Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-03-15
WASHINGTON NEWS AND GOSSIP.
The Great India Rubber con,rcvsrsv

are at the MOTH hundreds Of factories engaged
ID working up the material for hundreds of
purposes, each employing from one hundred to
thoussnd persons. We know single Rubber
factory in Williamsburg, n. Y, whsre combs
only are made, in which more than one thou
sand persons fad constant employment. There
are two patent rights necessarily used In ell
the branches of the rubber business. One is
the Hayward" patent, whereby the gum is
~vulcaniled" by submitting 1t Incorporated
with sulphur to high degree of heat after
having been spread on the material to which
it may be applied; and the other is the "Chaf-
fee" patent, for the machinery by which the
gum is spread upon the cloth or other material,
without resort to the former solvent-turper.
tine-by which saving of some 81 cents Is
effected in the preparation of every pound of
the gum used in commerce, otherwise than in
the raw state. To give the reader an idea Of
the extent Of the business in this country, we
dollars worth Of rubber shoes were made in
the United States last year, while the other
articles manufactured b ere Of the same mate
rial probably amounted in value to much
more than ten times that sum. The control Of
the two essential patents (Processesl referred
| TO above, has placed the entire control Of the
| business In the hands OF q combination Of
| capitalists located in various manutac.urin ,
States, who have, of course, grown enormously
rich by their operations. They contribute an.
Of 00 IN euirs
against any and all who stand in the way Of
their monopoly. Horace H. Day, whose name
appears in the proceedings Of the late Letcher
investigating committee, has, SO far, been the
only OF ponent they have ever found capable
Of seriously coutesting with them.
In the past ten years he has had numerous
cross suits with them, Citing them here il
Washington, before the Patent Ofico. and
| VIXEN he fancied they were dabbling in mat
| tiers before Congress out Of their legitimate
business, as we'll as before the United States
| Courts in New Jersey, New York, Rhode
| Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts. 1t is
| supposed that in the last fve years these nu
Rerous contests at law have cost the combipa
| ton $4,000 psr annur, and Day quito half
| that SUM. lie defeated their application be-
fore the Patent Bureau not Icng since, for the
renewal of the Hayward patent, on technical
grounds only, if we are not mistaken, tho in
ventor not having realized one hundred
thousandth part Of the benefit from the fortu-
nate creation Of his brain, which il has con.
| ferred upon The public at large. Last week
after trial lin Providence, Il. IL Of twelve
| weeks duration, in which the combination sore
| represented by eight Of the frst lawyers in
| the United States, and Day By four, he gained
| a verdict, Wrestling from them the entire title
to and property in the Chaffee patent above
| referred TO; the jury having rendered that toe
| combination . interest n i. vas void Through
| fraud in its obtaiDmeDt, a valid GALE OF the
patent having subsequently been made to
Day
We notice this remarkable trial because It's
result, seriously, and, We think, favorabIy
| affects the interest Of society, which is deeply
invelyed in the future Of any American man
uFaoturing interest repre5enting the produc
ton Of perhaps one hundred millions OF dollars
worth Of goods, annually. Weno;i;e it, too
because its results conTey Lesson Of the va ue
Of energy, enterprise, courage, and ssgacity il
business afairs that cannot DC so forcibly
drawn from sermons or books. Day is an
Of about forty years OF age, bred a wOrkin z
shoemaker, vita the slenderest possible orig
nal advantages Of education and position
Els main LAWYER throughout the last three
years of his controversy, has been an obscure
young man named Richardson, fresh and
green from the mountains of New Hampshire
, We believe. However, those two persons have
managed, by dint OF the capacities Of theii
minds and their perseverance,, to triumph over
the wealthisst and really the most powerful
and active combination of capitalists ever en-.
gagged IN this country in struggling before the
courts IN a common cause. Day gains his
thaffee patent, which must secure him great
wealth eventually; willis Richardson gains
fosiil0a, Instantly, as tho leading pateat-case
lawyer il the United States-a reputation
| which. with its consequences, would have been
worih twenty years hard labor Of any profes
siona' gentleman in the country, without a fee
While We are upon this subject, we may not
| appropriately add that the class OF articles
| which are manufactured Of India rubber, and
| have so recently entered into general use In
the county, are beginning also 70 be manu-
featured extensively Of gutta percha, under
| patents shoItt ne since granite to John Ry
der, of New York city. Weare satisfied, from
our observation, that in few years the latter
vii! drive the former almost entirely cut Of
the market Is manufactured of gutta Per
cha, while they posssss all the valuable quail,
ties ct rubber goods, they arc also free from
all the bad qualities which render the rubber
goods dissgreeabie 10 use Ia many respects
thus they emit no offensive scent; they do
not become soft in hot weather, or stiff in
cold weather; they do not catch and hold
dirt ard git az rubber goods do, and there.
| fore are far more lasting nor DO thew