The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-08-09
THE CoCHRANE PATENT FOR MILLING

Ex-Gov. Cadwallader @. Wash burn,
of Wisconsin, in conversation with a
representative of the New York Tribune
recently gave a history of patent for
milling wheat which threatens to i'm
pose a tax of millions of dollars on the
-four consumers of the country. He
said:
81 am particularly interested Just now
in fighting the infamous patent right
swindle which is going to levy in this
country. You haven't heard about it
Why, it's making a great sensation in
the West. It's long story but can
give you the gist of it in few moments.
1 am, by the way, the largest miller in
the United States; my mills being at
Minneapolis, MINI. All millers are now
using what is called the high process of
grinding, which was generally intro
duced into this country about 1871, but
bad been used in Europe for fifty years.
l will explain the terms of high and low
grinding. Low grinding means the
bringing the upper or running milestone
low down and in close proximity to the
neither stone, by reason of which the
largest amount of -four is derived from
the first grinding, but, as necessarily
must be the case, great deal of the
outer coating of the wheat, together
with the embryo, would be reduced to
such fineness as to go into the -four, and
a separation was impossible. The high
grinding is the direct opposite of the
low, and the object is at the first grind
ing to get rid of the bran at once and
make as little -four as possible. This is
done by blowing the bran off the coarse
ground grain or middlings, and after
wards grinding fine the small white
graunles. [ bought my machines in
France. This improved process is now
absolutely indispensable to successful
milling. Deprive any miller OF it and
he is ruined.
A ring of spectators in Washington
have lately got hold of an old patent,
never used and have got it reissued Sc
as to cover all the machines for efTecting
the process I have described. 1t is called
the Cochrane Patent. After quietly ia
king out the reissue, they went on with
out making any noise and took suit up
to the Supreme Court, with man of
straw for defendant, and as no real de-
tense was made, they easily obtained
decision based on an opinion given by
Justice Miller. Now this gang of pat
ent swindlers are attacking the heaviest
miilers with suits, expecting to terrlfy
all the others. They have singled ont
the Jewels of Brooklyn, the Henalls
of Richmond, and my mills at Mirnea-
polls. They have put me under bonds
in the enormous sum of $3.50, 900, pend
ing the conclusion of injunction proceed
Jugs.
..I learned that the rascals propose to
be magnanimous, and to grant licenses
to such millers as will recognize the
validity of their patent, for the moder
ate sum of Sc, 900 for each run of stones,
which for this city amounts to the vast
sum of Sc, 100000 While primarily
this great sum would come from the
millers, really it all comes out of the far
mer and consumer at last, and they are
the real people most interested in the
defeat of this enormity. AS there are
over 5000 runs of stones in the United
States, this license will amount to $780,
600, 900. We are going to bring this
great outrage before Congress next win
ter and try to have the patent cancelled,
The grain growing sections Of the west
are indignant at the exposure Of this
enormous fraud, and the grain consum-
ing east ought to be equally aroused, for
the attempted tax on the chief necessary
of life affects both alike