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

he saw great wealth to follow thus, and
proposed q partnership, and agreed 70
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 q modelia min.
iature he had made At once saw that
this could be-worked,by- the sames neans
that the cylinder carrying the Ggssh
could, and went to work to make this
brush. Finally the entire machine was
I COM pleted and patented, copartnership
agreed upon betweenp Miller and myself
Ef nES dnsratiSSns S 81 sJiisagresa as Is
what should be the course to be pursued
forthis purpose. 5Itmas my proposition
|, to- sell the pstept for 100000 to the
States 81 South CarolIpa and Georgia,
BaEARllsrs insisted Chat this would be to
sacrifice princely fortune, and proposed
that I'VE should erect in each, County ut
itAe:gNprk HOUSE sgiaa Ml eithekbut
the cotton in the seed, or gin it upon
-shafesi iorstbe piaqters. !, So sanguine was
Ee-of afdftune from tie. invention that
lie. vas willing 10 furnish he means to
carry. out his plans. Irwas young and,
poor; and atS ahuusald dollars was sdeb
4 fortune to me as T had never contem
plated owning. 1t was the full measure
of my ambition-with it I4was satisfied,
but without any means. Miller
had incurred and paid all expenses up to
HAT smaS anaI yielded MY opinion and
Wish eate Chin, >and he went Ito work to
carry out his schemes. The practical
efficacy of the machine had BEEN tested
in several places, to the entire satisfac-
dion Of The public, and We we're progress
ing rapidly to the realization of Miller's
idea Of ginning all the cotton grown or
ITO bg growrsiG;;t G;;the. South. { tithaf time
,,jcanounted 10 only afewsthousand bales
In the progress of our work every one
was freely admitted, and the machine as
freely examined. Among those ho
came for this purpose was a cabinet
workman named Ball. He was critical
in his examination. He had in his shop
ID turningslathe, 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 a
day.
1T was not. long .before4we learned he
had constructed a gin, retaining the
model of ours, but substituting saws cut
from sheet iron in the place Of our wood
en- blocks and. wire eth.eSWe7deemed
This I'm invasion sof. our.%patent, and
warned him if he attempted to put into
eppeiation his gin we should bring suit for
damages. This threat deferred him, for
hd deemed his machine an infraetion Of
our patent, and forbore for great while
to duplicate it, to work or to sell it.
Many who had examined his machine
pronounced it superior to ours.
b .Eheres way 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 he had re-
ceived and he feared q lawsuit for in
fraction Of patent. Fort insisted, prom
ising to incur the risk aud to pay all
damages. Upon these conditions Ball
agreed to make the gin, and did so. Fort
Immediately put the gin in operation.
As soon as we were Informed of this,
Miller employed David Bradie Mitahell,
Of Sayapnah, to bring suit agaihsh.Ball
and F Fort.a.SIbe suit:wase ebroughtsin the
District Court of the United States, and
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-
,nloyed Peter Early, of Wilkes County,
to defend the case. 1t, was ably 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 was terrible blow upon me, but
Miller, I think, was more affected by it
than was. In a.short time thereafter
Bah abandoned the cabinet business and
commenced the making of gins. Cotton
planting. now increased rapidly, and the
cultivation of tobacco and indigo de-
clined quite as fast.
'tThese two industries were materially
affected by the cultivation of indigo in
Guatemala and tobacco in Virginia aud
Maryland, and were ceasing to be profit
able when the gin was invented. l met
with much sympathy from the people,
who felt T was entitled to the invention
aud should reap the reward Of the o-igi-
nator ofsa.g,eatly useful machine. Sym
pathy wasamy onlY 4 reward from Georgia,
but South Garolida generously donated
me $4,000, and this is really the only
benefit 1 ever derived from the inveu.
tion."
At the time I received this narrative
from Mr.. Whitney he had in New Haven
gun shop, and he was experimenting
upon improvements he had made in fire-
arms. This never came to anything
This was in 1920, but he realized consid.
erable money from contract for furnish.
ing arms to the United States. :,
Eli Whitney was born in Massachusetts
on the 9Th Of December. 1854, and died
iu New Haven, Connecticut, on the 9th
of January, 1926. He was literally edu.
Gated, which was due alone to himself
for he taught school to obtain the means
to carry him through college, and be did
not graduate until he was considerably
advanced in life. Immediately after
graduating he came to Georgia. BE was
then in the twen,y-ninth year of his age
having arrived in Savannah in 177S
This was very soon after the Introduction
of the green seed or short stapled cotton
into the United States. Previous to thai