The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-06-20
WASHINGTON CITY, SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 1883.

tact with PeEspinatien and the animal oils Tue apP-
which had proved b DISASTROUS to the trade could be
removed, and he ss rdsolntely 70 WORK to ascsr
tain the process of soDSspsbing this result Sulphur
had already been kagcously combined with India
rubber by Hayward ss$hat the discovery had been ap
preached to its yeryS The step, however, which
remained TO be taken, short it was, indispen
sable and without all those which bad preceded it
would have been ssAng. Science could afford but
little assistance in the inquiry for as the event proved
tho most potent elecnt in the process too subtle
to he disclosed by the s6tercst chemical analysis The
applicant had therefqp r. purdue the Investigation gro
pingly but he peristei In it with ardor and
age which nothing s3uid abAte Or daunt His aim
de6pitc his conviction 80 its attainabilty complete
AS who searches for hidden treasure In field where
he knows it Is 70 bc found pursued he his explorations
in quest of this secet He sought 1t on the right hand
aud on the left, h. d4y and by night, p the MIDST Of
ccasle toll aud lavish expenditure, and by tho light Of
every f0tm x Sfsrieht which III noSs fetiS genius
and daring spirit could suggest He became completely
master of everything known in regard to the properties
Of the material which it his ambition to improve
and thoroughly he mbued with the soul Of his
inquiry and intensely quickened was his vigilance,
that phenomenon however minute could meet his eye
sound however faint could fall upon his ear without
his at detecting and apprecatng its bearing upon
the great problem whose solution he was seeking From
four to five years passed in these unremttcd abors
when incident occurred which Mt revealed the
long sought truth And it is singular coincidence that
the spark of light yielded by this incident elected
by coson 80 to speak, the result of that intense zeal
which, far health and fortune concencd had
been the consuming fire Of his life In ono Ct those an
imated conversations SO habtual to him. in reference to
his experiments piece OF India rubber combined with
sulphur which he held in his hand the text Of all his
dscourscs by violent gesture thrown into burn
ing stove which he standing When taken out
after having been subjected to high degree of heat he
what it may be safely affirmed, would have escaped
the notco Of all others complete transformation had
taken placer and that entirely productsince
felictously termed g elastic metal was the consc
quence When subjected to further tests the thrilling
conviction burst upon him that success had at length
crowned his efforts and that the mystery he had long
wooed now stood unveiled before him. His history in
this respect altogether parallel with that Of the great
est inventors and discoveries who have preceded him
The lamp had swung for centuries in the Cathedral Of
Pisa, but, Of tho thronging muludes who worshipped
there, had needed the lessons which it taught
1t was reserved for the profound and observant in
teect Of young Galeo to extract from its oscilla
tios the true laws of the pendulum which led to the
creation of an infable measure Of time The theory OF
universal grayitation loses nothing of its grandeur
value because suggested by the falling of apple from
the tree In all lands, by teemiDg millions, this phe
nomenon had been observed but to had 1t impaired
instruction had it spoken of that wonderful
cret which urked beneath its simple features At length
its 's small voice fell upon the delicate and apprec
atve Of whom it startled into inquiry The light
thus afforded, to which all had been blind, indeed
dim and twinkling but following its guidance as one
who traces back the dawn, the great Newton soon
plunged into the ull-orbed splendo OF discovery
fessedy the most brilliant which has gilded and ennobed
the annals science On all the hearth stones of the civ
scd world for thousands Of years. the kettle had boiled
and lifted it's lid by the expansive power Of its steam yet
aor had this seemingly tts and requiring in
cident been significant to had II announced that
measureless power Of which 1t the humble but dis
hnct exponent. At length the movement caught the
eye OF lonely student Of nature then prisoner in the
Tower of London and in the soil of his prolific mind it
proved the rapidly expanding germ Of that steam engine
whose triumphs have changed the social political and
commercial aspects Of the globe So India rubber, in
combination with sulphur may by accident have been
exposed to high degree of heat often before without at
tracing the attention of any and it is safe to aege that
it might have been thus exposed thousand times after
wards without the worlds having been the wiser or
wcalthier for It, The thorough seifcuure and training
OF the applicant and his unweaicd researches prepared
him at once to seize upon, to comprehend, and mbody
in practical form, the truth he sought the moment it
presented itself, matter how dimly to him This
his merit-the in kind with that of the most Illus
tous inventors who have appeared in the world and by
that OF but few of them surpassed in degree 1T is fig
ure of speech but exalted mode of expression
assigns to any part in the work of creation In his
best estate he is but ministerg priest at her al
tar, and when he has reached the highest walk in the
drama Of intellectual power to which his feeble steps
ascend he is still but humble translator of the lam
guages of nature. II is fact which snguarly increases
the credit due to this inventor that the very path in
which he finally achieved success was the which
the experience of the past had taught him to shun
low degree of heat had been applied to combination of
India rubber and sulphur, and it had melted under it,
that heat the increased intensity Of which consum-
mated the discoyery-was the very element which he
had felt himself amonshed to avoid The discovery be-
ing made the applicant thereafter added white lead
to the combination, which rendered 1t complete, and
assuming that his mission but begun he bravely
bent himself to the task of surmounting the obstacles
which still frowned upon him on every side These OBJ
stacles graphically sketched in the testimony
to have been almost unprecedented Capitalists shrunk
away from the discovery confidently announced as
chimera and manufacturers who had suffered deeply
by the India rubber business denied it their confidence
Its practcaby had to be demonstrated by long series
of illustrations which the total want of experience
dered proraced and often runousy expensive. Every
inch occupied in the enlargng field of its usefulness had
to bc conquered by many sacrifices while, Of the Proean-
formed applications to which it destined to attain
there not that did not involve outlay of
treasure of toll and high artistic skill, All these from
the beginning to the present hour have been
increasingly bestowed-upon it, and the fruits of all
these have been and still being, reapcd by the pub
c the applicant entitled to remuneration for them
Has the applicant been remuneated for the which
he has devoted to this invention and to its introduction
into usc tt
1t is extremely difficult to estimate in the coin of dol
lars and cents the worth of eighteen years Of the prime of
human life especially so when that life is Of lofty
genius, of indomitable enterprise and of stainless vir
tues II however, about that period Of precisely such
life that has been consecrated to tho pursuit and de
veopnlent of this discoverynor would shorter period
of time have suflced for the artuous and perpexng
task. This declaration may be made with the
phass BECAUSE in all tho volumes of testimony filed,
there is not word found tending to its contradiction.
Throughout those long and oilsome years it is apparent
that there has been compromise with The suggestions
Of avarice with tho claims TO selfndulgence and
II has been already fully shown that the applicants for
Ia \