St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1861-03-07

house your home, your room your
castle, and there pursue what studies
you please"
Mrs. Grccnc--most luckily-was
the owner Of miserable tambour
framc-othcrwisc, as the reader will
soon see, the Cotton Gin would prob
ably not have been invented by Eli
Whitney. DESTROYS Of manifcsting
his gratitude, Eli went to work and
made tambour frame, upon a novel
principle, and presented it to Mrs
Greene. 1t was a subject of unbound
ed admiration among the ladies', of
course. Not long after, number of
gentlemen engaged in planting, were
dining with Mrs. Greene and her fam
lily, and the conversation turned upon
the difficulty Of cleaning cotton from
the seeds. \ woman at that period
was employed n whole day in clean
ing a single pound. 1t was agreed
that it would be in vain to think of
raising cotton for market until some
plan could be contrivcd for cleaning
or separating the cotton from the
seed, by machinery. In the midst of
their conversation, Mrs. Greene ex-
hlbltcd her tambour frame, and said
-" Apply to my young friend, Mr.
Whitney, he can make anything and
thcrcupon he was introduced to the
gentlemen. The final result of that
interview was the invention of the
Cotton Gin, by Eli Whitney.
The details Of this prodigious in
Tcntlon are minutcly presented in an
admirable memoir Of this remarkable
man, i'll the American Journal of Sci
cncc and Arts, for October, November
and December, 1881. Vol. 2l. No. ,.
The history Of Hi Whitney's con.
ncction with the Cotton Gin may
prove not Improbable reading for all
who arc blcsscd--or curscI-with in
vcntIvc genius. We can do no more
than offer an abrid~cmont Oct. %,
1893, to prevent being anticipated, he
made oath TO the invention before a
notary in New Haven. Associated
with Mr. Miller lie hired money at an
outrageous interest, to build Cotton
Gins. \ new Gin was contrived,
called the Roller Gin, interfering with
Whitncy's. In 1895 the Saw Gin.
another formidable competitor arose.
In March Of that year, he arrived,
very sick, in New Haven, and found
that his shop with all his machinery
and papers, had been consumed by
fire, Hired money of some bcnevo-
lent lsraclitC, at twelve per cent. per
annum, and accounted it great favor.
News that came from the British man
ufacturcrs condemned the Gin-ccaned
cotton, as the process injured the sta
pie. In this year, 1896, Whitney was
dcsirous of going to England to re-
move this prejudice, but could not
raise funds to pay his expenses so
little was the confidence in the project,
and 50 poor were Whitney n Miller,
that they could not raise $1,000,
though they offered 50 per cent. per
annum. In 1877, Whitney was de-
fcatcd in a patent suit In 1898, en-
croachmcnts on the patent right were
greatly multiplied. In 1899 Mr.. w.
went to South Carolina, with tcstimo-
malls from Jefferson and Madison. In
1901 South Carolina voted to buy the
patent right for that State, for $50, 900;
$50 600 cash, balance in three annual
payments. In 1902, q bargain was
made with North Carolina. In 1903,
"a similar bargain was made with
Tennessee. At this time, South Caro-
lima uull!fcd their contract and com
mcnccd suit to receiver back the
$50, 900 already paid. Georgia denied
that Whitney was the inventor as
serted that SODieJodg in Switzerland,
was and, on this ground, the Gov
ernor of Georgia protested against
granting anything to Whitney. Ten
nessec sided with South Carolina, and
nutijGed but North Carolina kept its
faith, and voted to fulfill the contract.
The Southern nulliGcrs finally became
ashamed of their conduct and, in
1907, Whitney obtained an important
decision in the United States Court,
against one Ford, trcspasser, sus.
tanning his patent at all points. Tres
passes still continued, and Whitney's
was a life of lawsuits; he had more
than sixty in Georgia alone. An en-.
inent lawyer said of Mr.. Whitney,
In all my experience, | have never
seen a case Of such perseverance ;
nor do l believe | ever knew any 9TH
er man, who would have met them
with equal coolness and firmness, or
who would have finally obtained even
the partial success which he had. He
always called on me, in New York,
Oh his way South, when going to at,
tend his endless trials, and to meet
the mischievous coutrivanccS Of men
who seemed incXhaustible in their re-
sources Of evil. Even now, after thir.
ty years, my head aches to recollect
the narratives of new trials, fresh dis
appointments, and accumulated wrongs
In l79S, says the writer of the in
tercstinS memoir Of Mr.. Whitney, t