Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-11-16
A True and Remarkable Story.

A True and Remarkable Story.
In 1858 Mr. Thomas Sheehan, now as
well as then of Dunkirk, New York, fore
man in the blacksmith department of the
Erie Railway shops at that place,
patented, through the Scientific Ameri-
can Patent Agency, a submarine grapple,
which, though an ingenious invention,
proved to be one for which there was
little demand
This was his first invention and the
cost of its completion, together with one
years struggle to manufacture and in
troduce it, completely exhausted MIR.
Sheehan's means, and reduced him to the
EXTREMIST poverty Now Mr.. Sheehan,
though not fortunate in inyenting, max
ing, and selling submarine grapples, had,
in conjunction with his good spouse, been
eminently successful in increasing his
family, which comprised eight children
at the close of the year of struggle above
mentioned.
Eight children, and an empty harder,
are rather stern facts when father is
called upon to meet them; and i'll this
case our inventors troubles were
increased by the not unnatural COM
plants of his wife, who accused him of
having left good situation to pursue a
chimera, thus reducing his family to
pauperism In fact, the good woman
was decidedly bitter, and her acerbity,
added to the really desperate condition
of Mir. Sheehan's finances, produced in
him mental state under which some
men would have permanently gone to
the bad.
Not so our inventor. He kept stiff
upper lip, and sought long and anXiOusly
to provide support for the hungry mouths
that appealed to him for food.
1t did not subtract frcm the trouble
of this critical period in Mr.. Sheehan's
life, to discover that his failure had been
due, in great measure, to the derelictions
of partner whom he had taken in with
him to aid in conducting the grapple
business, and who he found had taken
undue advantage of his position, selling
wares for which no returns were evel
made to the firm, and otherwise miscon
ducting himself
Just at this crisis Mr.. S. d. Colwell
an old friend of Mr.. Sheehan, and Genera
Freight Agent of the Erie Railway, al
Dunkirk, CHANGED to meet our inventor
in the streets of that thriving town, ant
accosted him, with
"Well, Thomas, how are the grapples
l hear they have used you up"
Yes" was the answer; "the grapple:
have done my business; l wish l hat
never seen them"
"Throw 'em away" advised Mr.. Col
well. "Have you any now finished?"
81 have one almost done," sale
Thomas.
"Finish that; will pay you forty dol
lars for it, and have it used for picking
up coal at the dock. The money viii
help you in your present emergency, an(
you can go back to your old place il
the shop and earn good living for you
family"
al WILL" said Thomas.
Back to his humble home went our in
ventor with new hope in his breast, ant
/ set himself to finish the grapple with al
! due speed. But, alas, upon what slende
threads do the fortunes of men hang
! tap, the only one our inventor had of TIL,
size required, suddenly snapped asunder
and, as it was essential to the progress
| of the work, he must have new one o
he could not go on.
In this strait, he applied to his wife t,
lend him twenty-five cents to buy tn
necessary steel to forge the tap Blu
she, having no faith in the grapple, re
fused, for the two very good reasons
first, that she believed the money woul,
pC buloNA away IL Sic gave IL 10 he
husband; and second, that she had no
posed The refusal was seasoned wit
some very hot word-spice that made
very unpalatable to Thomas. But h
bethought him of a merchant, who, il
brighter days, had seen the color of hi
money, and who, perhaps, would noI
give him credit for the small modicur
of steel he required for the tap.
To this merchant he hied, and, some
what reluctant to prefer his request, be
gan beating about the bush; and finall,
straying into politics, hot words passe,
between them, and our friend, feelin
his manliness would suffer too keenly b
asking credit for the steel, came ava,
without it.
With no definite purpose he wen
home, pondering upon how he shoul
surmount this, now no trif1ing, obstacl
of the broken tap.
soap, but her acidity in no way neutral
lied by the alkaline reaction. Despond
ent and discouraged, he sat down, in n
very enviable mood, when he Glanced t.
spy piece of iron lying near one of tn
tubs at which his spouse was working
Meditating upon how he could make tina
piece OF iron hard enough for tap, h
was led to rather rude experiment, til
results of which have in the end mad
him richer man than he ever dreame
of being
1t so happened that from distant re-
ative, Roman Catholic priest in Ireland
our friend had inherited quite librar
OF works on chemistry some of the1
rare and valuable. He had read some G
these ines books to very good purpose
There is surely carbon in that lev,
thought he. If l only could get tina
INTO this iron in the proper proportion,
should have steel, and from that NV tar
and so finish my grapple."
With little hope or faith that he shoul
SUCCEED, he took some of the ley and aC
dung, without any particular reason for S
dong, some saltpeter and common sal
made paste with this solution and
hard-grudged saucerful of the little +,
naming flour there was in the hous,
He then forged the tap, and, envelopin
1t In the paste, put the whole into Lutte
iron box and exposed it to heat for tw
hours in blacksmith's fire. To his 10
and surprise, when he took it out, it wa
hard enough to cut cast steel The graz
pie was finished, and forty dollars flowe
into the family treasury of Thomas She,
nan. He went back to his old work, di.
|
to have anything to do with one agar
But the remembrance of the tap, harder
ed in so unique manner, still haunte
him. Having a great deal of case hart
ening to do, he thought one day he woul
repeat the experiment upon large seal,
which he did with perfect success.
For twelve months he went on to e,
pertinent, purchasing the materials wit
his own money, and working in secre
by night, and at odd hours. At the en-
of twelve monts, he reconsidered his ser
tence of condemnation on patents, an
applied for one on his process, whic
4 was granted September A, 1860, the clair
being for Il combination of damage
flour, potash ley, or ley from hardwood
ashes, inter, common salt, and sulphat
of zinc, for case-hardening iron.
In 1867 he patented an improvement
on the above named process, the i'm