The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1891-11-19
TROUBLES OF AN INVENTOR.

How tho F;S~. Manu- actur-r of M'l'nite
Was Cheat. d Out of Iiis Work.
Al the close oi the year it was al
nouucrd in French newspapers that u
new explosive had been nvsated COM
parod to which dynam te and miro
| giycerine we.e IS l,laythings- Tho
name OF this nov article was mel II te.
| and the inventor WAS L NJ. Turpin.
| French chemist
! Army eng neecs tested it and found
| It altogether s;:tisfac ory." A shs
which was frel into an Old condemned
fort near Par.s blew the whole st-uct-
! ure to atoms; not a stone or hand Ill
! OF earth Wis let n IS place. in eX-
| plod ng. the mel mite resolved i self
into such poEeriui gases that notn ng
| could withstand its destruct We force.
I The invent on meant revolution in
| warfare: even the best modern works
| of &c ense were now rendered quito
| useless.
The inventor received the due
amount OF pra &C. HIS explosive was
called bouiangito in honor OF the then
popular IN mister Of wa-. and the
French government promised 10 buy
his invent on.
But bouiangor fell and his sucoe So
or. NJ. C;.mpenon seemed to have !or-
gotten both Turpia and the meiiuite.
as it again WAS called.
Patriotism is a very noble quality
but the best patriot must have
money. and VI. Turpin concluded to
sell his invention to some other gov
ernment. or 20 some gun manufacturer.
He thought of the Armstrong; in
England says the Detroit Free Press
vino a"e tho most extensive mara!act-
ui'ers in their l.na. next to Krupp in
Essen and he addressed himself to NJ
TripOnnet. their agent in fa..is. Trip
onuct advised him to go TO their
works at Newcastle. which Monsieur
Turpin did.
His asionishnent may be imagined
when ho upon his arrival found that
his invention was already known in
England. The Armstrong; had con-
plete knowledge OF the relative guam
tity of the component parts of the mel
mite as well as OF ali other secrets
connected with its manufacture. and
the firm had called him only to obtain
his personal affirmation OF tho correct
ness of the process. and the genuine
ness of the article for which they Of
fered him 750. 600 francs. This prop
osition NJ. Turpin re. ected and went
back to Par iu rage.
Here he very soon learned how the
English firm had come into possession
OF his secret their agent in Paris had
simply had his father-iu-law steal the
necessary document from the archives
o: the war department.
NJ. Turpin now made formal COM
plant to the government and COM
mittee of investigation was appointed.
The chairman was an army officer
who had assisted Tr:ponnet's father-in-
law in the theft. and the investigation
ended in smoke. of course.
After four years of waiting and fu-
tile agitation. II. Turpin has now
finally taken the bull by the horns and
published pamphlet in which he
gives complete account of the case
and the treatment he has suffered.
The publication Of several of the
documents and facts contained in this
pamphlet was very annoying to the
government and the unsoId balance
OF the edition was recently confiscated
by order OF tho war department. At
the same time Triponnet and Turpin
were both arrested Triponnets faith
er-in-laW the ac;ual thief had already
'evaporated."