The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1878-12-14
The Patent system.
How II Is Annually saving the Country
Hundreds of Millions of Dollars.

IuC 0tCuS % lotCMs
How II Is Annually saving the Country
Hundreds OF Millions of Dollars.
From the Chicago Tribune.
The Senate Committee on patents, in
the course of its investigation prelimi-
nary to the report of the new bill for
the codifcation of the patent laws, has
discovered many new and important
facts connected with the extension of
the patent system in the west Mr.. G.
G. Coffin, the well-known writer, under
the none de plume of "Carleton," was
specially charged by gentlemen inter
osted in patents to make tour of the
western country, and to direct his in
quiries to various points, such as, what
benefit has accrued to an inventor from
patent; what benefit to the public;
what royalties have been paid for the
use of patent; how much of time,
labor apd expense an invention has
cost; what it costs to introduce an in.
vention to the public; what grounds of
complaint there are against the present
law; and what notifications of the law
are desired.
THE OLIVER CHILLED PLow
He visited the entire northwest, and
discovered the last invention in plows
in the Oliver chilled pillow, of Indiana.
Mr.. Coffin said:
.Mr. Oliver was manufacturer of
common plows. He began at South
Bend in 1855. He saw that the de-
mand of the farmers was for the plow
that would have mold-board of hard
finish, something harder than iron, be-
cause iron was almost worthless in many
of the western soils. Therefore, he
turned his attention to the production
of chilled mold board. 1t was moth
ing new; it had been attempted for
twenty-five years, and every time re
suited in utter failure, for this reason:
1t was found that when you attempted
to enlarge the surface of the mold-boa
| beyond thirty-six superficial inches, you
could not produce a perfect piece of
iron There would be soft spots in it,
and cavities called "blow holes" Those
who had attempted the production of
chilled iron said that these resulted
from the gases in the metals. Mr.. Oil
yer came to different conclusion after
great deal of investigation, that it
was from other causes. | will not de
tail the amount of money he spent, or
| the difficulties he encountered. People
called him lunatic, and his friends de
serted him. His shop was burned
down and he had no means, but he held
on to the idea that there was possibil-
ity of obtaining a piece OF chilled iron
which he could use for mold-board.
He finally concluded that these soft
spots and blow holes as they were called,
was the result of moisture in the
moulding sand, and, therefore, he in
vented chill into which he could pour
hot water, and thus drive out the moist
ure from the sand after the mold was
made. After a great many trials he
succeeded in producing mold-boards in
two pieces.
This was the first step. Then he dis
covered that there was some gases in
the metals. He started upon another
line of invention, to have some device
connected with the chill, by which the
gases could escape This was accom-
plished by ventilating grooves, in the
chill face. Through those two inven-
tions he has produced the present
chilled plow. He uses Lake Superior
iron, and, when he can procure the
Salisbury ore, he makes mixture of
that with the Lake Superior iron, and
thus obtains an exceedingly hard, and
tenacious metal-one which will resist
the wearing, and one which will also
not be easily broken. Through those
two inventions he has been enabled to
produce this mold-boa much more
| cheaply than the cast-steel plow can be
produced. Instead of raising his price
above all other plows in use, when he
made his inventions, he said to himself
81 will put these plows SO cheaply that
! they shall come into universal use.
His patent was the first one that was
ever issued from the patent Office for
the manufacture of chilled plows. There
| HNfOA lbo DVtl1 IL put III pOAOl
him. He has taken out eighteen patents
as the improvement has gone ON. He
brought out his first plow in 1870. He
had been studying upon it for many
years, but only after long period OF
time (not actively engaged in expert
ment all the while, but he had been
turning it over in his mind for quarter
of century, was he enabled to bring
out his plow. If you were to visit his
works you would find 400 men EN-
ployed in the manufacture. He sent
out $4,000 plows year before last year.
There are 100000 in use. His orders
thus far indicate, he stated to me, about
$4,000 to be called for the present year.
FASHIONABLE GALLANTRy.--I In that
age of gallantry, the reign of Charles IL,
it was customary when gentleman