St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1888-11-17

wnrrNeY's COTTON GIN.
OlFsunstassss UsAse which ~ 1hUe
Specimen Was Produced.
There is no doubt that the drst n
ventor Of the cotton glp was Ell Whit
uey, and that all other claimants 70 the
honor are pretenders- Whitney was
the son Of Massachusetts, farmer. and
was born in December, 1765. 1t West
borough. In that State From his
earliest childhood hs showed that re-
markable power Of mind that Is known
q inventive genius. and peculiar apt
ness in handling tools. 1t is said that
before he was ten years old he could
use any tool that he had ever seen
with dexterity. and before he was
twelve he had made a violin. and &C.
auired wide fame As skiliful mender
Of fiddles. He became a nail-maker.
and at this business and other applica-
tions Of his manufacturing skill
he made money enough to take
q college course. He entered
Yale College in 17S9. graduated
three years later. and went South to
teach. His ambition WAS TO become a
lawyer. and he began the study, in
Savannah. while boarding In the
family Of the widow OF General
Nathaniel Greene. and 'eking cut his
scanty means by coaching boys for col
lege. One day he chanced 10 hear
Mrs. Greene complaining Of the clum-
siness Of her tambOur. and readily
made p much better one for her. to her
great delight. At that time . few
pounds of cotton was all thst could be
cleaned by single lahorer in a day.
A planter in Mrs. Greene's presence
expressed wish that . machine could
be invented for the work. and she adj
vised him TO consult young Whitney.
saying: IF any one can make the ma
chine, he can" At that time w hitney
had never examined a cotton boil.
though he must have seen the plant
growing in the fields. He was ready
enough to undertake the. task but for
two obstacles. he had neither money
nor tools. An old college friend sup
piled the money. and tho tools
Whitney made himself. Mrs:
Greene and Miller. who after
ward became Whitneys partner.
were fhe only persons allowed to SEQ
the machine in the process Of costruc-
ton. but the news Of the wonderful in.
vention and its value got abroad. and
before it was complete some wretches
broke open the building one night and
carried of the unfinished machine.
Half mad with rage and despair. the
young man left the State for which he
was to create snch' great prosperity.
went back 10 Connecticut and there
completed his work. But he had
scarcely been away from Savannah a
week. when two other claimants to the
invention had appeared. and few
months later the stolen invention came
out. However. Whitney received his
patent in Masch. 1894 and he and Mr..
Miller began tho manufacture Of the
machines in C0nnecticuk The patent.
however. was continually infringed
upon, and Whitney had to struggle
hard to secure any reward for his Ia
Dor. In 1901 the South Carolina Leg
islature granted him $50, ,0CO for his in.
vention. but he had to endure innu.
mersble and d.vexatiOus lawsuits and de-
lays before he. got the money.
North Carolina allowed per-
centage on the machines. and paid it
honorably for a number Of years. and
! Tennessee pledged herself to do tho
same thing. but basely repudiated her
contract. For years Whitney struggled
on against an accumulation OF mis-
fortunes. lawsuits. the burning Of his
factory. false reports that his machine
injured the fiber Of the cotton. the re.
fusal OF Congress TO allow the renewal
of his patent; until at last, convinced
that he would never receive q just
compensation for his invention. he
turned his attention to the manufacture
OF firearms for the Government. from
which he reaped a comfortable fortune.
He was the first to adapt machinery to
the manufacture of the parts of gun.
40 that any one piece should be equal
ly adapted to any one Of thousands o4
arms made by the some pattern. Sew
eral OF his inventions were applied BY
others to other manufactures of iron
and steel, which added considerably tO
his reput alton. but not, 10 his weal4l.