The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-02-03
THE R EPU BLIC.
MeCORMICK,S
Reply to Seymour and Morgan In his Pa.
tent Reaper Case.
WAsHlNeToN. ID. q Ianna,voa ,s,,

WAsHlNeToN, D. c., January "a, 1853.
MR. EDITOR: After hardsfought battle through
Brockport, N. Y.,'' famous as infringers of mn
patents, resulting so far, they say in an appea
to the Supreme Court of the United States from
judgment against them, had not expected to be-
openly confronted by them in my application to
Congress for the renewal of my expired patent
and (only) too years extension of the second IL
the date of my third patent l doubt not, how
err, that II, through the fundamentally of Moor.
y HGscaH, of Michigan Seymour and Morgan
can effect a transfer of their Gaze to Congress :
convert that honorable body into patent office and
cowrt-i was going to say Of tGp, but that is not
precisely the sort of court-and procure the grant
Of Congress patent without reg ard to anu OF the
forms Of Gto to be complied with at the Patent Oh
hce and by which they will have the right to prove
the iarsntion Of any thing las having been in their
model) from time imnemorial-if they can effect
siich q transfer of their case, say il would un-
doubleday be very agreeable to them, and worth
an effort But with what grace do these parties
come forward to pabtish their oon shame, They
who, after manufacturing for three years under
my patent by contract, and not satisfied with the
use OF my expired patent, infringed my two subse-
quent patents in the manufacture and sale of my
machines, and are continuing the same to this
day, they openly present themselves in opposition
to the extension of my patent as the disnterested
friends of the farmer the faithful defenders of the
public good against smonopoliesp' w ho would
nave suspected 1.-THE wolf interceding for the
After printing and circulating unfounded PAM
phlets by thousands throughout the country, at
TIE trials Of reapers, and publishing the same in
the newspapers Of the country, fer the purpose of
" arousingH and q waking ap'' a general opposi-
ton to me, through circumstances to Con gress,
tDtthota effect: still not satisfied-though with
their attorney, R. j. Gille, Solicitor of the Trea-
sury, upon the ground-they at last themselves
openly come forward and make the publication in
question, using preteTt for it the publication of
certain reports on English trials of Hussey's and
my Reapefs IN the last harvest, copied originally
from the London, Economist
regret having to request of YOU 80 much of
your valuable space, Mr.. Editor, for work of this
sort, but trust that the present necessity of this
course, IN justice 70 myself, in repelling through
the same medium the base attack made on me aud
my Reaper through your columns will be duly
appreciated by yourself and others regret it
the less, however, having been aware of the fact
that the infringing interests of the country in CON
nexlon with the advocates of the bill now before
Congress. for the extension and grant of patents
to Moore + HGscGH, have by means of interested
agents and otherwise long been engaged in pri-
Yately incorporating me to members of Con
gress by statements designed and calculated to
prejudice their minds and mislead them, which it
seemed difficult, not to say impossible, fully to
meet, and which trust now effectualiy to dissi-
pate. -
The first and most important question which /
shall further notice and answer, is as to the real
connexion between this sSey pdour & Morgan, OF
brockport, New aork,' IN nov presenting them
selves before Congress, and the Moore & Hascail
pufent case.
Moore & Haseau, and those in their interest, say
that am and have been in the use OF their sickle
General Cass, the of the in the
Senate, stated that sit was the sickle that Mr.
Moore invented, and which practically works.
and which he has used in. every machine which
does work. Seymour e Morgan say ssttis kind
OF sickle was invented and used in Michigan nine
years before my patent, lin 1859 ,chiie they no.c
sag .'that all this old and common property (and
all but the cutting blade invented and used before
Mccormick commenced his iInprovement) would
lima to- cla
patent OF 1884, and the renewal of the same. These
arethe statements thus publicly made, while every
body knows that 'sthe sickle has been one of the
prominent features in my g Pirginia Reaper ever
since it was Reaper-Dfr. Hussep using smooth.
edged blade. Now what are the factsY
From the year 1881 to the present time the
vibrating sickle, in connexion with fingers or sup
ports to the cutting, has been more or less in use
In my machine IN every harvest. 1t is found in
my patent Of June 81, 1884, the year before the first
experiment made by Moore & Hascall on their
machine, as slgorn 70 by Moore himself. In June,
lS45, again, the alternate reuersed angles of the
teeth Of the same, in suitable spaces of few inches
portion OF the teeth cutting in one direction and
portion IN the other-is patented in connection
with the spear-head finger. This Improvement in
the sickle, Moore, az witness for Seymour g. Nor
gan, swore he invented in 1885, when his frat ex-
pertinent was made; but on producing his patent
there was no trace Of it to be found In specific
lions Drawings. His model was burnt at the
Patent Office, in 1886, and neither it nor papers
ever restored to that office. This is the extent
Of Moore's clam. In his Tor their) patent of 1886
he describes, as one OF two different methods of
cutting, a-straight sickle, Gas in my patent Of
1884, vibrating on plate OF iron or steel,
shaped as the edge of a cav, magnifed the teeth
Of the sickle projecting just over the back angles
of these indentations, which apparatus of cours Sc
could not of itself cut at all as without some !
thing to hold the grain up to the blade Tin the
open angles of the plate) it would slip forward
and pass under the machine, uncut. This calls to
mind another feature OF the cutting arrangement
of this machine, which was the action of the re-
yoying reel in close contact with the cutting
blades. The reel was made to gather the heads
OF the grain with as small portion of the stra,o
as could be done) to the blades and, severing the
straw upon the blades, swept them back to be con-
Quoted into the tueshing part of the machine but
which would be entirely impracticable for ordinary
cutting alone, as done, say eight to twelve inches
from the ground, and therefore is not heard of as
being used for that purpose, which can only be eff
fected oy cutting apparatus complete in itself.
and entirely independent of such connection with
the reel, and hence the importance of the spear
head finger, combined with my sickle, and pa
tented in lS45, as will presently more fully appear
Let Moore & Hascall have, then, the full benefit
of their combination, If theirs.
Now, whilst my patent for the reversed cut
sickle bears date January, 1916, l also claim to
hayeinyened it prior to the date of the invention
of it by Mooresand Hasca claimed by themssires.
But Seymour and Morgan assert that Sc McCor-
mick's machine patented in 1884, ia substantially
the saIne thing Gas Bells) except the cutting APP
paratus His imitation close as TO agree in
the aDsurdfty (noW aDolI5ned by both) OF hltChln
the horses behind. Bells machines and all others
fnled until the cutting apparatus was improved,
which, though actually invented and used in
Michigan, in an experimental machine in 1884 or
1885, seems not TO have been known by Meteor
mick until alter 1910, four years after the nven-
ton and OF the scollop sickle by the same par
ties in the same State, and now so much used -
And they then pretend TO quote from my petition
20 the Patent Office, written in ls45 for the py
of poring that did not know, prior to 1910, any
thing OF the improvement actually invented and
used In Michigan, in an, experimental machine in
1884 or 1885, ,chich ii is claimed perfected the cut
ting apparatus of Bel's machine and all others
or they sal failed" until Moore & Hascall's in
venton in 1885, (They seem to have forgotten th'
precise year that Moore swore to-the twelve Sey
fnour & Morgan signers to the pamphlet remon
STRANGE enormously ~ stated it in 1884 Al
that this claim rests upon has been shown; ant
without attempting TO follow these garbled ex
tracts and quotations., as | shall presently show,
now proceed to set forth my claims from m!
patents ~
The following correct extracts from the spe
cificat'ns and claims of the patent of 1884:
'sThcse cranks are in right line, projecting OF
opposite sides of the axis, and in line with tn
front edge OF the platform. To the lower of thes
cranks is attached, by joint the crank, hav
ing wooden pin, long cutter of steel, groove