times which have brought us a
modem civilization — the three centuries just closing. The
earlier period ' * died with Hypatia ' ' of Alexandria, and the
later began with Newton, and is still in full career. Both these
periods have been distinguished by a singular freedom of intel-
lectual opinion and growth. In the days of Aristotle, of Soph-
ocles, of Plato, as of Archimedes, of Hero, of the Ptolomies,
whatever may be said of the political status of the citizen, his
opinions were his own, and his intellectual freedom was abso-
lute ; the conflicting sects and philosophies of that time were
simply the free growth of mind unrestrained by social or eccle-
siastical bonds. In these later days we are just regaining a
256 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
somewhat similar freedom of intellect, through the all-pervad-
ing influence of modem scientific methods and principles. That
political freedom which has just begun to come to the citizen
of even the monarchies of Europe ; that social freedom which
has its best illustrations, as well as its most grotesque monstros-
ities, in the United States ; that intellectual freedom which
stimulates, as well as permits, advance in every department of
modem life, in science, religion, invention, in all the arts : all
these forms of freedom are but phases of one mighty develop-
ment of human progress distinguishing our own time. It is
all precisel}^ the same universal unrestraint, coming of a com-
mon cause, taking its efiect primarily in political changes, so
far as visible, and marking simply that impulse which is exhib-
ited in any direction in which great forces have been long re-
sisted and restrained, finally to be given vent, and thus allowed
to expend the long-stored energy in a mighty, and often unan-
ticipated, outburst. The improvement of the steam engine has.
been one of the consequences of the same train of events which
gave England her Magna Charta, and the United States a re-
publican form of government ; which produced a science of
chemistry, and established modern views in astronomy and
geology.
The middle ages were periods of repression ; the later days
have seen the resultant expansion. During their whole extent
the transfer of learning from Alexandria to Bagdad, to Gra-
nada ; the distribution of Saracen colleges throughout Western
Europe ; the slumbering of intellect in the countries dominated
by the church during those centuries ; all were simply the
transfer and the storage of energies, the aggregation of the
forces of progress, preparatory to their grander action in the days
following the martyrdom of Bruno and of Galileo, the events
marking the dawning of a new era.
In those older days, when Greek and Roman founded a lit-
erature and a philosophy that has been a guide and an inspira-
tion throughout all subsequent times, the inventor and the
builder was at a disadvantage ; his brain was trammelled by the
difiiculty of getting his ideas crystalized in metal and in wood.
To-day he can make whatever he can devise ; then he could
devise a thousand new instruments, processes or machines, and
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 257
not one of the thousand might be practically possible. To-day,
our progress is only limited by the rate of accomplishment of
the brain and its production of representative ideas.
When a stone falls to the ground, from a lofty height, it
starts from rest with an imperceptible motion, graduall}^ in-
creases its speed by a regular acceleration, and, falling faster
and faster, finally reaches the ground with an acquired velocity
that can only be compared to that of a cannon-shot. The
alpine avalanche, slowly sliding along the smooth surfaces of
rocks and soil at the mountain top, exerting a power that a
child might successfully oppose, gathers energy as it moves,
increasing its speed, storing more and more power as it slides.
over the declivity, affects larger and larger masses, and, at last,
descends into the valley below with the roar of a tempest and
the destructive effect of a thousand torrents, moving downward
with the velocity of a lightning-flash. To one who reads the
history of the development of civilization among mankind,
from the earliest days of the oriental empires to the present,
this same universal law of accelerated progress seems to come
in play in the origination and perfection of the sciences, the
literatures, and the arts. The dawning of civilization among
the ancients was but recording in a scanty literature the
wanderings, the speculations, the imaginations of adult chil-
dren, interspersed with the gossip and tradition of verbal his-
tory. Science had no place in their pantology ; the arts had
only made the most simple beginnings in the provision of the
merest necessaries of a most simple life. Progress was hardly
perceptible, century by century ; the people of one age lived
much the same as did those of the preceding; "what was
good enough for grandparents was considered good enough for
grandchildren," and invention and discovery were w^ords of
little import. Homer probably knew no other literature than
the epic ; the builders of the pyramids were unacquainted
with any other mechanism than the simplest devices called by
us, today, the mechanical powers. Hero and the Greeks were
familiar with the expansive force of steam, but they had no
way of using it in the arts, and their only steam engine was
the aeolipile, a whirling globe, impelled by the reaction of steam
jets. The first principles of scientific method and the simplest
258 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
facts of science were unrecognized by the people of the time
of Christ and the Romans. Menelaus and Achilles took their
armies to the coast of Troy in boats impelled by sails and oars;
and their troops fought with arrows and spears ; Alexander
conquered the world of his time ignorant of gunpowder ; Caesar
conquered Gaul and wrote his commentaries unaware of the
potentialities of artillery and of the printing press ; and the
dark ages that intervened, to the times of Galileo and Newton,
were unenlightened by even the intelligent anticipation of gas
or the electric light.
Our own ancestors of a century or two ago knew absolutely
nothing of any one of the most useful inventions or discoveries
that seem to us to-day to be so essential to our comfort, except
the one art of printing. The perfection of the steam engine
has been the work of this century ; the introduction of the
telegraph, the railroad, the steamboat, of the telephone and of
the power press, are all the work of mechanics and men of
science with whom our own parents and grandparents were
acquainted, or who are our own contemporaries. The lever,
the wedge, and the screw were the great inventions of the
ancients. The mariner's compass, and the art of printing, the
the introduction of firearms and artillery were the gauges of
the progress of the world in the middle ages, while our own
times have seen an innumerable list of inventions contributing
to the comfort of humanity and its better life.
To one who has read of the rude beginnings of science, and
of the arts in the times of the Greeks and Romans, of the
Oriental civilizations, of the Egyptians and of the Saracens,
and who has noted the slow progress of the world through the
middle ages and who has observed the culmination, possibly, of
this acceleration in the productive century in which we iive ;
to one who has studied the growth of the steam engine from
the toy of Hero of Alexandria, two thousand years ago, through
the various rude and ineffective devices of the intermediate
centuries, to the time of Worcester, of Savery, and of Newcomen
and the wonderful outcome of the work of James Watt ; who
has seen the steamboat grow from the little craft of the time of
Fulton and Stevens to the shape of the floating palaces on Long
Island Sound and the great steamer of 10,000 tons burden,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 259
carrying a thousand passengers across the Atlantic at the speed
of a railway train, and the mighty iron-clad, almost impene-
trable by the heaviest ordnance, and itself throwing tons of
steel shot at a broadside miles through the air, starting with a
velocity double that of sound itself ; to one who has witnessed
the development of the railroad from an insignificant beginning
only a little more than a half century ago, two generations at
most, to its present state, with its forty, fifty, and one hundred-
ton locomotives, its thousand tons of train, conveying food
and comforts across a continent at a cost of less than a cent per
ton per mile, bringing to the laboring man on the Atlantic
coast a barrel of flour a year for each member of his family,
fi-om Minnesota, nearly fifteen hundred miles away, for less
than a dollar ; with its magnificent train of palace and sleeping
cars rushing fi-om New York to Chicago, a thousand miles in
twenty-four hours, or swinging in tremendous power across the
continent to San Francisco in four days ; to one who has
wondered at the beautiful applications of electric science to the
purposes of life and business, as illustrated in the the telegr,iph,
transmitting its message in the lightning-flash fi-om continent
to continent and around the world, or in the telephone, bring-
ing fiiends, miles apart, t^te a tHe^ or in the electric light, turning
night into day and driving crime into its remotest dens, while
giving all the industries the power of doubling their productive-
ness; and to one who has seen the modem power-press printing
newspapers by the mile, cutting and trimming them to size,
folding and wrapping them for transmission to distant readers
by a system of mail distribution which equally well illustrates
the progress of the age in methods and organization and indus-
tries : to one who has perceived all this, the thought must
inevitably come that there must be a limit to such speed of
advance as we are now witnessing, and the law of acceleration
must sometime cease to operate ; and the question must suggest
itself — Where is the limit ? What is coming in the future of
the race ? What are the possibilities ? What wonders may we
expect that Science may still discover ? What may probably
be their effect on the life of the world? What are likely
to be the characteristics of the ''Coming Race," of its social
life and of its moral, its intellectual, its physical conditions ?
:26o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Bulwer drew upon the imagination of a romancer for his ideal
of the future. What may the imagination of a man of science
perceive, guided by his more rational view of the past, of the
present, and of the general course of progress in invention and
discovery ?
In all of the great operations of Nature the course and the
rate of movement are determined by the well-know^n principle
<A the "persistence of energy" and by that of the Law of
Newton, asserting that she invariably endeavors to preserve the
existing condition of motion, and that all motions tend to con-
tinue uniformly to follow a right line, resisting invariably every
tendency to effect a deviation from the existing course, with a
power which is proportional to the rate at which such deviation
from the motion of the moment is forced. Nature never turns
a sharp corner, and we may probably as well judge the future
of the great intellectual and social movements by the laws of
.energy as anticipate physical motions.
In writing the history of the ' ' Growth of the Steam Engine ' *
years ago, 1 divided it into three periods, that of speculation,
that of development and application ; that of refinement or
improvement in detail. The first period is that of Hero and
the Greek speculative philosophy, the second that of Watt and
his predecessors in the invention of the machine, that of the
opening of the modern epoch ; and the third is that comprising
the whole of the present century, with all its wonders; it is
the outcome of the last, the fruit of a minute seed planted in
the first of these eras. The men to whom the world is to-day
indebted mainly for all that it enjoys of material advantage, and
for the opportunity to improve it by the intellectual advances
which have accompanied the production of modern comforts
and luxuries, are, more than any other. Hero of Alexandria,
and his contemporary, possibly, Archimedes ; Papin, the Mar-
.quis of Worcester, Captain Savery and Newcomen, and most
of all, James Watt. Let us inquire who were these men and
what their surroundings, and how they brought about the
marvelous changes that the octogenarian of to-day has become
familiar with as the outcome of their combined efforts.
Hero was born amid the Greeks at perhaps the most interest-
ing period of their history, philosophically considered. The
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 261
biography of Alexander, the history of the wars of the Greeks,
have little importance or interest in comparison with the life of
the earliest engineer, permanently recording the invention of
the steam engine, and the history of the intellectual awaken-
ing that marked his time. Hero's *' Pneumatica " is the first
record of invention. It only gives us a definite idea of the
extent to which the people of that day were familiar with the
possible application of the forces of nature to the uses and
purposes of mankind. The account is as simple and ingenuous
as the devices themselves are simple and undeveloped. It is
the description of toys to which interest attaches only because
of their revelation of the condition of ancient useful arts and of
the fact that they constitute the germ of mighty inventions of
of later date. But Hero lived at a time when great inventions
were not appreciated, were not even thought of as having pos-
sible value in application to the ameloriation of the condition
of humanity, and were quite impossible of construction, if ever
so much desired, because of the fact that no machinery for their
construction could then be had. So it happened that the toy
steam engine, curiously enough a very perfect type of steam
engine scientifically considered, lay unused, a germ only, like
the grain of wheat in the hand of the mummy, for two thousand
years, finally to take a new life of wonderful works.
Now and then one of the old philosophers hit, by some happy
accident in the course of his speculations, upon some notion of
the nature of heat and energy which was not far from what we
now know to be true. But we also have seen that then it was
the fact, as Democritus remarked to the old philosopher :
"Nothing is true; or, if so, is certain." Knowledge had in
ancient times no stability ; and science, in the modern sense of
the term, had no existence. But it was otherwise in the do-
main of application, and the work of the ancient artisan and
the development of the mechanic arts among the old Greeks
and Romans and their predecessors of India, Persia and Egypt
command our respect and admiration. When the lack of facil-
ities possessed by the older nations is considered, their success
in the construction of their temples, in the erection of the pyra-
mids, in their naval architecture, is to the modern engineer
almost as impressive as would many of our grandest achieve-
262 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
ments be to them could they return to earth and study the
progress made since their own times. No more beautiful edi-
fices are built to-day than existed in the times of ancient civ-
ilizations ; no modern workman can excel in the perfection of
his joints and surfaces those observed, still hardly defaced by
the centuries, in the great pj^ramid and its neighbors ; the lines
of the ancient war galleys, and of the Scandinavian craft, even
of the earlier periods, were as fine as those of the finest yachts
of our own day. The ancestors of the ancient philosophers
honored the artisan, and their gods were the idolized hero-
mechanics of earlier times. Labor was rewarded by the great-
est honors that the nation could confer. It was not surprising,
therefore, that some advances were made, in even those ruder
times, in the mechanic arts.
The reasoning of the old philosopher. Hero, in regard to the
physical phenomena involved in the operation of his machines
is interesting, as illustrating the state of the science in his time.
He introduces the description of the apparatus which has been
described by a treatise on the nature of air and the character of
the vacuum. He shows that vessels which seem empty are in
reality full of air, and proves his assertion by the following
considerations and crucial test : ' ' Let the vessel which seems
to be empty be inverted into the water. It will be seen that it
will not admit the water, although it may appear perfectly
vacuous. If a hole be bored in the reversed bottom of the ves-
sel air will issue, and the water will then enter. " " Hence it
must be assumed that the air is matter. ' ' Further : " If a light
vessel with a narrow mouth be applied to the lips, and the air
be sucked out and discharged, the vessel will be suspended
from the lips, the vacuum drawing the flesh toward it that the
exhausted space may be filled. It is manifest from this that
there was a continuous vacuum in the vessel." Cupping
glasses, which were then already known and in common use,
were cited as illustrations of a similar operation, the fire placed
in them rarifying the air, and the vacuum being thus produced.
* * Winds are produced by excessive exhalation, whereby the
air is disturbed and rarified, and sets in motion the air in im-
mediate contact with it. " "It may therefore be afiirmed that
every body is composed of minute particles, between which are
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 263
empty spaces less than the particles of the body (so that we
erroneously say that there is no vacuum except by the appli-
cation of force, and that every place is full of ether, air, or
water, or some other substance), and in proportion as any one
of these particles recedes, some other follows it and fill the va-
cant space ; so that there is no continuous vacuum except
on the application of some force ; and again the absolute vacuum
is never found, but is produced artificially." "These things
being clearly explained," the author goes on to consider the
methods devised for the application of these principles to his
purposes.
The fact that none of these contrivances were, so far as the
records show, applied to the promotion of the useful arts in
the sense in which that application has taken place in modem
times and has thus so wonderfully accelerated the advance of
civilization, is probably an indication that the non-utilitarian
spirit of the Platonic philosophy, and of the whole learned
Greek world, indeed, pervaded the .ranks of the people too
thoroughly to permit them to profit to any great extent by the
inventions of their great mechanicians ; who, indeed, seem to
have been inclined much more to the gymnastic than to the
useful employment of their talents.
This inclination to the display of ingenuity rather than
promotion of useful arts was transmitted to the Romans also,
and the only account extant of such illustrations of the in-
ventive power of that nation are those relating to contrivances
of machinery of war and such curious applications of the genius
of the inventor as may have attracted the attention of the
classes of leisure and those engaged in scholarly pursuits.
Perhaps the only well-known example of such ingenious per-
version of what might have been useful powers is the follow-
ing, given us by Gibbon in his "Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire" —
" In a trifling dispute between Anthemius, the architect of
Justinian, and Zeno, the orator, relative to the wells or windows
of their contiguous houses, Anthemius had been vanquished
by the eloquence of his neighbor Zeno ; but the orator was de-
feated in his turn by the master of mechanics. In a lower room,
Anthemius ranged several vessels or caldrons of water, each
264 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
of them covered by the wide bottom of a flexible tube, which
rose to a narrow top, and was artificiallly conveyed among the
joists and rafters of the adjacent building. A fire wa-s kindled
beneath the caldrons ; the steam of the boiling water ascended
through the tubes ; the house was shaken by the effect of the
imprisoned air, and its trembling inhabitants might well wonder
that the city was unconscious of an earthquake that they had
felt ; and the orator declared, in tragic style, to the Senate,
that a mere mortal must yield to the power of an antagonist
who shook the earth with the trident of Neptune."
What has been referred to comprises nearly all that is known,
and probably about all that the ancients themselves knew, of
the work of their greatest engineers and philosophers in the
field here explored. Centuries of strife and hardly-ever ceas-
ing wars followed the fall of the Roman empire, and the arts
of peace suffered retardation, rather than advanced. There
was, however, an undertow of movement among the more
scholarly and the more industrious peoples ; and the transfer of
the learning of the ancients to the modern times through the
Saracen dominion and the progress made by the pagans of the
middle ages, were the means of preserving the seed of that
later and wonderfully grand outgrowth which has distinguished
the three centuries now coming to a close. During this period,
also, the Church which was always the anchor of scholarship,
though often the direst foe to science, of real knowledge of the
Creator through his works, not only organized its own ma-
teriel and personnel into a most effective working apparatus
for the promulgation of its tenets, but also provided a sys-
tem of education, and a working educational organization,
that, once it was permitted, by that freedom of personal
thought which came of the Reformation, to seek knowledge
in every field and to accept the logical results of every investi-
gation in science and in morals, became the most effective pos-
sible means of promoting true learning. While therefore, the
middle ages seemed to be a period of intermitted growth in all
but the sience and art of war, it was realy a time of readjust-
ment, of rearrangement, of the various classes of Europe, and
was preparatory to such a movement of the great underlying
forces as should finally give opportunity for the most rapid
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 265
progress, once that progress should begin on the new lines and
in the new ways that distinguished the later period of onward
motion of the great current.
A more complete idea of the extent to which the inventive
talent of the ancients was fruitful of result in practically use-
ful directions may be gained by studying, in addition to the
accounts of Hero and others of such curious devices as have
just been described, those of other authors telling of the
various apparatus of war, and for naval purposes, which were
invented by the engineers of the Greek and Roman armies
and navies. Works on Greek and Roman antiquities describe
the rams used for battering down the gates and walls of be-
leaguered cities, some of them a hundred and twenty feet
long, and weighing thousands of pounds, many tons ; in fact,
so large that it required three hundred pairs of horses or mules
to draw them, and fifteen hundred men to operate them when
mounted ready for the attack. They were great beams of
wood, sheathed with iron, and, often, covered by an arrow,
and perhaps bomb-proof house which protected the soldiers
while working the ram. Their engineers constructed towers,
called sometimes, helepoleis, or city-takers, which, according to
Vitruvius, were ninety feet high, in ten stories, and twenty-five
feet square at the base, as a minimum ; while the largest were
a hundred and eighty feet high, in twenty stories, and thirty-
four feet square at the bottom. They were mounted on
wheels, and from them, when advanced to the spot from which
the enemy was to be attacked, engines contrived for the pur-
pose threw stones and other missiles into the city and upon its
walls. Machines for throwing arrows and stones were fre-
quently employed, and were often of enormous size and power.
Similar engines were built to mount upon their ships ; while
the vessel itself was converted into an engine of tremendous
power by arming its bow with a beak, or **ram," and using
the craft precisely as the iron-clad **ram" is employed in
modern naval combats. Indeed, the submerged ram now
universally adopted for such vessels was the invention of
Aristo, the Corinthian, and was itself an improvement upon
other forms of ram-bow, long before in use.
266 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The ancients were evidently not deficient in ingenuity, in a
talent which is the distinguishing characteristic of our time
and people; but in mechanics, as in philosophy, their tendency
was always toward the consideration of the ideal and the
imaginative, rather than toward the useful and directly help-
ful in practical directions. Philosophers and mechanicians,
scholars and artisans, alike, admired the ingenious and specu-
lative, rather than the productive and the practical. They
had departed from the primitive ideas of their progenitors to
whom they owed their theology and who had named their
gods. They had come to a period in the development of their
society which must necessarily result in a cessation of ad-
vancement, and a stationary era in their civilization.
The age of the dreamer is the period of rest preliminary to
stagnation or even retrogression. The ancient civilization, so
called, was the culmination of an earlier movement of which
history only exhibits to us the later stages, and which was the
prelude to a relaxation, in turn the preliminary to another
advance. So it happens that the mechanic arts and their
grandest achievments, as illustrated by the engineer of to-day,
of the man who, combining intelligence with learning, scien-
tific attainments with the power of practical accomplishment,
meets every demand of the age, whether for a railroad or a
steamship, a telegraph line or an electric-lighting establish-
ment, could no more have been the outcome of ancient ideas
and of ancient methods than could the old philosophers have
given rise to modern science. The profession of engineering,
like that of the physicist or of the chemist, is thus essentially a
product of recent phases of civilization. They are all as much
the product of the inductive methods as are the sciences them-
selves. The systematic collection of knowledge, the system-
atic arrangement of the phenomena and facts of nature into
sciences, the systematic promotion and dissemination of learn-
ing, modern systematic education, have set the world in
motion and with an accelerating velocity, and the modem
methods of thought, in all departments of knowledge, of
research in all branches of learning, of education, general and
liberal, technical and professional, have produced a new heaven
and a new earth for mankind.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 267
Thus as remarked by Prof. Youmans* : " In the history of
human affairs there is a growing conception of the action of gen-
eral causes in the production of events, and a corresponding
conviction that the part played by individuals has been much
exaggerated, and is far less controlling and permanent than has
been hitherto supposed. So, also, in the history of science it
is now acknowledged that the progress of discovery is much
more independent of the labors of particular persons than has
been formerly admitted. Great discoveries belong not so much
to individuals as to humanity ; they are less inspirations of
genius than births of eras. As there has been a definite intel-
lectual progress, thought has necessarily been limited to the
subjects successively reached. Many minds have been thus
occupied at the same time with similar ideas, and hence the
simultaneous discoveries of independent inquirers, of which
the history of science is so full."
Writing of the extraordinary importance of the discoveries
and researches which, in the nineteenth century, closed this
wonderful progress. Dr. Youmans says :
"An eminent authority has remarked that * these discoveries
open a region which promises possessions richer than any
hitherto granted to the intellect of man.' Involving, as they
do, a revolution of fundamental ideas, their consequences must
be as comprehensive as the range of human thought. A
principle has been developed of all-pervading application,
which brings the diverse and distant branches of knowledge
into more intimate and harmonious alliance, and affords a
profounder insight into the universal order. ' '
But the consequences of the establishment of the identity
of heat and motion, and of the fact that the various forms of
energy produced by the various methods of motion of matter,
were, if possible, even more important than were the facts just
outlined. Once it was perceived that heat and light were
forms of motion and energy, it became promptly seen that
electricity was also a similar phenomenon, and the question
arose whether the vital forces, and all other observed phe-
nomena distinctive of the production of movement and the
performance of work, in whatever department of nature, might
* Correlation of Forces ; N. Y. : D. Appleton & Co.
268 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
not be also similarly related, each to all the others. The
doctrines of the Correlation and of the Conservation or Persist-
ence of Forces and of Energies, as these principles have come
to be called, were soon seen to be the foundation of all natural
science, and to bind all the sciences into one common and
closely related system of laws, into a science called by Rankine^
''Energetics."
Papin, Worcester, Savery were the authors of the period of
application of the power of steam to useful work in our later
days. The world was, in their time, just waking into a new
life under the stimulus of a new freedom that, from the time of
Shakespeare, of Newton, and of Gilbert, the physicist, has
steadily become wider, higher, and more fruitful year by year.
All the modern sciences and all the modern arts had their re-
awakening with the seventeenth century. Every aspect of free-
dom for humanity came into view in those days of a new birth.
Both the possibility of the introduction of new sciences and of
new arts and the power of utilizing all new intellectual and
physical forces came together. The steam engine could not
earlier have taken form ; and, taking form, it could not have
promoted the advance of civilization in the earlier centuries.
The invention becoming possible of development and applica-
tion, the promotion of the arts and of all forms of human activ-
ity became a possible consequence of its finally successful intro-
duction into the rude arts that it was to so effectively promote
and improve.
But the work of these inventors was in itself but little more
important than that of the Greek inventor of the steam aeolipile,
for each brought forward a machine which was, from a business
point of view, utterly impractable, and which, in each case,
only served to show that a better device might prove useful and
to lead the way to its introduction. The merit of the inventors of
the eighteenth century was that they were able to lead the way,
to point out the path to success, to furnish evidence of the value
of the coming, crowning invention. The "fire engines," as
they were then called, of these now famous men, were merely
contrivances by the use of which the pressure of confined
steam of high tension could be brought to act on the surface
of a mass of confined water, forcing it downward into pipes
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 269
through which it was led oflf and upward to a higher level ; and
thus a mine could be drained, ineffectively and expensively, to
be sure, but vastly more satisfactorily than by the animal power
of the time. The machine of Savery was the best of all ; but
that was only a somewhat improved and manageable rearrange-
ment of the engines of Papin and Worcester. And, after all,
Papin, the greatest man of science, perhaps, of his time, died in
poverty ; Worcester languished in prison, and his whole life and
the later efforts of his widow brought nothing by way of a re-
turn for his invention ; nor did either they or their successor,
Morland, make the introduction of the engine either general or
remunerative. Savery, coming on the stage at more nearly the
right time to seize upon the opportunity, gained more than
either of his predecessors ; but we have no evidence that he
ever acquired any large compensation or met with any remark-
able business success in the introduction of the rude engine
which bore his name, nor did Desaguliers, the great philos-
opher, or even Smeaton, the great engineer of the later years
of that century, make any great success of it. It was reserved
for Watt to reap the harvest. But, though he so effectively
reaped where his predecessors had sown. Watt is not the
greatest of the inventors of the steam engine, if we rate his
standing by the magnitude of the improvement which marked
his reconstruction of the engine. It was Newcomen who made
the modern steam engine.
When Newcomen came forward the labors of Worcester, in
Great Britain, had sufficed to attract the attention of all intel-
ligent men to the character of the problem to be solved and to
convince them of its importance and promise. The work of
Savery had shown the practicability of the solution of the
problem, both in mechanics and finance. He succeeded,
though under great disadvantages and comparatively inef-
ficiently. Once the task had been performed, though ever so
rudely, the rest came easily and promptly. The defects of the
Savery system were at once recognized ; its great wastes of
heat and of steam were noted, and the fact that they were
inherent in the system itself was perceived. A complete
change of type of machine was obviously requisite. It was
this which constituted the greatest invention in the whole
270 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
history of the steam engine, from Hero's time to our own ; and
to Newcomen we owe more than to any other man who ever
lived, the value of the invention itself being considered and
the importance of the services of its introducer being left out
of consideration. No such complete and vital improvement
and modification of the machine has ever been effected by any
other man, Watt and Corliss not excepted. Newcomen and
his comrade. Galley — we do not know how the honors should
be divided — producod the modem steam engine. Its prede-
cessor, the Savery engine, had been a mere steam "squirt ; "
Newcomen constructed an engine. Savery built a simple com-
bination of cylindrical or ellipsoidal vessels which wastefully
and at once performed all the several ofiices of engine, pump,
condenser and boiler. Newcomen divided these several ele-
ments among as many parts, each especially adapted to the
performance of its task in the most effective manner, the con-
denser excepted, for that was Watt's principal invention, and
thus produced the first steam engine in the modern sense of
that term. It was Newcomen, not Watt, who gave us the
train of mechanism that we now call the steam engine. It is
to Newcomen, rather than Watt, that we owe the highest
honors as an inventor in this series of the most important of all
the products of the inventive genius of mankind. Newcomen
brought into existence a new, the modern, type of engine, and
effected the greatest revolution that has been recorded in the
history of the arts. Without Newcomen there might have
been no Watt ; without Watt there very possibly may not even
yet have been brought into existence that giant of our time,
whose mighty powers are employed more effectively than ever
those of Alladin's genii in building palaces, in transporting
men and material, in doing the work of the whole world ;
promoting the welfare of the race in a single century more
than had all the forces of matter and mind together in the
whole previous history of the world. Newcomen laid down a
foundation beneath our whole economic system, out of sight
almost, but the essential base nevertheless on which Watt and
his successors have carried up the great superstructure which
seems to us to-day so imposing, which is so tremendous in
magnitude, importance and result. If to any one man could
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 271
be assigned the credit, it is Newcomen who is to be considered
the inventor of the steam engine.
James Watt, indisputably the great inventor that he was,
found the steam engine ready to his hand ; applied himself to
its improvement, and made it substantially what it is to-day.
His most important work, the most unique service performed
by him was, however, that of its adaptation and introduction
to do the work of the world. James Watt was the in augur ator
of the era of refinement of the machine, already invented, and
the greatest of its builders and distributors. His inventions
were all directed to the improvement of its details, and his
labors to its introduction and its application to the myriad
tasks awaiting it. By the hands of Watt it was made to pump
water, to spin, to weave, to drive every mill ; and he it was
who gave it the form demanded by Stephenson, by Fulton, by
the whole industrial world, for use on railway and steamboat,
and in mill and factory throughout the civilized countries of
the globe. It was this great mechanic who showed how it
might be made to do its work with least expense, with highest
efficiency, with greatest regularity, with utmost concentration
of power.
The grand secret of his success was historical and economic
as much as scientific and mechanical. He brought out his in-
ventions just when the world was economically and historically
ready for them. The age of authority was past ; that of free-
dom was come ; the period of political and ecclesiastical tyranny
was gone by, and that of the spontaneous development of man
was arrived. The great invention was offered to a world ready
and needing it, and, more than all, competent, for the first time
in history, to make and use it.
James Watt was himself a product of the modem scientific
spirit. He was a man so constituted, mentally, that he could
apply scientific methods to problems which his logical and
clairvoyant mind could readily and exactly formulate the in-
stant he was led to their consideration in the natural course of
his progress. He was the ideal great inventor and mechanic.
With inventive genius he combined strong common sense — not
always a quality distinguishing the inventor — clear perception,
breadth of view, and scientific method and spirit in the treat-
272 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
ment of every question. His natural talent was reinforced by
an experience and an environment which led him to develop
these ways and this mental habit. His trade was that of an
instrument-maker ; his position was that of custodian and i e-
pairer of the apparatus of Glasgow University. He had for
his daily companions and stimulus the great men and ozonized
atmosphere of that famous institution. He kept pace with
advancing science, and was imbued, both naturally and through
contact with its promoters, with that ambition and those aspi-
rations which are the life-element of all progress, whether sci-
entific or other. He was aware of the nature of the problems
seeking solution at the time, and familiar with the state of his
own art and that of the great mechanicians about him. Every-
thing was favorable to his progress, so soon as he should be
given an opportunity to take a step in advance and to come
into sight at the front. The man and the time were both ready^
and all conditions, internal and external, social and personal,
were favorable to his development.
The invention upon which Watt was to improve was at his
hand. A word in regard to its status at the moment will
throw some light upon that of Watt and his creation. New-
comen had, as we have seen, produced the modern type of
steam engine as an original and wholly novel invention. But
this machine, marvelous as an advance upon pre-existing forms
of the steam engine, was still, as seen in the light of recent
knowledge and experience, exceedingly defective. The pur-
pose of a steam engine is to convert into usefully applicable
power the hidden energy of fuel, stored ages ago in the earth
by transformation through the action of vegetation from the
original form, the heat of the sun, into an available form for re-
conversion through thermodynamic operations. In this pro-
cess of reconversion, whatever the nature of the machine used
in the operation, there are invariably wastes, both of heat re-
quired for conversion into power and of the power thus pro-
duced. That machine which effects the most complete trans-
formation of the heat supplied it into mechanical power, which
wastes the least amount of heat supplied and of power pro-
duced, is the best engine, and constitutes an advance over every
other.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 273
It was this reduction of wastes that made the Newcomen en-
gine so much superior to that of Savery. The latter was by-
far the simpler and less costly construction ; but its enormous
losses, both of heat and power, mainly the former, however,
made it an extravagant expenditure of money to buy and use
it. The Newcomen engine, costly and cumbrous, compara-
tively, nevertheless wasted so much less heat and steam and
fuel that no one could afford to buy the cheaper machine.
Before considering what Watt accomplished we may find it
profitable to examine into the nature of the wastes which char-
acterized this later and better machine on which he effected his
improvements.
The Newcomen engine consisted of a steain boiler, a steam
cylinder, a beam, and a set of pumps. By making the boiler
do its work separately, the engine acting independently, and
the pumps as a detached portion of the mechanism, this inven-
tor had reduced to an enormous extent those wastes of heat
and of steam and of fuel, which were unavoidable in the older
machines in which all these parts were represented by a single
vessel, or by two at most, in each element. In the Savery en-
gine, the steam entering first heated up the interior of the
working vessel to its own temperature, and held it at that
temperature in spite of the cooling influence of the water pres-
ent. This consumed large quantities of heat. It then was
compelled to surrender probably much greater quantities still
to the water itself, coming into direct contact, as it did, with
its surface. If the water was agitated, either by the currents
produced during its ingress or by the impact of the steam enter-
ing the vessel, this heating action penetrated to considerable
depths, and perhaps ^en warmed the whole mass very far
above its initial temperature. This constituted another and a
very serious loss. Then, again, as the water was gradually
driven out of the containing vessel by the steam pressing on its
surface, new portions of the vessel and new masses of water
were continually brought in contact with the hot steam, taking
its full temperature, and thus often probably finally heating
the whole mass of the forcing vessel, and a large proportion of
the water as well, up to the temperature, approximately, at least,
of the steam itself. Thus in many instances, if not always,
274 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
vastly more heat and steam were wasted in this undesirable
heating of water and forcing vessel than were usefully em-
ployed in the legitimate work of raising the water to a higher
level. In fact, in some cases in which these quantities were
measured, the wastes were one hundred times as much as the
work done. One per cent, of the heat supplied did the work,
while ninety-nine per cent, was thrown away. One dollar or
one shilling expended for fuel to do the work was accompanied
by an expenditure of ninety-nine dollars or shillings thrown
away, because of the imperfections of the system and machine.
The whole history of the development of the steam engine has
been one of gradual reduction of these wastes, until to-day our
best engines only compel us to spend five dollars for wastes to
each dollar paid out for useful work. A business man would
think that amply extravagant, however, and the man of science
is continually seeking methods of evading these losses, a large
proportion of which are now apparently unavoidable in heat
engines, by finding some new system of heat and energy trans-
formation.
Watt was the instrument maker and repairer at Glasgow
University in the year 1763. His companions were, among
others, the professors of natural philosophy and of mathe-
matics in the University. Their conversation and their fre-
quent presentation of practical and scientific questions and
problems stimulated his naturally inquiring and inventive mind
to the pursuit of a thousand interesting and promising schemes
for the improvement of existing methods and machinery. Dr.
Robinson, then a student, suggested the invention of a steam-
carriage for use on common roads, and the young mechanician
at once began experiments that, resulting in nothing at the
time, were nevertheless continued in one or another form until
all modern applications of steam came into view. Dr. Black
taught Watt chemistry, then a newly-constructed science, and
led him on to the discovery finally made by them independently
of the fact and the magnitude of the latent heat of steam, the
discovery coming of a series of scientifically planned and accu-
rately conducted investigations, such as the man of science of
to-day would deem creditable. The treatises of Deaguliers and
others on physics gave Watt a knowledge of that domain of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 275
natural phenomena which stood him in good stead later, when
he attempted to apply its principles to the reduction of the
wastes of the steam engine.
It was while at Glasgow University, working under such
influences and in such an atmosphere of intellectual activity,
that the accident of the Newcomen model engine needing
repair brought to the mind of Watt the opportunity which^
availed of at once, made him famous and gave the world its
greatest aid, its most powerful servant. The observing mind
of the great mechanic immediately noted its defects, sought
their causes, found their remedy. He discovered at once that
the quantity of steam entering the cylinder of the little engine
was four times the volume of the cylinder receiving it ; in other
words, three-fourths of that steam must be condensed immedi-
ately on entrance. This meant, evidently, that only one-fourth
of the steam supplied was utilized, and even then inefficiently,
in doing its work. The reason of this was as easily seen^
immediately the fact was revealed. As Watt himself expressed
it, the causes of this loss, causes which would obviously be
exaggerated in a small engine, were : "First , the dissipation of
heat by the cylinder itself, which was of brass, and both a good
conductor and a good radiator. Secondly, the loss of heat
consequent upon the necessity of cooling down the cylinder at
every stroke in producing the vacuum. Thirdly, the loss of
power due to the pressure of vapor beneath the piston, which
was a consequence of the imperfect method of condensation."
This much determined, the next step looked toward the con-
firmation of his conclusions and the remedy of the defects.
To meet the first difficulty he made a cylinder of wood,
soaked in oil and baked, a non-conducting and non-radiating
material. Then he was able to determine with some accuracy
the quantities of steam and injection water used in the engine,
and a comparison with the original cylinder, and its operation
showed that not only four times the quantity of steam, but also
four times the amount of injection water was used as was neces-
sary, assuming wastes checked. Further scientific research on
the part of Watt gave him measures of specific heats of the
metals and of wood, the specific volumes of steam at various
working pressures, the evaporative efficiency of boilers, the
276 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
pressures and temperatures of steam in the boiler under speci-
fied conditions, the quantities of steam and of water required for
the operation of his little condensing engine.
Then came his enunciation of the grand principle of econ-
omy in the construction and operation of the steam engine :
^'Keep the cylinder as hot as the steam which enters it," as
he expressed it. This was Watt's guiding principle, as it has
been that of all his successors in the improvement of economic
performance of the steam-engine and of all other heat-engines.
The great source of waste is the dispersion of heat, uselessly,
which should be applied to the production of work by its
transformation, thermodynamically, into the latter form of
energy. The second form of waste is that of power thus pro-
duced in the unprofitable work of moving the parts of the
engine itself, and the third is that of heat by transfer, without
transformation, by conduction and radiation to surrounding
bodies. In modern engines, the latter is but three or five per
cent., in the best cases; the second waste constitutes perhaps
ten per cent.; while the first of these losses amounts very
usually to seventy per cent. ; of which last one-third or one-
fourth is of the kind discovered by Watt, the rest being the
thermodynamic waste incident to all known methods of opera-
tion of heat-engines, and apparently unavoidable. In our very
best and largest engines, the wa^te found by Watt to consti-
tute three-fourths of all heat supplied has been brought down
to ten per cent., a fact which well exemplifies the advances
made since his time of apprenticeship by himself and his suc-
cessors of this nineteenth century. The steam engine of to-day,
in its most successful operation, gives us twenty-five times as
much power from a pound of coal as did the engine that the
^reat inventor sought to improve. This is the magnificent
fruit of that one discovery of James Watt, and of application
of the simple principle which he so concisely and clearly
stated.
The method adopted by Watt to secure a remedy, so far as
practicable, of this defect of the older machine was as simple
and as perfect as the principle which it embodied. He first re-
moved from the cylinder the prime source of its wastec ; pro-
viding a separate condenser, and thus avoiding the repeated
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 277
chilling of its surfaces by the cold water used in condensing
the steam at exhaust, and also permitting its strokes to be
made with far greater frequency, thus giving less time for
cooling by the influence of the remaining vapors after con-
densation. He next went still further and provided the cylin-
der with a closed top, keeping out the air, and a "jacket"
of hot boiler-steam to keep it as hot as the steam which entered
it. These were the two great improvements which converted
the first real steam-engine into an economical form of heat-
engine and essentially finished the work so grandly begun by
Newcomen and Calley. These changes gave us the modern
steam-engine ; and these are Watt's first and greatest, but by
no means only, contributions to the production of the modern
world with all its comforts, it luxuries, and its opportunities
for material, intellectual, and moral advancement of individual
and of race. His work was to this extent complete in 1765.
But Watt did not stop here. There still remained for him
the no less important, and the in some sense still more impos-
ing, work of finding employment for the new servant of man-
kind and of setting it at its work of giving the human arm a
thousand times greater strength, to the mind of man uncounted
opportunities to promote the advancement of knowledge, of
civilization, of every good of the race. His was still the task
of adapting the new machine to all the purposes of modern in-
dustry. It had been hitherto confined to the task of raising
water from the depths of the mine ; it was now to be harnessed
to the railway train ; to be made to drive the machinery of the
mill, to apply its marvelous power to the impulsion of the river
boat and ocean steamer ; to furnish energy, through endless
systems of transfer and use, to every kind of work that man
could devise and should invent. All this meant the giving of
the machine forms as various as the purposes to which it was
to be devoted. It had previously only raised and depressed a
rod ; it must now turn a shaft. It had then only operated a
pump ; it must now turn a mill, grind out grain, spin our
threads, weave our cloths, drive our shops and factories, supply
the powerful blast of the iron-furnace. It must be made to
move with the utmost conceivable regularity, and must, with
all this, do its work in the development of the hidden energy
278 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
of the fuel, with the greatest possible economy, through the
expansion of its steam. All this was achieved by James Watt.
The invention of the double-acting engine, in which the im-
pulsion of the steam is felt both in driving the piston forward
and in forcing it backward, both upward and downward, the
application of its force through crank and fly-wheel, the crea-
tion of an automatic system of governing its speed, and the
discovery of the economy due to its complete expansion, were
all improvements of the first magnitude and of the greatest
practical importance ; and all these were in rapid succession
brought into existence by the creative mind that had appa-
rently been brought into the world for the express purpose of
giving to the hand of man this mighty agent, to perfect the
mightiest power that mind of man has yet conceived.
But to do the rest required more than inventive genius and
mechanical skill. It demanded capital and the stored energy
of labor and genius in other fields, directed by the mind of
a great ''captain of industry." This came to Watt through
Matthew Boulton, a manufacturer of Birmingham, whose father
and ancestors had gradually and toilsomely, as always, accu-
mulated the property needed for the prosecution of a great
business. The combination of genius and capital is always an
essential to success in such cases, and the good fortune — a
providence, we may well say — brought together the genius and
the capitalist to do their work, hand-in-hand, of providing the
world with the steam-engine. Hand-in-hand they worked, and
all the world to-day, and the race throughout its future life,
must testify gratitude for the inexpressible obligations under
which these two men have placed them, doing the work of the
world.
Boulton & Watt, the capitalist with the inventor, gave the
world the steam-engine, finally, in such form and in such num-
bers that its permanent establishment as the servant of man
was insured. The capitalist was as essential an element of
success as was the inventor, and in this instance, as in a
thousand others, the race is indebted to that much-abused
friend of the race, the capitalist, for much that it enjoys of all
that it desires. The industry and patience, the skill and the
wisdom required for the accumulation of this energy stored for
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 279
future use in great enterprises is as important, as essential, as
inventive power or any other form of genius. Talent and
genius must always aid each other. This firm was established
in 1764, and its main resources, aside from the bank account,
were Watt's patent, about expiring, and Watt's genius, and
Boulton's talent as a man of business. The patent was ex-
tended for twenty-four years, the new inventions of Watt, now
beginning to pour from his prolific brain in a wonderful stream,
were also patented, and the whole works were soon employed
upon the construction of engines for which numerous orders
had begun to pour in upon the now prosperous builders. The
patent law established Boulton & Watt, and the firm paid
paid back the nation with handsome usury, giving it unim-
aginable profits indirectly through its control of the work of
the world, and large profits, indirectly, through the business
brought them from all parts of the then civilized globe. There
has never, in the history of the world, been a more impressive
illustration of the value to a nation of that generous public
policy, that simply just legislation, which gives to the man of
brain control of the products of his mind. For a hundred years
Great Britain has, largely through her encouragement of the
inventor and her protection of his mental property, by securing
the fruits of his labors, in fair portion, to him, gained the power
of dictating to the world, and has gained an advance that can-
not be measured. Watt and Arkwright and Stephenson and
Crompton and their ilk, protected by their government and its
patent laws, made their country the peaceful conquerors of the
world. The story of the work of the inventor is a poem of
mighty meaning and of wonderful deeds. The inventor proved
himself a mightier magician than ever the world had seen.
**A creature he called to wait on his will.
Half iron, 'half vapor — a dread to behold ;
Which evermore panted, and evermore rolled,
And uttered his words a millionfold. ' *
Such was the outcome of this grand modem ' ' trust, ' ' a com-
bination of the wisest legislation, the most brilliant invention,
and the most wisely applied capital. There are * * trusts ' ' of
which the outcome is most beneficent.
28o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Since the days of Watt, the improvement of the steam en-
gine and the work of inventors has been confined to matters
of detail. All the fundamental principles were developed by
Watt and his predecessors and contemporaries and it was only
left to his successors to find the best ways of carrying them into
effect. But these matters of detail have been found to involve
opportunities to make enormous strides in the direction of
securing improved efficiency of the machine. The further ap-
plication of the principle which led Watt to his greatest in-
ventions, of the principle : keep the cylinder as hot as the
steam which enters it, of that which he enunciated relative
to the advantage of expanding steam, and of that affecting
the regulation of the machine, have reduced the costs of steam
and of fuel to a small fraction of their earlier magnitude. One
ton of engine to-day does the work of eight or ten in the time
of Watt ; one pound of fuel or of steam gives to-day ten times
the power then obtained from it. A steamship now crosses
the Atlantic in one-eighth the time required by the famous
*' liner" of the ''Black Ball Line." The wastes of the engine
have been brought down from above eighty per cent, to eight ;
and a half ounce of fuel on board ship will now transport a
ton of cargo over a mile of ocean.
Frederick B. Sickels gave us the first practicable form of
expansion-gear is 1841; George H. Corliss gave a new type of
engine of marvelous perfection and economy in 1849; Noble
T. Green, Wm. Wright and many less well-known but no less
meritorious inventors have since done their part in the trans-
formation of the old engine of Watt into the modern wonder of
concentrated and economical power, and marvel of accurate
and beautiful design and workmanship. The " trip cut-off, "
with reduced clearness, increased boiler-pressures, higher rates
of expansion, accelerated speeds of engine, better construction
in all respects, as well as improved design, have enabled us to
avail ourselves to the utmost of the principles of Watt, and
our mills, our railways, our steamers and our fields, even, have
gained almost as extraordinarily by these advances, since the
days of the great inventor, as through his immediate labors.
With the introduction of the new form of older energy,
electricity, with the reduction of the lightning into thraldom.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 281
has now come a new impulse affecting all the industries.
Through its mysterious, its still mysterious action, steam now
reaches out far from its own place, driving the electric car along
miles of rail ; giving light throughout all the country about it,
turning night into day, and repressing crime while encouraging
legitimate labor ; reaching into distant chambers and every
little workshop, to offer its powerful aid in all the distributed
work of cities. Without the steam-engine there would be lit-
tle work available for electricity, but the appearance of this,
the latest and most useful handmaid of steam, has given the
engine work to do in an uncounted number of new fields, has
called in the inventor once more to adapt steam to its new work.
The ' ' high-speed engine ' ' is the latest form of the universal
helper. And such has been the readiness and the intelligence
of the contempoary inventor that we now have engines capable
of turning their shafts three hundred rotations a minute and
without a perceptible variation of velocity, whatever the
change of load or the suddenness with which it is varied. In
the days of Watt a fluctuation of five per cent, in speed was
thought wonderfully small ; in those of Corliss, the variation
was restricted to two per cent. , and we wondered at this unan-
ticipated success. To-day, thanks to Porter and Allen, to
Hartnell, to Hoadly, to Sims, to Thomson, to Sweet, and to
Ide and to Ball, we have seen the speed fluctuation restricted
to even less than one per cent, of its normal average.
The inventors of the steam engine are, through their repre-
sentatives of to-day, according to the statisticians, doing the
equivalent of twelve times the work of a horse for every man,
woman and child on the globe. We have not less, probably,
than a half million of miles of railway, transporting something
over 1 50,000,000,000 of tons a mile a year. A horse is reckoned
to haul a ton weight about six and a-half miles, day by daj^ by
the year together. In the United States it is reckoned that
the steam engine on the railways alone hauls a thousand tons
one mile for every inhabitant of the country every year ; or, if
it is preferred to so state it, a ton a thousand miles. This is
the way in which the East and the West are, by the inventors
of the steam engine, enabled to help each other. This costs
about $10 each individual ; it would require some twenty-five
282 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
millions of horses to do this work, and would cost about $i,ooo
a family, which is more than twice the average family earnings.
Dr. Strong, in that remarkable book, " Our Country," says :
* * One man, by the aid of steam, is able to do the work which re-
quired 250 men at the beginning of the century. The machinery
of Massachusetts alone represents the labor of more than 100,-
000,000 men, as if one-half of all the workmen of the globe had
engaged in her service." And again : "Some thirty years ago
the power of machinery in the mills of Great Britain was esti-
mated to be equal to 600,000,000 men, or more than all the
adults, male and female, of all mankind." Mr. Gladstone esti-
mated that the aggregation of wealth on the globe during the
whole period from the birth of Christ to that of Watt was
equalled by the production in twenty years at the middle of
this century, with the aid of machinery driven by the fruit of
the brain of the inventors of the steam engine. We may prob-
ably now safely estimate the former quantity as rivalled in less
than five years, while since the birth of Watt and his engine
and the production of the spinning-mule, the power-loom, the
cotton-gin and our own patent system and its marvelous mechan-
ism, all events of a century ago, we may estimate that they have
together accomplished more in this period which we now cele-
brate than could have been done in a millenium of milleniums
without these now subjected genii. But the power behind all
these curious inventions and their work is that of steam. The
steam engine even supplies power to the telegraph, and trans-
ports words and thought as well as cotton-bales and coal.
And now what has this combination of legislation for private
protection and public good, of a genius producing great inven-
tions and of the accumulated capital of earlier years, brought
about ?
It has given us the best fruits of science in permanent pos-
session. The study of science invariably aids in a thousand
ways the progress of mankind. It gives us new conceptions
of nature and of the possibilities of art ; it promotes right ways
of work and of study ; it teaches the inventor and the discoverer
how most surely and promptly to gain their several ends ; it
gives the world the results of all acquired knowledge in con-
crete form. This one instance which we are now especially
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 283
interested in contemplating has performed more wonderful
miracles than ever Aladdin's genii attempted. One man, with
a steam engine at his hand, turns the wheels of a great mill,
drives forty thousand spindles, applies a thousand horse-power
to daily work in the spinning of threads, the weaving of cloth,
the impulsion of a steamboat, or the drawing of great masses
of hot iron into finest wire. This puny creature, his mind in
his finger-tips, exerts the power of ten thousand men working
with muscle alone, and aided by a handful of women, boys and
girls, clothes a city. A half-dozen men in the engine room of
an ocean steamer, with a hundred strong laborers in the boiler
room and on deck, transports colonies and makes new nations,
brings separated peoples together, unites countries on opposite
sides of the globe, brings about easy exchanges between pole
and equator. One man on the footboard of the locomotive, one
man shoveling into the furnaces the black powder that encloses
the energy stored in early geological ages, a half-dozen men
mounted on the long train of following vehicles, combine to
bring to the mill girl in Massachusetts, the miner in Pennsyl-
vania, the sewing woman and the wealthy merchant, her neigh-
bor, in New York, the flour made in Minnesota from the grain
harvested a few weeks earlier in Dakota. All the world is
served faithfully and efficiently by this unimaginable power,
this product of the brain of the inventor, protected by the law,
stimulated and aided by the capital that it has itself almost
alone produced.
And thus have the inventors of the steam engine set in
motion and placed at the disposal of mankind for every form
of useful work, all the great forces of nature. Thus, Hero
of Alexandria touched the then concealed spring which called
all the genii of earth, fire, water and air to do the bidding of
the race. Thus Papin, Worcester, Newcomen, Watt and Cor-
liss and others of our own contemporaries, have applied the
genii to their task of leveling mountains, traversing seas,
continents, and the depths of the earth, building ships, loco-
motives, hamlets and cities, cottages and palaces, turning the
spindle, operating the loom, and setting in motion and giving
energy to every machine ; doing the work of thousands of
millions of men, converting barbarism into civilization, giving
284 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
necessaries of life in profusion, comforts in plenty, and luxuries
in superabundance.
Aiding and working hand-in-hand with those other genii of
progress, the inventors of the printing-press and of the tele-
graph, the telephone, and the electric railway, of the modem
system of textile manufactures, of iron and steel-making, of the
mowing-machine and the harvester, they have compressed into
two centuries the progress of a millenium, destitute of their aid.
Every step taken under their stimulus and with their help is a
step toward a higher life for all, intellectually and morally as
well as physically ; every advance in the improvement of their
work is a gain to every man, woman and child ; every improve-
ment of the steam engine is a help to the whole world. This
progress makes the day of the extinction of the system now
grinding the populations of the earth into the ground, the day of
the abolition of armies and the restoration to the people of that
freedom which characterized the times of the patriarchs, and of
the restoration of the rights of the citizen to his own time and
strength and producing power perceptibly nearer.
When this final revolution shall have been accomplished,
and when all the world has settled down to the steady and
undisturbed work of production by daily and regular labor,
aided by the genii of steam, of electricity, of all nature com-
bined for good, the results of the intellectual activity of the in-
ventors of the steam engine will be fully seen. Then no monu-
ment will be required to keep green the memory of Watt,
Corliss, or any other of these great men ; but it will be said of
them as of Sir Christopher Wren in the epitaph in St. Paul's :
' ' Seek you a monument ? I^ook about you. ' ' Every wreath
of steam rising to the heavens from factory, mill, or workshop
will be a reminder of Hero of Alexandria ; every mine will
possess a memorial to Papin, Worcester, and Savery ; every
steamship will bring into grateful memory Fitch, and Stevens,
and Bell, and Fulton ; thousands of locomotives crossing the
continents will perpetuate the thought of the Stephensons and
their colleagues in the introduction of the railway ; the hum of
millions of spindles and the music of the electric wire will tell
of the work of Corliss and his contemporaries and successors
who made these things possible ; and all kingdoms and races,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 285
all nations will revere tlie name of James Watt, the genius to
whom the world is most indebted for the beginnings of all this
later and grander civilization which has converted the slow
progress of earlier centuries into the meteor-like advance of to-
day toward a future as grand, and as mighty, and as noble as
humanity shall choose to make it.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 287
THE EFFECT OF INVENTION UPON THE PRO-
GRESS OF EI.ECTRICAL SCIENCE.
By Cyrus F. Brackett, M. D., LL.D., of Nkw Jersey, Henry
Professor of Physics, Coi,i,ege of New Jersey, Princeton.
Electrical science really begins with the labors of Dr. Gilbert.
These he published in 1600. For almost exactly two hundred
years from this date investigation was confined to that domain
which is still sometimes called static electricity. A new era,
however, dawned in 1800, when Volta gave to the world an
invention whose importance can scarcely be exaggerated — the
voltaic battery.
The simplicity of the device and the wonderful effects which
it could produce at once excited the most lively interest, and
men of science made haste to investigate it. By means of it
Carlisle and Nicholson soon succeeded in decomposing water,
and Ritter had a similar success with copper sulphate. Thus
commenced a long line of research in electrolysis which was pur-
sued with great success by Davy and others, and which finally
led Faraday to the grand generalization known as Faraday's
laws of electrolysis.
Meantime, Ritter had noticed that the two plates of the same
metal which have just served to convey the current to and
from a liquid while undergoing electrolytic decomposition
can, themselves, furnish a current, and he was thus led to the
invention of the "storage battery." It was Volta, however,
who gave the correct explanation of its action.
Ritter, Pfaff and others observed that the conducting wires
of the battery are warmed by the passage of the current, and
Curtet, on closing the circuit with a piece of charcoal, produced
a brilliant light. Davy systematically investigated these heat-
ing effects of the current, employing various metals as con-
ductors, thus incidentally testing their resistances, and finally
in 181 2, on making the current pass between two pieces of char-
coal, he produced the well-known electric arc.
288 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
Thus in little more than a decade from the date of Volta's
invention, more real progress was made than in any century
previous. But the true progress of electrical science is not to
be measured solely, or even mainly, by the number nor by the
splendor of the physical results which attend it, but rather by
the insight into the operations of nature which we gain.
Viewed in this light Volta's invention was itself the embodi-
ment of a great advance which he had made into an entirely
new region. It was not the mere outcome of happy accident,
but the result of severely logical reasoning upon facts which he
had observed while he was investigating the so-called ' ' animal
electricity ' ' of Galvani.
Volta's fundamental research respecting the electrical dis-
turbances produced by contact of dissimilar substances afforded
him a basis for a rational theory of the action of the battery,
and this theory has had a far-reaching influence not only upon
the progress of electrical science, but on physical science in
general.
The voltaic battery rendered possible an observation out of
which grew the next great invention, which we will consider.
In 1820 Oersted noticed that a magnetic needle was deflected
from its normal position by voltaic current which was flowing
in a conductor near it. He determined the relation of the cur-
rent to the deflection as respects direction, and sent a brief
memoir concerning the matter to well known scientists.
Arago immediately found that iron filings were attracted by
a wire conveying a voltaic current. In order to strengthen the
magnetic action of the current Schweigger invented the mag-
netizing helix or spiral. By means of this Arago was able to
magnetize steel permanently and iron temporarily. The con-
ception of this helix was the first act of invention which was to
produce the electro-magnet. Yet it was not until 1825 that
Sturgeon wound a conducting wire about a core of iron to pro-
duce the electro-magnet proper. The magnet as it left the
hand of Sturgeon was a crude device, which the genius of
Henry finally perfected between the years 1828 and 1831.
Henry constructed several magnets some of which were wound
with long, thin insulated wires, while others were wound with
shorter and thicker wires in parallel. These could be joined
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 289
either in series or in parallel. He thus had the means of
studying the effects which a given battery can produce when
made to actuate magnets having different windings. He also
investigated the effects which are produced by the use of bat-
teries having different electro-motive forces. He thus discov-
ered the principles which must be observed in order to secure
the best results from the electro-magnet under any given con-
ditions. Indeed, a careful examination of Henry's work will
convince one that he disclosed the same result by the light of
skillful experiment, as is set forth in Ohm's now well-known
formula. Moreover, he clearly perceived that the magnet as
he had perfected it offered the solution of the problem of the
telegraph, and he made proof of his prevision by actually in-
stalling one.
In the hands of Ampere the conducting helix was made,
under one form or another, a means of investigation which he
pushed with wonderful energy and skill until he unfolded the
laws of interaction between magnets and electrical currents as
well as those which govern the mutual actions of the currents
themselves. In short, it may be said that as the result of his
inquiries Ampere was brought to a comprehensive theory of
magnetic action which was startling alike for its simplicity and
its boldness. It deserves to rank with Newton's theory of uni-
versal attraction.
The skillful labors of Faraday and Henry brought to light
by the same means the laws of induced currents, and so sup-
plied the elements which practical inventors have since com-
bined so as to do our bidding, whether it be to illumine our
streets and dwellings, push our cars or delve in the mountain
for hidden treasure.
The electromagnetic phenomena educed by the voltaic cur-
rent as it flows through a helix constitutes the basis of a most
admirable system of measurement for electrical quantities,
while the helix itself contains in germ the whole family of
measuring instruments by means of which such measurements
are made. Moreover, these phenomena led the sagacious mind
of Faraday to a wholly new way of regarding electrical action
in general. He clearly perceived that the old doctrine of the
** imponderables " was untenable, and he looked for some com-
290 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
mon nexus between all physical actions. He was disposed to
refer the interactions which bodies exhibit in consequence of
their electrical states to the medium intervening between them.
As light is believed to be transmitted by a universal medium,
he sought to find, by experiment, some connection between
light and electromagnetic action. On passing a beam of plane
polarized light through a block of glass within a magnetizing
helix he found that the beam was twisted when the current
was made to flow through the helix.
Maxwell undertook the very important work of subjecting
the results reached by previous workers, and generally set
forth in Faraday's ''Experimental Researches," to mathe-
matical discussion, which must be considered the final test of
truth. Not to mention others, one very important result was
his ' ' electromagnetic theory of light. ' ' But experiments were
wanting, save the single one of Faraday just mentioned, to
confirm his deduction. It was reserved for Hertz to supply
the necessary evidence in support of Maxwell's theory, which
he had lately done by making skilful use of the oscillating dis-
charge of charged conductors, earlier demonstrated by Henry.
Thus it appears that the two great germinal inventions
which have most influenced the progress of electrical science
during our century are the voltaic battery and the magnetizing
helix. The one gave us first the means of evoking electrical
energy continuously, while the other gave us the means of
applying it as we may have occasion. Both contributed
powerfully in a direct way to the progress of electrical science
by reason of the various and startling phenomena which they
revealed.
But it seldom happens that progress continues long in any
department of physical science unaffected by the practical ap-
plication of its results in the arts, and, conversely, such appli-
cations almost invariably react to stimulate scientific inquiry.
Two principal reasons for this effect may be noticed. When
the apparatus and the operations of the laboratory give place
to tho.se which are suited to commercial uses, new conditions
arise which frequently bring into prominence phenomena be-
fore unobserved or inconspicuous. These then become sub-
jects for new investigations, and in due time scientific progress
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 291
is the result. Thus, telegraphy brought its knotty problems
as well as its successes, especially when its lines were stretched
under the sea, and when one wire was required to do the duty
of several, and nothing less than the highest skill and the
most severe analysis has sufficed to effect their solution. So,
too, telephony was early beset with peculiar difficulties, not-
withstanding the simplicity of the means which it employs —
thanks to the genius of Professor Bell — but they were such as
electrical science has profited from. Speaking generally, it
may be said that almost every one of the devices which are in
daily use for the transformation of mechanical work into elec-
trical energy, and the converse, has compelled its inventors, in
the course of its evolution, to contribute something to the
common stock of scientific truth.
It was regretted by Franklin that the results of electrical
research had not been turned more to the use of man in prac-
tical affairs. Faraday did not doubt that the time would come
when that reproach would be removed, but he felt it a duty on
his own part to push on the work of discovery, and to leave
industrial inventions to others. Such applications are now
everywhere about us and are rapidly extending. Of course
they involve the investment of millions of capital, and this
renders it impossible that the great public shall be indifferent
to the science upon which they depend. Hence it is that all
our schools of technology and most of our colleges have
already made provision for training in it.
Every consideration leads us to expect that future progress
in electrical science will be more rapid than it has ever been in
the past ; the present offers to the student the accumulated
treasures of knowledge and the hope of scientific distinction
as well as that of pecuniary reward. It can hardly be that
among the scores of young men to whom these advantages
come as inspirations there will not be found some who shall
prove to be worthy successors of the great men into whose
labors they so easily enter.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 293
THE INFLUENCE OF INVENTION UPON THE IM-
PLEMENTS AND MUNITIONS OF MODERN
WARFARE.
By Major Ci^arknce B. Button, Ordnance Department, U. S. A.
That remarkable progress which has characterized the vari-
ous arts during the present century, and especially during its
second half, is well exemplified in the great increase of effici-
ency in war material and weapons of war. From the time of
the invention of gun powder to the close of the last century
there was progress in the improvement of arms, but it now
seems to us very slow. In no other department of invention
were the kings and nobility so much interested. No inventor
was so much valued or so richly rewarded as the one who had
devised a more deadly weapon or an implement which would
increase the efficiency of a soldier. It is a significant com-
mentary on the early part of the 17th century that the discov-
ery of the telescope was at first regarded as having little or no
other utility than as an aid to the eye of the commander of
troops in the field, and an efibrt was made by the Prince in
whose dominon it was invented to keep it secret, and to mo-
nopolize its military advantages. But with all the patronage
of Kings and Princes, progress in the mechanics of warfare was
not materially greater than in other mechanic arts. And yet
there was progress. But it was at such a rate that it required
half a century at least and sometimes a whole century of im-
provement to clearly establish by comparison the fact that
the methods and materials of warfare had notably changed.
Indeed if we compare the cannon used at the beginning of the
15th century with those used by the first Napoleon in his first
Italian campaign at the close of the i8th we shall find only
a very moderate difference, and such as may be recognized will
be chiefly in the method of mounting and transporting the
piece, while the structure and effectiveness of the cannon
294 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
itself apart from its mouuting will appear to have undergone
no radical change. In small arms the progress was somewhat
greater. Yet it may sound like satire to say that from the
time of the first arquebuss to the beginning of the present
century the most important improvement of the foot soldiers
fire-arm was the addition of the flint-lock for discharging it.
In the first half of the present century progress was some-
what more rapid. This progress, however, was not so much
in the line of increased power and efficiency of weapons nor
in respect to important changes in their functions or structure
as in the machinery and methods of fabricating them and im-
proving the workmanship and materials. Prior to 1800 all
parts of a musket were made wholly by handicraft, and tlie
founding of cannon was a primitive and laborous operation.
But soon after the opening of the present century the introduc-
tion of machinery in the armories became a pronounced fea-
ture. And in this respect the United States took the lead of
all nations. It is more characteristic of our people than of any
other to seek to replace the labor of men with the labor of
machines. The rolling of gun-barrels upon a mandrel, the ex-
tensive use of milling machines for shaping the irregular parts,
the systematic use of tl;e drop and die, and above all the
practice of finishing the parts of a gun with such precision
that a thousand guns could be assembled by taking the dis-
tributed parts at random and putting them together without
any additional fitting were first adopted and carried into suc-
cessful practice in our own factories. There were improve-
ments also in artillery, but chiefly in the direction of better
workmanship, more effective projectiles, increased mobility of
field artillery, better mountings and more powerful guns for
fixed armaments. Yet none of these changes were of revolu-
tionary importance.
Between 1850 and i860 began that wonderfully rapid de-
velopment which has led to the modern high power artillery,
th€ magazine rifle for infantry, and the rapid-fire machine guns
which have developed a radically new function in modern
armaments. I propose to allude briefly to the fundamental
improvements which distinguish modern arms from those which
preceded them, and which exhibit the principles rather than
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 295
the details. One of the most surprising things about these
improvements is the fact that they consist very largely in
modifications, which seem to the inexpert comparatively trifling.
On comparing a modern gun with such as were in favor
fifty or a hundred years ago, the popular mind would doubtless
be impressed with the idea that the essential difference lies in
the fact that the new gun is a breech-loading rifle, while the
old gun was a muzzle-loading smooth-bore. But breech-loading
is one of the oldest inventions in gunnery, was revived from
time to time, experimented with and rejected as inferior to
muzzle-loading, and if the artillerists of a century or more ago
could have been furnished with the best breech-closing devices
of the present day, they would very properly and logically
have been rejected just the same. Breech-loading is not a
novel and fundamental improvement in itself; it is, rather,
a logical consequence and secondary result made necessary by
other improvements which are more fundamental, and which
were unknown to our ancestors.
The use of rifling and of the elongated projectile offers
similar considerations. Rifling has been known for more than
four centuries, and the effect of the resistance of air upon
elongated projectiles of various forms was learnedly discussed
by Sir Isaac Newton, and a few years later by Benjamin
Robbins, one of Newton's disciples. The relations of length
and calibre were well understood, and with this knowledge in
their possession it might seem at first inexplicable that breech-
loading rifles were never used in military service until the last
three or four decades. A brief examination, however, will
show, I think, that the knowledge and resources of our prede-
cessors prior to 1800, and possibly prior to 1850, were insufiScient
to construct a rifled-cannon which would be notably superior
to a smooth-bore of equal weight. They did not know how
to increase the energy of the projectile without imposing
stresses upon the gun beyond the limit of safety. Neither did
they know how to make stronger guns than those which they
used. The knowledge which they lacked, and which was
essential to a great increase of ballistic power, has been gained
within the last forty years.
296 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The fundamental improvements which characterizes modern
ordnance may be classified in three groups ;
1. The regulation and control of the action of gunpowder
in such manner as to exert less strain upon the gun, and to
impart more energy to the projectile.
2. To so construct the gun as to transfer a portion of the
strain from the interior parts of the walls, which had borne too
much of it, to the exterior parts which had borne too little,
thus more nearly equalizing the strain throughout the entire
thickness of the walls.
3. To provide a metal which should be at once stronger
and safer than any which had been used before.
The regulation and control of the action of gunpowder was
attempted more than a century and a half ago and something
was accomplished. We owe to the French artillerists some
important discoveries in this direction and in 1850 it was well
established that strong and mild powders could be produced at
will by the manufacturer. But the investigations and experi-
ments of Rodman carried the power of control over the action
of powder to an extent so far exceeding anything of the kind
which had been attained before that his results were of revolu-
tionary importance. It can hardly be claimed that the prin-
ciples involved in Rodman's gunpowder experiments were
novel. But the extent to which he carried them into practice
was such as to make it equivalent to a new discovery. The
improvement was one of degree rather than of kind, but such
as it was its consequences were great. It rendered possible an
increase in the weight of both powder and projectile without
increasing the strain upon the gun. A second step leading in
the same direction and also of revolutionary importance was an
increase in the size of the powder chamber, so as to allow vacant
space in it unfilled by the powder. Strange as it may seem to
the uninitiated, this, too, was an invention of revolutionary im-
portance. It was first adopted in the Krupp guns. It permits
a still further increase in the amount of powder without adding
to the strain upon the gun. How a device so simple, so
obvious and so necessary could have been overlooked so long is
one of those mysteries of invention which it seems now impos-
sible to explain, except upon the assumption that those who
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 297
had thouglit of it (and many had done so) dismissed it as worse
than useless. The discussion of the form and proportions of
the powder chamber had been worn threadbare a hundred
years ago, and the effect of a chamber of larger diameter than
the bore had not been overlooked. But the idea of partially
filling such a chamber with powder and leaving a considerable
amount of vacant space seems to have attracted no attention.
Yet this device so simple that an old-time artillerist of the
greatest learning and widest experience in his art would have
sneered at it contained the precious secret that he would have
been almost willing to lay down his life to discover. May we
not say that the reason why it was not sooner discovered was
its too transparent simplicity ?
The second group of discoveries consists of devices for con-
structing guns with initial strains, the metal near the bore
being compressed, while the exterior metal is stretched. In a
gun without initial strains the restraining efiect of the metal
decreases rapidly from the surface of the bore outwards, so that
the external portions add very little to its strength. With the
firing of heavy charges the inner portions are strained to the
limit of safety or beyond, while the outer portions are taxed but
little. But if the inner parts before firing are highly compressed
while the outer parts are stretched, the full stress of firing
brings all parts into action with a restraining effect much more
nearly equal or much less unequal. This greatly increases the
strength of the gun. The first one to put this conception into
practice and prove its reality by experiment was Rodman. He
applied it to cast-iron guns by the method of cooling them
from the interior. This result did not, indeed, fully realize the
principle involved, but it did so partially, and to an important
extent, and was a long stride in the right direction. His results
fully established the value of it and made it a fundamental
principle in modern constructions.
The possibility of using steel for guns has from the beginning
been merely a metallurgical question. Gun steel, however,
constitutes a special department of steel manufacture and its
development has proceeded to a considerable extent upon lines
of its own. The machinery required for it is the most gigantic
and powerful of anj^ and the furnace practice is the most
exacting. The treatment of the steel by oil tempering has
298 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
until recently been peculiar to gun metal and is needful in
order to secure the desired physical qualities. In this field the
Krupps have been the pioneers and have kept abreast of all
improvements. The magnificent process of Whitworth for
making ingots by liquid compression is no doubt the most
impressive achievement of the art of steel-making, yielding a
piece of metal of such supreme excellence that we are almost
tempted to believe that in this respect the ultimate goal of
progress has been reached and that nothing is left for future
inventors to attain.
The fundamental improvements, then, which constitute the
modern as distinguished from the older ordnance are : (i) the
control of the combustion of gunpowder ; (2) the enlarged
powder chamber ; (3) the initial tensions, and (4) the employ-
ment of steel. All other characteristics are merely logical
sequences of these four primary conditions or antecedents. The
adoption of breech-loading in place of muzzle-loading, the
great increase in the length of the gun, the building up of the
gun by shrinking successive cylinders one over the other are
all consequences of the four principal improvements. The
results of these improvements are that (weight for weight of
metal in the gun) the energy of projectiles has been increased
four to five-fold, the effective range has been more than doubled,
the accuracy of fire has been immensely improved, and the
penetrating and destructive power correspondingly increased.
The discovery of gun-cotton by Lenk, and later of nitro-
glycerin by Nobel, followed by the discovery of many other
nitro compounds, placed before the world a series of agents far
more forcible than gunpowder. Their treacherous and deto-
nating characters for a long time rendered them objects of
dread and real danger, and gave little promise of utility for
ballistic purposes, though for mines and torpedoes they seemed
to offer great advantages if they could be deprived of their
treacherous nature. In due time methods were discovered of
producing high explosives, which were reasonably safe if great
precautions were exercised, thus placing them among the most
important and useful agents for industrial purposes. The use
of them in torpedoes also became practicable, thus placing in
the hands of military men a powerful agent of destruction. If
it were practicable to direct this terrible destroyer (the torpedo)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 299
to its mark with as much accuracy as a projectile from a gun
it would be incomparably the most efficient for destruction of
any engine of war. But the uncertainty of all existing methods
of bringing them in contact with the ships they are designed
to destroy deprives them at present of a great portion of their
terrors. But the chances of a deadly stroke are still sufficient
to render them very formidable weapons. Torpedoes, how-
ever, are so new as regularly adopted agents of warfare that
they may be regarded as the possible forerunners of a far more
terrible class of destroyers. In this connection the pneumatic
dynamite gun of Captain Zalinski presents itself as offering
great possibilities. It is now in the experimental stage, and
on its first trial has shown itself capable of very destructive
work. It is an entire novelty and a very bold conception,
wrought up with a profound knowledge of mechanical and
ballastic principles. Its ultimate development cannot now be
foreseen, but it holds out the hope of such great possibilities
that every effort to realize them should be made.
The use of high explosives not only as the bursting charges
of projectiles but as the impelling force of the projectile itself
in the gun is receiving attention. Not only is this problem
a rational one but it is a very hopeful one. If we can succeed
in controlling its terrible powers and taming its ferocious
nature and can provide a variety of it which will keep without
deteriorating the problem will be solved ; for we are already
in possession of the means and science which will enable us to
utilize its superior energy. Verily, it begins to look as if the
age of gunpowder were passing away and were soon to be fol-
lowed by the age of high explosives.
In the department of small arms the great improvements
belong to the last forty or fifty years. The improvements
sought, while partly the same as in the field of heavy guns,
were much more in the line of increased rapidity of fire. At
the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion all the armies of the
world were using the muzzle-loading rifled musket. Many
breech-loading rifles had been invented, however, and were
competing for favor as military weapons and were slow to find
it. Much surprise has been expressed at the tardiness and
reluctance of military men to adopt breech-loaders and they
were often reproached and derided as too conservative, pre-
300 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
judiced and behind the age in the development of their ma-
terial, when they ought to be progressive and in the lead. The
answer to these criticisms is that while there were numerous
good breech-loading small arms offered during the war there
were no good breech-loading cartridges, and no machinery for
making them. Among the inexpert the musket and its
mechanism is all in all, while the cartridge is looked upon as a
minor incident. In the eye of the ordnance officer the gun is
only the casket and setting while the cartridge is the jewel.
During the war the attention of officers was concentrated in
the creation of a good cartridge, while the problem of a gun
presented no real difficulty ; none, in fact, except that of choos-
ing from among a considerable number any one of which
would have sufficed. The cartridge problem was one of serious
difficulty, for there were few designs to choose from and all of
them more or less bad. It was recognized at the outset that a
serviceable and satisfactory cartridge must fulfill the following
conditions : ist. It must comprise bullet, powder and prim-
ing united in a metallic case or shell ; 2d. It must be center-
primed ; 3d. It must not be liable to deterioration ; 4th. It
must not be liable to split in firing nor to stick fast after dis-
charge nor to have its head torn off during extraction ; 5th.
Its case must be easily made, primed and loaded by machinery.
While the inventors at large throughout the country were
chiefly occupied in improving the breech mechanism of the
gun the government work shops were most deeply concerned
about the cartridge. It was not until 1865 at the close of the
war that a cartridge fulfilling all of the required conditions
was attained ; and no sooner was it attained than the machin-
ery for making it became the standing problem . It was neces-
sary to invent this machinery almost de novo. It was suc-
cessfully accomplished in about a year and a half, and it seems
necessary here to pay tribute to the eminent skill and inventive
talent of Mr. J. G. Gill, the master mechanic at Frankford
Arsenal, Philadelphia. He devised a series of machines, some
of which must rank among the highest triumphs of American
invention. In a few years all the great powers of the world
had adopted them.
The achievement of a good cartridge was quickly followed
by the choice of a gun. The choice fell upon the Springfield
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 301
breech-loader. It has had many competitors of admirable
design, some of which certainly excel it in specific points.
But in the full and general test of serviceableness it has kept
the field against all rivals. Competing arms have been re-
peatedly placed in the hands of troops on the frontier for trial,
but the preference of line officers for the Springfield pattern
officially expressed has been so overwhelming that their ver-
dict could not be set aside without undue presumption. Its
excellence consists in its reliability : nothing except extraor-
dinary violence ever deranges its ready action.
The day of the single breech-loader is about over, and it
must very shortly give place to the magazine gun. Arms of
this class have long been before the world, but have not until very
recently been adopted in any military service. The reason
has been that the earlier types of this class of arms sacrificed
the size and therefore the power of the cartridge in order to
get the largest possible number of them into the magazine, and
to enable the infantry soldier to carry a larger supply of them
without increase of bulk or weight. The logical solution of
the magazine problem, however, should be a diminished weight
and size of cartridge without decrease of power. The gun
itself is no longer a problem. It has been solved for several
years. There are many excellent magazine guns, though
some may be better than others. The cartridge problem is
also narrowed down to a single issue. If we are to diminish
the weight without loss of power we must have a more ener-
getic and compact explosive in place of common gunpowder.
The projectile has already been reduced in calibre and in-
creased in length ; but we are not sure yet of the high ex-
plosive. We want one which is safe against accidental ex-
plosion andw hich will not deteriorate with keeping. When we
have obtained it, as we doubtless shall, the solution will be
complete.
Machine guns constitute an innovation among the weapons
of war, and are characteristically American in their mechanism
and nature. They made their first appearance during the war
of the rebellion and were unknown and unthought of by pre-
ceding generations. The first successful weapon of this class
was the Gatling gun. It was rapidly developed, but did not
reach a practical stage of construction and operation until after
302 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
the close of the war. It has since received many improve-
ments, and as a mitrailleur still holds its supremacy, though it
has had some ingenious and formidable rivals. Equally im-
portant has been the development of a rapid-firing system of
artillery. The weapons of this class have a very limited field
of utility, but within that field their potency is formidable.
They exhibit well the tendency towards special tools for special
purposes, which is characteristic of all modern mechanical or
industrial progress.
As the Nineteenth Century nears its end we find the arma-
ments of the world as much more formidable than those of the
first Napoleon, as his were then those of the Greeks and
Romans. Nearly all of this great advance is the result of the
last forty years of invention. The part which has been borne
in this development by American investigators and inventors
will not only compare favorably with the achievements of other
nations, but will, I believe, be accorded a preeminent position.
No discovery or improvement can be the secret or peculiar
property of any nation in these days, and every department of
mechanical or industrial art contributes to the world's store of
knowledge all that it discovers and draws from the common
stock whatsoever it finds in it suited to its uses. Upon a fair
review of this branch of development as a whole it may be
said that the United States have contributed as much to that
stock as any other country in the world, and the only question
is whether it has not contributed more of real importance than
any other.
During the period from 1872 to 1885 there was a relaxation
of interest on the part of Congress in military matters and the
War and Navy Departmtnt were without the means of prose-
cuting the costly experiments, without which the progress of
invention in this field must be retarded. But the revival of
the Navy, and afterwards of projects for sea-coast defense,
quickly disclosed the fact that the inventive genius and pro-
gressive spirit of the country had been merely resting a little
and gathering strength for the opportunity which at last came.
With a continuance of support it is believed that in a very few
years our military armaments, both afloat and ashore, will
surpass those of any country in the world.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 303
THE RELATIONS OF ABSTRACT SCIENTIFIC RE-
SEARCH TO PRACTICAL INVENTION, WITH
SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CHEMISTRY AND
PHYSICS.
By Professor F. W. Ci^arke, S. B., of Ohio, Chief Chemist,
U. S. Geoi^ogicaIv Survey.
A hundred years ago, just after the first American patent
was issued, two other events, fitly to be mentioned here, be-
came a part of history. In 1791 Galvani published his famous
book on animal electricity, and at about the same time the
Royal Society gave its highest honor, the award of the Copley
Medal, to Volta. Between these events and the passage of our
first Patent law, no connection was then apparent, nor for many
years afterward did any relation become obvious. The patent
system dealt with afiairs of practical utility, while Galvani and
Volta were mere visionaries, prying into matters of only specu-
lative interest, and of no real value or importance to anybody.
Indeed, Galvani was ridiculed throughout Europe as the
" Frog's dancing master," so remote from all material con-
siderations, so useless to all outward seeming, were his investi-
gations.
In spite of ridicule and indifference, however, the unpractical
researches went on, from step to step, from discovery to dis-
covery, until at last they npened into invention. Galvani and
Volta had worthy successors — Oersted, Ampere, Ohm, Fara-
day, Henry and others, all devoted to knowledge for its own
sake, and caring little for any reward other than the conscious-
ness of achievement. The voltaic pile, the galvanic battery,
and the electro-magnet were added to the resources of science ;
facts, principles, and laws came into recognition, and suddenly
a relation of the work done to the work the great world was
doing became manifest. Nearly half of a century was passed
in these preliminaries, and then came the inventions of
304 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
electro-metallurg3% of the telegraph, and of all the hurrying
swarm of wonders that mark this "age of electricity."
Suddenly the Patent Office became a centre of interest in what
at the date of its foundation, had been apparently remote from
its purposes, and to-day, grown from the germs of a century
ago, we see one of the chief objects of its activity. All now
know the merit of Galvani's work, and yet its lesson of history
is far too seldom realized. Kver>^ true investigator in the
domain of pure science is met with monotonously recurrent
questions as to the practical purport of his studies, and rarely
can he find an answer expressible in terms of commerce. If
utility is not immediately in sight he is pitied as a dreamer or
blamed for a spendthrift of time ; for the questioning man of
affairs can recognize only affairs, and to him speculations not
convertible into coin of the realm must naturally seem profit-
less. High aims count for little or nothing ; results, and tangible
results at that, are wanted.
It would be easy to multiply instances in illustration of my
meaning. For example, iodine, discovered in i8 12 by Courtois,
was for many years a chemical curiosity. Why should any one
waste his time in the study of so useless a body ? To-day in-
dustries unknown to Courtois, born since his day, find in
iodine one of their most necessary appliances. Photography,
one of the arts in which iodine is useful, itself grew^ out of
researches which were seemingly useless when made ; and the
camera, its most essential implement, was once only a philoso-
pher's plaything. Investigations which had only the pursuit
of truth for its own sake as a justification, brought rainbows
of color out of coal ; and coal-tar, not thirty years ago a
nuisance to be thrown away, is now a source of profit and
prodigal of beauty. From the same hopeless material, through
researches still unaimed at profit, have come the latest and best
additions to our materia medica ; and so again the methods of
science, as applied by her highest votaries, are vindicated by
the fruits they bear. In short, every department of invention,
every advance in civilization, owes much to the student ; no
industry is independent of the results won by purely abstract
research. Even the most trivial details of modern life are
affected by the work of the scientific investigator ; luxuries and
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 305
necessities are alike influenced, and so obtrusively evident is
this truth to most of us, that, taking it for granted, we daily
ask — * ' what next ? ' ' Indeed, our gratitude to science is often
manifested in that cynical form which has been wittingly de-
fined as "a lively sense of favors yet to be received." We
expect more in the future than we have realized in the past,
and as the marvels of the last century* become commonplace,
we look for new wonders which shall be even greater. The
magic of the Ancients is already outdone, and still the tide of
discovery has not reached its flood. To preserve what we have
gained and to ensure the promise of the years to come, is the
problem before us. Speaking in the interest of future inven-
tion we may fairly ask, how best shall the work of investiga-
tion be furthered ?
It is an old saying, and one partly true, that what has been,
shall be. We may therefore consider through what agencies
science has heretofore grown, and so recognize the foundations
upon which building is possible. These agencies, briefly sum-
marized, are as follows : First, individual enterprise ; second,
schools and universities ; third, learned societies and endow-
ments ; fourth, government aid. lyike nearly all classifiica-
tions this list is imperfect ; for it represents only one phase of
the truth, and the several items, far from being distinct, shade
into one another through many gradations of circumstance.
Among them all, individual enterprise comes properly first,
for without that, without the influence of guiding spirits, the
other agencies must fail. No great work was ever accom-
plished without the personal initiative force of a leader, no
"mute inglorious Milton," but an active, earnest, striving
man. In a restricted sense, however, except perhaps as re-
gards the beginnings of science, individual enterprise is the
weakest force of all. To the modem investigator leisure and
opportunities are necessary ; in chemistry and physics, at least,
apparatus and laboratories are indispensable ; and few men
working alone can command either the needful time or the
bare material resources. During this century nine-tenths of
the great discoveries have been made by men with institutions
back of them ; through the aid of which the work was
rendered possible. Wealth, scholarship, ability and the spirit
306 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
of research too seldom go together ; and happy is the man in
whom all these conditions are fortunately united. Under our
second heading, in the shelter of schools and universities, the
science of to-day has chiefly been developed.
The truth of my last statement may be verified by a refer-
ence to the files of standard scientific journals in which
original researches are recorded, or by scrutinizing in detail
the history of any great discovery. In either case, whether
we consider this country or Europe, the university work will
be found to predominate overwhelmingly, and for obvious rea-
sons. Every true university is something more than a dis-
tributor of knowledge, it is a producer of knowledge also ;
and in Germany, where the university system is most
fully developed, the two functions are equally recognized.
A German student aspiring to academic honors must do
original work, and the professors' chairs are always filled
from among the men who have most distinguished themselves
as investigators. A chemist who had done nothing for
pure science could hardly be recognized in Germany ; not
one of the higher professional positions would be within his
reach ; erudition alone, unsustained by evidence of creative
ability, would do little for his advancement. In consequence
of this policy, Germany now leads the scientific world ; and
in consequence of that leadership, a certain industrial su-
premacy is fast becoming hers. One example will serve to
illustrate the tendency to which I refer. The aniline dyes
were discovered by Perkin, in England, almost thirty-five years
ago, and in that country the manufacture began. To-daj^
through the researches of the German universities, Germany is
the centre of the coal-tar industry, and England has only a
subordinate rank. Until recently the English universities have
slighted experimental science, and English manufacturers are
paying for the neglect. One German firm alone, producers of
coal-tar colors, employs over fourteen hundred workmen ;
but with them there are about fifty scientific chemists, every
one a man trained in pure research, the product of the uni-
versity system. These men are employed to make investiga-
tions; to improve processes, to discover new compounds of value;
and in short, to use the most vigorous methods of science for
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 307
the upbuilding of industry. The German manufacturer does
not employ a chemist who has only learned by rote the wisdom
gained by others ; he does not ask to be told that which he
already knows ; he seeks rather to push forward into new fields ;
to excel his competitors more by intelligence than by brute
force ; and to gain a growing supremacy in preference to a
mere victory for the moment. This practical policy, the out-
growth of intellectual culture, has made Germany a dangerous
rival to all other countries in those departments of industry
which rest upon scientific foundations. Applied science can
not exist until there is the science to apply ; and where the
latter is most favored, the industrial development is sure to be
most perfect. This lesson is one which the United States
must learn more thoroughly than heretofore, if it hopes to hold
its own in the front rank of manufacturing nations. In a few of
our universities the truth is already realized ; but in too many
American schools the so-called ' * practical * * view prevails.
Under the latter, teaching becomes routine, and the student,
while learning elaborately that which is known, is not
taught how to discover. He has little or no training in the
art of solving unsolved problems, and that art is the main-
spring of modern industrial growth. A teacher of science
ought also to be an investigator, were it only for the inspira-
tion that his example might give to the pupils in his charge.
To impart knowledge is a good thing, but to reveal the
sources of knowledge is better, and in that relevation is found
the educational value of research regarded as a part of the
teacher's essential duty.
The third agency for the advancement of investigation, the
organization of scientific societies, shades imperceptibly into
the other three. Private workers and university teachers here
come together for purposes of cooperation ; and in many coun-
tries the associations formed are aided by the State. As a rule
the great European academies are directly or indirectly patron-
ized by the government, and occasionally endowments are be-
queathed to them by private individuals for the foundation of
prizes or medals, or for the assistance of research. In our own
country the societies and academies are sustained by private
enterprises, but some of them hold endowments of considerable
3o8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
value. Partly through the latter, partly through the stimulus
to effort given by awards of honor, and more largely as pub-
lishers of results they do their greatest good, and render to
science services of unmistakable value. A large proportion of
the leading scientific journals are published \yy organized socie-
ties, and without these discovery would oftentimes be dumb.
Of government aid, the fourth great means of furthering re-
search, little need here be said. Ostensibly, such aid is given
for selfish motives, since every modern government demands
the help of science in return. Nowadays no government could
long exist were it deprived of all the resources for defense and
intercommunication which science has invented. The relation
between science and the State, therefore, is a mutual relation,
and each needs the assistance of the other. In Washington
this fact is manifest ; it is recognized in the organization of
nearly every administrative department, and nowhere is it more
apparent than under the Commissioner of Patents. From sci-
ence the government is daily receiving benefits ; to science,
therefore, it is rightly a liberal giver ; and through its patron-
age many investigations become possible which, because of
their magnitude, would be beyond the reach of private under-
taking. Doubtless the time will come when the scientific re-
sources of the National Capital will be concentrated more than
they are now, and so made more efiicient ; and sooner or later
they should be crowned by the establishment of a National
University in which the highest and most productive scholar-
ship may find a fitting home.
So far my statements have been tinged with rose color. The
great achievements of science command our admiration, and
admirable also are the agencies by which it has been advanced.
Still, much remains to be done, and many are the gaps in our
knowledge. Take any important series of physical data, or
any well-defined group of chemical compounds, bring the facts
together in systematic form, and the strangest deficiencies
will become manifest. Take for example those physical proper-
ties of the chemical elements which are capable of quantitative
measurement, and not for one of them are the attainable data
even approximately complete ; even iron, copper, gold, silver,
and mercury are but imperfectly known. Were it not for theory.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 309
that apprehension of natural law through which science can
prophesy, reaching out from the seen to the unseen, a great
part of our knowledge would be little more than bare empiri-
cism, and research itself would lack its keenest implement. It
is common among ignorant men — themselves wildly speculat-
ive— to affect a contempt for theory, and yet without theory
science could not exist. All great discoveries begin with
theory and lead up to wider generalizations, upon which new
researches find a secure foothold. The history of science
teaches no more certain lesson than this.
It is easy to find a reason for the incompleteness of our
knowledge. Apart from the vastuess of the field to be ex-
plored, itself a sufiicient excuse for ignorance, the more ob-
vious deficiences are due to excessive individualism in research.
Thousands of earnest men are working independently, with
insuflScient reference to one another, each attacking that comer
of the unknown which most attracts his fancy. All are am-
bitious to accomplish great results, each one hopes to make
some discovery of signal importance ; and so the drier and
less attractive details of investigation are oftentimes neglected.
The field is cut up in many fields, between which the ground
is uncultivated, and there no harvest is gathered. To sys-
tematize research ; to bring about cooperation ; to erect a State
out of a scattered people ; to put the art of discovery itself
more truly upon a scientific basis, is a problem for the future.
In the final solution of this problem the practical inventor may
help. The wealth created by invention should serve as the
organizer. The law of mechanics, that action and reaction are
equal and opposite, applies to human affairs as well as to the
physical forces. Hence, since scientific discovery makes inven-
tion possible, it is clear that the inventor owes to science a
return. That some of the harvest should go back to its source
as seed is not an unreasonable expectation. Indeed, it is justi-
fied by history ; and if we trace back to their origin the endow-
ments of our universities we shall find that the successful
inventors have done their fair share. What more is needed,
and on what new lines ?
In the science of astronomy this question is partly answered
already. Every endowed observatory is an institution for
3IO PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
research, and outside of that the observers have little else to
do. They are employed primarily to gather and discuss data,
the raw material of science, and all other duties are secondary.
In the solution of large problems several observatories may co-
operate, each taking a definite and prescribed portion of the
field, and so the science grows symmetrically, with fewer gaps
than exist in other departments of knowledge. Perfection of
work, completeness in the absolute sense of the term, is, of
course, unattainable, but to that ideal, within the limits of its
province, astronomy approaches most nearly. By its example
the other sciences may profit.
Now for chemistry and physics, institutions should be or-
ganized resembling in policy the astronomical observatories.
I mean, of course, endowed laboratories for research in which
the greater problems could be effectively handled, and im-
portant data determined with the highest accuracy. The more
precise, and at the same time the most difficultly measurable
physical constants are of direct value to industrial science, and
their determination should not be left to the caprice or con-
venience of individuals. They represent routine work of the
most tedious kind ; their measurement involves the highest
degree of skill and the most elaborate resources, and they are
the foundation stones of exact tlieor3\ They are needed by
pure and applied science alike ; and yet, under existing con-
ditions, their determination is but scantily encouraged. They
yield to the investigator results more solid than brilliant ; they
do not give quick returns of fame ; and so, other researches,
more showy or more profitable, are in greater favor. With
most men of science, unfortunately, research is a matter sec-
ondary to other duties ; the professor must teach, the com-
mercial chemist must analyze, and only the time left over, the
occasional leisure hour, is available for higher studies. Many
an able man, willing and enthusiastic, who might otherwise
benefit mankind by investigation, is crowded out of the field
by sheer necessity. He is loaded with labors which leave no
time for research, and his capacities are exhausted in mere
routine. For such men, opportunities should not be altogether
wanting.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 311
Sometimes the kind of work here indicated has been carried
on at public expense ; for example, the classical researches of
Regnault upon gases and vapors were maintained by the
French Government : but all such assistance has been sporadic ;
while the investigations needed should be continuous and
systematic. In a laboratory endowed, equipped and manned
for research onlj^ a rich harvest of results would be sure, far
exceeding in value the cost of the undertaking. No such
laboratory, I believe, now exists in the civilized world, and
the United States might well have the glory of being the first
organizer. In its Patent Office it has led all other nations, and
in the science which underlies invention it might lead also.
To the manufacturers and inventors of America I offer these
suggestions in the hope that they may be speedily realized.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 313
GENERAI, WASHINGTON AS AN INVENTOR AND
PROMOTER OF THE USEFUL ARTS.
An Address dei,ivered at Mount Vernon, Aprii, 10, 1891, by J.
M. Toner, M. D., on the occasion of the Visit of the
Officers and Members of the Patent Centennial Cei,e-
BRATION.
It is fitting that on an occasion like the present, which re-
views a past and forecasts a coming century, the friends of the
great American Patent System should visit the tomb of Wash-
ington. For where rest the ashes, hovers, methinks, something
of the spirit of the man whose genius and valor led the thirteen
dependent American colonies^ to independence; and whose influ-
ence, a century ago, formed them into one united Federal Gov-
ernment under a written constitution of exceeding wisdom, of
which he was one of the principal authors, and under which
our country, our patent system and our mechanical inventions
have made such marvelous progress.
If it cannot be claimed that Washington originated the idea
of recognizing property in inventions, he was, without doubt,
the chief exponent of the views and sentiments which brought
together the convention of delegates from the several States to
consider their future well-being and to form a more perfect
Union.*
1 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia.
2 Washington, from his position at the head of the army throughout
the war for independence, and his frequent correspondence with the
Governors of the vStates as well as with many of the more influential
citizens of the several States, in the interest of the army and to secure
supplies for the soldiers, was led to a more intimate knowledge of the
feeling of the people, and to see the weakness of the confederacy more
clearly than any other man of his day. Its want of cohesive as well as want
of coercive power had, to his mind, demonstrated its defects for national
purposes. After peace was restored its want of power to regulate
commerce — foreign and domestic ; to make treaties, and to provide for
314 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
By a unanimous desire of the convention General Washing-
ton was called upon to preside over the meeting. Through
the protracted and careful deliberations of this equal-rights and
libertj^-loving conclave of statesmen was evolved our written
Constitution which has welded the United States into a nation,
and which has so admirably served us for a century. 3 This,
the payment of debts contracted bj' the confederacy, was notorious and
created great discontent. It was becoming evident to thinking men that
an alarming crisis was near unless some eiFectual remedy could be
devised. Washington's sentiments were often freely and strongly ex-
pressed upon the subject. " That we have it in our power," said he, '* to
become one of the most respectable nations upon earth, admits, in my
humble opinion, of no doubt, if we would but pursue a wise, just and
liberal policy towards one another, and keep good faith with the rest of
the world. That our resources are ample and increasing, none can deny ;
but while they are grudgingly applied, or not applied at all, we give a
vital stab to public faith, and shall sink, in the eyes of Europe, into con-
tempt. It has long been a speculative question among philosophers and
wise men whether foreign commerce is of real advantage to any country ;
that is, whether the luxury, eflFeminacy and corruptions which are in-
troduced along with it are counterbalanced by the conveniences and
wealth which it brings. But the decision of this question is of very little
importance to us. We have abundant reason to be convinced that the
spirit of trade which pervades these states is not to be restrained. It be-
hooves us, then, to establish just principles, and this cannot, any more
than other matters of national concern, be done by thirteen heads diflfer-
cntly constructed and organized. The necessity, therefore, of a control-
ing power is obvious, and why it should be withheld is beyond my com-
prehension."
The union, as at first organized, was fast losing respect, as it did not
meet the exigencies or fulfill its purposes ; and chaos was inevitable, unless
reform was speedily eflfected. The mode of doing this engaged Wash-
ington's attention, and to him more than to any other man are we indebted
for the Constitution which has united the States as one great union.
3 Sparks, in commenting upon this period of Washington's life and his
part in the evolution of the Constitution, says : *' He did not go to the
convention unprepared for the great work there to be undertaken. His
knowledge of the institutions of his own country and of its political
forms, both in their general character and minute and afl&liated relations,
gained by inquiry and long experience, was probably as complete as that
of any other man. But he was not satisfied with this alone. He read
the history and examined the principles of the ancient and modem con-
federacies. There is a paper in his handwriting which contains an ab-
stract of each, and in which are noted, in a methodical order, their
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 315
our magna charta, may be claimed as one of the most original
and beneficent inventions in the art of government ever devised
to secure to a people liberty, regulated by law, with equal jus-
tice to all.*
chief characteristics, the kinds of authority they possessed, their modes
of operation and their defects. The confederacies analyzed in this paper
are the Lycian, Amphict3'onic, Achaean, Helvetic, Belgic and Germanic.
He also read the standard works on general politics and the science of
government, abridging parts of them, according to his usual practice,
that he might impress the essential points more deeply on his mind. He
was apprehensive that the delegates might come together fettered with
instructions which would embarrass and retard, if not defeat the salutary
end proposed. 'My wish is,' said he, 'that the convention may adopt
no temporizing expedients, but probe the defects of the constitution to
the bottom and provide a radical cure, whether they are agreed to or not.
A conduct of this kind will stamp wisdom and dignity on their pro-
ceedings, and hold up a light which sooner or later will have its influ-
ence.' Such were the preparations and such the sentiments with which
Washington went to the convention." (Sparks' Washington, vol. I,
p. 434.)
4 The attention which the Continental Congress, in the Declaration of
Independence and the notable occurrences of the Revolution, merited
and received from historians, biographers and painters, has been so
absorbing as in a measure to obscure or cause to be overlooked the his-
tory and personnel of the equally important convention of 1787, which
drafted the Constitution of the United States. The claims of these states-
men to the grateful remembrance of posterity, if judged from a proper
estimate of the happy Constitution they formulated, rest on a broad,
just and honorable basis. The beneficent results flowing from their
judicious labors have proved of the highest importance to America and the
science of government everywhere. Indeed, it required the constitutional
and indissoluble union of the States, devised by this convention, to ren-
der the Declaration of Independence of practical value by the creation of
a National Government, preserving at the same time the autonomy of
the States. And yet, strange as it may seem, the names of the seventy-
three delegates appointed to the convention, or even the thirty-nine
members who signed this precions document, are to a great extent un-
familiar to the public. Properly enough the names and the portraits of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence are known to nearly every
person, because they have been treated in a popular manner by artists
and historians, and placed before an admiring public. The same and even
greater respect is due to the framers of the Constitution. The neglect of
the personnel of the constitutional convention, as I apprehend, is acci-
dental rather than intentional ; and is, at least, undeserved, I am confident
all will admit. This work has stood the test of a century and has proved
31 6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
It is not certain who introduced the proposition regarding
Patents and Copyrights ; but, considering the personnel of the
convention, it might have originated with either Washington
or Franklin, and was certain of an earnest support from both.
This was the first assembly of law-makers in the history of
the world to reduce this conception to a practical formula, or
make it a fundamental principle that inventors and authors
have rights in their inventions which should be recognized and
protected, for a limited time at least, by law. This conclusion
they embodied in the Constitution of the United States, s
The rise and development of the American Patent System
and the immense influence that it and the Patent Office, as a
repository of official records and inventions, have had in pro-
moting improvements, not only in our own country but also
throughout the world, you have heard from other and abler
to be so nearly perfect as a charter of human rights as to create in the
minds of some the belief that it has many of the qualities of an inspired
instrument. It is to be hoped that some capable writer will produce a
good, popular, illustrated history and summary of the principles of the
Federal Constitution as crystalized by its authors, with the portraits and
biographies of each of the members, so as to make them as familiar as
household words to the people of the United States. An acceptable pic-
ture of the convention in session might, with great propriety, be exten-
sively used to the same end as an object lesson by the Government of the
United States on its legal documents, coins, medals, greenbacks, letter-
heads, etc. This highly interesting historical convention sat in the
council chamber in the State House in Philadelphia, the same from
which emanated the immortal Declaration of Independence, George
Washington filled the chair and directed the deliberations of the body.
His seat was placed beneath the carved coat of arms of the State of Penn-
sylvania which ornamented a high panel in the rear. The venerable Dr.
Franklin, then in his 83d year and an invalid, but with vigorous intellect,
was carried to and from the convention in his Sedan chair which he
brought with him from Europe. His arm-chair was placed on the left of
the President near the bar. Judge James Wilson sat near the bar on
his left. The other members disposed of themselves as they found it con-
venient.
5 The following is the clause in the Constitution of the United
States which secures the rights of inventors and authors : "To promote
the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to
Authors and Inventors exclusive Right to their respective Writings and
Discoveries."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 317
speakers. Here, at Mount Vernon, the duty has been
assigned to me, near the close of this brilliant and, I trust,
profitable Patent Centennial, to speak to you of the great Wash-
ington as an inventor and promoter of improvements in the arts.
In compliance with this complimentary assignment, I shall
venture to claim your attention for only a brief period ; not
but that much could be said confirmatory of the fact that
General Washington, who owned these broad acres, enjoyed
this magnificent prospect, and for half a century dispensed a
most bountiful hospitality in this revered mansion, was ever
on the alert for bettering man's condition in life through
education, and by improvements in all kinds of productive
machinery and labor-saving devices.
While it may not be claimed that George Washington is
descended from a line of inventors, sages or heroes, history
confirms the fact that he sprung from an intelligent, enterpris-
ing, courageous, self-reliant, truth-and-labor-loving, Gk)d-
fearing stock, who were in their day and generation leading
citizens in the community in which they lived. The instances
in which Washington gave encouragement to new inventions
are numerous, and the fact is beyond question that he invariably
provided the best machinery for his mills and farms, and every-
thing considered, for all the industries under his control, as is
testified in many letters.^ He also had a kind word of encour-
6 The following letter to a correspondent, to which Sparks adds a note, in
the following words, vol. x, p. 68 : "The Baron de Poellnitz had a farm in
the neighborhood of New York, where he tried experiments in agriculture
He also wrote a pamphlet on the subject, and was the inventor of various
agricultural machines and implements, particularly a threshing machine
and the horse-hoe." ^^^ York, 29 Dec, 1789.
Sir : I have received your letter of the 26th and given such attention
to the manuscript which accompanied it, as my obligations to public
duties would permit. I shall always be happy to see experiments in
agricultural machines, which can be brought into general use. Of those
in your possession I was not able to form a decided judgment, except in
the instance of the horse-hoe. Of the utility of that instrument I was
fully convinced. I propose to take some farther occasion of seeing the
manner in which the threshing machine operates, when you shall let me
know it is in readiness for the purpose ; and in the meantime,
I am with due consideration, etc.,
Go WASHINCrON
3i8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
agement for those working to the end of devising new methods
and improved implements in any of the arts. This spirit, along
with his official duty to see proper laws enacted by Congress
under the authority of the Constitution which he had assisted
in drafting, led him in his first annual message to commend
measures to foster new and useful inventions and? doubtless
gave him special pleasure in signing the first patent law enacted
under the government of the United States,^ as well as in attach-
ing his name to the first patent issued shortly after^ under an
act of Congress.
Just one century ago, George Washington, then President of
the United States, was for a week at Mount Vernon. He was
then setting out on a tour through the Southern States, having
made a similar semi-official one of the Eastern States in
October and November, 1789. His Diary for this date, a
century ago, is as follows :
" Thursday^ jth April, IJ91. — Recommenced my journey
with Horses apparently much refreshed and in good spirits.
* ' In attempting to cross the ferry at Colchester with the four
Horses hitched to the Chariot by the neglect of the person
He made many enquiries by letters to his correspondents relative to
the practical efficacy of threshing machines, which had been experi-
mented with both in Europe and America. In a letter to Governor Henry
lyce of Virginia, October 16, 1793, he speaks hopefully of a threshing
machine devised by Col. Taliaferro, but which he had not seen, but had
heard good reports of its performance. He insists the machine must be
simple in construction. "The model," he says, "brought over by the
English farmers may also be a good one, but the utility of it among care-
less negroes and ignorant overseers will depend absolutely upon the
simplicity of the construction, for if there is anything complex in the
machinery it will be no longer in use than a mushroom is in existence."
7 "The advancement of Agriculture, Commerce and manufacture by
all proper means will not, I trust, need recommendation ; but I cannot
forbear intimating to you the expediency of giving eflfectual encourage-
ment as well to the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad
as to the exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home, and
of facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of our Country
by a due attention to the Post-Office and Post-Road." — Washington's
first annual message, January 8, 1790.
8 April 10, 1790.
9july30, 1790.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 319
who stood before them, one of the leaders got overboard
when the boat was in swimming water and 50 yards from the
shore — with much difl&culty he escaped drowning before he
could be disengaged — His struggling frightened the others in
such a manner that one after another and in quick succession
they all got overboard harnessed & fastened as they were and
with the utmost difficulty they were saved & the Carriage
escaped been dragged after them, as the whole of it happened
in swimming water & at a distance from the shore — Provi-
dentially— indeed miraculously — by the exertions of people
who went off in Boats & jumped into the River as soon as the
Batteau was forced into wading water — no damage was sus-
tained by the horses, Carriage or harness.
'* Proceeded to Dumfries where I dined — after which I
visited & drank Tea with my Niece, W^f Tho? lyce.
''Friday, 8th. — Set out about 6 o'clock — breakfasted at
Stafford Court House — and dined and lodged at my Sister
Lewis's in Fredericksburgh.
''Saturday, gth. — Dined at an entertainment given by the
Citizens of the town. Received and answered an address
from the Corporation [of Fredericksburgh].
" Was informed by MT Jn? Lewis, who had not long since
been in Richmond, that M^ Patrick Henry had avowed his
interest in the Yazoo Company ; and made him a tender of
admission into it wh^ he declined — but asking, if the Company
did not expect the Settlement of the lands would be disagree-
able to the Indians was answered by MT Henry that the C?
intended to apply to Congress for protection — which if not
granted they would have recourse to their own means to pro-
tect the settlement — ^That General Scott had a certain quantity
of Land (I think 40,000 acres) in the Company's grant &
was to have the command of the force which was to make the
establishment — and moreover — that General Muhleuburg had
offered ;^iooo for a certain part of the grant — the quantity I
do not recollect if it was mentioned to me.
" Sunday, loth. — Left Fredericksburgh about 6 o'clock — my-
self, MajT Jackson and one Servant breakfasted at General Spots-
woods — the rest of my Servants continued on to Todd's Ordinary
where they also breakfasted. Dined at the Bowling Green —
and lodged at Kenner's Tavern 14 miles farther — in all 35 m.
320 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
Before entering upon the main subject of this discourse, I
shall first endeavor to recall a few of the more notable traits
of character in the boyhood and early manhood of him whose
life and achievements make these ancestral possessions on the
Potomac, the most noted and dearly loved homestead in the
world.'** A consensus of the most careful studies of the life
of George Washington from his childhood, represents him as
mentally and physically precocious — attaining almost his full
stature in his 19th year, but throughout his youth, difi&dent
almost to bashfulness — yet men of experience marveled at the
maturity of his judgment and his knowledge of the details of
business in general and public affairs. He seems to have had
10 The original patent for the land embraced in the Mount Vernon tract
was granted March ist, 1674, by Thomas (Lord) Culpeper to Col. Nicholas
Spencer and Lieut.-Col. John Washington for 5,000 Acres, located at the
mouth of Ivittle Hunting creek on the Potomac. They made an equal
division, and the part falling to John Washington descended by bequest
without subdivision until it was devised in parcels by Gen'l Washington
to his heirs. Mount Vernon has never known other owners than Wash-
ingtons until 200 acres of it, including the tomb and mansion, came into
the possession of the "Mount Vernon Ladies' Association," which has
secured the tomb and home of Washington for all time for the people —
as a memento of the founder of the American Republic.
Text of the Original Patent.
To all to whome these p^sents shall Come the Owners and propryet^* of all that
tract and Terrytory of land in Virginia in America mentioned in his Ma^^f*
letters Pattent under the Broad Scale of England bearing date the Eighth day of
May in the Nine and twentieth yeare of his ... . Ma^^f^ Raigne send Greet-
ing in our I^ord God Everlasting KNOWE Yee that by Virtue thereof and for and in
Consideration of the yearely Rent and Agreem^f hereafter Expressed and Reserved
Wee have Bargained Sold Released and Confirmed and doe by these pfsents under
our Co^ mon Seal Bargaine Sell Release and Confirme unto Coll : Nicholas Spencer
and I^e' Coll : John Washington of Virginia in America ffive thousand Acres of
I^and Scituate Ikying and being within the said Terrytory in the County of Stafford
in the ffreshes of Pottomeeke River and neere oppositt to Piscatoway Indian Townc
in Mariland and neere the I^nd of Cap^ : Giles Brown on the North side, and neere
the I^nd Surveyd for M^ W*^ Grein Mf W*^ Dudley and others on the South side,
being a necke of I^nd bounded betwixt two Creeks and the Maine River, on the
Bast side & to by the said Maine River of Pottomeeke, on the North & to by a Creeke
Called by the English Little Hunting Creeke and the maine Branch thereof on the
south & to by a Creeke named and Called by the Indians Epsewasson Creeke and
the maine Branch thereof which Creeke devides this I^nd of Grein and Dudley
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 321
no frivolous or idle boy-life. When a lad he was noted for his
punctual attendance at school, for his application to study, and
his ability to master mathematical problems. He was strong
and agile in play, and a leader in all the more difficult feats
and sports of climbing, leaping, pitching, throwing, etc., in-
dulged in by his playmates. A sense of exact justice was
*nd others on the west side by a right Lyne drawne from the Branches of the afore.
said Epsewasson and Little Hnuting Creeke including the aforesaid Quantity,
togeather with all Trees profitts Comodityes E»nolum*_^ and Additions
whatsoever therein belonging All manner of Mines of Gold, Silver and Copper
therein only excepted and foreprised To Have and to Hold all and singular the
p^mises (except before excepted) to the said Coll : Nicholas Spencer and I<* : Coll :
John Washington their heires and Assignes forever Yieldinge and paying therefore
yearely and every yeare the Rent of ffoure shillings of Lawfull money of England
for every Hundred Acres and soe proportionably for a Bigger or Lesser Quantity to
the said propriet^f our heires and Assignes forever upon the ffirst day of November
Com'^only Called the ffeast of all s*f : att the Court house of the County where the
said I^nds are scituate, or such other place within our said Terrytory as wee or
any one or either of us shall derect and appoynt from tyme to tyme The first pay-
m^ thereof to bee made on the first day of November now next ensuing Provided
allwayes that if the said Coll : Nicholas Spencer and L* Coll : John Washington their
heires and Assig^nes doe yearely and every yeare betweene the feast day of st.
Michaell the Archangell and the said flftrst day of November pay or Cause to bee
paid unto us the said Proprieto^_^ our heires and Assignes forever the yearely Rent
of two shillings sterling in specie for every Hundred Acres and soe p portionably
for a Bigger or Lesser Quantity that it shal bee taken and accepted by us the said
proprietor our heires and Assignes in fiull satisfaccon of the ffoure shillings above
mentioned Provided alsoe that if the said Coll : Nicholas Spencer and !}[ Coll : John
Washington their heires and Assignes shall not Plant or Seate the said Lands or
Cause the same to bee planted or Seated within the terme of three yeares next
ensuing the date hereof; that then this Grant & everything herein Contayned
shall bee void and Null to all Intents & purposes whatsoever as if the same had
never beene made And lastly it is Agreed that this Grant bee Registred in due
forme in Virginia aforesaid by the said Coll: Spencer and L* Coll: John Wash.
ington or their Assignes before the fl&Fst day of November now next ensuing In
Witnesse whereof wee y^ S7 Proprietor have here onto fixed our Com'^'on scale
and Caused the same to bee Countersigned by one or more of us in the Naime of
the Rest this ffirst day of March In the 27*!* yeare of the Raigne of our Soveraigne
Lord King Charles y^ second & Anno Dom 1674.
Tho Culpbpek
It is probable that the first purchase of real estate made by George
Washington was that of a tract of unseated land embracing 550 acres,
which he selected on the BuUskin early in his visits to the Shenandoah
Valley. He received a deed for this land in Frederick County, Va., from
Lord Fairfax, the original proprietor, which bears date October 25th, 1750.
322 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
developed in him in his childhood which was recognized by
his school-fellows, who, by common consent, on occasions of
dispute, selected him to act as umpire, and unreservedly acqui-
esced in his decisions. This trait of weighing evidences and
reaching justice he had, to an eminent degree, through life.
Among the early notable performances of Washington, which
have come down to us, is his formula of maxims or * * Rules of
Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation,"
the ground- work of which was probably derived, through Haw-
kins's translation, from the original French. The maxims, as
recavSt, he recorded in his copy-book in 1745, which, with
other school exercises, is preserved in the Department of State
at Washington. These rules do honor alike to the head and
heart of him who had the genius to adopt and improve them ;
and though Washington entered no claim to originality, they
would to-day entitle him to a copyright which has actually been
granted to two aspiring editors" who have recently published
editions of them.
The consummate control which Washington habitually
maintained over his feelings, so that judgment might be his
guide, his never-flagging industry and strict attention to duty^
together with his most inflexible principles of justice, enabled
him as nothing else could to deport himself with undeviating
propriety and dignity on every occasion, and made him the
great leader he was.
An example which illustrates the early tastes and accom-
plishments of Washington is found in a few plots of surveys
and topographical sketches made of the Potomac River and
lyittle Hunting Creek, here at Mount Vernon, as exercises in
surveying while visiting his half-brother, Major Lawrence
Washington, in 1747, which have happily escaped the de-
structive hand of time, and may be found in the Department
of State.
The practical acquirements, the disciplined habits, the ener-
getic and intelligent application to business affairs, secured for
George Washington the patronage of Lord Fairfax, the pro-
prietor of the Northern Neck of Virginia, who had met him
" The Rev. Moncure D, Conway and Dr. J. M. Toner.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 323
repeatedly at * ' Belvoir ' ' and Mount Vernon, and who, seeing
from his work that he was a youth of unusual ability, engaged
him as a surveyor and factor in his land office, which was then
at "Belvoir."
Washington set out from * ' Belvoir ' ' upon this, his first re-
munerated employment, when he was just one month over six-
teen years of age, to associate with practical men of business in
a business way and to discharge important and responsible
duties. He kept a diary of this "journey over the moun-
tains," as he termed it, and of the surveys he then made,
which is full of interest and which is at present in course of
publication. In this business, he acquitted himself to the entire
satisfaction of I/Ord Fairfax, who found it to his interest to
secure young Washington's services on a more permanent and
extended scale in connection with the surveying and settlement
of his lands in the Valley of Virginia, then in much demand
by actual settlers. This congenial and profitable employment
was, however, terminated in the fall of 1751 by the failure of
Major Lawrence Washington's health, and the necessity of his
seeking a milder climate in the island of Barbadoes, on the
voyage to which place his brother George was induced to ac-
company him. The attachment of these brothers to each other
had been especially strong from childhood, so that George did
not hesitate, for a moment, to sacrifice a lucrative position to
discharge a fraternal duty. This was the only occasion on
which George Washington was ever beyond the territory of his
own country. During this journey, as was his custom, he kept
a diary which is replete with statesmanlike observations.
This journal is also in the hands of a publisher.
During the summer of 1751, Major Lawrence Washington
resigned the office of Adjutant Inspector of the Militia of Vir-
ginia with the rank of major, to which position he had his
brother George appointed, with the pay of one hundred and
fifty pounds a year. This was George Washington's first
military commission. With his usual assiduity, he at once set
to work to inform himself of his official duties, and to acquire,
by study and drill, the knowledge necessary for their proper
discharge. To this end he employed a practical drill-master
324 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and teacher of the sword exercise, and speedily mastered both
manuals.
When, in 1753, the Governor of Virginia wanted a man of
address, courage and perseverance to execute the difficult and
hazardous task of penetrating for several hundred miles into a
wilderness which sheltered many hostile savages and the
armed forces of an unfriendly foreign nation, all voices coun-
seled the appointment of Major George Washington to this
embassy. I refer, of course, to the occasion of Governor
Dinwiddie's serving a notice upon the Commandant of the
French forces at Fort La Bceuf that they were trespassing
upon the territory of His Majesty, the King of Great Britain^
and warning them to depart." Washington accepted the
mission and set out to execute it the same day, October
31st, 1753. It should be borne in mind that, at that time, the
whole region about the head-waters of the Ohio, and, indeed,,
nearly all the territory west of the Blue Ridge in Virginia and
Pennsylvania was nearly an unbroken forest, the happy hunt-
ing grounds of hostile Indians. The French, it is true, had
made a few but no very considerable settlements in the great
Mississippi Valley, and claimed the territory by right of dis-
covery. This mission, considering the time at which it was
undertaken and the difficulties that had to be overcome, must
be placed in the category of heroic enterprises, while the
political effects flowing therefrom are among the most import-
ant in the history of our country. Major Washington per-
formed this duty with such promptness and good judgment, as
to receive the thanks of the Governor of Virginia and his
12 The estimation in which Major George Washington was held by
Governor Dinwiddie then and for some time previous, may be shown by
his letter to the I^ords of Trade, written November 17th, 1753, i^ which
the Governor said : "I have sent out a gentleman of distinction to the
French Camp on the Ohio with my letter to the Commanding Officer,
to know the reasons and by what authority he invades His Majesty of
Great Britain's territory in the time of a solid peace subsisting between
the two Crowns,"
And in another despatch of the same date the Governor of Virginia
writes: "I have commissioned Mr. Washington, a Major and one
of the Adjutants of the Militia of this Dominion, to proceed to the
French camp, etc." (Colonial Office Records of Virginia, 1750 — 1780).
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 325
Council. He kept notes of his journey from the time he left
Williamsburg until he returned, with which, when referred to
by Washington to refresh his memory, the Governor was so
much pleased that he requested their author to write them out
as a Report, which he did in one day, and they were immedi-
ately printed by public authority. The modesty of Washing-
ton throughout this journal is as conspicuous and character-
istic of the man and his heroism as his diplomacy with the
Indians and the French officers was admirable. The pre-
tensions of the French, as set forth by the statements of their
own officers and recorded in this journal, brought Major
Washington's name into prominence in all the discussions in
Great Britain, France and the several American Provinces
relative to this trans- Alleghany territory. His reputation for
sagacity, courage and diplomatic ability had thus acquired
international celebrity. Henceforth he was a factor in the
politics and policy of the nations which were engaged in
maintaining colonial settlements in North America.
Washington declined the chief command of the armed
expedition immediately set on foot by Governor Dinwiddle to
build a fort or forts at the forks of the Ohio, as recommended
in his journal or report to the Governor, but accepted the
position of second to the Commander-in-Chief. In this
service, as Lieutenant-Colonel, he won the distinction of
having led the first body of armed American troops across the
Alleghany mountains to reclaim the great West from the forest,
the savage and the French. The death of the Commander-in-
Chief, Col. Joshua Fry, occurred at what is now Cumberland,
Md., May 31st, 1754, while he was en route to assume active
command, whereupon the whole conduct of the expedition
devolved upon Col. Washington, who was, at the time, at the
head of a detachment of the Virginia Regiment on the west
side of the Alleghany mountains. As is known to those ac-
quainted with the early history of our country, the battle of
the Great Meadows and the capitulation of Fort Necessity
terminated this campaign to the discomfort of Virginia, the
mortification of Washington, and the great disappointment of
Governor Dinwiddie. Washington resigned from the service
in the fall of 1754, on account of an army regulation which
326 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
denied rank to Colonial officers when serving in commands
along with British officers, the latter holding their commissions
from the King.'^
The failure of the Virginia troops to establish forts west of
the Alleghany mountains, led the British Ministry to send Gen-
eral Braddock to America in 1755, with two regiments of
regulars, which were largely reinforced by colonial troops, but
with no colonial officer of higher rank than a captain, to drive
13 Military rank in the Colonies at that time was not founded on
either justice or sound policy, and was, therefore, at times the occasion
of great irritation between Colonial and British officers. Fort Cumber-
land, for a considerable period the most advanced military post to the
westward, while on the border of Virginia, was actually in Maryland,
and, after Braddock's defeat, was garrisoned by thirty men under Capt.
Dagworthy, under a commission from the Governor of Maryland. The
captain had served in the Braddock Expedition, under a commission from
the King, and, whenever opportunity offered, would claim this old com-
mission to entitle him to rank any officer holding a commission from
one of the Colonial Governors. When Washington had occasion to be
at Fort Cumberland, this doughty captain would place himself upon this
former commission and pay no attention to the orders of Col. Washington.
This was not only exasperating, but subversive of discipline and
efficiency in the service, which Washington was determined to correct or
to retire from the service. He accordingly, with the approval of all the
officers of the Virginia forces, got the consent of Governor Dinwiddle to
refer the whole matter of rank, as it affected the service in America, to
Gen. Shirley, at the time Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's armies
in the American Colonies. By request of the Virginia officers, the
petition was to be presented to Gen. Shirley by Col. Washington in person.
Accordingly, Washington with his aide-de-camp, Capt. George Mercer
set out from Williamsburg for Boston February 4th, 1756, to present
their petition on the question of rank. Washington was well received by
Gen. Shirley, who examined into the matter on its merits, and responded
by giving a pointed order that Capt. Dagworthy should be subject to
Col. Washington's orders.
But this, while it corrected the immediate controversy, did not solve
the real difficultj^ which existed in the army regulations, the amendment
of which required the action of the Ministry. The subject, therefore,
continued to be discussed, and petitions continued to be sent by other
Colonial officers to the Home Government, representing the injustice of
the rule as applied to the military service in America. William Pitt,
while Secretary of State, in 1758, in a spirit of conciliation towards the
Colonies, procured a modification of the regulations concerning the rank
of British and Colonial officers on duty in the same service, putting them
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 327
the French from Fort Duquesne, and hold that position at the
head of the Ohio.^* The eminently valuable service which
Col. Washington performed while a volunteer aide in this ex-
pedition (for he held no command) in extricating Braddock's
shattered forces after the engagement and their defeat on the
Monongahela, July 9th, 1755, is a part of the history of our
in a position much nearer equality, but without fully reaching it. While
this allayed somewhat the complaint of the Provincials, it served, never-
theless, to annoy the regulars.
The army regulations were specific, and in the language following ;
^'That all such as were commissioned by the King, or by his general
Commander-in-Chief in North America, should take rank of all officers
commissioned by the Governors of the respective Provinces. And
further, that the general and field officers of the Provincial troops should
have no rank when serving with the generals and field officers com-
missioned by the Crown : but that all captains and other inferior officers
of the Royal troops shall take rank over Provincial officers of the same
grade having older commissions."
It is almost inconceivable, but it is nevertheless true, that up to the
campaign which drove the French out of their North American possessions
not a Provincial colonel had ever been asked by any British officer to
join in a council of war. The Provincial officers, therefore, even to
colonels, knew no more than a sergeant what was to be done before their
orders came. In the nature of things, the Colonial officers were much
better acquainted with the topographical features of the country and the
difficulties to be overcome, than any British officer, or a stranger, could
possibly be, as well as with the methods of warfare peculiar to the
Indians. Yet, these and other potent reasons, and the further fact that
the Colonial officers were fighting on their own soil and for their own
firesides, were totallj- disregarded. It was, therefore, not to be wondered
at that Col. Washington's sense of justice rebelled at such a regulation.
14 E. D. Neill, quoting from Peyton's Reminiscences of General Brad-
dock while at Williamsburg, Va., 1755, gives the following extract from
a letter written to the General about this time, as follows :
" Is Mr. Washington among your acquaintances ? If not. I must recommend you to
embrace the first opportunity to form his friendship. He is about twenty-three years
of age, with a countenance both mild and pleasant, promising both wit and judgment.
He is of a comely and dignified demeanor, and at the same time displays much self-
reliance and decision. He strikes me as being a young man of an extraordinary and
«xalted character, and is destined, I am of opinion, to make no inconsiderable figfure
in our country."
Mr. Neill says that Washington was at a dinner gfiven to Gen. Braddock
at Williamsburg, March 1755, byiGen. John St. Clair, his Quartermaster,
just after his arrival in Virginia. — [ Washington Adapted for a Crisis —
p. 7, by Edward D. Neill, D. /?.]
328 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
country. His conduct and bravery in the emergency met un-
qualified praise alike from British and Colonial officers and
men. This disaster left the frontier of Virginia, Maryland
and Pennsylvania, for a time, without any organized or ade-
quate military protection, but speedily the praise bestowed
upon Col. Washington for his generalship in the late engage-
ment assumed the nature of a universal, popular demand ta
Gov. Dinwiddle for his appointment to a command of the
Virginia troops for the protection of the frontier settlements^
It was known to the Assembly, the Governor and his Council,
that Washington had retired from the service solely on account
of the military regulations discriminating in rank against
Colonial officers. It was also known he would not again
accept command unless his rank should be respected, ^s As
the corps about to be organized was to consist wholly of
15 Washington bore with dignity the slight the Governor perpetrated
in reducing his command, which he knew at the time, would cause the
Colonel to resign his commission. He had made great personal sacrifices
to serve his country in the military line, but never received proper
encouragement from Gov. Dinwiddie. The following extract from a
letter to his brother Augustine, written August 2d, 1755, shortly after
Gen. Braddock's defeat, shows both his courage and his sense of justice ;
he says : "I can nevertheless assure you, and others ' whom it may con-
cern ' (to borrow a phrase from Goverour Innes) that I am so little dis-
pirited at what has happened, I am always ready, and always willing, to
render my Country any Services that I am capable of but never upon the
Terms I have done ; — having suffered much in my private Fortune, besides^
impairing one of the best of constitutions. —
" I was employed to go a Journey in the Winter (when I believe, few
or none would have undertaken it), — and what did I get by it? — My
cxpences borne ! — I then was appointed, with trifling Pay, to conduct a
hand-full of Men to the Ohio : —What did I get by that? Why, after put-
ting myself to a considerable expence, in equipping and providing neces-
saries for the Campaign, I went out— was soundly beaten — lost them all !
— came in and had my Commission taken from me, or, in other words,
my command reduced, under pretence of an Order from Home ! —I then
went out a Volunteer with Gen. Braddock, and lost all my Horses and
many other things. But being a voluntary act, I ought not to have men-
tioned this ; nor should I have done it was it not to shew that I have
been upon the losing order ever since I entered the service, which is now
nearly two years. So that I think I cannot be blamed should I, if I leave
my family again, endeavor to do it upon such terms as to prevent my
sufifering — to gain by it being the least of my expectations."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 329
Virginia Provincial forces, no controversy, it was thought,
could arise as to rank ; and with this understanding and an
earnest desire on Washington's part to serve his country, he
accepted the appointment. The Assembly promptly voted
;^40,ooo to raise and equip troops. This was the largest sum
Virginia had ever appropriated for this service.
Washington was commissioned by the Governor, August
14th, 1755, Colonel of the Virginia forces, to be immediately
raised to build forts and protect the people on the frontier
against the incursions of the Indians. ^^ He accepted the
appointment and continued at the head of the Virginia forces
until the French were, by the Forbes Expedition, in which
Washington took a conspicuous and honorable part, obliged
to abandon Fort Duquesne in the Fall of 1758. I have dwelt
somewhat in detail upon this early period of Washington's life
because these were the years in which he was acquiring mili-
tary experience and ripening, by study and reflection, into the
grandest military character and philosophic statesman the
world has ever produced.
In July, 1758, while with his regiment in the field, he was
elected from Frederick county to a seat in the House of Bur-
gesses of Virginia. His favorite project, the driving of the
French from Fort Duquesne, having now been accomplished,
he felt at liberty to resign his command in the army ; which he
did in December of this year.
Early in January, 1759, he was married, and in April,
shortly afterj the adjournment of the Assembly, he brought
16 Washington's letter to his mother, at the time, on this subject fully
represents his position, and is here gfiven in full :
•* To M*S Washington,
Near Fredericksburgh,
HoN^ Madam—
" If it is in my power to avoid going to the Ohio again, I shall ; but if the command
is pressed upon me, by the general voice of the country,— and offered upon such terms
as cannot be objected against,— it would reflect dishonour upon me to refuse it ; and
that I am sure must or ought to give you greater uneasiness, than ray going in an
honorable command ; for upon no other terms *will I accept it — At present I have no
proposals made to me, nor have I any advice of such an intention, except from present
hands.
I am, D^ Madam, &c..
Mount Vernon,
August 14th, 1755- "
From draft and transcript in the Department of State.
330 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
his wife to Mount Vernon. ^7 it was not until after his retire-
ment from the army and his marriage that Washington was
able to give much personal attention to the management of his
estate. His brother, John Augustine, in his absence, had
looked after his servants and his plantations to the best of his
ability.*^
17 The following account of the personal appearance of Col. George
Washington is given in a letter by Capt. George Mercer to a friend in
England in 1760. This copy was taken by the writer, from a copy in the
possession of Col. Lewis W. Washington, of "Bell-air," near Hall Town,
Jefferson county, West Virginia, 1855 :
" Although distrusting my ability togfive an adequate account of the personal apear-
ance of Col. George Washington, late Commander of the Virginia Provincial troops,
I shall, as you request, attempt the portraiture. He may be described as being aa
straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two inches in his stockingfs, and weighing
175 pounds when he took his seat in the House of Burgesses in 1759. His frame is
padded with well-developed muscles, indicating great strength. His bones and joints
are large, as are his feet and hands. He is wide shouldered, but has not a deep or
round chest ; is neat waisted, but is broad across the hips, and has rather long legs and
•arms. His head is well shaped though not large, but is gracefully poised on a superb
neck. A large and straight rather than a prominent nose ; blue-gray penetrating eyes,
which were widely separated and overhung by a heavy brow. His face is long rather
than broad, with high round cheek bones, and terminates in a good firm chin. He
has a clear though rather colorless pale skin, which burns with the sun. A pleasing,
benevolent, though a commanding countenance, dark brown hair, which he wears in a
cue. His mouth is large and generally firmly closed, but which from time to time dis-
closes some defective teeth. His features are regular and placid, with all the muscles
■of his face under perfect control, though flexible and expressive of deep feeling when
moved by emotions. In conversation he looks you full in the face, is deliberate, defer"
ential and eng^aging. His voice is agreeable rather than strong. His demeanor at all
times composed and dignified. His movements and gestures are graceful, his walk
majestic, and he is a splendid horseman."
18 The estate of Mount Vernon, or about 4,000 acres of it, was
bequeathed by General Washington to his nephew. Judge Bushrod
Washington, son of his brother, John Augustine, in the following
language: "Partly in consideration of an intimation to his deceased
father, while we were both bachelors, and he had kindly undertaken to
superintend my estate during my military services in the former war
between Great Britain and France, that if I should fall therein Mount
Vernon, then less extensive in domain than at present, should become
his property." On Justice Washington's decease, without children, he
left it to his nephew, John Augustine, who, by will, left it to his widow,
who conveyed it to her son John Augustine, who sold two hundred acres
including the mansion and the tomb to " The I^adies' Mount Vernon
Association of the Union." To them the country owes a debt of grati-
tude for the excellent condition in which everything relating to the
home of Washington is kept. Perhaps it is not too much to say ladies
only could manage Mount Vernon so as to keep it free from politics,
faction and peculation. Under their care it is annually growing in
the affections of a grateful and patriotic people.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 331
From his youth, Washington was in the habit of taking
notes and making memorandums in pocket note-books of
whatever interested him, especially when engaged in expedi-
tions or when making experiments. These memorandums
assumed in time, but perhaps unconsciously to their author,
the character of diaries. Of those which have escaped destruc-
tion, some are preserved in the Department of State, others in
private and public libraries, and all are held as highly-prized
relics. Copies of all the Washington Diaries and Journals,
known to exist, have been transcribed with literal exactness
for the writer and are now in his possession.
In his Diary for 1760, Washington notes, very briefly, the
events occurring at Mount Vernon, and especially matters
relating to the management of his plantations. These memo-
randums, brief as they are, show that he was giving close
attention to the improvement of his estates. His personal
supervision was only interrupted by occasional visits to
Williamsburg to attend the meetings of the Assembly. The
following extract from his Diary, at this period, gives a good
example, not only of his love of agriculture, but in especial
manner shows his ingenuity and fertility of invention and
desire to improve the implements of husbandry.
* * Thursday, Mar. d?*- iy6o — Fitted a two-eyed plow instead
of a duck-bill plow, and with much difficulty made my chariot
wheel-horse plow."
* * Wednesday, Mar. i^!^ — * * * Peter (my smith) and
I after several efforts to make a plow after a new model, partly
of my own contriving, was feign to give it out, at least for the
present. ' '
March 21^.' Washington records the fact that he had this day
grafted 41 cherry-tree grafts, 12 magnum bonum plums and
planted 4 nuts of the Mediterranean pine : — " The cherry s and
plumb came from Col. Mason's, the nuts from MT- Green's."
To the close of the month of March, the diary shows that he
was daily grafting and planting fruit trees to the number of
several hundred. For many years his diaries show that in the
months of February and March he was much occupied in set-
ting out and grafting choice frnit.
''Monday, Mar. 24}^ * * * in digging earth for the
purpose of repairing my mill-dam, great quantities of marie
332 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
or Fuller's earth appeared. In the evening, in a bed that had
been prepared with a mixture of dung on Saturday last, I
sowed choice Lucerne and Rye grass seeds, in the garden, to
try their goodness, doing it in the following order. At the end
next the corner were two rows of clover-seed ; in the 3**' 4*^'
5**' and 6***' rye grass ; the last row thinnest. Sowed 7*^^ and
SV* barley (to see if it would come up,) the last also thinnest
sown; 9*** io*l*' 11 '*•• 12*^' Lucerne, the next thicker and so
on to the last, w'^^ was very thick."
' ' Wednesday^ Mar. 26*!^ * * * Spent the greater part
of the da5^ in making a new plow of my own invention."
" Thursday y Mar. 2y^^.^ iy6o. * * * get my plow to
work and found she answered very well in the lower pasture,
w*=^ I this day began plowing with the large bay mare and
Rankin. * * * Agreed to give Mr- W?^ Triplet ;^i8 to
build me two houses in the front of my house (plastering them
also) and running walls for palisades to them from the great
house and from the great house to the wash-house and kitchen
also. ^9
19 The Mansion House, during lyawrence Washington's hfe, stood by
itself. When George became its possessor but little improvement in
buildings was made until after his marriage, then a number of out-
houses were added and the grounds and gardens brought under the
supervision of the Colonel's sesthetical eye. For the purpose of syste-
matic management, the Mount Vernon estate was divided into the
Mansion House Farm, of 450 acres and large bounds of woodland ; the
River Farm, of 1,800 acres ; the Union Farm, of 841 acres ; the Dogue
Run Farm, of 1,076 acres, and the Muddy Hole Farm of 886 acres — ^a
domain of nearly 4,500 acres.
XTm The following memorandum, in General Washington's handwriting,
is preserved among his miscellaneous papers in the Department of State,
and gives the size and names of all of the detached buildings existing at
Mount Vernon in 1799. The enumeration of windows and panes of
glass in each of the houses would seem to have some relation to a tax
levy:
"I^istof Houses at Mount Vernon, as taken by M^ Dulan (one of the Assessors),
the 9*^ instant on the Premises ;
Dwelling House 96 feet by 32, of Wood ; 2 Stories high.
No. of Windows. No. of Paynes in each. Total.
6 18 108
6 12 72
3 « 36
8 15 120
1 62 62
2 16 32
6 18 108
9 12 108
J 10 10
2 18 36
J " ^
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 333
*^ Saturday, April 5. * * * Made another plow, the same
as my former, except that it has two ej^es and the other one. ' '
'^Monday, April 14^^- Fine warm day, wind so'ly, and clear till
the even'g, when it clouded ; no fish were to be catched to-day
neither. Mixed my composts in a box with ten apartments in
the following manner, viz. in N?- i is three pecks of earth
brought from below the hill out of the 46 acre field without any
mixture. In N? 2 is two pecks of sand earth and one of marie
taken out of the said field, which marie seem'd a little inclined
to sand. 3 has 2 pecks of s^ earth and i of river side sand.
4 has a peck of Horse Dung.
5 has mud taken out of the creek.
6 has cow dung.
7 marie from the Gulleys on the hill side, w^** seem'd to be
purer than the other.
8 sheep dung.
9 Black mould taken out of the Pocoson on the creek side.
ID Clay got just below the garden.
All mixed with the same quantity and sort of earth in the
most effective manner by reducing the whole to a tolerable
degree of fineness and rubbing them well together on a cloth. In
each of these divisions were planted three grains of wheat, 3 of
oats, and as many of barley, all of equal distances in Rows and
of equal depth done by a machine made for the purpose. The
wheat rows are next the numbered side, the oats in the middle,
and the barley on the side next the upper part of the garden.
Two or three hours after sowing in this manner, and about an
hour before sunset I watered them all equally alike with water
" Kitchen , f 40 by 20
Servants Hall 1 40 — 20
Gardners house 26 — 16
Store house 26 — 16
Smoke house *i6 — 16
Wash house 20 — 16
Coach house 20 — 16
stable 84 — 36
Salt house 16 — 16
Spinning house 38 — 18
grSSfce'"} - »- "»-»
Ice house within arch 12 — 12
G? Washington.
Mount Vernon,
/J March, zygg.
+ Measured since MT Dulan took the account.
• This building is added to the Assessors Report."
334 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
that had been standing in a tub ab*^ two hours exposed to the
sun. * * * Got a new Harrow made of smaller and closer
teethings for harrowing in grain — the other being more proper
for preparing the ground for sowing. ' '
May i!* Washington records that he inspected the grain
planted in the ten boxes, each containing a different compost,
as a test. These experiments show how close an observer he
was, but they are too extended to be given in full here. He
concludes, all things considered, that boxes 8 and 9 promised
the most satisfactory results.
His ever watchful attention to the matter of labor-saving
machinery in the interest of the poorly-paid and over-worked
farmer is apparent throughout the life and writings of Wash-
ington. He made it a duty to read the standard works and
annual publications on agriculture to obtain useful hints which
might be of service on the Mount Vernon plantations.^"
Each one of the five plantations under the general super-
vision of the Mount Vernon estates, had its own overseer and
its independent outfit or plant, with all the working people»
stock and farm implements essential to its independent,
economical management. A debit and credit account was
kept by each overseer of the operations on his plantation — the
2oThe following letter, the draft of which is preserved in the Depart-
ment of State, is in point. The letter is here given in full, as it is only
in part published by Sparks and by Ford :
To— Robert Gary Bsq^ & C®
Merch*? I^ondon
Gent»
The Inclosed is a Copy of my last of the 22^ Ult°. We have been curiously en-
tertained of late with y^ description of an Engine lately constructed (I believe in Swit-
zerland, and undergone some Improvements since in England) for taking up Trees by
the Roots. — Among other things it is related that Trees of considerable Diameter are
forced up by this Engine — that Six hands in working one of them will raise two or
three hundred Trees in the space of a day — and that an Acre of Ground may be eased
of the Trees and laid fit for Plowing in the same time.— How far these assertions have
been amply realy reallized by repeated experiment it is impossible for me at this dis-
tance to determine but if the Accounts are not greatly exaggerated such powerful
assistance must be of vast utility in many parts of this wooden country where it is
impossible for our Force (and labourers are not to be hired here) between the finishing
of one Crop and preparations for another to clear Ground fast enough to aflford the
proper changes either in the planting or Farming business — The chief purport of this
I^etter therefore is to beg the favour of you Gentlemen to make minute enquiries into
the Tryals that have been made by Order of the Society and if they have proved satis-
factory to send me one of these Engines by the first Ship to this (Potomack) River.— If
they are made of different sizes, I shoud prefer one of a middle size, capable of raising
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 335
work done, the crops produced, their market value, imple-
ments bought, stock increased, sold or on hand, general
improvements made to buildings, ditching, clearing up of new
land, etc. At the end of the year a balance was struck for
each, and the difference set down to profit and loss.
At this period, nearly all the trades essential to serve the
wants of an independent community, were represented and
carried on at Mount Vernon ; such as milling, distilling,
tanning, blacksmithing, wagon-making, shoe-making, tailor-
ing, spinning, weaving, knitting, carpentering, coopering,
harness-making, brick-making and laying, stone-masons, etc.
To a limited extent the facilities of these departments of labor
were extended to his neighbors. There were also gunners to
supply game, and men whose business it was to daily supply
fresh fish, from the Potomac, for the table ; while all surplus of
perishable articles brought to the home house was promptly
sent to the overseers of the several quarters. The gangs of
skilled workmen and farm-hands composing the different
departments of laborers on the Mount Vernon Estate consisted
in part of slaves owned by General Washington ; — dower
negroes-^slaves owned by Mrs. Washington ; slaves hired
from their masters by the year •,^^ transported convicts serving
a tree of 15 or 18 Inches Diameter.— The Costs I am pretty much a stranger to — 15— 20&
25 Guineas have been spoke of but the Price (were it d'ble that) I shoud totally dis-
regard provided the Engine is capable of performing what is related of it, and not of
that complicated nature to be easily disordered, and rendered unfit for use, but con-
structed upon so plain, simple, and durable a Plan that the common Artificers of this
Country may be able to set them to rights if any accidents shou'd happen to them. If
you should send one be so good as to let me have with it the most ample directions for
the efifectual using of it, together with a model of its manner of operating.
Mrs. Washington woud take it as a favour, if you woud direct M^^ Shelby to send
her a fashionable Summer Cloak & Hatt, a black Silk apron, i p^ of penny & i p^ of
two penny Ribbon (white) and a pair of French bead tarings and Necklace— and I
should be obliged to you for sending me a dozen and an half of Water Plates (Pewter
with my Crest engraved) I am Gent"
¥»■ Most Obedt H'^Je Serv^
Mount Vernon ) G? Washington
13th February j 1764
By Capt^. Dawson— for London.
21 The following letter of Mrs. Corbin to Colonel Washington, found
among the latter's papers, is illustrative of the business methods of the
times and given in full — along with a receipt from Mr. Turberville.
Essex, Mch 31st, 1766.
Sir: — I am now favored with an opportunity of writing to you, to let you know that
I shall be glad to be informed whether you will want the Bricklayer any longer. If you
336 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
out their sentences \'^'^ persons voluntarily indenturing them-
selves for a sufficient time^^ to pay costs of transportation to
do, you may keep him on the same Terms ; (but if not) shall be obliged if you will send
him down as soon as his Year is up, because I have lately had an offer for him. As the
distance is so great & good opportunities scarce, shall take it as a favor if you will send
the Cash down by Mr. George Turberville who is the bearer of this & am Sir
Your most obt. Servt.
(Signed) Lettice Corbin.
N. B. I have a good Gardener to hire ; if you want, may have him on the usual Terms
for such L. C.
To Col° George Washington of Mount Vernon^ Va.
Received from Geo : Washington for the use of Mrs. Lettice Corbin, Twenty five
pounds Virga Curr'y for the hire of the Negro Bricklayer George one year.
(Signed) Geo. Turberville.
April 9, 1766.
22 The following, found among Washington's papers, is a copy of a
certificate and transfer in the case of a convict whose term of service
was assigned to George Washington :
In Pursuance, and by virtue of Acts of Parliament made and provided for the
more speedy and effectual Transportation of Felons and convicted Persons out of
Great Britain, \.\\\.(:)\\\s Majesty's Plantations in America, We do hereby assign unto
George Washington KsqT for Value received one Man-Servant named Thomas
Wight being a Transport and within the said Statutes for the Term of Seven Years,
the Time to commence from the Arrival of the Brig, Swift Captain George Straker in
the Province of Maryland, it being the Twenty Sixth Day of February 1774 As
witness our Hands this Twelfth day of March 1774.
WlI,lvM I^ux & BOWI^Y.
23 Copy of an Indenture for service as a mason for a term of years and
a transfer to George Washington, in accordance with the law in force, at
that period, in Virginia. Taken from among many manuscript indentures
preserved among Washington's papers :
THIS INDENTURE Made the Thirty-first Day of January in the Fourteenth
Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the third King of Great Britain, &c.
And in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-four between
Isaac Webb— Mason— of the City of Bristol of the one Part, and John Moorfield of the
City of Bristol of the other Part, WITNESSETH, That the said Isaac Webb for the
Consideration herein after-mentioned, hath, and by these Presents doth Covenant,
Grant, and Agree to, and with the said John Moorfield his Executors and Assigns,
That he the said Isaac Webb shall and will, as a faithful Covenant Servant, well and
truly ser\'e the said John Moorfield his Executors or Assigns, in the Plantation of
Maryland beyond the Seas, for the space of four years, next ensuing his arrival in the
said Plantation, in the Employment of a Mason And the said Isaac Webb doth hereby
Covenant and Declare himself, now to be of the Age of Twenty-foure Years and no Cov-
enant or Contracted Servant to any other Person or Persons, And the said John
Moorfield for himself his Executors or Assigns, in Consideration thereof do hereby
Covenant, Promise and Agree to and with the said Isaac Webb Executors and Assigns,
that he the said John Moorfield his Executors or Assigns, shall and will at his or their
proper Costs and Charges, with what convenient Speed they may, carry, convey or
cause to be carried and conveyed over into the said Plantation, the said Isaac Webb
and from henceforth and during the said Voyage, and also during the said Term,
shall and will at the like Cost and Charges, provide for and allow the said Lsaac Webb
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 337
America ; others whose services for a stipulated period were sold
by the shipping- masters to the highest bidder;^'^ and mechanics,
white and colored, engaged by the month or year, and gen-
erally upon a written coi:^tract. Washington's exactness in
charging to each enterprise its just expense, is illustrated in
his noting the number of days' labor it required of his carpen-
ters and others in building his schooner at Mount Vernon,
which we transfer in his own language from his diary.
' ' Sep\ Z5, 1J65 — To this day my carpenters had in all
worked 82 days on my schooner.
all necessary Cloaths, Meat, Drink, Washing, and I^odging, fit and convenient for him
as Covenant Servants in Such Cases are usually provided for and allow'd.
And for the true Performance of the Premises, the said Parties to these Presents,
bind themselves, their Executors and Administrators, the either to the other, in the
Penal Sum of Ten Pounds Sterling, firmly by these Presents. In witness whereof, they
have hereunto interchangeably set their Hands and Seals, the Day and Year above
written.
V John Moorfield [seal]
his
Isaac X Webb [seal]
mark
Sealed and Delivered
in the Presence of
John Evans
I hereby Assign unto Col? George Washington all my Right & title to the within
Named Isaac Webb his time to begin from the Arrival of the Restoration Cap^
Thomas into the Province of Maryland it being the 22^ Day of March 1774 as witness
my hand this 26*^^ Day of March 1774.
John Moorfield,"
24 The original of this indenture is preserved among the Washington
papers in the Department of State, and is illustrative of old English law;
THIS INDENTURE Made the Eighth Day of July in the Year of our Lord God
One Thousand Seven Hundred & Seventy two Between Andrew Judge of the one Party,
and Alex^ Coldclough Merch' of the other Party, WITNESSETH, That the said Andrew
Judge doth hereby Covenant, Promise and Grant to and with the said Alex^ Coldclough
his Executors, Administrators and Assigns, from the Day of the Date hereof until the
first and next Arrival at Baltimore or any port in America and after, for and during the
Term of Four Years, to serve in such Service and Employment as the said Alex^ Coldclough
or his Assigns shall there employ him according to the Custom of that Country in the like
Kind. IN CONSIDERA TION whereof the said Alex^ Coldclough doth hereby Cove-
nant and Grant to and with the said Andrew Judge to pay for his Passage, and to find and
allow Meat, Drink, Apparel and Lodging, with other Necessaries during the said Term.
And at the End of the said Term, to pay unto him the usual Allowance according to the Cus-
tom of the Country in the like Kind. IN WITNESS whereof the Parties abovementioned
to these INDENTURES have interchangeably set their Hands and Seals, the Day and
Year first above written.
his
Andrew X Judge [seal]
Mark
Signed, Sealed and Delivered,
in Presence of l Mayor
Jn9 M^Dermott \
338 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
* * 22'^ This week they worked 22 days upon her.
'* 28^^ This week my carpenters worked 22 days upon my
schooner — and John Askew 3 days upon her.
''Oct. 5'^ This week my carpenters worked 24 days upon
my schooner — and John Askew 4 days.
''12^^ This week my carpenters worked 22 days upon my
schooner — and John Askew 3 days.
'' i^^ This week y? carpenters worked 18 days, which
make in all 190 days & 10 of John Askew."
Washington was noted for owning fine horses, he also
enjoyed, on proper occasions, extending their use to visiting
friends for a dash after a fox and hounds over the Mount
Vernon plains.^s a sport of which he was fqnd and frequently
indulged in himself. In the chase, on his fine horse, he was
usually the foremost hunter.
He was a rapid rider in his ordinary business journeys, and
his Diaries record the fact that on various occasions he rode as
much as 60 miles a day.
The possession of the Mississippi valley by the British and
its settlement by Virginia had engaged the attention of George
Washington from his youth. His brothers, Lawrence and
Augustine, were among the original members of the Ohio
Company, organized in 1748 to settle lands on the Ohio river
and trade with the Indians. He was, therefore, reared in an
atmosphere of admiration for and conviction of the future great-
ness of this western territory. His Diary for July \^\ 1 763, con-
tains the following entry : ' ' Went over to Stafford Court-House
to attend a meeting of the Mississippi adventure, and lodged
there." From the year 1754, the House of Burgesses, of
25 The following observations on Washington's horsemanship are
taken from de Chastellux, page 69 :
"The weather being fair, on the 26th, I got on horseback, after breakfasting with the
general — He was so attentive as to give me the horse he rode, the day of my arrival,
which I had greatly commended— I found him as good as he is handsome ; but above all,
perfectly well broke, and well trained, having a good mouth, easy in hand, and stopping
short in a gallop without bearing the bit — I mention these minute particulars, because it is
the general himself who breaks all his own horses ; and he is a very excellent and bold
horseman, leaping the highest fences, and going extremely quick, without standing upon
his stirrups, bearing on the bridle, or letting his horse run wild, — circumstances which
our young men look upon as so essential a part of English horsemanship, that they would
rather break a leg or an arm than renounce them."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 339
Virginia, inspired by the report of Major George Washington
in 1753, had annually before it, until the Revolution, some
measure or report of committee to encourage and protect
settlers on the waters of the Mississippi held to belong to
Virginia. ^ Journal of House of Burgesses^ His cash book
shows he was a generous contributor to measures to encourage
settlement and take up land in the valleys of the Ohio and
Mississippi.
Notwithstanding Washington's many engagements, he was
not neglectful or unappreciative of the amenities of social
intercourse. His home, even at this period, was scarcely a
day without visitors of note from some of the Colonies,
foreign travelers, his relatives, or gentlemen on business. He
occasionally accompanied Mrs. Washington and the children
to return calls and pay his respects to his neighbors. The
following extract from his Diary is in point :
''May 31'^ 1769.—^ * * * * Set off with M^
Washington and Patcy, MT W[arner] Washington and wife,
MP Bushrod and Miss Washington, and MT Magowen for
'Towlston,' in order to stand for MT B. Fairfax's third son,
which I did together with my wife, M^ Warner Washington
and his lady. ' '
In seasons of harvesting and seeding, or when any other
important work was going on which required special attention,
it was Washington's habit to visit several of his plantations, or
all of them, to confer with his overseers before he ate his
breakfast. When the full round of the plantations was made,
the ride amounted to about ten miles. This ought to have given
him, as it doubtless did, a good appetite. On his return to
the mansion-house, he would immediately refresh himself with
a wash, while the servant would place upon the table in the
dining-room a fresh, warm breakfast. This meal usually con-
sisted of fresh fish, breakfast bacon or ham, eggs, corn-cakes,
fresh butter, honey and coffee or tea. Mrs. Washington, with
her good taste and characteristic tact, even though the Gen-
eral was a little late, managed to join and cheer him at
table.
340 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The regular hour for dining at Mount Vernon was three,
although the working-people dined at twelve o' clock. ^^ It
was the General's habit to make a toilet immediately before
sitting down to table, whether he had been out riding or had
remained in or about the house, was alone or had company.
The opportunity was also afforded to all guests to refresh
themselves before going into the dining-room.
The intense earnestness of Washington in the prosecution
of his farming interests extended, in a degree, to all the em-
ployes on his estates. His people knew that he was just
and considerate and that they and their work were constantly
under his supervision. They also knew that he desired to
have all his work done in the best possible manner. The
versatility and never-flagging application which Washing-
ton exhibited in all his business affairs, must always excite
admiration. His power of endurance and celerity of move-
ment from place to place were marvelous. He had, too, that
self-command which enabled him to pass from one occupation
to another, or from the exciting sport of the chase immediately
to the discharge of intricate business transactions, such as the
drafting of a lease or deed and other papers requiring legal or
expert knowledge, or the plotting of a survey, without the
least flurry or confusion. It was a rule with him to be prompt
in attending business engagements. The following extract
from his Diary is fairly illustrative of this :
26 Washington was an early riser, out before the sun was up or engaged
in his study writing. The breakfast hour at Mount Vernon, in summer,
was seven o'clock and in winter, eight. During Colonial times dinner
was served in the mansion house usually at two o'clock. After the Revo-
lution the time for that meal was three o'clock the year round. His
usual beverage was small beer, cider, and Madeira wine. Tea was served
in the dining-room — or if the company was very large, handed round —
between seven and eight o'clock. The hospitality at Mount Vernon was
so generous as almost to amount to an open house, Washington was a
most liberal provider and himself a hearty eater, but neither in his letters
or diaries does he complain of the tables at which he ate in traveling nor
record what he had upon his own. But on several occasions he states that
he lived plainly. To a friend he wrote, ' ' My manner of living is plain, and
I do not mean to be put out by it, A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are
always ready, and such as will be content to partake of them are always
welcome. Those who expect more will be disappointed."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 341
'''March 5, lydg — Went up to Alexandria after Fielding
Lewis and brought him down to dinner, where I found MT
Warner Washington, who returned after dinner.
" 6 *> Set out with Fielding Lewis for Fredericksburg, which
we reached after dining at Peytons at Aquia, i. e. reached my
mother's. 27
27 Although this was a ride of about 45 miles, he rode over the same
ground in less time on receiving a message of the dangerous illness of
his mother and sister. His diary of April 27th, 1787, says : ** About sun-
rise I commenced my journey as intended. Bated at Dumfries and
reached Fredericksburg before two o'clock and found both my mother and
sister better." Washington, from his childhood, had a most reverential
love and respect for his mother, which continued unabated to the close
of her life. The prevalence of ceremony in Colonial days led him
to address his mother, in at least some of his communications to her,
as "Honored Madam," and at the close subscribe himself "Your
most dutiful son." Mary Washington, like her son, was in the conduct
of life eminently practical and chose to manage and maintain her inde-
pendent estate according to her own notions, having suflScient for her
needs. She removed from her farm to the town of Fredericksburg in 1775
and resided in a comfortable house owned by her son George. It was within
a hundred yards of " Kenmore " mansion, the residence of her daughter,
Betty Lewis. As age advanced her children and grandchildren made
her frequent visits and saw to it that she wanted for nothing that could
add to her comfort. The General had repeatedly urged his mother to
make Mount Vernon her home, which she declined. Her daughter, Mrs.
Fielding Lewis, had also begged her to reside with her in "Kenmore,"
but she persisted in her determination to maintain her own independent
establishment. Her son, John Augustine, had also often and earnestly
entreated her to give up the cares of a house and live with him. Febru-
ary 15th, 1787, Washington wrote his mother a long and earnest letter on
family affairs and in her special interest, looking to her comfort in her
declining years. In this letter he urged her to make her home with one of
her children, to rent her farm and take with her her horses and carriages
and such servants as she desired ; but this, like all former advice, of the
kind was declined. Washington's account book from 1754 shows that
he advanced considerable sums to his mother. In his letter of Septem-
ber 13th, 1789, to his sister, after their mother's demise, he says "I
want no restitution of these sums." And on his ledger beneath
the account of over ^500-0-0 against his mother, he writes "Settled."
His cash book under date of March nth, 1789, has the following:
"By my expenses on a visit to my mother at Fredericksburg,
;^i-8-o. By Mrs. Mary Washington advanced her 6 Guineas." His
mother died August 25th, 1789, five months after this interview. It
342 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
" 7 \^ Went to Fredericksburg & remained there all day —
din? at Col? Lewis's.
* * 8. Still there. Dined at the same place, spending yf even-
ing at Weedons at y? club.
''9. Set off for RoW Ashby's, and after dining by the way,
reached it a little after dark.
''10. Went out to run out the bounds of the land I bo^ of
Carters Estate, but y? weather being very cold & windy was
obliged to return.
"11. Went out again on the same business & returned at
night to Capt? Ashbys.
"12. At Capt? Ashbys all day — in the afternoon Capt?
Marshal came & spent y? evening.
"13. Out a surveying till Night with sevl attending.
"14. Out in like manner.
"16. Out again with many People attending.
"16. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto.
is presumed that this was the last visit and interview the General had
with his aged mother and suppHed the incident for the pathetic parting
as described by Lossing in "Recollections and Memoirs of Washington, "
by G. W. Park Custis, p. 145, and repeated in ' ' Mary and Martha Wash-
ington," p. 66. He assigns the date of this visit as the 14th of April, 1789,
when the President is said to address his mother in the following words :
"The people, madam, have been pleased with the most flattering unan-
imity to elect me to the Chief Magistracy of these United States, but before
I can assume the functions of my office, I have come to bid you an effection-
ate farewell. So soon as the weight of public business, which must neces-
sarily attend the outset of a new government can be disposed of, I shall
hasten to Virginia and" — here the matron interrupted with — "and you
will see me no more ; my great age, and the disease which is fast ap-
proaching my vitals warn me that I shall not be long in this world ; I
trust in God that I may be somewhat prepared for a better. But go,
George, fulfill the high destinies which Heaven appears to have intended
you for ; go, my son, and may that Heaven's and a mother's blessing be
with you always." In a letter to his sister, on learning of his mother's
death, he says : " Awful and afflicting as the death of a parent is, there is
consolation in knowing that Heaven has spared ours to an age beyond
which few attain, and favored her with the full enjoyment of her mental
faculties and as much bodily strength as usually falls to the lot of four
score. Under these circumstances, and the hope that she is translated to
a happier place, it is the duty of her relations to yield due submission to
the decree of the Creator."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 343
"17. Executing Leases to those who had taken I^otts — being
at Capt? Ashby's.
''18. Went up to Green way Court where I dined and stayed
all Night — met Col? I^ewis here.
''Mar. 19. Went with Col? Lewis to his Plantations where
I stayd all day & Night.
' ' 20. Executing in the forenoon Deeds and settling with
those who had purch^ Carters Land upon Opeckon — in the
afternoon rid to Valentine Crawf ^
"21. Went and laid of 4 Lots at the head of Bullskin for
several tenants.
" 22. Filling up leases for them at Val Crawfords all day.
"23. Set of homewards — Breakfasted at MY Ariss's — din'd
at y^ Ridge & lodged at West's.
' ' 24. Reached home before dinner — found Col? Bassett, Lady
& 2 Child? Betcy & Nancy here also Mr WT Washington &
Jacky Custis.
"25. Went Fox hunting with Col? Bassett & MY Bryan Fair-
fax who also came here last night — started and run a fox into a
hole after an hours chase — MT Fairfax went home after dinner. ' '
The intelligent supervision Washington gave to his planta-
tions between 1760 and 1770, brought them into as fine condi-
tion as any land in the Mount Vernon region was susceptible
of. He stopped the washes in the fields, drained the wet lands
by proper ditching, made new clearings, refenced the fields,
made roads, erected comfortable houses, barns and quarters for
his people, rested the old fields in fallow, sowed clover, timothy
and other grasses for hay pasture and for enriching the soil, and
rotated his crops in the most judicious and practical manner.
He was a good judge of the quality of land and knew as well
as any man that the soil of his Mount Vernon estate was thin
and capable of yielding but moderate crops. However, he
seems never to have complained or expressed an inclination to
remove to better land. He owned large tracts of first-class
limestone land on the Bullskin in Frederick county, Virginia,
which he cultivated with profit. ^^ The facts are beyond ques-
28 Received from George Washington the i8th. day of Aug. 1764 The
Sum of two pounds three shillings for bringing down two Hhds of Tobo.
in Joseph Thompson's Waggon from Frederick) his
John ^ Bennet
Mark
344 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
tion that he was deeply attached to his home on the Potomac,
and found his greatest enjoyment of life in the peaceful shades
of Mount Vernon and in the cultivation of its soil. ^9 From
1770 to the beginning of the Revolution he was gradually
drawn to reflect upon public afl^airs, and especially upon the
questions, then discussed, as to the rights of the Colonies under
the Crown. His Diaries covering this period show the frequent
visits to Mount Vernon of men of the first character in America
who were interested in the politics of the Colonies.
In 1770 he visited the Ohio river bottoms to select land for
the officers and men who were entitled to them under Gov-
ernor Dinwiddle's proclamation of 1754, granting lands to those
who volunteered and served that year in the expedition to the
Ohio. Washington was among the first to call attention to the
desirableness and, he hoped, the practicability of having a con-
tinuous water navigation by canal, or otherwise, to near the
head of the Potomac and of the western rivers to the head of
some branch of the Ohio river on the west which would leave
but a short portage between. On the 20th of May, 1754,
while in command of the expedition to build forts at the head
of the Ohio, Washington, in a canoe, examined the Yougheny
river for about fifteen or twenty miles above * ' Turkey Foot ' '
and three below with a view of transporting his munitions of
war down that river in boats. Although Washington did not
find this stream in a condition to navigate boats that would
serve his purpose, the possible improvement of the navigation
so that craft of sufficient size to carry freight might eventually
be used well up into the Alleghany mountains, remained a
favorite project with him. His long military service on the
Virginia frontier led him to converse much with traders,
hunters and others familiar with the character of all the streams
29 Washington wrote December 12th, 1793, to Arthur Young in the fol-
lowing words of Mount Vernon : " No estate in united America is more
pleasantly situated than this. It lies in a high dry and healthy country ;
in a latitude between the extremes of heat and cold, on one of the finest
rivers in the world, a river well stocked with shad, herring, bass, carp
and sturgeon. The borders of the Estate are washed by more than ten
miles of tide water. ' '
At this time the Estate embraced in one compact body nearly 10,000
acres of land.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 345
draining to the Ohio and Mississippi and all the passes in the
mountains between the head springs of the streams draining to
the Potomac and the James rivers, and to consider the question
of a practical highway by some one of them. Although the
difficulties seemed almost insurmountable, he nevertheless
looked hopefully to such improvements in the art of naviga-
tion as to greatly assist in establishing a waterway for traffic
with an easy portage between the East and what he saw would
be the great and populous West in the near future. Washing-
ton had called such public attention to the subject that the
House of Burgesses of Virginia, December 5th, 1769, took the
following action, as their journal shows :
' ' Ordered, That leave be given to bring in a bill for clearing
and making navigable the river Potomack, from the Great
Falls of the said river up to Fort Cumberland ; and that M^
Richard Henry Lee and MT Washington do prepare and bring
in the same."
In 1770, and again in 1784, Washington made something of
of a personal inspection of a possible portage between the waters
of the Monongahela and the Potomac during his return trip
from inspecting the Ohio bottom lands, and records his obser-
vations in his diary. In 1784 he wrote a strong letter to the
Governor of Virginia on the subject. 3° His interest in canal
30 In a communication from Mount Vernon October loth, 1784, to Gov.
Harrison of Va., after discussing the question of the practicability on the
score of policy, Washington uses the following language ; " I need not re-
mark to you, sir, that the flanks and rear of the United States are possessed
b)' other powers and formidable ones, too ; nor how necessary it is to apply
the cement of interest to build all parts of the Union together by indissolu-
ble bonds, especially that part of it, which lies immediately west of us,
with the middle States. For what ties, let me ask, should we have upon
these people? How entirely unconnected with them shall we be, and
what troubles may we not apprehend, if the Spaniards on their right, and
Great Britain on their left, instead of throwing stumbling blocks in their
way, as they now do, should hold out lures for other trade and alliance ?
What, when they get strength, which will be sooner than most people
conceive (from the emigration of foreigners, who will have no particular
predilection towards us, as well as from the removal of our own citizens)
will be the consequence of them having formed close connexions with
both or either of those powers, in a commercial way? It needs not, in
my opinion, the gift of prophecy to foretell.
346 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
navigation was well known, and when James Rumsey was, in
1786, experimenting at Shepherdstown on the Potomac with a
boat to be propelled against a stream by machinery. Wash-
ington was invited to witness the performance of his boat, so
widely was it understood that he was an influential promoter
of new inventions. — {See his letter to Rumsey in Sparks.)
In 1774, when the discontent among the American Colonies
became so great that a conference of representatives from the
Provinces was resolved upon to secure unity of action, Wash-
ington was selected, with great unanimity, as one of the
delegates sent by Virginia to the meeting at Philadelphia in
September. He attended this one and also a second Congress,
which assembled there the following year.
Washington's great and priceless services to America in the
clash of arms which shortly after ensued between the Mother
Country and the Colonies are, I am fain to believe, known to
every American capable of enjoying civil liberty. For this
reason the period of the Revolution is thus summarily passed
over. It is also known that throughout that memorable
struggle it was Washington's personal, magnetic patriotism, and
the faith his soldiers had that he would devise meanss^ to over-
"The Western States (I speak now from my own observation) stand as
it were upon a pivot. The touch of a feather would turn them any way.
They have looked down the Mississippi, until the Spaniards, very im-
politically I think for themselves, threw difficulties in their way ; and
they looked that way for no other reason than because they could glide
gently down the stream ; without considering, perhaps, the difficulties of
the voyage back again, and the time necessary to perform it in, and be-
cause they have no other means of coming to us but by long land trans-
portations and unimproved roads. These causes have hitherto checked
the industry of the present settlers ; for except the demand for provisions
occasioned by the increase of population, and a little flour, which the
necessities of the Spaniards compel them to buy, they have no incitement
to labor. But smooth the road, and make easy the way for them, and
then see what an influx of articles will be poured upon us ; how amazing
your exports will be increased by them, and how amply we shall be
compensated for any trouble and expense we may encounter to effect it."
31 Pen-pictures of Washington by capable hands at different periods of
his life, possess an especial interest. The following description of the
General's personal appearance in 1778 is taken from Dr. James Thatcher's
"Military Journal of the Revolution," page 150:
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 347
come the apparently insurmountable difficulty of keeping
him to his forces in the field against the enemy, in spite
of an empty exchequer, a depleted commissary and a lack of
" The personal appearance of our Commander-in-Chief is that of the perfect gentle-
man and accomplished warrior. He is remarkably tall, full six feet, erect and well
proportioned. The strength and proportion of his joints and muscles appear to be
commensurate with the preeminent power of his mind. The serenity of his counte-
nance and majestic gfracefulness of his deportment, impart a strong impression of that
dignity and grandeur, which are his peculiar characteristics, and no one can stand in
his presence without feeling the ascendancy of his mind and associating with his
countenance the idea of wisdom, philanthropy, magnanimity and patriotism. There
is a fine symmetry in the features of his face indicative of a benign and digfnified
spirit. His nose is straight, and his eyes inclined to blue. He wears his hair in a
becoming cue, and from his forehead it is turned back and powdered in a manner
which adds to the military air of his appearance. He displays a native gravity, but
devoid of all appearance of ostentation. His uniform dress is a blue coat with two
brilliant epaulets, buff colored underclothes, and a three-cornered hat with a black
cockade. He is constantly equipped with an elegant small sword, boots and spurs, in
readiness to mount his noble charger."
The following appears as a note in the first volume of Sparks, page no,
relative to the stature of General Washington : * ' From an order, which
he sent to a tailor in London, we learn the size of his person. He de-
scribes himself as 'six feet high and proportionably made; if anything
rather slender for a person of that heighth, ' and adds that his limbs were
long. At this time he was thirty-one years old. In exact measure, his
heighth was six feet, three inches. ' '
An admirable delineation of General Washington's personal ap-
pearance the year before the Yorktown surrender was published in the
London Chronicle in the following language; "General Washington is
now in the forty-seventh year of his age. He is a tall, well-made man,
rather large-boned, and has a genteel address. His features are manly
and bold ; his eyes are a bluish cast and very lively ; his hair is a deep
brown, his face rather long, and marked with the smallpox, his com-
plexion sunburnt and without much color. His countenance sensible,
composed and thoughtful. There is a remarkable air of dignity about
him, with a striking degree of gracefulness. He has an excellent under-
standing, without much quickness ; is strictly just, vigilant, and generous ;
an affectionate husband, a faithful friend, a father to the deserving soldier,
gentle in his manners, in temper, reserved ; a total stranger to religious
prejudices ; in morals, irreproachable, and never known to exceed the
bounds of the most rig^d temperance. In a word, all his friends and
acquaintances allow that no man ever united in his own person a more
perfect alliance of the virtues of a philosopher with the talents of a
general. Candor, sincerity, affability, and simplicity seem to be the
striking features of his character ; and when occasion offers, the power
of displaying the most determined bravery and independence of spirit,"
348 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
clothing. 32 This was a period of extreme hardships and the
deficiencies in necessary supplies put to a supreme test the
greatness of Washington as a leader and a patriot; and
required a fortitude and an inventive genius of the highest
order to keep his army together. His virtues and rectitude
from the beginning and his conduct at every stage of the
contest determined the end and crowned the work. Washing-
ton was referred to by lyord Byron as the great Cincinnatus of
the West, who, like his classic prototype, was called from his
favorite pursuit, that of agriculture, to command the armies of
his country, in defence of its liberty, against a formidable
enemy. Having brought the struggle to a successful issue,
Washington, like Cincinnatus, was tempted with a crown, and
like him unconditionally laid down supreme power to become
once more the private citizen ; and returned, like Cincinnatus,
to his plow and to peaceful pursuits.
Washington possessed, to an eminent degree, those special
qualities which are characteristic of the most astute inventors,
and had not his time been so fully taken up in the important
affairs of his country, he would, in all probability, have given
32 The following extract from the "Travels of the Marquis de Chas-
tellux in North America in the years i78o-'8i-'82," forcibly illustrates
this point ;
" Four or five miles from Fishkill, I saw some felled trees, and an opening in the
woods, which on coming nearer I discovered to be a camp, or rather huts inhabited by
some hundred invalid soldiers. These invalids were all in very good health ; but it is
necessary to observe, that in the American armies, every soldier is called an invalid, who
is unfit for service ; now these had been sent here because their clothes were truly in-
valids. These honest fellows, for I will not say creatures, (they know too well how to
suffer, and are suffering in too noble a cause) were not covered, even with rags ; but their
steady countenance, and their good arms in good order, seemed to supply the defect of
clothes, and to display nothing but their courage and their patience."
Washington in writing Gov. Trumbull on the condition] and needs of
the army December 29th, 1777, says : "I assure you sir, it is not easy to
give you a just and accurate idea of the sufferings of the army at large,
of the loss of men on this account [want of clothing]. Were they to be
minutely detailed your feelings would be wounded, and the relation would
probably be received with a degree of doubt and discredit. We had in
camp, on the 23d inst., by a field return then taken, not less than 2,898
men unfit for duty, by reason of their being barefoot and otherwise naked.
Besides this number, sufficiently distressing of itself, there are many others
detained in hospitals and crowded in farmers' houses for the same causes."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 349
much attention to improvements in agriculture and the
machinery and implements used in the domestic arts, which
are so essential to the comforts of civilized life. Washington
had made for him the first pump used in the town of Alex-
andria, and another at Mount Vernon, at a time when but
few had been put in competition with * * the old oaken bucket, ' '
the rope and windlass, or the balance lift, so common in wells
throughout the South in early days. He had the genius to see
things as they were and to appreciate their true relation. He
eliminated accidental causes or other circumstances, whether as
to time, men or things ; make original observations and reflect
upon what he saw. He could make combinations, or divide
forces, and had a just sense of the bearing and influence of one
thing upon another.
About the period of his return to Mount Vernon, after the
war, he was in the enjoyment of his highest physical
vigor and mental activity. 33 At this time circumstances had
33 1 am confident I will be excused in asking space, in a note, for this
exquisite, though but little known, pen portrait of General Washington,
drawn by the capable and appreciative hand of the Marquis de Chastellux,
near the close of the Revolution :
'* Here would be the proper place to gfive the portrait of General Washington, but
what can my testimony add to the idea already formed of him ? The continent of
North America, from Boston to Charleston, is a gjeat volume, every page of which
presents his eulog^um. I know, that having had the opportunity of a near inspection,
and of closely observing him, some more particular details may be expected from me ;
but the strongest characteristic of this respectable man is the perfect union which
reigns between the physical and moral qualities which compose the individual ; one
alone will enable you to judge of all the rest. If you are presented with medals of
Caesar, of Trojan, or Alexander, on examining their features, you will still be led to
ask what was their stature, and the form of their persons ; but if you discover, in a heap
of ruins, the head or the limb of an antique Apollo, be not curious about the other
parts, but rest assured that they all were conformable to those of a god. lyCt not this
comparison be attributed to enthusiasm ! It is not my intention to exaggerate, I wish
only to express the impression General Washington has left on my mind ; the idea of
a perfect whole, that cannot be the product of enthusiasm, which rather would reject
it, since the effect of proportion is to diminish the idea of greatness. Brave without
temerity, laborious without ambition, generous without prodigality, noble without
pride, virtuous without severity ; he seems always to have confined himself within those
limits, where the virtues, by clothing themselves in more lively, but more changeable
and doubtful colours, may be mistaken for faults. This is the seventh year that he has
commanded the army, and that he has obeyed the Congress ; more need not be said,
especially in America, where they know how to appreciate all the merits contained in
this simple fact. I^et it be repeated that Conde was intrepid, Turenne prudent, Eugene
adroit, Catinat disinterested. It is not thus that Washington will be characterized.
It will be said of him, at the end of a long civil war, he had nothing with
WHICH he could reproach HIMSELF. If any thing can be more marvellous than
350 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
forced upon him a very heavy correspondence, foreign and
domestic, on a multitude of subjects. His social duties, too,
had become exacting, in receiving and entertaining, at his own
house, great numbers of visitors of note from the several States,
and also from abroad. In this office he was ably assisted by
Mrs. Washington. 34 He now planned extensive improvements
to the Mount Vernon Mansion-house and its grounds. While
he was strongly imbued with progressive ideas, he was by no
means an iconoclast. He therefore endeavored to preserve
whatever was serviceable in the old Mansion-house, which he
did by extending it to the north and south, and raising the
whole structure to two full stories with a finished attic, crowned
with a cupola. He also erected a wide, open piazzass the full
such a character, it is the unanimity of the public suffrages in his favour. Soldier,
magistrate, people, all love and admire him ; all speak of him in terms of tenderness
and veneration. Does there then exist a virtue capable of restraining the injustice of
mankind ; or are glory and happiness too recently established in America, for envy to
have deigned to pass the seas ?
" In speaking of this perfect whole of which General Washington furnishes the
idea, I have not excluded exterior form. His stature is noble and lofty, he is well
made, and exactly proportioned ; his physiognomy mild and agreeable, but such as to
render it impossible to speak particularly of any of his features, so that in quitting
him, you have only the recollection of a fine face. He has neither a grave nor a
familiar air, his brow is sometimes marked with thought, but never with inquietude ;
in inspiring respect, he inspires confidence, and his smile is always the smile of
benevolence." [Pages 71-72.]
34 Although relieved from public office, Washington was not freed from
care and the obligations that follow those who have filled important posi-
tions. The rest craved by the General and Mrs. Washington was not
granted to them. Indeed, it may be doubted if they found any considerable
retirement in their loved Mount Vernon home. Writing to General Knox,
Washington said : " It is not the letters from my friends which give me
trouble, or add aught to my perplexity. It is references to old matters, with
which I have nothing to do ; applications which oftentimes cannot be com-
plied with ; inquiries which would require the pen of an historian to satisfy;
letters of compliment, as unmeaning perhaps as they are troublesome,
but which must be attended to, and the commonplace business which
employs my pen and my time, often disagreeably. Indeed these, with
company, deprive me of exercise, and unless I can obtain relief, must be
productive of disagreeable consequences."
35 The piazza is from end to end 96 feet long by 12 feet 8 inches wide
with the border, and two stories high, supported on eight graceful
square columns, the eflfect of the whole, whether viewed from the lawn or
from the deck of a steamer on the river, is light and pleasing. The
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 351
height and length of the mansion on the river front ; and while
exercising proper economy, he did all the work of alteration in
the most substantial manner after his own designs and
drawings.
Washington's love of agriculture and a life in the open coun-
try led him to see beauty, to an unusual degree, in the forms
and colorings of nature ; so that in riding through the woods,
he was frequently delighted with the grace and symmetry of
some tree, a specimen of which he would instantly resolve to
have on his lawn and note the fact in his diary, describing it
by name and where it was to be found, af also where he de-
sired it to be planted. 36 The following extracts from his diary
illustrate his admiration for our forest trees :
" Tuesday, Febry 22^. iy8^ *?{:*?{;* Removed two
pretty large & full-grown lilacs to the N? Garden gate — one on
enlarged and renovated "cottage" or "villa," as Washington occasion-
ally called his old mansion, was nearly completed in 1785. Although both
the General and his wife earnestly desired a quiet, peaceful home, the man
who had laid the foundation of the republic was too great a personage to
be left alone or in seclusion. The enlargement of his "villa " was prac-
tically forced upon him to enable him to give a respectable reception to
the many visits he was daily receiving from his countrymen, strangers,
soldiers, and civilians, who by a sort of intuition and sense of reverence,
began pilgrimages to "Mount Vernon," which have never been inter-
rupted, but are yearly on the increase. This broad piazza, during the
General's lifetime, was a sort of trysting place in summer evenings where
the family, guests and neighbors in their informal calls assembled for an
hour's chat at the close of day. In the appraiser's list of household
effects at Mount Vernon after the General's death, thirty Windsor chairs
were enumerated as furniture on the piazza.
36 The ornamental lawn on the west front of the mansion, containing
about 20 acres, with serpentine carriage drive along each side, was laid
out by the General himself, the drawing of which, in his own hand, is still
preserved. Directly in front of the center door of the house is a large circle
with a sun dial in the center, it is an exact reproduction of the one placed
there by the General. Along each side of the serpentine roadway, Washing-
ton planted a great variety of our most beautiful native forest trees for orna-
ment and shade. A number of the trees planted by the General still
flourish on this lawn. Extensive gardens border on these grounds. The
flower garden on the north and the vegetable garden on the south, are both
enclosed by massive brick walls. The flower garden and green house is
maintained in nearly its original form and contains many of the same
kinds of plants cultivated there by General Washington.
352 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
each side, taking up as much dirt with the roots as c^ be well
obtained. * * * i also removed from the woods and old
fields, several young trees of the sassafras, Dogwood & Red-
bud, to the Shrubbery on the N° side the grass plot.
" Wednesday^ 2j^ * * * * Brought down a number
of young Aspen trees from one of Saml Jenkins's near the old
Court House to transplant into the serpentine Avenues to the
door.
* ' Monday y 28^!^ * * Jic * * Planted all the Mulberry
trees, Maple trees, & Black gums in my Serpentine walks —
and the Poplars on the right walk. * * * Also planted 4
trees from M. Hole, the name unknown but of a brittle wood
which has the smell of Mulberry.
'' Tuesday, March i'} 1785 * * * * Planted the re-
mainder of the Poplars and part of the Ash Trees — also a circle
of Dogwood with a red bud in the Middle close to the old
cherry tree near the south garden H?
" Wednesday, ^f * * * * Planted the remainder of
the Ash Trees — in the Serpentine Walks — the remainder of
the fringe trees in the Shrubberies — all the black haws — all
the large berried thorns — with a small berried one in the
middle of each clump — 6 small berried thorns with a large one
in the middle of each clump — all the swamp red berry bushes
& one clump of locust trees.
' * Thursday, j^ * * * * Planted the remainder of the
lyocusts — Sassafras — small berried thorns & yellow Willow in
the Shrubberies as also the red buds — a honey lyocust and Service
berry tree by the south garden House — likewise took up the
clump of lyilacs that stood at the corner of the south grass plot
& transported them to the Shrubberies & standards at the
South garden gate — the Althea trees were also planted. ' '
Washington records in his ' ' Journal of my Journey Over
the Mountains, ' ' page 20 :
" Sunday, March ij{^ 1747-8 — Rode to his Lordship's Quar-
ters ; about 4 Miles higher up y^ River we went through Most
beautiful Groves of Sugar trees & spent y^ best part of y^ Day
in admiring y^ trees & richness of y^ land. ' '
It would seem from his Diary, while at Mount Vernon, from
1783 to 1789, that he was endeavoring to have good represen-
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 353
tative specimens of all or most of our beautiful forest trees
which would thrive in this climate transplanted to his grounds.
He continued to give close, personal attention to this matter
until he was called to assume the duties of President of the
United States. 37 Hven then he did not intermit his interest, as
his letters of instruction to his overseers, and his shipments of
37 The 4th of March, 1789, had been fixed for the meeting of the First
Congress under the Constitution of the United States, and an election for
President directed to be held in February, 1789. It had been announced
that the people of nine of the thirteen States had approved and adopted
the Constitution submitted through the Legislatures to them. Two,
Rhode Island and North Carolina, had not come to a decisive action, but
did within two years provided for. The absence of a quorum prevented
the organization of Congress until the 6th of April. The votes of the
electors were then opened and counted, and George Washington's elec-
tion to the Presidency of the United States, which was duly declared, and
a special messenger, Charles Thomson, dispatched to Mount Vernon with
an oflBcial letter from the President of the Senate to General Washington
notifying him of the fact and requesting his attendance. Washington
was deeply sensible of the responsibility attached to the office, as the fol-
lowing extract from his diary written the day of his departure for New
York, April 16, 1789, Mrs. Washington following him, leaving Mount
Vernon 19th May : "About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon,
to private life, and to domestic felicity, and with a mind oppressed with
more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out
for New York in company with Mr. Thomson and Colonel Humphreys,
with the best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to
its calls, but with less hope of answering its expectations." In a letter
to General Knox April ist, 1789, he wrote : " I feel for those members of
the new Congress, who hitherto have given an unwavering attendance at
the theater of action. For myself, the delay may be compared to a re-
prieve ; for in confidence I tell you^ (with the world it would obtain little
credit) that my movements to the chair of government will be accompa-
nied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of
his execution. So unwilling am I in the evening of life, nearly consumed
in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, with-
out that competency of political skill, abilities, and inclination, which
are necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that I am embarking
the voice of the people and a good name of my own, on this voyage, but
what returns can be made of them. Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity
and firmness are all I can promise. These, be the voyage long or short,
shall never forsake me ; although I may be deserted by all men ; for of
the consolations which are to be derived from them, under any circum-
stances, the world cannot deprive me,"
354 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
shrubbery to Mount Vernon testify. A bill from Bartram's
Nursery at Philadelphia, as late as 1792, of choice shrubbery
to make good failures of plants in a former order, is preserved
in the Department of State. The first has also been preserved,
but is without date. They illustrate so well his taste and fond-
ness for beautiful trees and shrubbery and his attention to the
embellishment of his Mount Vernon grounds, that the latter
order is given in full in a note.s^
38 The writer some years since gave a copy of this list of trees and
shrubs, the original of which is preserved among the Washington papers
in the Department of State, to one of the vice-regents of Mount Vernon,
who, it is understood, is making an effort to have restored to the lawns
and gardens as many specimens of the trees and shrubs, known to have
been planted there by Washington, as is practicable. It is also reported
that this lady submitted the list to one of the leading florists of our
country and has already made progress in having specimens called for in
this list, planted at Mount Vernon.
List of Trees Shrubs &ca had of Jno Bartram to supply the place of
those of his catalogue of M; 92 which failed.
Novr 7tli 1792.
CO
N9 2.d Ulex europeus K grows frm 3 to 4 feet high. Embellished with
sweet scented flowers of a fine yellow colour,
a. 3. Hypericum kalmeanum 3 to 4 ft. Profusely garnished with fine
gold coloured blossoms — 2 plants.
4. Hyperie: Angustifolium 3 to 6 ft. Evergreen, adorned with fine
yellow flowers,
e. 5. Taxus procumbens 3 to 6 ft. Evergreen — of a splendid full green
throughout the year — red berries.
6. Buscus aureus E 3 to 10 ft. Elegant, called gilded box.
7. Daphne mezerium E. i to 3 ft. An earlj- flowering sweet scented
little Shrub.
7. Calycanthus floridus 4 to 8 ft. Odoriferous, its blossoms scented like
the Pine apple.
E. 10. <^sculus hippocastanum 20, 40, to 50 ft. A magnificent flowering
and shady tree.
II. Evonimus atrapurpurius 6 to 8 ft. Its fruit of a bright crimson in
the autumn {burning bush) 3 plants.
13. Franklinia 3, 15 to 20 ft. Flowers large, white and fragrant. Native
of Georgia.
16. Kalmia angustifolia i to 2 ft. Evergreen garnished with crimson
speckled flowers, 4 plants.
24. Halesia tetraptera 4, 10, to 15 ft. Flowers abundant, white, of the
shape of little bells.
25. Viburnum opulifolium 3 to 7 ft. Of singular beauty in flower & fruit.
27. Virburnum alnifolium 3 to 6 ft. Handsome flowering shrub.
29. Sorbus Sativa E 10, 15 to 30 ft. It's fruit pear and apple shaped, as
large and well tasted when mellow.
31. Sorbus aucuparia 8, 15 to 30 ft. Foliage elegant : embellished with
umbells of coral red berries.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 355
Washington was strongly inclined to engage in experimental
tests and demonstrations, and on a wide range of subjects, as
the following extracts from his Diary will evince :
' * December z, lyS^. ****** ijj order to try
the difference between burning Spermaciti and tallow candles
— I took one of each
"The I?* weighing 3 oz 10 p 6 gr
'* 2^ Ditto 5 " 2 p
and lighted them at the same instant — the first burnt 8 hours
and 21 minutes ; when of the latter there remained 14 penny-
weights which continued to burn one hour and a quarter
longer, making in all 9 hours and 30 minutes. — By which it
appears (as both burnt without flairing) that, estimating
spermaciti Candles at 3 / per lb & Tallow candles at i / pT lb
the former is dearer than the latter as 30 is to nearly 13. In
other words more than 2]^ dearer."
e. 36. Stewartea malachodendron 5 to 8 ft. Floriferous, the flowers large
and white, embellished with a large tuft of black or purple
threads in their centre.
38. Styrax grandifolium 3 to 10 ft. A most charming flowering shrub,
blossoms snow white, & of the most grateful scent (call'd
Snow-drop tree.)
39. Philadelphus coronarius E 4, 6, 10 ft. A sweet flowering shrub (called
mock orange).
40. Philadelphus inodorus 5, 7, 10 ft. His robe a silver flowered mantle.
e4i. Pinus Strobus 50, 80, 100 ft. Magnificent! he presides in the ever-
green Groves (White Pine), 4 plants.
*f42. Pinus communis K 20, 40, 60 ft. A stately tree, foliage of a Sea
green colour, and exhibits a good appearance whilst young.
{Scotch Fir.)
*43. Pinus lyarix E 40 to 60 ft. Elegant figure & foliage.
45. Robinia villosa i, 2, 3, 5, 6 ft. A gay shrub enrobed with plum'd
leaves and roseat flowers, j plants.
52. Prunus chicasa 6, 8, 10 ft. Early flowers, very fruitful ; the fruit
nearly .round, cleft, red, purple, yellow of an inticing look,
most agreeable taste & wholesome, (chicasaw Plum.)
57. JBsculus alba i, 4, 6 ft. The branches terminate with long erect
spikes of sweet white flowers.
E 58. Juniperus sabina i to 5. Evergreen,
+ 54. -^sculus pavia 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 ft. It's light and airy foliage crim-
son and variegated flowers, present a gay & mirthful appear-
ance ; continually, whilst in bloom, visited by the brilliant
thundering Huming-bird. The root of this tree is esteemed
preferable to Soap, for scouring & cleansing woolen clothes.
{2 plants) .
c. 63. Myrica gale 2 to 4 ft. Possesses an highly aromatic, and very agree-
able scent. {3 plants).
69. Mespilus pubescens 2, 3, 4 ft. An early flowering shrub of great ele-
gance, produces very pleasant fruit. {2 plants).
356 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
It is not to be wondered at, perhaps, that in a new country,
sparsely settled, and with but few skilled mechanics, early
colonial farmers as a general rule continued to use the imple-
ments they found in use, and gave but little thought to their
efficiency or made any effort to improve them. The use of fer-
tilizers, too, was grudgingly and slowly resorted to by Ameri-
can farmers, who aifected to have the most unbounded faith in
the strength and endurance of the virgin soil of the country.
The better farmers, however, gradually began to study the best
methods of keeping up the tilth of their lands, and to experi-
ment with different fertilizers and test the relative values of
them for the various crops. The following extract from Wash-
B. f. 72. Colutia arboroscens 3, 6, 10 ft. Exhibits a good appearance ;
foliage pinnated, of a soft pleasant green colour, interspers'd
with large yellow papillionacious flowers in succession.
77. Prunus Divaricata 6, 8 ft. Diciduous, flowers white in raumes, stems
diverging & branches pendulous.
78. Hydrangia arborescens 3, 5, to 6 ft. Ornamental in shruberies —
flowers white in large corymbes.
79. Andromeda exilaris i to 3 ft. Evergreen.
80. Acer pumilum, s, montanum 4 to 8 ft. Handsome shrub for coppices
foliage singular, younger shoots red.
84 Rubus odoratus 3 to 7 ft. Foliage beautiful ; flowers of the figure,
colour & fragrance of the Rose.
B. 92. Laurus nobilis 10, 20, 30 ft. Sweet Bay, a celebrated evergreen —
leaves odoriferous.
c. loi. Arundo donax 5, 6, 8 ft. Maiden Cane.
In addition to the above, —
N9 I. Mespilus pyracantha. Evergreen Thorn, a very beautiful flower-
ing shrub ; in flowers & fruit, evergreen in moderate climates,
and not to be exceeded in usefulness, for hedge Fences &ca
October 30th 1792.
The following Letters in the margin serve to explain the natural soil
& situation of the Trees, Shrubs &ca
a. rich, moist, loose or loamy soil, in shade of other trees,
b. rich deep soil.
c. wet moorish soil.
d. Dry indifferent soil.
e. A good loamy moist soil in any situation.
f. Any soil and situation.
E. Exoticks. —
[The following in General Washington's handwriting is written on
the same sheet.]
Directions for disposing of the Trees, Shrubs &ca mentioned in the
aforegoing list. — The intention of giving the heights to which they may
grow, is, that except in the centre of the Six Ovals in the west Lawn ; —
and at each end of the two large Ovals ; none of the tall, or lofty grow-
ing trees (evergreens) are to be planted. — But this I would have done in
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 357
ington's Diary shows that he was also engaged in this class of
experiments : —
In his notes and observations on agriculture, under date of
April 7th, 1786, he records these experiments : ** Cut two or
three rows of wheat (cape wheat within six inches of the
ground), it being near eighteen inches high, that which was
first sown, and the blades of the whole singed with the frost."
''Monday, Jany 30^!" iy86 * *********
On sixteen square rod of ground in my lower pasture, I put
140 Bushels of what we call Marie viz on 4 of these, N° W^
corner were placed 50 bushels — on 4 others S° W* comer 30
bushels — on 4 others S° E*^ corner 40 bushels — and on the re-
maining 4= 20 bushels. This Marl was spread on the sod in
these preportions — to try first whether what we have denomi-
nated to be Marl possesses any virtue as a manure — and
secondly — if it does, the quantity proper for an acre. ' '
In a letter to General Lincoln, dated Mount Vernon, 6th Feb, ,
1786, General Washington uses the following language in
relation to a supposed important discovery :
* ' The discovery of extracting fresh water from salt, by a
simple process and without the aid of fire, will be of amazing
importance to the sons of Neptune, if it is not vitiated or ren-
dered nauseous by the operation, and can be made to answer
all the valuable purposes of other fresh water at sea. Every
all of them whether any thing occupies these particular spots, or not : —
removing them if they do, to some other parts of the aforesaid Ovals. —
At each end of the 4 Smaller Ovals, trees of middling growth (for in-
stance those which Rise to 15, 20, or even to thirty feet) may be planted. —
My meaning is, that in the Centre of every Oval (if it is not already
there) one of the lofty growing trees should be planted ; and the same
done at each end of the two large Ovals ; — and at the ends of the 4
Smaller ones, trees of lesser size to be planted. — The other parts of all of
them to receive the Shrubs — ^putting the tallest, always, nearest the Mid-
dle, letting them decline more into dwarfs towards the outer parts. — This
was my intention when they were planted in the Ovals last Spring — but
I either did not express myself clearly — or the directions were not at-
tended to. — I now hope they will be understood, and attended to, both. —
The two trees marked thus (*) in the Margin, I would have planted by
the Garden gates opposite to the Spruce Pines. — I believe common pine
are now in the places where I intended these, but they may be removed,
being placed there merely to fill up the space. — If any of these tall grow-
ing trees are now in any other part of the Ovals, except those here men-
tioned (and that you may be enabled better to ascertain this, I send you
358 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
maritime power in the world in this case ought, in my opinion,
to offer some acknowledgment to the inventor." {Spark's
Washington).
'' Feby 6" 1786. * * * iii * * Planting pines in the
wilderness on the left of the lawn and spading the ground there.
* ' Friday 10 FeM ****** Making up the banks
round y? Serpentine walks to the front gate.
' ' Saturday 11^!*^ * * ^ * * ^{s Brought a Goose &
Gander of the Chinese breed of Geese, from the Reverand
MT Grifl&ths — and also two of the large white (or Portugal)
Peach Trees ; — and 2 Scions from a tree growing in his garden
to which he could give no name — The last for my Shrubberies.
' * Tuesday Feby. 14}!^ * * * * Employed all the women
and weak hands (who on account of the snow) could not work
out, in picking the wild onions from the Eastern Shore Oat for
seed.
' ' Monday March <5^a ************
* * Returned to the erection of my deer Paddock, which
the bad weather had impeaded, brought carts from the Planta-
tion to assist in drawing in the materials for the work.
''Monday March zj{* ****** Began to raise
the Mound of Earth on the right of the Gate coming in.
" Thursday March 16^!" ***********
Finished the Mound on the right and planted the largest
a list of what went from Bartrams Garden last Spring) I would have them
removed, so as to conform to these directions ; — and if there be more
with what are now sent, than are sufficient to comply with these direc-
tions, there may be one on each side of the two large Ovals, making five
in each. — You will observe that these Pinus Strobus (or white Pines) are
the loftiest of all the Tall trees which now are, or have been sent ; and
that it is these which are to form your centre trees — and the end trees of
the two large Ovals. —
I must request also that except the large trees for the Centre & sides
no regularity may be observed in planting the other in the Ovals. — This
I particularly desired last Spring, but found when I got home it was not
attended to. —
When you have disposed of all the trees & Shrubs agreeably to these
directions return this Paper, and the general list which accompanies it,
back again to me ; as I may have occasion for them in procuring plants
in future.
Note— If there are now growing in the Ovals, as many as 4 of the Hemlock Spruce
(sent last Spring) let them be taken up when the ground is hard & deep frozen in
the Winter, & placed on the sides of the two large Ovals instead of the white
Pines, w^." you might have put there in consequence of the aforegoing directions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 359
weeping Willow in my nursery in the center of it — ground too
wet to do anything to the other Mound on the left.
'' Saturday, March 18^!" ****** Got the Mound
on the left so far compleated as to plant the next largest of my
weeping willows thereon.
" Tuesday, March 28*.^ * * * Replaced the following
trees in my Shrubberies which were dead or supposed to be so
viz 10 Swamp Magnolia 4 Red Buds — 5 Black Haws — 3
I^ocusts I swamp Red Berry.
" Tuesday, April 4^^ 1786 * * Planted 6 of the pride of
China brought from MT Lyons by G. A. Washington in my
Shrubberies in front of the House — 3 on each side the Right &
left Walks between the Houses & garden gates — and also the
two young trees sent me some time ago by MT Griffith to which
no name had been given — these latter were planted, one on
each side the right & left walks, — near the garden gates on the
hither or B^ side.
' ' Thursday ^^^ ***** * Transplanted 46 of the
large Magnolia of S? Carolina from the box brought by G. A.
Washington last year — viz 6 at the head of each of the Ser-
pentine Walks next the circle — 26 in the Shrubbery or grove
at the south end of the house & 8 in that at the N? end — the
ground was so wet, more could not at this time be planted
there."
The following extracts from Washington's Diary give the
details of his experiments in making what he called a * * Barrel
Plow," to be attached to a harrow in such a manner as to
deposit seed in the ground when in motion :
''Friday April 7^!" 1786 ***** Rid to Muddy hole
Plantation and finding the ground which had been twice plowed
to make my experiments in was middling dry in some places,
though wet in others, I tried my drill or Barrel Plow, which
reqtiiring some alterations in the harrow, obliged me to bring it
to the Smith' s-Shop — this suspended my further operation with
it to-day.
' 'April 8^^ Sowed oats to-day in drills at Muddy Hole with
my barrel plough **********
''Ap>il 11^^ Sowed twenty -six rows of barley in the same
field at Muddy Hole in the same manner with the drill Plough,
36o PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and with precisely the same workings ( culture) the Oats had —
adjoining thereto — This was done with 12 q*^ of S^."
During the spring, summer and fall of this year he con-
tinues experiments with his barrel plough and says: "Will
try the experiment of sowing with a six foot barrel and with
grain dropped six inches square apart. ' '
" Saturday 8^1" ****** j^^^j ^ U^^j^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^.j^^
to Muddy hole to try my drill plow again which with the
alteration of the harrow yesterday I find will fully answer my
expectation — and that it drops the grains thicker, or thinner in
proportion to the quantity of seed in the Barrel — the less there
is in it the faster it issues from the holes — the weight of a
quantity in the barrel, occasions I (presume) a pressure on the
holes that do not admit of a free discharge of the seed through
them — whereas a small quantity (sufiicient at all times to cover
the bottom of the barrel) is in a manner sifted through them
by the revolution of the barrel.
'' I sowed with the barrel to-day in drills about 3 pints of a
white well looking oat brought from Carolina last year by
G. A. Washington in 7 rows running from the path leading
from the Overseers H? to the Quarter to the west fence of the
field where the ground was in the best order. — Afterwards I
sowed in such other parts of the adjoining ground as could at
any rate be worked, the common oat of the Kastem shore (after
picking out the wild onion) but in truth nothing but the late
season could warrent sowing in ground so wet.
'^Monday 10^!^ Began my brick work to-day — first taking the
foundations of the Garden Houses as they were first placed,
and repairing the damages in the walls occasioned by the re-
moval— and also began to put my pallisads on the wall. —
* ' Compleated sowing with 20 quarts the drilled oats in the
ground intended for experiments at Muddy hole ; which
amounted to 38 Rows ten feet apart (including the parts of
Rows sowed on Saturday last) — in the afternoon I began to
sow Barley, but finding there were too many Seeds discharged
from the barrel notwithstanding I stopped every other hole, I
discontinued the sowing until another Barrel with smaller holes
c'^ be prepared. — The ground in which these oats have been
sowed — and in which the Barley seeding had commenced — has
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 361
been plowed, listed (as it is called, that is 3 furrow ridges) and
twice harrowed in with the manure afterw*^?
' * Began also to sow the Siberian Wheat which I had obtained
from Baltimore by means of Col Tilghman, at the Ferry
Plantation in the ground laid apart there for experiments. —
This was done upon ground which, some time ago, had been
marked oJBT by furrows 8 feet apart in which a second furrow
had been run to deepen them. — 4 furrows were then plowed to
these which made the whole 5 furrow Ridges. — ^These being
done some time ago, and by frequent rains prevented sowing at
the time intended, — had got hard, — I therefore before the seed
was sowed, split these Ridges again, by running twice in the
same furrow, after w*=^ I harrowed the ridges, and where the
ground was lumpy, run my spiked Roler with the harrow at
the tale over it, — ^w^^ I found very efficacious in breaking the
clods & pulverizing the earth ; and would have done it per-
fectly if there had not been too much moisture remaining of
the late rains.
"After this harrowing & rolling where necessary, I sowed
the wheat with my drill plow on the reduced ridges in rows 8
feet apart — ^but I should have observed that after the ridges
were split by the furrow in the middle, and before the furrows
were closed again by the harrow — I sprinkled a little manure
in them. — Finding the barrel discharged the wheat too fast,
I did, after sowing 9 of the shortest (for We began at the
farthest comer of the field) rows, I stopped every other hole in
the barrel, and in this manner sowed 5 rows more, & still
thinking the seed too liberally bestowed, I stopped 2 & left one
hole open alternately, by which 4 out of 12 holes only, dis-
charged seed, and this, as I had taken the strap of leather off
seemed to give seed enough (though not so regular as were to
be wished) — to the ground.
***** Sowing the Siberian Wheat to-day, as yester-
day at the Ferry.
* * And sowed 26 rows of Barley (except a little at each end
w'^.^ was too wet for the ground to be worked) at Muddy hole
below & adjoining the oats — This was done with 12 quarts of
362 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
seed and in the manner, and in ground prepared as mentioned
yesterday.
" Wednesday 12^^ **************
' ' Rid to the fishing landing, Ferry, Dogue Run, and Muddy
hole plantations. — Finished at the first sowing the ground
intended for experiments with Siberian Wheat — this spot con-
tained 16^ 1^ 24? including the fodder H° &9 which would
reduce the cultivated land to 10 acres at most.
' ' At Muddy hole, I sowed two rows of the Albany Peas in
Drills 10 feet assunder (the same as the Oats and Barley) but
conceiving they could not for want of support be prevented
from falling when they sh^ come near their growth I did not
incline to sow any more in this way but to put all the groimd
between these two rows and the fence along the road in broad
Cast. — ^The ground in which these Peas were sowed was man-
aged exactly as that had been in which the Barley & Oats (at
this place) was —
'' Monday May 8^!" 1786 * * * * *
**** in****
Sent a Carpenter to put a new axle and do some other Repairs
to the Barrel Plow at Dogue Run. 39
39 Washington in the following letter to his friend Theodoric Bland,
Esq., to whom he sends one of his barrel plouws for a trial, in his letter
gives a good description of the drill :
Mount Vernon, 28^^ Decemb^^ 1786.
Dear Sir,
I am now about to fulfill my promise with respect to the drill plow and
timothy seed. Both accompany this letter to Norfolk, to the care of M^ Newton. The
latter I presume is good, as I had it from a gentleman on whom I can depend. The
former it is scarcely necessary to inform you, will not work to good effect in land that
is very full either of stumps, stones, or large clods ; but where the ground is tolerably
free from these and in good tilth, and particularly in light land, I am certain you will
find it equal to your most sanguine expectation, for Indian com, wheat barley, pease,
or any other tolerably round grain, that you may wish to sow, or plant in this manner.
I have sown oats very well with it, which is among the most inconvenient and unfit
grains for this machine.
To give you a just idea of the use and management of it, I must observe, that the
barrel at present has only one set of holes, and these adapted for the planting of
Indian corn, only eight inches apart in the row ; but by corking these, the same barrel
may receive others, of a size fitted for any other grain. To make the holes, observe
this rule ; begin small and increase the size till they admit the number of grains, or
thereabouts you would choose to deposit in place. They should be burnt, and done by
a guage, that all may be of a size, and made widest on the outside, to prevent the
seeds choking them. You may, in a degree, emit more or less through the same holes,
by increasing or lessening the quantity of seed in the barrel. The less there is in it.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 363
'' Tuesday g^!" *******
Found the Flax in the Neck had come up and full thick ; —
and that the grass seeds (rather Millet) obt°^ from Col? Gary
had come up ; but none of the Saintfoin, Burnet or Rib grass
appeared to be springing, — finished planting, with the Barrel
Plow, the early Com in the farthest cut in the field for experi-
ments in the Neck. — and not having enough to compleat
another cut in the same field I ordered all the remaining part
of it to be drilled with common com — accordingly about Noon
the intermediate rows in the middle cut which had been left
for the early corn were begun to be planted with- the other.
' 'Saturday 1^.^ * * * *
*********
* ' Finished (yesterday evening) planting Corn with the
Barrel Plow, in the cut intended for experiments at Dogue
Run.
" Tuesday 18^!" ***** At Muddy hole they
finished planting Com about 10 Oclock — At this place I tried
a 3 hoed harrow which I had just made, with a single horse.
— Upon the whole it answered very well — The draft seemed
the faster it issues. The compressure is increased by the quantity, and the discharge
is retarded thereby. The use of the band is to prevent the seeds issuing out of more
holes than one at a time. It may be slackened or braced according to the influence
the atmosphere has on the leather. The tighter it is provided the wheel revolves
easily, the better. By decreasing or multiplying the holes in the barrel, you may plant
at any distance you please. The circumpherance of the wheels being six feet or
seventy-two inches, divide the latter by the number of inches you intend your plants
shall be assunder, and it gives the number of holes required in the barrel.
By the sparse situation of the teeth in the harrow, it is designed that the ground
may be raked without the harrow being clogged if the gn"Ound should be cloddy or
grassy. The string when this happens to be the case, will raise and clean it with
great ease, and is of service in turning at the ends of rows ; at which time the wheels,
by means of the handles, are raised oflf the ground as well as the harrow, to prevent
the waste of seed. A small bag containing about a peck of the seed you are sowing is
hung to the nails in the right handle, and with a small tin cup the barrel is replen-
ished with convenience, whenever it is necessary without loss of time or waiting to
come up with the seed-bag at the end of the row. I had almost forgot to tell you that if
the hole in the leather band, through which the seed is to pass when it comes in contact
with the hole in the barrel should incline to gape, or the lips of it turn out, so as to
admit the seed between the band and barrel, it must be remedied by riveting a piece
of sheet tin, copper, or brass the width of the band and about four inches long, with «"
hole through it, the size of the one in the leather. I found this eflFectual.
I am dear sir &
G? Washinoton
To Theodoric Bland Esq
364 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
rather hard for one horse but the late rains had made the
ground heavier than usual.
' ' Monday May 22^. * * Began to take up the pavement
of the Piaza.
' ' Tuesday May 2^^ * * :}«
Replanting the common corn which had been drilled at Muddy
hole — finished planting peas with the Barrel in the Neck on
Saturday last. — And listing the corn ground at the same place
this day, for planting in the common way.
* ' And this day began to lay the Flags in my Piaza**® —
Cornelius and Tom Davis assisting.
40 The following letter is given in a note by Sparks :
General Washington presents his compliments to M^ Rumney— would esteem it as
a particular favor if M^ Rumney would make the following enquiries as soon as con-
venient, after his arrival in i^ngland ; and communicate the result of them by the
Packet, or any other safe and expeditious conveyence to this country. First. The terms
upon which the best kind of Whitehaven Flag stone— Black and White in equal quan-
tities—could be delivered at the port of Alexandria by the superficial foot, workman-
ship, freight and every other incidental charge included.— The stone to be 2>^ inches,
or thereabouts, thick, and exactly a foot square— each kind. To have a rich polished
face, and good joints so as that a neat floor may be made therewith.
2"^ Upon what terms the common Irish Marble (black & white if to be had)— same
dimentions, could be delivered as above.
sEr As the General has been informed of a very cheap kind of Marble, good in
quality, at or in the neighborhood of Ostend, he would thank mT Rumney, if it should
fall in his way, to institute an inquiry into this also. On the Report of M^ Rumney,
the General will take his ultimate determination ; for which reason he prays him to
be precise and exact. The Piazza or Colonade for which this is wanted as a floor is
ninety two feet eight inches, by twelve feet eight inches within the margin, or border
that surrounds it. Over and above the quantity here mentioned, if the above flags are
cheap— or a cheaper kind of hard Stone could be had he would get as much as would
lay floors in the Circular Colonades, or covered ways at the wings of the House— each
of which at the outer curve is 38 feet in length by 7 feet 2 inches in width within the
margin or border as aforesaid.
The General being in want of a house Joiner & Bricklayer who understand their
respective trades perfectly, would thank M^ Rumney for inquiring into the terms upon
which such workmen might be engaged for two or three years ; (the time of service to
commence upon the ship's arrival at Alexandria) a shorter term than two years would
not answer, because foreigners generally have a seasoning ; which with other interup-
tions too frequently waste the greater part of the first year— more to the disadvantage
of the employer than the employed.— Bed board & tools to be found by the former,
clothing by the latter.
If two men of the above trades and of orderly and quiet deportment could be ob-
tained for twenty five or even thirty pounds sterling per annum each (estimating dol-
lars at 4/ 6) the General, rather than sustain the loss of time necessary for communica.
tion would be obliged to M^ Rumney for entering into proper obligatory articles of
agreement on his behalf with them by the first vessel bound to this Port.
G? Washington
Mount Vernon, July 5 iy84
To W'^^ Rumney of Alexandria Va
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 365
''Saturday 27?^ Finished laying 28 courses of the pave-
ment in the Piaza — Weather very unfavorable for it.
Mr. Dodge, the eflficient superintendent of Mount Vernon, has fur-
nished me with a copy of the following unpublished letter of General
Washington to John Rumney relative to the flagging used in paving the
piazza :
Mount Vernon, V a. June 22^ ,1783.*
Sir
I stand indebted to you for two letters, one of the 8^}^ of Sep., the other of the 9 ^^
of Feby The first should not have remained so long unacknowledged but for the ex-
pectation I had of the second. The second lead me to expect a third ; upon the re-
ceipt of which I had laid my account to have given you but one trouble, by replying to
them all at the same time.
Permit me to thank you Sir for your attention to my commissions. The Joiner
arrived safe, and I believe will fully answer your description & expectation of him.
He gfives great satisfaction ; and seems well satisfied himself. The expense of his
passage. & your advance to him, has been paid to M^ Sanderson. I delayed mak-
ing choice of either of the samples of Flagstones until I had seen the Irish marble ;
and was made acquainted with the cost of it ; but as it did not come in your last ship,
and I like the whitest & cheapest of the three kinds which you sent me by Capt.
Atkinson ; I request the favor of you to forward by the first opportunity (with some to
spare in case of breakage, or other accident) as much of this sort, as will floor the
Gallery in front of my house which, within the margin, or border that surrounds it,
(and which is already laid with a hard stone of the country) is 92 feet 7% inches, by 12
feet 95^ inches.
Having given the exact dimension of the floor, or space which is to be laid with
flag-stone, I shall leave it to the workman to form them of such a size, not less than
a foot square, and of the same dimensions as he thinks will answer best, and accord
most with the taste of the times.
I take it for granted that 7% or 8d is the price of the white stone in the prepared
state in which it was sent ; and that the shipping charges, & freight only, are to be
added to the cost. If a rough estimate of the latter had been mentioned, it would
have been more pleasing ; as I then could have prepared accordingly. I am at a loss
to determine in what manner these dressed flags can be brought without incurring
much expense, or being liable to great damage. To put them in cases will involve the
first, and to stow them loose, the other may be sustained ; unless great care is used in
the storage, which is rarely to be met with among Sailors,-even in Masters of vessels.
If the flags are well dressed, a little matter will chip the edges, and break the
corners, which, by disfiguring the work would be hurtful to the eye.
I will give no direction therefore on this head, your own judgment on the spot,
must dictate ; at the same time, I have but little doubt, if they are placed in the Hold
of the Ship, with Hay and Straw to keep them from rubbing, of their coming without
damage.
I will soon follow this letter with a remittance from hence, or a draught on I^ondon
for a sum to enable you to discharge the undertaker.
In the meanwhile, let me pray you to hasten the execution, and the shipping of
them as my Gallery needs a floor very much.
With great esteem & regard
I am, Sir,
Your most ob^ Bp}^ SerY*
[Signed.] G? Washington,
mT Jn? Rumney,
* This letter, it is apprehended, has either a false date or place where it was written.
It is surmised 1785 is the proper year.
366 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
* * Tuesday June 2f^ 1786 * * * Finding the hoe Har-
row did not do good work in the drilled Corn I ordered it to
desist and the Bar Share plow to be used, till the common corn
was all crossed after which to use it when the ground was
worked the other way.
' ' Wednesday July 26^!^ 1786 *****
^(f sif ^1^ ^If M^ ^l^ 2lc ^If ^{C ^k 2{c
' * Having fixed a Roller to the tale of my drill plow, and a
brush harrow between it & the barrel, I sent it by G. A. Wash-
ington to Muddy hole and had the intervals between the corn
which had been left for the purpose sowed with Turnips in
drills and with which it was done very well."'^^
41 Throughout this summer, Washington had paid special attention to
all the operations on his various plantations and to improving the imple-
ments of husbandry in use by his people. He, also, in a letter August 6tli
1786, to Arthur Young, his English correspondent on improvements in
agriculture, avails himself of the proffer of his services to fill an order for
some seeds and two plows in the following words : "I will give you the
trouble, Sir, of providing and sending to the care of Wakelin Welch, of
London, merchant, the following articles. Two of the simplest and best
constructed ploughs for land which is neither very heavy nor sandy ; to
be drawn by two horses ; to have spare shares and coulters ; and a mould,
on which to form new irons, when the old ones are worn out, or will re-
quire repairing. I will take the liberty to observe, that some years ago,
from a description or recommendation thereof, which I had somewhere
met with, I sent to England for what was then called the Rotherham or
patent plough ; and, till it began to wear and was ruined by a bungling
country smith, that no plough could have done better work, or appeared
to have gone easier with two horses ; but for want of a mould, which I
neglected to order with the plough, it became useless, after the irons,
which came with it were much worn."
In another letter to Mr. Young from Mount Vernon, November ist,
1787, Washington says : "The grain Grass seeds, ploughs, &c, arrived at
the same time agreeably to the list, but some of the former were injured,
as will always be the case, by being put into the hold of the vessel ;
however upon the whole, they were in much better order than these
things are generally found to be, when brought across the Atlantic.
" I have tried the ploughs which yon sent me, and find that they
answer the description which you gave of them ; this is contrary to the
opinion of almost every one who saw them before they were used ; for it
was thought their great weight would be an insuperable objection to their
being drawn by two horses."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 367
The Mount Vernon plantations were now all in good tilth,
and Washington was picturing to himself the pleasure and
comfort which he had long hoped to enjoy in their manage-
ment, with time for studying the more scientific method of
agriculture.
The question is often asked; " What is the elevation of the
Mount Vernon Mansion-house above the level of the Potomac
river ? " I felicitate myself on being able to answer this inquiry
from data ascertained by an actual leveling from the edge of
the piazza opposite the centre door to high-water mark
near the wharf, distant 660 feet, made by General Washington
himself in 1786. The actual elevation of the pavement of the
piazza above high- water mark, as ascertained by this survey,
is 124 feet io>^ inches.^^
The home-life of Washington at Mount Vernon and his
eiforts to embellish it, which are told with such ingenuousness in
his Diaries, almost compel further quotations :
''Monday May 2p^^ 1786 — About 9 o'clock MT Tobias I^ar,
who had been previously engaged on a salary of 200 dollars, to
live with me as a private secretary, and preceptor for Washing-
ton Custis, a year, came here from New Hampshire, at which
place his friends reside. 43
''Friday, June i6^h iy86. Began about 10 o'clock to put up
the book-press in my study."
Washington's Diaries show numerous instances of his kind-
ness to and consideration for his servants ; visiting them when
sick and, if seriously ill, bringing them to the home house to be
nursed. Frequently he denominates them, as in the follow-
ing extract, ' ' my people, ' ' in giving them a day to visit the
Races, one-third each day ; at suitable seasons giving them a
43 The following receipt signed W™ Shaw, the clerk who preceded Mr.
lyear in service at Mount Vernon, in the handwriting of General Wash-
ington, is preserved among his papers in the possession of Lawrence
Washington :
" Mount Vernon, August i^p- 1786 Received from G. Washington the sum of Fifty-
six pounds two shilling, Virg^ Curry equal to £\2.i6 sterling in full for services rendered
him as secretary &c from the 26*" day of July 1785 when I came into the family, until the
W** Shaw
368
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
42 The following record, in Washington's handwriting, of the line of
survey, with the several benches used in leveling from the centre door of
the Mansion House at Mount Vernon to near the present steamboat
wharf is preserved among the Washington papers in the Department of
State, and of which the following is a literal transcript :
Fall, from the level of the Piazza to high water mark in a Rectangular course from the
centre door, —
Fall.
Total Fall.
0
I^ength
I.evel.
REMARKS.
Ft.
In.
Vs
Ft. In. %
I
12
4
9
Beginning on the pavement of the Piazza,
at the edge thereof, next the Grass.
2
do.
. . .
I
3
X
I
3
do.
. . .
I
2
3
2
4
4
do.
. . .
2
I
3
4
5
5
do.
.
2
3
3
6
7
6
do.
4
6
3
5
I
do.
2
4
5
do.
II
I
7
2
9
do.
2
8
4
9
6
10
do.
2
6
2
12
0
II
do.
3
9
2
16
2
12
do.
4
3
2
20
4
13
do.
6
5
4
26
0
To the level, at the foot of the lowT step
14
do.
4
2
6
31
0
at Gate which is 156 feet from the pave-
15
do.
5
0
0
36
0
ment of the Piazza.
16
do.
5
0
0
41
0
17
do.
5
5
0
46
0
18
do.
2
6
48
6
To Post & Rail Fence — 216 feet from the
19
do.
3
7
4
52
2
Piazza. ,
20
do.
2
6
4
54
6
21
do.
2
3
6
57
2
22
do.
2
II
4
60
6
23
do.
2
3
2
62
0
To a small locust — 276 feet from the
24
do.
2
3
^
7
Piazza.
25
do.
2
3
2
2
26
do.
. . .
2
67
To a Bank— 312 feet from the Piazza.
27
do.
4
2
I
71
2
5
28
do.
2
5
73
5
To the level of the Spring— at the Dairy—
which is about 50 feet above high water
29
do.
2
2
^
30
do.
2
3
I
6
mark-
31
do.
I
6
4
79
2
32
do.
2
5
5
82
7
33
do.
3
8
83
4
To the edge of the above Bank— 396 feet
34
do.
3
3
6
86
2
from the Piazza.
35
do.
2
0
3
88
5
36
do.
3
3
6
92
3
i
do.
3
2
0
3
do.
3
0
4
98
7
39
do.
2
4
3
100
2
40
do.
2
0
4
102
6
41
do.
I
5
4
104
1
2
To a parcel of Briers— 492 feet from the
42
do.
I
2
105
2
Piazza.
43
do.
I
'i
106
6
3
44
do.
I.ev
el.
106
6
3
45
do.
10
107
4
3
46
do.
I
10
109
2
3
47
do.
2
5
I
III
7
4
48
do.
. . .
2
. ,
III
9
4
49
do.
q
6
112
7
50
do.
'. '. '.
5
i
113
0
4
To a path up the Riverside— 600 feet from
51
do.
'. '. '.
7
"3
8
2
the Piazza—
52
do.
. . .
9
2
114
5
4
53
do.
I
4
115
6
54
do.
I
I
116
7
To the edge of the River Bank— 648 ft
H?|h
do.
3
6
4
120
I
4
from the Piazza—
Water.
4
9
124
ID
4
To high waterMark— 660 ft. from the Piazza
>9S='The distance in a rectangular line from the level of the pavement of the Piazza, to
high water mark, is 660 feet — or 220 yards — and the elevation of it above the water
is 124 i^. loj^ Inches. —
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 369
day's sport and lending them his seine to haul for fish, to do
with their catch as they pleased, to sell or to keep. 44
* * Monday October ^p- iy86 **** * *ijt * *
Allowed all my People to go to the Races in Alexandria on
one of three days as best comported with their respective
businesses — leaving careful persons on the plantations. ' '
Washington had faith in the progress of the human race
and believed in making earnest efforts to improve not only
man's surroundings and conditions, but also his methods of
securing a livelihood, as well as the institutions and govern-
ment under which they lived. To him is awarded the credit
of the introducing into the United States the best breeds of
that very useful animal, the mule. He also gave much atten-
tion to improving the breeds of sheep, hogs, horses, cattle and
dogs. 45 The following extracts from his Journal relate to his
importation of improved breeds of some domestic animals for
his plantations.
44 Washington, at th,e time of his death, had on his several estates 317
negroes, a list of which, with the names, ages, and sex, he had made a
short time before. A literal copy of this memoranda has been deposited
in the "Toner Collection" in the Library of Congress. He owned of
these, in his own right, 124, and had 40 others leased from Mrs. French ;
while 153 were dower negroes, that is, were the property of Mrs. Wash-
ington in her own right and that of her children and their heirs. Wash-
ington in his will, after providing for the payment of his debts and for
his wife, and before disposing of any of his property, directs in the
following language the emancipation of his negroes : "Item Upon the
decease of my wife, it is my will and desire, that all the slaves which I
\io\^'vavQ.y own right shall receive their freedom." — Then follows ex-
press provisions for the care of the old who were past work and the chil-
dren unable to make a living, but as the will has been frequently printed,
it can be consulted by all desiring to do so.
45 Washington was but little given to collecting about him a museum
of things which were simply curious and without the merit of some use.
He did, however, have some fancy fowls and unprofitable animals which
were in the nature of the decorative and to entertain visitors. His deer
Paddock and hounds he doubtless justified on the principle of entertain-
ment and home amusements. His cash book for 1785, under date of
March 17th, has the following : "by freight of a swan and 4 Geese from
Nom'y iSX." And his cash book for 1788, December T3th, has this
entry: "By Capt Baine p'd him the freight of two Chinese pigs & 2
Geese from Norfolk to this place 7/4."
370 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
'' Thursday Nov\ 16^.^1786 * ********
* * On my return home, found Mons Campoint sent by the
Marq! de la Fayette with the Jacks and two she Asses which
he had procured for me in the Island of Malta, and which had
arrived at Baltimore with the Chinese Pheasants &c had with
my Overseer &c got there before me — these Asses are in good
order and appear to be very fine — The Jack is two years old
and the She Asses one three & the other two. — The Pheasants
and Partridges will come round by Water.
' * Monday 27^!^ Nov\ ********* * *
Received my Chinese Pheasants &c from Baltimore by the
Packet viz.— A Cock & Hen of the Golden Pheas^ A Cock &
Hen of the silver Pheas* A Cock & two hens of the French
Pheas* and a French Partridge the other French Partridge
died coming round from Baltim? ' '
The expedient adopted by Washington in sowing clover,
timothy and other small seeds broadcast to insure an even
distribution of the seed over the ground, was to mix them with
dry sand or ashes, so that greater bulk might be taken in the
hand for each cast. The following entry appears under date of
' ' Monday, Febry 5^.^ lySj. At the Ferry the Overseer had
begun to sow timothy seed mixed with sand in the Rye field
on the snow, — but the sand being too wet and Clamy to do
it regular I ordered him to desist until the sand could be
dried. — Three gallons of Timothy seed mixed with ashes was
sown on Rye in the Neck on Saturday.
''April li^ lySy ****** jj^ ^^ evening one
Young who lives on Col? Ball's place — a farmer, came here to
see, he says my drill plow & staid all night. 4^
46 The Mount Vernon "Store Room Book" of this date shows the
following entries bearing upon the making of Drill Plows :
"April 6th 1787 Gave out 200 4*^ & 100 8^ brads to Matthew for making a drill Plow.
"April 13, 1787, " Gave out a piece of Copper Sheating to Bradkin for the Drill plow
also 50 4^ nails to Bradkin 50 tacks and 100 4^ brass Do for Drill Plow."
Tradition credits Washington with having invented and patented a
plow. I have not, however, found any testimony to sustain the claim.
But I do find the following entry in one of the " Store Books of issue " at
Mount Vernon under date of Sept 28th 1787. *'A packing box for a plow
model one hundred and fifty nails used in making box." Query : Was
the model here referred to one of Washington's own invention and being
shipped to a manufacturer or to officials granting patents?
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 371
' ' Saturday ^^a ******* j^ jj^y Botanical gar-
den in the section immediately adjoining to & west of the Salt
House I sowed first 3 rows of the Kentucke clover 15 inches
apart — and next to these 9 rows of the Guinea grass in rows of
the same distance apart.
''April 20^!' ****** In the Neck the gr4 being
rather hard and in places rough — two harrows could not pre-
pare it sufficiently to keep the drill plow constantly at work.
I therefore ordered the plowman who attended it to make good
the work of covering the corn which the little harrow at the
tail of it might leave unfinished and this he is well able to do,
because where the ground is difficult to prepare he can outgo
the harrows, and here it is assistance is wanted when the
ground is light and the harrows prepare it sufficiently there is
no occasion of the hoe to follow — this supercedes the necessity
of the special hand ordered for this service on Wednesday
last. — Where the gr^ is naturally light, or well pulverized the
drill plow plants with great dispatch regularity and to good
effect where it is rough and hard manual labour as in the
common mode must be applied."
The spirit of enquiry and desire for exact knowledge remained
an active element in Washington's character to the close of his
life,47 but it is nevertheless wonderful that as late as 1788 he
47 While George Washington was a member of the House of Burgesses,
a petition of Mr. Aaron Miller addressed to the Governor and Council
was referred to the House, "setting forth that he had at great trouble and
expense invented a new compass and protractor, by which an angle may
be measured both in surveying and platting with greater Accuracy than
by any other instrument hitherto discovered and praying such Bounty as
the Legislature may think he deserves and the said petition was read.
Ordered that the said Petition be referred to the consideration of Mr.
Richard Bland, Mr. Richard Henry Lee, Mr. Wythe, Mr. Carey and Mr.
Mercer ; that they examine into the allegations thereof, and report the
same with their opinion thereon, to the House." ' {Journal Hottse of
Burgesses, Decb*; 6^^, 1764) '* Mr. Richard Henry Lee from the Committee
to whom was referred the Petition of Aaron Miller, reported that
they had examined the Instruments mentioned in the said petition
and were of opinion that surveys of Land may be made and plotted with
them with greater accuracy than any instruments of the kind they had
ever seen or heard of ***** * Resolved, that the said Aaron
Miller ought to be allowed the sum of £10. as a consideration for his
useful invention." {Journal House of Burgesses, December i$ih^ ^764-)
372 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
should take the pains to count the actual number of peas and
beans there were in a pint measure of six varieties of them,
that he might know the quantity of ground to prepare and the
number of hills a bushel of each would plant, as will be noticed
from the following taken from his Diaries : —
''Monday May 1 2{^ I y 88 * * At home all day. — Counted
the number of the following articles which are contained in a
pint — viz. — of The small & round pease commonly called Gen-
tlemans Pease 3,144. Those bro^ from York RivT by MajT G.
Washington 2,268. Those bro^ by D? from MT^ Dangerfields
1.375- Those given by Hez^ Fairfax 1,330. Large and early
black eye Pease 1,186. Bunch hominy Beans 1,473. Accord-
ingly— a bushel of the above, allowing 5 to a hill will plant
the number of hills w*^^ follow. — viz
** i!* kind 40243
2 Ditto .--_.-_ 29030
3 — Ditto 17200
4 — Ditto 17024
5. Ditto 15180
6. Ditto 18854 "
Another inventor was rewarded by Virginia while Washington was a
member of the Assembly for an improvement in the threshing machine.
John Hobday of Gloucester county, Va., in 1774 by petition brought to
the attention of the House the fact that "he had invented a Machine for
getting Wheat out of the Bar clean and neat and with more expedition
than could be done by thrashing, or treading with cattle, and that with-
out loss of the chaiF, or detriment to the straw ; and submitting it to the
Liberality and Wisdom of the House to reward his endeavors to serve
the community, in such manner as they may think proper. Resolved
that the said Petition be referred to the consideration of the Committee
of Trade ; and that they do examine the matter thereof and report the
same, with their opinion thereupon to the House." {Journal of House
of Burgesses^ May igt^, 7/7^.) May id^y, 1774, Mr. [Benjamin] Harrison
reported from the Committee of Trade, to whom the petition of John
Hobday, praying to be allowed a reward for inventing a machine whereby
wheat is got out neat and clean, &c. ■x-*****^^*
" Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Committee that the petition is reasonable and
that the said John Hobday ought to be allowed by the Public the sum of three hundred
pounds as a reward for inventing the said Machine, and communicating to the Public the
manner of erecting it."
The resolution was amended by inserting one hundred instead of three
hundred, and it passed in the affirmative. Washington was a competent
judge of the utility of both these inventions.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 373
He also counted the number of clover, timothy and Saint
Foin seed there was in a pint that he might estimate the quan-
tity to sow upon an acre.
During the session of the Convention that drafted the Con-
stitution of the United States, Washington kept a brief journal
of events, but records nothing regarding the questions discussed
in the sessions; thus evincing scrupulous adherence to his pledge
of secrecy. The entries show, however, that he visited numer-
ous institutions of learning, Bartram's botanical gardens, and
the most noted farms in the vicinity of Philadelphia. His most
lengthy notes, however, relate to agriculture, in which he never
lost interest.48 However, on Monday, 3d of September, 1787,
his Diary has the following entry relating to a new machine: —
' ' Visited a Machine at DoctT Franklins (called a Mangle) for
pressing, in place of Ironing, clothes from the wash — Which
Machine from the facility with which it dispatches business is
well calculated for Table cloths & such articles as have not
pleats & irregular foldings and would be very useful in all large
families. ' '
It is probable that the activities of Washington's inventive
genius found its favorite employment in the direction of labor-
saving implements which ensured increased domestic comforts
to the people. Yet his great catholic heart and enlightened
humane sympathies led him to welcome and encourage every
48 Washington in a letter to Ivandon Carter, "of Cleve," written at
Mount Vernon 17 October, 1796, uses the following language :
" It is true (as you have heard) that to be a cultivator of I^and has been my favorite
amusement ;— but it is equally true that I have made very little proficiency in acquir-
ing knowledge either in the principals or practice of Husbandry. My employments
through life, have been so diversified — my absences from home have been so frequent,
and so long at a time, as to have prevented me from bestowing the attention, and from
making the experiments which are necessary to establish facts in the Science of Agri-
culture.—And now, though I mav amuse myself in that way for the short time I may
remain on this theatre, it is too late in the day for me to commence a scientific course
of experiments. Your thoughts on the mode of cultivating Indian corn, appear to me,
to be founded in reason, — and a judicious management of the Soil for diflferent pur-
poses, is as highly interesting too, as it has been neglected by the People of this
country. *****
" I shall always feel myself obliged by your communicating any useful discovery in
Agriculture ; and for the favorable Sentiments you have been pleased to express for
me, I pray you to accept the thanks of
"Sir
" Your most obedt and very H^^^ servn
" G? Washington."
374 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
measure which gave promise of lessening the heavy load resting
upon the shoulders of the poor and the overworked and poorly-
paid tillers of the soil. Intimately blended with his genius
for leadership and for improving man's condition, was his
taste and respect for the esthetics to be observed in every-day
life which he believed not only improved habits but elevated
character. This at times may have led some to consider him
as reserved and overfond of ceremony. This was not the fact.
But to a mind like his, attuned to exact justice, individual rights
and the orderly observance of the proprieties of social life were
sacred.
To President Washington we are indebted for the graceful
and convenient device of the dinner wine coaster. The history
of its invention and first introduction may be found in a foot-
note.49 The harvest horse-rake for gleaning meadows and also
49 Mr, l/ossing in his admirable book on " Mount Vernon and its Asso-
ciations," page 263, gives in substance the following history of this inven-
tion. The President on the removal of Congress from New York to
Philadelphia furnished his residence in a manner to make it comfortable
to the close of his term of office, and to do this added much new furni-
ture and household belongings. In his efforts in this direction he ordered
a bill of goods through Gouverneur Morris, who was then in Paris, In
this order was some silver-plated wine coolers, an article that he had
never used at Mount Vernon. The invoice had reached him in Virginia.
In a letter to his secretary, Mr. I^ear, Washington wrote, I quote from
Mr. Lossing :
" Enclosed I send you a letter from Mr. Gouverneur Morris, with a bill of the cost of
the articles he was to send me. The prices of the plated ware exceed— far exceed— the
utmost bounds of my calculation ; but as I am persuaded he has done what he conceived
right, I am satisfied, and request you to make immediate payment to Mr. Constable if you
can raise the means. As the coolers are designed for warm weather, and will be, I pre-
sume, useless in cold, or in that in which the liquors do not require cooling, querie, would
not a stand like that for castors, with four apertures for so many different kinds of liquors,
each aperture just sufficient to hold one of the cut decanters sent by Mr. Morris, be more
convenient for passing the bottles from one to another, than the handing each bottle seper-
ately, by which it often happens that one bottle moves, another stops, and all are in con-
fusion ? Two of them — one for each end of the table, with a flat bottom, with or without
feet, open at the sides, but with a raised rim, as caster-stands have, and an upright, by
way of handle, in the middle — could not cost a great deal, even if made wholly of silver.
Talk to a silversmith, and ascertain the cost, and whether they could be immediately
made if required, in a handsome fashion.
" Perhaps the coolers sent by Mr. Morris may afford ideas of taste ; perhaps, too (if they
prove not too heavy, when examined) they may supersede the necessity of such as I have
described, by answering the purpose themselves. Four double flint bottles (such as I sus-
pect Mr. Morris has sent), will weigh, I conjecture, four pounds ; the wine in them when
they are filled will be eight pounds more, which, added to the weight of the coolers, will
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 375
grain fields after the grain had been cut and gathered came into
use about the time General Washington was President. He
ordered two for his Mount Vernon farms. {See letter to C.
Biddle.) And in 1797 he had a thrashing-machine erected at
Mount Vernon. {See cash book.)
Under date of August 2d, 1788, we find the following: — " Vis-
ited all the Plantations — At the Ferry — six plows were turning
in B [uck] Wheat Three of them from Frenches — Tried the
Patent Plow sent me by Major Snowden whch run easy and did
good work."
It would seem from this that there were plows patented and
in use in Virginia before the assembling of the First Congress
under the Constitution of the United States. This paragraph
bears testimony also to the fact that Washington was known
to merchants and progressive farmers as being ready and
anxious to test new and improved implements of husbandry ;
hence, no diplomacy was necessary to bring to his attention a
new patent plow. 5°
' ' Sunday November 2^ 1788. MT George Mason came here
to dinner and returned in the Evening — After dinner word was
bro^ from Alexandria that the Minister of France was arrived
there and intended down here to dinner — Accordingly, a little
before Sun setting, he (the Count de Moustiers) his Sister the
I fear, make these latter too unwieldy to pass, especially by ladies which induces me to
think of the frame in the form of casters."
After quoting the President's letter descriptive of the device, Mr. lyos-
sing adds the following :
" Mr. Lear was pleased with Washington's suggestions and ordered a silversmith to
make two of the caster-like frames of solid silver, and these were used upon the President's
table on the occasion of the first dinner which he gave to the officers of the government
and their families, foreign ministers and their families and other distinguished guests.
Their lightness and convenience commended them, and from that time they became fash-
ionable, under the appropriate title of coasters. Thenceforth the wine-cooler was left
upon the sideboard and the coaster alone was used for sending the wine around the table.
For more than a quarter of a century afterward the coaster might be seen upon the table
of every fashionable family in Philadelphia. Few persons, however, are aware that
Washington was the inventor of it. A roller was placed under the center of each basket
by which the coaster is more easily sent around the table."
An engraving showing a specimen of each of the wine coolers and the
coaster may be seen in the work of I^ossing referred to.
50 Prior to the Federal union under the Constitution, patents were
granted by the Assemblies of the several Colonies, as well as by Par-
liament.
376 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
Marchioness de Bretons^ — the Marquis her Son and MT du
Fonts came in.
' ' Monday j^ Thermometer at 50 in the Morning — 70 at
Noon — and 70 at Night. — A thick fog until 8 or 9 o'clock —
Clear, Calm & exceedingly pleasant afterwards. —
"Remained at home all day. — Col? Fitzgerald & DoctT
Craik came down to dinner — & with the copy of an address
(which the Citizens of Alexandria meant to present to the
Minister) waited on him to know when he would receive it.
* ' Mr. I^ar went to Alexandria to invite some of the Gentle-
men and Ladies of the Town to dine with the Count &
Marchioness here tomorrow.
'* Tuesday — the— fourth. Thermometer at 58 in the Morn-
ing— 75 at Noon — and 72 at Night. — Morning clear, calm and
very pleasant. — as the weather continued to be thro' the day.
"MT Herbert & his Lady, MT Potts & his Lady, MT Lud-
well Lee & his Lady, and Miss Nancy Craik came here to
dinner and returned afterwards.
" Wednesday ^{^ Thermometer 63 in the morning — 75 at
Noon and 73 at Night, very clear, calm, warm and pleasant all
day.
' ' The Minister & Madam de Bretan expressing a desire to
walk to the new Barn — we accordingly did so — and from thence
through Frenches Plantation to my Mill and from thence home
compleating a tour of at least seven miles. — Previous to this,
in the morning before breakfast I rid to the Ferry, Frenches
D[ogue] Run and Muddy hole Plantations.
* * At the Ferry some of the People were clearing up the Rye
which had been tread out the day before, others were digging
Potatoes — the Plows were at work in No. 5. —
51 Marchioness de Brienne was an enthusiastic admirer of America, a
writer of spirit and an amateur artist of considerable skill. While at
Mount Vernon she painted a miniature of the General from life which she
presented to Mrs. Washington, making a duplicate for herself, {See
Portraits 0/ Washington by Miss E. B. Johnston.) The General in his
Diary of October 3d, 1790, says : " Walked in the afternoon and sat about
two Oclock for Madam Brehan [Brienne] to complete a miniature profile
of me which she had begun from memory and which she had made ex-
ceedingly like the original."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 377
* ' At Frenches the People were preparing the yard to tread
out Oats which had remained in Shocks at the yard. — At
Dogue Run — some hands were Clearing up Rye, and prepar-
ing to lay down a bed of Wht — and others digging Cellar to
store Irish Potatoes in. — The Plows yesterday & this day being
stopped to tread out grain. — At Dogue Run — The people were
Raising Mud for Manure — the Rye would be all in and
covered to day —
'* Thursday 6^^ Thermometer 63 in the morning; — 73 at Noon
and 72 at Night. Clear calm, warm, and exceedingly pleasant.
"About Nine Oclock the Minister of France, the Marchion-
ess de Bretan and their suit left this on their return for New
York. I accompanied them as far as Alexandria & returned
home to dinner, — the minister proceeded to Georgetown after
having received an Address from the Citizens of the Corpora-
tion.
' ' In the afternoon MT Ferdinand Fairfax came in and stayed
all Night."
In his Diary January 22d, 1790, will be found the following
entry : ' ' Called in my ride on the Baron de Poelnitz to see the
operation of his (Winlow's) thrashing machine. The effect
was the heads of the wheat being seperated from the straw, as
much of the first was run through the mill in 15 minutes as
made half a bushel of clean wheat. Allowing working hours
in the 24, this would yield 16 bushels per day. Two boys are
sufficient to turn the wheel, feed feed the mill and remove the
thrashed grain after it has passed through it. Two men were
unable by winnowing, to clear the wheat as it passed through
the mill, but a common Dutch fan, with the usual attendance
would be more than sufficient to do it. The grain passed
through without bruising and is well seperated from the chaff.
Women and boys of 12 and 14 years of age are fully adaquate
to the management of the mill or thrashing machine. ' '
From intimations in letters and other parts of the journal it
is almost certain the President sent one of these thrashers to
his Mount Vernon Plantations.
It would be easy to multiply examples of General Wash-
ington's hospitality to distinguished visitors as well as experi-
ments to promote agriculture and to devise better methods and
378 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
implements than were then in use in agriculture and the domes-
tic arts, but I have exhausted the time at my disposal and, I fear,
your patience ; besides which I think enough evidence has been
adduced to make it apparent that the mind of Washington was
pre-eminently efficient in devising expedients and all the
essential machinery to accomplish in the shortest time and in
the best manner, his purposes whether in the management of a
farm, the command of an army, or the inauguration of a new
form of Government and the administration of the affairs of a
nation.
The parentage, the disciplined mind, the associations and
the pursuits of Washington, from his cradle to his grave, were
all so admirable as to fully satisfy the most exacting require-
ments of the highest standard of excellence in human
character ; and each gives assurance that he was pre-eminently
deserving of the admiration of mankind above that of any
mortal who has ever lived. 5^ Each act of his eventful life,
the purer grows as studied, freed from the passions of the times
in which he lived. Is it not lamentable, then, and to be deeply
regretted that the name of George Washington, the central
figure in all history, is not held as too sacred to be mentioned
except with reverential praise ? He should, at least, be exempt
from coarse and inconsiderate gibes and pert, unsavory
inuendoes having no foundation except in the depraved
imagination of the vulgar, incapable of appreciating the
virtues they profane. 53
52 A delicate and appreciative mark of respect to the memory of Wash-
ington is " the tolling of the bell " by all vessels passing Mount Vernon.
This special manifestation of regard, I learn, originated with a French
merchant vessel passing just after General Washington's death and before
the interment of his remains. The barque placed its colors at half-mast
and tolled its bell while passing the home of Washington, then a house of
mourning. This unique but impressive testimony' of respect seemed to
all sea-faring men so appropriate that it was at once taken up by crafts
of every character on the Potomac, and has been continued, without
abatement, to this day.
53 The Hon. George Bancroft, our most eminent student of American his-
tory, has left us a comprehensive and just analysis of the character of the
Father of our Republic, based upon a study of his life and times, such as
but few writers are capable of giving to the subject. He says :
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 379
Mount Vernon must ever have a peculiar fascination to the
lovers of civil liberty, to all who admire genius and have faith
in human progress. To climb its hills, traverse its walks and
pass the portals which sheltered the man who amplified and
fashioned this Mansion, planned its gardens, fields and lawns
and embellished all with choicest trees and flowering shrubs,
seems now and ever will in some mysterious way to bring the
appreciative visitor near the great Washington. For it was here
the youthful surveyor, the courageous explorer, the commander
of armies, the presiding ofiicer of conventions and the first
President of the United States, pursued his favorite employ-
ment of cultivating the soil. Here, the purest patriot of
all the ages occupied his splendid talents and kept his heart
in sympathy with the latest improvements in everything which
tended to advance the happiness of the people and his country.
Here lived and labored the most felicitous letter-writer in
history, the greatest exponent of liberty guided by law, the
defender of the inalienable rights of man, the possessor of all
the virtues. The vitality of the Pater Patrice seems sentient
and perpetual here — the patriot's Mecca — once the home, now
the tomb of the Immortal Washington!
"The character of Washington's greatness may be described, in its unity, as the
highest wisdom of common sense ; that is to say, the largest endowment of the power
that constitutes the highest part of the nature of man ; or, it may be described as in
action the perfection of reflective judgment. That common sense or reflective judg-
ment, was combined with creative and executive capacity. If he spoke, or if he wrote,
he came directly to the point on which the matter in discussion depended ; and pro-
nounced his thoughts in clear, strong and concise words ; if he was to act he suited his
means, be they scanty or sufl&cient in the best way to his end. When America assem-
bled its best men in a first Congress, Patrick Henry said : ' For sound judgment
Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on the floor.' "
The following appreciative estimate of Washington's character is from
the pen of that astute French statesman, Talleyrand :
' ' History affords few examples of such renown . Great from the outset of his career,
patriotic before his country became a nation, despite the passions and political resent-
ments that desired to check his career, his fame remained imperishable. His public
actions, and unassuming grandeur in private life were living examples of courage,
wisdom and usefulness."
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 381
THE EFFECT OF OUR PATENT SYSTEM ON THE
MATERIAI. DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED
STATES.
By Hon. Benjamin Butterworth, of Ohio, U. S. House of
Representatives.
In defining the powers conferred upon Congress, Section
Eight of Article One of the Constitution contains, among
others, the following Clause ' ' To promote the progress of
science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors
and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings
and discoveries."
In the execution of the power conferred, Congress devised
our present Patent System, not in a single Act, but by such
legislation from time to time as experience suggested. The
law is a growth, and our present laws are the result of pro-
gressive development. Has the action of our fathers in mak-
ing provision in the Constitution for encouraging inventors and
authors been approved by results deducible therefrom ? Has
the influence of our Patent System upon the prosperity of the
nation justified its adoption ? I answer these questions in the
affirmative, and call attention to the evidence that no other
answer can properly be given.
Our fathers builded even better than they knew. I do not
know what they hoped for or anticipated as possible under the
System, the foundation of which they laid in the Constitution,
but this we may believe, that neither the most profound thinker
nor the wildest dreamer could have anticipated such marvelous
changes and improvements as have been wrought out under
our Patent System.
Mr Chairman, if some member of the immortal Convention
that framed our Constitution, endowed with the gift of prophecy,
had arisen in his place, and in plain speech disclosed what
their children would behold at the close of the first century as
a result of the power conferred upon Congress in the clause I
382 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
have read, his associates would at once have felt an anxious
concern in regard to his mental health, or else have suspected
that the spirit of Baron Miinchausen was upon him. And if
in candor he had persisted in his predictions, his seemingly
obvious mental halucinations would have invalidated any will
he might have written while his intellect continued thus dis-
turbed.
If Benjamin Franklin, sage and philosopher as he was, were
to come back to the earth with only such scientific knowledge
as he possessed on the date of his death, he would not be able
to pass a civil service examination for appointment as a Fourth
Assistant Examiner in the electrical division of the Patent
Office.
I need not go to those who walked the earth an hundred
years ago to find unbelievers touching the possibilities that
waited upon the progressive and aggressive spirit of the last
fifty years of the nineteenth century, as it finds expression in
the development of the industrial arts and applied sciences.
The wise men in Congress fifty years ago found pleasure in
ridiculing and laughing at the "crank," Morse, who hung
about the lobby of the House, insisting that he could use the
lightning to transmit messages. And to-day, ninety per cent,
of the people of the United States would not credit the truth
of a plain recital of actual facts concerning the progress we
have made in the field of human activity I have mentioned.
Even the individual who has struggled to keep posted, at least
as to the rate of progress made, would be startled at the exhibit
of what has been accomplished along the line of evolution
during the last five decades.
Until recently, the Patent Office was regarded by the mass
of people as a clearing house for cranks. Inventors and auth-
ors, especially poets, were looked upon as a class of long-
haired, dreamy-eyed persons suffering in a greater or less de-
gree from some mental obliquity, and the Patent Office was
supposed to contain the materialized evidence of mental con-
tortion. How little the world realized that to these cranks it
is in large measure indebted for its progress. They were the
avant couriers of a higher and better civilization. As the result
of their labor, old things have passed away and all things be-
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 383
come new. We have a new earth, or at least it can be truly said
that the old earth has put on new conditions, such as to create
wonder even among the most learned.
The wisdom of giving to authors and inventors the exclusive
right for a limited time to their writings and discoveries has been
frequently questioned by able men, and even as late as during
the last Congress one of its oldest and wisest members
asserted that our present unequalled and unexampled pros-
perity in the arts and sciences would not have been lessened
by the absence of the Patent System, asserting also that such
encouragement to authors and inventors is wholly unnecessary
and cannot be justified.
It is urged also, that the influence of the System has been
to build up monopolies and to impose needless burdens upon
the people. I desire to take a few moments of your time to
answer these criticisms, and in doing so, to call the attention
of this Congress to what has been accomplished under the in-
spiration and encouragement afforded by our Patent System.
Our fathers afiirmed, and all experience confirms the cor-
rectness of their conclusion, that no individual would devote
weeks, months and years, and possibly decades, to patient
study, investigation and experiment for the mere purpose of
lightening his own labor or securing better results merely from
his individual efforts. Obviously not even a crank, mad with the
love of invention, would struggle through the years to invent
a steam engine, a sewing machine, a telegraph, a telephone,
or a reaper and mower, solely for his personal use. It was
essential that there be reserved to the inventor or author for a
time such exclusive ownership in the thing invented, discov-
ered or written, as would enable him to derive pecuniary profit
from its manufacture, use, publication and sale.
It would seem clear that there would be no inducement to in-
vent or construct a harvester or mower merely to reap one's own
field. No one would invent a sewing machine for the purpose
of doing the family sewing. And it is equally clear that there
would be very few inventions if others have the equal right,
without the permission of the inventor and discoverer, to man-
ufacture, use and sell the thing invented or discovered. Few
books would be written unless there was in the author for
384 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
some period an exclusive ownership of the work. In every
walk and avenue of life there must be the hope of gain or other
positive advantage to induce men to labor.
The framers of the Constitution, therefore, wisely conferred
upon Congress the power to secure to authors and inventors
for a limited period, an exclusive right to their respective
writings and discoveries, the compensation in each case being
contingent upon the advantage or pleasure the public derived
in substituting the new device or machine for the old, or in
perusing the works from the pen or inspiration of the author.
The consideration to the public is found in the advantage,
pleasure or profit derived by the community from the discovery
or writing. The steam engine, the cotton gin, the printing
press, the machinery for spinning, each paid to the world ten
thousand-fold, yes a million-fold, more than the inventors re-
ceived as a reward for their labor. The community have no
right to take the result of my labor without compensation.
Whitney's cotton gin contributed more for the convenience
and comfort of mankind than was derived from the aggregated
labor of every workman in his State in five years. The idea
that this work of Whitney's should be confiscated to the use
of the public without suitable reward to him, smacks of grand
larceny.
The difference between civilization and barbarism is not more
marked in anything than in the means of communicating
thought, and in the character of the instrumentalities and
agencies provided for utilizing the forces of nature and adapt-
ing material resources to the necessities and wants of man.
This inventive genius I regard as one of the godlike quali-
ties given to man, with which to solve the problem of his ex-
istence. Nor does the influence exerted by this divine attribute
have relation merely to the physical conditions about us, but to
our moral, social and political condition and surroundings.
Place a philosopher in the midst of poverty and squalor, and
he will gravitate towards corruption and beastiality. The men
who are compelled to endure an unceasing round of drudgery
in order to subsist or exist become, ultimately, little better than
mere beasts of burden.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 385
I do not intend to intimate by this that labor is in itself de-
grading. Far from it. I do not speak of labor in its proper
sense, but of toilsome, wearing drudgery, sometimes called
labor. I^abor itself is ennobling, dignifying and refining, even
as idleness has a tendency to the reverse.
It would be well for us to look for a moment still further into
the causes which led to the insertion of the clause in the Con-
stitution which is the foundation of our Patent System. We
must study cause and effect together, and to do so, we must
look a little farther back through the pages of time than that
gathering of the fathers which framed our Constitution.
States have been carved out upon the battlefield or created in
the counsel chamber, or have grown up in the process of time
without feeling that necessity for a power, welded into the
fundamental law, to remunerate inventors and authors as public
benefactors. But a century ago the world was just entering
upon its inventive period. Scientists and philosophers were
groping after the natural laws, dragging them one by one from
their obscurity and revealing them to the wondering eyes of
the people. Invention, that is the utilization of the powers
and principles of nature, was in its infancy, being without en-
couragement or hope of reward.
In the Constitutional Convention sat Benjamin Franklin,
aged and near his end, but fresh from his intercourse with the
brilliant band of philosophers and scientists at Paris whose
audacious theories and researches were the fit harbinger of the
awful regime about to be ushered in. The world was ripe for
wondrous changes, some silent and scarcely felt, others resound-
ing through the world with their momentous and dread import.
We cannot pause to measure the relative importance of these
different changes. Suffice it that all of them hurled themselves
against the inertia of the past, that all of them proclaimed in
the ears of the startled world " The order changeth, give place
to new."
Liberty was awake and was stretching her pinions for an
awful flight. Invention was but half awake and beholding in
dreamy visions the children that were soon to be bom of her.
Her flight was at first more gradual, but increased in speed so
386 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
wondrously that of late it had been beyond the power of mortal
man to accurately mark her course.
The Patent System was the offspring of the inventive genius
of the age. Invention in turn was fostered and vindicated
the Patent System. This has gone on until the two have
become entwined with one another and inseparable.
But for the Patent System only an infinitesimal part of the
triumphs of inventive genius, which crowd about us in such
numbers that we are wholly unable to appreciate their extent
and magnificence, would have been accomplished, and if we
would cut the ground from beneath the material prosperity of
the age, there is no way in which it could be so effectively done
as by a repeal of our patent laws.
Now, what has been the effect of the system upon the con-
dition of our country ? Does it levy unjust and onerous tribute
upon the people ? Do we realize that of all the patents issued
not ten per cent, pay the inventor or his assigns the actual cost of
perfecting the invention and obtaining letters patent therefor?
Nor must it be inferred from this that these several inventions
are worthless to the community. Far from it. Bach marks a
step in the line of progressive development and is of value as
such, and for every cent paid to inventors, more than one
thousand are realized by the general public in the use of in-
ventions with or without paying proper compensation therefor.
It is true that fortunes are made out of single inventions and
the price charged for the right to use the device or machine
may appear, and often is, extravagant. But, do we stop to
reflect that we need not use it ? We have still at our command
the old way, and it would seem obvious that the new device
would not be used unless, notwithstanding the tax, it were
better and cheaper, for after all the advantage or disadvantage
to the user is what controls.
We stick to the old way unless we see a positive advantage
in substituting the new. So the profit is shared in by the
many. It is susceptible of demonstration that if the inventors
of the past century could have a just balance struck between
what they have contributed to the pecuniary advantage and
general prosperity of the community and the pecuniary profit
which they have received themselves, there would be found
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 387
due the inventors a sum in excess of the national debts of
England and the United States
I will briefly call attention to what the inventive genius of
man, prompted and encouraged by our Patent System, has
accomplished in comparatively few years. In the history of
nations centuries are brief periods. And here I may stop to
say that if I should draw a sharp contrast between the possi-
bilities under the old order of things prior to the adoption of
our Constitution, and that which is not only possible, but
commonplace to-day, I should be deemed even in the presence
of known facts as having great powers of imagination, and
taking too much liberty with truth.
But for this influence boot and shoemakers would still toil
fifteen hours a day instead of ten, and by reason of the in-
creased demand shoes might now be a luxury beyond the
reach of many.
The great famines of history have become no longer possible
on account of the improved means of transit and transportation.
All the people of the United States in 1840, with all the means
then at their command, could not have harvested one of our
present annual com or wheat crops, and had they succeeded
in doing so it would have rotted in the barns for lack of means
of transportation to spots where at the same moment famine
was reigning.
I have often called attention to the fact that one day's wages
of a Boston mechanic would pay the cost of transporting the
year's supply for his family from Chicago, the great Western
market, to Boston. Fifty years ago one month's salary would
not have been sufiicient for that purpOvSe.
The Hon. David A. Wells, in his most admirable book
entitled ' ' Recent Economic Changes, ' ' tells us that five acres
of wheat can be brought from Chicago to lyiverpool for less
than the cost of manuring one acre in England. And that
Indian com, which has been extensively raised in Italy, can
be brought from the Mississippi Valley and sold in Italy at
less than the home product, although the Italian laborer
receives but one- third of the wages of the American. A few
years ago five million people perished in one district in China
388 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
from starvation because the bountiful harvests of other districts
could not be conveyed to their relief.
Without the perfected railroad and telegraph systems, as Mr.
Wells justly observes, the war for the maintenance of the
Federal Union under the existing Constitution, could not prob-
ably have been prosecuted to a successful conclusion, and even
if no domestic strife had intervened, it is more than doubtful
whether a federation of numerous States, sovereign in many
particulars, flowing down the stream of time like an elongated
series of separate rafts linked together, could have been
indefinitely perpetuated when the time necessary to overcome
the distance between its extremities and the mere transmission
of intelligence amounted to from twenty to thirty days. So
much for improvements and transportation.
Nearly, and probably fully, one-half of all those who now
earn their living in industrial pursuits do so in occupations
which not only had no existence, but which had not even been
conceived of one hundred years ago. When Arkwright
invented his cotton spinning machinery in 1760, there were in
England about eight thousand persons engaged in the produc-
tion of cotton textiles. The introduction of his invention was
opposed on the ground that it threatened the ruin of these
working people. This was equally true of many labor-saving
machines, and is an argument that is still used in spite of the
facts. Results, however, vindicated the claim that the labor-
saving machine is a most beneficent friend of labor. Note
what followed the invention of Arkwright. I quote largely
from the work of Mr. Wells : ' ' Twenty-seven years subse-
quent to the invention the Parliamentary inquiry showed that
the number of persons actually engaged in the spinning
and weaving of cotton had arisen from seven thousand nine
hundred (7,900) to three hundred and twenty thousand (320,-
000), an increase of four thousand four hundred (4,400) per
cent., and now, including those engaged in subsidiary indus-
tries, such as calico printing, the number is two million five
hundred thousand (2,500,000)."
Mr. Wells remarks upon the singular anomaly that while
the increasing cost of labor is the greatest stimulant to inven-
tion, the laborer who finds employment in connection with the
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 389
new inventions generally commands higher wages than was
possible under the previous conditions, and, what is quite as
important to the laborer, each invention creates a new indus-
try, in which the higher and nobler faculties of the mind are
employed.
In the manufacture of certain kinds of tinware seventy-five
pieces are now produced at the cost of producing one fifty
years ago, and in every department of the tin manufacture the
cost of production has been greatly cheapened, prices to con-
sumers reduced, consumption more than quadrupled, and yet
the number of men employed in the factories has constantly
multiplied and their wages constantly advanced.
Again, I am indebted to Mr, Wells for the information that
since 1870 the price of articles of glassware, such as goblets,
tumblers, wine-glasses, etc. , has been reduced seventy or eighty
per cent, in consequence of methods which encourage labor
and improvement in quality of the manufacture. At the
same time the wages of the workmen have advanced seventy
to one hundred per cent., with a considerable reduction in the
hours of labor. On the Illinois Central Railroad the cost per
mile run for locomotive service has fallen from 26.52 cents in
1857 to 13.93 i^^ 1886, and in the same period the wages of
engineers and firemen have arisen from 4.51 cents to 5.52 cents
per mile run. In other words, the engineers and firemen who
received in 1857 seventeen per cent, of the entire cost of loco-
motive service received in 1886 forty per cent. , the reduction
in the cost per mile run being wholly effected by invention and
improvements in machinery.
The truth is really more startling than fiction. If the stories
of the writers who have regaled us by descriptions of the deeds
wrought by the supernatural powers of the mythological period
of the world were true, they would still be eclipsed by the
actual possibilities of to-day. I^t me see whether I am correct
in this. We read of what the heroes and demigods accom-
plished at the siege of Troy and in the battles in which the
upper powers were said to have taken part. Would Agam-
emnon and Archiles, leading the armies of Greece, with Mars
and Pallas fighting by their side, have been able to sustain a
seizure against Helen of Troy and her hand-maids, if the
390 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS,
latter had stood upon Trojan battlements supplied with the
modem implements of war, the Greeks fighting with the wea-
pons of their day ? It will be obvious to this convention that
the fickle Helen, aided only by her maids, could have destroyed
the armies of Greece and driven the Grecian fleets from the
Trojan Coast, or sunk them in the sea.
It is truly said that time and space have been annihilated,
but what are the illustrations ? Could the fleet Mercury, with
his winged sandals, keep pace with the messenger of Morse ?
Could Jupiter hurl thunderbolts as terribly destructive as our
1 6-inch cannon or our 20-inch mortars? Could Neptune hold
his own on the Sea against such navies as now ride the deep,
supplemented by our system of torpedoes and submarine mines ?
There is not a skillful blacksmith in the United States who
would consent to use the crude appliances of Vulcan's fabled
shop. Every youth familiar with mythology has wondered at
the malvelous feats performed by the gods and demigods. The
inventor has taught us how to surpass everything they did,
whether in the arts of peace or war.
The twelve labors of Hercules would be undertaken by any
contractor in the United States in good standing, and he would
give bond with approved security to complete the work within
half the time required by the son of Jupiter. This statement may
sound startling and exaggerated, but it is indeed the truth.
The powers we exert now are not of mythological origin, but
from the inspiration of the living God.
Those who censure the Patent System too often assume that
the inventor puts forth no effort, and that the wonderful pro-
ductions of authors and inventors involve little thought, slight
study and reflection, and next to no labor. Nothing could be
farther from the fact. I,et it be borne in mind that those whose
names appear upon the records in the United States and other
countries as patentees do not comprise the list of inventors,
even approximately. Neither would this list of inventors,
could it be accurately compiled, disclose the entire number of
those who are busy in the various fields of study, investigation
and experiment, endeavoring to solve some important problem
in art or science, to benefit mankind. The patentees are those
who reached the goal first, but a mighty army was moving to
occupy the ground, and each one of the host may have con-
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 391
tributed by thought or act to the ultimate vsuccess attained, no
matter to whom the first honor may have been awarded. Each
hoped to be the first, and, encouraged by the provisions of our
Patent Laws, he labored on to the end.
A greater number of men gave time, labor and money to the
task of inventing and perfecting the reaper and mower as we
see it to-day in the harvest fields than were employed in con-
structing the several Pacific railroads.
Caesar conquered Gaul with a force numerically less than
was employed in inventing and perfecting the parts of the sew-
ing machines that are used in the homes of our country to-day.
Sewing machines are more than two centuries old.
The roll of all those who have given earnest study and labor
to the invention and perfection of the printing press and the
steam engine would be longer than that which contains the
names of all the soldiers who fought the battles of the Revo-
lution. In short, the war to subdue the forces of nature, to
make them submissive and obedient to the human will requires
a more numerous and better trained army than was mustered
to conquer the warlike tribes of men.
A revolution in the industrial arts and applied sciences proves
of greater advantage and is more permanent and farther reach-
ing in its influence for good than the most successful political
and social revolutions. The revolution in the arts is silent
though potent. It goes forward with constantly accelerated
speed and yet so noiselessly that we are unconscious of it ex-
cept as we witness results.
The influence of the revolution wrought by the author and
inventor, through the inspiration and encouragement of the
Patent and Copyright System, is about us on every hand. It
is constantly before our eyes and palpable in fact to all our
senses. Of this we are sometimes, in fact generally, forgetful.
In conclusion, I submit that there is not a home, not a shop,
mill or factory, not a highway of travel nor an artery of com-
merce, not a field, river, lake or ocean which does not bear
irrefutable testimony of the great value of this system, and
abundantly attest the foresight of our fathers in planting in the
Constitution the seed of this fruitful harvest of rich blessing
for their children.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 393
THE RELATION OF INVENTION TO THE COM-
MUNICATION OF INTELLIGENCE AND THE DIF-
FUSION OF KNOWLEDGE BY NEWSPAPER AND
BOOK.
By Hon. Wii*i,iam T. Harris, Commissionisr of Education.
By reason of his physical nature man is hampered by three
wants — he needs food, clothing and shelter. In his first and
lowest stage of civilization man lives in a state of enthrallment
to nature. He dreads and worships the cruel forces of matter.
But by the aid of science, and invention which flows from
science, man attains domination or control over things and forces
and directs them into the service of humanity for use or for
beauty. The soul conquers nature by science and machinery,
and then next it desires to see this conquest over nature
reflected in works of art. Hence it creates architecture, sculp-
ture, painting, music, and poetry — all of these fine arts por-
traying man's victory over wants and necessities.
If the spectacle of pauperism and crime — the savagery that
still lingers in the slums of our cities sternly reminds us of the
yet feeble hold which our civilization has obtained even in
cities — if the census of mankind proves that three-fourths are
yet counted as below the line that separates the half-civilized
from the civilized — yet we are wont to console ourselves by the
promise and potency which we can all discern in productive
industry aided by the might of science and invention. This
view is always hopeful. We see that there is a sort of
geometric progress in the contest over things and forces. The
ability of man to create wealth continually accelerates. The
more he obtains the more he can obtain. The more each
one gets the more his neighbor also can get. Even the weak-
lings of society — the paupers or beggars, the insane, and the
criminals all fare better in the centres of wealth than they do at
a distance from them where there is no wealth to beg or steal,
494 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
and no asylums created and sustained by wealth to shelter
and heal their diseased bodies.
Wealth in the modern sense of the word, far more than in
its ancient sense, is self-productive. It is capital, and capital
is wealth that generates wealth. Capital represents conquered
forces and things — conquered for the supply of human wants.
Capital consists of natural forces yoked and set to work for
food, clothing, shelter and the facilities of human culture.
The three physical wants (food, clothing and shelter) are pro-
duced by Nature — ^they are the chains and fetters whereby
Nature asserts her right to enslave humanity — to keep man in a
state of thraldom.
But the Promethean cunning of man, realized first in science
and next in useful machines, has succeeded in subduing the
powers of nature and imposing on them the task of supplying
and gratifying the very needs which nature creates in us.
Nature has chained man to the task of daily toil for food,
clothing and shelter. But man turns back upon nature and
compels her to take the place of human drudgery and pro-
duce an abundance of these needed supplies and bring them
wherever they are needed for consumption. This is accom-
plished by mechanical combinations that secure the service of
steam, electricity, and various forms of earth, air, fire and
water.
This self-generating wealth that exists in the shape of capi-
tal is so much on the increase that it fills all classes of our
population with hopes, or if not with hopes, at least with dis-
contents— and discontent is certainly the product of hope
struggling up from the depths of the soul. Without the vivid
preception of a higher ideal and without the feeling that it is
attainable, there would not be any such thing as discontent.
The average production of each man, woman and child in the
United States increased, in the thirty years between 1850 and
1880, from about 25 cents per day to 40 cents — an increase of
60 per cent. This means the production of far more substan-
tial improvements for human comfort. Much more wealth is
created that possesses an enduring character and may be
handed down to the next generation. Finer dwellings, better
roads and streets, fences for lands, drainings, levelings, and
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 395
the processes necessary to bring wild land under cultivation,
artificial supplies of water and gas, the warehouses and eleva-
tors and the appliances of commerce — and finally the buildings
and furnishings of culture, including churches, schools, libra-
ries, museums, asylums, and all manner of public buildings.
If science progresses and its concomitant, useful invention,
progresses as fast for the next hundred years as it has done
for the past forty years, the vision of Edward Bellamy of
comfort for all will be realized without the necessity of any
form of socialism. There will be comfort and even luxury for
all who will labor a moderate amount of time.
Science inventories nature and discovers properties and pos-
sible combinations. Invention uses these combinations to meet
mechanical problems. Can any one doubt who looks into the
state of science and its continually improving methods that the
conquest of nature will be more rapid in the coming century
than it has been in the past century ?
But we are challenged by the question, What is the good of
annihilating the necessity for bodily toil ? Will not man de-
generate spiritually as he comes to possess luxury at cheaper
and cheaper rates ? These material advantages gained by use-
ful invention which create a steady and permanent supply of
food, clothing and shelter, are they not mere sumptuary pro-
visions and do they imply real progress in civilization ?
To this challenge we reply by pointing out the *' Relation of
Invention to the Communication of Intelligence and the Dif-
fusion of Knowledge by Newspaper and Book. ' '
In the first place it is obvious that the three classes of em-
ployments devoted chiefly to the supply of the physical wants,
namely, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce are under-
going change by aid of mechanic invention in such a manner
as to bring the laborer everywhere more and more into relation
with his fellow men. In other words, commerce increases more
and more, and becomes a part of all employments. In ex-
changing goods each gets something that he needed more than
what he parted with. But the best result of the exchange is
the acquaintance formed between the buyer and seller. Each
has learned something of the other's ideas, and modes of looking
396 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
at the world, and habits of action. Bach one's life is enriched
by the knowledge of the life of another.
Man as a spiritual being has for his problem the exploration
of the two worlds — the worlds of nature and of man. The prob-
lem is too great for the individual and he must avail himself of
the work of others. Each man may inventory a small portion
of nature different from all others. Bach one may live a life
different from another's. But the individual gets a very small
glimpse of nature by the aid of his own senses, and he gets a
very small arc of the total of human life in his survey of his
own biography.
But by intercommunication each one may extend and supple-
ment his own observations of nature and of the experience of
life by aid of the sense perceptions of others and still more by
aid of the thoughts and reflections of others.
We see at once that man is man because he possesses and
uses this means of re-enforcing his individual observations and
reflections by those of the race. Man as individual is endowed
with the power of absorbing the results of the race. We have
with this a definition of civilization and a standard of measure-
ment by which we may determine the rate of progress.
Advancement implies that there are improved means realized
by which each individual can give to the rest of mankind the
results of his living and doing and thinking, and at the same
time share in the lives, thoughts, and deeds of all others.
Looked at in the light of this definition, we shall be able to
see something more hopeful in the material progress promised
us in the coming century than a cheap supply of bodily com-
forts. We see a progressive increase of intercommunication
which will enable each individual to command the results of the
rational intelligence of all mankind.
Man is first a speaking animal and next a writing animal.
Bach word that he uses expresses a general meaning. Each
word therefore stores up an indefinite amount of experience.
All men may pour into it their experience and by it recognize the
experience of others. The art of writing at once increases in-
finitely the possibility of intercommunication, because it pre-
serves the experience recorded for persons widely separated in
space and far removed in time. It renders every where in some
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 397
sense a here and every when a. now. But mechanic invention
comes to the aid of speech and the elementary arts of writing
by printing with moveable types. Printing and gunpowder are
two great elementary arts both attributed to the Germanic race —
the two wheels of modern civilization, so to speak. But the
Anglo-Saxon has added the steam-engine and the telegraph.
The one makes locomotion possible to an increasing degree, and
the other makes instantaneous intercommunication with all
places possible.
Armed with these instrumentalities, our modem civilization
lives on a sort of spiritual borderland. It looks across its fron-
tier and is in a constant process of interaction with all other
nations. The great instrument of this process is the daily
newspaper. People are becoming from year to year a traveled
people — in a short time the per cent, of the population that has
crossed the ocean has doubled. The per cent, that has visited
the Western borderland has quadrupled. But the per cent, of
people who live in constant daily inter-relation with all man-
kind by aid of the daily newspaper has increased a hundred-
fold within a single generation.
This single fact is the most significant one in all modern
history. By a glance into its meaning we see to what an
extent our civilization has become a constant miracle.
There go to the making up of the newspaper of to-day a
vast congeries of mechanical and intellectual appliances. It is
so complete in its instrumentalities that it realizes many of the
conceptions cherished in the childhood of the race as mytho-
logical fancies. Odin's ravens, the wishing-cap of Fortu-
natus ; the cloak of invisibility, the * ' seven-league boots, ' ' the
winged feet of Mercury — in short, all appliances whereby a
then becomes a now and whereby a there becomes a here, are
well-nigh realized in the modem daily newspaper, so far
as the presentation to each man of the spectacle of the activity
of his entire race is concerned. The consequences of this fact
are momentous. It is obvious that there is an immense
shrinkage in the importance of near events, of events that
concern small transactions. The consequent enlargement of
the views of ordinary men, who form the masses of mankind,
follows as a result.
398 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
It follows also that urban life — the life of the inhabitant of
the city, with its social advantages — penetrates the country
wherever the railroad and telegraph make possible the daily
newspaper. It follows, moreover, that the mind of the average
citizen becomes habituated to thinking of the great individ-
ualities of the world, such as corporations, states, vocations,
social organizations, institutions, commercial enterprises,
national undertakings ; to seeing, in short, the activity of his
fellow-men under the form of vast processes, instead of that
former narrow view of mere individual exploits of mere com-
monplace people.
Another consequence of this is the gradual elimination of
mere local peculiarities, the limitations of caste and narrow
self-interest, and the consequent approach of the ideas of each
and every people — that participates in civilization and supports
its daily newspapers — towards a common ideal standard of
humanity. This is not a reduction of all to one insipid
standard on a lower level ; it is the elevation of the members
of the human race to the higher level of its ideal.
The daily glimpse of the spectacle of the human race, which
our generation is becoming accustomed to, combines in one
all the educative virtues of the means and appliances hereto-
fore employed by the four forms of education furnished by the
institutions of civilization, namely : the family, civil society,
the state, and the church.
In proportion as the spectacle of the whole world of human-
ity becomes an adequate one, and its presentation a complete
one, it becomes wholesome and moral.
The growth of prose fiction in modern times is a marvelous
phenomenon that is not to be explained apart from the fact of
the newspaper and periodical which has furnished the vehicle
for its transmission to the public that reads it.
Not only does the well-equipped daily newspaper represent
on its editorial staff the topics of commerce and transportation,
the courts, the local gossip, the telegraph news, the political
movements, the new discoveries in science and the useful arts,
and the new productions in the fine arts, but it gives its de-
partment of fiction, in which the manners and morals of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 399
society are reflected, the virtues and vices and their conse-
quences, and especially the habits of polite society.
If we but consider it, even the so-called ' ' trashy novel' *
has a side of usefulness. It is condemned because of its
description of empty trifles, the ceremonies and civilities of
polite society ; it expends much space in giving the outermost
appearance of things, and its characters are mere " dummies "
like those which the clothier and the milliner use to support and
display their costumes. But even these empty externalities
are interesting and valuable to the youth who is trying to rise
from a low condition into polished society by industry and the
acquirements of wealth. The boorishness of manner which
hinders him in his progress of ascent is in process of removal
through familiarity with the ways of society which he finds
described in his * ' trashy ' ' novel.
Whatever may be the causes of crime, whatever may be its
prevention or cure, there is force in the argument that the
tendency of stories of crime is to become more true to the
realities, and to present the career of the criminal in its native
hideousness. All literary art progresses toward completeness
of representation, and even the depraved taste soon tires of
stories which always describe the criminal as successful against
the law ; and the moment that the history of the criminal is
given with truth, and his deed is shown to involve its own
dreadful consequences, then even the criminal novel becomes
moral in its tone.
There is an element of revolt against what is rational in every
one of us, as unregenerate or as merely natural beings, /. e. , as
animals. It is only as we gradually learn to recognize in the
law a correct statement of our essential being that we become
reconciled to it, and take sides against the violator of justice
and right. Until then we are prone to feel interest in the out-
law, as in one who raises the banner of individual freedom.
I^iberty is confounded with license.
It is here that we approach the question of punishment as it
is involved in the newspaper. For not only is the newspaper
infinitely great as an instrumentality for education and the
widening of intelligence, but in its function of punisher of sin
and crime, it is the most terrible engine yet invented.
400 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The urban or city civilization is a newspaper civilization, if
we characterize it by the most important instrument that it has
invented. Into the daily newspaper as into a magic mirror
the modern citizen looks and sees the spectacle of the doings of
the entire world. The movements of commerce ; the transac-
tions of the various nations in so far as these are outside of
routine ; extraordinary crimes and retributions ; the events of
society ; the doings in science, art, literature, the drama, and
an indefinite domain of personal gossip — all these are presented
to the citizen, and he regularly adjusts himself each morning
to his world environment.
Formerly, before the railroad and telegraph had rendered
possible the daily newspaper, each person adjusted himself to
his narrow environment through village gossip which he heard
at the neighboring inn or at the clubs. Now, instead of village
gossip, he reads world gossip without leaving his fireside or
breakfast-table.
In the past civilization each section grew more sectional, ex-
cept in times of great wars that mingled the soldiery of difierent
localities. In the modern civilization the daily newspapers of
all lands have substantially the same presentation of the world,
and reflect more nearly the same views. The newspaper is
therefore a sort of world court, in which passing events are
brought up daily for judgment.
Under these circumstances there arises into power the majestic
presence of public opinion, a might which controls the actions
of kings, the deliberations of parliaments, and the ballots of
electors. Public opinion is become the educator of nations.
Formerly, through ignorance of the effect that overt acts might
have, nations were often precipitated into war. Now it is easy
for statesmanship to feel the pulse of nations in advance, and
by prudent diplomacy avoid extreme issues.
The newspaper is the organ of public opinion, and in this
capacity it tries and judges criminals, aftd it punishes all man-
ner of sin that escapes the whip of the law. It rewards good
deeds, and sounds the trumpet of fame before the favorites of
public opinion. The newspaper popularizes science and litera-
ture. It has a page of fiction, in which the modern literary
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS, 401
artist paints the ideals of society with halos of glory or with
satire and caricature.
When each human being beholds the same spactacle beheld
by all others, and assists all in forming the high court of public
opinion, there is realized at once the most powerful educational
means ever invented for uniting men in thought and sentiment.
Even the old-fashioned village gossip was a powerful means in
its way to eliminate from the individual his whimsicalities and
idiosyncrasies. The modern public opinion is based on world
gossip, and is far more potent for good. Mrs. Grundy's opinion
becomes dignified and oracular when it voices the verdict of
nations.
One consequence of this new realization of the magic mirror
in which all humanity is reflected is the rise of the true cosmo-
politan spirit — a mutual toleration of all peoples. A profounder
habit of considering one's fellow-men enables us to see the
same humanity under strange disguises of costume and diverse
language.
By the printed page, now universally diffused and the possi-
ble possession of every member of society, the humblest indi-
vidual has access at his own pleasure and convenience wherever
time and place find him, to the wisest and most gifted of his
race. He may penetrate by his industry during his leisure
hours their deep solutions of the problem of life, and become
himself wise like them.
Not only the printed book affords this access, but the printed
page of the newspaper comes more and more to serve up each
morning for the people of every urban population /. e.y every
city and town and every village on the railroad, a spiritual
breakfast, with many courses ; a few thoughts of the wise, a
poem or two, some popular statements of the recent results of
science, some pieces of biography and history and, chiefly, a
complete picture of the movement of the world of humanity
far and near — so complete a picture that from day to day the
events seem to march forward from inception to denouement,
before our eyes, with the consequence and necessity that we see
in the dramas of ^schylus and Sophocles. Through the prose
reality of everyday life as seen in the newspaper column there
shines the great purpose of history.
402 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
We find the printed page in its myriad forms the most potent
agency for the realization of the high spiritual being of man in
the image of God, and the most perfect means for the emanci-
pation of man from slavery to his own ignorance and passions,
and from his dependence on others for guidance and direction.
He becomes less dependent on a fellow-man for master — one
brain to govern two pair of hands — and more independent
and self-directive, more rational, and more participative in the
wisdom and goodness of the human race.
This participation has been rendered possible by the inven-
tions which have brought the art of printing to what it is and
by the other inventions that have facilitated transportation and
rapid communication.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 403
THE BIRTH OF INVENTION.
By Professor Otis T. Mason, Ph. D., of Virginia, Curator
U. S. Nationai. Museum.
"What a plastic little creature man is! so shifty, so adaptive! his
body a chest of tools, and he making himself comfortable in every
climate, in every condition." — Emerson.
In this apotheosis of invention and inventors, to me has
been assigned the pleasing task of leading you back for a few
moments to the cradle of humanity. Those are happy hours
to most of us when we recall the days of childhood. To
trace the lives of celebrated men and women to the springs
of their moral and intellectual power brings never-fading
delight. To study the rise and progress of a nation or any
social unit is worthy of exalted minds. But the most profitable
inquiry of all is the search for the origin of epoch-making
ideas in order to comprehend the history of civilization, to
conjure up those race memories in which each people trans-
mits to itself and to posterity its former experiences.
Every invention of any importance is the nursery of future
inventions, the cradle of a sleeping Hercules. But my task is
to speak of primitive man and his efforts.
It will aid us in prosecuting our journey backward to orient
ourselves with reference to the present. For two days we have
listened to the eloquent papers of my predecessors, written to
glorify the nineteenth century. Through this faculty of inven-
tion the whole earth is man's. There is not a lone island fit
for his abode whereon some Alexander Selkirk has not made
a home. Every mineral, plant and animal is so far known
that a place has been found for it in his Systema Naturce.
Every creature is subject to man ; the winds, the seas, the
sunshine, the lightning do his bidding. Projecting his vision
beyond his tiny planet, this inventing animal has catalogued
and traced the motion of every star.
But his crowning glory (which always fills me with admira-
tion) is his ever-increasing comprehensiveness. After cen-
404 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
turies of cultivating acquaintance with the discrete phe-
nomena around him, he has now striven to coordinate them,
to make them organic, to read system into them. He has
learned by degrees to comprehend all things as parts of a single
mechanism. Sir Isaac Newton and Kepler conceived all objects
and all worlds to be held by universal gravitation. And thus,
in our century, von Baer and Humboldt taught that the
world, in all its forces and materials, is an integrated cosmos.
Any one who is the least familiar with the progress of philos-
ophy will recall that since the dawn of written history the
thoughts of men were tending to this unification. Shortly
after this first effort at comprehensive unity Mayer, Rumford
and Joule invented the methods of demonstrating the oneness
of physical forces, the conservation of energy. Wollaston,
Kirchoff and Bunsen devised the delicate apparatus to prove
the chemical identity of all worlds. I^amarck, Geoffroy St.
Hilaire and Darwin taught the consanguinity of all living
beings. Helmholtz and Meyer coordinated nervous excitation
with mental activity. Comte and Spencer grasped the unity
of all sensible phenomena. Newton, Leibnitz and Hamilton
projected their minds beyond phenomena and invented mathe-
matics of four or more dimensions, conceiving of worlds and
systems that under the present order of nature can have no
objective reality. Over all this, into many great souls, have
come the notions of infinite space and time and causation.
The idea of limitation to thought or achievement no longer
enters the imagination. The depth of the sea, the distances
of the stars, the concealment of the earth's treasures, the
minuteness of the springs of life and sense, the multiplicity
and complicity of phenomena are only so many incitements to
greater achievements. The daring souls of this decade are
determined at any risk to answer the inquiry of Pontius
Pilate, What is truth ? With sympathetic enthusiasm we wave
them on, bidding them god-speed.
But, I ask you now to forget all this and go with me to that
early day when the first being, worthy to be called man, stood
upon this earth. How economical has been his endowment.
There is no hair on his body to keep him warm, his jaws are
the feeblest in the world, his arm is not equal to that of a go-
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 405
rilla, he cannot fly like the eagle, he cannot see into the night
like the owl, even the hare is fleeter than he. He has no cloth-
ing, no shelter. ' ' Foxes had holes, and the birds of the air
had nests, but this man had not where to lay his head. ' ' He
had no tools or industries or experience, no society or lan-
guage or arts of pleasure, he had yet no theory of life and
poorer conceptions of the life beyond.
All nature laughed at him. The sun said, I will blister his
skin. The storm said, I will spit upon him. The sea said, I
will drown him. The noxious malaria said, I will parch him
with fevers. The lion, the wolf, the tiger said, I will
devour him. The mountain sheep withheld her fleece and
lambs. The wild ass and the wild horse fled away in scorn.
The silly fish said, I know you not, and the birds skimmed
the air around him in mockery. There were no waving grain
fields, nor golden cornfields, nor tempting vineyards, nor
fragrant orchards.
"Poor naked wretches, on the edge of time,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides defend you
From seasons such as these ? "
King Lear^ Hi, i.
Whatever we may say of our own golden age, surely his
was not around him nor above him. If he had one at all it was
within him.
"Heaven flowed upon the soul in many dreams of high desire."
— Tennyson, "Thb Poet."
The road from that condition to our own lies next to the in-
finite. The one endowment that this creature possessed hav-
ing in it the promise and potency of all future achievements,
was the creative spark called invention. The superabundant
brain over and above all the amount required for mere animal
existence, held in trust the possibilities of the future, and
stamped upon man the divine likeness. This naked ignoramus
is the father of the clothed philosopher, looking out into infin-
ite space and time and causation. It may give you pleasure
to know something about the connections between these two
and the witnesses to these connections.
4o6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
There are five guides whose services we have to engage on
our interesting journey. The first is History, who does not
know the way very far back — not over three thousand years —
with much certainty. The second is Philosophy, the study of
which in our own century has enabled us to find the cradle-
land of many peoples. The third is Folk-Lore, the survival of
belief and custom among the uneducated. The fourth is Arch-
aeology, history written in things. The fifth is Ethnology,
which informs us that in describing this arc of civilization some
races have only marked time, while others have moved with
radii of varying lengths. The result of this is that we now
have on the earth types of every sort of culture it has ever
known. At the present moment, within hailing distance of yon-
der most beautiful dome in the world dwell all these witnesses
— the relics of the stone age, the Indian village of Nacochtank
or Anacostia, the folk-lore of both continents, and the litera-
tures of the world. While you are listening to the encomiums
of our decade, palaeolithic man sends in the testimony of his
handicraft, the Smithsonian Institution treasures the inventions
of the most primitive races, and the Bureau of Ethnology un-
ravels the mysteries of savage tongues.
As the fragment of a speech or song, a waking or a sleeping
vision, the dream of a vanished hand, a draught of water from
a familiar spring, the almost perished fragrance of a pressed
flower, call back the singer, the loved and lost, the loved and
won, the home of childhood, or the parting hour, so in the
same manner there linger in this crowning decade of the crown-
ing century bits of ancient ingenuity which recall to a whole
people the fragrance and beauty of its past.
From the testimony of these five witnesses we learn that
there never was a time when man was not an inventor — never
a time when he had not some sort of patent on his invention.
They afiirm that every art of living and all the arts of pleasure
were born in the stone age ; that graphic art, sculpture, archi-
tecture, painting, music and the drama, had their childish pro-
totypes in that early day ; that language is one of the very
earliest of inventions, the vehicle of savage oratory, philosophy
and science. They affirm that society has been a series of in-
ventions from the first ; that legislation, jUvStice, government,
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 407
property, exchange, commerce, have not sprung out of the
ground but within our definition are inventions. And even the
creeds and cults of mankind, whatever view you may take of
the divine element underneath them, have been thought out
and wrought out with infinite pains from time to time by earn-
est souls. But they had their origin in the cradle-land and in
the infancy of our race. What we enjoy is only the full-blown
flower, the perfected fruit of which they possessed the germ.
I^t me enforce this idea, as we glorify the material prosperity
of the nineteenth century, that many centuries ago men sat
down and with great pains and sorrow invented the language,
the art, the industries, the social order which made our machines
feasible and desirable.
There is no conflict between the testimony of these witnesses
and the doctrine commonly taught that men do not invent
customs and languages, but fall into them. Reflect a moment
upon your own daily life and you will recognize two sets of
activity, those which you originate and those in which you
follow suit. Animals can learn to follow suit, and to a veiy
limited extent can originate. But it is the divine spark of
originality which underlies every thought or device in this
world. As one man invents a machine and others by thousands
fall into the use of it, as the musician composes a song and
millions sing it, so was it in the cradle-land of humanity, the
inventor, touched with fire from the divine altar, set new
examples to be followed. If we were to interrogate our five
witnesses particularly with reference to the ancestry, the
family tree of the notable inventions of the nineteenth century,
their answer would be somewhat as follows. We ought to
remember, however, that an invention is not always a thing ;
but that it may be any series of actions conducing toward some
new end. Keep in mind, also, that all our activities involve
tools, processes and products, and that invention may take
place in any or all of these.
The ancestor of the steam plow is the digging-stick of
savagery, a branch of a tree sharpened at the end by fire ; the
progenitors of the steam harvester and thresher were the stone
sickle, the roasting-tray, or, later on, the tribulum.
4o8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
The cotton gin and power loom are among the wonders of
our age. Yet in that day of which we are speaking human
fingers wrought the textile from first to last. They gathered
the bark or wool, colored them to suit the primitive taste, spun
and wove them with simple apparatus and left upon the fabric
patterns that are the despair of all modem machine-makers —
patterns that are a pleasure to the eye by their infinite variety,
replaced in modern fabrics by a dreary monotony that awakens
pain instead of pleasure.
The first sewing-machine was a needle or bodkin of bone,
with dainty sinew thread from the leg of the antelope, and for
thimble a little leather cap over the ends of the fingers.
Coarse, indeed, the apparatus, but the hand was deft, the eye
was true, the sense of beauty was there, and so that needle-
woman of long ago wrought in fur from the mammals, feathers
from the birds, grasses from the fields, shells from the sea,
wings from the beetle and skins of snakes, with tasteful geometric
figures. You do err who think those ancient needlewomen
had no taste. It would be hard to invent a pattern now that
was unfamiliar to them.
The first engine was run by man power, then man subdued
the horse, the ass, the camel and invented engines for those to
propel. He next domesticated the winds, the waters, the
steam, the lightning, but the first common carriers and machine
power were men and women. The first burden train was
women's backs; the first passenger car was a papoose frame.
And even now, while I am speaking to you, more heavy loads
are resting on human shoulders than upon all the pack animals
in the world. Hence our nursery rhyme —
Rock a by baby on a tree top,
When the wind blows
The cradle will rock.
When the bough bends,
The cradle will fall.
Down will come cradle,
And baby and all.
The poetry of to-day is the fact of yesterday, the dream of
yesterday is the fact of to-day. When the savage woman a
century or two ago, upon this very spot, strapped her dusky
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 4^9
offspring to a rude frame, hung it upon the nearest sapling for
the winds to rock, or lifted the unfortunate suckling from the
ground to which it had been hurled by the bending of an unsafe
bough, that was a fact, a stage in the history of invention. In
our now-a-days couches of down, swung from gilded hinges,
we have got far ahead of the papoose cradle, the memory of
which we perpetuate in nursery rhymes sung to children, who
wonder why babies should be hung in the tops of trees and
think, doubtless, that the falling cradle was a just retribution
on the silly parents.
What is more beautiful than an ocean steamer, with skin of
steel drawn over ribs of steel and closed above against the in-
trusion of the waves. Have you never seen the picture of the
Eskimo, still in the stone age, who, over a framework of drift
wood or whale's rib, stretches a covering of sealskin and learned
therein to defy the waves hundreds of years ago ?
Only now and then the angry sky was lighted for the primi-
tive man by electricity, and even then it filled him with terror.
But it was he that invented the apparatus for conjuring from
dried wood, by a rude sort of dynamo, the Promethean spark.
It was our Aryan ancestors that paid their devotions to the
rising sun by kindling fresh fire every morning as the orb of
day flashed his first beam across the earth.
Who has not read with almost breaking heart the story of
Palissy, the Huguenot potter. But what have our witnesses
to say of that long line of humble creatures that conjured out
of prophetic clay, without wheel or furnace, forms and decora-
tions of imperishable beauty, which are now being copied in
glorified material in the best factories of the world ? In ceramic
as well as in textile art the first inventors were women. They
quarried the clay, manipulated it, constructed and decorated
the ware, burned it in a rude furnace and wore it out in a
hundred uses.
He had no printing press, but he could tie knots in a
marvelous fashion and write letters on bark or on bits of raw hide
and leave memorials of himself in the book of stone. He
made words and sentences, invented language, developed
artistic forms of speech handed down to us in the eloquent
4IO PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
harangues of his sages. He breathed his thoughts in poetry,
a kind of childish rhythm.
In the time of which we now are speaking the telegraph was a
series of signal fires and a marvelous code of signs, which a
distinguished scholar of our city has just unraveled.
Primitive man developed the art of war, means of offense
and defense ; weapons of percussion, for cutting and thrusting ;
projectiles, armor, fortification, strategy.
Nowhere has man pressed his hand so effectively upon nature
as in the domestication of animals. It is almost incredible that
ravening wolves and merciless felines should become faithful
dogs and purring cats ; that the wild sheep and goat should
descend from their inaccessible fastnesses, and yield their fleece
and flesh and milk ; that horses, asses, camels, elephants,
should be induced to lend their backs and limbs to lighten the
loads of the first common carrier. This process of impressing
his own qualities on wild creatures began very early in history
and has continued uninterruptedly from first to last.
In the uncertainty of the marriage relation and of paternity,
he provided every woman with support and every child with a
home, through his ingenious gentile system.
His affairs of state were managed through his patent sys-
tem. The great inventors were made the rulers of the people,
and his highest title to nobility was a most puissant and inge-
nious one.
He had courts of justice, heard witnesses, executed his laws.
It is true that the methods were summary, when a chancery
suit was settled by an execution on the same day as the death
of the devisor. But out of his struggles came our methods,
and the greatest drawback to securing justice now is the survi-
val of his antiquated customs into our new practices.
He invented philosophies and sciences, explained the uni-
verse and himself to himself. This seems puerile now, but it
was the beginning of all our own speculations, necessary to us
at present, but which will to-morrow become folk-lore. Over
and over again, those who preceded me on this platform have
pointed to James Watt as the true deliverer of mankind. Far be
it from me to take one leaf firom his laurel crown ; but the in-
ventor of the alphabet, of the decimal system of notation, of
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 411
representative government, of the golden rule in morality, were
greater than he.
For the dream in stone and carving and decoration called a
cathedral,
"Where, through long-drawn aisle and fretted vault,
The pealing anthem swells the notes of praise,"
that early day has only to offer wild shouts in unison under the
starlit dome, touched by the first childish aspirations after the
divine or hopes of immortality.
While you look with admiration upon these panoramas of
progress you cannot have failed to observe on the canvas that
the art, the process of inventing itself, has undergone the very
same development and improvement as the things invented.
There is in this a marvelous similarity to the life processes of
animals and plants. The homogeneous yolk of the ^%% during
incubation becomes wonderfully complex and heterogeneous ;
but all of these diverse parts come together into a higher unity,
in which each organ ministers to the good of all. The earliest
invention was a single homogeneous act, an original suggestion,
a happy thought. The patent on this was an immediate and
individual benefit. A sharper knife of flint, a better scraper,
a longer spear, a stouter thread wrought better, and the reward
was more execution. Now, the man who made the best weapons
killed the most game, from that game he got better food, that food
made him stronger, that strength made him chief, that chief-
taincy gave him more wives, more children, more cohorts to sup-
port his throne. The best woman to cook or sew or carry loads
got the best husband; that was her patent. From these simple
methods of inventing and rewarding invention we come on to the
Olympic games, the monopolies, the patent system. And now,
in the inventor's laboratory of Graham Bell or Edison the climax
is reached, where one machine is the cooperative result of any
number of trained minds, and the reward is meted out to each by
the manufacturer; or, in this Patent Congress itself, we may have
a still more highly organized unit, wherein the inventors of
America become a body social, and together shake hands under
the sea with the Emperor of Germany, who sends his congratu-
lations to-day on the occasion of our meeting.
412 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
We are assembled to glorify the first century of American
patents. A few months ago the disciples of Daguerre met
in our city and set up in the National Museum a monument to
the inventor of photography. I do not know that there is
another memorial in America to an inventor. There is no
better way to insure for posterity the recollection of this day
than by stimulating among the great industries the desire to
continue this good work of memorializing their founders. Per-
haps you may not build your monument of stone or bronze,
you may set up a library, you may solicit a corner in the
National Museum or Congressional I^ibrary, or you may secure
a better Patent building.
In our public places we set up statues of the destroyers of
mankind and erect monuments in our national cemeteries to
the anonymous dead. When we go to hang garlands upon
the eulogium-bearing tombs, we do not forget to scatter flowers
upon the mausoleum of the unknown.
We cannot gather from the four corners of the world the
bones of all the great inventors and honor them with a costly
burial. Even their names have perished from the records of
mankind, but their works endure. What better can we do
than to gather these and guard them in our great museums,
mute witnesses of antiquated arts. I can imagine these anony-
mous inventors looking upon us to-day and glad of this tardy
recognition of their vicarious sufferings.
With loving recollection of your labors I pluck a flower
from my heart and strew its petals over your neglected graves :
"lufreta dumfluvii current, dum montibus umbrae
lustrabunt convexa, polus dum sidera pascet,
semper honos nomenque tuum laudesque manebunt,
quae me cumque vocant terrae." Aneid /, 607.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 413
AMERICAN INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES IN
MEDICINE, SURGERY AND PRACTICAL SANITA-
TION.
By John S. Bii^wngs, M. D., Surgeon U. S. A., Curator, United
States Army Medicai, Museum.
In connection with this celebration of a century's work of
the American Patent System, I have been requested by the
Advisory Committee to prepare a brief paper upon inventions
and discoveries in medicine, surgery and practical sanitation,
with special reference to the progress that has been made in
this country in these branches of science and art.
It would be impossible to present on this occasion such a
summary as would be of any special interest or use, of the pro-
gress which has been made in medicine and sanitation during
the century, either by the world at large or by American
physicians and sanitarians in particular ; and I shall therefore
confine my remarks mainly to the progress which has been
made in these branches in connection with mechanical inven-
tions and new chemical combinations devised by American
inventors — which will require much less time.
The application of the patent system to medicine in this
country has had its advantages for certain people, has given
employment to a considerable amount of capital in production
(and to a much larger amount in advertising), has contributed
materially to the revenues of the government, and has made a
great deal of work for the medical profession.
So far as I know, but one complete system of medicine has
been patented in this country, and that was the steam, Cayenne
pepper and lobelia system — commonly known as Thomsonian-
ism — to which a patent was granted in 1836. The right to
practice this system, with a book describing the methods, was
sold by the patentee for twenty dollars, and perhaps some of
you may have some reminiscences of it connected with your
414 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
boyish days. I am certain I shall never forget the eflfects of
'* Composition Powder," or of ** Number Six," which was
essentially a concentrated tincture of Cayenne pepper, and
one dose of which was enough to make a boy willing to go to
school for a month.
From a report made by the Commissioner of Patents in 1849,
it appears that eighty-six patents for medicines had been
granted up to that date ; but the specificatons of most of those
issued before 1836 had been lost by fire. The greater number
of patents for medicines were issued between 1850 and i860.
The total number of patents granted for medicines during the
last decade (i 880-1890) is 540.^
This, however, applies only to ' ' patent medicines, ' ' properly
so-called, the claims for which are, for the most part, presented
by simple-minded men who know very little of the ways of the
world. A patent requires a full and unreserved disclosure of
the recipe, and the mode of compounding the same, for the
public benefit when the term of the patent shall have expired ;
and the Commissioner of Patents may, if he chooses, require
the applicant to furnish specimens of the composition and of its
ingredients, sufficient in quantity for the purpose of experiment.
The law, however, does not require the applicant to furnish
patients to be experimented on, and this may be the reason
why the Commissioner has never demanded samples of the
ingredients. By far the greater number of the owners of pana-
ceas and nostrums are too shrewd to thus publish their secrets,
for they can attain their purpose much better under the law
for registering trade-marks and labels, designs for bottles and
packages, and copyrights of printed matter, which are less
costly, and do not reveal the arcanum.
These proprietary medicines constitute the great bulk of
what the public call ' ' patent medicines. ' '
The trade in patent and secret remedies has been, and still is,
an important one. We are a bitters-and-pill-taking people ; in
the fried pork and salaeratus biscuit regions the demand for
such medicines is unfailing, but everywhere they are found. I
I For these figures, and other data used in this paper I am indebted to
my friend Mr. H. H. Bates, Chief Examiner in the Patent Ofl&ce.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 415
suppose the chief c6nsumption of them is by women and chil-
dren— with a fair allowance of clergymen, if we may judge
from the printed testimonials. I sampled a good many of them
myself when I was a boy. Of course, these remarks do not
apply to bitters. One of the latest patents is for a device to
wash pills rapidly down the throat.
According to the Census of 1880 there were in the United
States 592 establishments devoted to the manufacture of drugs
and chemicals, the capital invested being $28,598,458, and the
annual value of the product $38,173,658, while there were 563
establishments devoted to the manufacture of patent medicines
and compounds, the capital invested being $10,620,880, and
the value of the product $14,682,494.^
A patent automatic doctor, on the principle of ' ' put a quar-
ter in the slot and take out the pill which suits your case, ' '
has been proposed, but this patent is said to be of Dutch and
not of American origin. The idea of this may have come
from Japan, for an old medicine case from that country which
I possess, has four compartments filled with pills, and the
label says that those in the first compartment are good for all
diseases of the head, those in the second for all diseases of the
body, those in the third for all diseases of the limbs, and those
in the fourth are a sure vermifuge.
From the commercial and industrial point of view the great
importance of patent and proprietary medicines is connected
with advertising. The problem is to induce people to pay
twenty-five cents for the liver-encouraging, silent-perambulat-
ing, family pills, which cost three cents. Some day I hope that
the modern professional expert in advertising will favor us with
his views as to the nature and character of those people who
were induced to buy Jones's liver pills or Slow's specific by
means of a huge display of these names on the sides and roofs of
barns and outbuildings, which display forms such a prominent
feature in many of our American landscapes, as seen by the
traveler on the railway. I suppose there must be such peo-
ple, for I have a high estimate of the business shrewdness of
the men who pay for these abominations. I should also like
2 See the Lancet^ October 5, 1889, p. 683.
4l6 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
to know how much a farmer gets for allowing his buildings to
be thus defaced. He must be hard-up ; indeed such a display
indicates that the place is probably mortgaged and that the
poor man is heavily in debt.
Even the soap advertisers are not as guilty as the nostrum-
makers in this particular style of nuisance, although they far
exceed the latter in viciousness when it comes to applying art
to ignoble purposes. The connection between progress in
medicine and soap advertisements may not be clear to you,
but it exists nevertheless, for many of these soaps make work
for the doctors by producing skin troubles.
Upon the whole, I should think that the number of people
who would take some trouble to avoid purchasing an article
which is thus advertised must be rapidly increasing, so that
such displays will soon be no longer profitable. The great
importance of advertising does not relate to the placard or
chromo business, but to its relations to periodical literature —
to the daily and weekly press and the monthly magazines and
journals.
To the establishment and support of some of our news-
papers and journals, medical as well as others, these pro-
prietary and secret medicines, cosmetics, food preparations,
etc., have no doubt contributed largely.
I am sorry to say that I have been unable to obtain definite
information as to the direct benefits which inventions of this
kind have conferred on the public in the way of the cure of
disease or preventing death. Among the questions which
were not put in the schedules of the last census were the follow-
ing, namely: Did you ever take any patent or proprietary
medicine? If so, what and how much, and what was the
result ? Some very remarkable statistics would no doubt have
been obtained had this inquiry been made. I can only say
that I know of but four secret remedies which have been really
valuable additions to the resources of practical medicine, and
the composition of all these is now known. These four are
all powerful and dangerous, and should only be used on the
advice of a skilled physician. Most of such remedies have
little value as curative agents, and some of them are prepared
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 417
and purchased almost exclusively for immoral or criminal
purposes.
In France the sale of secret and patent medicines is not
allowed unless they have been examined and approved by the
National Academy of Medicine, and the same general rule
holds good in Italy and Spain.
The Japanese have followed the French method, and their
experience is interesting. The Central Sanitary Bureau estab-
lished a public laboratory for the analysis of chemicals as a
medicine. The proprietors of each of such medicines were
bound to present samples, and the names and proportions of the
ingredients, directions for its use and explanations of its sup-
posed efficacy. According to a report in the British Medical
Journal, during the first year there were 11,904 applicants for
license to prepare and sell 148,091 patent and secret medicines.
Permission for the preparation and sale of 58,638 different
kinds were granted, 8,592 were prohibited, 9,918 were ordered
to be discountenanced, and 70,943 remained to be reported ou-
The great majority of those which were authorized were of no
efficacy, but few being remedial agents ; but their sale was not
prohibited, as they were not found to be dangerous to the
health of the people. 3 I do not vouch for these figures, which
throw our records entirely in the shade.
In 1849 a special committee of the House of Representatives
reported to the House a bill to prevent the patenting of medi-
cines, accompanied by a report. This bill provided that after
the passage of the act letters-patent shall not be granted for
any article whatever as a medicine, provided that this shall not
apply to machines, instruments or apparatus. When the matter
came before the House for consideration the bill was laid on
the table.4
You are all aware that the great majority of the medical
profession consider it to be improper and discreditable for a
physician to patent a remedy. The Medical Code of Ethics
declares that it is derogatory to professional character * ' for a
physician to hold a patent for any surgical instrument or medi-
3 British Medical Journal, July 3, 1880, vol. ii, p. 24.
4 Congressional Globe, March 3, 1849, P- 697.
4i8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
cine ; or to dispense a secret nostrum whether it be the com-
position or exclusive property of himself or others. For if
such nostrum be of real efficacy, any concealment regarding it
is inconsistent with beneficence and professional liberality ; and
if mystery alone give it value and importance, such craft im-
plies either disgraceful ignorance or fraudulent avarice. It is
also reprehensible for physicians to give certificates attesting
the efficacy of patent or secret medicines, or in any way to pro-
mote the use of them." Like all legislation, this is a formal
declaration of the customs of the profession, which customs
are of great antiquity. The principle upon which it is founded
is thus expressed by lyord Bacon : "I hold every man a debtor
to his profession ; from the which, as men of course do seek to
receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to
endeavor themselves by way of amends to be a help and
ornament thereunto. ' '
The rule, however, is not always adhered to by physicians,
the most notable exception having been, perhaps, the use of
Koch's lymph before its composition was revealed. As regards
the patenting of surgical instruments and apparatus, the opinion
of the great majority of physicians is in accordance with the
rule just stated, but there are some who question its propriety,
although they obey it — and there are few who would not use
a patented instrument in a case to which they thought it was
applicable.
The total number of surgical instruments and appliances
patented during the past decade has been about 1,200, the
patents having been in almost all cases taken out by manufac-
turers. With these may be classed dentists' tools and appa-
ratus, of which about 500 have been patented during the last
ten years, and in this field of invention the United States leads
the world. The same may be said with regard to artificial
limbs, of which our great war gave rise to many varieties.
As you know, the law prescribes that a patent may be given
for a "new and useful art, machine, manufacture or composi-
tion of matter." I used to think that the word "useful" in
this law had its ordinary meaning, and, therefore, wondered
exceedingly as to why the Patent Office examiners allowed
patents to certain things which came under my notice. One
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 419
day, however, I received an article from the Patent Office, with
the request for a report as to whether it was useful in the sense
in which that word was used by the Office, namely, ' ' not per-
nicious or prejudicial to public interests — capable of being
used " — and then for the first time I understood one of the first
principles of the patent law of the United States, that is, that
it does not take into consideration the degree of utility in the
device, or, in other words, that "useful" means "harmless."
If a patent is granted to a medicine, it must be as a composi-
tion of matter as a special article of manufacture. The prac-
tice of the Patent Office in these matters is not generally under-
stood. It does not now consider that medical prescriptions are
inventions within the meaning of the law, or that a mere aggre-
gation of well-known remedies to obtain a cumulative effect is
a patentable composition of matter. A certain number of claims
for Government protection in the form of patents or trade-marks
are made for medical compounds or for >apparatus, under false
pretences; that is to say, the claim is for a new remedy for rheu-
matism or dyspepsia or displacement, with a warning against
their use under certain conditions, the real design being that
they are to be used under precisely these conditions in order to
procure abortion, etc. These are sometimes difficult cases for
the Patent Office to treat properly, for the law does not allow
a large discretion for refusal on mere suspicion, and where there
is ostensible and possible utility (in the Patent Office sense) it
can hardly reject the claim on the ground that the invention
might be used for immoral purposes.
I said in the beginning that I cannot on this occasion give
any sufficient account of the progress of invention and discovery
in medicine and sanitation during the century just gone. The
great step forward which has been made, has been the estab-
lishment of a true scientific foundation for the art upon the dis-
coveries made in physics, chemistry, and biology. One hun-
dred years ago the practice of medicine, and measures to pre-
serve health, so far as these were really efficacious, were in the
main empirical — that is, certain effects were known to usually
follow the giving of certain drugs, or the application of certain
measures, but why or how these effects were produced was un-
420 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
known. They sailed then by dead-reckoning, in several senses
of this phrase.
Since then not only have great advances been made by a con-
tinuance of these empirical measures in treatment, but we have
learned much as to the mechanism and functions of different
parts of the body, and as to the nature of the causes of some of
the most prevalent and fatal forms of disease ; and, as a conse-
quence, can apply means of prevention or treatment in a much
more direct and definite way than was formerly the case. For
example, a hundred years ago nothing was known of the
difference between typhus and typhoid fevers. We have now
discovered that the first is a disease propagated largely by
aerial contagion and induced or aggravated by over-crowding,
the preventive means being isolation, light and fresh air ;
while the second is due to a minute vegetable organism, a
bacillus, and is propagated mainly by contaminated water,
milk, food and clothing ; and that the treatment of the two
diseases should be verj' different.
The most important improvements in practical medicine
made in the United States have been chiefly in surgery, in its
various branches. We have led the way in the ligation of
some of the larger arteries, in the removal of abdominal tumors,
in the treatment of diseases and injuries peculiar to women, in
the treatment of spinal affections and of deformities of various
kinds. Above all, we were the first to show the uses of anaes-
thetics— the most important advance in medicine made during
the century. In our late war we taught Europe how to build,
organize and manage military hospitals ; and we formed the
best museum in existence illustrating modern military medicine
and surgery. Our contributions to medical literature have
been many and valuable ; and our government possesses the'
largest and best working medical library in the world. We
have more doctors and more medical schools, in proportion to
the population, than any other country, and while this is not
good evidence of progress, I am glad to be able to say that the
standard of acquirements in medical education has been, and
is now rising, and our leading medical schools are now being
equipped with buildings, with apparatus, with laboratories.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS. 421
and most important of all, with brains, which enable them to
give means of practical instruction equal to any to be found
elsewhere.
As regards preventive public medicine and sanitation, we
have not made so many valuable contributions to the world's
stock of knowledge — chiefly because, until quite recently, we
have not had the stimulus to persistent effort which comes
from density of population and its complicated relation to
sewage disposal and water supplies ; nor have we had the in-
formation relative to localized causes of disease and death,
which is the essential foundation of public hygiene, and which
can only be obtained by a proper system of vital statistics.
We can, however, show enough and to spare of inventions in
the way of sanitary appliances, fixtures and systems for house
drainage, sewerage, etc. ; for the ingenuity of inventors has
kept pace with the increasing demands for protection from the
effects of the decomposition of waste matters, as increase of
knowledge has made these known to us. The total number of
patents granted for sanitary appliances during the last decade
(1880-1890) is about 1,175. If good fixtures necessarily in-
volve good plumbing work, we could easily make our houses
safe so far as drainage is concerned ; but a leaky joint or a
tilted trap makes the best appliance worthless. The im-
pulse to improvements in this direction has come mainly from
England, where most of the principles of good work of this
kind have been developed ; but we have devised some details
better adapted to our climate and modes of construction, and
while many of the patent traps and sewer-gas excluders are
only useful in the patent law sense, and some not even in that,
it is nevertheless true that the safety, accessibility and good
appearance of plumber's work has been largely increased
during the last few years by patented inventions. Much the
same may be said with regard to heating appliances, including
ventilating stoves and fireplaces, radiators, etc., but I am
unable to express any enthusiasm with regard to what are
commonly called patent ventilators.
No doubt the greatest progress in medical science during the
next few years will be in the direction of prevention, and to
422 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CONGRESS.
this end mechanical and chemical invention and discovery
must go hand in hand with increase in biological and medical
knowledge. Neither can afford to neglect or despise the
other, and both are working for the common good. If the
American patent system has not given rise to any specially
valuable inventions in practical medicine or in theology, it
must be due to the nature of the subjects, and not to any fault
of the system.
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 423
ADDRESSES AT THE BANQUET OF THE BOARD
OF TRADE OF WASHINGTON, D. C.
Aprii, 10, 1 89 1.
The honorable M. M. Parker, President of the Washington
Board of Trade, made the following address of welcome to the
guests assembled in the banquet hall at the Arlington Hotel on
the evening of April 10, 1891 :
ADDRESS OF WEI.COME.
The Washington Board of Trade appreciate the compliment
of being able to contribute to the entertainment of those repre-
senting the inventive genius of progressive Americanism.
Rarely ever has our city been permitted to entertain a more
distinguished gathering than that which has been in attendance
upon the ceremonies incident to the beginning of the second
century of the American patent system. When I say this, I
pay you no idle or empty compliment, since it must be remem-
bered that during the past five years national and international
conventions have been held here.
I do not think it possible to overestimate the importance of
the congress just held. Its benefits will be far-reaching, and it
will mark an important epoch in our country's progress. It is
hoped that one of the results will be the erection in Washing-
ton of a magnificent building in which can be displayed our
working models. In the Treasury to-day are nearly $4,000,000
covered in by the inventors of the country through the Patent
Ofi&ce. Congress could well afibrd to appropriate this money
for the erection of this building. [Great applause.] I want
to say that if our influence is needed, I will pledge you the
support of the Washington Board of Trade in the accomplish-
ment of this purpose. [Great applause.]
Gentlemen, the world moves as a result of your lives. Elec-
tricity lights up the universe and is fast becoming the motor
power. Edison, in Melno Park, jogged the world a hundred
424 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
years. You whisper in your telephone and you sympathize
with your friend in Chicago, or you buy stocks in Wall street.
You drop a nickel in the slot and you listen to the voices of
loved ones that have long since gone over the river. [Applause. ]
Alexander Graham Bell has annihilated space and cuddled the
cities of the Republic around a single fireside. I refer to the
application of these great inventions, not for the purpose of
discriminating against the celebrated universal clothes-wringer
[laughter] or the barbed wire combination safety mouse-trap
and a thousand other inventions.
We recognize with pleasure the presence of the honorable
Commissioners of the District — gentlemen of the highest
integrity, gentlemen whose administration meets with the
approval of the people of our city.
We cannot forget, nor would you have us, that to-night we
celebrate the centenary of the Capital of our country, our
home, your home, the nation's home. When we shall have
listened to one of our esteemed citizens address himself to this
question at the proper time, I know you will raise your glasses
and join with me in such enthusiasm as is proper to an
American.
We also feel greatly honored by the presence of the Cabinet
Ministers, the advisers of the President in the administration
of good government, and I want to say to you that so long as
you are our guests you will not be importuned for office. [Ap-
plause.] I want to say further that so far as I know not one
single member of the Washington Board of Trade holds a pub-
lic office, nor do I think he would accept one, save as a com-
pliment to the administration. [Great applause.]
It is for this organization, representing not only hundreds
of millions of dollars, but the most generous people and beau-
tiful city on earth, that I have the distinguished honor of wel-
coming you to our hearts, our homes and to our hospitable
board. [Great applause.]
Gentlemen, the first regular toast of the evening, which is
always drunk standing, and which every American drinks
with enthusiasm, is to the President of the United States.
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 425
The third* regular toast, * ' The Supreme Court of the United
States, as Related to the American Patent System," will be
responded to by Mr. Justice Harlan.
RESPONSE BY MR. JUSTICE HARI^AN.
Mr. President, looking over this programme, I observe that
every possible phase of the patent system, the establishment of
which has been celebrated in this city during the present week,
has been covered. The distinguished gentlemen who have
consented to address you will say all that occasion requires.
Surely then, sirs, nothing more is expected of me than that I
shall acknowledge, as I do most cordially, the courtesy shown
to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Congress, invested by the Constitution with power to promote
the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for lim-
ited times to inventors and authors the exclusive right to their
discoveries and writings, exerted that power shortly after the
organization of the government by appropriate legislation, and
the courts have given effect to that legislation.
The decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States
bear testimony to the fidelity with which that tribunal has
endeavored to carry into effect the provisions of the Constitu-
tion and the enactments of Congress. I take leave, sir, to say
this much, nothwithstanding those whose patents which have
not been sustained quite naturally believe that the court has
not always decided correctly. [Laughter.] It is the misfor-
tune of the courts that they cannot please everybody. All
that they can do is to decide rightly as they see it, regardless
of the consequences to individuals.
I cannot take my seat, Mr. President, without congratulating
the army of inventors who have come to the National Capital
to celebrate the inauguration of a system which has done so
much for our own people, and, indeed, for all mankind. I
must congratulate the Washington Board of Trade upon the
interest which this royal banquet has added to the occasion.
You, sir, and your associates of that board, are worthy repre-
* The addresses at the banquet which were upon topics not related to
the American patent system are omitted.
426 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
sentatives of the business, the trade and the prosperity of
Washington. We all, and indeed the whole country, owe a
debt of gratitude for what you and they have done towards
accomplishing the task, which is near to the hearts of every
American, of making this beautiful city the most attractive
spot in all the world. [Great applause.]
The Chairman. The fourth regular toast, ' ' The Future of
the American Patent System, ' ' will be responded to by Secre-
tary Noble.
RESPONSE BY HON. JOHN W. NOBI,E, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.
Mr. President and gentlemen, my first duty and my great
pleasure is to acknowledge to you, and the Board of Trade you
represent, and to those distinguished gentlemen who are your
guests, the very high compliment of calling upon me so early
to respond to a sentiment so full of significance and hope as
" The Future of the American Patent System."
We stand at the opening of a new century, both for the in-
ventive genius of our land and for the Capital of our country.
It is an occasion worthy of the deepest patriotism and of the
freest expression of approbation as to the past and hope for the
future.
That I should have been particularly called upon is, I feel,
and I have felt during the past week, a little out of place. I
am not after all so very familiar with patents, although the
Secretary, ofiicially, of the Department of the Interior. In
fact, a gentleman, an old soldier friend of mine, came in the
other day in deep indignation after he had been through the
different bureaus of my department, and among the rest had
seen the Commissioner of Patents, with his vast array of clerks
and the great business which he was performing with that sig-
nal ability that marks the present incumbent of that oflfice.
[Applause.] And he said ; ' ' General, it is a shame ; it is a
shame, that you should be the Secretary to all these Commis-
sioners around here." " You ought to be a Commissioner
yourself; confound it, you have earned it." [I^aughter.]
Well, I have earned it, there is no doubt about that.
But, gentlemen, I wish to say another thing before I enter
upon the future of the patent system, and that is that there is
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 427
a man I believe already existing that has discovered the great-
est patent, yet unknown to fame, that history has recounted.
I was in Russia a few years ago (I used to travel some before I
became Secretary ; but then it stopped), and while there I
heard of a man, who in early daj^s had emigrated from Moscow
to St. Petersburg ; he had wended his way over bog and hill
until he arrived at the place where he could make a substantial
living. After he had grown in years there came a railroad laid
down by the rule, without regard to commerce or anything else
except the necessities of the military — straight as a line could
be drawn between St. Petersburg and Moscow. The old man
heard that prices were cheap and the time was short in which
he could go to his old home, and he determined one day to go.
And packing up a great valise, thinking that possibly he might
be longer than he expected, he got on the train and started for
his old home. The train coming from Moscow met that from
St. Petersburg about half way. They have a drink there— I
do not think that we have anything here to-night quite as
strong as it is. It is called Vodka, and it is a little stronger
than alcohol. [Laughter.] When the old man got off the
train he met an old friend from Moscow who saluted him and
they went into a restaurant and sat down, and as is the custom
among these people, they had a glass or two of Vodka. When
he came out his train had gone on to Moscow. He got on the
train on which his friend was traveling, sat down and had a
good old time. As the train went on towards St. Petersburg,
from whence he had just come, he began to notice certain
familiar objects on the way, and at last he awoke to a realization
of the situation. "Now," he says, "is not this a wonderful
age ? " " They cannot only invent railroads, but they have got
a train here that is carrying you to St. Petersburg, while I am
going to Moscow, at the same time." [Great laughter.] So,
we have got something left to attend to yet, gentlemen.
I have been listening over here at the Music Hall to a num-
ber of very able papers, and I will say, without exaggeration,
that I heard the most eloquent and at the same time instructive
papers (although I have been conversant with men who talk
and with conventions throughout this country) that I have
428 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
ever listened to, and I think the most conducive to the pros-
perity of this country. [Great applause.]
After I had listened a few hours and understood that I had
to deliver a toast, as they call it — it means a speech — I thought
I would go and get some books because I needed them, and I
sent a note to the librarian of the Patent Office to send me
some books about this patent business, and he said : They are
all out ; these men who are in the convention have consumed
them all ; and, Mr. Secretary, we cannot send you a volume.
[Great applause.]
Thereupon I addressed myself to my own consciousness and
tried to evolve and invent a speech. Now, gentlemen, in order
to measure that great and glowing future of this noble land of
freemen, let us for a moment turn our glance backward and
see from whence has come this mighty progress ; this great
enlightenment ; this great enlightenment beneath the Consti-
tution of the United States. There was a time beyond this
century that has just been finished when institutions that man
had created were such that they subjugated man, both body
and soul, within their confines. There was no such thing as
personal liberty. There was no such hope as human aspira-
tion had a right to expect. The time grew on until at the
beginning of the century now just closed the agitation of the
people, and the aspirations of the souls of the land of other
nations and of our own were such that the shackles were
broken, the thorns that existed before were cast in the dust,
and the spirit of man, in all its nobility and possibilities, stood
upon the surface of this earth with no confines beyond those
of the utmost liberty, and no controller but the Almighty who
made him. When that time came, invention, the power to
conceive and bring into action formed, along with all other
intellectual faculties that have made history illustrious, and
from that day it arose as from a virgin soil, and sought, even
in distant lands, as our country then was, the opportunity upon
a new field to make new efforts in behalf of humanity. It
was then and not before that the inventive genius of our race,
strong in its physical power, with the gray matter in its brain
greater than that of any other people, found an opportunity to
do and to imagine what it were well to do and to accomplish
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 429
it. If you take the history of the Patent Office you will find
that when it was initiated there was no great rush of patents.
In 1790, the anniversary of which you celebrate on this loth
day of April, in the whole year there were but three patents
granted. Was the mind of man awake to the opportunity ?
Had the spirit of this land beea cultivated so that it could
understand a patent ? No ; the truth is, and you men, I think,
will bear me out in the statement, it takes almost as great in-
telligence in a people, for whom a patent is intended, to under-
stand it, as it does in the man who makes it to invent it.
If you go to China you can have imitation perfected. If you
ask a Chinese to make a retort that is broken on the neck, he
will bring you back a dozen in exact imitation, even to the
break. While they aspire to the claim of being the inventors
of gunpowder, it was not until a member of the Jesuit order
had introduced it that they understood the use of a cannon.
If you take the telescope to them as a people who claim to
know the mysteries of the stars and the secrets of astronomy,
they place it, as an ornament, to be admired as a to3\ It is in
vain, my friends, to look for success to the inventor except he
be, with his free thought and his far-striking intelligence,
among a race equal to him and capable of making the applica-
tion of his invention when it comes to daily use. [Great ap-
plause.]
Let me say another thing, among the very few things that I
shall address you upon. I have heard it discussed how far
the love of gold is the incentive of the inventor. Its pros and
cons have been presented on yonder stage with abilit3^ Now
for myself let me say that for honest effort and labor and all
that wins gold, nobody will advocate a reward more generously
or more emphatically than myself The man that has earned
it ought to be able to enjoy it. But when you come to tell me
that the genius which presides in the human soul, bom of the
spirit of the age, which age is the age of liberty, is stimulated
by the spirit of avarice, I deny it, and I say that that earth-born
spirit never inspired a noble thought or created a single inven-
tion. Go to Benvenuto Cellini, who cast the statue of Per-
seus, and who while in its clay in the furnace, was stricken
down with a fever. He arose debilitated, and threw the imple-
430 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
ments of his household into that furnace to make the flux
which eventually evolved that sublime work of genius, and
then tell me that he was stimulated by the love of gold, and I
deny it, in the spirit of genius and art. Tell me that Pallissy,
when he was attempting to discover the enamel for pottery,
and in the last extremity, when the furnace was about to cool
and his compound yet had not received the glaze necessary
he seized the furniture of his house and cast it into the
furnace, was stimulated by the love money, and I deny it, in
the name of trade and commerce. [Applause.] If you tell me
that Goodyear, when he, at the last extremity was still seeking
to vulcanize the rubber that had become a new element in the
productive arts and a new article in commerce, sold the school
books of his children that he might carry his experiment to its
conclusion, did it in the spirit of avarice, and I deny it, in the
name of the intelligence of the race to which I belong.
[Applause.] If you tell me that Benjamin Franklin, when he
stood day by day questioning the clouds, while his soul was
filled with patriotism and the love of liberty and man, was
seeking a pecuniary fortune, I deny it, in the sentence that has
become immortal, that " He seized from the clouds the light-
ning and from the King and tyrant his sceptre." [Applause.]
I^et us not, inventors and gentlemen, in this age, when pre-
sumption has grown gigantic, but when, thank God, intellect
in congresses like this have proved the Ulysses that can master
the giant with one arm — as he always is — let us not introduce
the golden calf into the temple of the Almighty God. [Ap-
plause.]
What more shall I say ? From this spirit of the past, the
increasing, all generalizing spirit of the age of freedom, of lib-
erty and constitutional government, what may we not expect
for the future ? He would be a vain man who in a presence
like this were to attempt in detail to announce what he sup-
posed the inventions of the future might be. If he could do
it, he should immediately resign from the office that I hold and
go upon the field of invention and make his fortune. That
thing is impossible. But gathering from the thoughts that I
have thus inefficiently and poorly expressed, may we not say
this for our land, for our home, for our people and its leaders
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 431
in thought, that its institutions are broad enough, that its in-
tellect is strong enough, and that the hidden forces of nature
and the opportunities of art have enough yet undeveloped
within them for that spirit under such institutions to develop
yet more and more as the years roll by, until this nation, as it
has been distinguished in the past for liberty and invention,
will become more and more marked among the nations of the
earth for the labors of those who, while they may pursue an
individual ambition, like their country and their country's
laws, seek more the great good of all humanity than any indi-
vidual attainment. May we not hope that here, in the great
city of Washington, whose possibility as a capital has been
made by your inventions that have shrunk the globe and made
the center and the circumference the same, both those from the
inland and from the far distant coasts, may yet come to view,
either in the Department of the Interior, or something that
shall relieve that heavily burdened officer from a part of his
care and yet be as distinguished as anything that he has ever
presided over — a Department devoted alike to the benefit
of the people, and, as it has been, to the support of the Gov-
ernment, in which shall be exemplified, in all its different
aspects, the inventive genius of our people, and have within it
such an abundance of room that those who labor to give to the
patentee his title to the creation of the brain, shall not be
smothered in small compartments and crowded rooms. May we
not hope that the legislators of this land, who seek their sup-
port from their constituencies and the emoluments and bene-
factions they may bestow upon them, shall yet find them so
enlightened by the intelligence conveyed by the inventor by
rail and telegraph, by press and lightning, that they shall
say to him : "Do you cease to look to your district, and
begin to look to the Nation." [Applause.] "Do you cease
to erect within the small district that does not need it a vast
building costing millions, and do you expand the organization
of the Constitution and government, so that its functions shall
not only be easily but freely performed that the Nation may
receive the full benefit of the laws and of the intelligence of
the land." L<et the sectional spirit die out. [Applause.] Let
sublime intelligence that comes like the sunlight from heaven
432 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
over all our broad land, warm the hearts of the South and of
the North until they meet in one common aspiration for the
good of the Nation. [Applause.] Let the genius of the land
inspire the creative heart of both sections to rivalry and let
arms reside in the background, and if used at all be used
against our foreign foes. Let this bond of union, growing
from the soil and inspired by the genius of the land find in this
beautiful city at the capital of our common country, that home,
that beautiful home, where all that it has created shall be
exhibited, which is in the spirit of the present, because the
spirit of the present has in it all the past has developed, as it
has also in it all the opportunities of the future ; and let that
hall rise in beautiful proportions and make in the beginning
of the next century that temple, in which love of country,
with genius, shall preside beneath the solemn form of justice
and guarantees of constitutional liberty.
The Chairman. The fifth regular toast, ' 'American Patents
from a Financial Standpoint," will be responded to by Hon.
Charles Foster, Secretary of the Treasury.
RESPONSE BY HON. CHARLES FOSTER.
Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : I, too, have my acknowl-
edgments to make to the Chairman and the Board of Trade,
for two reasons ; first, because I thought the toast was one of
pretty large proportions, but he relieved me of that fear by
preparing the speech himself ; and, secondly, for what he said
here to-night, which is certainly a very great relief, that the
Board of Trade will not importune me for an ofiice.
I hardly know, gentlemen, how to undertake to respond to
this toast : * 'American Patents from a Financial Standpoint. ' '
I think we all agree, and I do not wish to touch upon the
domain of politics, I think we all agree that the protective
principle was never yet applied to an American manufacturer
without a reduction in price. We Republicans all claim that,
and I do not think it is disputed by any one. How much the
inventive genius of this people have to do with it no one can
determine. I apprehend that this great reduction in prices,
when American genius takes hold of a thing, is due to the
patent system, to the inventions of our people. If I were to
undertake to measure in dollars and cents the benefits to the
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 433
people and to mankind that have resulted from inventions, I
am afraid that I could not furnish the figures to sustain it. But
I have been asked to-night, I suppose, to make a speech upon
a single point, and that is from a Treasury standpoint, to state
the receipts and disbursements of the Government from this
source. Your Chairman very kindly furnished me a memor-
andum this morning, but being a little bit suspicious of boards
of trade, I thought I would verify it myself from the Treasury
figures. It is but just to say to the Chairman of the Board of
Trade that his figures were substantially correct, and I find the
facts to be about as follows :
The first patent law was passed in 1790. It seemed to have
been unsatisfactory, and the receipts were very small, the total for
forty -six years up to 1836 being only about $300,000. We
have no means now of ascertaining the expenses during that
period. The first favorable patent law was passed in 1836, and
the receipts in 1836 were $15,000 ; expenses, $8,000. From
1836 each year shows a large increase of receipts and expendi-
tures, until 1890, when the receipts were $1,347,000 and the
expenses about $1,000,000, the annual profit about $350,000 ;
the total net profits up to date about $4,000,000.
Now, gentlemen, the Secretary of the Interior has eloquently
portrayed the necessity of a building in this city that shall be
fit in all respects to accommodate the inventors of the country.
I answer for the Treasury, and say, if you can get our intelli-
gent Congress [laughter] to make the appropriation I will see
that the Treasury foots the bill. [I^aughter.]
The Chairman. The sixth regular toast, ' ' Relations of
Patents to the Law," was to have been responded to by the
Hon. W. H. H. Miller, Attorney General. In his absence the
Secretary of the Board of Trade will read his response.
I^ETTER FROM HON. W. H. H. MII.LER.
The Secretary of the Board of Trade read the letter as follows:
Department of Justice,
Washington, D. C, April 10, 18 pi.
Mr. Myron M. Parker, President Washiyigton Board 0/ Trade.
My Dear Sir: I regret that it is impossible for me to be with
you to-night at the Patent Centennial banquet.
434 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
' ' The relation of patents to law ' ' is quite the reverse of their
relations to almost everything else. In the arts, manufactures,
agriculture, mechanics, trade, and, in short, in almost every-
thing, patents give benefits. From the law they ony receive
benefits. The old saying that "Necessity is the mother of
invention ' ' is much less a general truth than formerly.
The law is the creator of patents. In the laboratory of the
law, thought, ideas, inventions are crystalized into value and
become property, and thereby invention is stimulated and the
results are the amazing discoveries and stupendous progress of
the nineteenth century. The Patent Office is a sort of a free
coinage mint, where every man's ideas are coined into property,
labeled and returned to him for use at whatever the world will
give for them. Why not have the Government " fiat " a value
for each patent, so that a seventy -cent idea will go for a dollar ?
The effect of patents on the law is slight. Its fundamental
principles as to property rights, ' ' Thou shalt not steal, " " Thou
shalt not bear false witness, " "So use thine own as not to injure
that of another, ' ' were about as well understood by Moses and
Solomon as by Mansfield and Marshall, or the jurists of West-
minster and Washington to-day.
The applications of the law, resultant from inventions and
progress, are infinitely multiplied, but the principles are un-
changing and unchangeable. Property in patents is safe-
guarded upon exactly the same principles, and for the same
reasons as property in potatoes, viz : Natural ownership of the
results of individual labor," whether of the hand or head.
But there is no property in the law. No man can make a
discovery and get a patent on any part of it. No monopoly,
no corner, no trust, has any exclusive, peculiar, or superior right
in or claim on the law. It is the inestimable heritage of all
citizens, as equal tenants in common, the expressed conscience
of the whole people, growing with their growth, developing
with their development, sensitive and vigilant, or dull and in-
efficient, according to the condition of public morals.
In the law is the patent of the rights and liberties of all. To
the law all are amenable for their conduct. And for the law
all are responsible as its makers. Very truly yours,
W. H. H. MiLi^ER.
The eleventh regular toast, "American Patents in the
Army," was responded to by General Lewis A. Grant,
Assistant Secretary of War.
RESPONSE BY GENERAI^ LEWIS A. GRANT.
The War Department of the Government does not deal in
patents, and, as a rule, does not use patented articles.
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 435
Many of the most important inventions within the Depart-
ment are not patented, because they are not for general use.
They are the implements of war and destruction, and the
inventor generally has blood in his eye, and people generally
do not care to speculate in these inventions. The main effort
of the Department is not to secure patents and the right to
use them, but to secure exclusive use, as against foreign
nations ; and in that, secresy is sometimes necessary. And
yet the Department receives great benefit from the stimulation
to American genius developed by our system of patent laws.
Perhaps no part of the Government has felt their influence
more potently.
In all that pertains to our Government, there has not been
more striking and remarkable improvements within the last
one hundred years, or even in the last quarter of a century,
than in the arts and implements of war. While the navies of
the world have been active in constructing armor (to resist the
force of shots and projectiles), the Army has kept along in its
construction of guns and projectiles capable of penetrating or
shattering the heaviest and strongest armor made.
The inventive genius of General Rodman, of the Army,
aided in improvement and development by Professor Tredwell,
has given to American guns the quality of strength, resistance
and force of propulsion heretofore unknown. General Rod-
man secured a patent, but the principle has been wrought
upon and improved, probably far beyond his expectations.
The strength of texture and the resisting power which has
been attained is simply marvelous ; and by improved projec-
tiles and explosives a power of propulsion and a distance of
range and accuracy of aim have been reached not generally
known.
Before 1849 our most powerful gun was a lo-inch cast-iron
smooth bore, which, with a charge of fourteen pounds of
powder, would drop a one hundred pound ball considerably
within the well-known marine league. Now the same size of
bore, the lo-inch rifled gun, uses 250 pounds of powder, and
hurls a projectile of 575 pounds with about fifteen times the
force of the smooth bore of forty-two years ago. This, indeed,
is efiective, but its power is small compared to the 16-inch
436 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
steel gun, which explodes one thousand pounds of powder,
and hurls a projectile of a ton's weight with an initial velocity
of lifting 60,000 tons one foot, and of penetrating, at five
miles distance, the heaviest and strongest armor afloat.
Very important indeed, in connection with these heavy and
long-range guns, is the more recent invention of one of our
Army officers, of what is known as the ' ' range-finder. ' ' By
means of this invention the distance of the range, the pro-
pulsive force of the gun, the weight and shape of the projectile,
the resistance and movement of the air, and the velocity of the
vessel or moving target, are all taken into account and
accurately adjusted, so that the destructive projectile is hurled
against and into the fated target at a distance of five or more
miles with almost as much precision as was formerly attained
by our smooth bore muskets at a distance of five rods.
The interrupted screw breech mechanism, so largely used in
this gun and generally called French, was developed and per-
fected in this country, and was in many essential features
covered by Chamber's patent in 1849.
The steel wire wound gun, the inception of which dates
from 1856, now an active competitor for public favor, is the
invention of an American, Dr. W. B. Woodbridge.
The recent improvement in powder, the distinguishing fea-
ture of which is its slow burning property, has much to do with
the great force of propulsion obtained in the use of modern
guns. One improvement serves to increase the strength of the
gun ; and the other to reduce and control the strain upon it,
and both are largely due to American invention. This prop-
erty in the poU'der was fully appreciated and successfuly pro-
duced by the studious investigations of Mordecai and Rodman,
both officers of the Ordnance Department.
One of the latest improvements is the so-called smokeless
powder, which has already been adopted in some degree by
other countries. But our inventors have not been slow in
entering this field, and we already have several smokeless pow-
ders invented by Americans, among whom are Maxim and
Houghton, promising great results. The revolving cannon is
the result of the invention of Hotchkiss. The Catling gun,
that terrific repeater, is known by all, and the inventor whose
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 437
name it takes is probably known to many of you. The
Gatling gun is a revolver while the Maxim will deliver hun-
dreds of shots per minute from a single bore.
But it is not upon the large guns alone that we rely for
military operations of aggression and defense. These require
heavy and intricate machinery for handling, and their use, and
firing is necessarily slow ; while the smaller guns can be
handled with more ease and fired with greater rapidity, and
the result is more destructive than that of the larger guns,
although not at so great a distance. The condition and efl&-
ciency of American arms, and the machinery and skill used in
handling them, may well invite an assailant to closer quarters.
Within the last few days, much has been said about the pow-
erful navy and the heavy guns of a European nation, and fear
has been expressed that such heavy armament might enter the
harbor of some of our larger cities. So far as the Army is
concerned, we would gladly let them come. Let them come in
if they want to ; they would go no more out forever.
So perfectly and effectively has the work of destruction been
planned and carried out, that within a surprisingly short time
there can be placed beneath the waters' surface an indefinite
number of destructive explosives ; and those can be so arranged
that vessels passing over them will cause explosion and their
own ruin. Or they may be so arranged that vessels may pass
over them unharmed, and arrange themselves in line of battle
ready for attack ; and then by a simple touch on the shore —
it may be from the hand of a small child — there will come
instantaneous explosions all along the line, sufficient to destroy
in an instant of time the largest fleet finding room in one of
our harbors.
There is also ready and waiting for any foreign invader the
pneumatic dynamite torpedo gun, wholly an American inven-
tion, largely due to Mr. Mefford, but Captain Zalinski is
entitled to much credit in its development. * * It is a veritable
innovation, in that compressed air is used in place of gun
powder to propel the projectile, charged with high explosives."
It is capable of hurling a tremendous mass of dynamite through
the air and against a vessel, causing its complete destruction.
Again, if the work of destruction is not already complete, we
will plant on shore in safe positions groups of mortars, sixteen
438 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
forming a group, from which the most destructive explosives
can be at once hurled high in the air ; and so nicely is the
propulsive force, distance of range, and other considerations
taken into calculation, that they may be made to drop with
wonderful accuracy upon the offending vessel. It will do more
than pierce the joints of the vessel's armor ; these huge and
destructive missiles will drop upon the upper deck, penetrate
the ship, explode and destroy it.
These things are not mere theories in the minds of American
inventors ; nor do they exist simply in the models in the Patent
Office, but they exist in terrible reality, and any nation beliger-
ently inclined is respectfully invited to test them.
The improvement in small arms and all the paraphernalia of
war has not been less marked, and the American inventors hold
a conspicuous place. Our machinery for manufacturing is of
the latest and most improved kind. ' ' We were early in the field
to substitute machinery for hand- work, and the first to perfect
the machinery for making any number of parts of different arms
to be assembled at will. ' '
The superiority of our small -arms cartridge manufacturing
has been equally well marked, and the machinery for this,
which was devised at the Frankfort Arsenal in 1886 by J. G.
Gill, the master mechanic, is a model of excellence.
The present service rifle is the Springfield single breech-
loader, a weapon which has proved most valuable in our frontier
service, and one which it will be difficult to replace. But the
small bore magazine rifle is attracting great attention, and
repeated and successful experiments are now being made with it.
But it is not in guns and arms and munitions of war alone in
which we excel, or upon which we depend. Almost every
invention within the range of human skill is utilized in some
way for the purposes of the Army. The horse and the mule
and the army wagon are used in their place for purposes of
transportation, but the best and fastest steamboats, and all the
constructions and appliances of railroads are used in the trans-
portation of troops and supplies, and in the concentration of
forces. The telegraph and the telephone are used in the trans-
mission of orders and information. Signals and balloons, and
all the devices of aerial navigation are utilized to obtain bird's
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 439
eye views of the enemy's camp, and in watching his move-
ments. And by means of the photographer's art the exact
condition of the enemy and his defenses are caught by the rays
of the shining sun, transmitted to paper, and laid before the
Commander of an Army for his information and inspection.
With the best of guns and small arms, and all the equip-
ments of war, with all the appliances and inventions for moving
troops, and so concentrating armies with an effective force of
more than three millions of stalwart men, ready for the field,
sustained and supported by more than sixty million of loyal
hearts — among whom are the mothers and daughters of the
nation — our Army is invincible to any force that can be brought
against it. The American standard is full high advanced, and
forcibly sustained. With the increasing strength of our Navy
and maritime commerce, our flag shall not only proudly wave
over all our land, but it shall spread its ample folds in every
commercial port of the globe.
The thirteenth regular toast, "American Patents in the
Navy," was responded to by Hon. J. R. Soley, Assistant Sec-
retary of the Navy.
RKSPONSE BY HONORABI.E J. R. SOLEY.
It is no small satisfaction in rising before an assemblage that
represents the advance guard of technical science in America,
to speak in behalf of an establishment whose highCvSt aim and
most earnest effort are to keep in the forefront of scientific and
mechanical progress. Nine years ago the Navy of the United
States was composed of a collection of rapidly decaying wooden
ships, propelled by antiquated engines, and armed with
smooth-bore guns. So far from advancing, its condition since
the war had been one of steady deterioration. Its vessels and
its guns were a subject of derision at home and of contempt
abroad. To-day the Department is engaged in the building
of twenty-five modern steel ships, three of them battle -ships
of 10,000 tons displacement, and two more will shortly be
added to the list. In these vessels every device has been
put that the inventive ingenuity of the age could suggest.
The triple-expansion engine, the dynamo, the sub-divided
structure and double-bottom, the modern pneumatic and hy-
440 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
draulic appliances, the multitude of contrivances for propulsion,
for distillation, for steering, for ventilation, for hoisting, for
defense against projectiles, for excluding the dangerous inrush
of water, for increasing the efficiency of the armament, have
made the modem war-ship, with her machiner)% and her main
and secondary batteries, a structure so complex and so diversi-
fied in its innumerable details as to call for the application
of inventive skill in nearly every department of mechanical
science.
Back of all this lies the vast advance which recent years
have shown in the materials of construction, in the steel
itself by means of improved tools, improved processes of
manufacture, improved combination of elements, in frames
and plates, in castings, in armor, in gun forgings. When
the high and exacting requirements of the Navy Department
in the quality of steel which it called for were first made
known, it was doubtful if the manufacturers could furnish it ;
but the mechanical skill of the country showed itself equal
to the demand, and the result has been a product which has
no superior in the world. The progress less marked in materials
and in mechanical devices, stupendous as it has been during
the last few years, seems to be without bounds or limits that
man can fix. Truly it may be said that in the field of the
inventor or working with the applications of naval science,
there are no horizons.
It is in this vast field of mechanical enterprise that the
bureaus of the Navy Department are now at work ; and such
has been their success that we have to-day a fleet, built or
building, which though small numerically, is unsurpassed in
the types of which it is composed, ship for ship, by any navy
in the world ; and it is a fleet constructed of American material,
built by American labor, and embodying in its design the
genius of American invention.
I cannot help quoting here, although public notice has already
been taken of them, the remarks of Mr. J. H. Biles, the emi-
nent English naval architect, in his paper read four weeks ago
before the Institute of Naval Architects, where he says of our
new battle-ships : ' ' They are distinctly superior in most re-
spects to any European vessels of the same displacement, and
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 441
for the purpose of protecting the American coast-line they seem
to be quite a match for any ships afloat. ' '
From the time when David Bushnell devised, and Robert
Fulton developed the torpedo ; when Fulton again applied the
steam-engine to navigation ; when Ericsson, a fellow-citizen by
adoption, went a step further, and invented the screw pro-
peller ; when the same Ericsson, following in the footsteps of
Timby, applied the movable turret to armored ship construc-
tion— down to the time of Dahlgren, Parrett, Hotchkiss, and
others of equal or greater eminence who are present here to-
night— naval architecture has been under a heavy debt to the
inventor of this country. The patent laws give security to the
property of the inventor ; but it is a problem above and be-
yond law to give security to the wealth and prosperity, indi-
vidual and national, with which the community has been
endowed by the inventive skill of its citizens.
The nation that grows rich and prosperous excites the envy
of its rivals. It must provide for its defense. It is for this
purpose that the Navy exists, and it is this work that its offi-
cers, if we will only give them the right weapons and plenty
of them, stand ready to accomplish. The country which, by
the hands of its inventors, has thus cast its bread upon the
waters will then find it returning after many days ; and the
debt which the navy is under to the mechanical skill of
America, it will repay four-fold by the security and protection
it affords to the fruits of American labor.
The fifteenth regular toast, * ' American Patents in the Postal
Service," was responded to by the Hon. S. A. Whitfield, First
Assistant Postmaster-General.
RESPONSE BY HONORABI^E S. A. WHITFIEI<D.
Swift once defined invention as being the talent of youth and
the judgment of age. If this definition is accepted as correct
it will be conceded, I think, that the talent of this country is
in that particular precocious to a degree absolutely unprece-
dented, or else it has attained the judgment of age at a period
when, according to comparative chronology, it should be barely
on the threshold of early manhood. We have here, perhaps,
the best illustration of the maxim that * ' Those who are least
442 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
governed are best governed;" and, in fact, the touch of the
government is so light that in most localities the only tangible,
visible evidence of its existence is found in the various ramifi-
cations of the postal service. I do not, therefore, draw
invidious distinctions between departments when I claim that
the one I have the honor to represent here to-night is the most
notable beneficiary of American inventive genius. It is because
this service has come home to every nook and corner of our
land, that we are able to say that in a domain of practical
human achievements we have benefited most because we have
presented most opportunities and most direct association.
In one great branch of the department, the Contract Ofiice,
we occupy a position perhaps unique in the history of
mechanical appliances. We not only invite competition by
public advertisement, but for the protection of the Govern-
ment we reject articles not actually patented. In fact, so
numerous have become the patented articles in use in the
postal service that a separate clause is inserted in all contracts
requiring parties supplying the various equipment to furnish a
bond protecting the Government from possibility of damages
growing out of infringement. No better object lesson could
be offered the student of mechanical invention than would be
afforded by a study of the splendid rotary registrj^ lock in
use to-day in securing packages filled with valuable matter or
passing between our great commercial centres, and the one in
use even at a period as late as 1880. I^osses under the former,
though inconsiderable, reached a respectable percentage,
while under the latter they have grown so small as to be almost
incapable of mathematical calculation. In fact, the unfor-
tunate thief is now reduced to the necessity of stealing the
whole pouch. It is a phj^sical impossibility for him to get
into it and conceal the evidence of his crime. A short time
ago the Department found that it had in its possession more
than 250,000 mail locks, for which it was offered the magnifi-
cent sum of twenty cents a hundred pounds. These locks had
cost the Government fifty-seven cents each. They could not
be used at this time without a change of keys and combina-
tions. As usual in this country, the occasion produced
demand ; and with a single blow of the die, and at a cost of
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 443
about five cents each, every one of these 250,000 will be made
available for service, and a most excellent lock restored to use.
I could more easily and quickly enumerate what would be
left in the service were the fruit of American ingenuit}^ with-
drawn, than I could give you a list of useful patents now in
use. We begin with locks of all descriptions and run the gamut
through the long scale of mail pouches and fastenings of all
descriptions, bag racks, mail-bag catches, stamping pads, lock
boxes, and keys, and soon down to the latest and perhaps most
notable invention of stamping-machines for cancellation of
stamps and back stamping of letters. Three samples of these
machines are now in use at the Washington office, and would
well repay a visit of inspection. One of them recently can-
celled, under the supervision of the board of our own officers
convened in the city of New York, 14,615 pieces of unaSvSorted
miscellaneous mail matter in thirty minutes, and others have
attained a speed of from seven thousand to nine thousand in
the same time. Thus, while each machine relieves for other
useful work from four to six men previously employed in
stamping letters by hand, it performs the still more important
function of shortening radically the time that elapses between
the receipt of the letter at the central office and its delivery to
the addressee.
The high rate of speed attained by the trains on our main
trunk roads leaves little room for shortening the time actually
consumed in the transportation of mails between our great
cities. The latest and most troublesome problem is to over-
come the difficulties attendant upon the distances between
the central offices and outtying stations, consequent upon
the thronged condition of the streets in all our business
centers. The attention of the Postmaster-General has been
especially directed to the loss of time experienced there, and
at an early date we design to avail ourselves of the agency of
pneumatic tubes, at least experimentally in this work. If this
shall prove a success, it is believed that the difficulties imposed
by time and space are as nearly overcome as it is possible for
mere human agencies to accomplish. Recent advances in
telegraphy and improved methods in all branches of this great
system have led the Department to desire to avail itself of them
444 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
to an extent not possible under the limitations of the existing
contract.
As a brief and final illustration of the prolific genius of our
inventors, it may be interesting to know that under a recent
advertisement issued by the Postmaster-General for private
letter boxes to be used by individuals and firms, 577 models
and designs were presented to the Board convened in Wash-
ington City, to which may be added about 200 communications
containing suggestions more or less valuable. There are to-day
in the Post-Office Department, awaiting the action of a Com-
mission soon to be appointed, more than a hundred designs for
improving the mode of closing the present leather 'mail pouch
now in use. It is no longer a question of finding something
suitable for the wants of the Government, but rather one of
deciding, among so many excellent designs, which is the most
excellent.
The seventeenth regular toa^t, ' * American Patents at the
World's Exposition," was responded to by Hon. Benjamin
Butterworth, secretary of the World's Columbian Exposition.
RESPONSE BY HON. BENJAMIN BUTTERWORTH.
Mr. Chairman : It is now after two o'clock in the morning,
and if I were the sworn enemy of each one of you, I do not
think I could have the heart to detain you here to make a
speech. Even if I were disposed to make one, you would not
be disposed to listen to it. What I had contemplated saying I
will use in response to another toast at another centennial on
some other occasion. If I draw these papers on you, I trust
you will not feel disturbed. It is only for the purpose of
stating what I desire to omit, not what I propose to say.
You have swept the whole horizon in respect to patents, both
those which are utilized in peace and those which are available
in war. I am asked to say something with regard to American
patents at the centennial. The truth is, I might as well try to
give you an account of all creation, and there will not be any-
thing there that has not some relation to our American patent
system.
If you will hear me for one single moment, I desire before
I refer to that to show what the opportunities there are, and
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 445
what they will be for exhibiting everything that pertains to the
American patent system, and all other things of interest. We
may well take pride in this great enterprise. We may well
take pride in that aggressive spirit of the great West which has
contributed more to the enterprise than any city or State or
^nation has ever heretofore contributed. It is true, my own
desire was that this great enterprise should be held at Wash-
ington City, and it was fit and proper that it should be so held.
Other persons desired that it should be held in New York.
But our people are becoming a little anxious as the course of
empire takes its way westward, that those beyond the Alle-
ghanies, those in the interior, should have a chance. The
people of the country desire to turn the Federal cow around.
She has had her head on the other side of the Alleghanies, but
her udders have been stripped on this side. It was determined
to turn the animal around, so that she can now be fed east of
the Alleghanies and the lacteal food will be poured out upon
the West.
It has been decided that this great exposition shall be held
at Chicago. It has met with the most generous, warm-hearted
support from every quarter of Europe. I desire to call your
attention for but a moment to the opportunities for exhibition
that will present themselves there. Chicago is a city of over
eleven hundred thousand inhabitants, inhabited by the most
enterprising people in the world. From the boot-black to the
mayor, each one believes that Chicago was foreordained from
the foundation of the world to be the metropolitan city of the
continent, and in this belief they work according to their faith,
and their works have justified their faith.
There can be no more conclusive fact that they intend to
make the exposition the event of the nineteenth century, than
that they have pledged to this enterprise $17,000,000,
$12,000,000 of which they have already raised. The great
State of Illinois, one of the youngest of the sisterhood of States,
carved out of this great Northwestern territory, will add
$1,000,000. Some twenty States of the Union have already
appropriated $1,500,000 and the other twenty odd States will
follow that with more than $2,000,000 ; in addition the Gen-
eral Government has appropriated $1,500,000 making in all
446 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
$25,000,000 appropriated to offer conveniences for the taking
account of the stock of our civilization and to ascertain what
we have done during the last century that shall go down
through all the centuries.
I have been in Chicago a little while, long enough to take on
that natural reticence and diffidence which is characteristic of
that people in speaking about what they are about to accom-
plish. [Laughter.] Now as to the site selected. It lies front-
ing the waters of Lake Michigan, and embracing as handsome
parks as can be found on either continent. The number of
acres to be covered by the main buildings to be constructed for
the purposes of the exposition will be double that of any ever
held. The greatest floor space provided by any previous ex-
position was at Paris in 1889, which contained a trifle over
seventy-five acres. The floor space that will be covered by the
main buildings at Chicago will be over 150 acres. The area
devoted to the exposition will contain a thousand acres, with
five or six acres adjacent for overflow. Those who have ex-
amined the plans for the buildings, and who are experts, assert
that they have never been surpassed in architectural beauty
and in adaptability to the purposes intended. Every single foot
of this space will be utilized to show what the genius of man
has planned during the last few centuries and that which will
be worthiest of use, and about which you will linger longest,
which has done most for our civilization, most to bring us
peace and make it permanent will be that which is due to the
ingenious inventors of the last fifty years ! [Applause.]
I am asked what will be seen there ? Now the patent sys-
tem is related to the fair. How is the patent system related
to civilization ? The civilization of my country would not have
passed the Indian line up to this, 1891, but for the inventive
genius of my countrymen, and the American patent system,
which was the first really formulated and made practicable
by a nation.
As I said to-day, nations have been carved out upon the
field of battle and planned in the council chamber ; but never
until the founding of a free government in this country did it
occur to man to encourage inventors and authors as public
benefactors.
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 447
How will the American patent system show itself there, or
in other words, how will invention find expression there ?
What is invention in its broadest and best sense ? It is the ap-
plication of ideas to the needs of man, no matter whether the
idea find expression in a spoon or an engine or a sewing ma-
chine, in the telegraph or in the ten thousand inventions less
consequential in their separate significance. The author is an
inventor, although he may deal with a different class of sub-
jects than those which find expression in material things.
So far as the material world is concerned, there is not a lab-
oratory in the world that has produced anything worthy of use
that will not be seen in Chicago. There is not a shop which
has produced a contrivance or device so interesting or so useful
as to attract and deserve the consideration of men that will not
be seen at Chicago.
In other words, all the classes of industrial wealth will con-
tribute. The arts will be represented there by their best pro-
ductions. The applied and occult sciences will contribute their
share to the exhibition. But there has been organized in con-
nection with this great enterprise, that which in my judgment
is of equal, if not higher consequence than things material.
Things material may fall, but words, principles, ideas which
find expression in books and records will last and go down
through the centuries and outlive possibly this crumbling
republic.
We have provided in the exposition for a world's congress
to deal with ideas. In other words, in order that we may have
the benefit of ripened thoughts gathered from the 40 centuries,
there will be gathered together the wisdom and wise men of
our times from all the nations of the earth to deal with all sub-
jects ; to deal with economic questions, and those principles
that require an early solution. We cannot be blinded to the
fact that there are great questions — social, economic and politi-
cal— which must be settled in the arena of investigation and
free discussion, or at an early day they may refer themselves
to the dread arbitrament of battle. It is in order that the great
minds of the world, the great thinkers and the great writers
may meet there that we have provided for this world's con-
gress.
448 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
My honored friend upon my right has spoken to me about
the absolute failure upon this continent, if not throughout the
world, of municipal government. They are a complete, abject
pitiable failure, but that we are a generous people, and stand
bleeding freely, we would have rebelled against them long ago.
The men who have given this subject the most attention will
be heard in Chicago.
There is a question as to whether the time has not come
when we may put aside the munitions of war and refer the
disputes between nations not to the arbitrament of battle, but
to arbitration. The men who have given this subject careful
consideration will also be in Chicago.
There are questions touching the coinage ; questions touch-
ing our economic system of supply and demand, and the rela-
tion between the methods of getting supplies from points of
production to points of consumption. All these questions
will be considered in these several congresses. My honored
friend upon my left. Archbishop Ireland, is entirely in charge
of one of these departments. I would like to hear from him
for a few moments touching the possibilities that await us there.
We have already had responses from England, from France,
from Belgium, from Austria, from Russia and from Brazil.
The great thinkers in each one of these countries have signi-
fied their willingness and their desire to meet the thinkers and
writers of this country. They realize that a time is rapidly
approaching when drums will be muffled and battle-flags furled
in that parliament of human confederation.
All the nations of the world will be there. There is not
to-day a race of people where the agents of the World's Colum-
bian Exposition are not visiting. England will be there, re-
joicing in the great prosperity that has waited upon the children
of her loins. The Fatherland will be there, delighted with the
prosperity that has waited upon her children. France will be
there, our old ally, and Italy will be there — yes, Italy will be
there. If she comes in a belligerent spirit, we will read to
her the address of Secretary Grant and let her know that it
will not do for her to come within our border with such a spirit.
Italy will be there, and she will find that in the integrit}^ of our
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 449
people her Sicilians will be as safe in the streets of Chicago as
they are under the shadow of the dome of St. Peter's in Rome.
But above all, the possibilities of our own country will be
represented there. Emerson said, ' ' The United States ' ' is but
another name for opportunities. It will be realized there fully.
In the intermingling of one nation with another the United
States is nearer to Austria to-day than the State of New York
was to Ohio a century ago ; so that after all we are neighbors.
I am not putting it too strongly when I say it is not at all im-
probable that by the time the exposition is under way, we can
go from Chicago down to the exposition through the air. You
say that is strong, but it is not. It is now within sight, and I
will promise you that you will go the seven miles in six minutes
with perfect comfort. I know our European friends imagine
that when they pass 200 miles west of New York they are in
danger of being scalped with tomahawks by the Indians, but
we can assure our brothers that when they go to Chicago from
Baltimore, Philadelphia or New York they can be carried in
palaces upon wheels and be as comfortable as they would be in
their own parlors, and there see a city the people of which are
unsurpassed for pluck and energy, and a city which is itself
worth a trip across two oceans to visit.
What there is worth seeing there will be due in a large
measure to the benefits derived from the patent system, which
simply says that every man who contributes to the well-being
of society shall have this reward.
My honored friend, Mr. Noble, said that it was not love of
gold that prompts the inventive genius. Well, "maybe it
aint," but my experience and observation alike are that the
inventor keeps an eye partially and singly to glory, but it is
largely centered on his pocket, and I would not respect him if
it were not so.
As my honored friend, Mr. Mitchell, has said, a man who
saves to you a dollar is entitled to a percentage for saving it.
A man who reaps for you a harvest at $50 that cost $100 ten
years ago, or would now cost you $100 without his invention,
is entitled to a fraction for saving it. The man who blesses
the community and saves it millions of dollars is entitled to
dividends for his effort, and what has made the young republic
450 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
the first nation in the world is the fact that every worthy noble
action has its reward.
We do not patent anything that is worthless. The measure
of patentability is that it shall involve the exercise of that god-
like attribute of genius and invention ; next, that it shall be
useful ; and third, that it shall be novel. Where these three
elements contribute to the welfare and convenience of men, we
have provided, or our fathers provided before us — and they
builded better than they knew — that the men who thus con-
tributed to the well-being of society should have his reward,
and the amount of that reward should be the excellence of the
invention and the amount which he contributed to the well-
being of those who seek to use that which he has given them.
Now, gentlemen, I want to congratulate you upon the suc-
cess of this convention. I wish our people knew how much
they owe to the patent system, to the thinkers, writers and
inventors of this country. A great many people think it is an
easy thing and that there is no trouble in an invention. They
think it is easy to think. As I said before, very few of those
who talk that way ever tried to think or ever made a success
of it if they did. There is nothing harder in the world than
earnest thinking, and as the result of that earnest thinking
the blessings to which I have referred have come to us.
I will say, in conclusion, that if you will come to Chicago,
you will realize what has been accomplished during the last
few decades, what is now being accomplished in all the nations
of the earth, and how much is being contributed from every
locality to add to the comfort and convenience of mankind.
[Applause.]
Mr. Parker. Before we adjourn I desire to call attention
to the fact that we have with us to-night Hon. Richard Pope,
Commissioner of Patents for the Dominion of Canada, and we
would like to hear a word from him.
Mr. Pope. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen : It is too late, or,
I should rather say, too early in the morning for me to make
a speech, and I think it would be undesirable upon my part
that I should inflict another one upon you. I doubt very much,
also, whether you would allow me to do so even if I desired.
But, gentlemen, I feel that I must express to you my sin-
cere thanks on behalf of the Canadian Patent Office, which I
BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE. 451
have the honor to represent. I feel that you have conferred
upon us an honor in the invitation which has been extended
to us, which has only been equalled by our participation in
the magnificent celebration of the Centennial of the Patent
System of the United States.
The design here has been to pay homage to human inven-
tion and progress in the arts and sciences useful to man and
essential to modern material prosperity and wealth.
I feel, gentlemen, that the inventor, filled with a desire to
put into practical effect the evolution of his inventive brain,
little knows, or perhaps stops to think of, the benefit his inven-
tion may confer upon future generations. So I feel that you,
gentlemen, who have promoted this centennial celebration
cannot foretell the advantages that may accrue not only to
your own country, but to every intelligent country on the face
of the earth by arresting public attention and diverting it to
serious thought and consideration of the wisdom of the patent
law and of legislative enactments tending to encourage and
promote industry and the inventive genius, and in assembling
together those that have conferred upon the world in general
such great benefits. I say that the benefits are inestimable, in
view of the great and mighty inventions which the world has
recently been put in possession of, among which may be
enumerated that which has enabled the human voice to anni-
hilate space and travel with lightning rapidity on an electric
wire, which must conduce to future invention, and which will
extend further benefits to the world at large and to future gen-
erations, when time and distance shall be no more.
Gentlemen, it would be undesirable to occupy your time any
further upon this great question of the advantages of inven-
tive genius to mankind. In view of the many eloquent, able,
and exhaustive speeches which we have heard upon that sub-
ject in the last few days, which have been supplemented again
to-day in the most extraordinary manner, it would be unwise
and unnecessary for me to proceed further. But, gentlemen, I
cannot sit down without again thanking you most sincerely for
the honor you have conferred upon the Canadian Patent Ofi&ce
and those gentlemen who have accompanied me. I thank you
for the respect, attention, kindness and consideration which we
452 BANQUET, WASHINGTON BOARD OF TRADE.
have received, not only from the Centennial Committee but
also from every one with whom we have had the honor of com-
ing in contact, since our advent into your city, which we will
always look upon as one of the most pleasant reminiscences of
our lives, and which will make us feel the approaching advent
of our departure from you to be a source of sincere regret and
sorrow. [Applause.]
Professor Watkins : I want to make an announcement. I
wish to state that the American Association of Inventors and
Manufacturers have completed their organization. It gives me
great pleasure to say to you that Dr. R. J. Gatling, of Con-
necticut, has been chosen president of that organization and
that he is present.
Dr. Gatling : Gentlemen, it is too late to make a speech,
and I will merely say that I have been greatly interested in what
has been said here in the last few days. I have never listened
to addresses that have pleased me more, or addresses that I
think will do more in the future for promoting the happiness
of mankind. It is too late to make any address. I have been
of my feet without food all day, for I have worked to get the
organization of inventors perfected. I never dreamed that the
honor of being elected president would be conferred upon me.
One or two individuals spoke to me yesterday upon the subject
casually, and asked me whether I would serve in that capacity,
but I told them that I did not desire it and wished they would
not put my name in nomination at all. They voted by ballot,
took around the hat. I voted for Mr. Hubbard, and thought he
was the man, and he ought to have been the man ; but it seems
they voted for me and insisted that I should accept it. I can
be in Washington only occasionally, but I will do all I can to
further the purposes of the organization. Mr. Hubbard has
been elected first vice-president and we have got a good com-
mittee and a good organization, as far as was possible in the
time we had.
I have enjoyed myself very much in Washington. I have
been here a great many times, and when I first came here it
was all a commons. Now I think it is the most .beautiful city
in the world. You ought all to be proud of it as American
citizens. [Applause.]
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
THE OLD AND THE NEW PATENT OFFICE.
By Robert W. Fenwick, Washington City, D. C.
After the seat of Government was removed from Philadel-
phia to the City of Washington, which took place in 1800, the
entire business of the Patent Office continued to be carried on
by a single clerk in the Department of State.
In 1801, Dr. William Thornton, a very accomplished and
thoroughly Americanized English gentleman, at one period
one of the early Commissioners of the Federal city, was ap-
pointed by the Secretary of State to take charge of the issuing
of patents for inventions. The business continuing to increase,
a clerk and messenger were appointed to assist in the duties of
the office, which had been removed to Cocken's two-story
house on Eighth street, between E and F streets N. W.
(which house was afterwards occupied by Mrs. Blanchard).
In 18 II the large three-story brick and stone building
erected by Mr. Samuel Blodgett, previously, for a hotel at the
southwest comer of the square on which the new general post
office now stands, having been purchased by the Government
and fitted up for the General Post Office and Patent Office,
the business of the latter was removed from its location to the
second floor of this building, where it remained under the
superintendance of Dr. Thornton* till his death, which took
place on the 27th of March, 1828.
In 18 1 6 William Elliot, mathematician and astronomer,
and formerly surveyor of Washington City, was appointed by
the Secretary of State, Mr. Monroe, as assistant to Dr. Thorn-
ton, in which office he remained till 1829, when he resigned.
*A fine portrait of Dr. Thornton is now on exhibition at the New
Patent Office.
454 PAPERS UPON U. S. PA TENT OFFICE TOPICS.
William Parker Klliot,* the architect of the present Patent
Office building, and a son of the William Elliot* above referred
to, was acting as draughtsman of the old Patent Office during
part of the time his father was in office.
William KHiot was born in England in 1773. Had one
daughter, Emily, and three sons, Seth Alfred, John Bowman
and William Parker Elliot. He died at Washington, D. C,
December 31, 1838. The National Intelligencer of January i,
1838, speaking of his death, said : "Suddenly on the forenoon
* ' of Saturday last Mr. William Elliot, surveyor of the city of
*' Washington, aged 64. Mr. E., though a native of England,
" was an old resident of this city. Was the founder of the
*' Washington City Gazette in 1813, and possessing considerable
* ' scientific attainments, was a useful as well as a kind hearted
*' citizen. He was one of the earliest and most zealous mem-
" bers of the Columbian Institute, and his remains were
'* attended to the grave by that Society."
Prior and up to the administration of General Jackson the
entire business of this office was carried on by four persons,
viz: Dr. William Thornton, William Elliot, William P.
Elliot and Benjamin Fenwick ; and in 1836-37 by seven per-
sons, including messenger, machinist and assistant clerks.
The number of persons now (1891) employed at the new
Patent Office is fully six hundred.
It is an interesting fact to relate that in these early days a
single pony was kept by the Government for the use of the
Patent Office, and that the messenger or clerk rode this pony
when he went to the State Department to have the patents
signed by the Secretary of State and other officials.
In 1832 the General Post Office building on E street was
extended eastward to Seventh street, and the following year
the Patent Office was removed to the new portion of the build-
ing, where it remained till the 15th of December, 1836, when
the whole structure with its contents (excepting some of the
books of the General Post Office) was destroyed by fire.
During the construction of the main central portion of the
present Patent Office building in accordance with the architec-
*Portraits of both of the KHiots are on exhibition at the new Patent
Office.
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 455
tural plans designed by William P. Elliot, which was adopted
on July 4th, 1836, by Congress and approved by the President,
General Jackson (an interval of four years), the business of the
P.atent Office, which was resumed on July 7, 1837, was carried
on in the '* City Hall," from whence in 1840 it was transferred
to the new Patent Office building.
In connection with the history of the old Patent Office, it
should never be forgotten that by the patriotism and scientific
devotion of Dr. William Thornton the germ of our grand
patent system was saved from destruction by the British
soldiery. It was related to the writer by Mr. Seth A. Elliot,
another son of William Elliot, that as the British command-
ing officer was about to have the torch applied to the Patent
Office building. Dr. Thornton appeared on the portico and
earnestly cried out, ''This is the emporium of the Arts and
Sciences of America ; don't burn it." To the credit of this
officer, be it remembered, he listened to the appeal, and gave
orders to his soldiers to pass on without burning the building.
THE NEW PATENT OFFICE BUII.DING.
This magnificent building, occupying two whole squares,
bounded by Seventh and Ninth and F and G streets northwest,
is of quadrangular shape, 413 by 280 feet with an open court
of 270 by 1 12 feet, giving light and air, and with slight expense
might be made to present to the eye of the overtasked wearied
officials beautiful grass plats, growing plants, flowers and flow-
ing fountains. This building as originally designed was to
contain a large room for patented models, 270 by 65 feet ; and
two smaller ones for the same purpose, each 85 by 65 feet, com-
municating with the larger room, thus making a room of 400 by
65 feet on the principal floor ; with thirty six commodius rooms
for office purposes ; and the same number of rooms on the
basement floor, not for clerks, but for useful storing purposes.
There was also to be a continuous gallery above the principal
floor of HOG by 65 feet, intended as a receptacle for patented
models, and the manufacturers' national exhibition gallery.
The business part of the structure was to be divided by wide
passages of 16 feet, running longitudinally through the center
of the same with openings at each end for light and air, by
456 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
wh;ch arrangement, and the open court and the streets on all
of its sides, the rooms were to be well ventilated and lighted.
ARCHITKCTURK OF THE BUII.DING.
The building was to be two stories high, resting upon an ele-
vated basement. The order of architecture adopted for the ex-
terior was the Grecian Doric of the age of Pericles, when the
fine arts in Greece, particularly architecture and sculpture, had
reached the highest points of excellence. The details are
modeled after the celebrated Parthenon, erected on the Acrop-
olis at Athens, one of the finest specimens of Athenian architec-
ture, and which was in i827-'28, in part still standing, although
more than 2,000 years had passed since its erection ; and be-
fore it, in his early manhood, the architect of the Patent Office
stood, and by it had his genius so kindled into a living
flame, that he was enabled, on his return to his native land,
to reproduce some of its most striking parts in his design
for our noble Patent Office structure. At that date the mar-
ble of the ancient building had indurated to such a degree
from its long exposure to atmospheric influences, as to resist
the action of a chisel. The principal front of the Patent Office
on F street is graced with a portico of sixteen columns, octa-
style arrangement, the columns, and entablature, and pediment
being of the size and proportion of the Parthenon, each column
being 18 feet in circumference at the base. The tympanum and
metopes are left blank. In the Parthenon these parts were
enriched with very fine sculptures in basso relievo and alto relievo
of such extraordinary excellence that modern artists maj^ well
despair of equalling them. The monotony of this extended
front is still farther broken up and the boldness of the outline
increased by projections of 13 feet next to west and east sides.
The whole building is surrounded with bold antcB or pilasters
let into the external walls, which produce nearly as rich an
effect as the isolated frustrum of cone columns, and are much
stronger and ser^^e also as buttresses to resist the thrust of the
arches. The entablature is continuous and surrounded by a
blocking course, which finishes the superstructure. The win-
dows are arranged between pilasters. The north front on G
street is the same as the south front on F street, except that
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 457
the inner columns of the portico are omitted. The east front
on Seventh street is graced with a portico of six columns which
tends to break the too great monotony of the extended facade.
The west front is relieved by a similar portico. This portico,
owing to the position of the ground on the west, rests upon a
vaulted terrace from which it is approached. The cellar story
under this side of the building has, owing to the low grade of
Ninth street, a greater height. A horizontal terrace or pave-
ment surrounds the whole structure from the curb line. A
handsome ornamental railing with gates encloses almost the
entire building. The aforegoing is a description of the build-
ing as given by the architect himself, and it is in accordance
with the original design adopted by Congress, July 4, 1836.
KRECTION OF THE BUII.DING.
In the erection of the building the original architectural de-
sign was substantially adhered to, except in a few minor points,
which departure, in the opinion of the designer or architect,
were not beneficial nor an improvement. These changes were
made by the constructing and superintending architect, Mr.
Mills, who had nothing to do with the production of the orig-
inal plan adopted by Congress.
ITS ORIGINAIv PURPOSE.
The original intention of this building was that it should be
exclusively used for the interests of inventors and manufac-
turers of patented inventions, and it was to supply the want
caused by the destruction of the Patent Office by fire December
15, 1836, at which time there was a total loss of the models,
drawings, records, and indeed papers of every kind, and the
officials of the Patent Office were obliged to obtain accommo-
dations in the City Hall, Henry I,. Ellsworth, Esq., being then
the Commissioner of Patents, and having only five or six other
employes as his assistants. In the mind of this Commissioner
the rights of inventors were sacred ; his burning words to Con-
gress on this subject are as follows : " Interest, sympathy and
'* patriotism will unite in the effort to repair the loss. Justice
" demands all the reparation that can be made. Government
' ' has received from industry and ingenuity their choicest trib-
458 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
' ' ute. She confided the valuable repository to a place of little
' ' security. I have mourned in common with others at the ruin,
' ' but candor compels me to say that without much help I can
* * do nothing to repair the loss. I leave, therefore, with the
' ' National I^egislature the importunities of those I am com-
* • pelled to hear, but which I have not the power to relieve. ' '
A like zeal and interest for inventors actuated Hon. John Rug-
gles, chairman of the Senate committee, to whom the matter
of providing for the erection of the new Patent Office was con-
fided ; and to him, and the members of the House committee,
the inventors of the country owe a deep and lasting debt of
gratitude. In his report submitted January 9, 1837, to the
24th Congress, second session, is found the following : " In ex-
' amining the subject referred to them, the committee have
' been deeply impressed with the loss the country has sustained
' in the destruction by fire, on the fifteenth of December, 1836,
' of the records, original drawings, models, etc. , belonging to
' the Patent office. They not only embrace the whole his-
' tory of American invention for nearly half a century, but
' were the muniments of property of vast amounts, secured by
' law to a great number of individuals, both citizens and for-
* eigners, the protection and security of which must now be-
' come seriously difficult and precarious. Everything belong-
' ing to the office was destroyed, nothing was saved. There
' were 1 68 large folio volumes of records and twenty-six large
* portfolios containing nine thousand drawings, many of which
* were beautifully executed and very valuable ; there were
' also all the original descriptions and specifications of inven-
' tions, in all about ten thousand, besides caveats, and many
' other valuable documents and papers. The Patent Office
' also contained the largest and most interesting collection of
* models in the world, there being about seven thousand. The
' American inventions pertaining to the spinning of cotton and
' wool, and the manufacture of fabrics, in many respects ex-
* ceed those of any other nation, and reduce so much the ex-
' pense of manufacture, that the British manufacturers were
' reluctantly obliged, at the expense of a little national pride,
* to lay aside their own machinery and adopt our improve-
' ments, to prevent our underselling them even in their home
' market.
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 459
** In this department were the inventions of Brown, Thorpe,
" Danforth, Couillaird, and Calvert. The beautiful operative
"model of Wilkinson's machine for manufacturing weavers'
*• reeds by one operation, was considered one of the most in-
" genious mechanical combinations ever invented. Of this
" character was also Whittemore's celebrated machine for mak-
' ' ing wool cards. There were several models of valuable im-
" provements in shearing and napping cloth, patented to Swift,
"Stowell, Dewey, Parsons, Daniels and others." Continuing
' * his report, he referred to the patents of ' ' Griggs, Perkins,
** Reed, Odiome, and specially to the patent of Fulton for the
' ' application of steam power for propelling boats, ' ' and says,
' * the name of Fulton is associated with one of the noblest
" eflforts of genius and science."
He further says in his report : "The sentiment is not an un-
" common one, that the tax upon patents is both unwise in
"policy and unjust in principle. * * * Inventors are
"public benefactors, contributing to the promotion and im-
" provement of all branches of national industry, and in most
" instances without any adequate remuneration." And he en-
" quired : "Who has done more to enrich the South, nay, in-
" directly, the whole country, than Whitney, and what was his
"reward? Let the South answer. Evans and Fulton, with
"genius and talents, never while they lived appreciated to
" their worth, died overwhelmed by embarrassments."
And he also remarked, having reference to the destruction
by fire, that " It, the Patent Office, was an object of just pride
' ' to every American able to appreciate its value as an item in
* * the estimate of American character or the advantages and
* * benefits derivable from high improvements in the useful arts. ' '
THE ARCHITECT OF THE PATENT OFFICE BUILDING.
To William Parker Elliot, Esq., of Washington, D. C, son
of Mr. William Elliot, mechanical draughtsman in the first
Patent Office during the superintendency of the celebrated
William Thornton, or up to the year 1829, when he resigned,
belongs this high honor. The young architect is introduced
to us in the following letter, found among his private papers :
46o PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
"Mayor's Office,
*' Washingto7i, April i6, 1827.
"Having just learned that Mr. William P. Elliot, a young
' ' gentleman of this city, is about to leave Washington for
* ' London to pursue his studies as an architect, it affords me
"pleasure to state that I have known him for several years,
* ' and that he is a young gentleman of exemplary habits and
"promising talents.
"R. C. Weightman."
Mr. Roger C. Weightman was Mayor of Washington at the
date he wrote the letter.
He is next introduced by the following report of the Con-
gressional Committee on Public Buildings :
* ' The Committee on Public Buildings having approved of
* ' the plan submitted, amongst others, to their consideration by
"William P. Elliot for a fire-proof building for the Treasury
' * Department, etc. , and having framed the bill making the
' * appropriation toward erecting the same upon the estimates
"and details furnished by Mr. Elliot, do therefore recom-
' ' mend his plan for adoption by the President of the United
"States.
" Levi L1NC01.N,
" Michael W. Ash,
* ' Andrew T. Judson,
"E. Pettigrew,
"A. Ward.
" Washington, July 4.^ 1836^
* ' The Committee on the Patent Office having approved of
"the plans submitted, amongst others, by William P. Elliot
"and Ithiel Town, for a fire-proof building for the Patent
"Office, and having framed the bill making the appropriation
' ' for the erection of the same upon the estimates and details
"furnished by them, do therefore recommend their plan for
' * adoption by the President of the United States.
* ' GoRHAM Parks,
"James Harper,
"Samuel F. Vinton,
' ' Committee of H. R.
" Washington, July 4, 18 j6.'^
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 461
' ' The Committee of the Senate on the Patent Office accorded
' * in opinion with the Committee of the House, as above. The
" undersigned being the only member of that Committee now
**in Washington, adds his individual recommendation of the
* * plan of Messrs. Elliot and Town.
*'Jno. Ruggles.
^^ July ^, 1836 r
PRESIDENT JACKSON'S APPROVAL OF THE PLAN.
* * Under the act of Congress authorizing the President of the
* * United states to cause a Treasury Building and Patent Office
'' to be erected, I hereby designate the Commissioner of Public
' ' Buildings to superintend generally the detailed modifications
' * of plans for them : The advertising and forming of con-
* ' tracts and the whole disbursements thereon ; and to enable
* * him to keep the accounts, make the payments, etc. , prepare
* ' vouchers for settlements and conduct the other correspond-
' ' ence relating thereto, I authorize him to employ a clerk at
'* not over nine hundred dollars a year, to be paid equally out
"of the appropriations for said objects. I further appoint
** Robert Mills as architect to aid in forming the plans, making
* ' proper changes therein from time to time, and seeing to the
' * erection of said buildings in substantial conformity to the plans
' ' hereby adopted, which are, in their general outlines, to be, as to
* ' the Treasury building, that plan annexed by said Mills ; and,
^' as to the Patent Office, that annexed by Mr. Elliot : The
" former building to be erected on the old site, and the latter
" one on the square north of the Post Office.
** Andrew Jackson.
•' Washington City, 6th of July, 18 j6.^'
The aforegoing reports of the Committees, and order of the
President of the United States would appear to be conclusive
proof as to the authorship of the design of the Patent Office
by William P. Elliot, associated with his partner, Ithiel Town.
From an examination of all the private (original) papers of Mr.
Elliot, and letters from Mr. Town, the proof is conclusive that
while Mr. Town was associated with Mr. Elliot as a partner in
the profession on account of his practical mechanical and
scientific experience in the construction of public buildings,
William P. Elliot's classical culture, genius and taste were
462 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
relied upon as to the original conceptions of the designs and
styles of architecture introduced into our present Patent Office.
If Mr. Elliot was now living he would place every credit upon
Mr. Town that belongs to him for the part he took in connec-
tion with his great achievement.
At different periods subsequent to the adoption of Mr.
Elliot's plan, misunderstandings have arisen as to the author-
ship of the Patent Office building, growing out of the fact
that Mr. Robert Mills was employed as the constructing
architect to carry out Mr. Elliot's plans, and to settle this
question the following letter was written by Senator Ruggles :
" Washington, February 27, 18^1.
' 'Dear Sir:
* ' Your note is before me, desiring me to state my recollec-
* ' tion of the authorship of the plan of the new Patent Office
' ' building now nearly completed.
' ' I was chairman of the select committee of the Senate in
" 1836 that reported the bill for reorganizing the Patent Office,
* * and a bill providing for the erection of a new edifice for its
" accommodation. The plan furnished by you, on being called
" on for that purpose, was laid before the committee and met
"their full approbation. The estimates on w^hich an appro-
"priation was made, were based upon it ; and your plan was
* ' thus adopted by the committee, and by the Senate in ratify-
" ing the doings of the committee, and, indeed, by both Houses
' ' of Congress. That plan has been followed substantially in
* * the construction of the building. There has been a slight
' * departure from it in two or three instances, the most material
"of which is, the segment of a circle under the north pedi-
"ment. Whether any liberty taken with the original plan, be
' * an improvement in the archithcture, may be very question-
"able.
' * I remember to have signed a recommendation to the Presi-
" dent. Gen. Jackson, in favor of your being appointed the
' ' architect to superintend the erection of the building, as well
'*on account of your competency and skill in such matters, as
''because you were the author of the plan, and it was but just
" that you should have the superintendence of its construction.
* ' But for some cause, supposed then to be party or personal
•
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 463
' * favor, another person was selected. The plan was spoken of
* * by the most competent judges as displaying a high degree of
* ' architectural science and taste, and since the erection of the
' ' edifice, incomplete as it is, it has attracted much attention
' * and admiration as doing great credit to the cultivated taste
"of its projector. When the residue of the building as de-
" signed and projected on the original plan shall have been
*' erected it will, as is believed, surpass in grandeur and beau-
* ' ty an}' public edifice in this country.
"I am, dear sir, very respectfully,
"Your Ob'tSvt.,
"John Ruggl^s.
" W11.1.IAM P. Ei.i<iOT, Esq., Washington, D. C."
[The original of this letter is among the papers of Mr. Wil-
liam P. Elliot.]
In connection with the aforegoing letter of Mr. Ruggles, the
following letter from Commissioner of Patents, Hon. H. L-.
Ellsworth, found among the papers of Mr. Elliot, is important :
Patent Office, December z^, 184.0.
Sir:
Yours of the 14th inst. is received — I hasten to say that I
am surprised that any one should presume to rob you of the
merit of the beautiful and very convenient design of the new
Patent Office. Some few alterations may have been suggested
in carrying out the plans, but in all essential particulars the
credit of the architecture belongs to yourself. Should any
doubts arise I refer you to the gentlemen who composed the
joint committee of Congress who met at the old Patent Office
previous to the fire, and then selected and approved your plan
as the best. The wants of the office I freely communicated to
you, and I am happy to assure you that I find the arrangement
you proposed not only adequate to our present wants, but sus-
ceptible of such addition as will accommodate this bureau for
half a century to come.
I cannot believe that others will seriously claim what is
justly your due.
Yours respectfully,
H. I^. El<LS WORTH.
Mr. W11.1.IAM P. Eiyi^iOT, Washington City.
464 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
In conclusion of the subject as to who was the true architect
of the Patent Office, the following extracts found among Mr.
Elliot's papers, and endorsed " from the private journal of Wil-
liam P. Elliot, ' ' are very interesting :
NOTES FROM W. P. ELLIOT'S DIARY.
• * 1836, March i. Submitted my plan for a new Patent Office
* to the Committee on Patents, who met at the room of the
' Superintendent of the Patent Office, in the old General Post-
' Office building — ^John Ruggles of the Senate, chairman.
' * Understood from Mr. Ellsworth that several plans were
' before the committee, and that mine was preferred as being
' the best adapted for the wants of the office. Committee ad-
' joumed to meet at the Capitol this day week in order to have
' a more full meeting for final action on the subject of a plan."
* ' March 8. Again submitted my plan for New Patent Office
* to Committee on Patents at the room in the Capitol. Under-
' stood that Mr. Mills submitted another plan. My plan re-
' ceived unanimous approval of the committee, and was finally
* adopted at this meeting, and I was requested to furnish an
' estimate of the cost of erecting about two hundred and seventy
' feet of the south side or front of the block. ' '
' ' March 10. Called on Mr. Ellsworth with estimates for
* new^ Patent Office — then on Mr. Ruggles, who thought it
* too high, and requested me to reduce it if possible."
'' March II. Called to see Mr. Ruggles — left estimate for
' Patent Office."
'^ July 2. Heard that the bill appropriating one hundred
' and eight thousand dollars toward erecting a new Patent
' Office on my plan had been passed by the two Houses of
' Congress. And one hundred thousand dollars toward erect-
* ing a new Treasury building, also on my plan as submitted
' and adopted by the Committee on Public Buildings, of which
' I^eonard Jarvis is chairman. ' '
''July J. Waited on Senator Ruggles, Levi Lincoln, G.
' Parks, Gen. A. Ward, Samuel F. Vinton, and other members
* of the Committee on the Patent Office and the Public Build-
' ings, and Mr. Ellsworth, Superintendent of the Patent Office,
* to advise with them on the course to be pursued in order to
PAPERS UPON U. S. PA TENT OFFICE TOPICS. 465
" obtain the superintendence of the execution of my plans for
* * the Patent Office and Treasury building.
''July ^. The Committee on the Patent Office gave me cer-
' ' tificates in writing that they had adopted my plan for a new
* ' Patent Office, and recommended the same to the President
" for his adoption.
' 'Signed by—
" GoRHAM Parks, M. C.
"Samuel F. Vinton, M. C.
"James Harper, M. C.
"John Ruggles, S. U. S."
* * The Committee on the Public Buildings gave a similar cer-
* ' tificate respecting the Treasury building, signed by —
* * Levi Lincoln,
"Michael W. Ash,
"Andrew T. Judson,
' ' B. Pettigrew,
"A. Ward."
''July 5. Wrote to the President soliciting the office of arch-
" itect and enclosing the above mentioned certificates of the
" committees of Congress and other testimonials. The plans
* ' of the public buildings submitted by the several architects
" were brought from the Capitol to the President's house. The
" subject of the adoption of a plan for a Patent Office and
' * Treasury building was brought before the Cabinet by the
"President. Major Noland, the Commissioner of Public
" Buildings had invited Mr. Robert Mills, architect (who had
' ' been recently employed by General Jackson to make draw-
" ings for the Hermitage), to be in readiness in the room of Mr.
* ' Earl, opposite the President's office. No plan was adopted
* ' this day. I understood it was the supposition that my plan
" for the Treasury building would be rejected because I had
" made no provision for the accommodation of the General
' ' Post Office under the same roof with the Treasury, as desired
"by Amos Kendall, a member of the Cabinet, and that Mr.
" Mills had been invited to draw a plan according to the view
"of Mr. Kendall, which would bring the two departments
< * utider the same rooj aiid on the President's square. Although
466 PAPERS UPON U. S. PA TENT OFFICE TOPICS.
' my plans had been pronounced the best by the Committees of
' Congress, by the Superintendent of the Patent Office and by
' the public, yet I was not even invited by General Jackson or
' his Cabinet to modify them to meet their views ; or to have
' anything to do in the business. ' '
''July 6. Saw Mr. Noland, who informed me that the Cab-
' inet had again met on the subject of the Public Buildings —
* that he was present at their deliberations — that Mills had
* submitted another plan, drawn in conformity to Mr. Kendall's
' wishes, embracing the General Post Office in the same range
' with the Treasury, and which was adopted ; that my plan
* for the Patent Office was preferred over all the others as the
' best, and adopted ; that Robert Mills was appointed architect
' to attend to the execution of them."
''July 7. Called on the President to learn what action had
' been taken on the subject of the public buildings. He
' informed me that my plan for the Patent Office had been
* adopted, and that Mr. Mills' plan for the Treasury building
* had been selected. That he had appointed Mr. M. architect
' because he had come well recommended as an experienced
* builder of fire-proof buildings — that he considered me too
' young and inexperienced, but that I should be well paid for
' my design. I observed that I thought it strange that the
* selection of the Committee on Public Buildings, after two
' sessions of mature deliberation, should be set aside and
' another plan made at so short a notice, without competition,
' should be adopted. The President replied that the law left
' the selection of these plans to him and that my plan made
' no provision for the Post Office. I observed that the General
' Post Office should not be in the same block with the Treasury
' Department, and that none of these public buildings ought
* to be on the President's square. He replied, ' that is a
''matter of opinion.' I then remarked, as to my youth
' and inexperience disqualifying me for the superintendency of
' these works, that if I was competent to design them, I cer-
' tainly could execute them, and that at least I ought to be
' allowed to superintend the execution of my own plan — and
' that if his rule always prevailed, I should never have that
' experience which he had required, but that I had had experi-
PAPERS UPON U. S. PA TENT OFFICE TOPICS. 4<^)7
' ence ; I could refer him to works I had completed with
* satisfaction to my employer. ' '
''July 8. Was surprised to learn from Major Noland that
' the President had ordered the Patent Office to be built on the
* southeast comer of reservation No. 8, instead of the centre
' of the south side, because he did not wish to disturb the
' log cabin of an old squatter on the public land. I
* observed that the plan covered the whole square, and that if
' his order was carried into effect it would destroy the plan.
' That rather than this should take place, I would give the
' old woman a residence as long as she lived. He said his
' order must be obeyed. The conversation as to the conse-
' quences of his order became rather angry. I left him in that
* mood, and myself disappointed. I then waited on his par-
' ticular friends. Governor Dickerson, Governor Cass, William
' B. Lewis, Colonel Bomford, Mr. Ellsworth, and explained
' to them the nature of the difficulty, and begged them
' to see the President and persuade him to leave the placing of
* the building to the Commissioners of Public Buildings and
'Patents."
''July g. Saw the Commissioner of Public Buildings and
* Commissioner of Patents respecting plan of Patent Office. ' '
"July lo. I^earned that the President had left Washington
' for the Hermitage."
"July II. Received an order from the Commissioner of
' Public Buildings to lay down upon the ground the lines of
' the Patent Office according to my plan, as the whole subject of
' the proper placing of it had been left by the President to his
'judgment and the Commissioner of Patents."
"July 12. Laid down and marked with pegs the lines of
' the Patent Office. Present Messrs. Brown, Wood and several
' citizens.
"July 13. Called on the Commissioner of Patents and
' found Mills with him endeavoring to persuade him to have
' the proportions of the plan of the Patent Office considerably
' reduced in order to cheapen it, and be able to erect it for
* the sum appropriated — portico to be reduced from 100 to 75
* feet in width. I remonstrated against it and finally pre-
' vailed."
468 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
''July 14.. Called at the new Patent Office and found Mr.
' ' Brown laying out the trenches for the foundation walls only
* ' four feet wide and two feet deep which I considered quite
" insufficient, and so stated at the time."
''July 21. Found Major Noland with Mr. Ellsworth per-
' ' suading him to alter plan of the Patent Office. He, however,
" did not succeed."
The following letter from Mr. Noland, the gentleman
referred to in Mr. Elliot's private journal, is of importance in
this connection :
* ' Office of Commissioner oj Public Buildings,
''Dec'm. 2gth, 184.0.
''W11.1.IAM P. E1.LIOT, Esq.
' ' Dear Sir : In compliance with your request, I with pleas-
*' ure state that I was present at the President's mansion in July,
*' 1836, when ex-President Jackson adopted the plan presented
" b)^ you for the new Patent Office building and gave written
*' orders to that effect. I am respectfully,
"Your obt. servant,
''W. N01.AND,
''C.P.Br
THE CONSTRUCTION COMMENCKD.
The rebuilding of the Patent Office in accordance with the
plan of William Parker Elliot's design adopted by Congress on
July 4, 1836, was begun July 12, 1836, and four years were
occupied in the completion of the main or south front portion,
which did not in 1840 have the wings east and west completed,
nor were they commenced at that date. In 1840 the business
of the Patent Office was transferred from the City Hall to this
new structure. Robert Mills was the superintending or con-
struction architect to carry out the plan of Mr. Elliot, and the
well-known late John P. Pepper was superintendent under him.
The new building was designed especially for the use of the
Patent Office in conformity to the new code of patent laws.
Among the private papers of Mr. William P. Elliot is found
the very first drawing for the foundation, made in pencil lines,
doubtless by the hand of the architect, and also other sketches
of earlier date than the sketch for the foundation, as well
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 469
as estimates of costs, etc. , all of which point to him as the origi-
nating architect of the entire structure in its general design as
it now stands in its grandeur and beauty, and excellent adapta-
tion for the purposes it was designed to subserve.
William Parker Elliot, the architect of the Patent Oifice,
was born at Washington, D. C, January 19, 1807 — died in the
same city November 3, 1854. Had seven children, of whom
Miss Mary E. Elliot, Annie S. I^ancaster and Charles A. Elliot
survive him. His widow, now critically ill, was Mary Ann
Maher, of Philadelphia, Pa.*
Mr. William P. Elliot was paid a small sum — about $500 —
for his design of the Patent OfiSce, as the public records show.
If you would know him, look around you and behold him
in his works.
A description of the finished building, with its wings, was
given in one of the papers of this city in 1867, as follows :
' ' The entire completion of the Patent Office building is now
' * near at hand. Yesterday the portico on the North front was
' ' finished, and now there remains but the granite steps on the
* ' North front and the pavement on G street to be done, and this
"building, claimed to be the most handsome in the world, so
*' far as architectural proportions are concerned, will be, when
' ' completed, a standing monument to the architectural talent
**and mechanical ability of the country. In 1849 Thomas
' ' Berry and Frank Mohun entered into contract with the
' ' Government for the building of the East and West fronts,
' ' including the granite and marble. Subsequently Messrs.
" Berry & Higgins contracted for the building of the North
* ' front on G street, and this is the portion that is now nearly
* ' completed. All the marble used for the extension of the
'* building was obtained in Baltimore county, Maryland. The
** granite came from Rockland, Maine, Cape Ann, Mass., Con-
* ' necticut and Maryland. The columns used in the porticos
** are from a quarry in Baltimore county, Maryland, and are
** pronounced very handsome."
*Mrs. Elliot died shortly after this paper was prepared, and the
writer served as one of the honorary pall-bearers at her funeral.
470 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
WRONGFUL USE BY OTHKR BUREAUS.
At this date the Patent Office building was used by the Secre-
tary of the Interior for the various bureaus that came under the
charge of his department ; these included the Agricultural,
Indian, Land, Pension, Patent and other bureaus.
In order to thus wrongfully use this building, necessitated
the cutting up of its interior arrangement to such an extent
that, instead of having seventy-two large and well ventilated
rooms, there are at the present time two hundred and fifty-two
rooms in the Patent Office building, ninety-nine of which are
occupied by the Patent Office proper and the remainder {one
hundred and fifty -three) by the Secretary of the Interior, the
assistant Attorney General, and the General Land Office. The
result of this misuse of the Patent Office has crowded the
officials of the Patent Office into an insufficient space for per-
forming their duties, and besides this, many of the rooms oc-
cupied by them are so unhealthy and illy ventilated that after
a few years of service many of these valuable and useful men
die off rapidly. This should not be so, as the Patent Office
was designed to be a benefit to inventors and not a detriment
to their interests, nor a death-trap to the faithful servants of
the Government. It should be set apart as a monument to the
men of genius who have paid more, above the expenses for carry-
ing it on, than enough for its erection, as the surplus Patent fund
in the Treasury of the United States shows. Justice also de-
mands that it should be devoted to the interest of inventors and
the comfort of those in charge of the administration of the rights
of inventors ; and that well lighted and ventilated and healthy
accommodations should be provided for the six hundred or
more officers employed in the administration of the present
business relating to patents for new inventions and discoveries;
and to this end every other branch of the Government should
be removed from the Patent Office building, and, if the Govern-
ment is too poor to pay the cost of a new building, let one
be erected with the surplus Patent fund now in the United
States Treasury, amounting to about four million dollars.
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 471
INCREASED CORPS OF EXAMINERS NEEDED.
Furthermore, the force of the Patent Office corps should be
increased to at least fifty principal examiners, and as many as-
sistants and clerks as such increased force will require. This
done and the government fees somewhat reduced, a step in the
right direction in regard to the rights of inventors, will have
been taken, and applications for patents could be examined and
passed upon more speedily, and inventors thus no longer be
kept, by long and vexatious delays, out of their rights, by
being deprived of the speedy grant of letters-patent therefor.
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 473
THE ORIGIN, NATURE AND EFFECT OF PATENTS.
By W. C. Dodge, of Washington City, D. C.
It is not an uncommon thing for even intelligent persons to
think and speak of patents as monopolies, and to class them
with the ' ' odious monopolies ' ' of former times.
A brief statement of their origin and nature will show that
such is not the fact.
True, our modem system of patents grew out of the ancient
system of monopolies, but they are entirely different in their
nature and effect.
A monopoly, which formerly meant ' ' the exclusive right to
sell," is a franchise created by the Government, vesting in an
individual or corporation the exclusive privilege of practising
a certain art, or making, using or selling a certain article,
which, but for such monopoly, the public at large would have
the right to exercise.
This idea of granting these exclusive privileges originated
in the infancy of European commerce, when commercial ven-
tures were attended with great risks both to life and capital,
the seas in those days swarming with pirates and the land with
robbers.
In those days these exclusive grants were conferred by
monarchs upon individuals, companies or particular cities, to
induce them to embark in these hazardous undertakings.
As trade increased other monopolies were granted to these
same companies or cities for service rendered or money fur-
nished to the State, and in that way they acquired a monopoly
of nearly all branches of trade.
The most famous of these was the * ' Hanseatic League, ' '
composed of eighty-five cities of North Germany, and
organized about the middle of the thirteenth century, their
object being the protection of their commerce from the depre-
dations of pirates and the petty princes, whose theory was that
* ' might makes right. ' '
This league, commencing with a few of the leading cities,
soon became very powerful, and by its efforts suppressed piracy
and opened new channels of trade in various parts of Europe.
47 4 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
From 1250 to 1278 it established factories and depots in
England, Belgium, Norway and Russia, and also had treaties
with the commercial cities of Holland, France, Spain and
Italy. It established a system of finance and administration
that was of great benefit to commerce and trade, in considera-
tion of which it obtained special grants from the leading
monarchs of Europe, so that it soon became the dominant
commercial power of the world, and monopolized nearly all
the trade of Europe. It became so powerful that in 1348 it
fought and defeated the Kings of Sweden, Norway and
Denmark. It deposed Magnus, King of Sweden, and gave his
crown to his nephew, Albert, Duke of Mecklenburg. In 1428
it declared war against Denmark and equipped a fleet of 248
ships with 12,000 soldiers.
Its growing power and wealth excited the jealousy of the
monarchs who had conferred upon it the exclusive privileges
by which it had grown so great, and as the naval power of Hol-
land and England had greatly increased, in 1597 its special
privileges were withdrawn by England, and gradually by other
powers ; so that it lost its power and control of trade, and was
disbanded about 1630 — the monopolies which it had enjoyed
being conferred upon subjects of these various countries, espe-
cially in England.
At a very early day England manifested her solicitude for
trade, and early in the tenth century a law was passed con-
ferring upon every merchant who had made three voyages
beyond the sea the dignity of ' * Thane ' ' ; and from the time
of William Rufus special privileges were granted for the
development of domestic trade ; and it was under these grants
that the powerful trade and merchant ' ' guilds ' ' grew up and
flourished until they monopolized and controlled nearly every
branch of business.
Up to the middle of the sixteenth century the foreign com-
merce of England was almost entirely in the hands of
foreigners. From that time their privileges were withdrawn
and conferred on British subjects.
In the days of the Saxon and Norman kings it was a maxim
of the common law, that the King had the right to grant any
part of the common property of the nation to one or more
individuals of the nation, provided such grant would inure to
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 475
the public benefit ; and under that law grants were frequently
made to individuals of the commons or waste lands, on the
theory that it was for the public good that such lands should
be improved — some of the rights continuing to the present
day. The idea was similar to that of our "homestead law,"
under which a quarter section of the public lands was given to
any person who would settle upon and improve the same.
Acting upon this idea of promoting the public interests, and
more especially to build up the manufacturing and commercial
interests of England, the British monarchs began granting
monopolies for limited periods to individuals for any trade or
manufacture, not before known or worked in the realm, it being
thought that that was the best means for securing the intro-
duction of new branches of manufacture and commerce,
experience having demonstrated that without some such induce-
ment parties would not be at the trouble, expen.se and risk of
introducing new and untried branches of manufacture.
In the course of time this, like all arbitrary power, over-
stepped its proper bounds, and these monarchs began to grant
for money, to their favorites, exclusive monopolies of business
already established in the kingdom — business in which people
generally had a right to engage — thus taking from the public
at large rights which belonged to it, and conferring them upon
particular individuals at the pleasure of the monarch, and that,
too, without any reference to the public good.
This was especially true of the Norman kings, and it was
this arbitrary exercise of kingly power in many directions,
which in 12 15 eventuated in wresting from King John that
great charter of English liberties — Magna Charta.
In Magna Charta it was provided among other things as
follows :
"All merchants, if they were not openly prohibited
before, shall have their safe conduct to depart out of
England, to come into England, to tarry in and go in
and through England, as well by land as by water, to
buy and sell without any manner of evil tolls by the
old and rightful customs, except in time of war. ' '
The words, " If they were not openly prohibited before,"
were always understood and held to mean, " if the trade were
not prohibited by a monopoly or grant before it was commenced
476 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
in England," and up to the time of King John this had been
held to be the only legal ground on which such monopolies
could be granted.
Five statutes in the reign of Edward III, and one of Richard
II, reiterate the substance of this clause of Magna Charta.
Notwithstanding these repeated enactments, the monarchs of
England continued to grant monopolies in violation of the law.
Queen Elizabeth was a notorious offender in this respect. She
granted to one of her favorites the exclusive right to sell salt in
the kingdom, to another the sole right to sell steel, and so on
with many articles in common use, and by which the cost of
these articles to the public was increased many fold, salt alone
being increased in price from sixteen pence to fifteen shillings —
over eleven hundred per cent!
So intolerable did these abuses become that upon the acces-
sion of James I, in 1602, Parliament made a declaration that the
King had no right to grant a monopoly for any trade or busi-
ness already established in the kingdom, to which the King
gave his assent. But like his predecessors, he continued to
violate the law hy granting monopolies to his favorites for
money, until finally, in 1623, Parliament passed the famous
Statute of Monopolies.
This statute provided that all liceUvSes or privileges for the
sole buying, selling or working of anything, etc., should be
void, with the exception only that patents not exceeding four-
teen years might be granted to the authors of new inventions.
By the decision of the English courts anything not already
known in the kingdom was held to be a new invention, and
therefore patentable. In the celebrated case of monopolies,
Darcy vs. Allen, decided in the time of Elizabeth, it was held
that :
' ' Where any man, by his own charge or industry,
or by his own wit or invention, doth bring any new
trade into the realm, or any engine tending to the
furtherance of a trade that was never used before, and
that for the good of the realm, in such cases the King
may grant to him a monopoly patent for some reason-
able time, until the subjects may learn the same, in
consideration of the good that he doth bring the com-
monwealth : otherwise not. ' '
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 477
The word ' ' invention ' ' was then held to have a meaning in
accordance with its primary derivation from in venire "to come
in", and hence an inventor was one by whom a new trade or
discovery came into the kingdom, whether it was by importa-
tion, intuition, or by his own careful working out.
By this statute of Monopolies, the grant of a patent was
limited to new inventions ; and the exception in their favor, it
will be observed, was based solely upon the ground of the
benefits conferred thereby upon the nation.
This exception in the Statute of Monopolies is the founda-
tion of the modem system of patents, which has since been
adapted in various forms by nearly every civilized nation of
the globe, and which it is safe to say, has been the prime
mover in the marvelous progress and development of the past
century.
Our patent system is based upon the same idea of benefit to
the public, and that idea is clearly expressed in the clause of
the constitution which confers upon Congress the power,
. "To promote the progress of science and useful arts,
by securing for limited times, to authors and invent-
ors, the exclusive right of their respective writings
and discoveries."
It was not primarily to benefit the individual, but \.o promote
the progress of science and useful arts \h2X this power was con-
ferred, in order that the whole nation might have the benefit
of this progress — the benefit to the individual being merely an
inducement to him to devote his time, labor, thought and
means to aid in the accomplishment of this desired result or
progress, by making new inventions.
There is, however, a marked difference between our patent
system as embodied in our statutes and that of England ; for
whereas, the English system gave a patent to the importer as
well as to the inventor, our law gives it to the * 'first and origi-
nal inventor' ' alone.
In order for a person to secure a patent here, the invention
must not have been ' ' patented or described in any printed
publication in this or any foreign country before his invention
or discovery thereof ' ' , and must not have been in public use
for more than two years. In other words, it must be something
478 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
that is actually new as against all the world — something added to
the world' s knowledge and possessions. And even then, the
grant is made only upon the condition that the inventor shall
give such a description and illustration of his invention as will
enable a person skilled in the art to which it belongs, to make
and use the same, so that when his patent expires the public
shall be put in full possession of the invention.
A patent is therefore simply a contract between the Govern-
ment and the inventor, by which the Government agrees that
if a party will make an invention, and so describe it that the
public can make and use it, it will protect him for a limited
time (now 17 years) in the exclusive right to make, use and
sell the same, a right which I am sorry to saj^, has not of late
years been protected as it ought to be.
From this brief statement it will readily be seen that there
is no similarity between a U. S. patent and the ' ' odious monop-
olies" of former times. Under the old system of monopolies,
rights of which the public were already in full possession, were
arbitrarily taken from the public and conferred upon an individ-
ual, to the great injury of the public at large. On the contrary,
under our patent system, the inventor gives to the public some-
thing which it never had, something which it wants, and which
but for his efforts and genius it might never have had, or if
ever, not for a long time to come, not until some other inventor
following on the same line, and spurred on by the same incen-
tive, perchance might produce.
It is difficult to understand why a person who creates or
produces a new thing or art, is not naturally entitled to the
possession of it, as much as he who builds a house or raises a
crop ; and many able writers have so contended. An inven-
tion however, differs from other property, in that it is more
intangible, and far more difficult to protect. As was well said
by Commissioner Holt :
* * The citizen can take his stand on the threshold
of his home, and with his own right arm beat back
those who would invade it ; but the rights of the in-
ventor are co-extensive with the limits of the Repub-
lic, and may be assailed at a thousand points at the
same instant of time. The eyes of Argus would not
suffice to discover, nor the arms of Briareus suffice to
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 479
resist the assaults of so omnipresent a foe as it is his
lot to encounter. The insolence and unscrupulous-
ness of capital, subsidizing and leading on its mer-
cenary minions in the work of pirating some valuable
invention held by powerless hands, can scarcely be
conceived of by those not familiar with the subject."
For these among other reasons, all civilized nations have
adopted the present system of giving to the inventor who
complies with the statutory conditions, a patent for a brief
period only.
Said Irord Bacon :
* ' The introduction of new inventions seemeth to be
the very chief of all human actio7is. The benefits of
new inventions may extend to all mankind universally;
while the good of political achievements can respect
but some particular cantons of men ; these latter do
not endure above a few ages, the former forever.
Inventions make all men happy, without injury to
any one single person. Futhermore, they are, as it
were, new creations and imitations of God's own
works. ' '
As was well said by Hon. W. H. Seward :
"The exercise of the inventive faculty is the near-
est akin to that of the Creator of any faculty pOvSsessed
by the human mind ; for, while it does not create in
the sense that the Creator did, yet it is the nearest
approach to it of anything known to man."
** Invention," says Mr. Ray, "is the only power on earth
that can be said to create. It enters as an essential element
into the process of the increase of national wealth, because that
process is a creation and not a mere acquisition. Hence the
most frequent cause of the increase of the national wealth is
the increase of the skill, dexterity and judgment, and the me-
chanical inventions by which national labor is applied."
No better evidence of the truth of this statement can be
required than the growth and prosperity of the United States
as compared with that of other nations during the past century.
Under the stimulus of our patent system, American inventors
have given to the world the cotton gin, the planing machine
48o PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
and wood and metal-working machines of all kinds, the sewing
machine, the lathe for turning irregular forms, the perfected
steam engine and locomotive, the air brake and automatic
couplers, the palace and sleeping car, the street car, the steam-
boat, the modern plow, the harvester and automatic binder, the
elevator, the typewriter, the friction match, the perfected print-
ing press, vulcanized rubber in its myriad applications, boot
and shoe machinery, the revolver, the machine gun, the Moni-
tor with its revolving turret, the telegraph, the telephone, the
electric light, the electric motor, the insulation of electric con-
ductors, without which the ocean cable were an impossibility,
and innumerable other inventions by which machinery is made
to do the work of human hands, and contribute to the comfort
and happiness of humanity.
In the words of Commissioner Holt :
' ' The class of men who have given to their native
land and to the world these grand inventions whose
beneficent influences tell with measureless power upon
every pulsation of our domestic, social, and com-
mercial life, are indeed public benefactors, and may
well be pardoned for believing that their wants should
not be treated with entire indifference by that body
which represents alike the intellect and heart, as it
does the material interests of the great country of
which they are citizens."
Well did Commissioner Fisher say :
' * No class of our citizens have done more for the
glory and prosperity of the nation than the inventors
and mechanics of the United States, and they have
never been favored children."
What is now needed is the perfection of the system,, better
and more complete means for carrying it on, and more effectual
means for protecting the inventor.
Surely, no person who has studied the subject, and has any
just conception of what the system has done and is doing for
the growth and prosperity of the country and the world, can
for a moment question its beneficence, or ever again class it
with the * ' odious monopolies ' ' of former times.
PAPERS UPON U, S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 481
THE MINOR INVENTIONS OF THE CENTURY.
By James L. Ewin, Washington, D. C.
It is well understood that the recent centennial celebration
was intended to celebrate our Patent System and its fruits in
general, rather than specific inventions. Many individual
inventions were, however, necessarily referred to as types and by
way of illustration. Some of those which I did not hear men-
tioned appear to me sufficiently striking and characteristic of
the century to render some recognition of them essential to a
just and complete review.
Those which have suggested themselves as of this class
include the following, viz :
1. The Phonograph and the Graphophone, as among the
most amazing inventions of the past century, rendering it
possible to transmit sounds of every description, including
human speech and song, farther than the telephone is yet able
to transmit them, and to preserve them from generation to
generation, indefinitely, so as to be reproduced at will.
2. The myriad Coin- Actuated Machines, or " Nickel-in-the-
slot " Machines, as they are familiarly termed, illustrating the
boundless fertility of that class of inventors who need a seed-
thought from some one else to begin with, but given this pro-
duce wonders.
3. The Fare- Register, in its various forms, which Colonel
F. A. Seely has termed ' * A mechanical conscience for street-car
conductors." Of the numerous types of these machines, two
are marvels of perfect construction and adaptation. I refer (a)
to the ** bell-punch," which, in connection with the noted
' ' trip-slips ' ' of the newspaper paragraphs, provides for
registering any variety of fares, transfers and passes, by one
and the same simple device carried on the conductor's person,
and (b) to what is distinctively known as the ' ' permanent ' ' fare-
register or passenger-register, which in one make at least is so
guarded against fraudulent manipulation that the conductor is
provided with means for wiping out the record against him on
482 PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS.
the face of the machine, by resetting the trip-register or
primary counting device to zero at will, without any danger
that he can thus prevent the machine from keeping a correct
and unmistakable tally of every fare he has * ' rung up. " Very
ingenious recorders have also been patented and reduced to
practical use, whereby the record of each trip of a street-car
or like vehicle is obtained on paper in a permanent form.
4. The cheap time-pieces which the century has produced,
enabling the poorest boy, if so disposed, to carry a real watch
that will keep fairly good time, a good office clock, with alarm
and calendar attachments, to be obtained for two or three dol-
lars, and a split- second "stop-watch" suitable for timing
horses or machinery, to be obtained for as little as six dollars.
5. The wonderful improvements in weighing scales, dynamo-
meters, testing machines, and the like, which have distin-
guished the century. One of the members of the recent Con-
gress was Mr. Albert H. Emery, whose inventions in this line
deserve recognition, if no others. (See Plate XLIX in Knighfs
New Mechanical Dictionary^ and the accompanying letter-
press.)
6. Cycles — the various forms of " The Wheel," now ridden
by ladies as well as gentlemen, and by old men and children
as well as the young and athletic.
7. Cash registers and cash-railways or store-service appa-
ratus, as conspicuous contributions to mercantile ''machinery."
8. Some of the wonderful achievements in textile machinery,
other than the sewing-machine and the power-loom, whose in-
ventors received due recognition. A member of the Congress
communicated to me the very interesting history of the intro-
duction of the manufacture of a French fabric into this country,
and the multiplication of the population of a New England
neighborhood by fifty within a few years, as the results of an
almost microscopic invention, developed for another purpose.
9. Photolithography, and the various other arts whereby the
unerring sun is made to do the work of countless artistic fingers
with a degree of perfection which could not possibly be reached
by human skill.
I was not able to attend all the public sessions, nor to remain
throughout all I did attend ; and omissions were made to save
PAPERS UPON U. S. PATENT OFFICE TOPICS. 483
time in reading some of the papers. It is, therefore, quite
possible that some of the above inventions may have been in-
cluded by some of the able essayists. It is not probable, how-
ever, that all the countless * ' minor inventions of the century, ' '
as they may be termed, were even suggested to the average in-
ventor or manufacturer, and some, if not all, of those here
mentioned may have been omitted. Others will doubtless sug-
gest themselves to every intelligent reader who knows anything
of what has been accomplished in his individual sphere by that
wonderful human endowment known as Inventive Genius.
DIED AT PORTLAND, MAINE,
JUI.Y 2 1ST, 1892,
HONORABIvE JOHN LYNCH
Chairman of the Executive Committee,
PaTKNT CENTENNIAI, CEIvEBRATION.
Intelligence of the death of Mr. Lynch having been received
by the Committee while it was in session, the following resolu-
tion was placed on its records and ordered printed in the
Memorial Volume :
Resolved, That the members of the Executive Committee of the
Patent Centennial Celebration deplore the loss of their associate, whose
sagacious counsel and efl&cient co-operation has proven of the greatest
value, not only to the Committee, but to all interests related to the
American Patent System.
SUBSCRIBERS
TO THE GUARANTEE FUND
Patent Centennial Celebration.
Washington, D. C— Albright & Barker, W. L. Aughinbaugh, J. W.
Babson, Baldwin, Davidson & Wight, A. L. Barber, C. J. Bell, Alex-
ander Graham Bell, Gustav Bissing, W. H. Blodgett, Britton & Gray
Wm. Burke, J. U. Burket & Company, B. F. Butterworth, Henry
Calver, Benj. R. Catlin, Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company,
Church & Church, H. N. Copp, Corson & McCartney, L. Deane, Devine
& Keenan, W. C. Dodge & Sons, P. T. Dodge, W. H. Doolittle, H. H.
Doubleday, Dubois & Dubois, O. B. Duffy, Wm.W . Dudley, Schuyler
Duryee, R. G. Dyrenforth, Jno, Joy Edson, M. G. Emery, Evening Star
Newspaper Company, Jas. Iv. Ewin, Fava, Nseff & Company, R. W^
Fenwick, W. F. Fitzgerald, Foster & Freeman, Chas. H. Fowler, Oscar
C. Fox, N. Iv. Frothingham, Lawrence Gardner, Gedney & Roberts,
Gibson Bros, J. H. Gridley, Gurley & Stevens, Jno. J. Halsted, Charles
W. Handy, M. D. Helm, W. G. Henderson, Herman Hollerith, George H.
Howard, Gardiner Greene Hubbard, Frank D. Johns, Lewis Johnson &
Company, Walter JoHnson, Johnson & Johnson, Johnston, Reinohl &
Dyre, George W. Knox, R. S. & A. P. Lacey, James B. Lambie, W. R.
Lapham, F. A. Lehman, George E. Lemon, J. R. Littell, T. W. Lord,
Marble, Mason & Canfield, E. M. Marble, J. B. Marvin, Louis W.
Maxson, George C. Maynard, Joseph K. McCammon, W. C. Mclntire
Charles E. Mitchell, National Bank of the Republic, Norris Peters
Company, Henry Orth, Paine & Ladd, M. M. Parker, Henry V. Parsell,
Potomac Terra Cotta Company, Prindle & Russell, W. E. Prall, Eugene
Peters, Riggs & Company, T. E. Roeselle, Royce & Marean, George
Ryneal, Jr., H. P. Sanders, F. A. Seely, G. D. Seely, W. H. Selden, W.
H. Singleton, Wm. R. Singleton, A. M. Smith, C. A. Snow & Company,
F. C. Somes, Ellis Spear, A. R. Spofford, O. G. Staples, E. J. Stell-
wagen, W. Stevens, V. D. Stockbridge, Stoddart & Company, M. C.
Stone, J. C. & F. E. Tasker, A. A. Thomas, John W. Thompson, W. W.
Townsend, John T. Trego, Edward R. Tyler, B. H. Warner & Company,
B. H. Warder, J. Elfreth Watkins, Washington & Georgetown Railroad
Company, Welcker's Hotel, Roger Welles, M. I. Weller, Whitman &
Wilkinson, John B. Wight, Thomas Wilson, Whitaker & Prevost,
Woodward & Lothrop, E. W. Woodruff, Oscar Woodward, Wormley's
Hotel, E. F. Woodbury, L. B. Wynne.
488 MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
New York City. — Empire City Electric Company, B. S. Greeley &
Company, Wm. McMichael, Munn & Company, M. B. Phillipp, Iv. W.
Serrell, WyckofF, Seamans & Benedict.
Philadelphia. — Howson & Howson, Philadelphia Typewriter Com-
pany.
Boston. — American Bell Telephone Company, G. W. Gregory.
Bethlehem^ Pa. — The Bethlehem Iron Company.
Fort Wayne, Ind.—Chas. S. Bradley.
Members of the Congress
OF
Inventors and Manufacturers
Assembled at Washington City, U. S. A.
April 8y 9, 10, i8pi,
To Celebrate tl:\e Begir\r\irig of tt^e Second Ceritiiry of
tl:\e arqericari Patent Systen\.
AI.ABAMA.
Dudley, Chas. J., Mobile. Munger, R. S., Birmingham.
Cawfornia.
Beach, Jas. B., Routiers. Hallidie, A. S., San Francisco.
Dow, Geo. K. , San Francisco. Spiers, James, San Francisco.
COI^ORADO.
lyuckenbach, F. A., Denver.
Connecticut.
Andrews, Albert F., Avon. Crane, Walter B., Hartford.
Anthony, W. A. Manchester. Conwell, John P., Kensington.
Ayres, Bdw. F., New Canaan. Cowles, R. P., New Haven.
Bartlett, John P., New Britain. Bmery, A. H., Stamford.
Beach, John K., New Haven. Gatling, R. J., Hartford.
Becker, B. B., Westville. Hart, W. H., New Britain.
Billings, C. B., Hartford. Higginbottom, Chas. T., Thomaston.
Bishop, T. S., New Britain. Howard, Jas. Iv., Hartford.
Brent, Richard A., Bridgeport. Hoyt, ly. H., Danbury.
Carpenter, D. H., New Haven. Jones, Horace K., Hartford.
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
489
Connecticut— continued.
Loomis, Burdett, Hartford.
Merrow, J. M., Hartford.
Peck, Charles, New Britain.
Piatt, O. H., Meriden.
Pratt, F. A., Hartford.
Richards, F. H., Hartford.
Allen, Walter
Ashley, J. A.
Aughinbaugh, W. L.
Automatic Machine Company
Avery, Robert Stanton
Babson, J. W.
Baker, Henry E.
Baldwin, Davidson & Wight.
Barbour, James F.
Bailey, M. B.
Bartlett, W. A.
Becker, Joseph
Bell, Alexander Graham
Bell, C. J.
Berdan, H.
Berliner, E.
Billings, John S.
Birnie, Rogers
Bissing, Gustav
Blatchford Samuel
Blodgett, W. H.
Booth, Edw. H.
Bowen, Chas. H.
Bowles, John
Britton, A. T.
Brock, Chas. E.
Brown, Austin P.
Browne, A. B.
Browne, F. L/.
Browne, Hugh M.
Buckelew, J. R.
Burke, W. M.
Burket, J. U. & Co.
Butterworth, W.
Bym, E. W.
Shepard, Jas., New Britain.
Stiles, N. C, Middletown.
Toof, Edwin J., New Haven.
Trant, Justus A., New Britain.
Upson, ly. A., Thompson ville.
Wiley, Wm. H. Hartford.
Dei,aware.
Hope, S. W., Dover.
District of Coi^umbia.
(Washington City.)
Byrnes, E. A.
Cabell, W. D.
Calver, Henry
Calver, Wm.f
Catlin, Benj. R.
Chander, F. E. & Co.
Chatard, Thos. M.
Choate, Columbus D.
Chogwill, F. M.
Church & Church.
Cole, F. Iv.
Cook, Geo. W.
Cox, W. Van Zandt
Cranford, H. Iv.
Critic Record, The
Davis, I^ewisJ.
Deane, L.
De Grain, R. F.
de Schweinitz, E. A.
Dewey, Frederic P.
Dietrick, F. G.
Dodge, P. T.
Dodge, W. C.
Dodge, W. W.
Doolittle, W. H.
Doubleday, H. H.
Dowling, Thos. Jr.
Du Bois, J. T.
Du Bois, R. G.
Duffy, O. E.
Dyer, Frank L.
Edson, Jos. R.
Elliott, W. St. Jean
Ellis, E. Everett
Ely, G. S.
490
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
District of Coi^umbia— continued.
Emery, M. G.
Bvans, A. H.
Evans, Geo. W.
Everett, H. S.
Ewin, Jas. L.
Fava, Francis R., Jr.
Fenwick, R. W.
Finckel, Wm. H.
Fisher, Robert J.
Fisher, S. F.
Fitzgerald, W. T.
Foote, Allen R.
Foster & Freeman.
Forney, E. O.
Fowler, Chas. H.
Fowler, Francis
Fox, Oscar C.
Fraser, Daniel
French, Wm. B.
Frothingham, N. L.
Fryer, Robert M.
Fuller, M. M.
Gallaudet, E. M.
Gait, M. W.
Gardner, L.
Garrett, H.
Georges, J. J.
Gill, Theo. N.
Goode, G. Brown
Gould, C. G.
Graves, D. H.
Greene, Wallace
Gregg, M. E.
Gridley, James H.
Hains, Robt. P.
Halsted, John J.
Harding, Miss
Harrover, John J.
Hart, A. W.
Hayden, John J.
Helm, M. D.
Henderson, W. G.
Herman, Robt.
Hill, Chas. J.
Hoge, Thos.
Hollerith, Herman
Hopkins, Thos. S.
Howard, Geo. H.
Howard, H. J. M.
Hough, Walter
Hubbard, Gardiner Greene
Hubbel, Wm. Wheeler
Hudson, T. J.
Hume, Frank
Hyer, John D.
Ingram, Thos. D.
Jones, Chas. S.
Johns, Frank D.
Johnson, E. Kurtz
Johnson, E. W.
Johnson & Johnson.
Johnston, T. J.
Johnston, Reinohl & Dyre.
Johnson, Walter
Joyce, Maurice
Kauffman, S. H.
Kelly, D. J.
Kemp, J. R.
Kenaday, A. M.
King, Harry
Kinnan, A. F.
Knight, Wm. E.
Lake, Wilmot
Lane, C. H.
lyangley, S. P.
Lamb, D. S.
Lehmann, F. A.
Lemon, Geo. E.
Lord, T. W.
Loring, G. B.
Lowrey, W.
Lyman, Chas.
Lynch, John
Lyons, Jos.
Marrill, J. H.
Marvin, J. B.
Masius, Alfred G.
Mason, Otis T.
Maynard, Geo. C.
Maynard, Edward
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
491
District of Coi^umbia— continued.
Maxson, Louis W.
McCammon, Jos. K.
McDonald, Marshall
Mclntire, Wm. C.
McLean, Nichol & Dorsey.
Meade, R. W.
Meigs, M, C.
Mertz, Edward P.
Moore, M. J,
Morgan, T. J.
Morris, Ballard N.
Morrison, R. A.
Mullin, Rafael
Mussey, R. D.
Nevius, Burnet L., Jr.
Nixon, G. A.
Norton, W. T.
Nott, Wilford E.
Nottingham, J. R,
Ordway, N. G.
Ormsby, D. G.
Orrick, W. W.
Orth, Henry
Paine, H. E.
Parker, M. M.
Parsell, Henry V.
Parsell, N. V.
Peck, M. D.
Peck, S. & E.
Pennie & Goldsborougli.
Peters, Eugene
Pierce, P. B.
Pilling, J. W.
Pole, B. C.
Poor, John C.
Prindle & Russell.
Rafter, G. S.
Reeves, E. H.
Reynolds, Lucius E.
Rice, Jas. Q.
Richards & Company.
Richardson, Charles H.
Riley, Saml.
Ritter, F. W., Jr.
Rivers, Jose R. de Rivas Y.
Roane, L. B.
Robert, Henry M.
Ruebsam, John E.
Ryan, Matthew
Saavedra, Rodrigo
Sanders, H. P.
Seaton, Malcolm
Scott, Alex.
Seely, F. A.
Seely, Geo. D.
Seymour, H. A.
Shellabarger, Samuel
Sherwood, Henry
Siggers, E. G.
Simpson, G. R.
Skidmore, Jas, L.
Skinner, F. C.
Slocum, H. F.
Smillie, Thos. W.
Smith, Arthur St. A.
Somes, F. C.
Spear, Ellis
Spofford, A. R.
Springer, Ruter W.
St. Clair, F. O.
Stevens, W. X.
Steward, Thos. G.
Stockbridge, V. D.
- Stoddart & Co.
Stone, M. C.
Sturtevant, Chas. L.
Sunderland, Byron
Tainter, Chas. S.
Tasker, Fred E.
Taylor, Thomas
Thompson, W. B.
Toner, J. M.
Townsend, W. W.
Tryon, F. M.
Turpin, P. B.
Tweedale, John
Tyler, Amilia
Tyler, E. R.
Tyler, R. D. S.
Van Dorsten, A. W.
492
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
District of Coi^umbia — continued.
Voorhees, John H.
Walcott, Chas. D.
Warner, B. H.
Watkins, J. Blfreth
Welles, Roger)
Wight, Lloyd B.
Wilkinson, A. G.
Wilkinson, Ernst
Willitts, Edwin
Wilson, A. A.
Wilson, Davies
Wilson, Thomas
Wires, M. D.
Wirth, Joseph
Whitaker, E. W.
Whitaker & Prevost.
White, H. K.
White, John H.
Whitman, Chas. E.
Whittlesey, Geo. P.
Wolf, S. & Company.
Woodward, Oscar
Woodward, R. S.
Wright, Carroll D.
Wynne, Lewis B.
Zeigler, W. R.
GEORGIA.
Emme, Michael, Atlanta. Nunn, R. J., Savannah.
Stallings, W. H., Augusta.
II^WNOIS.
Alston, W. H., Adrian. Gray, Elisha, Highland Park.
Anderson, J. C, Highland Park. McMahon, P. J., Chicago.
Beach, F. G., Evanston. Shipman, M. D., De Kalb.
Blunt, Jno. E., Chicago. Smith, L5'man, Chicago.
Emerson, Talcott & Co., Rockford. Towle, H. S., Chicago.
Farm Implement News, Chicago. Willetts, Ward W., Chicago.
Goodrich, Harry C, Chicago. Willing, H. J., Chicago.
Gormully, R. Philip, Chicago. Zimmerman, Wm., Chicago.
INDIANA.
Bradford, Chester, Indianapolis.
Bradley, Chas. S , Fort Wayne.
Dodds, E., Indianapolis.
Dodge, W. H., Mishawaka.
Gray, Thomas, Terre Haute.
Pine, Leighton, South Bend.
Ridpath, John Clark, Greencastle.
Smith, R. D. O., Mishawaka.
IOWA.
Gilman, Chas. Carroll, Eldora. Novatory, Jno. West Cedar Rapids.
Moseley, C. S., Dubuque. White, Wm. K., Davenport.
KANSAS.
Brunning, Chas. E., Concordia. Fouquet, Leon C, Andale.
KENTUCKY.
Maret, James, Mount Vernon.
MAINE.
Davis, M. F., Portland. Keefe, Francis, Eliot.
Farmer, Moses G., Eliot. Perrin, N. G. M., Portland.
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
493
MARYI^AND.
Griscom, F. R., Annapolis.
Baron, Bernhard, Baltimore.
Boyden, G. A., Baltimore.
Brosius, S. G., Baltimore.
Cassard, Harry L., Baltimore.
Clotworthy, W. P., Baltimore.
Hoen, Ernest, Baltimore.
Lansburg, Max., Baltimore.
Mackey, Saml. W., Baltimore.
Mann, Chas. B., Baltimore.
Newitt, Edward, Baltimore.
Owens, Benj. B,, Baltimore.
Parker, John H., Baltimore.
Patten, John, Baltimore.
Porter, F. E., Baltimore.
Price, Benj., Baltimore.
Ries, Elias E., Baltimore.
Steuart, Arthur, Baltimore.
Stevens, Francis P., Baltimore.
Weems, David G., Baltimore.
Blodgett, G. R., Boston.
Bray, Millin, Boston.
Brown, C. F., Boston.
Burton, Geo. D., Boston.
Clark & Raymond, Boston.
Dolbear, A. E., Boston.
Easte, Charles H., Arlington.
Edwards, John C, Boston.
Graton, H. C, Worcester.
Gregory, Geo. W., Boston.
Griffin, Eugene. Boston.
Hathaway, Thos. PI., New Bedford
Hays, H. V., Boston.
Howard, Wm. H., Lowell.
Howe, Elmer P., Boston.
Hudson, John E., Boston.
Hyslop, John, Jr., Abington.
Jackson, Wm,, Boston.
MASSACHUSETTS.
Johnson, Tver, Worcester.
Knight, Geo. H., Northampton.
Lefavour, Woodburj' P., Beverley,
Lockwood, Thos. D., Boston.
Lombard, Nathan C, Boston.
Mellen, E. D., Cambridgeport.
Naramore, Henry L., Sharon.
Plimpton, Henry R., Boston.
Plimpton, James L., Boston.
Rotch, A. Lawrence, Boston.
Simonds, Geo. F., Fitchburgh.
Sweet, Henry N., Boston.
Tapley Machine Co., Boston.
Thomson, Elihu, Swampscott.
Trask, Chas. H., Lynn.
Wheelock, Jerome, Worcester.
Whitcomb, G. Henry, Worcester.
MICHIGAN.
Church, Melvin B., Grand Rapids. Leggett, Wells W., Detroit.
Fritz, Theo. H., Cass City. Smith, Jesse M., Detroit.
Kirby, Frank E., Detroit. Temple, A. F., Muskegon.
Land, C. H., Detroit.
MINNESOTA.
Beaupre, B., St. Paul.
MISSISSIPPI.
Mulvihill, M. J., Vicksburg.
Higdon, John C, St. Louis.
Medart, Philip, St. Louis.
MISSOURI.
Moody, C. D., St. Louis.
Sickels, F. E., Kansas City.
494
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
NEBRASKA.
Chase, Champion S., Omaha. Rosewater, Andrew, Omaha.
Way, D. C, Ord.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Smyth, David M., Northwood.
NEW JERSEY.
Battin, Lambert B., Elizabeth.
Benners, Edwin H., Elizabeth.
Burgdorff, Theo. F., Newark.
Cory, A. M., New Providence.
Cuntz, Johannes H., Hoboken.
Diehl, Philip, Elizabeth.
Edison, Thos. A., Orange.
Fearey, Fredk. I., Newark.
Hanes, John, Woodstown.
Hay ward, H. S., Jersey City.
HofFecker, W. L., Elizabeth.
Keasbey, A. Q., Newark.
New
Allen, John F., New York City.
Allison, O. W., Rochester.
Almond, Thos. R., Brooklyn.
Baird, John, New York City.
Barber, A. L., New York City.
Barnes, Lucien, Syracuse.
Barry, Wm., Syracuse.
Beekman, Gerard, New York City.
Betts, Frederic H., New York City.
Bleakley, Wm. M., Verplanck.
Bowen, J. E. M., New York City.
Brady, James, Brooklyn,
Bramwell, G. W., New York City.
Brandon, James, New York City.
Brooks, Byron A., Brooklyn.
Brooks, J. A,, Clifton Springs.
Brown, Chichester, New York City.
Butler, J. Lawrence, New York City.
Butler, William H., New York City,
Burden, Jas. A., Troy.
Butterick, Ebenezer, Brooklyn.
Cameron, Frederick W., Albany.
Cauda, F. E., New York City.
Carrington, Jas. H., New York City
Christensen, Jno., Mount Vernon.
Church, Fred F., Rochester.
Leslie, Edward, Paterson.
Marsh, Riverius, New Brunswick.
Mclntire, C. H., Newark.
Moore, D. G., Elizabeth.
Mumford, E. H., Elizabeth.
Nishwity, F., Millington.
Rice, John V., Edgewater Park.
Roemer, Wm., Newark.
Searles, Anson, Newark.
Smith, Oberlin, Bridgeton.
Stockly, Geo. W., Lakewood.
Van Hovenberg, Alfred A., Paterson
York.
Cochran, F. B., New York City.
Cogswell, W. B., 'Syracuse.
Crook, Abel, New York City.
Crosby, G. S., Buffalo.
Crowell, Luther C, Brooklyn.
Davids, Charles H., Brooklyn.
Delano, Thos. H., New York City.
Durgin, Henry J., Rochester.
Eagle Pencil Co., New York City.
Ecaubert, F., New York City.
Edmonds, Walter D., New York
City.
Elting, Irving, Poughkeepsie.
Ewing, Thomas, Jr., New York City.
Fasoldt, Ernest C, Albany.
Feilbogen, Moriss, New York City.
.Felbel, Jacob, New York City.
Field, C. J., New York City.
Forbes, Francis, New York City.
Gill, Chas. C, New York City.
Gorton, Robt., New York City.
Granger, James B., Franklin.
Greeley, E. S., New York City.
Hagen, Arthur T., Rochester.
Haire, R. J., New York City.
Hall, Wm. P., New York City.
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS.
495
New York — continued.
Hallock, Wm., Middletown.
Harmon, O. S., Brooklyn.
Harris, John F., Fort Edward.
Hastings, A. Horace,New York City,
Haupt, vS. B., New York City.
Herzog, F. B. New York City.
Higgins, Chas. M. Brooklyn.
Hitchcock, L. R., Four Mile.
Johnson, B. T., New York City.
Johnston, W. J. New York City.
Jones, J. Thos., Utica.
Kenyon, Robt. Nelson, New York
City.
Kenyon, W. H., New York City.
Kilmer Mfg. Co., Newburgh.
Lamborn, Robt. H., New York City.
Langerfeld, A., New York City.
Linindoll, C. C, Fort Edward,
Locke, Sylvanus D., Hoosick Falls.
Logan, Walter S., New York City.
Lowrey, Ben no. New York City.
Lowrey, G. P., New York City.
Malm, Alexander, New York City.
McElroy, J. F., Albany.
Milliken, J. A., New York City.
Munson, H. T., New York City.
Parmelee, Dubois D., New York
City.
Phelps, Geo. M., New York City.
Planten, H. & Son, New York City.
Prentiss, F. H., New York City.
Quimby, Edw. E., New York City.
Raymond, Wm. C, Syracuse.
Roberts, Milton Josiah, New York
City.
Rowland, Geo., New York City.
Rogers, Archibald, Hyde Park on
Hudson.
Selden, Geo. B., Rochester.
Serrell, Lemuel W., New York City.
Sheehy, R. J., New York City.
Sherman, Geo. W., Pearsalls.
Skilton, James A., New York City.
Smith, Chas. F., Brooklyn.
Smith, Harold B., Ithaca.
Steams, James S., New York City.
Stetson, Thomas D., New York City.
Thompson, Edw. P., New York City.
Todd, A. J., New York City.
Townsend, Henry C, New York City.
Vander Weyde, P. H., Brooklyn.
Wait, Wesley, Newburg.
Waterman, L. E., New York City.
Welling, Wm. M., New York City.
Wheeler, Fredk. Merian, New York
City.
Whitaker, W. W., Gloversville.
White, Wm. A., Staatsburg.
Wilhelm, Edward, Buffalo.
Williams, John T., Mount Vernon.
Wilson, Wm., Middletown.
Worthem, W. E., New York City.
North Caroi^ina.
Lipps, Henry, Jr., Greensboro.
Clawson, L. P., Hamilton.
Eversman, Ernst A., Toledo.
Fisher, Wm. Hubbell, Cincinnati
Fleetwood, C. V., Cincinnati.
Gould, Aaron P., Canton.
Kaufman, C. H., Bridgeport.
Marsh, James A., Cleveland.
McClellan, Felix G., Carrothers.
Olney, Chas. F., Cleveland.
Ohio.
Palmer, C. H., Akron.
Palmer, C. O., Cleveland.
Roberts, Edward P., Cleveland.
See, J. W., Hamilton.
Simons, Howard T., Cambridge.
Toulmin, H. A., Springfield.
White, W. J., Cleveland.
Whitely, W. N., Springfield.
Whitter. E. E.. Milford Centre.
496 MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS,
PENNSYI.VANIA.
Allen, Geo., Franklin. Koskul, Frederick, Philadelphia.
Alsen Finius, Philadelphia. Lewis, Wilfred, Philadelphia.
Automatic French Spring Company, Longsbieth, Edw., Philadelphia.
Pittsburg. Lorimer, John H., Philadelphia.
Babendlier, A. I., Philadelphia. Macbeth, Geo. A., Pittsburg.
Barnaby, Chas. W., Meadville. Mann, Harry F., Allegheny.
Berg, Walter S., Philadelphia. Marquis, C. F., Beaver Falls.
Bethlehem Iron Company, South Midgley, Thos., Beaver Falls.
Bethlehem. Millhauser, B., Scran ton.
Boies, H. M., Scranton. Moxham, A. J., Johnstown.
Bon will, W. G. A., Philadelphia. Myers, H. M., Beaver Falls.
Boyd, John T., Erie. Newell, A. W., Bradford.
Bumham, Geo., Philadelphia. Pettit, Horace, Philadelphia.
Carkhuff, R., Lewisburgh. Phillips, C. C, Philadelphia.
Carty, Jerome, Philadelphia. Price, J. A., Scranton.
Cox, Bckley B., Drifton. Price, James M., Philadelphia.
Douglass, J. Walter, Philadelphia. Ripple, Ezra H., Scranton.
Dudley, Chas. B., Altoona. Schoen, Chas. T., Allegheny City.
Elder, J. T., Philadelphia. Sellers, Coleman, Philadelphia.
Ely, Theo. N., Altoona. Sellers, Wm., Philadelphia.
Emerson, J. E., Beaver Falls. Shaw, Thos., Philadelphia.
Emmens, Stephen H., Youngwood. Smith, E. D., Pittsburg.
Eschner, Louis, Philadelphia. Smith, John Y., Doylestown.
Fraley, Frederick, Philadelphia. Stanley, Edward, Bridgeport.
Goodwin, John M., Sharpsville. Stewart, W. G., Reading.
Hall, Augustus R., Philadelphia. Sulzberger, D., Philadelphia.
Hickman, Louis C, Philadelphia. Travis, W. H., Philadelphia.
Hill, B. B., Philadelphia. Vogt, A. S., Altoona.
How, W. Storer, Philadelphia. Westinghouse, Geo., Jr., Pittsburg.
Howson, Henry, Philadelphia. Wiedersheim, John A., Philadelphia.
Jaques, W. H., South Bethlehem. S. S. White Dental Mfg. Co., Phila-
Kingsley, John F., Athens. delphia.
Kneass, Strickland L.,Pliiladelphia. Wood, W. D., McKeesport.
Rhode Isi^and.
Corliss, Wm., Providence. Miller, Joseph R., Providence.
Cottrell, C. B., Westerly. Reynolds, Edwin, Providence.
Gammell, A. M., Providence. Smith, Chas. R., Providence.
Howard, Henry, Providence.
South Caroi^ina.
Alanken, C. H., Charleston. Emanuel, Philip Albert, Aiken.
Brotherhood, F., Beaufort. Martin, James N., Newberry.
Due, Henry A., Jr., Charleston.
Tennessee.
Green, M. M., Lynchburg.
MEMBERS OF THE CONGRESS. 497
UTAH.
Silver, Wm. J., Salt Lake City.
Vermont.
Butterfield, F. G., Derby Line. Cooper, Geo., Bennington.
Williams, N. G., Billings Falls.
Virginia.
Barlow, W. H., Charlottesville. Bartlett, John H., Roanoke.
Sears, W. G., Lynchburgh.
Washington.
Duryee, Schuyler, Everett.
West Virginia.
Creigh, Alfred K., Ronceverte.
Wisconsin.
Oliver, Garritt H., Kaukauna.
Brazii,.
Chermont, A. L., Para.
Addresses Incompi^ete.
John S. Boneville. Shoemaker Co.
John A. Brill. John Truesdale.
J. W. Hyatt. M. A. White.
W. H. Miller. K. O. Young.
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
499
NEWSPAPER COMMENT UPON THE CELEBRATION.
[From the Scientific American
March 12, 1887.]
CELEBRATION OF THE CENTENNIAL OF
THE ENACTMENT OF THE PATENT
LAWS.
To the Editor of the Scientific American:
The first patent law was enacted in
the United States of America on the
loth of April, 1790. I would suggest
that inventors meet in 1890 at some
place for centennial celebration for the
purpose of showing the great progress
made by the American genius under
the protection of the law. I would
like to hear from others.
F. M. SHIEI.DS.
Coopwood, Miss.
[As the locality for such a conven-
tion we would suggest this city. The
patent law was passed by the first
United States Congress, whose first two
sessions met in New York, the first
session lasting from March 4 to Sep-
tember 29, 1789, and the second from
January 4 to August 12, 1790. An ex-
hibition of inventions of early produc-
tions of the pioneers of the arts might
be organized in connection therewith,
and a really memorable centennial
might be celebrated. We echo the
sentiment of the last sentence of our
correspondent's letter. Others should
be heard from.]
[From the Scientific American,
January 24, 1891.]
CELEBRATION OF THE BEGINNING OF
THE SECOND CENTURY OF THE
AMERICAN PATENT SYSTEM.
The first century of existence of the
American patent system has now been
completed. In the history of the
country there are to be found few more
important epochs or more worthy of
being adequately signalized. The in-
auguration of the patent laws marks
the beginning of a career of unprece-
dented prosperity among nations. It
indicates the fostering by the federal
power of the most distinctive feature
of the national character. The many
•inventions, now nearly half a million
■in number, set forth in the records of
f the United States Patent Office are a
history of mechanical genius and
progress of which our country and the
world at large should be proud.
It is hard to believe that those who
composed and accepted the constitu-
tion of the United States, and those
who subsequently amended it, could
have foreseen the influence which
each paragraph would have on the
fortunes of so many millions of peo-
ple. It is definitely certain that the
clauses relating to the patents could
never have been supposed to embody
the foundations of the edifice that has
been based upon them. In the first
days of the republic there was but
little interest in the subject of inven-
tion. The people were largely agri-
cultural in their pursuits, and carried
on their work with primitive appli-
ances. Gradually a few patents were
taken out, but up to the year 1825, in-
cluding the first thirty-five years of
operation, only 4,183 patents had been
issued. The annual number of patents
granted gradually increased from ten
or twenty per annum to 299 in the
year 1825. In 1854 the first great in-
crease is observed, when the number
rose from 846 for 1853 to 1,759 ^o^ 1854.
Since that period they have increased
until now over 20,000 are issued an-
nually.
It is not in the mere granting of
letters patent that the fostering arm
of the government appears most
prominent. Entitled by statute to
federal protection by the judiciary
the rights of patentees have formed
one of the great subjects of defense
by the highest courts of the land.
The district and circuit judges are the
first appealed to, but from them case
is brought before the United States
Supreme Court at Washington. No
subject of personal or even interna-
tional right can find a higher tribunal
for adjudication of its claims than is
afforded to the right of the inventor.
500
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
The highest judges in the land, and
those who have obtained the highest
reputation as expounders of the law
and as interpreters of the intentions
of the legislative bodies, have pro-
nounced strongly and unhesitatingly
in favor of the inventor. No class of
citizens has been the subject of higher
encomium from the bench. Those
judges who have been most outspoken
in their appreciation of the poorly re-
warded efforts of mechanical genius
have been those who have attained
the highest reputation. Numerous
attacks have been made upon the
system in Congress, but all have met
with the same fate, and have failed at
an early stage. To-day the nation at
large may be thankful in seeing the
statutes undisturbed and intact. It is
a guarantee of the future progress of
the country. The maintenance of
laws so fruitful in good in the past
promises well for the future, and is the
best insurance of the continuance of
inventors' efforts. The more enlight-
ened of our legislators have uniformly
opposed on the floor of the houses of
Congress any impairing of the force
and scope of these statutes.
Fortunately we can be said to be
entering on this second century under
good auspices. The rights of inventors
are sustained in the courts and by the
houses of Congress. A century of
unprecedented work by the inventor
now begins. To fittingly celebrate the
present epoch, the beginning of the
second century of the American patent
system, a central executive and ad-
visory committees have been organ-
ized at Washington. The personnel
of the committees includes a long list
of names prominent in business and
ofl&cial circles. The Patent Office,
United States Senate and House of
Representatives, the Smithsonian In-
stitution, the National Museum, United
States Geological Survey, the United
States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and
many other federal bureaus and insti-
tutions are represented by their chiefs
or other officials.
The centennial of the patent system
has passed, because the first patent
was granted in 1790. The idea of
holding the proposed convention has
come a year beyond the proper date
for a centennial. It is therefore termed
a celebration of the beginning of the
second century of the American patent
system. The inventor and manufac-
turer of inventions are appealed to by
the committee to hold a fitting cele-
bration in the national capital, to com-
memorate the entry into the second
century of mechanical and scientific
progress. They are invited to assist
in putting on record the nation's ap-
preciation of the labors of those whose
work in the realm of invention has
done so much to elevate their country.
It is also suggested that the occasion
is a fitting one for organizing a National
Association of Inventors, a society for
mutual benefit, which it is obvious
might accrue in many ways to the
members. The committee invite all
interested to communicate with their
secretary, Mr. J. Elfreth Watkins,
U. S. National Museum, Washington,
D. C.
[From The Forum, March, 1891.]
OUR BARGAIN WITH THE INVENTOR.
A United States patent is a contract.
The parties to it are the inventor on
the one hand and the people of the
United States on the other. The in-
ventor, by a public record, informs the
people concerning a useful discovery
which he has made, which must be
original with him and new in the
United States. In return the people,
by their letters-patent, secure to him
the exclusive right to make, to use,
and to sell his invention for a limited
number of years. At the end of that
period the contract terminates, and the
discovery belongs to all the people for-
ever. A patent, therefore, does not flow
from the bounty of the community, as
might a pension or a subsidy, or a
medal. It belongs to the inventor by^,
right. It comes into existence in con-
sequence of the legal establishment o^
a certain state of facts, namely, that
the invention is new, useful, and orij
inal with claimant. This disclosure]
the consideration on the part of th«
inventor, who, therefore, gives to th«
community something of value whicll|
it did not before possess. The com-
munity gives to the inventor, not some
thing of value which it already had,
where a part of the public domain ia
patented to a settler, but simply pre
tection. If the invention is valuable
so is the protection ; if the invention;]
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
501
is worthless the protection is without
benefit; thus the contract is reciprocal
and evenly balanced. The validity of
a patent depends upon the mainte-
nance of the facts established. To de-
termine issues of validity is a function
of the United States courts. To de-
termine whether the consideration
probably exists, and to make the con-
tract itself is the function of the United
States Patent Ofl5ce. "He who re-
ceives an idea from me," wrote
Thomas Jefferson, "receives instruc-
tion himself without lessening mine ;
as he who lights his taper at mine re-
ceives light without darkening mine. "
An idea once made known is subject to
human control only when incorporate,
and therefore it can become the sub-
ject of patent only when it is tangible
and existent. In the beginning it may
be regarded as a marvel ; in time it
becomes a necessity of life, a manufac-
ture, perhaps the basis of a great in-
dustry. In a certain sense the invention
then detaches itself from the inventor,
for the patent no longer protects only
one man in his right, but through him
many men in their rights. The patent
system of the United States has now
completed its one hundredth year.
The experience of the century shows
that the advantages incident to the
patent contract constitute a sufficient
incentive, not merely to lead people to
publish their inventions, but to make
them invent. The number of patents
granted yearlyhas steadily augmented;
it is now more than 26,000, and is in-
creasing. Under the fostering protec-
tion of patents we have developed, and
are developing, inventors as a distinc-
tive national product.
[From the Washington Post,
March 22, 1891.]
THE COMING PATENT CENTENNIAL.
The coming Patent Centennial, the
celebration of which will be held in
Washington, beginning the 8th of
April next, will be one of the most
notable and most interesting of such
gatherings that has yet been witnessed
in America; of its own kind, it will be
the most important ever held.
It is the intent of this centennial to
celebrate a century of patents in Amer-
ica, a century of progress in mechani-
cal and industrial arts — a century of
the most marvelous advancement the
world has ever known.
It will be in a peculiar and marked
degree a gathering characteristically
and representatively American. It
will testify, as perhaps no other gath-
ering could testify, to the positive
progress, the actual and eminent con-
tributions which America has made to
the stock of the mechanical posses-
sions of man.
"To promote the progress of useful
arts ' ' was the suggestive title of the
act over which Washington, as Presi-
dent, wrote his signature on the 8th of
April, 1 79 1. It is difl&cult at this time
to measure or compute the wonderful
development which has been made in
the hundred years following this en-
actment, in this most important field
of human effort.
When the Congress of the United
States decreed to the inventor absolute
rights to the products of his ingenuity
and skill, the discovery of Benjamin
Franklin was not understood, the in-
vention of Watts was all but unused,
the innovations of Hargrave and Ark-
wright were met by angry mobs ; the
field of centuries was laid bare by the
primitive scythe and its wealth won
from the chaff by the flail.
Such was the mechanical advance-
ment of mankind in 6,000 years of re-
corded life.
As in the flash of a single century,
such has been the wonderful activity
of the age. Scarce is there a known
occupation which has not undergone
revolutions startling and complete.
The means and manner of locomotion
and communication, alike on land
and sea ; of heating and lighting, of
production and distribution, the pro-
cesses of agriculture, manufactures,
printing — all have undergone within
this narrow span a change so swift,
so sweeping that the material world
of to-day bears as little resemblance
to the material world of Franklin and
Washington as the conceptions of
Copernicus to the conceptions of the
ancient Ptolemy.
To compress history into a sentence,
the achievements of the nineteenth
century in the field of mechanics com-
pose those of all the centuries of civil-
ization preceding. The history of the
century is an Arabian tale, whose
most gorgeous fancy and most vivid
502
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imagination are surpassed by simple
fact.
In this unparalleled activity the
achievements of the United States
represent the most important, if not
the major, part. From this country
have come all the greater inventions
for which the century will in future
times be famous. No other national-
ity has contributed either in like meas-
ure or like value. It is indeed ques-
tionable if the inventions of the United
States alone, numbering now over
300,000, do not surpasi in importance
and worth the inventions of all other
nations combined.
To review this marvelous work, to
consider its value, to note its effect, to
look somewhat to the future — this is
the province of the coming centennial.
It will bring together many brilliant
minds. It will mark a great era.
LFrom the Scientific American,
April 4, iSgi.l
THE PATENT CENTENNIAL.
The Congress of Inventors and
Manufacturers of Inventions, to be
held in Washington on the 8th, 9th
and loth of this month, is certain to
be a most enthusiastic and numerously
attended assemblage, in every way
worthy of such an occasion as the
celebration of the beginning of the
second century of the American patent
system. We have been living in a
period which has been distinguished
by many noble centennial celebra-
tions, from the great world's exposi-
tion in 1876, to celebrate the one hun-
dredth anniversary of the Declaration
of Independence, down to the great
assembling in New York to mark the
corresponding anniversary of the
adoption of the Constitution, but it is
believed that none of these events
have been more memorable, or have
been more clearly significant of Amer-
ican progress than will be the celebra-
tion to be held in Washington next
week. There will be no disinterested
onlookers, but in the large attendance,
drawn from the remotest quarters of
the country as well as from near-by
places, and from workers in every
industry and every department of
science, there will be a keen apprecia-
tion of the dignity and the importance
of the occasion.
Besides engaging the largest public
hall in Washington for the regular
meetings, provision has been made
for overflow meetings, and it is ex-
pected that a far greater variety of
subjects will be presented illustrative
of the progress of American invention
than the projectors had at first antici-
pated. The programme arranged by
the literature committee has been
most favorably regarded by all friends
of the movement, and the responses
from inventors, specialists and promi-
nent men in different sections indicate
that the literary entertainment pro-
vided will be a most attractive one.
In the accompanying illustrations
we present portraits of a limited num-
ber of the imposing array of lawyers,
judges, administrators, legislators and
patent specialists taking part in this
centennial celebration, our space being
all too small to attempt anything like
so full a record as we should like to
give.
In such a list we necessarily include
the Hon. Samuel Blatchford, a Justice
of the United States Supreme Court,
who is to deliver an address on "A
Century of Patent Law." His deci-
sions in memorable patent cases in the
United States Circuit Court, and in
other important causes, having during
many years always commanded the
close attention of all members of the
bar, and his promotion to the Supreme
Court was generally looked upon as a
thoroughly well-earned advancement.
The Hon. John W. Noble, Secretary
of the Interior in President Harrison's
Cabinet, and thus the direct ofiicial
head of all our patent business at pres-
ent, has taken an active part in assist-
ing to make the celebration a thor-
oughly imposing and representative
one. He will personally preside at
some of the meetings, and, with other
prominent officials, hold receptions
especially for inventors and manufac-
turers and their representatives.
The Commissioner of Patents, Hon.
Charles E. Mitchell, of Connecticut,
around whose office is centered the
great interest of the occasion, is a man
of the highest ability, wide influence
and exalted character. He is distin-
guished by his clear judgment, and
has previously been a most successful
patent lawyer. He has proved himsel f
well qualified for the arduous duties of
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503
graduate of Brown
ifty-five years of
his office. He is a
University, about
age.
The Hon. Benjamin Butterworth, of
Ohio, who is to deliver an address on
"The Efifect of Our Patent System on
the Material Development of the
United States," has been so promi-
nently before the public for many
years. Commissioner of Patents and as
a member of Congress, and a public
speaker of great power and influence,
that his participation in the celebration
will be an important factor. He has
been the chairman of the House Com-
mittee on Patents, and through many
years has worked with energy and dis-
crimination for the protection of the
interests of inventors.
Dr. R. H. Thurston, director of Sib-
ley College, Cornell University, who
is to speak on ' * The Inventors of the
Steam Engine," has a subject to the
elucidation of which he brings a great
store of knowledge. His treatment of
the matter will be sure to be most in-
structive and interesting.
The Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Com-
missioner of Labor, who is to speak on
the ' ' Relation of Labor to Invention, ' '
has made a practical study of all phases
of the labor question from an economic
standpoint, and speaks on such ques-
tions with an authority everywhere
acknowledged. He first made a science
of this department of investigation as
the organizer of the Massachusetts
Bureau of Labor Statistics, and has
brought to his present wider field a
method and system heretofore un-
known.
Dr. John S. Billings, who is to speak
on inventions and discoveries in medi-
cine, surgery and practical sanitation,
is a United States army surgeon, in
charge of the Army Medical Museum.
He has an international reputation as
a sanitarian, and his recent work on
medical bibliography is to-day the
leading authority on the subject.
Hon. John W. Daniel, U. S. Senator
from Virginia, very appropriately
speaks on the New South as an out-
growth of invention and the American
patent law. He was born in Lynch-
burg, Va., in 1842, served in the Con-
federate service during the war, rising
from the ranks to a colonelcy, and
since the war has become distinguished
as a lawyer and orator.
Dr. Cyrus F. Brackett, Henry Pro-
fessor of Physics in Princeton College,
who is to speak on invention as related
to the progress of electrical science, is
a widely known authority in this field,
and, in conjunction with Professor
Anthony, has published a recent book
on physics with which many of our
readers are probably familiar.
Thomas Gray, of Indiana, who is to
speak on telegraph and telephone in-
ventions, is a civil engineer and pro-
fessor of dynamic engineering in an
institute at Terre Haute.
Mr. Ainsworth R. SpofiFord, of the
advisory committee, is the efficient
and accomplished Librarian of Con-
gress, and is from New Hampshire,
where he was bom in 1825. He be-
came the principal Librarian in 1865,
having previously served a term as
assistant. Mr. SpofiFord has seen the
library grow from about seventy-five
thousand to more than half a million
volumes, and he has had great influ-
ence with successive Congresses in se-
curing legislative action for a proper
building for the rapidly accumulating
store of books, adequate provision for
which has only recently been made,
while the plans are but tardily being
carried out. He is recognized as a
bibliographer of great attainments,
and peculiarly fitted for his responsi-
ble position.
Mr. J. W. Babson, of the Patent
Office, is from Maine, and entered the
Interior Department in 1866 as Chief
of the Finance Division and Deputy
Commissioner of Pensions. He was
assigned to the charge of the Official
Gazette in 1878, and in 1880 was ap-
pointed chief of the Issue and Gazette
Division, which position he now holds.
Of the 54 volumes of the Official Ga-
zette, 41 have been published under
his direction, and of the 448,000 pat-
ents granted by the Patent Office, more
than half have been prepared and
issued under his charge.
Llewellyn Deane, of Washington,
D. C, a member of the Literature Com-
mittee, is a native of Maine, and de-
scended from Pilgrim stock. He is a
graduate of Bowdoin College, and a
lawyer by profession, and makes the
patent business a specialty. He was
a principal examiner in the United
States Patent Office for several years.
In earlier years he had considerable
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legislative experience in Maine. He
is actively connected with local scien-
tific societies.
John Ivynch, the chairman of the
Executive Committee, is a native of
Portland, Me., and is engaged in com-
mercial business and interested in
manufacturing and railroad enter-
prises. He was elected in 1864 from
the first Maine district (now repre-
sented by Speaker Reed) to the Thirty-
ninth Congress, and re-elected to the
four succeeding Congresses, retiring
in 1873. As chairman of committee
on *'The Causes of the Decline of
American Shipping, ' ' he submitted a
report with bills for the revival of
American navigation interests which
attracted attention not only in this
country but in Europe. He was also
the author of bills passed January 27,
1873, extending the life-saving service
(then confined to the coasts of Massa-
chusetts and New Jersey) along the
whole Atlantic, Pacific, and lake coasts
of the United States, and connecting
same by telegraph with signal service
and light-houses. This is the founda-
tion of the present life-saving service
of the United States. Owning a large
tract of land near Washington, upon
which are beds of terra cotta clay, he
established the Potomac Terra Cotta
Works, and in connection with this
manufacture has made several inven-
tions which have been patented in this
country and Europe.
Marvin C. Stone, of the Central Com-
mittee, was graduated from Oberlin
College, Ohio, in 1872, and began life
as a Washington correspondent, repre-
senting the New Orleans Picayune ^
the Cleveland Leader^ and various
other journals. Mr. Stone drifted into
the manufacturing business, and to-
day employs over four hundred opera-
tives, and paying out considerably over
one hundred thousand dollars annu-
ally in wages alone. He confines him-
self to the manufacture of novelties of
his own invention. He has taken out
a large number of patents on the vari-
ous articles which he manufactures,
but he bases his claim as an inventor
especially upon the fountain pen with
capillary feed.
Robert W. Fenwick, a patent at-
torney and a member of the Central
Committee, was born in Washington
in 1832. His uncle, Benjamin Fen-
wick, was one of the three who
composed the Patent Office corps in
181 2-16. Mr. Fenwick studied archi-
tecture, civil engineering, and me-
chanical drawing, and was for seven
years employed in the patent depart-
ment of the Scientific American at
New York, being afterward similarly
employed in charge of our branch office
in Washington. Since 1861 Mr. Fen-
wick has followed business as a patent
attorney in Washington. He was
called to preside as chairman of the
meeting at which it was determined
that a celebration of the second cen-
tury of our patent system should be
celebrated in 1891. He was authorized
by this meeting to appoint a commit-
tee to arrange the programme for the
celebration.
George Brown Goode, of the Ad-
visory Committee, was born in New
Albany, Ind., 13th February, 1851.
He was graduated at Wesleyan Uni-
versity, in 1870, pursued a short post-
graduate course at Cambridge, and in
187 1 took charge of the organization
of the college museum at Middletown.
In 1873 received an appointment on
the staflf of the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, and on the organization of the
National Museum became its assistant
director, and in 1887 assistant secretary
of the Smithsonian Institution. The
natural history division of the United
States Government at the Philadelphia
exhibition in 1876 was under his super-
vision. He was United States com-
missioner in charge of the American
sections at International Fisheries ex-
hibitions in Berlin in 1880 and in Lon-
don in 1883, and was also member of
the Government executive board for
the New Orleans, Cincinnati, and
Ivouisville expositions in 1884, and of
the board of management and control
of the World's Columbian Exposition
of 1893. From 1872 until 1887 he was
intimately associated, as a volunteer,
with the work of the United States Fish
Commission. In 1887 he was employed
by the Department of State as statis-
tical expert in connection with the
Halifax fisheries commission, and in
1879-80 was in charge of the fisheries
division of the Tenth Census, and in
1887 was appointed United States Com-
missioner of Fisheries, resigning the
position early in 1888. He has traveled
through Europe for the purpose of
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505
studying the methods of administra-
tion of the public museums, and has
made extensive natural history explo-
rations in the Bermudas and Florida.
His published papers are numerous,
and include, besides several books,
about 200 minor titles on topics in
ichthyology, museum administration,
and fishery economy and American
history.
Franklin A. Seely, of Pennsylvania,
of the Advisory Committee, was born
in 1834, graduated at Yale College in
1855, served in the Federal army dur-
ing war of the rebellion as assistant
quartermaster of volunteers, and was
discharged in 1867 with the brevet rank
of lieutenant colonel. He was ap-
pointed assistant examiner in the Pat-
ent Ofl&ce in November, 1875, and chief
clerk of that office in April, 1877. He
held the latter office until June, 1880,
when he was appointed principal ex-
aminer, and put in charge of the classes
of invention which had heretofore
formed the philosophical division, ex-
cept electricity, which was made to
constitute a separate division. To the
new division was added trade marks,
which had heretofore constituted a
division by itself. Colonel Seely's di-
vision has remained substantially the
same ever since. When the United
States became a member of the Inter-
national Union for the Protection of
Industrial Property, the work of re-
viewing the Convention of Paris of
1883 was assigned to Examiner Seely,
and his interpretations of that instru-
ment have been accepted here and
abroad as correct. Since then he has
had charge in the Patent Office of all
questions arising under the conven-
tion, and growing out of international
relations, and a year ago was a dele-
gate from the United States to the
International Conference at Madrid.
Colonel Seely was for many years sec-
retary of the Anthropological Society
of Washington, and is at present one
of the editing committee of its quar-
terly publication, the American An-
thropologist. He has given much time
to the study of the philosophy of in-
vention, on which he has published
several papers.
George C. Maynard, of the Advisory
Committee, is a native of Ann Arbor,
Michigan. He was educated in the
pubHc schools of that State and studied
physics with the late Professor James
C. Watson, director of the Michigan
Observatory. Commenced telegraph-
ing at the age of fifteen and has been
engaged in electrical work ever since.
During the war he entered the Mili-
tary Telegraph Corps, and after the
close of the war was chief operator in
the Western Union Telegraph office for
several years. He organized the tele-
graph system of the Weather Bureau,
and, after two years' service in the
signal office, resigned to engage in pri-
vate business as an electrical engineer,
in which he has continued until this
time. He has been an extensive
builder of telegraph lines, organized,
and, for five years, managed the tele-
phone business in Washington, and
has been connected with many elec-
trical enterprises. He is a member of
the American and English Institutes
of Electrical Engineers, president of
the ' ' Old Timers' ' ' telegraph society
and the Washington editor of the Elec-
trical Review.
Hon. Joseph K. McCammon, chair-
man of the Finance Committee, was
born in Philadelphia, October 13, 1845.
He graduated in 1865 from the Col-
lege of New Jersey, at Princeton. In
1868 he was admitted to the bar in
Philadelphia ; in 1870 appointed reg-
ister in bankruptcy, and in 1871 special
counsel for the United States before
the Court of Claims, having special
charge of suits in which the Pacific
and other railroads were engaged in
litigation with the Government. In
1880 he was appointed Assistant At-
torney General, and assigned to the
Interior Department. In 1881 he was
appointed, by President Arthur, Com-
missioner of Railroads^ holding this
position with the Assistant Attorney-
Generalship. In May, 1885, he re-
signed from public service, since which
time he has been practicing his pro-
fession in the city of Washington. He
has been president of the Cosmos Club
of Washington, and is a member of
several learned societies and social
organizations.
Alexander T. Britton, of the Ad-
visory Committee, was born in New
York City in 1835. He studied law in
the office of James T. Brady, and sub-
sequently went to college and gradu-
ated at Brown University. He has
built up a large law business in Wash-
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ington under the firm name of Britton
& Gray, and in the department of rail-
road and corporation law has acquired
an extended reputation. He was ap-
pointed by President Hayes a member
of the Public I^and Commission, and
in that capacity revised and codified
the public land laws. Mr. Britton is
president of the American Security
and Trust Company, and vice-president
of the Columbian National Bank.
James T. Du Bois was born at Hall-
stead, Pennsylvania, in 1 85 1. He gradu-
ated at the Ithaca Academy in 1871.
President Hayes appointed him consul
to Aix-la-Chapelle, Germany, in 1877.
He was transferred to the consulate at
Callao, Peru, in 1883, and to the con-
sulate at I/cipsic during the same year.
In 1889 Mr. Du Bois established the
Inventive Age at Washington, D. C.
He has been an earnest promoter of
the patent centennial celebration.
J. Blfreth Watkins, of the United
States National Museum, Washing-
ton, has been thfe efl&cient secretary of
the organization committee, and taken
upon himself a large amount of the
necessary detail work.
Dr. J. M. Toner, of Washington, a
member of the advisory committee,
has also been an active and efficient
promoter of the movement for this
celebration.
[From The Inventive Age, "Wash-
ington, April 7, 1891.]
WORDS OF WELCOME.
With pardonable pride, and in per
feet accordance with "the eternal fit-
ness of things," The Inventive Age
extends most cordial greeting to the
inventors and all others who have
come to Washington to attend the
centennial of invention — the inaugu-
ration of the second century of inven-
tion under the stimulating protection
of the American Patent System. This
journal is both proud and glad that the
success of the celebration is assured.
The fitness of a welcoming address in
these columns resides in the fact that,
but for this journal, for its original
suggestion of this centennial and its
incessant efforts to promote it, no such
gathering would have occurred. Of
all the centennials that have been cele-
brated in the United States since 1876
none have been worthier of the world's
notice, none more replete with great
suggestions, none has noted more re-
markable achievements than this will
celebrate. The dawn of our national
prosperity began with the inaugura-
tion of the patent system. Until the
laws recognized property in ideas, in
new discoveries, in all genuine pro-
ducts of inventive toil, there was no
other inducement than philanthropy
for men to devote their time or means
to invention. Philanthropy does not
support families. The consciousness
of doing good will not take the place
of food, raiment or shelter. It was
necessary to guarantee opportunities
for acquiring wealth in order to develop
the inventive talent of the nation . The
patent system gave that guaranty, and
then the nation started on such a
career as has no parallel in all the
ages. The recorded facts of our na-
tional life show that our increase in
wealth and progress in the arts and
sciences has been in exact ratio with
the progress of invention.
It was never the privilege of any as-
semblage of citizens in this or any
other land to contemplate such results
of their own labors as are now before
the inventors of the United States.
"Their fame is gone out into all the
earth and their words to the end of the
world. ' ' There is not a being in any
civilized land on the globe who is not
the beneficiary of the American inven-
tors. There is not a life lived that is
not happier, not a home that is not
brighter, not a day or an hour or a
place where the beneficent influence
of the American inventors is not felt.
Toil has been stripped of its brutality,
the gap between the brutal and the
human has been widened, the good
things of this world have been cheap-
ened so that the poor can enjoy them ;
life has been exalted and refined ; all
arts, all industries, in the field of agri-
culture, commerce, manufactures, min-
ing and other occupations have been
beneficently revolutionized by our in-
ventions. Education, religion, the
press — art, science, literature — all
human interests worth preserving, are
the debtors of the inventor. Why
should not he and his friends rejoice
and be exceeding glad on such an
occasion as this centennial ?
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507
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Hon, John Lynch, Chairman.
Hon. John Lynch, chairman of the
Executive Committee, was born at
Portland, Maine. He was for many
years successfully engaged in foreign
commerce with the West Indies and
South American States, and was also
largely interested in manufacturing
and in railroads. In 1861 he was
elected a member of the State legisla-
ture and represented the first Maine
district at Washington in the 39th, 40th
and 41st Congresses. This is the dis-
trict now represented by ex-Speaker
Reed. During his congressional career
he served on many important commit-
tees, such as Banking and Currency,
Commerce, Pacific Railroads, Post-
Offices and Post Roads, Bankrupt Law.
He was chairman of the Committee on
Expenditures in the Treasury Depart-
ment, and chairman of a special Com-
mittee on Decline of American Navi-
gation Interests. This committee made
a famous report with bills for the re-
vival of shipping interests, and Presi-
dent Grant sent a special message to
Congress strongly endorsing the same
and urged a favorable action on the
bills of the committee. Mr. Lynch
was instrumental in securing an ex-
tension of our life-saving service, mak-
ing it the most efficient in the world.
Mr. Lynch is a successful inventor and
manufacturer. He is president of the
well-known Potomac Terra Cotta Com-
pany, and his work as chairman of the
Executive Committee of the Patent
Centennial Celebration has been very
valuable.
Coi,. J. W. Babson.
Colonel Babson was one of the early
active promoters of the Celebration
and was unanimously elected chair-
man of the Central Committee and
was also chosen member of the Execu-
tive Committee. In the work of both
of these committees he has been untir-
ing in his efforts to make the celebra-
tion worthy of the important event it
commemorates. He was born at
Brooksville, Maine, became a student
and subsequently a tutor at the Maine
Wesleyan Seminary and Female Col-
lege, and was for a time postmaster at
Brooksville. He came to Washington
with Vice-President Hamlin in 1861
and was an official of the United States
Senate until 1866 when he resigned to
enter the Interior Department, where
he became chief of the Finance Di-
vision, Deputy Commissioner of Pen-
sions. He was assigned to the charge
of the Official Gazettey the most im-
portant patent journal in the world,
and upon the absorption of the Issue
Division by the Gazette Division he
was appointed Chief of the Issue and
Gazette Division, which responsible
position he still holds with great credit
to himself and the Patent Office. Of
the 448,000 patents granted by the
United States Patent Office more than
half have been prepared and issued
under his charge.
Colonel Babson has been active in
promoting the interests of Washing-
ton, as a member of the Citizens' Com-
mittee of One Hundred, and was Chair-
man of its Committee on the World's
Fair celebration, making an elaborate
report in favor of the National Capital
as the site.
Secretary J. E. Watkins.
During the past three months Pro-
fessor Watkins has been by far the
busiest man at the National Capital.
The work he has accomplished as gen-
eral secretary of the Patent Centennial
Celebration has been astonishing. His
capacity to organize and execute have
been tested and proven equal to the
task. But very few people know of
the difficulties which he and his faith-
ful colleagues on the Executive Com-
mittee encountered and conquered in
their gallant battle to make the most
important event of this century a re-
markable success. To Professor Wat-
kins the inventors, manufacturers and
all interested in the magnificent indus-
trial development of the country owe
a large measure of gratitude for the
public spirit and devotion which he
has shown in organizing and perfecting
the details of the celebration.
J. Elfreth Watkins, C. E., was born
in Goochland County, Virginia, in
1852. He graduated at La Fayette Col-
lege in 1871. In the year 1872 he be-
came mining engineer for the Dela-
ware and Hudson Canal, and in 1873
was appointed assistant engineer of
construction for the Pennsylvania Rail-
road, and was for a time examiner an d
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chief clerk of the Amboy Division.
For a number of years he was actively
and successfully engaged in journal-
ism, and in 1886 he was appointed En-
gineer and Curator of Transportation
and Engineering in the United States
National Museum, Smithsonian Insti-
tution, which position he now occu-
pies, having made that department
one of the most successful and interest-
ing connected with that great institu-
tion. Professor Watkins is the author
of a number of valuable works, among
which are : ' * Semi-Centennial History
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, " " Elec-
trical Train Lighting in England,"
" Evolution of the American Passenger
Car." Aside from these works he has
written a number of valuable papers
on scientific and historical subjects.
Professor Watkins is a member of the
Philosophical Society of Washington,
also of the Franklin Institute, and the
American Society of Civil Engineers.
George C. Maynard.
George C. Maynard, an active and
energetic member of the Executive
Committee, has been a resident of this
city for nearly thirty years. He came
from his native place, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, during the war, and joined
the Military Telegraph Corps, in which
he served until it was disbanded at the
close of the war. He was chief operator
in the Western Union Telegraph Oflace
until 1872, when he was selected by
Gen. Albert J. Myer to organize the
telegraph system of the Weather
Bureau. After two years service in
the Signal Office he resigned to engage
in private business as an electrical en-
gineer. He assisted Professor Bell in
some of his early experiments, was one
of the pioneers in the telephone busi-
ness, and organized and, for five years,
managed the telephone exchange in
this city. He has been connected with
various telegraph, electric light and
kindred enterprises. He was a prac-
tical telegraph operator before he was
fifteen years old, and is now the presi-
dent of the " Old-Timers " Telegraph
Society, also a member of the National
Electric Light Association, the Ameri-
can and English Institutes of Elec-
trical Engineers and other scientific
societies, and is the Washington editor
of the Electrical Review.
Marvin C. Stone.
Marvin C. Stone was graduated from
Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1872, and
began life as a Washington corre-
spondent, representing the New Or-
leans Picayune, the Cleveland Leader,
and various other journals. He finally
drifted into the manufacturing busi-
ness, and is to-day the largest manu-
facturer at the National Capital, em-
ploying over four hundred operatives,
and paying out considerably over one
hundred thousand dollars annually in
wages alone.
Mr. Stone has taken out a good
many patents, all of which have be-
come financially successful ; but he
bases his claim as an inventor, especi-
ally upon the fact that he has given to
the world an approved writing instru-
ment, viz : the fountain pen as it is
found in the market to-day. In a re-
cent judicial decision in New York in
which the court sustained Mr. Stone's
patent and granted an injunction and
an accounting with costs. Judge Hoyt
H. Wheeler, who presided, said :
* * Stone invented and patented the ca-
pillary feed. He invented ' not merely
an improvement on the part but the
part itself. ' ' '
Mr. Stone invented a pencil sharp-
ener, which is now manufactured in
London, England, and has a phenomi-
nal sale, not only on the continent but
at home. He also invented the steel
spring for coat collars, and manufac-
tures millions of straws for lemonade
drinking. But perhaps the most suc-
cessful of all Mr. Stone's inventions is
his mouth piece for cigarettes, of which
he turns out the enormous quantity of
two and one-half millions daily. ^
THE COMMITTEE ON LITERATURE.
When it was known that Professor
George Brown Goode, the Hon. A. R.
Spofford and Llewellen Deane, Esq.,
had consented to take charge of the
literary program, all were convinced
that the literary side of the celebration
would be a grand success. It would
have been difficult for the Central
Committee to have found three other
gentlemen better qualified for the diffi-
cult and important task.
The chairman. Professor George
Brown Goode, was born in New Al-
bany, Ind., 13th of February, 1851.
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
509
He was graduated at Wesleyan Uni-
versity in 1870, pursued a postgraduate
course at Cambridge, and in 1871 took
charge of the organization of the Col-
lege museum at Middletown. In 1873
he received an appointment on the
staff of the Smithsonian Institution,
and on the organization of the Na-
tional Museum became its assistant
director, and in 1887 assistant secre-
tary of the Smithsonian Institution.
The natural history division of the
United States Government at the
Philadelphia exhibition in 1876 was
under his supervision. He was United
States Commissioner in charge of the
American sections at the International
Fisheries Exhibitions in Berlin in 1880,
and in London in 1883, and was also a
member of the executive board for the
New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Louis-
ville Expositions in 1884, and is of the
Board of Management and Control of
the World's Columbian Exposition of
1893. From 1872 until 1887 he was
intimately associated as a volunteer
with the work of the United States
Fish Commission. In 1877 he was
employed by the Department of State
as statistical expert in connection with
the Halifax Fisheries Commission, and
in i879-'8o was in charge of the fish-
eries division of the Tenth Census, and
in 1887 was appointed United States
Commissioner of Fisheries, resigning
the position early in 1888. He has
traveled through Europe for the pur-
pose of studying the methods of ad-
ministration of public museums, and
has made extensive natural history
explorations in the Bermudas, and
Florida. His published papers are
numerous, and include beside several
books about 200 minor titles on topics
in ichthyology, museum administra-
tion, the fishery economy and Ameri-
can History.
THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
Hon. Joseph K. McCammon.
Judge McCammon became chair-
man of the Finance Committee early
in February, and selecting an able
committee of public-spirited men, he
secured for the guarantee fund in less
than six days a sum amounting to
nearly ten thousand dollars, and cheer-
fully asked the committee if they de-
sired any more.
Hon. Joseph K. McCammon was
bom in Philadelphia, October 13, 1845.
He graduated in 1865 from the College
of New Jersey, at Princeton. In 1868
he was admitted to the bar in Phila-
delphia ; was a candidate for the Penn-
sylvania Legislature in 1869. In 1877
he presided over a board to investigate
the condition of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. In April, 1880, he was ap-
pointed by President Hayes Assistant
Attorney General, and assigned to the
Interior Department. In 1881 he was
designated by President Garfield to
negotiate with the Indians on the Fort
Hall Reservation, Idaho — the Shos-
hones and Bannocks — and in 1882 with
the Flatheads and other Indians in
northwestern Montana. In October,
188 1, he was appointed by President
Arthur Commissioner of Railroads,
holding this position with the Assist-
ant Attorney-Generalship. In May,
1885, he resigned from public service,
since which time he has been prac-
ticing his profession in the city of
Washington. He was chairman of the
Reception Committee of President
Harrison's Inauguration. He has been
President of the Cosmos Club, of
Washington, and is a member of sev-
eral learned societies and social organ-
izations.
Coi,. A. T. BritTon.
Col. Britton, the President of the
American Security and Trust Com-
pany, is the Treasurer of the Patent
Centennial Celebration fund, and he
has lent valuable assistance in securing
the guarantee fund. The excellent
work done by Messrs. John C. Poor,
Jas. H. Gridley, Reginald Fendall,
George C. Maynard and J. W. Whelp-
ley of the Finance Committee, soon
placed in the hands of Treasurer Brit-
ton the handsome sum of $10,000, and
he then asked Judge McCammon,
chairman of the committee, if he de-
sired any more funds. When the enter-
prising men of the National Capital
say a thing must go, it glides along to
its destination without any interrup-
tion of travel worth mentioning.
Robert W. Fenwick
Mr. Robert W. Fenwick was the
fortunate man who had the public
spirit to accept the chairmanship of
the Arlington meeting after a number
5IO
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
of prominent men had declined. All
beginnings are diflELcult, but now that
the difficult beginning has developed
into a magnificently proportioned na-
tional movement and a splendid suc-
cess, there is not a man in Washington
but what would have felt honored had
he been selected to preside over that
Arlington meeting from which the
organization for the celebration actu-
ally sprang. Mr. Fenwick was born
in Washington in 1832. His uncle,
Benjamin Fenwick, was one of the
three persons who composed the entire
corps in charge of the United States
Patent Office in 1816, and his father,
Mr. Robert W. Fenwick, was one of
the six persons who constituted the
entire force of the office in i835-'36.
Mr. Fenwick was educated in tne pub-
lic schools of this city, and in 1848
entered the ofiice of Mr. William P.
Blliot, the architect of the Patent
Office. Subsequently he was engaged
by Munn and Company, and for a
time had charge of their branch office
in this city. Mr. Fenwick was at one
time one of the aldermen of Washing-
ton, and has been president of the
Washington Free Kindergarten.
Brainard H. Warner.
Mr. Brainard H. Warner, who from
the first agitation of the subject of the
celebration took a deep interest in the
movement, is a member of the Central
Committee. For twenty years Mr.
Warner has identified himself with
the progress and best interests of the
National Capital. He is at the head
of one of the most important real-
estate firms in the city of Washington,
President of the Columbia National
Bank, President of the Washington
Loan and Trust Company, a director
in a number of other well-known com-
mercial and philanthropic institutions
and is one of the busiest and most suc-
cessful men at the Capital of the
Nation. ^
Myron M. Parker.
Mr. Parker, during many years, has
been prominently identified with the
business interests of Washington, and
was the first president elected to pre-
side over the Board of Trade of this
city. He is recognized as one of the
eading spirits in the progressive Na-
ional Capital, and has been influ-
ential in promoting its welfare. Mr.
Parker is a member of the Central
Committee.
W. C. MclNTiRE.
Mr. W. C. Mclntire, the chairman
of the Reception Committee, offered
the resolution at the Arlington meet-
ing which suggested the appointment
of a Central Committee of seven, whose
duty should be to look after the de-
tails of the arrangements of the cele-
bration. It was very natural there-
fore that he should have been chosen
as chairman of one of the most im-
portant committees, and that the selec-
tion was wise is evidenced by the fact
that all through the preliminary ar-
rangements for the celebration he has
shown much tact and energy, and has
secured a committee composed of some
of the most prominent and public-
spirited gentlemen at the National
Capital. The invited guests will find
in the members of the Reception Com-
mittee a courteous, polite and atten-
tive body of men, who will make their
sojourn in our beautiful city an event
in their lives that will long be remem-
bered.
Ai^EXANDER D. Anderson.
The National Capital has many good
friends. A few of them are pre-emi-
nently useful friends, and Alexander
D. Anderson ranks among the very
first of these. For years Mr. Ander-
son has been devoting much of his
very active life to the progress and de-
velopment of Washington City, which
he calls the "Gem city of the world."
He it was who long before any other
person gave it thought, brought to the
attention of the country the propriety
of celebrating the quadrennial anni-
versary of the discovery of the New
World, and he named and fought gal-
lantly and long for the National Capital
as the most fitting place for the great
celebration, and although he lost the
battle after a heroic struggle, the Di-
rectors of the World's Fair have had
the eminently good sense to put him
in charge of their Eastern Depart-
ment, and thus secure the services of
the best man in the country for the
place. In the earliest efforts of the
Inventive Age to get the public to
favor a celebration of the Beginning
of the Second Century of the Ameri-
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
511
can Patent S5'^stem, Mr. Anderson
came forward and took an active and
influential part, and to him the citi-
zens of Washington, and the inventors
and manufacturers of the country owe
a debt of gratitude for the early and
valuable assistance which he promptly
gave to the cause.
W. C. Dodge.
W. C. Dodge is a native of New Eng-
land. He went West in 1849 and en-
gaged in journalism. In 1851 he was
admitted to the bar, and taking an
interest in Minnesota politics was sent
as delegate to a number of State con-
ventions and was nominated State
senator. In the winter of i860 he was
appointed Assistant Doorkeeper of the
House of Representatives, and in 1861
the Secretary of the Interior, the Hon.
Caleb B. Smith, appointed him Ex-
aminer in the United States Patent
Office, which position he filled with
ability until 1864, when he resigned it
and established himself in business at
the National Capital. He is an in-
ventor, and has taken out twenty
United States patents and several for-
eign patents. He was presented with
a medal by the King of Italy and the
King of Spain with a decoration for
his inventions in fire-arms and cart-
ridge-loading machine. He was active
in trying to secure the adoption by the
Government of breech-loading guns,
and published an able pamphlet on
"Breech-Ivoaders vs. Muzzle-Loaders,"
in recognition of which the breech-
loading gun manufacturers of the coun-
try presented him with numerous me-
mentoes. Mr. Dodge has been a persist-
ent and active champion of the patent
system, and has often appeared before
Congressional committees to protest
against obnoxious bills which if passed
would have been very injurious to the
patent system.
SCHUYI^ER DURYEE,
Chairman of Committee on Medals
and Badges, chief clerk United States
Patent Office, born at Pamrapo, N. J.,
January 13, 1847. Educated in the
public schools in New York City, and
then followed mercantile pursuits until
1871, when he was appointed in the
Adjutant-General's Office of the War
Department. In August, 1872, was
transferred to the office of the Chief of
Engineers, and on November i, 1872,
was placed in charge of the General
Record Division in said office. Re-
mained in that position until January
5, 1887, when he was appointed by
Hon. E. M. Marble, Commissioner of
Patents, as Chief of the Assignment
and Copying Division in the United
States Patent Office, where he served
until he was appointed Chief Clerk of
the Office on May 5, 1883. He served
as Chief Clerk to Commissioners
Marble, Butterworth, Montgomery
and Hall, and resigned July 20, 1887,
to enter the patent practice. He was
reappointed Chief Clerk by Hon. C. E.
Mitchell May 2, 1889.
Joseph B. Marvin.
Joseph B. Marvin, of Massachusetts,
was appointed Chief of the Draughts-
man's Division of the Patent Office to
succeed Marcellus Gardner, who died
in October, 1888. Mr. Marvin had
previously been in charge, for a few
months, of the Issue and Gazette Di-
vision, but, upon Mr. Gardner's death,
Commissioner Benton J. Hall selected
Mr. Marvin as his successor.
The duties of the position are varied,
and require chiefly executive ability.
It was especially in view of Mr. Mar-
vin's experience in the Issue and Ga-
zette Division that he was selected for
his present position.
The Draughtsman's Division has the
custody of all printed copies of pat-
ents, of which some 600,000 are sold
annually, and nearly as many more
are selected for use by Examiners, and
for foreign exchange and the Execu-
tive Departments.
This Division has the custody of
original drawings ; accepts or rejects
the drawings filed with applications
for patents ; and, when desired, makes
and corrects drawings for applicants.
Among the other manifold duties of
the Division are the examination of all
photo-lithographs of drawings, and the
keeping of the record of all such photo-
lithography.
Any one visiting this important di-
vision and noticing the cramped and
crowded condition of the rooms, and
the meagre facilities afforded the chief
and his large corps of intelligent assist-
ants for the proper discharge of their
512
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
duties, must wonder how it is possible
that the work of this great division of
the Patent OflEice is done so well under
the manifold difficulties in which they
are performed. Mr. Marvin is a mem-
ber of the Advisory Committee.
[From the Washington EJvening Star,
April 8, 1891.]
Only the civic framers and the mili-
tary saviors of a great free state deserve
more of the commonwealth than do
the inventors as a class. Down at the
bottom of things is the original in-
ventor, the man who, by the friction
of two pieces of wood, first ascertained
that there was fire elsewhere than in
the heart of man and the physical cen-
ter of the universe. Then came the
early agriculturists with their plow-
thongs made of hardened timber tick-
ling the hard surface of the earth in
such wise as to cause the laughing soil
to give forth of its resources an abund-
ance of provision for primeval man.
It was not until cities were formed as
nuclei for embryo states that inven-
tive art in its true sense was devel-
oped, as other things are developed,
out of the necessities and wants of man.
Consider the stride from the primitive
plow of the akkadians to the McCor-
mick reaper, from the burnt-brick libra-
ries of Babylon and Nineveh to the
superb treasures in movable types and
sumptuous bindings that stand, piled
tier on tier, in the British Museum and
the Library of Congress. Looking at
civilization in this way and reflecting
how impressive even commonplace
facts are when lifted into a philosophic
system as indices of progress, the pri-
macy of the framers of constitutions
that set patterns of civic grandeur for
ages and of patriot soldiers may even
seem dubious. Hence, when the chief
promoters of American inventive art —
the inventors and designers and those
who put their inventions and designs
into every-day use — come to Washing-
ton to celebrate the centennary of the
patent system of the United States, it
is everywhere regarded as a most sig-
nal event. This is a practical people —
this an age of grand material results.
Here, at the political center of the
hemisphere, at the capital of the great
republic, distinguished for its indus-
trial advancement as well as its intel-
lectual power and the freedom of its
institutions, is the true seat of Ameri-
can art, science and learning,
Lafayette in 1824 was the distin-
guished guest of the republic in the
hour of its morning enthusiasm. Pa-
triotism, now as then, mingles |with
gratitude in our tender of hospitality.
The noble Frenchman aided Washing-
ton in freeing America from political
thralls. These native Lafayettes of
industry have aided our later leaders
and statesmen in breaking America's
bonds of commercial dependence.
[From the Washington Evening Star,
April 10, 1891.1
The United States have, as an indus-
trial people, considering their youth,
eclipsed all history. But the whole
Union has not advanced at equal pace
and the friction of the delay has re-
tarded the general movement. The
great evil of slavery was the fault of
the world — the curse chiefly of the
States practicing it. The inventive
genius of the old slave States has, how-
ever, produced three thousand patents
during the last twelve months. The
mines and manufactures of these com-
munities are no longer toys or experi-
ments. Invention, business wisdom
and pluck are planting the banners of
progress in the western arid plains as
well as on the wasted fields of the
south. The present assemblage here
of the inventors and manufacturers of
patented articles marks the highest
point of advantage yet gained in the
whole nation's material progress ; but
this eminence merely permits us a
glimpse of the brilliant prospects of
future America in this line of develop-
ment.
[From the Washington Post, April 10, 1891.]
A NOTABLE CENTENNIAL.
To-day is the hundreth anniversary
of the signing by the first President of
the Republic of the law which, accord-
ing to its title, was designed to pro-
mote the vSciences and useful arts by
securing to authors and inventors, for
a certain period, the exclusive right of
property in their works and inven-
tions, and the occasion is being appro-
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
513
priately celebrated by the convention
of prominent inventors from all parts
of the country now in session in this
city.
The wisdom of the patent law has
been amply justified by the results
which have followed its enactment
through a century of industrial de-
velopment. From a small beginning
the patent system has grown to im-
mense proportions, until to-day it em-
braces very many of the most impor-
tant interests of the civilized world.
At first its progress was slow, in 1791
but thirty-three patents being issued,
and in the subsequent year only eleven.
Even in 1836, when the new law was
passed which organized the Patent
Office substantially in its present form,
the number of patents issued was only
109. But as science progressed and
as the needs and imperfections of in-
dustrial processes came to be under-
stood, their issue greatly increased,
keeping pace steadily with the pros-
perity and marvelous development of
the country, until last year the issue
amounted to 26,292. The greatness of
this growth may be estimated from the
fact that the Patent Office, which, from
1802 to 1828, consisted of a superin-
tendent and two clerks, to-day has
thirty-six divisions and 600 employes.
The effect of our patent system, as
established by law, and administered
as an agency of the Government, has
been to make our country the natural
home of the inventor, and it is more
than probable that many of the achieve-
ments which mark the progress of the
century would not have been made
but for the stimulation afforded by it
to inventive genius, in the prospect of
large and secure pecuniary rewards.
That such rewards have frequently fol-
lowed as the result of inventions is
shown in many conspicuous instances,
but the excellence of the system is
made apparent by the fact that, where
immense fortunes have been made in
supplying some ingenious contrivance
in universal demand, an incalculable
benefit has been at the same time con-
ferred upon the great body of the
people.
It were needless to observe that all
the great mechanical discoveries and
the most valuable applications of scien-
tific principles to the useful arts in
modern times have had the closest
relationship to the operation of the
patent laws. To them may be directly
attributed the application of steam to
navigation, the world-girdling tele-
graph, the various methods by which
electricity is made to produce light and
motion and to store and convey sound,
the multitudes of inventions which in
the home, the workshop, the field, the
mine, and the furnace have revolu-
tionzed so many branches of industry
and have proved so generally beneficial
to mankind — in a word, all those
means of material achievement which
make our time richer and fuller, more
prosperous and more hopeful of pro-
gress than all preceding ages.
[From the Washington Evening Star,
April II, 1891.]
The banquet given last night by the
Board of Trade, commemorative of the
centenary of the American patent sys-
tem and of the laying of the comer-
stone of the District, was a notable
success. The board of trade takes the
place of the common councils of the
ordinary city in tendering municipal
hospitality to distinguished guests, and
Washington has reason to be proud of
the hospitable welcome which was last
night given in her name to her guests,
the inventors of the country.
[From the Washington Post, April 11, 189 1.]
A BRILLIANT BANQUET.
The patent celebration which has
been in progress in this city during the
week came to a brilliant close at the
Arlington Hotel last night with a ban-
quet given by the Board of Trade in
commemoration of the Patent Cen-
tennial and of the centennial of the
founding of the District of Columbia.
The occasion was notable not only for
the elaborate plan on which it had
been projected, but also because every
Department of the Government was
represeuted by a Cabinet officer or his
chief assistant, and the Supreme Court
was present in the person of Associate
Justice Harlan. At the head of the
table sat as distinguished a gathering
of men as are to be met with in many
a day's travel, while around the hand-
somely decorated board were the rep-
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NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
resentative merchants of the Capital
City. In the menu, decorations, and
general appointments the dinner was
a memorable one, even in the city
where the art of giving dinners has
grown to be a science. The responses
to the toasts, which concluded the en-
tertainment, were in keeping with the
high character of the event. Mr.
Myron M. Parker, as the President of
the Board of Trade, presided. By his
side was the commanding form of Jus-
tice Harlan, and near him were Secre-
taries Foster and Noble, Assistant
Secretary of War Grant, Assistant Sec-
retary of the Navy Soley, and Assist-
ant Postmaster General Whitfield.
When the guests had been escorted
into the dining-hall they found the
tables set for over 200, and the spark-
ling glass and decorated china, with
generous bunches of rare roses in
terra-cotta jars, made up a picture
worthy of an artist's brush. At each
plate was an extremely artistic menu
card, bearing a representation of the
genius of invention, while the seal of
the Patent Office, fastened with blue
ribbon in true legal style, formed a
unique and striking feature of its orna-
mentation. It took two hours to dis-
cuss the enjoyable feast which had
been provided.
[From the Washington Post, April 11, 1891.]
THE MILITARY PARADE.
Krcellent Wisplay Causes Applause All
Along tlie lilue of March.
The Avenue was lined during the
afternoon with the usual crowd of ad-
mirers of the boys in blue, who made
a most creditable showing on parade.
All the District militia, the troops from
Fort Myer and the Arsenal, and the
High School Cadets were in line. The
soldiers marched in excellent order,
and their various evolutions were
accomplished with a precision that
brought forth applause all along the
line. The orders were obeyed with
accuracy and skill.
The companies assembled in the
White Lot, where they were reviewed
by the President, and continued their
march along Pennsylvania Avenue.
The Third Artillery band, the National
Guard band and drum corps, and the
band from the Naval Academy, which
preceded the High School Cadets, fur-
nished the music.
The battalion of six companies of
High School Cadets was one of the
most interesting parts of the parade,
and it was greeted all along the line of
march by well-merited applause from
the spectators. Marching in double
rank formation, with good broad fronts
to the companies, the dress being per-
fect in both ranks, the boys looked
soldierly in every particular. Their
discipline and the perfection of their
drill reflect credit alike upon them-
selves and their able instructor, Capt.
Burton R. Ross, who has been tireless
in his efforts to bring this organization
up to the highest standard.
[From The Electrical World,
April 18, 1891.I
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION OF THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE AMERICAN
PATENT SYSTEM.
The Congress of Inventors and Manu-
facturers of Patented Inventions, con-
vened to celebrate the beginning of the
second century of the American patent
system, met in Washington on Wed-
nesday, Thursday and Friday of last
week, as already announced in these
columns, and was in every respect a
most brilliant success. The gentlemen
who worked so energetically and so
conscientiously to perfect the numer-
ous arrangements for the celebration
may well feel proud of the result.
The weather during the meeting was
spring-like and delightful, the papers
read and the addresses delivered were
by some of our most prominent
thinkers and public speakers, and were
in keeping with the importance of the
occasion. The President of the United
States, members of the Cabinet, Jus-
tices of the Supreme Court, members
of both Houses of Congress, officers of
the diifferent engineering societies —
electrical, mechanical, civil and min-
ing— distinguished educators and many
other staunch friends of the patent sys-
tem, testified by their presence their
interest in its preservation and develop-
ment. Many of the best known in-
ventors of the country were in attend-
ance, including several whose names
have become household words among
electricians.
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
515
In addition to the interest shown in
the proceedings of the congress, an
important outgrowth of the celebra-
tion was the establishment of a perma-
nent organization of inventors and
manufacturers of patented inventions,
mentioned more at length in another
article in this issue, and from which
there is every reason to expect results
of a most beneficial character in the
years to come.
The first public meeting of the in-
ventors took place on Wednesday
afternoon, at 2:30, at the Lincoln
Music Hall. President Harrison pre-
sided. Beside him on the platform
were Secretary of the Interior Noble,
Postmaster-General Wanamaker, Chief
Justice Fuller and Justices Blatchford
and Harlan of the Supreme Court of
the United States ; Hon. John Lynch,
chairman ; Prof. J. Elfreth Watkins,
secretary; Marvin C. Stone and George
C. Maynard, of the Executive Com-
mittee of the Centennial Celebration ;
Hon. Charles Elliott Mitchell, Com-
missioner of Patents ; Senator O. H.
Piatt, of Connecticut, Chairman of the
Senate Committee on Patents, and
Hon. Carroll D. Wright, Commis-
sioner of Labor. Among the ladies on
the platform was Mrs. Alfred Vail,
whose husband (uncle of Mr. Theodore
N. Vail of the American Bell Tele-
phone Company) was associated with
Professor Morse in the practical de-
velopment of the telegraph. Prof. A.
Graham Bell, inventor of the tele-
phone, with his father, A. Melville
Bell, and his father-in-law, Gardiner
G. Hubbard, occupied a private box.
Chairman Lynch announced the
organization of the congress as com-
pleted. The President of the United
States had been chosen president of
the celebration ; Professor Bell repre-
sented the electrical industry' in the
list of vice-presidents, and among the
honorary vice-presidents were the fol-
lowing electricians : Prof. William A.
Anthony, Charles F. Brush, Thomas
A. Edison, Dr. Norvin Green, Gardiner
G. Hubbard, Prof. T. C. Mendenhall
and Prof. Elihu Thomson.
Professor Watkins, Hon. John Lynch
and the other members of the execu-
tive committee deserve the highest
praise for their unremitting efforts in
organizing and carrying out the great
work. The residents of Washington,
as a whole, particularly the President,
the members of the Cabinet, the Board
of Trade, whose banquet on Friday
night to the members of the principal
committees was one of the most note-
worthy Washington has ever seen, the
various patent oflScials and patent at-
torneys, as well as the business men
generally, have earned the warmest
gratitude of the inventors of the coun-
try for the princely manner in which
they treated those who attended the
congress. The delightful visit to
Mount Vernon, the reception by the
President and the review of the troops
from the White Lot, the reception by
Secretary Noble and Commissioner of
Patents Mitchell at the Patent Office,
and the many other honors showered
upon the inventors, make the occasion
one that none of those present will
ever be likely to forget.
[From The Inventive Age, Washington,
April 21, 1891.]
IT WAS A GEEAT SUCCESS.
Since the one hundredth anniver-
sary of our national independence was
fittingly commemorated in Philadel-
phia fifteen years ago, many centennial
celebrations have occurred in various
parts of the country. The Federal
Government, the governments of
States and cities and numerous vener-
able organizations of citizens have
united in celebrating centennial anni-
versaries of great events. The wealth,
the learning, the patriotism and enter-
prise of grateful millions have cheer-
fully contributed to make these
obervances so memorable that they
will stand as historic monuments. But
no centennial in all the long and
splendid list was more successful than
that which occurred in this city on the
8th, 9th and loth insts. True, it did
not bring together great masses of
people from all parts of the country,
nor was such a gathering hoped for,
but it did assemble hundreds of great
thinkers, hundreds of men whose
achievements are immortal, whose dis-
coveries have been essential factors in
the progress of our age.
All things considered, it is safe to
say that so distinguished a gathering
as that which met in Lincoln Hall to
5i6
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
inaugurate the second century of the
American Patent System was never
before seen in this country. We have
had great conventions of scholars, of
politicians, of jurists, of professional
men, of benevolent associations and
of various industrial and social inter-
ests. Such meetings have occupied
larger space in the daily papers than
was accorded this convention, and
they have often been wonderfully sue
cessful in advancing worthy aims. But
that gathering of less than one thou-
sand persons was such an assemblage
that the President of the United States
might well have felt honored in being
called to address it. He and other
prominent officials showed a just
appreciation of the importance of the
event. Statesmen who are worthy of
the name recognize the part applied
science bears in the development of
material resources and in the social,
intellectual and moral progress of a
people. It is only the narrow-gauge
politician — a creature whom not even
death can transform into a statesman
— that sneers at invention.
The one great feature of the success
of this centennial, a feature in which
it was incomparably superior to any
other celebration in this country or
Kurope, was its literature. The ad-
dresses delivered covered a broader
field than was ever before entered
upon by any single organization, and
there was no shallow plowing. There
is no man or woman so high or so low
that his or her interests are not em-
braced in some or all of the papers
presented. Taken together these pa-
pers constitute not merely a monument
to the fame of the inventors of the
United States, but a great magazine of
facts, clothed in elegant verbal dra-
pery and calculated to exert a lasting
influence. When the report of the
meetings, including all the addresses,
is published, it will be one of the
great books of the century, and there
is no citizen so wise that he will not
be able to draw instruction from it, no
worker in any field of honorable
effort but will find encouragement and
help in its pages. The speakers in-
cluded men who have long been recog-
nized for profundity of thought and
felicity of expression, and they brought
the best of their mental stores to this
centennial.
Invention — protected invention— in-
vention stimulated and protected by
an admirable patent system — has en-
tered upon its second century on a
higher plane than it has ever before
occupied. As a direct result of this
celebration thousands now understand
the relations of invention to society,
for every ten who, a few weeks ago,
knew, or cared to know, anything
about the subject. Good seed has
been sown over a vast area of fertile
soil, and there will be a rapid growth
of just appreciation. Hereafter Con-
gressmen will have a popular senti-
ment behind them pressing for justice
to the inventors, and the old, old
story of neglect will cease to be re-
peated. The millions collected from
inventors will be expended in promot-
ing the objects for which the patent
system was created. Every year of
the new century will witness fresh
triumphs. The men who celebrate
the next centennial in 1991 will look
back upon another century as wonder-
ful as that which we review. The
good results of the convention of this
year will be a theme of discourse for
many a decade. As for the Inventive
Age, which originated this celebration
and worked indefatigably to insure its
success, it is enjoying that satisfaction
which comes of well doing.
AT WASHINGTON'S TOMB.
The large steamer Excelsior moved
away from the Seventh street dock at
II o'clock Friday morning, April loth,
with about one thousand of the hap-
piest, brightest, and brainiest persons
that ever sailed over the placid bosom
of the broad Potomac. The great
saloon running the whole length of
the vessel was well filled with cheer-
ful, happy mortals, among whom were
Dr. Gatling, the inventor of the Gat-
ling gun ; I/. E. Waterman, the inven-
tor of the Ideal fountain pen; Mr.
Plimpton, the inventor of the roller-
skate; George Westinghouse,the inven-
tor of the air-brake; the Canadian Com-
missioner of Patents ; the U. S. Com-
missioner of Patents ; Congressman
Butterworth, J.Thomas Jones, of Utica,
N.Y. ; W. J. Johnston, of the Electrical
World; F. E. Sickles ; Col. J. A. Price ;
John A. Milliken, of New York ; E. D.
Smith, of Pittsburg ; J. F. Harris, of
Fort Edward ; C. C. Linindoll, of Fort
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
517
Edward, N. Y., and a large number of
well-known inventors and manufac-
turers.
On the bow of the vessel was the
famous naval band of Annapolis, while
in the stem was Mr. Pistori's band,
and both were kept busy all day long.
On arriving at Mount Vernon the
Annapolis band headed the procession
and a solemn march was made to the
sacred resting-place of Washington,
where, with uncovered heads, the vis-
itors viewed the crypt containing the
marble sarcophagus of Washington
and his wife. The procession then
moved on to the beautiful lawn in front
of the mansion, where a large photo-
graph was taken. After this the man-
sion was visited and the relics de-
scribed. A half hour was given to this
part of the program, during which the
band played " The Star Spangled Ban-
ner " and *' My Country, 'tis of Thee."
Dr. Toner then delivered an able and
very original address from the west
piazza of the mansion, to which all of
the excursionists paid the closest
attention. This address will appear in
the Memorial volumes. At the close
of Dr. Toner's address a very interest-
ing incident occurred. Col. J.W. Bab-
son, the Chairman of the Central Com-
mittee of the Patent Centennial Cele-
bration, presented two bouquets of
white and red roses respectively to the
Canadian Commissioner of Patents and
the United States Commissioner of
Patents, who were sitting together
upon the piazza overlooking the beau-
tiful lawn to the west of the mansion.
These roses had been cut from the
greenhouse built by the Father of his
Country, and the Canadian Commis-
sioner so appreciated the compliment
that when he arrived in Washington
he had the flowers carefully preserved
and expressed to his Canadian home
as a souvenir of his visit to the Cen-
tennial Celebration, which he pro-
nounced as the most agreeable and
interesting affair that he had ever
attended. After the speech of Dr.
Toner the Excelsior gave a deep bass
warning that it was time to depart in
order to reach Washington in time for
the reception at the White House and
the military review by the President
in the White Lot.
On the return Congressman Butter-
worth distinguished himself and de-
lighted the visitors by delivering one
of the wittiest and most charming
speeches of his life. He spoke in the
bow portion of the broad saloon of the
vessel, and the excursionists gathered
and packed themselves about him so
closely that he had hardly room for
his gestures. He was in the best of
humor, and in two minutes everybody
caught the genial spirit that charac-
terized the speaker, and Mr. Butter-
worth soon found himself in the midst
of an audience that was in close touch
with every word he uttered. He spoke
as by inspiration. Every sentence
fairly reveled in wit. Benjamin But-
terworth was at his best. A roar went
up when he said that " Ben Franklin,
if alive to-day, could not pass a civil-
service examination for fourth-class
examiner in the electrical division of
the Patent Office. ' ' They laughed more
heartily when he said he used to be-
lieve that every inventor was a sort of
long-haired genius and the Patent
Office a clearing-house for cranks, and
he did not know that he was very far
from wrong. Then they fairly roared
when he added, naively, that there
were, of course, no cranks present.
Mr. Butterworth grew more serious
as he said that last session he had sev-
eral wrestles with members of Con-
gress who thought that inventors had
no rights which the public were bound
to respect, and he hinted that there
might be a struggle in the future if the
products of a man's brains were to be
preserved against communistic theq-
ries. He grew eloquent as he insisted
that that which a man used he could
afford to pay for, and that if a manu-
facturer saved so many dollars a day
by the use of an invention he ought to
be made to share with the inventor
some portion of his gains. At this
sentiment there was, of course, loud
applause.
Then Mr. Butterworth took quite an
original view of the progress of inven-
tion. He said when a boy he had
often pondered with awe on the won-
ders which the mythological gods
were said to have performed, "And
yet," he said, "everything which had
been attributed by fable to these gods
was now an e very-day affair. The
thunderbolts of Jupiter were play-
5i8
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things compared to the mighty mis-
siles thrown by a twenty-inch gun ;
Neptune never rode the sea with such
an armament as that commanded by
Farragut ; not a blacksmith of to-day
would use the tools which Vulcan had;
there is not a contractor who would not
undertake to accomplish the twelve
labors of Hercules and give bond to
complete them in half the time the son
of Jupiter occupied ; and the winged
god Mercury could not pack his
satchel and start on his errand before
Morse would have the message deliv-
ered. The fickle Helen, standing on
the walls of Troy, could, with a few
modern guns, have by the touch of
her dainty fingers destroyed all the
armies and the fleets of the might)'
Greeks."
At the close of Mr. Butterworth's
stirring address the Canadian Com-
missioner of Patents spoke briefly, con-
gratulating the Government and the
committees on the success of the cele-
bration, and the inventors of the United
States on their splendid patent system,
and also upon their individual achieve-
ments. When he said that Canada
was trying to model her patent system
after our own, the enthusiasm of the
auditors was unbounded.
The boat reached the wharf at 4
o'clock,and the excursionists hurriedly
took the cable- car for the White House,
to attend the reception tendered them
by the President.
The success of the Mount Vernon
trip was largely due to Col. W. B.
Thompson, the chairman of the com-
mittee on transportation, who per-
sonally superintended the arrange-
ments.
RARE COLLECTIONS OF ANCIENT DE-
VICES AT THE NATIONAI, MUSEUM.
The two first talking machines ever
made are on exhibition in the lecture
hall of the National Museum. There
were a great many other curious things
gathered in that apartment, put there
for the edification and instruction of
those who were interested in the Pat-
ent Centennial, There was a case full
of talking machines, and subscribers
who are continually tangling them-
selves with "central " might have dis-
covered in the interior of one of the
instruments the causes of their trouble.
The first talking machine is a small
walnut cone divided. The apex is the
receiver ; the truncated portion the
transmitter. Those who ought to
know say it' talks well, but no com-
pany could collect a rental of $90 per
annum upon any such looking thing
as it is. Bell's liquid transmitter is in
the case, and so is the first form of
hand telephone. This must have made
even the inventor tired, for it is enor-
mously large, and affords a striking
contrast to the ear trumpet of the in-
struments now so common. The first
experimental forms of the Blake trans-
mitter were shown, and alongside of
them are the component parts of a
long-distance telephone. How far this
latter will work no one knows. This
valuable collection belongs mostly to
Professor Bell.
Mr. H. V. Hayes, who arranged the
exhibit, talked with his family in
their home in Cambridge, Mass., a
mere matter of 500 miles. Edison's
motorphone was shown in the tele-
phone case.
An antique electrical railway, dating
back to 1837, was also one of the inter-
esting curios of the collection, attract-
ing as much general attention,
perhaps, as the original telegraph in-
strument used at the Baltimore end of
the line which made S. F. B. Morse
and Stephen Vail famous.
A good many people clustered
around a big case in the center of the
room. The growth of photographic
mechanism was there shown. The
first camera ever made in the United
States — a plain, clumsy, wooden box
bearing the date 1839 — stood along-
side two portable tripod cameras of
1890, and looked much more awk-
ward. In the corner was the contract
of partnership between Niepce and
Daguerre.
On the upper shelf in the same case
a brass cylinder fully two feet in
height stood alongside a little scrap of
mechanism that could be put in a
little bo5''s vest and unwieldy by con-
trast. Just below the camera was the
gem of the collection — an original
daguerreotype of Daguerre. It is in
first-class condition and is a better
picture than many so-called photog-
raphers can produce even now. The
big cylinder, which is six inches in
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS,
519
diameter, is a "rapid" lens, made in
1846 ; the other is also a rapid lens,
but it was made this year and is only
an inch long and an inch in diameter.
Both lenses are for the same size plate,
viz., ID by 12 inches.
A hand camera of 1884, for a 5 by 7-
inch plate, was big as a full grown
valise. Near the specimen in the
case is a hand camera of 1890, and it
is comparatively a baby in point of
size.
The instantaneous "Shutter" that
was regarded as perfect in 1858, is
nothing but a brass slide with two
holes in it for exposures. It is a crude
looking affair when compared with the
beautiful piece of mechanism along-
side it — the instantaneous shutter of
to-day, in which the movement of the
iris of the eye is precisely imitated and
by which as short an exposure as the
150th part of a second is possible.
The development of the signal ser-
vice weather maps was made plain on
a large board, but there is no evidence
to show that the weather has im-
proved with the maps. A row of
mutilated poker chips was immedi-
ately beneath the specimens of ancient
and modern meteorological prophecj'.
Side by side were the original Joseph
Francis life-car and an improved ver-
sion of the same great invention.
The Ben Franklin hand-press was
under glass in the center of the room,
and so is a collection of time indi-
cators — sun-dials, clepsydra, hour-
glasses and watches. With these latter
is a chronoscope, an instrument that
can cut a second into 500 parts.
The Steinert collection of musical
instruments was another center of
attraction, from the earliest key in-
strument— the clavichord of Mozart
and Beethoven's time — through the
intermediary harpsichords and pianos
down to the modern upright.
A collection of typewriters assem-
bled— not female operators, but the
writing machine. Some of them were
very clumsy and have an extremely
antique appearance, although none of
them are very old.
Guns, revolvers and knives were
there in choice variety. The history
of electric lighting was made plain,
and a good many other lines of en-
deavor are clearly traced. The collec-
tion was one of the most valuable and
interesting ever gotten up by the mu-
seum authorities. New features were
hourly being added. Chief Clerk Cox
and Prof. Otis T. Mason being busily
engaged in the work of direction.
The collection prepared and ar-
ranged by Professor Wilson, curator
of the Smithsonian Institution, of an-
cient devices of various kinds was ex-
tremely interesting.
[From the Official Programme, published
during the celebration by Mr. Edward H.
Allen of Washington.]
In 1790 only three patents were
issued by the IJnited States Govern-
ment. During 18902 7,000 were issued.
The conditions of life in 1890 are no
more like those of 1790 than the hand
loom is like the great cotton factory.
What the world owes to the inventor
can not be estimated. The credit of
much that the world possesses of liter-
ature, science and art is due to him.
To his credit also stands the greater
part of what has been achieved in
agriculture, mining and commerce.
To him the world owes the difference
between what it is and what it would
have been if invention had not supple-
mented the work of nature. It was
only fifty years ago that many of the
people in this country were clothed
from the products of the domestic
spinning wheel and hand loom. The
itinerant shoemaker went from house
to house, setting up his bench and
plying his vocation in the farmer's
kitchen. There were no planing mills,
no shops for the manufacture of doors,
sash and blinds. All the work of the
builder, including the carpenter's and
joiner's work, was done by hand. The
railroad and telegraph had not added
their powers to the forces of civiliza-
tion. Books were scarce, newspapers
few and of little value, and the home
was destitute of a thousand things that
now seem indispensable to a comfort-
able existence. In fifty years the
inventive genius of our land has made
a change in all this, more wonderful
than some of the stories which are
told in the Arabian Nights. The best
friend of labor is the inventor. He has
given to the hands of the toiling
millions thousands of avenues to com-
520
NEWSPAPER COMMENTS.
fort, luxury and wealth. He has
opened a continent for the laborer to
enter and occupy. He is still taxing
his mind and body to devise new ways
of benefiting universal humanity.
There are hundreds of thousands of
well-to-do families in the United
States to-day who owe their good
fortune to invention, and there are
none under our flag who have been
compelled to sacrifice anything for
invention unless the good of the com-
munity in general demanded such a
sacrifice. These are all under pro-
found obligations to the inventor. * *
With this able and enthusiastic
organization the Executive Committee
entered upon its work. Earnest ap-
proval and support was met with on
every hand. The newspapers of the
country and technical journals gave
the undertaking their indorsement
from the beginning, and by intelligent
discussion of the subject rendered in-
valuable aid in its advancement.
Since the adoption of the Federal
Constitution and the organization of
the new system of Government therein
provided for, no event in time of peace
has occurred in the history of the Re-
public of greater importance than the
establishment of the Patent Office one
hundred years ago. The most import-
ant of the many good results to be
brought about by Sie celebration will
be the quickening of thought that
must be produced by contact of bright
minds engaged in a common effort to
make new discoveries.
INDEX.
INDEX.
PAGE
Acropolis at Athens 456
Adamant plastering 220
Addresses at Board of Trade
banquet 423
Advisory Committee, members of.. 11
Africa, railroad statistics of 170
Agricultural Bureau in Patent
OflSce Building 47o
Agricultural implements, labor
saved in making 83
Agricultural implements, statistics
of manufacture of. 135
Agricultural implements, Wash-
ington's interest in 317
Agriculture, American patents in.. 41
Ainger, D. B 41
Air brake and automatic couplers.. 480
Air ships, experiments with 172
Alabama, coal product of 141
Albert, Duke of Mecklenburg 474
Albright & Barker 487
Alexander, needle telegraph i8o
Alexander, T. H 16
Alger, Gen. Russell A 22
Allen, Ethan 41
Allen, Frank H 26
Allen, George 496
Allen, Horatio, experiments with
locomotive 132
Allen, John F 494
Allen, Walter 19, 489
Allibone, Lieut. Charles C 17
Allison, O. W 494
Almond, Thomas R 494
Alsen, Finius 496
Alston, W. H 492
Amendments to specifications 116
American Bell Telephone Com-
pany 488
PAGE
American Historical Association ... 22
American Patent System, and the
Supreme Court of the United
States 425
American patent system, birth and
growth of. 24, 43
American patent system, future
of 40, 426
American patents at Columbian
Exposition 41
American patents from a financial
standpoint 40, 432
American patents in the Army..4o, 434
Navy 40
American Society of Civil Engi-
neers 22, 42
American Telegraph Company 190
Amontons, M., telegraph 176
Ampere 303
conducting helix 289
multiple- wire telegraph 180
Anderson, A. D 12
Anderson, E. D 40
Anderson, E. W 20
Anderson, J. C 492
Andrews, Albert F 488
Aniline dyes discovered by Perkin 306
Anniversarj' day, exercises on 30
Anthemius, architect of Justinian.. 263
Anthony, Prof. W. A 22, 38, 488
Arago, steel magnetized by 288
Archaeologist, historical divisions
by 78
Archaeology 406
Architecture 406
Arkansas, coal product of. 141
Arkwright, Sir Richard 388
spinning machine 80, 113
water frame 137
524
INDEX.
Armament, improved 440
American Association of Inventors
and Manufacturers 452
American patents at World's Ex-
position 444
American patents in the Navy 439
in the Postal Service 441
Arbitration, benefits of. 448
Armor, improvements in naval 435
Army, American patents in the.. 40, 434
Army transportation, improve-
ments in 438
Amoux, Hon. W. H 41
Artillery, improvements in 294
Arts in England, low state of. 112
Arquebuss 294
Ash, Michael W 460, 465
Ashley, James A 15, 489
Askew, John 338
Astronomy, Chinese knowledge of 429
Astronomy, utility of 310
Atkinson, Dr. Edward 28
on invention in its effects
upon household economy 217
on iron industry 139
Atkinson, W. R. B 19
Atwater, Prof. W. 0 226, 229
Aughinbaugh, W. E 19, 41, 487, 489
Austin, O. P 18
Australia, railroad statistics of. 168
Austria, marine statistics of 163
Autographic telegraph 193
Automatic French Spring Com-
pany 496
Automatic Machine Company 489
Avery, plow sulky 130
Avery, Robert Stanton 489
Ayres, Edward F 488
Babendlier, A. 1 496
Babson, John W 3, 5, 13, 25, 27, 41,
487, 489
Bacon, Lord, on inventions 479
Bacon, ly. S 19
Badges worn by committees 36
Baer, Von, teachings of. 404
Bagger, Lrouis 20
PAGE
Bagley, W. H 41
Bailey, Martin B 16, 489
Bain, chemical telegraph 191
Baird, John 494
Baker, Henry E 489
Baker, John A 16
Baldwin, Davidson & Wight. ..487, 489
Ball, Charles B 42
Balloons, army use of. 438
Bancroft, Hon. George 378
Banquet of American Society of
Civil Engineers 42
Banquet of Washington Board of
Trade 39, 423
Barber, A. L 12, 487, 494
Barbour, James F 16, 489
Barker, W. W 26
Barlow, W. H 497
Barnaby, Charles W 495
Barnes, Lucien 494
Baron, Bernhard 493
Barry, John, first copyright 154
Barry, William 494
Barthelemy , Abbe, magnetic needle 177
Bartlett, Mrs. George 26
Bartlett, John H 41, 497
Bartlett, John P.. 488
Bartlett, W. A 18, 489
Bassett, Colonel 343
Bates, H. H 26, 414
Battering rams, description of 265
Battin, Lambert B 494
Battle ships of United States Navy 439
Beach, F. G 492
Beach, James E 488
Beach, John K 488
Beaupre, B 493
Beckham, J. G 41
Beck, William H 20
Becker, E. B 488
Becker, Joseph 489
Beekman, Gerard 494
Belgium, Hauseatic League in 474
Bell, harmonic telegraph 193
Bell, Prof Alexander Graham... 11, 21,
22, 26, 32, 41, 411, 487, 489
the telephone..28, 125, 136, 197, 424
INDEX,
525
PAGE
Bell, C. J 487, 489
Bell, J. Lowrie 16
Bell-punch and trip-slips 481
Benners, Edwin H 494
Berdan, General 21, 26
Berdan, H 489
Berg, Walters 496
Berkley, John, smelting works 133
Berliner, Emilie, telephone and
phonograph 21, 489
Berliner, Emilie, the telephone..28, 198
Berry, Thomas 469
Bessemer, Henry, steel making.... 136
Betan court, system of telegraph
in 1787 178
Bethlehem Iron Company 488, 496
Betts, Frederic H 494
Bevan, Phillips, quoted 107
Beveridge, M. W 16
Bicycle locomotive 172
Biles, J. H., on American battle
ships 440
Billings, C. E 488
Billings, Dr. John S 12, 32, 41, 489
on American inventions and
discoveries in medicine,
surgery and practical sani-
tation 413
Biology, discoveries in 419
Birkinbine, John 22
Bimie, Capt. Rogers 29, 489
Birth and growth of American pat-
ent system 43
Birth of invention. Prof. Mason on.. 403
Biscoe, H. Iv 20
Bishop, Charles R 17
Bishop, Mrs. T. S 26, 488
Bismarck, Count, opposes patent
laws 54
Bissing, Gustav 20, 487,489
Bi-sulphide of carbon engine 247
Blackford, B. I^ewis 16
Blake, telephone 198
Bland, Richard 371
Bland, Theodoric, letter from
Washington to 362
Blanken, C. H 496
PAGE
Blatchford, Hon. Samuel 24, 489
on patent law iii
Bleakley, William M 494
Bliss, Henry H 15
Blodgett, G. R 493
Blodgett, Samuel 453
Blodgett, W. H 487, 489
Blunt, John E 492
Board of Trade of Washington,
banquet by 423
Boies, H. M 496
Bojanowski, President German
Patent Office 33
Bolton, Channing M 42
Bomford, Colonel 467
Boneville, John S 497
Bonsack, cigarette machine 130
Bonwill, W. G. A 496
Boot and shoe manufacture, labor
savingin 83
Booth, Edw. H 489
Bosscha, quadruples telegraph 192
Boteler, John W 20
Boulter, William E 17
Boulton, Matthew 254
steam engines 115, 240
Boulton & Watt, steam engines... 279
Boursel, Charles, electric tele-
phone 196
Bowen, Charles H 489
Bowen, J. E. M 494
Bowles, John 489
Boyd, George W 17
Boyd, John T 496
Boyd, Robert 16
Boyden, G. A 493
Boynton, Gen. H. V 12, 18
Bozolus, Joseph, system of tele-
graph in 1767 178
Brackett, Fred 16
Brackett, Prof, Cyrus F 29
on the eflfect of invention
upon the progress of elec-
trical science 287
Brackett, Prof. Cyrus W 41
Braddock Expedition 326
Bradford, Chester 492
526
INDEX.
PAGE
Bradley, Charles S 488,492
Bradley, Justice 22
Brady, Edward W 18
Brady, James 494
Bramwell, G. W 494
Brandon, James 494
Brashears, Shipley 19
Bray, Millin 493
Breech-loader rifle, Springfield 438
Breech loaders, adoption of 299
Breech-loading rifle 295
Brent, Richard A 488
Brequet, telegraphic apparatus 188
Bretan, Madam de •.. 376
Brick-making machines, labor
saved by 83
Bridge building, effect of railroad
on 167
Brienne, Marchioness de 376
Brill,JohnA 497
Britton, Col. A. T 10, 11,^4, 489
Britton & Gray 487
Brock, Charles E 489
^'Bronze age 78, 139
Brooks, Byron A 494
Brooks, J. A 494
Broom industry, labor-saving ma-
chines in 84
Brosius, S. G 493
Brotherhood, F 496
Brown, Austin P 489
Brown, C. F 493
Brown, Chichester 494
Brown, Capt. Giles 320
Brown, inventions of. 459
Brown, O. B 26
Brown, Sevellon A 26
Browne, A. B 20, 489
Browne, A. S 18
Browne, F. L 18, 489
Browne, Hugh M 489
Bruce, Hon. B. K 22
Brunning, Charles E 492
Brush, Charles F 22, 38
electric light 125
Bryan, S. M 17
Buchanan, Hon. James 11
PAGE
Buckelew, J. R 489
Bunsen 404
Burden, James A 494
Bureau F^d^ralde la Propridt^ In-
tellectuelle 34
Bureau of Ethnology 406
Burgdorff", Theo. F 494
Burke, Edward, of South Caro-
lina 48, 134
Burke, William 26, 487
Burke, W.M 489
Burket, J. U., & Co 487, 489
Burnham, George 496
Burton, George D 493
Bushnell, David, devised the tor-
pedo 441
Bussey, Gen. Cyrus 20, 21, 41
Butler, J. Ivawrence 494
Butler, William H 494
Butterfield, Col. F. G 16, 497
Butterfield, General 26
Butterick, Ebenezer 494
Butterworth, Hon. Benjamin.... 11, 27,
30, 38, 40, 41
on American patents at
World's Exposition 41, 444
on the effect of our patent
system on the material de-
velopment of the United
States 381
Butterworth, B. F 487
Butterworth, W 489
Byington, George R 19
Byrn, E. W 489
Byrne, Mrs 26
Byrnes, E. A 489
Cabell, W. D 16, 26, 489
Cable, submarine telegraph 195
Cadwalader, Mr., of New Jersey... 134
Cadwallader, Lambert, on com-
mittee in First Congress to con-
sider patents 48
Calahan, printing telegraph 191
Calley, steam engine 270
Calver, Henry 15, 487, 489
Calver, William 489
INDEX.
527
PAGE
Calvert, inventions of. 459
Cameron, Frederick W 494
Campbell, cotton picker 130
Campbell, W. P 17
Canada, Commissioner of Patents
for 450
Canada, international patent pro-
tection with 213
Canada, railroad statistics of. 168
Canadian Patent Ofl&ce 451
Canadian patent system 31
Canal proposed by General Wash-
ton 131
Cancellation machines, mail 443
Canda, F. E 494
Cannon, Hotchkiss revolving 436
improvements in four cen-
turies 293
introduced into China by
Jesuits 429
rifled 295
Capital, definition of. 394
Caracristi, C. F. Z 41
Car coupler, Janney 130
CarkhuflF, R : 496
Carlisle, water decomposed by gal-
vanic current 179
Carlisle, water decomposed by Vol-
taic battery 287
Carll, David S 42
Carpenter, D. H 488
Carpet manufacture, labor saved
in 85
Carrington, James H 494
Carson, John M 18
Carter, I^andon, letter from Wash-
ington to 373
Cartridge manufacturing machin-
ery 438
Cartridges, proper construction of. 300
Cartwright, Dr. Edward, power-
loom 81, 137
Carty, Jerome 496
Cary, Robert & Co., letter from
George Washington to 334
Casey, General Thomas L 22
Cash registers 482
PAGE
Casilear, George W 16
Cass, Governor 467
Cassard, Harry L 493
Catlin, B. R ....17, 487, 489
Cavallo, system of telegraph in
1795 178
Cayenne pepper and lobelia sys-
tem 413
Cellini, Benvenuto 430
Centenary of Washington City 424
Central America, railroad statis-
tics of 168
Century of patent law iii
Ceramic art, women first invent-
ors in 409
Chamber's patent for breech mech-
anism 436
Chandler, F. E., & Co 489
Chanute, Prof. Octave 22, 27, 42
on eflFect of invention upon
the railroad and other
means of intercommuni-
cation 161
Chappe, M., semaphore telegraph. 176
Chappell, Mr. Thomas S 26
Chase, C. C 41
Chase, Champion S 494
Chastellux, Marquis de 349
Chatard, Thomas M 489
Chattanooga, growth of. 140
Chemical analysis, methods of. 244
Chemin de Fer Glissant at Paris
Exposition 172
Chemistry and physics 303
Chemistry, discoveries in 419
Chermont, A. ly 497
Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone
Company 487
Chester, telegraphic apparatus 188
Chicago for Columbian Exposi-
tion 445
Childs, George W 22
Chinese, imitative power of 429
inventors of gunpowder 429
Choate, Columbus D 489
Chogwill, F. M 489
Christensen, John^ 494
528
INDEX,
PAGE
Christianity improved by inven-
tion 69
Christianity in industrious com-
munities 96
Church, Fred F 494
Church, Melvin B 493
Church, W. C 163
Church & Church 487, 489
Cigarette machine, Bonsack's .... 130
Circular No. i, text of. 4
Circular of executive committee. . . 7
Claims for patent, manner of stat-
ing 51
Clark, A. Howard 16, 26
Clark & Raymond 493
Clarke, Prof. F. W 29, 41
on chemistry and physics... 303
Classification of patents 53
Clawson, L. P 495
Clay, Gen. Cecil 20
Clermont, steamboat, first trip of.. 124
Clocks and watches, improved 482
Clothing manufacture, labor saved
in 85
Clotworthy, W. P 493
Coal, abundant in South 139
anthracite, household use of 226
Coal industry, statistics of South-
ern 140
Coalmines, output of 61
Coal tar, uses of. 304
Cochran, F. B 494
Cochran, George W 16
Coffee's tobacco stemmer 130
Cogswell, W. B 494
Cohen, Mendes 41, 42
Coinage, congress on 448
Coin-actuated machines 481
Colburn, Zerah 166
Cole, F. L 489
Collins, W. H 16
Columbian Exposition, Ameri-
can patents at 41, 445
Columbian Exposition, finances
of 445
Comments of the press 499
Commerce, as an invention 406
PAGE
Committee, advisory, members of 11
central, members of. 3
executive, members of. 12
finance , 14
on badges and medals 17
on banquet 20
on carriages 19
on halls 17
on literature 14
on music 19
on parade and military or-
ganization 19
on press 18
on public comfort 15
on transportation 17
on reception 16
on reception of foreign oflS-
cials 20
Committees, list of. 36
Composition powder 414
Compressed air for propelling pro-
jectiles 437
Comte, inventor 404
Congress, first grants letters pat-
ent 48
Congress, power of, as to patents. . 425
World's, at Chicago 447
Congressional library, copyright
books in 153
Connecticut, early copyright laws
in 154
Connecticut, early patents in 45
Connolly, A. A 20
Constitutional convention 313
Constitutional liberty established. 60
Constitutional privileges to in-
ventors 47
Contract office, postal service 442
Conway, Rev. Moncure D 322
Conwell, John P 488
Cook, George W 489
Cooke, electric telegraph.. 183, 187, 188
electro - magnetic escape-
ment 191
Cooking, improved methods of.... 227
rules for 226
Cooley, W. B 16
INDEX.
529
PAGE
Cooper, George 497
Cooper, Peter, railroad locomotive 131
Copp, H. N 487
Copyright, constitutional provi-
sion for 316
Copyright, duration of. 146, 148
international 149, 159
in United States in 1787 47
laws, early, in colonies 154
provided for by constitution 146
reasons for granting 383
statistics, 1870-1890 156
system of United States ....;. 27
system, origin and growth
of 145
Corbin, Mrs. IvCttice 336
Corey, Rev. Dr. George H 26
Corliss, George H., improved
steam engine 270, 280
Corliss, Wm 496
Corson & McCartney 487
Cory, A. M 494
Cory ton, on early patent law 44
Coston, Mrs 6
Cotton, exports of, in 1890 138
first cultivated in America
in 1621 133
increase in consumption of. 89
Cotton gin 384, 408, 479
invention of. 122
one of the seven wonders... 71
origin of 137
Whitney's 136
Cotton industry, development of.. 137
increase of wages in loi
Cotton mills, first in America in
1787 137
Cotton oil industry, development
of 139
Cotton picker, Campbell's 130
Cotton tie, McComb 130
Cottrell, C. B 496
Couillaird, inventions of 459
Courtois, discovered iodine 304
Cowles, R. P 488
Cowper, autographic telegraph 193, 194
Cox, KckleyB 496
PAGE
Cox, W. V 16, 489
Coxe, electrolysis telegraph 1 79
Craik, Nancy 376
Crane, Walter E 488
Cranford, H. ly 16, 489
Crawford, Valentine 343
Creative faculty, development of. 64
Creigh, Alfred B 497
Critic Record, The 489
Crompton, Samuel, mule-spinning
machine 81
Compton, Samuel, spinning mule 137
Crook, Abel 494
Crosby, G. S 494
Crounse, W. Iv 18
Crowell, lyuther C 494
Culpeper, Thomas (Lord) 320
Cuntz, Johannes H 494
Currency, present condition of.... 61
Curry, Hon. J. L. M 40, 41
Curtet, electric light 287
Curtis, W. E 18
Custis, G. W. Park 342
Cycles, various forms of. 482
Dagworthy, Captain 326
Dahlgreen 441
Danforth, inventions of 459
Daniel, Senator J. W 21, 25, 26
on the New South 129
Daniel's machine for shearing
cloth 459
Darwin 404
Davids, Charles H 494
Davis, E. G 16
Davis, Ivcwis J 16, 489
Davis, M. F 492
Davy, Edward, chemical telegraph 191
electric arc 287
Davy's safety lamp 136
Dawson, E. M 16, 41
Deane, Llewellyn 14, 487, 489
Deen, Miss Sarah C 26
De Grain, R. F 489
DeGraw, P. V 18
Delano, Thomas H 494
Delany, multiplex telegraph 193
530
INDEX.
PAGE
Denmark, Hanseatic League in.... 474
marine statistics of. 163
Densmore, Bdson S 19
Department of State, Patent Office
under 453
De Schweinitz, K. A 489
Devine & Keenan 487
Dewey, Frederic P 489
Dewey's machine for shearing
cloth 459
Dick, B. A 16
Dickerson, Governor 467
Diehl, Philip 494
Dietrick, F. G 489
Digges, cotton oil press 139
Dinwiddle, Governor 324
Displacement of labor by inven-
tions 82
Ditto, Nelson J 15
Dodds, K 492
Dodge, Philip T 16, 487, 489
Dodge, W. C 15, 489
on the origin, nature and
effect of patents 473
Dodge, W. C, &Sons 487
Dodge, W. H 492
Dodge, W. W 489
Dolbear, telephone 198
Dolbear, A. B 493
Doolittle, W. H 14, 487, 489
Doubleday, H. H 17, 487, 489
Douglas, Henry T 42
Douglass, Hon. J. W 12, 40
Douglass, J. "Walter 496
Dow, George B 488
Dowling, Thomas, Jr 489
Downham, B. B — 41
Drainage, improved methods of... 221
Drama, origin of 406
Drugs and chemicals, manufac-
turers of 415
Du Bois, James T 3, 15, 41, 489
Du Bois, R. G 16, 20, 489
Dubois & Dubois 487
Due, Henry A., Jr 496
Dudley, Charles B 496
Dudley, Charles J 488
PAGE
Dudley, Lord Bdward, iron works
of 133
Dudley, William 320
Dudley, Hon. W. W 15, 487
Duffy, O. B 19, 42, 487, 489
Duhamel, James F ... 15
Duncanson, C. C 17
Dunnell, B. G 18
Durgin, Henry J 494
Duryee, Schuyler 18, 41, 487, 497
Dutton, Major Clarence B 29, 41
on influence of invention on
modern warfare 293
Dwelling house, construction of... 219
Dyer, Frank L 19, 489
Dynamite gun, Zalinski 299
Dynamite torpedo gun 437
Dynamometers 482
Dyre, Will B 19
Dyrenforth, R. G 16, 487
Bagle Pencil Company 494
Barl, Mr 465
Barly, Charles 16
Baste, Charles H 493
Bcaubert, F 494
Bconomic influence of inventions.. 93
Bdgeworth, R. L., telegraph 176
semaphore telegraph 184
Bdison, Thomas A..22, 136, 411, 423, 494
copying telegraph 192
electric light 125
harmonic telegraph 193
telephone 198
Bdlund, duplex telegraph 192
Bdmonds, Walter D 494
Bdson, John Joy 20, 487
Edson, J. R 19, 489
Bducation, present systems of. 70
Bdward III of Bngland, statutes
against monopolies 476
Bdwards, John C 20, 493
Blder, J. T 496
Blectrical Bngiueers, Institute of.. 22
Blectrical science, effect of inven-
tion upon progress of 287
Blectricity, animal 303
INDEX,
531
Electricity, application of, one of
seven wonders 71
Electricity, static 287
Electric light, introduction of 125
Electric lighting 224
Electric locomotive, about 1844... 131
Electric railway, high speed on... 172
Weem's system 172
Electrolysis, researches in 287
Electrolysis telegraph, origin of... 179
Electro-magnet 303
Electro-magnetic telegraph, in-
ventors of 186
Electroplating, a new industry 90
Electro Technical Society, Ger-
many 33
Elevator, Otis 126
Elliot, Charles A 12, 469
Elliot, Emily 454
Elliot, John Bowman 454
Elliot, Miss Mary E 469
Elliot, Seth Alfred 454
Elliot, "William 453, 459
biography of. 454
Elliot, William Parker.... 459, 460, 468
architect of Patent Ofl&ce... 454
biography of 469
extracts from diary of. 464
letter from Ellsworth to 463
letter from Ruggles to 462
Elliott, W. St. Jean 489
Ellis, E. Everett 16, 489
Ellsworth, Henry I/... 52, 462, 467, 468
first Commissioner of Pat-
ents 50
on needs of Patent Office... 457
Elting, Irving 494
Ely, G. S 489
Ely, Theo. N 41, 496
Emanuel, Philip Albert 496
Emerson, J. E 496
Emerson, Talcott & Co 492
Emery, Albert H 482, 488
Emery, Matthew G 12, 26, 487, 489
Emme, Michael 492
Emmens, Stephen H 496
Empire City Electric Company.... 488
PAGE
Endicott, Mordecai T 42
Engines, bisulphide of carbon 247
improved, for navy 439
steam..ii3, 114, 251, 275, 281, 480
Engineers' banquet 42
England at the World's Exposition 448
England, early patent laws in 112
foreign commerce of 474
Hanseatic League in 474
history of monopolies in 476
law of monopolies in 201
letter of congratulation from 34
marine statistics of. 163
revision of patent laws in . . . 55
patent system of. 116, 477
English operatives, improved con-
dition of 107
English system of patents 50
Ennis, H. J 19
Envelope machine, Clarke's 130
Epoch - making inventions of
America 121
Ericsson 163
improved steamboats 1 24
locomotive novelty 165
movable turret 441
screw propeller 441
Eschner, Louis 496
Eskimo, seal-skin boat of. 409
Ethical influence of inventions.... 92
Ethnology 406
Evans, inventions of. 459
Evans, A. H 15, 490
Evans, George W 490
Evans, Oliver, steam carriage in
1787 46
Evening Star Newspaper Co 487
Everett, Dr. C. C, quoted 95
Everett, H. S 16, 490
Eversman, Ernst A 495
Ewin, James L 15, 487, 490
on the minor inventions of
the century 481
Ewing, Thomas, Jr 494
Exchange, as an invention 406
Executive committee, circulars of. 7, 8
duties of 12
532
INDEX.
PAGE
Expansion of labor by invention.. 88
Extension of patents 52, 118
Fairfax, Bryan 343
Fairfax, Lord, deed to Washing-
ton from 321
Faraday 303
induction of electric cur-
rents 181, 182
laws of electrolysis of 387
Fare, register 481
Farm Implement News 492
Farmer, M. G 492
duplex telegraph 192
multiplex telegraph 193
Fasoldt, Ernest C 494
Fava, Nsef&Co 487
Fava, Francis R., Jr 20, 42, 490
Fawcette, N. S 16
Fearey, Frederick L 494
Feilbogen, Moriss 494
Felben, Jacob 494
Fendall, Reginald 15
Fenwick, Benjamin 454
Fenwick, E. T 15
Fenwick, Robert W 3, 41, 487, 490
on the old and new Patent
office 453
Feudal system 78
Field, C.J 494
Finance Committee, members of.. 14
Financial importance of American
patents 432
Financial importance of patent
system 423
Finckel, W. H 15, 490
Fine arts, ennobling influence of . 66
Fisher, Commissioner 480
Fisher, Hon. Robert J 12, 490
Fisher, S. F 490
Fisher, Hon. Samuel S 152
Fisher, William Hubbell.... 495
Fish ladders and hatcheries, Mc-
Donald's 130
Fitch, John, patent to, in 1790 49
steamboat in 1787 46, 133
Fitzgerald, Colonel 376
Fitzgerald, W. F 487
PAGE
Fitzgerald, W. T 16, 490
Fleetwood, C. V 495
Florida, inventors from 130
Flowers, M. F. W 26
Flying machines 172
Fly-shuttle, invented in 1738 79, 80
Kay's 137
Folger, Commodore William M... 12
Folk-lore 406
Food, cost of daily ration of. 227
nutritive value of. 227
rules for cooking 226
Foote, Allen R 490
Forbes, Francis 494
Forney, E. 0 490
Fort Duquesne 329
Forth bridge, dimensions of 167
Foster, Hon. Charles 41
on American patents from
the financial standpoint. 40,432
Foster, Charles E 15
Foster & Freeman 487, 490
Fouquet, Leon C 492
Fowler, C. H 18, 487, 490
Fowler, Francis 490
Fox, E. H 26
Fox, Oscar C 487, 490
Fox, William C 18, 26
Fraley, Hon. Frederick 22, 27, 496
France, Hanseatic League in 474
law of monopolies in 201
marine statistics of. 163
patent medicines in 417
Franklin, Benjamin.. 291, 316, 373, 382,
385, 430
Franklin, Benjamin, printing press 53
Franklin Institute 23
Fraser, Daniel 490
Fraser, Donald 154
Freight rates in England 162
French Commissioner of Patents,
greetings from 35
French, Dr. William B 16, 490
Frischen, duplex telegraph 192
Fritz, Theo. H 493
Frothingham, N. L 490
Fruit wrapper, Stevens 130
INDEX,
533
Froment, telegraphic apparatus... i88
Frothingham, Hon. N. Iv. ...20, 26, 42,
487
Fry, Col. Joshua 325
Fryer, Robert M 490
Fuller, M. M 490
Fuller, Warren & Co 222
Fulton, Robert, developed the tor-
pedo 441
Fulton, Robert, steamboat.... 123, 136,
459
Fulton, Robert, steam navigation. 441
Future of the American Patent
system 426
Gale, Dr., work on Morse tele-
graph 185, 186
Gale, Major T. M 16, 20
Galileo, reference to magnetic
needle 177
Gallaher, Dr. M. F 26
Gallaudet, E. M 490
Gait, M. W 16, 490
Galvani, experiments of 179
on animal electricity 303
Galvanic telegraph, origin of. 179
Galvanometer, origin of 179
Galvanoscope, origin of. 1 79
Gammell, A. M 496
Gardner, I/awrence 20, 41, 487, 490
Garnier, copying telegraph 192
Garrett, H 490
Gatling, Dr. R.J 21, 26, 38, 41, 488
address by 452
Gatling gun 130, 301, 436
Gauss, needle telegraph 180
Gaynor, fire telegraph 130
Gedney & Roberts 487
Genius, power of. 57
Georges, J. J 490
Georgia, coal product of 141
inventors of, .. 130
German Patent Ofl&ce, letter from.. 32
Germany, at World's Exposition.. 448
coal-tar industry of. 306
Hanseatic League of. 473
marine statistics of 163
PAGE
Germany, patent lawsof 214
revision of patent laws in... 55
Gibbon's " Decline and Fall of the
Roman Km pire ' ' quoted 263
Gibbs, sewing-machine 130, 136
Gibson Brothers 487
Gilbert, Dr 287
Gilbert, Prof G. K 28
Gill, Charles C 494
Gill, J. G., cartridge-machine.. 300, 438
Gill, Theo. N 490
Gilman, Charles Carroll 492
Giutl, telegraphic apparatus 192
Glass, malleable, invention of 72
Glass industry, cost of production
in 223
Glassware, cost of production 389
Glowes, cotton-oil press 139
Gooch, C.J 15
Goode, Dr. G. Brown.. 11, 14, 26, 42, 490
Goodman, Agdalena S., broom
brushes 131
Goodrich, Harry C 492
Goodwin, John M 496
Goodyear, industries established
by 91
Goodyear, vulcanized rubber 430
Gore, Prof J. Howard 27
Gormully, R.Philip 492
Gorrie, ice machine 130
Gorton, Robert 494
Gould, Aaron P 495
Gould, C. G 490
Government as an invention 406
Gower, telephone 198
Granger, James B 494
Grant, Hon. Lewis A 40, 41, 448
on American patents in the
Army 40, 434
Grants by kings in early days 474
Graphic art 406
Graphophone, importance of. 481
Graton, H. C 493
Graves, D. H 490
Gray, EHsha 492
harmonic telegraph 193
telautograph. 193
534
INDEX.
PAGE
Gray, Blisha, telephone 197
Gra5% Hon. George 11, 42
Gray, Stephen, conveyance of elec-
trical influence by wire I77
Gray, Prof. Thomas 41, 492
on inventors of telegraph
and telephone 27, 175
Greece, marine statistics of 1 63
Greeley, E. S 494
Greeley, B. S., & Co 488
Greeley, Gen. A. W 12
Green, Bernard R 42
Green, M. M 49^
Green, Noble T 280
Green, Norvin 22
Green, O. C 16
Green, William 320
Greene, Wallace 18, 490
Gregg, M. E 15, 49°
Gregory, G. W 488, 493
Gridley, James H 15, 487> 49°
Griffin, Eugene 493
Griggs, patents to 459
Griscom, F. R 493
Guarantee fund, list of subscribers
to 487
Guilds, merchant, origin of 474
Gun, dynamite torpedo 437
Gatling 436
Gun, magazine 301
steel wire wound 436
Guns, compressed air 437
improvements in steel 436
increased range of. 435
propulsion of. 43^
rapid fire 294
range-finder for 436
screw breech mechanism
for 436
Gun-barrels, manufacture of. 294
Gun-cotton, discovery of 298
Gunpowder, Chinese the invent-
ors of. 429
Gunpowder, control of action of. . . 296
slow-burning 43^
smokeless 43^
Gun steel, manufacture of. 297
PAGE
Gurley & Stevens 487
Guthridge, Jules 18
Guttenberg, printing press 53
Hagen, Arthur T 494
Hains, Robert P 490
Haire, R.J 494
Halford, E. W 21, 41
Hall, Augustus R 496
Hall, Julien A 42
Hall, William P 494
Hallidie, A. S 488
Hallock, William 495
Halshe, copying telegraph 192
telegraphic apparatus 1 88
Halsted, John J 16, 487, 490
Hamblet, telegraphic apparatus... 188
Hambleton, Francis H 42
Hamilton 404
Hamilton, Dr. J. B 26
Hamlin, Dr. Teunis S 26
Hampton Roads, international
naval assembly in 142
Hand-production, age of. 79
Handy, Charles W 487
Handy, F. A. G 18
Hanes, John 494
Hannah, Miss Ruth 27
Hanseatic League, powers of. 473
Harding, Miss 49^
Hargreaves, James, spinning
jenny 80
Harlan, Mr. Justice 40
on Supreme Court of United
States as related to Amer-
ican Patent System 425
Harlow, M. B 41
Harmon, O. S 495
Harper, James 460
Harris, John F 495
Harris, Hon. William T 32, 41
on relation of invention to
the newspaper and book.. 393
Harriss, Dr. G. W 16
Harrison, Governor 345
Harrison, President 7, 23, 35
Harrover, J. J 16, 490
INDEX.
535
PAGE
Hart, A. W 490
Hart, W. H 488
Harvester 480
one of seven wonders 71
steam 407
Hastings, A. Horace 495
Hathaway, Thomas H 493
Hatton, Frank 18
Hawaii, patent laws of. 213
Hay, Col. B. B 20, 26
Hayden, John J 490
Hays, H. V 493
Hayward, H. S 494
Hazlehurst, George B 42
Heating and cooking, improve-
ments in , 224
Helm, M. D 17, 42, 487, 490
Helmholtz 404
Henderson, W. G 15, 487, 490
Hendley, C. M 41
Henry, Professor Joseph 303
electro-magnetic telegraph. 190
experiments in electro-mag-
netism 184
experiments with magnets.. 288
induction of electric cur-
rents 181, 182
telegraph 167
Henry, Patrick 319, 379
Herman, Robert 490
Hero's "Pneumatica" cited 261
Hertz, electrical science 290
Herzog, F. B 495
Hewitt, Hon. Abram S 22
Hickman, Louis C 496
Higdon, John C 493
Higginbottom, Charles T 488
Higgins, Charles M 495
Highton, H. and E., needle tele-
graph 188
Hill, B. B 496
Hill, Charles J 490
History of the celebration 3
Hitchcock, L. R 495
Hobday, John, threshing machine 372
Hoe, printing press 53, 86, 136
Hoe's cylinder press 126
PAGE
Hoen, Ernest 493
Hoffecker, W. L 494
Hoffman, W.J 16
Hoge, Thomas 490
Hoisting appliances on naval ves-
sels 440
Holland, Hanseatic League in 474
marine statistics of. 163
Hollerith, Herman 487, 490
Holley, Alexander L 166
Holt, Commissioner 478, 480
Holton, Frederick A 19
Holtzman, George M 27
Homestead laws 475
Hook, Dr. Robert, proposal for a
telegraph 176
Hook, mechanical telephone in
1667 196
Hope, S. W 489
Hopkins, Samuel, first United
States patent granted to 49
Hopkins, Thomas S 16, 490
Hotchkiss, mention of 441
revolving cannon 436
Hough, F. H 19
Hough, Walter 16, 490
Houghton, smokeless powder 436
Hours of labor, reduction in loi
House, effect of invention upon
the 217
House fittings, invention in 221
House furnishing, improvements in 224
How, W. Storer 496
Howard, Clem W 16
Howard, George H 15, 487, 490
Howard, G. T 16
Howard, Henry 496
Howard, H. J. M 490
Howard, James L 488
Howard, R.J 41
Howard, William H 493
Howe, Elias, sewing machine..66, 122,
136
Howe, Elmer P 493
Howland, E. C 18
Howland, J. G 26
Howson, Henry 496
536
INDEX,
PAGE
Howson & Howson 488
Hoyt, I.. H 488
Hubbard, Hon. Gardiner G..21, 22, 37,
38, 41, 452, 487, 490
Hubbel, William Wheeler 490
Hudson, John E 493
Hudson, T.J 490
Hughes, D. K., type-printing tele-
graph 190
Hughes, telephone 198
Hulse, M . , j udge of textiles 54
Humaston, copying telegraph 192
Humboldt, teachings of 404
Hume, Frank 16, 490
Hunt, Conway B 42
Hunt, William C 27
Huntington, Benjamin, introduced
bill in first Congress granting
letters patent 47
Huntingdon, Mr., of Connecticut.. 134
Hunnings, telephone 198
Hyatt, J. W 497
Hyde, John... 27
Hyer, John D 490
Hyslop, John, Jr 493
Ice machine, Gorrie 130
Illinois, contributions of,toWorld*s
Exposition 445
Indenture for service as mason 336
Indian axe, method of making 235
Indian Bureau in Patent Office
Building 470
Industrial art, development in 108
Industrial arts, history of 77
Industrial history, divisions of..... 78
Industrial property, international
protection of. 199
Ingalls, Owen L 42
Ingram, Thomas D 490
Institute of Electrical Engineers.. 22
Institute of Naval Architects 440
Instrumental drawing, value of... 244
Interior Department in the Patent
Office building 470
International American Confer-
ence 211
PAGE
International convention for pro-
tection of industrial property... 209
International copyright 159
International patent rights 214
International protection of indus-
trial property 28, 199, 209
Invention and Advancement, Sen-
ator Piatt on 24, 57
Invention and modern welfare 293
birth of. 403, 428
definition of. 63, 441
effect of, on the railroad, etc. 161
effect of, upon the progress
of electrical science 287
Invention, expansion of labor by.. 88
former meaning of term 477
improves Christianity 69
in its effects upon household
economy 217
Invention, labor benefited by 73
motive of. 72
object of 68
of the steam engine 251
relation of, to agriculture... 25
relation of, to labor 24, 77
relation of, to newspaper
and book 393
Invention, the New South as an
outgrowth of. 129
Invention, the spirit of. 59
Inventions, benefit of new 479
economic influence of. 93
epoch-making 121
epoch-making, of America.. 24
ethical influence of, 92
financial importance of. .423, 432
in medicine, surgery, and
sanitation 413
Inventions in Southarn States 130
international protection of. . 200
minor, of the century 48 1
occupations created by 90
property in 203, 313
Inventive age 93
birth of 79
Inventor, rights of 47^
Inventors, need of encouraging.... 383
INDEX.
537
PAGE
Invitation to attend celebration,
form of 8
Iodine discovered by Courtois 304
Ireland, Archbishop 41, 448
Iron, abundant in the South 139
Iron age 78
Iron, increased consumption of.... 89
Iron industry in Virginia in 1619.. 133
statistics of. 140
Iron mines, output of. 61
Iron stoves and ranges, introduc-
tion of. 225
Italy, at World's Exposition 448
Hanseatic League in 474
marine statistics of. 163
Jackson, President Andrew. .. .444, 455,
461
Jackson, Andrew, Patent Office
begun under 50
Jackson, Dr., electro-magnetic tel-
egraph 186
Jackson, Major 319
Jackson, William 493
James I of England, monopolies
under 476
Jamestown, Va., manufacturers at
in 1608 132
Janney, car coupler 130
Jaques, W. H 496
Jay, Hon. John 22
Jayne, J. W 27
Jefferson, Thomas, author of the
American paten t system 1 33
Jefferson, Thomas, signed first
American patent 134
Jenckes, Hon. Thomas A 152
Jenks, Joseph, improved scythe in
1646 45
Jennings, Isaiah, thimbles for
sails 51
Jesuits introduced cannon into
China 429
Johns, Frank D 19, 487, 490
Johnson, A. E. H 19
Johnson, Arnold B 16
Johnson, E. Kurtz 490
PAGE
Johnson, E.T 495
Johnson, Eugene W 17, 20, 490
Johnson, Iver 493
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, quoted 145
Johnson, Lewis & Co 487
Johnson, T.J 15
Johnson, Walter 20, 487, 490
Johnson, W. J 41
Johnson & Johnson 487, 490
Johnston, Miss E. B 376
Johnston, Reinohl & Dyre 487, 490
Johnston, T.J 490
Johnston, W.J 495
Jones, Charles S 19, 490
Jones, Dr. , superintendent of Pat-
ent Office 51
Jones, Horace K 488
Jones, John Paul 16
Jones, J.Thomas 495
Joule, inventions of. 404
Joyce, Maurice 490
Judson, Andrew T 460
Justice, as an invention 406
Kaufmann, C. H 495
Kauffmann, S. H 18, 42, 490
Kay, John, fly shuttle 79, 80, 137
Keane, Rt. Rev. Bishop 40, 41
Keasbey, A. Q 494
Keefe, Francis 492
Keim, De B. Randolph 18
Keller, Charles M., advocate in
patent causes 52
Kelly, D.J 490
Kelly, William, steel making 136
Kemp, J. R 490
Kenaday, A. M 490
Kendall, Amos 465
Kennedy, W. P 17
Kentucky, coal product of. 141
inventors from 130
Kenyon, Robert Nelson 495
Kenyon, W. H 495
Kepler, gravitation 404
Kessler, concealed arts, cited 175
Keyworth, John 16
Kilmer Manufacturing Company.. 495
538
INDEX.
PAGE
King, Mrs. H. L 26
King, Prof. Harry 16, 41, 490
King John of England 476
Kingsley, John F 496
Kinnan, A. F , 49°
Kirchoff, chemical identity of all
worlds 404
Kirby, Frank B 493
Kneass, Strickland 496
Knight, George H 493
Knight, HerveyS 17
Knight, Octavius 16
Knight, William E 49°
Knox, General, letter from Wash-
ington to 350
Knox, George W 487
Koch's lymph 418
Konow, W., letter from 35
Koskul, Frederick 496
Kramer, telegraphic apparatus 188
Krupp guns 296
Kuehling, Mrs 26
Isabels, copyrighted 156
Ivabor, associated benefit of 75
benefited by invention 73
decreased cost of. 223
displacement of, by inven-
tions 82
effect of division of. 99
power of educated 102, 105
relation of invention to 77
Ivabor-saving inventions 83, 84
Lacey, A. P 487
Lacey, E. S 41
Ivacey, R. S 15, 487
Lack, H. Reader, letter from 34
Lake, Wilmot 490
Lamarck 404
Lamasure, Edwin 16
Lamb, Dr. D. S.. 16, 490
Lambie, James B 487
Lamborn, Robert H 495
Lancaster, Annie S 469
Land, C. H 493
Land grants, early 475
Land Office in Patent Office Build-
ing 470
PAGE
Lane, C. H 490
Lane, F. N 20
Lang, Louis J 18
Laugerfeld, A 495
Langley, Prof. Samuel P 11, 21, 22,
28,490
address as presiding officer.. 235
Lansburg, Max 493
Laundry machine 373
Lapham, William 26
Lapham, William R 19, 26, 42, 487
La Place, mathematician 241
Law, early English, relating to
patents 44
Law, granting patents in 1790, 1793 49
patent, a century of iii
relations of patents and the.. 433
Laws, patent, changes in 52
patent, in Europe 202, 203
Law's cotton planter 130
Laws, Mr 191
Lawrence, DeWitt C 16
Layden, R. M 26
Lear, Tobias 367
Lee, Gov. Henry 318
Lee, Mrs. Thomas 319
Lee, Richard Henry 371
Lefavour, Woodbury P 493
Leggett, M. D 41
Leggett, Wells W 493
Legislation as an invention 406
Lehmann, F. A 17, 487, 490
Leibnitz 404
Lemon, Capt. George E..15, 16, 487, 490
Lenk, gun-cotton 298
Le Sage, system of telegraph in
1774 178
Leslie, Edward 494
Letterboxes, private 444
Letters of congratulation from for-
eign countries 32
Lewis, Betty, sister of George
Washington 341
Lewis, Mrs. D. W 26
Lewis, Fielding 341
Lewis.John 319
Lewis, Wilfred 496
INDEX,
539
PAGE
Lewis, William B 467
Library of Congress, copyright
books in 150
Liebhardt, D. P 16
Lighting, improved methods of.... 222
Lincoln, Charles P 26
Lincoln, Levi , 460, 464, 465
LinindoU, C. C 495
Lipps, Henry, Jr 495
Lister, Charles C 15
Littell, J. R 18, 487
Little, copying telegraph 1 92
Little, Luther B 18
Loan exhibition at National Mu-
seum 42
Lobelia system 413
Locke, Sylvanus D 495
Locks, rotary registry 442
Lockwood, George M 16
Lockwood, Thomas D 493
Locomotive, bicycle 172
Ericsson's 165
Stephenson's 164, 166
Trevithic's 164
Locomotives, statistics of. 169
Logan, Walter S 495
Lombard, Nathan C 493
Lomond, system of telegraph in
1787 178
Longsbieth, Edward 496
Loom, power 81, 86, 482
Cartwright's 137
Lomis, Burdett 489
Lord, T. W 487, 490
Lorimer, John H 496
Loriug, G. B 490
Louisiana, inventors from 130
Low, H. N 17
Lowrey, Benno 495
Lowrey, G. P 495
Lowrey, W 490
Luce, Dr 26
Lumber, abundant in the South... 139
Lunar Society of Birmingham 239
Lusk, James L 42
Lyman, Charles 490
Lyman, Commissioner 26
PAGE
Lyman, Mrs 26
Lynch, Hon. John....3, 5, 8, 13, 22, 25,
27, 31. 32, 41, 490
resolutions on death of. 485
Lynch, Hon. W.J 21, 41
Lyons, Jos 490
McCabe, J 21
McCabe, Hon. Thomas 41
McCammon, Joseph K..15, 42, 487, 491
McClellan, Felix G 495
McComb, cotton tie 130
McComb, David E 42
McCormick reaper 66, 126, 130
McDonald, James J 26
McDonald, Col. Marshall... 12, 42, 491
McDonald, fish-ladders and hatch-
eries 130
McElroy, John 18
McElroy, J. F 495
McFarland, W. D 19
McGill, J. Nota 17
Mclntire, C. H 494
Mclntire, W. C..16, 20, 26, 41, 487, 491
McKay, shoe machine 84
McKee, D. R 18
McKibben, Col. Joseph C 17
McKnight, Wharton 15
McLaughlin, Capt. P. H 41
McLean, Nichol & Dorsey 491
McMahon, P. J 492
McMichael, Hon. William 15, 488
Macaulay, quoted 252
Macbeth, George A 496
Macfarland, H. B. F 41
Machine guns, rapid fire 294
Machine production, age of. 79
Mackey, Samuel W 493
Madison, James, copyright system, 134
145
Madison, on copyrights in 1787 ... 47
Madrid conference on patent
rights 213
Magazine gun 301
Magna Charta, origin of. 475
provisions of. 475
540
INDEX.
PAGE
Magnetic needle, early knowledge
of. 177
Magnus, King of Sweden 474
Magowen, Mr 339
Maher, Mary Ann 469
Mail locks, registry 442
Mail transportation, rapid 443
Main, patent case of. 210
Mallet, Kdmond 26
Malm, Alexander 495
Man, early history of 404, 405
primitive 410
Manderson, Senator 26
Mann, Charles B 493
Mann, Harry F 496
Manufactures, a century's prog-
ress in 62
Manufactures, in Virginia, 1608-
1651..... 133
Manufactures, low state of in Eng-
land 112
Marble, Hon. E. M 11, 487
Marble, Mason & Canfield 487
Marean, Morrell 17
Maret, James 492
Marindin, Henry L 42
Marine of principal nations, sta-
tistics of 163
Marine telegraphy 195
Maron, duplex telegraph 192
Marquis, C. F 496
Marquis of Worcester, cited 175
Marrill, J. H 490
Marsh, James A 495
Marsh, Riverius 494
Martin, James N 496
Marvin, J. B 11, 487, 490
Maryland, coal product of. 141
early patents in 46
Masius, Alfred G 490
Mason, George 375
Mason, Prof. Otis T...3, 32, 38, 41, 490
on the birth of invention 403
Massachusetts, early copyright
laws in 154
patent granted in 1641 in.... 45
Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
nology 224
Matthews, Mr. Justice, defines in-
vention 63
Mattingly, William F 16
Mauro, P 18
Maury's map of the sea 130
Maxim, Mr., experiments in air
transportation 172
Maxim, rapid-firing gun 437
smokeless powder 436
Maxson, Louis W .487,491
Maxwell's electromagnetic theory
of light 290
Mayer, Charles F 22
Mayer, inventions of 404
Maynard, Dr. Edward 21, 490
Maynard, George C 5, 12, 13, 15, 25,
26, 41, 487, 490
Maynard, George W 21
Meade, Capt. R. W 12, 491
Mechanical inventions, inter-
national protection of. 200
Mechanical telephone 196
Medart, Philip 493
Medical literature 420
schools 420
science, progress in 421
Medicine, American inventions
and discoveries in 413
Medicine, capital in manufacture
of 415
Medicine, patent 414
MefFord's dynamite gun 437
Meigs, Gen. M, C 12, 491
Mellen, E. D 493
Mendenhall, Prof. T. C 11, 22
Mercer, Capt. George 326, 330
Meredith, Col. William M 12
Merrow, J. M 489
Mertz, Edward P 491
Mexico, railroad statistics of. 168
Meyer, multiplex telegraph 193
Meyer, on nervous excitation 404
Michenor, Gen. L. T 20
Microphone transmitters 197
Middleton, Frank L 19
Midgley, Thos 496
Military hospitals, improvements
in 420
INDEX.
541
Military parade and reception 31
Miller, Aaron 371
Miller, Joseph R 496
Miller, W. H 497
Miller, Hon. W. H. H., on relation
of patents to the law 40, 433
Millhauser, B 496
Milliken, J. A 495
Mills, Robert 464, 465, 466, 468
architect of Patent Office..457, 461
Mining industries, employes in-
creased in 90
Mining industry, progress in 61
Mining resources of the South 1 39
Minor inventions of the century... 481
Missouri, coal product of. 141
Mitchell, Hon. Charles Eliot.... 12, 21,
24, 35, 40, 41, 449, 487
Mitchell, Hon. Charles Eliot, on
birth and growth of American
patent system 43
Mitchell, Hon. C. E., on the first
century of the American patent
system 40
Mitchell, Robert 26
Models destroyed by fire in 1836... 458
Models of inventions 116
Models of patents, museum of 423
Mohun, Frank 469
Monitor and revolving turret 480
Monopolies, abolishment of in
1623 Ill
Monopolies, early statute against.. ..43,
III, 201, 476
Monopolies, history of. 473
no claim on the law 434
Monopoly, definition of. 473
Monroe, R. G 20
Montgomery, Hon. M. V 11, 42
Moody, C. D... 493
Moore, D. G 494
Moore, M. J 491
Moore, Col. W, G 20
Moore, W. N 19
Mordecai, improved powder 436
Morgan, T.J 491
Morris, Ballard N 491
PAGE
Morris, Gouverneur 374
Morris, M. L 20
Morrison, Charles, signaling by
electric wires in 1753 ^77
Morrison, J. N 26
Morrison, R. A 491
Morse alphabet, author of. 189
Morse, Jedediah, American Geog-
raphy 154
Morse, Samuel F. B., history of
invention by 119, 188
Morse, Professor, discoveries of... 183
electric telegraph... 21, 124, 136,
382
praise given to 65
patent sustained 119
Mortar batteries, power of 438
Morton, Prof Henry 41
Moseley, C. S 492
Mosman, Alonzo T 42
Mount Vernon, Dr. Toner's ad-
dress at 313
Mount Vernon, estate at, divisions
of 332
excursion to 30
improvements by Washing-
ton to 350
Ladies' Association of. 320
list of trees at 354
original grant of, in 1674.... 320
purchased by Ladies' Asso-
ciation 330
Moustiers, Count de 375
Moxham, A.J 496
Muirhead, duplex telegraph 192
Mule-spinning machine, invented
in 1776 81
MuUin, Rafael 491
Mulvihill, M.J 493
Mumford, E. H 494
Muncke, Professor 183
Munger, R. S 488
Municipal government, failure of 448
Munn & Co 15, 488
Munson, H. T 495
Museum of working models pro-
posed 423
542
INDEX.
PVGE
Music, when originated 406
Muskets, formerly made by hand 294
Mussey, R. D 491
Muzzle-loading rifle 295
Myers, H. M 496
Napping cloth, machine for 459
Naramore, Henry L 493
National Academy of Medicine.... 417
National Association of Inventors.. 4
National Association of Inventors
and Manufacturers 3, 5, 37
National Bank of the Republic 487
National Hall of Sciences at Wash-
ington 143
National Museum, formation of... 235
loan exhibition at 42
Naval armor, improvements in 435
Naval assembly in Hampton
Roads 142
Navy, American patents in the..4o, 439
improved condition of 439
power of European 437
Navy Department, requirements
of for steel 440
Nedden, Fur, duplex telegraph. ... 192
Neill, Dr. Edward D., quoted 327
Nevins, Burnet L., Jr 491
Newcomen, steam engine 113, 269
Newell, A. W 496
Newitt, Edward.. 493
New Jersey, early copyright laws
in 154
New Jersey, early patents in 46
Newport, Captain, in Virginia in
1608 132
Newport News, Va., foreign trade
of 142
Newspaper, a century's progress
in the 61
Newspaper, definition of the 400
publishing, labor saved in... 86
relation of invention to the.. 395
Newton, Sir Isaac 295
gravitation 404
New York, early copyright laws in 154
early patents in 46
New York City for Columbian Ex-
position 445
New York World, circulation of... 62
Nicholson, decomposed water by
voltaic battery 287
Nicholson, decomposition of water
by galvanic current 179
Nickel-in-the-slot machine 481
Nishwity, F 494
Nitro-glycerin, discovery of. 298
Nixon, G. A 491
Nixon, Richard 18
Noah, J. J 18
Nobel, nitro-glycerin 298
Noble, Hon. John W 21, 22, 24, 25,
35, 41, 449
on future of American pat-
ent system 40, 426
Noland, Major 465, 466, 467, 468
Norman kings, monopolies granted
by 475
Norris Peters Company 487
North Carolina, coal product of... 141
inventor from 130
Norton, W. T 491
Novatory, Jno 492
Norway, Hanseatic League 474
marine statistics of. 163
Nott, Wilford E 491
Nottingham, J. R 19, 491
Novelty, Ericsson's locomotive 165
Noyes, Crosby S 12
Noyes, T. W., on centenary of
Washington City 40
Nunn, R. J 492
Oberly, Hon. John H 26
Ocean cable, one of seven won-
ders 71
Odiorne, patents to 459
Oersted, deflection of magnetic
needle 288
Oersted, electric current 182
love of science 303
Official Gazette of Patent Office... 54
Ogden, H. E 26
INDEX,
543
PAGE
Ohio Company, Washington's in-
terest in 338
Ohio, military lands in 344
Ohm 303
Ohm's formula 289
Oliver, Garrett H 497
Olney, Charles F .. 495
Operatives, factory, manner of
living 232
Orcutt, Warren H 17
Ordway, Gen. Albert 20
Ordway, N. G 491
Origin, Nature, and Effect of
Patents 473
Ormsby, D. G 491
Orrick, W. W 491
Orth, Henry 19, 20, 487, 491
Otis elevator 126
Ovens, improved portable 229
Owens, Benjamin B 493
Page, Dr., discovery by 197
Paine, Hon. H. E 11, 42, 491
Paine & I^add 487
Painting 406
Paints, incombustible 220
Palissy 409, 430
Palmer, C. H 495
Palmer, C. 0 495
Papin's fire engine 269
Park, copying telegraph 192
Parker, John H 493
Parker, Myron M 3, 40, 487, 491
address of welcome by 423
presides at Board of Trade
banquet 423
Parks, Gorham 460, 464, 465
Parmelee, Dubois D 495
Parrett 441
Parsell, Henry V 15, 487, 491
Parsell, N. V 491
Parsons, H. E 41
Parsons' machine for shearing
cloth 459
Parthenon, model for Patent Office
Building 456
Partridge, John A 42
Patent, difference between descrip-
tion and claim 51
Patent, first American 134
first United States 49
Patents and the Law, relations of.. 433
classification of 53
compared with monopolies.. 480
comparison of English and
American systems 50
Patents, Constitutional provision
for 316
Patents, definition of. 473
early English 476
early, in Connecticut 45
early, in Massachusetts 45
early, issued by Secretary of
State 453
Patents, early system of. 48
extension of .' 52, 118
in the army, Gen. L. A.
Grant on 434
limitation of term of. 477
models destroyed by fire in
1836 457, 458
number granted 50
origin, nature and effect of. 473
postal service protected by.. 442
property in, guarded by law 434
receipts from 423
restrictions in granting 477
term of. 117
Patent law, a century of. 24, iii
Patent laws, Canadian 213
Patent medicines 414
Patent Office, clerical force of... 52, 454
collections transferred to
National Museum 235
divisions of. 53
early history of. 49
finances of 6, 52, 433
history of 429
importance of 25
Official Gazette of 54
papers on 453
reception at 25
reorganized in 1836 134
the old and the new 453
544
INDEX,
PAGE
Patent Office, under Department
of State 453
Patent Office Building, architect
of. 454, 459
Patent Office Building, architec-
ture and construction of 456
Patent Office Building, construc-
tion of in 1836 468
Patent Office Building, destroyed
by fire in 1836 457, 458
Patent Office Building, descrip-
tion of in 1867 469
Patent Office Building, dimensions
of 455
Patent Office Building, need of..... 431,
433
Patent rights in France 201, 202
Patent statutes of United States,
review of. 116
Patent system, effect of on devel-
opment of United States 381
Patent system, English 116, 477
European. 207
inventive thought stimu-
lated by 53
Jefferson the author of. 133
origin of 43, 381
Patten, John 493
Patten, Capt. W. S 26
Pattison, Allen S 19
Paul, Ivcwis, spinning by rollers .. 79
Pavey, Dr., cited 226
Peck, Charles 489
Peck, Herbert E 19
Peck, M. D 491
Peck, S. & B 491
Pennie, J. C 19
Pennie & Goldsborough 491
Pennsylvania, early patents in 46
Pension office in Patent Office
Building 470
Pepper, John P 468
Periodicals copyrighted 157
Perkin, discovered aniline dyes.... 306
Perkins, patents to 459
Perrin, N. G. M 492
Perry, W. G 26
PAGE
Peters, Eugene 16, 487, 914
Peterson, August 17
Petroleum, products of 74
results from discovery of..... 74
Pettigrew, E 460, 465
Pettit, Horace 496
Peyton's reminiscences of Brad-
dock 327
Phelps, George M 495
Phelps electro-motor telegraph.... 191
Philadelphia, seat of national gov-
ernment 453
Philadelphia Spelling Book, first
book copyrighted 154
Philadelphia Typewriter Company 488
Phillipp, M. B 488
Phillips, C. C 496
Phillips, Wendell 53
Philosopher's stone, patent for
making iii
Phlogistic theory 239
Phonograph, importance of ...424, 481
Photographers' art used in warfare 439
Photolithography 482
Physics, discoveries in 419
Pierce, P. B 491
Pike, Major Benjamin F 26
Pilling, J. W 491
Piuckney, Charles, copyright and
patent right 47, 134, 145
Pine, Leighton 492
Piscatoway, Indian towne 320
Planing machine 479
Planten, H. & Son , 495
Piatt, Senator O. H 11, 21, 24, 489
on invention and advance-
ment 57
Playfair, Sir Lyon 226
Plimpton, Henry R 493
Plimpton, James L 493
Plow, barrel, Washington's ex-
periments with 359
iron, first in America 135
steam 407
sulky, Avery's 130
two-eyed and duck-bill 331
Pneumatic dynamite torpedo gun.. 437
INDEX.
545
PAGE
Pole, B. C 491
Pollock, Anthony 20
Poole, Benjamin 15
Poor, John C 15, 491
Pope, F. L., cited 189
Pope, Hon. John H 21
Pope, Hon. Richard 41
address by 450
Porter, F. B 493
Porter, Hon. Robert P 20, 26, 141
Postal service, American patents
in the 40, 441
Postoffice building, extension of. .. 454
Post routes, extension of. 51
Post system, growth of 61
Potomac Terra-cotta Company 487
Potomac River, early name for 320
Potter, Henry G 26
Pottery, discovery of enamel for... 430
Powder, improvements in. .296, 429, 436
Powell, Major J. W 11, 26, 42
Power-loom 482
Power-loom, Cartwright's 137
invented in 1785 81
labor saved by 86
Prall, W. B 487
Pratt, F. A 489
Pratt, F. W 17, 20
Preece, Nystorin, duplex telegraph 192
Prentiss, F. H 495
Prescott, quadruplex telegraph.... 192
President of the United States, ac-
cepts invitation to preside 7
President of the United States, ad-
dress by 23
President of the United States, re-
ception by 31
President of the United States,
thanks to 35
Price, Benjamin 493
Price, Colonel, utilization of coal
dust 22
Price, J. A 41. 40
Price, James M 49^
Prices, comparative 389
Prices, reduction in, on result of
protection 432
PAGE
Priestly, chemical discoveries by.. 240
Prindle, George S 17
Prindle & Russell 487, 491
Printing press 384
Printing press. Hoe's 126
improved, labor saved by... 86
one of seven wonders 71
Proceedings of meetings of the
Congress 21
Property in patents guarded by
law 434
Protection of mechanical inven-
tions 200
Protective principle and reduction
in prices 432
Pruden, Mr. O. L 26
Publications copyrighted 1870-
1890 156
Pullman, sleeping cars 136
Pullman, thanks due to 124
Quadruplex telegraph 192
Queen Elizabeth and monopolies.. 476
Quimby, BdwardB 495
Rafter, G. S 491
Railroad, first in America 132
freight, cost of transporta-
tion 170
locomotive, early experi-
ments with 132
mileageof theworld in 1891 168
water-borne system of. 172
Railroads, as an expansion of labor 91
civilizing influence of. 99
earnings in 1889 171
effect of invention upon... 27, 73,
161
extension of Southern 140
growth of. 61
number of employes on 91
statistics of 73, 168
street, development of 167
Rails, early patterns of. 165, 166
Railway, effect of invention on 164
Railways, improvements in rolling
stock 166
546
INDEX.
PAGE
Rake, harvest horse 374
Randolph, Colonel, hill-side plow 135
Randolph, Kdmund, signed first
American patent 134
Range-finder, for long-range guns. 436
Rankin, Rev. J. B 11, 42
Ransdell, Marshal D. M 41
Rapley, W. H 17
Ray, Mr., on inventions 479
Raymond, Henry W 16
Raymond, William C 495
Reaper, McCormick 126
Reception at the Executive Man-
sion , 31
Reception at the Patent OflSce 25
Reception Committee 16
Recording telegraph, systems of... 191
Reed, patents to 459
Reeves, E. H 491
Registry locks, rotary 442
Regnault, researches on gases and
vapors 311
Reis, Philip, telephone 197
Reizen, system of telegraph in
1794 178
Relation of invention to labor 77
Relation of patents to the law..4o, 433
Remberts, roller cotton compress.. 130
Resolution of thanks 35
Revolving cannon, Hotchkiss 436
Reynolds, Edwin 496
Reynolds, lyucius E 491
Rice, James Q 491
Rice, John V 494
Richard II of England, statutes
against monopolies 476
Richards, Mrs. Ellen H 226
Richards, F. H 489
Richards, Rev. J. Havens 11
Richards & Company 491
Richardson, Charles H 491
Richardson, F. A 18
Richter, Miss C. M 26
Ridpath, John Clark 492
Ries, Elias E 493
Rifle, breech-loading 295
Springfield breech-loader... 438
PAGE
Riggs & Co 487
Riley, Samuel 491
Ripple, Ezra H 496
Ritchie, needle telegraph 180
Ritter, decomposed water with
copper sulphate 287
Ritter, Dr. F. W 18
Ritter, F. W., Jr 491
Rivers, Jose R. de Rivas Y 491
Roane, Iv. B 491
Roanoke, growth of 140
Robert, Henry M 491
Robbins, Benjamin 295
Robert, Col. H. M 12
Robert, District Commissioner 41
Roberts, Edward P 495
Roberts, Milton Josiah 495
Robertson, T. J. W 17
Robinson, Prof W. C, quoted 63
Rocket, locomotive 165
Rodman, General, improved guns 435
improved powder 296, 436
Rodriguez, Jos^ J 20
Roemer, William 494
Roessle, T. E 487
Rogers, Archibald 495
Romagn^si, deflection of mag-
netic needle by electricity 179
Ronalds, system of telegraph in
1816 178
Rooting engine 334
Rose, Manning M 26
Rosecrans, General W. S 12, 42
Roselle, Capt. W. T 17
Rose water, Andrew 42, 494
Ross, Hon. J. W 12, 44
Rotch, A. Lawrence 493
Rowland, George 495
Royce & Marean 487
Ruebsam, John E 491
Ruggles, Hon. John, improve-
ments in patent system 52
Ruggles, Hon. John, letter from
Ellsworth to 463
Ruggles, Hon. John, on architect
of Patent Office 462
Ruggles, Hon. John, on needs of
Patent Office 458
INDEX.
547
PAGE
Rumford, inventions of. 404
Rnmney, William, letter from
Washington to 364
Rumsey, James, new invented boat
in 1785 46
Rumsey, James, steamboat 130, 131
Rumsey Society of Philadelphia.. 131
Runkle, Prof. John D 224
Russell, P. G 18
Russia, Hanseatic League in 474
marine statistics of. 163
railway incident in 427
Rutherford, James A 16
Ryan, Matthew 491
Ryan, William R 26
Ryneal, George, Jr 487
Saavedra, Roderigo 491
Sabine's ** Electric Telegraph,"
quoted 180
St. Clair, Dr. F. 0 14, 491
St. Clair, Dr. F. O., on American
patents from an international
standpoint 40
St. Hilaire, Geoffrey 404
Safety lamp, Dav3''s 136
Salt, early patent for making 45
Salt monopolies in Kngland 476
Sanders, H. P 487, 491
Sanger, Major J. P 26
Sanitation, American inventions
in 413
Sanitation, improved methods of. 421
Savannah, steamboat, named 163
Savery's engine 269
Saxon and Norman kings, grants
by 474
Schilling, five-needle telegraph ... 180
telegraph 182, 187
Schoen, Charles T 496
Schools, medical 420
Schools, manual training... 70
Scholtus, ''Technica Curiosa,"
cited 175
Schreder, quadruplex telegraph... 192
Schweigger, magnetic helix 288
PAGE
Schweigger, magnet wound with
wire 179
Science, applied, utility of 307
Scientific societies, work of 307
Scott, Alexander 491
Scott, General, and the Yazoo
Company 319
Screw breech mechanisms for guns 436
Scull, C. C 17
Sculpture 406
Scythe, improved, patented in
1646 45
Searles, Anson 494
Sears, W. G 497
Seaton, Malcolm 491
Seckendorf, M. G 18
Secretary of State, issued patents
in 1801 453
See,J. W 495
Seely, Col. F. A.. ..11, 28, 41, 481, 487,
491
Seely, F. A., on international pro-
tection of industrial property.... 199
Seely, G. D 487, 491
Selden, George B 495
Selden, W. H 487
Sellers, Coleman 496
Sellers, William..... 496
Semaphore telegraph 184
Semken, H 16
Serrell, L. W 488, 495
Seven wonders of American inven-
tion 71
Sewage, improved methods of 222
Seward, Hon. W. H., on the in-
ventive faculty 479
Sewing machine 480
benefits by 136
invention of. 122
labor expanded by 91
one of seven wonders 71
the original 408
Seymour, H. A 16, 491
Sharpe, J. R,, voltaic telegraph... 179
Shaw, Thomas 38, 496
ventilation of coal mines. ... 22
Shaw, William 367
548
INDEX.
PAGE
Shaw, William B 27
Shearing cloth, machine for 459
Sheehy, R.J 495
Shellabarger, Samuel 491
Shepard, James 489
Sherman, George W 495
Sherwood, Henry 16, 491
Shipman, M. D 492
Shirley, General 326
Shoemaker Company 497
Sibley, conical tent 130
Sicily at World's Exposition 449
Sickels, F. B 38, 493
Sickels, Frederick B., expansion
gear 280
Sickels, Frederick B., steam-steer-
ing apparatus 21
Siemens, telegraphic apparatus ... 192
Siggers, B. G 491
Signalling, early methods of. 175
Signals, army, improved 438
Silk industry in Virginia in 1623 .. 133
Silver, William J 497
Simens, telegraphic apparatus 188
Simonds, George F 41, 493
Simons, H. 0 19
Simons, Howard T 495
Simpson, G. R 491
Singer sewing machine 136
Singleton, W. H 17, 487
Singleton, W. R 20, 487
Sinsabaugh, ly. W 15
Skidmore, James \, 19, 491
Skilton, James A 495
Skinner, F. C 491
Slave system 78
Slocum, Harry F 19, 491
Small arms, improvement in.. .299, 438
Small arms, labor saved in mak-
ing 83
Small, James, iron plow 135
Smelting works, first in America.. 133
Smillie, Thos. W 491
Smith, Adam, quoted 98
Smith, A. M 15, 487
Smith, Arthur St. A 491
Smith, Charles F 495
Smith, Charles R 496
Smith, B. D 496
Smith, Frederick H 42
Smith, F. W 26
Smith, Gerrit, quadruplex tele-
graph 192
Smith, Harold B 495
Smith, Henry W 41
Smith, Jesse M 493
Smith, John Y 38, 496
Smith, John Y., air brakes 22
Smith, layman 492
Smith, Oberlin...22, 27, 38, 41, 42, 494
Smith, R. D. 0 492
Smokeless powder 436
Smithsonian Institution 406
Patent Office collection
transferred to 235
Smyth, D. M 38, 41, 494
Snow, C. A 16
Snow, C. A. & Co 487
Society of Mechanical Bngineers.. 22
Soley, Hon. J. R 40, 41
on American patents in the
Navy 40, 439
Solomons, A. S 20
Somes, F. C 17, 487, 491
Sommering, electrolysis telegraph 179
Soteldo, Hon. A. M 41
Soul^, J. H 18
South, Carolina, early patent laws
in 132
South Carolina Railroad, first
steam road in America. 132
South, the New, Senator Daniel on 129
Spain, Hanseatic Ivcague in 474
marine statistics of 163
Sparks, quoted 314
Spear, Hon. BHis 11, 42, 487, 491
Specification of patent, Bnglish
form 115
Specifications, amendments to 116
Spencer 404
Spencer, Col. Nicholas 320
Spencer, Herbert, on ethics 92
Spiers, James \ 488
Spinning, improvements in 79
INDEX.
549
PAGE
Spinning industry, labor saved in.. 86
Spinning jenney, Hargreave's 137
patented in 1770 81
vSpinning mule, Crompton's 137
Spoflford, Hon. A. R..11, 14, 27, 487, 491
on copyright system 145
Spofford, H. W 18
Spotswood, General 319
Springer, Ruter W 491
Springfield breech-loader rifle..30i, 438
Stallings, W. H 492
Stamping-machines, mail 443
Stanley, Edward 496
Stanley, Ivord, opposes patent laws 54
Staples, O. G 487
Stark, J. B., quadruplex telegraph 192
Statutes of monopolies 476
Stealey, O. 0 18
Steamboat, invention of 123
Steamboat, patent for, in 1787 46
Steamboat Savannah, 1819 163
Steamboats, growth of. 61
Steam engine 480
ancient knowledge of. 251
construction of Watt's 275
early types of. 113
invention of. 251
Watt studies principle of.... 114
Steam engines, speed fluctuation
of 281
Steam engines, work accomplished
by 281
Steamships, speed of ocean 280
statistics of. 163
Steam transportation, cost of. 163
one of seven wonders 71
Steams, J. B., multiple telegraph.. 192
Stearns, James S 495
Steel, age of. 139
gun 297
high quality of, for Navy... 440
increased consumption of... 90
structural.. 220
uses of 139
Steel industry, statistics of 139
making, Bessemer process
of. 136
Steel industry, monopolies in Eng-
land 476
wire wound gun 436
rails, first manufacture of... 136
Steering apparatus 440
Stein heil, discovery of earth cir-
cuit 181
Steinheil, electric telegraph 183
Stellwagen, E.J 487
Stephenson, George, locomotive... 136
Stephenson, William J 20
Stephenson's locomotive 164
Sterrett, W. G I8
Stetson, Thomas D 495
Steuart, Arthur 493
Stevens, fruit wrapper 130
Stevens, Francis P 493
Stevens, W 487
Stevens, W. B 18
Stevens, W. X 17, 491
Steward, Thos. G 491
Stewart, Alex. S 18
Stewart, W. G 496
Stiles, N. C 489
Stockbridge, V. D 18, 487, 491
Stockley, George W 494
Stockman, CharlesJ 19
Stockton and Darlington Railroad 165
Stoddart & Co 487, 491
Stokes, George W 19
Stone age 78, 139, 406
Stone, grain-roller mill 130
Stone, Marvin C 3, 5, 13, 25, 27, 38
41, 487, 491
Stonebridge Lion, locomotive,
trial trip of 132
Street railroads, development of... 167
Sturgeon, electro-magnet 288
Sturgeon's "Annals of Electric-
ity," quoted 182
Sturtevant, C. I^ 18, 491
Submarine explosives 437
Submarine telegraphy, difficulties
of 195
Sulzberger, D 496
Sunderland, Rev. Byron 11, 23, 491
Supreme Court, thanks to judges
of. 35
550
INDEX
PAGE
Supreme Court of United States
as related to American Patent
System 425
Surgery, American inventions in.. 413
Surgical instruments, patents for.. 417
Swan, W. D 26
Sweden, letter of congratulation
from 35
Sweden, marine statistics of. 163
Sweet, Henry N 493
Swift's definition of invention 441
Swift's machine for shearing and
napping cloth 459
Switzerland, letter of congratula-
tion from 34
Tabor, Alva S 20
Tainter, Charles S 491
Tainter, Sumner, speech transmit-
ted by beams of light 198
Taliaferro, Colonel 318
Talleyrand's opinion of Washing-
ton 379
Taney, Chief Justice, Morse tele-
graph patent 119
Tapley Machine Company 493
Tasker, F. E 15, 487, 49i
Tasker, J. C. & F. B 487
Taylor, Dr. Thomas 16, 491
Taylor, Hon. Roberts 24, 41
on epoch-making inven-
tions of America 121
Taylor, James L 17
Technological schools, effect of,
upon progress of invention 239
Telautograph 193
Telegraph 410
Telegraph and telephone 486
inventors of. 27, 175
Telegra{)h, army use of. 438
autographic 193
between Washington and
Baltimore in 1843 119
Bozolus system in 1767 178
day and night 175
discovery of earth circuit ... 181
PAGE
Telegraph, early discoveries per-
taining to 177
early systems of. 176
first use of the word 175
flag 176
galvanic, origin of. 17c)
galvanoscopic 180
Gaynor's fire 130
growth of. 61
harmonic 193
Le Sage system in 1774 178
Lomond system in 1787 178
Morrison system of, in 1753.. 178
Morse, history of, 119
multiple transmission... 1 92, 193
patent for 119
quadruples 192
recording, chemical method 191
Ronalds' system 178
semaphore 176
type-printing 190
Telegraphy, employes in 90
Telephone 167
a new occupation 90
army use of. 438
electric 196
invention of. 196
inventors of the 175
mechanical 196
wonders accomplished by... 424
Telescope, Chinese ignorance of... 429
early uses of 293
use of, for signaling 1 75
Teller, Hon. H. M 11
Temple, A. F 493
Tennessee, coal product of 141
Term of patents 52, 117
Terra-cotta lumber' 220
Texas, inventors from 130
Textile art, women first inventors
in 409
Textile industry, labor-saving ma-
chinery in 85
Textile industry, statistics of. 388
Textile machinery, improvements
in 482
Thane, early English title 474
INDEX,
551
PAGE
Thatcher, Dr. James 346
Thomas, Capt. A. A 17, 487
Thompsonianism 413
Thompson, Edward P 495
Thompson, Sir Henry 226
Thompson, John W 487
Thompson, Magnus S 16
Thompson, Sir William 54
Thompson, W. B 17, 42, 491
Thomson, Charles 353
Thomson, copying telegraph 192
Thomson, Elihu 22, 493
Thomson, Frank , 22
Thomson, submarine telegraphy.. 195
Thornton, William 454, 459
in charge of issue of patents 453
Thorpe, inventions of. 459
Thresher, steam 407
Threshing machine 372
Winslow's 377
in Washington's day 318
Thurston, Prof. R. H 29, 38, 41, 42
on invention of the steam
engine 251
Tiles, cohesive 220
Tillman, Hon. George D 11
Tinware, cost of production 389
Toasts at Board of Trade banquet.. 424
Tobacco stemmer. Coffee's 130
Todd, A.J 495
Toner, Dr. J. M 12, 30, 41, 491
on General Washington as
an inventor and promoter
of useful arts 313
Toof, Edwin J 489
Torpedo gun, dynamite 437
Torpedoes, use of, in warfare 298
Toulmin, H. A 495
Towle, H. S 492
Towles, H.'0 16
Town, Ithiel 461
Towner, A. C 26
Townsend, Henry P 495
Townsend, W. W 487, 49^
Tramways, early use of 164
Transportation, army, improve-
ments in 438
PAGE
Transportation, steam, beginning
of 123
Transportation, condition of in
1790 161
Transportation, improvements in
methods of 73
Transportation, of freight, cost of.. 163
of mails, improvements in... 443
rapid 449
Trant, Justus A 489
Trask, Charles H 493
Travis, W. H 496
Treasury Building, architect of..... 461
Tredwell, Professor, improved
guns 435
Trego, JohnT 487
Trevithic's locomotive, 1804 164
Tribaoillet, single circuit telegraph 180
Trip-slips and bell-punch 481
Trowbridge, Prof. William P 28, 41
on the effect of technolog-
ical schools upon the pro-
gress of invention 239
Truesdale, John 497
Trumbull, Governor, letter from
Washington to 348
Trusts, no claim on the law 434
Tryon, F. M 491
Turberville, George 336
Turbine wheel, changes caused by. 231
Turpin, P. B 491
Tweedale, John 16, 491
Tyler, Amelia 491
Tyler, Edward R 27, 487, 491
Tyler, R. D. S 16, 491
Type-printing telegraph 190
Typewriter 480
an epoch-making invention. 126
Typhoid fever, nature of. 420
Typhus fever, nature of. 420
Upson, Iv. A 489
Vail, Alfred, magneto-electric tele-
graph 21
Vail, Alfred, recording telegraph.. 184,
189
552
INDEX.
Vail, Alfred, telegraph 167
type-printing telegraph 190
Vail, Mrs. Alfred 21, 28
Vander Weyde, P. H 495
Van Dorsten, A.,W 491
Van Hovenberg, Alfred A 494
Venezuela, patent laws of. 213
Ventilation of naval vessels 440
Vinton, Samuel F 460, 464, 465
Virginia, coal product of. 141
early copyright laws in 154
inventors from 130
Vitriiied brick 220
Vodka, Russian drink 427
Vogt, A. S 496
Voit, Professor 226
Volta, discoveries of. 179
medal of Royal Society to. .. 303
Voltaic battery, invention of.. .179, 287
Voorhees, John H 492
Voorhees, R. H 16
Vulcanized rubber discovered by
Goodyear 430
Vulcanized timber 220
Wadsworth, Col. Jeremiah 48
Wages, increase of. 100
"Wages and prices, Weeks on 223
Wage system , 78
Waggaman, John F 16
Waggaman, T. E 11
Wagon, army 438
Wagon-making, labor saved in 85
Wait, Wesley 495
Walcott, Charles D 492
Walker, Philip 16
Wanamaker, Postmaster Gen-
eral 21, 26
Ward, Gen. A 460, 464, 465
Warder, B. H 487
Warfare, modern, influenced by
invention 293
Warfare, patents for implements
of 435
Warner, Brainard H 3, 41, 487, 492
Warner, B. H., & Co 487
Wartman, quadruplex telegraph. 192
PAGE
Washmgton, Augustine 328, 338
Washington Board of Trade,
banquet of 39
Washington City, centenary of,.4o, 424
for Columbian Exposition... 445
seat of Government moved
to 453
Washington, Judge Bushrod 330
Washington, G. A 359
Washington, General, as Presi-
dent, advocates encouragement
to invention 48
Washington, General, boyhood of. 320
diary of. 318
interested in agricultural
improvements 318
invented wine coaster 375
inventor and promoter of
useful arts 313
personal appearance of..330, 347,
349
proposed first American
canal 131
rules of civility, etc., by 322
signed first American pat-
ent 134
Washington, Ivieut. Col. John 320
Washington, John Augustine. .330, 341
Washington, Major Ivawrence..322, 338
Washington, Col. Lewis W 330
Washington, Mary, mother of
George 341
Washington, Warner 343
Washington & Georgetown Rail-
road Co 487
Watches and clocks, improved 482
Water frame, Arkwright's 137
Waterman, L. B 495
Water supply, improvements in... 221
Watkins, J. Elfreth..3, 5, 13, 25, 27, 30,
32, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 487, 492
Watkins, J. Elfreth, announces for-
mation of American Association
of Inventors and Manufacturers. 452
Watt, James 410
biography of. 113
leader in the inventive
world 64
INDEX,
553
Watt, James, patent for steam en-
gine in 1769 113
patent to, in 1769 /i^
steam engine. ..136, 254, 285, 271
Watt & Starke, plows 130
Wealth, power of. 394
Weavers' reeds, machine for mak-
ing- 459
Weaving, improvements in 79
Weaving industry, labor-saving
machinery in 86
Weaving, introduced into England
in 1620 133
Weber, needle telegraph 180
Webster, Sir Richard, decision as
to Main patent 210
Webster's spelling book intro-
duced 60
Weed, sewing machine 136
Weeks, Joseph D., on wages and
prices 223
Weems, David G 38, 493
electrical locomotive 21
Weems, D. J 41
Weems electric system of rail-
ways 172
Weighing scales 482
Weightman, Richard 18
Weightman, Roger C 460
Welcker's Hotel 487
Weller, M. 1 15, 487
Welles, Roger 26, 487, 492
Welling, Dr. J. C 11, 42
Welling, Wm. M 495
Wells, Hon. David A., cited 387
Westihghouse, George 41, 496
air-brakes 136
Westinghouse, thanks due to 124
West Virginia, coal product of.... 141
Wheatstone, copying telegraph ... 192
electro - magnetic escape-
ment 191
telegraph 167, 183, 187, 188
transmission of sound 1 96
Wheeler, Frederick Merian 495
Wheelock, Jerome 493
Whelpley, Hon. J. W 15
PAGE
Whitaker, J. H 15
Whitaker, W. W 495
Whitaker & Prevost 487, 492
Whitcomb, G. Henry 493
White, H. K 492
White, James W 16
White, John H 492
White, M. A 497
White, William A 495
White, W.J 495
White, William K 492
White Dental Manufacturing Co... 496
Whitely, W.N 495
Whitfield, Hon. S. A 40
on American patents in the
Postal Service 40, 441
Whitman, Charles B 492
Whitman, C. S 20
Whitman & Wilkinson 487
Whitney, Eli 41
cotton gin 122, 136, 137, 459
Whittemore's machine for making
wool cards 459
Whittlesey, George P 18, 492
Wiedersheim, John A 496
Wight, E. B 18
Wight, John B 487
Wight, Lloyd B 16, 18, 492
Wilber, Jerome J 18
Wiley, William H 489
Wilhelm, Edward 495
Wilkins, Hon. Beriah 12
Wilkinson, A. G 492
Wilkinson, Ernest 492
Wilkinson's machine for weavers'
reeds 459
William Rufus 474
Willcox sewing machines 136
Willett, James P 16
Willetts, H.J 492
Williams, Frank R 16, 27
Williams, George B^ 16
Williams, JohnT 495
Williams, N. G 497
Williams, Porte, electric railway . 172
Williamson, Mr., advocates new
patent law in 1793 49
554
INDEX,
Willits, Hon. Edwin ii, 21, 25, 492
on American patents in ag-
riculture 41
Wilson, A. A 16, 492
Wilson, Davies 492
Wilson, Herbert M 42
Wilson, Judge James 316
Wilson, Joseph M 23
Wilson, Thomas 11, 16, 20, 42, 487,
492
Wilson, William 495
Wine coaster, dinner, invention of 374
Winslow, Samuel, method of mak-
ing salt 45
Winslow's thrashing machine 377
Winter, duplex telegraph 192
Wires, M. D 492
Wirth, Joseph 492
Witter, B. B 495
Wolf, Paul 18
Wolf, Hon. Simon ,.. 12
Wolf, S. &Co 492
Wollaston 404
Women, first inventors in ceramic
art 409
Women, patents granted to 130
Wood, W. D 496
Woodbridge, Dr. W. B., steel
wire wound gun 436
Woodbury, B. F 487
Wood pulp mouldings 220
Woodruff, B. W 487
Woodruff, Mrs 26
Woods, George, quoted 105
Woodward, Oscar 487, 492
Woodward, Prof. R. S 26, 492
PAGE
Woodward & Lothrop 487
Wool cards, machine for making.. 459
Worcester's fire engine 269
Workingmen, improved condition
of 108
World's Columbian Bxposition ... 142
World's Bxposition, American
patents at 444
World's Bxposition, buildings for 446
countries represented at 448
finances of. 445
Wormley's Hotel 487
Worthen, W. B 495
Wright, Carroll D. ...12, 21, 24, 26, 41,
140, 492
Wright, Hon. Carroll D., on the
relation of invention to labor. ... 77
Wright, Horatio G 42
Wright, L.P 16
Wright, William 280
Wyatt, John, spinning by rollers... 79,
80
Wyckoff, Seamans & Benedict.... 488
Wynne, Lewis B 487, 492
Yazoo Company, Patrick Henry's
interest in 319
Youmans, Professor, quoted 267
Young, Arthur, letter from Wash-
ington to 344
Young, B. 0 497
Yznaga, Jose M 20
Zalinski, Captain, dynamite gun.. 299,
437
Zeigler, W. R 492
Zimmerman, William 492
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