The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-04-15

worried diligently. My patron was Mrs
Mill who with womap's hopcfulncss and
worfan's faith, visited uc daily, encourag.
ing me ind making suggestions. Finally
completed model machine with six cyln-
derf all armed with small wire hooks
Thee were placed upon wooden shaft side
by $de, and to one was attached n crank
ham leSby which motion could be given to
tne3 were attached toothcd circular blocks.
Tn4 was put into rough fraame, its wood
en- J>urnals resting in two half circular holes
or nRfches In the franz. Just rs [ had
progressed this far Mrs. Miller came in and
exap!lpedit She turned it some half a
dozf6 Zines; then calling to her house maid
her handful Of seed cotton, which
t ms ahana 10 tha-tanth-aflh lhl>p,.,
fchfho, whist I turned the shuft, md in a
few revolutions che teeth were full Of lint
cotton. She looked into my face, aud
shall never forget that look. o.! she was
a glorious woman. She exclaimed Per
feet this and aud your fortune is made.'-
She explained its defects, saying: You
must devise some means by which the lint
can be taken from the cards, as she turned
the cylinder holding the teeth. Now you
have to take it off by hand, and something
must be arranged to hold the cotton to the
cards. All the while Mr.. Miller had laugh.
cd at the effort was making, ar called the
machine mine and his wiic's folly. He was
in his chamber when his wife ran and fetch.
cd him to see the operation Of the machine.
lie looked on the motion of the cylinder,
laughing derisivcly at first, but as he saw
the teeth filling with lint he became thought
full, and finally said: Il believe that some
thing can come out of it to answer the pur-
pose After 'xamining it carefully, he said
seriously Now YOU nor Mrs Miller must
speak of this, but try on, and IL you can
make it success it will not only make you
both rich, but it will make the South the
richest country in the world. If you speak
Of it some ingenious mechanic will take the
idea, and very soon will complete machine
and will rob you of your invention From
that time proceeded cautiously and iu &C.
crct to complete model to be patented
From the working of the machine | had
made, ksaw difficulty to be rcmedied with
the circular blocks holding the wires to-
gether, and placed in the new model smal-
Ter blocks These served to separate the
largcr and give room for the cotton to roll,
thinner, giving them something Of the ap-
pearan % of circularsaw. This completed,
next was the means of sweeping from the
teeth the lint pulled by them from the seed
Mr., Miller was now deeply interested in my
| success, as he fancicd he saw great wealth
to follow this, and proposed partnership,
and agreed to furnish the means to secure a
patent and introduce to the public the ma
chine. Whilst this discussion was in progress
MIR. Miller came in and suggest ID a reedins
brush, and exhibited model IN miniature
he had made. At once l saw that this
could be worked by the same means that the
cylinder carrying the teeth could and went
to work TO make this brush. Finally the
entire machine was completed and patented.
a copartncrshp agreed upon between Miller
and myself, and Miller went actively to
work to put it into operation. We disagreed
as to what should be tho course to be pur-
suod Tor this purpose. It was my PROPOSE.
tion to sell the patcn for 100000 to the
States Of South Carolina and Georgia, but
Miller'insisted that this would be to sacri-
fee prince'y fortune, and proposed that
VIC should erect in each County at the Court
House n gin, and either buy the cotton in
the seed, or gin it upon shares for tho plant
ers. So sanguine was he Of q fortune from
the invention that he was willing to furnish
the means to carry out his plans. l was
young and poor, and fifty thousand dollars
was such fortune to me rs | had never
contemplated owning. 1t was the full mca-
sure OF my ambit:on-with it | was sutis.
fed, bus was without any means Miller
had incurred and paid all expenses up to
that time, and yielded my opinion and
wishes to him, and he went to work to carry
out his schemes. The practical efficacy of
the machine had been tested in several
places, to the entire satisfaction of the pub
lie, and we were progressing rapidly to the
realization of Miller's idea of ginning all
the cotton grown or to be grown in tho
South. At that time it amounted to only
few thousand bales In the progress of
our work every one was freely admitted, and
the machine us freely examined Among
those who came for this purpos, was a cab.
met workma named Ball. He was criti-
cal in his examination. He had in his shop
n 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 tho working of this gin,
and WIS particular as to the amount of cot
to cleaned or ginnsd in a day.
cit was not long before We learned he had
constructed gin, retaining the model of
ours, bat substituting saws cut from sheet
iron in the place of our wooden blocks and
wire teeth. Wo deemed this an invasion of
our patent, and warned him if he attempted
to put his gin int operation we should
bring suit for damages. This threat deter
red him, for he deemed his machine an in
fraction OF our patent, and torborc for
great while to duplicate it, to work or to sell
it. Many who had examined his machine
nronounced IL a,,nerior IN ours