The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1891-11-28
raoUsL Es or AM .lNvsNroa.


.
How the Hirst IGas ufsstursr Of Msllnits
was Cheated Ous o. Ms WORK.
At the close OF the year It was an
nounced In French newspapers that u
new explosive had been invented. oom-
pared to which dynamite and nitro
glycerine were a. playthinga The
name OF .this new article was melinite.
and the inventor was q M. Turpin. q
French chemist
Army engineers tested It and found
II altogether satisfactory" A shell
which was fred into an old coudsrnned
fort near Paris blew the whole struct-
ure to atoms; not a stone or handful
Of earth was left in its place. In ex-
ploding. the melinite resolved itself
into such powerful gases that nothing
could Withstand Its destructive force.
The invention meant q revolution in
warfare; even the best modern works
OF defense were now rendered quite
useless.
The inventor received the duo
amount OF praise. His explosive was
called boulangito in honor OF the then
popular minister OF war. and the
French government promised to buy
his invention.
But Boulanger fell and his success
or nj. Campenon. seemed to have for
gotten both Turpin and the melinite,
rs 1t again was called.
Patriotism is very noble quality.
but the best patriot must have
money. and M. Turpin concluded TO
sell his invention to some other gov
ernment or to some gun manufacturer.
He thought OF the Armstrong;. in
England. says the Detroit Free Press.
who are the most extensive manufact-
urers in their line. next to Krupp in
Essen, and he addressed himself to M.
Triponnet their agent in Paris. Trip
onnct advised him to go TO their
works ut Newcastle. which Monsieur
Turpin did.
His establishment may be imagined
when he upon his arrival found that
his invention was already known In
England. The Armstrong; had COM
plete knowledge OF the relative guam
tity OF the component parts OF the me l.
mite as we'll as OF all other secrets
connected with its manufacture, and
the firm had called him only to obtain
his personal affirmation OF the correct
ness OF the process, and the genuine
ness OF the article for which they Of
fered him $50. 900 francs. This prop.
osition M. Tnrpin rejected and went
back to Paris in a 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-in-law steal the
necessary document from the archives
Of the war department.
M. 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 Triponnet's father-in-
law in the theft, and the investigation
ended In smoke. OF course.
After four years of waiting and flu
tile agitation. M. Turpin has now
finally taken the bull by the horns and
published a 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 unsold balance
OF the edition was recently confiscated
by order OF the war department. At
the same time Triponnet and Turpin
were both arrested. Triponnet's faith
er-in-law, the.actual thief, had already
'evaporated.