The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1880-02-19
A REMARKABLE DISCOVERY.
An Invention by which All Kinds OF
Articles Can be Made vnter-Proof.

|
The New York correspondent of tht
Cincinnati Enquirer was present at {" al
exhibition of an invention which IL
pronounced by Professor Doremus anC
ex-Secretary McCulloch one of the
greatest of modern times, and surpass'
ing the electric light in Importance as
promoting to a remarkable extent the
health and comfort of mankind" The
exhibition was given at the house of the
inventor, Mr.. Daniel M. Lamb. The
correspondent says in his letter:
1t is very generally known that, in all
really water proof garments, the rub
Der, no matter how applied, remains on
| the surface to n greater or less extent, OF,
of course, visible to the eye, detected
frequently by the odor, and always by
the touch. Fortunes have been spent
by rubber companies in the vain effort
to discover some solution of hydro
carbon gums that could be applied to
fabrics without percePtibly changing
their appearance and adding to their
weight. Day and Goodyear alone, it is
said, have expended 100000, but in
vain; and it was to see the result of the
labors of a practical, self-educated
chemist in this line that we assembled.
MIR. Lamb, plain in speech and man.
tenance, and smile that lightened his
somewhat stolid features, was seated at
center-table when we entered, and
while waiting for the others to arrive
your CORRESPONDENT chatted for n few
moments with him, asking casually if
this was his first invention. He re-
Piled: "Oh, no. | have taken out
something like fifty patents for one
thing and another, and | never am
happy except when at work to discover
something. l was born in Canada,
brought up out West in Michigan, and
have spent the last twelve years and
all my money, perhaps $5o,OOO, in ex-
perimenting.
What do you consider your most
important invention next to thisP"
" may say discovering the use of the
mi ilkweed, which l consider the most
valuable of American plants. You see
the supply of rubber is becoming more
dear and scarce every year, and at least
twenty-five per cent. of that imported
is nothing but dirt and sand mixed in
by the natives to increase the weight.
1t struck me that judging from the
present state of things in the course of a
lew years 1t might prove necessary to
lind a substitute, and one day on pull
Y,
how gummy and sticky the juice or sap
was, and, after working over it for a
time, | decided it could be made to take
the place of rubber, and, on account of
its superior lightness, would be especial
ly nseful in manufacturing teeth plates,
some of which had made.
From the seed of the milkweed can
be made an oil equal to the best linseed,
and an admirable cathartic and the re-
fuse OF the plant makes capital fuel.
planted ten-acre lot on purpose to
carry on my experiments, and am salts
fed it would pay better than raising
hay, II there was a market for it. These
processes | "atented, and then devoted
myself to finding a perfect water repe
liant, which could neither be seen,
smelt nor felt in the goods which had
been treated with it, yet could be played
upon with the hose and remain chip
dry"
BY the time Mr.. Lamb had concluded
speaking the rest of the company ap-
peared, including ex-Secretary McCu!-
loch and daughter, Mr.. and Mrs.
Frank b. Carpenter and Mrs Elizabeth
Thompson, the philanthropist. MIR.
Lamb was introduced by Mr. Carpen-
ter, who really discovered the discov-
fore him and pitcher of water mt hand,
the inventor proceeded to show us how
the rains might pour and the floods de-
scend, yet we remain with dry smile.
or smiling dryly, or rather dry and
smiling.
A pair of new pale-pink kid gloves
was first examined by those present,
and it was decided they had not been
treated, though Mr.. Lamb said one of
them had, but which one it was no one
could decide, for they looked precisely
alike in color, gloss and freshness
however, one was laid in the basin and
some water poured on it; in Il moment
it was discolored, flabby and spoiled
The other was picked up and a quart of
water poured on and in it until the
| fingers were filled rs if by hand, then
emptied by q little shake, and there it
was-smooth. pink, and without one
particle of moisture.
This seemed little like legerdemain,
and some one in Joke asked the inventor
to try the experiment upon n piece OF
mosquito-netting. Promptly enough he
drew asquare of it from heap OF varied
fabrics and turned on the water. At
| first it skated round like peas and straw,
and, as the volume increased, went
| thread dry. This was convincing q
answer, and Immediately afterward Mp
Lamb handed Mrs. Opdyke two sam
Piles of delicate blue silk, and asked her
to decide which had been treated. They
were apparently alike, but at last, de-
tecting one to be little creased, the
lady decided it had been treated. 1t
was then thrown in the basin. In Il
second it was saturated and draggled
while the other, being freely soused,
came out as blue, lustrous and smooth
as before.
Every sort Of dress fabric, including
silk, velvet, brocades, satinS, cashmere
and even muslin and calico was treated
in the same way with the same result,
and while the different guests guessed
in turn as to the samples having
been treated, nine times out of ten they
settled on those that had not rs havin Q
been.
This passing of the water through the
fabric proves it will permit of perspira-
tion evaporating. One reason why
waterproof garments have always been
objected to is that it will not permit
that, said Mr.. Lamb. Ostrich feathers
were dipped again and again, retaining
their curl; kid boots like the glove
were filled and set in water in vain f;
and, as some one remarked, the major
generals daughters (pirates of Pen
zance) could go in padding with their
shoes and stockings on. Paper bags
were filled with wafer and hung up on
the wall, and with II twinkle in his eye
Mr.. Lamb dropped in the basin an arti-
tlciallV waVad front and il pmeroad aS