The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1885-11-10
TELEPHONE.
The Suits to Vacate the Bell
Patent.
SEVERAL HEAVY PETITIONS.
The Situation at seattIe-The Back
bone OF the Rioters Affected by the
Presidents Proclamation.
TELEPHONE.
HEAVY PETITIONS.
The Telephone Suits.

WASHINGTON, November 9.=TO-day
was set for hearing the telephone cases
before the Secretary of the Interior.
and the large room of the Assistant
Attorney General of the Interior Depart
ment was crowded with counsel and
persons interested in the cases. Secre-
tary Lamar opened the proceedings by
stating that nine petitions had been
filed in this case. Inasmuch as there
seemed TO be a concurrence of
sentiment and wishes by all
parties concerned IL this controversy
that the whole case should be taken up
at once and considered as a whole; he
preferred that there should be no dis
cuSsiOn to-day on the question of the
power of government to institute suit to
vacate the patent, and that the respect
i've applicants who are movers in this
matter should begin with their evidence
and submit their cases. The first case
called was that of the Globe Telephone
Company. The attorney for the COM
pany proceeded to read the petitions
filed in its behalf. In brief, the petit
tions set forth that the patent examiner
who passed Bells patent was under the
Impression that it related to the system
OF multiplex telegraphy, that Bells
o l. nal telephone was imperative, that
this was admitted by himself, that he
could not truthfully claim priority of
invention of the telephone, because
1t was commonly known that ReisS,
Meucci, Gray and others had made
and used telephones before Bells APP
plication; that it could be shown that
Meucci had used q telephone in 1S49,
and that he had not abandoned his in
ventiOn; that the Western Union Tele-
graph Company, controlling certain
telephone patents, had entered into
contract with the Bell company to COM
promise their differences, by which the
Western Union company received 20
per cent, of the profits of the telephone
company, and that these great corpora
tions had united to compel the people
to pay tribute to them.
Therefore, the Globe Telephone Com
pany prayed the Department of Justice
to begin suit to vacate the Bell patent.
The remainder of the petitions were
read in the order of their presentation.
They included substantially the same
matter set out in the foregoing petit
tons.
During the reading of the petition of
the Cushman Company, Humphrey
stated that there was a contract in
existence made between Cushman and
the Bell Company, by the terms of
which Cushman agreed TO remain quiet
and avoid interference with the Bell
patents. That document was in the
hands of attorneys for the company,
and later on they would be called upon
to produce it.
In the petition of the Pan Electric
Company it is set out that Grey filed a
caveat for the telephone oil the day of
Bells application, and that contrary to
law the contents of Gray's caveat,
were known to Bell, by an official
of the patent Office, and that
within a few days Bell made an i'm
portant amendment to his ap-
plication, covering the matter described
in Gray's caveaJ. Ganty stated that
Solicitor-G General Goode had acted upon
that after an examination of the
authorities upon telephony, and of the
Reiss and other instruments by begin
ming suit at Memphis.
Storrow stated that the Bell Company
had no desire to submit written an
swer to the petitions. 1t was sufficient
to deny generally everything that had
been set out. He asserted that all of
the allegations material to this inYesti-
CATION were disproved by the papers,
which the petitions themselves had pre-
sented and referred to with perhaps a
few other records from the patent Office.
Mr.. Humphreys then proceeded to
read afidayits submitted in support of
the petitions, beginning with the aft
davit of Genes Wilbur, ex-examiner of
the patent office who was in.charge of
the electrical division at the time the
Bell patent was passed. The affiant
states that after the examination of
Gray's caveat and Bells application, he
suspended Bells Applicant r and mott
fed Gray to complete his caveat
within three months. These orders
had been revoked and the patent issued
TO Bell. In all his experience, in eleven
years practice, the affiant had not
known of a similar ruling. Had the
usual course been followed after the
suspensory order, Bell could not have
received apatent, and had Meuccis's ca
veat been renewed in 1875, no patent
could have been issued to Bell: Afiant
did not suspect erookedness at the time /;
he did not believe Bells application was
for talking telephone, but for null
tiplex teIegraphy, and is convinced that
his device as described IN his original
application is imperative.