, 1880-12-22
The Sweeping Decision by the
United States Court at
Chicago.
Vastness Of tho Interests Affected by That
Decision" Thore's Millions
in It."
A History OF I,arbctl Wirc-Stntcn,en
OF tho Case-Wllat Will the
Vlctors lot

dtnnry n1Nl sweeping decision or the UnIlel |
Stntcs Court iii your city III the ',nrbetl-wiro |
eases ufrecis immense manufacturing mil
fnrmitg Interests III sltis country. File cnsc
being nNe nf Inv, ntnl possessing peculiar
surroundings, yus,r correspondent has been
to considerable pains 10 lcnrn all tho facts In
tl1ls mds. rcl,larknbIo case, In order to pre-
sent them to tho readers Of 'TtE TnrnrSE
nAniED-wltE FENCES.
To get nj the essence ntld effects of this
decision Of the Court, It will ho necessary to
70 back To thu first i.lea Of barl,-wlrc
fence, so far us 1t nppcars OH record III tic
Patent OHlcc, MID trace 1t MP to the
commencement OF these suits. Wire
fcnco ns sucl, Is not new. Tlatn
,u,barhcd wire fnr fcilce lurt&ses l,as been
usrd wlt1, varying SUCCESS for Ilnrir period
of tlmc. hut tho expansion asll contraction
of single wire sUon broke II, a1Mt itssnootl,
surface wns no preventive to Its being
broken down By stock.
III tho yenr 1867, William p. Hunt, OF Cort-
land County, Naw York, obtained patent
On dey!ce for keeping stock nwny from
wiro fence by str!iiginE I'll tic strand wheel
made Of sheet nlctnl, with sptrs OH Its outer
edLp. Tha itlcn was, tmt the wheel wn,.ld
remain In MI upright position, anti, II the
stock cn1ne neitr It, the spurs Dn the outer
cd4s Of tho wheel would keep them from
rubbing against the wire anl bruaktng 1t
down. AS this WIS tho starting plnce Of
pntentctl wiru with spurs on, It will be well
for INC to state, md for the reader not to for
get, TINT tic Hunt patent md claim were for
"spur wheel pncGd Oh n fence wlru for
the purposes specified"
Practice proved "tllo wheel With spurs
ON of no value, for the wheels would slide
oil the wires and gather i'll btnc]ics or
groups.
The next step In tho wire fence WINS n
patent granted 10 one Smith, III June, 1865;
and It coycrcd "kEMk i'll the main wlrc,--
evidently intended to utilize anf make ef-
fectiye tho wheel with spurs OIL, covered by
Hunts pntent, SO rs to prevent them frolli
sliding on tho wires, But this WIS fOt,nd
difficult to make, md of no practical utility.
1t must be borne III mind TINT, up to this
time, these patents wcre granted for these
devices Oil one strand only. .
In tlle month Of February. 1868, patent
wna Issued Ia Michael Kelly for stlcot-mutnl
barb, cut with two sharp eiitls, with n lUle
through the centre for tho strand, md tho
winding or twisting around the straili that
held the bnrb second wirn. Tlle object of
this was twt,-fold: 1t held tt,o barb In place;
and tho twisting of two wires together 10 Il
great extent overcan,e tic breakage ca,lscd
BY the expansion md contraction from
thu effects Of heat aul cold, This
was tho first practical bnrbctl-
wire fei,co ever made. The fact that the
Hunt patent covered ono strnnd of wire only,
anu ""Heels Will SHUTS ao'1plless 'c'' AiF'
Kelly to think: III mako my spurs two III
number, md on each end Of II long, narrow
nhlce of sl;3ct-,uetnl, ami don't ma tie wheu]
a,n, voa t,so ,,rns IN ,,laco NJ o,,n II viii nn
"!f' "So w" "itSs ~ p'.Ie =. "iie' ~ WI ~.
able mn to avoid the llnnt patent" AT
Kelly's device, nttl,0uE! expensive and tlift
cult to make, yet WIS practicable, and wcni
imtt, uu., IT t,,,ro nj n nricn varying frotn *
INV y, 'so ~ oa..' W" '''so '"4sA' AAo''' a.
10 ~ CENTS pn'''a:
Up to this time the idea OF barb being
made of wire instead Of sleOt-netal, mt
Whining II oro,,nI tl1o strand. md doiur +
o,tr,,,a,,,,t, ~. ,',oe,,torv i,'.,.,a,, NJ ,m,,
""t!''a'lea's ~ u'aeil',cS, .sIt4 " ,,a"n =.
lnE uleni OF Blieet'lnetal, punching lloie II
them, alltl tlle,i stringing them OIL tho wlr,
bcforu twisting, lla.I not been daycloprt