The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1872-05-24
A STOLEN SECRET.

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coveries vi this century is the vulcaI
i izing ot caoutchouc--i. e, the pro
cess hy which it is rendered iHsensibl
7 20 cold snd heat. Previous 10 1915
- Summer or Winter weather pre-
) vailed, India. rubber fabrics stifTene,
. or melted. This susceptibility ha,
been the great hinderance to thei
use. Some half dozen inventors OF
this and the other side o: The Atlanta
had been experimenting upon thi
difficulty for several years. Charlie
: Goodyear at last stumbled upon th,
! secret. Over his little stove, in al
attic chamber OIL an indifferent hous,
in New Haven, be had melted th,
gum in a kettle slimcd with brim
stone. 1t showed no change in cool
ing. Beyond alteration In form, ths
material appeared the same. 1t wai
elastic, dark in color, odorous as g
| first, tasteless, yielding to the touch
and unaltered IN specific gravity
Apparently, it had suffered no alter
alton in single one Off. qualities
And yet it had become another thing
Hest could not melt nor frost stiffe1
the new material. 1t was no longer
irregular in elasticity. Allstickiness
was gone. The grand discovery had,
in fact, been made, that caoutchouc
gum, raised to high temperature by
heat, and exposed to the fumes
of birthstone, became vu!csnized.
Elated with success, Goodyear, first
protecting | is invention In the United
States by caveats and patents, started
for England.
Among the British experimenters
upon India rubber WAS CHARLES Han
cock. To him proceeded our invent
or. Secure in the safety OF his secret,
instead of covering 1t by an English
patent, he endeavored to sell it,
named his price and leaving his sam
ples tearlessly in Hancock's labora-
tory, preceded north. Scarcely was
he out OF sight when furnace and
blow-pipe. retort and crucible, chem
icals and gases, were put to work.
The specimens of the new invention
defied analysis. There they were,
undeniably genuine caoutchouc, elas-
tic beyond the native gum, inodorous,
of natural color, soft and ductile--in
every respect exactly the substance
upon which Hancock had been ex
perimenting for years, and yet divest-
ed of the element that hindered all
practical progress. They were no
longer plastic. Tie most Intense
heat would not melt nor the severest
frost stiffen them. They would
neither stick when exposed to the
heat of the llow-p pipe nor harden
under exposure to The severest artii
cial cold. Fooled in his chemical
efforts to solve the mystery, and yet |
reluctant to pay the price--e10, 900 |
sterling-demanded by Goodyear for
bis secret, Hancock betook himself 10
his study. Between him and his
competitor there had been letters
exchanged for years. They treated
Of the subject kindred in interest to
them both.
He now consulted these letters,
the process described, col
lated the results arrived at, noted
he progress made from the begin
ming, and arrived at the point where
both Goodyear and himself had been
bafiled, set himself to reflection. 1t
vas the old story of Pythagoras and
the forty-fif,h problem OF Euclid, or
and specific gravity, or
Cornelius Drebel and the red lye of
Iobelin tapestry. Hancock guessed
1t sulphur. The experiment was
.ried. Failing once and again, he
,aused his furnaces to be brought to
heir highest power, when at the tenn
of 400 degrees Fahrenheit,
India-rubber gum, submitted to the
umes of birthstone, became vulcan
zed caoutchouc. Long before Good
rear returned from the north, Hsn
,ock had patented the discovery. 1t
vas for years a subject of lawsuits.
INTO the question of priority the
English patent laws did not enter.
Goodyear also obtained a patent, but
t was practically useless For four
cen years, renewed alterward for
seven years more, the exclusive use
If the discovery OF vulcsnizatIon of
-ndia-rubber, enriching its holder
md his associates beyond millions of
pounds 5sterling, remained with the
common sense thinker. 1t was real
y q stolen secret, but neither craft
Tor fraud, but honest brains, perpe-
IL .LoG4 H-....,n M1rnn-inn |