The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-03-31

saoo oN viz ShVA" =
was making, and called the machine
mine and his wifes FOLLY. He was in
his chamber when his wife ran and
fetched him to the operation Of the ma.
chine. He looked Sn the motion of the
cylinder, laughing derisiyeiy at frat, but
as he saw the teeth filling with lint he
became thoughtful, and finally said: Il
believe that something .an come out OF
it TO answer the purpose After exam
lining it carefully, he eaid seriously
Now you nor Mrs. Miller must speak OF
this, but try onSandi if you can make it
success it will not ohls MAKE yoii bo.h
rich, but it will make the South the
richest country in the world. IF you
speak of il some ingenious mechanic will
take the idea, and verJ soon wi. COM
plete machine and will rob you Of your
invention From that time I proceeded
cautiously aud in secret to complete o
model to be patented. From the work
ing Of the machine had made, saw q
difficuItystp be fenediedwitA.the circular
blocks holding the wires together, and
placed in the new model smaller blocks.
These served to separate the larger and
give room for the cotton to roll, and
made the tee III holding cards much thin.
ner, giving them something of the ap-
pearanco of n circular-saw. This com.
pletod, next was the means of sweeping
from the teeth lint W them pulled from
the seed. MIR. Miller was now deeply
intei ested in my success. as he fancied
he saw great wealth to follow this, and
proposed partnership, and agreed to
furnish the means to secure g patent and
introduce TO the public the machine.
Whilst this discussion was in progress
Mr.. Miller came in and suggested reed
ing brush, and exhibited a .modelip min
iaturo he had made. At once saw that
this could be. worked by the same, mems
That the cylinder carrying she teeth
could, and went 10 work to make this
brush. Finally the entire machine was
completed and patented, copartnership
agreed upon between Miller and myself
and Miller went actively, to yofk 10 put
1t Into. .'6peratiofiiR Wejdisagreede as t3
what should be the course to be pursued
for this purpose. DIT was my proposition
to sell the patent for 100000 to the
States or South Carolina and Georgia,
but. Miller insisted thnt this would be to
sacrifice PTiHoely fortune, and proposed
that we should erect in each. County vt
the. .Cgprt, HOUSE "a gimp md either; biH
the Cotton in the seed, or gin it upon
shares fnF1the planters. : so sanguine was
heof q fortune' from tie invention that
lie: was willing 10 furnish lhe means to
carry out his plans. I,was Young and
poor, hha 6j1S tt0usand dollars was Such
Il fortune to me as T had never contem-
plated owning. It was the full measure
of my ambition-with it was satisfied,
but l. WAS without any means. Miller
had incurred and paid all, expenses up 20
that time, arid4I yielded MY opihion and
.Yishesto shim, and ho went to work to
carry out his schemes. The practical
efficacy of the machine had beenftested
IN several places, to the entire satisfac-
tion of The public, and we were progress
ing rapidly to the realization of Miller's
idea Of ginning all the cotton grown or
to be grcwn:: :iIlthe South. i.At that tine
itamounted TO only, a few thousand balas.
In the progress of our work every one
was freely admitted, and the machine as
freely examined. Among these 7yso
came for this purpose was a cabinet
workman named Ball. He was critical
in his examination. He had in his shop
q turning lathe, worked by driving and a
hand wheel quite like that with which
our gin was operated. He came two or
three times to ascertain the working of
this gin, and was particular as to the
amount of cotton cleaned or ginned in C
day.
1T was not long before we learned he
had constructed gin, retaining the
model of ours, but substituting. saws cut
from sheet iron in the place Of our wood
en- blocks and wire teeth.nSNSe deemed
This an Invasion of ourspatent, and
warned him if he attempted to put into
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damages. This threat deferred him, for
our patent, and fdrbore FIR great while
Many who had examined his machine
pronounced it superior. to ours.
} "aEhereE waS' a farmer OF means and
great influence residing In Warren Coun-
ty, Georgia, named Arthur Fort. He
saw the gin constructed by Mr.. Ball and
ordered one of similar construction to be
made for him. Ball declined the Job, in.
forming him Of the notice ne had re-
ceivcd and he feared lawsuit for in
fraction of patent. Fort insisted, prom
ising to incur the risk and to pay all
damages. Upon these conditions Ball
agreed to make the gin, and did 80. Fort
Immediately put the gin in operation.
As soon as we were Informed of this,
Miller employed David Bradie Mitchell,
Of SaYanneh, to bsihg suit agaibetaRall
and Fort, 1.-The suit;was zhroughtHip the
District Court Of the United States, aud
after considerable delay it was tried in
Savannah before Judge William John
son, one of the Judges of the Supreme
Court of the United States. Ball en-
ynloyed Peter early. Of Wilkes County.
to defend the case. ItsHSas aSly argued
ON both sides, for these two men were
men of great abilities, and deeply read
in the law. The decision Was against US
and we lost our patent. -,
"it whs terrible blow upon me. but
Miller, think, was more affected BY, it
than was. In p-ahors time thereafter
Ball shanaonea the cabinet haainess and
commenced the making of gins. Cotton
plantingyppE increased fapfdly, ald the
cultivation of tobacco and indigo de.
clihed quite as fast.
"These two industries were materially
affected by the cultivation of indigo in
Guatemala and tobacco in Virginia apd
Maryland, and were ceasing to be Iyodt-
able when the gin was Invented. / mlt
with much sympathy from the people,
who felt Z was entitled TO the invention,
and should reap the reward of ,the.origi.
Enator ofSagi eptly nsefui AASchib& Sym
pathy Sassinyohly r9wSssl from Georgia,
but S6atL SafoliIfa generousIy donated
me 1905, and this is really the only
benefit I ever derived from the inven-
ton"
At the tink received This narrative
from Mr.. Whitney he had in New Haven
gun shop, and he was; experimenting
/ upnn IMPROVEMENTS he had made in >iif61