The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1871-11-30
A RzmARKAsIn HISTORY.
How an Inventor Struggled ana Wen

How an Inventor Struggled and Won.
lE the Scientific american we fnd
a story of the struggles and triumphs
of an inventor, which is worth pre-
The substance OF it all is
as follows.
In 1853, Mr.. Thomas Sheehan, Of
Dunkirk, N. Y, foreman 10 the
blacksmith department Of the Erie
Railway shops at that place, patent
ed = submarine grapple, which,
though an ingenious invention,
proved to be one for which there was
little demand. This was his first in.
vention, and the cost Of its compile.
tion, together with one year's strug.
gle to manufacture and introduce IL,
completely exhausted Mr.. Sheehan's
means, and reduned him to the ex.
tremest poverty. He was, In fact,
in pretty nearly the same condition
as Palissy, the Potter, at the moment
of bis greatest distress. A wife and
eight children. Sheehan's family
wero reduced to the verge of desti-
tuition, and Mrs. Sheehan became un-
consciously bitter.
just at this crisis Mr.. s. D. Co.
well, General Freight Agent of the
Erie Railroad at Dunkirk, CHANGED
to meet Mr.. Sheehan in the streets Of
that town, and accosted him with:
"Well, Thomas. how are the grap-
plies 2 / hear they have used you
up"
eyes" was the answer; "the Crap
pies have done my business | wish
/ had never seen them"
"rhrow 'em away" advised Mr..
Cowell. "Have you any now fin.
ished ?"
81 have one almost done,' said
Thomas.
"Finish that; ! will, pay you $40
for it, and have it used for picking up
coal at the dock. The money will
help you in your present emergency,
and you can 60 back to your old
place in the shop and earn good
living for your family"
81 WILL" said Thomas,
Back to his humble home went the
inventor, with new hope in his
breast, and set himself to finish the
grapple with all due speed. But,
upon what slender threads do the
fortunes of men hangl A tap, the
only one our inventor had of the size
required, suddenly snapped asunder,
and, rs it was essential to the prog
ress of the work. he must have a
new one or he could not go on.
In this strait, he applied TO his wife
to lend him twenty-five cents to buy
the necessary steel to forge the tap.
But she, having no faith in the crap
pie, refused, for two very good rea-
sons-first, that she believed the
money would be thrown away if she
gave it to her husband; and, second,
that she had not the money to give
him, eYen if SO disposed. The refu.
sal was seasoned with some very hot
word spice that made it very unpal'
atable to Thomas. But he bethought
HIM of q merchant who, in brighter
days, had seen the color of his mon
ey, who. perhaps would now give him
credit for the small modicum of stee
be required for the tap.
| To this merchant. he hied. and
somewhat reluctant to prefer bis re
quest, began beating about the bush
and finally strayed into politics, hot
words passed between them, and oul
friend feeling his manliness woulc
suffer too keenly by asking credit To-
the steel, came away without it.
| With no defnite purpose he wen
home, pondering upon how he should
surmount this, now no trifling obsta
Gle OF the broken tap.
He found his wife making lye TO
soft soap, but her acidity in no way
neutralaod- by the alkaline reaction
Despondent and discouraged, he 80
down in no very enviable mood
when he chanced to spy piece o
iron lying near the tubs a. which hi
spouse was working. Meditatin,
upon how he could make that piec
OF iron hard enough for tap, be wa
| led to rude experiment, the result
of which have in the end made hin
| a richer man than be had eve
dreamed of being.
| 1t $50 happened that from distan
relative, a Roman Catholic priest i
ireland, our friend had inherite
quite library of works on chemil
try, some of them rare and valuable
He had read some of these books to
very good purpose. There is sur,
ly carbon in that lye,' thought h
"If l only get that into this iron
the proper proportion, should haS
steel, and from that my tap, and {
finish my grapple.'
With little faith on hope that
should succeed, he took some OF Il
lye, and adding, without any parti
uiar reason for SO doing, some ga
peter and common salt, made u pas
J with this solution and a hard grudg,
saucerful of the little renal
ing -four there was in the house.
then forged the tap, aud enyelopii
. it in the paste, put the whole into
u luted iron box and exposed it TO he
J for two hours in blacksmith's I'll
To his Joy and surprise. when
took it out, il WAS hard enough
% cut cast steel. The grappie was
i, ished, and forty dollars flowed in
the family treasury of Thomas Sh'
han. He went back TO his old wo
O. disgusted with patents, and resolv
/, never 10 have anything to do WI