Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-28

MH name is william H.
PIN Ward, and In q way
WN he IL an historical
EA, parsonage. Nearly all
of the bullets fred by
Union soldiers during the civil war were
turned out from machines of his invention.
The same il true of most Of the bombshells
used In that memorable conflict his method
Of molding them from molten iron being
adopted by the government. Uncle Sam dis
regarded his patents. utilized his ideas at q
saving Of many millions Of dollars and
never paid him q cent. So now, in his old
age, after vainly seeking redress from Con-
gress, he Ii doorkeeper in the department
which, as a matter Of fact he actually
founded hfty-one years ago.
The story Is a simple one. In 1855 Mr..
Ward brought to Washington q continuance
Of his own invention. 1t was the first ma
chine for making bullets from cold lead.
Up to that time bullets had been nodded
from melted lead by hand. This old-fash-
Toned process was very slow and expensive.
rife projectiles thus made costing rather
more than cent apiece. The machine
turned them out at the rate Of 100 q minute.
Transforming one ton Of lead into bullets
for s1.95. 1t was absolutely automatic, re-
curing no attention after being started.
There was no waste Of material whatever,
whereas by melting from IL to Is per cent
OF the metal was lost. Bullets could be
turned out Of any weight up to two ounces.
Used During the War.
Mr.. Ward offered his machine to the War
Department. but the government refused to
buy 1t. Five years later the war broke out
Uncle Sam then awaited himself Of all i'm
provements In arms and materials Of war
fare without regard to patents. The ex-
igency Of the occasion was q sufficient war
rant and nobody could resist the nations
paramount authority. The chief of ordnance
built q number Of bullet-making machines
after the model patented by Ward. The in
ventor was referred to Congress for redress
For twenty years his claim has been before
the national legislature. but he has never
got cent. Bills for his relief have been
passed repeatedly by House and Senate
though never by both bodies during the
same Congress.
Nobody has even attempted to deny the
justice Of the claim. With his machines
the government made more than q billion
and half of bullets during the war. The
saving thus accomplished was enormous
1t was an immense advantage also to be
able to manufacture proJectiles rapidly.
But for Mr. Wards invention, many thou
sands Of hands would have been employee ed
to do the work of molding bullets. Each
machine, on the other hand, could turn
out continuous shower of leaden missiles
at the rate Of nearly 1000 an hour, or q
million and q half a week, running night
and day. The bullets were formed from
reels OF lead wire. Each movement Of the
machine cut off enough metal for one bullet,
which was shaped by punch entering a
die. On the retrograde movement OF the
punch the die opened and the bullet dropped
out.
Balanced Bullets.
For purposes of observation Mr.. Ward
was present at two or three Of the battles
Of the Crimean war He noticed that the
bullets few wild-a fact largely owing to
irregularities in the weight and density of
the projectiles. Machine-made bullets. on
the contrary, are all exactly alike. and
what ordnance experts would call their
balance Is perfect. From a fixed rifle
barrel and equal charges Of powder, several
of them can actually be fired into a hole
OF their own diameter at a distance Of
800 yards. AS Mr.. Ward expresses it. such
accurate craftsmanship will shoot humble
bees on OF thistle heads. It goes without
saying that In these days of rapid-fire
weapons, which expend immense quantities
OF ammunition. the bullet-making machine
Is far more valuable ana even necessary
than II was thirty years ago.
The only money that Mr.. Ward ever got
out OF this Invention was obtained from for
chimes. They paid him for them honestly
and are using them today. During the
rebellion some of the machines thus pur-
chased were utilized for manufacturing
great quantities OF bullets for the confed-
crate armies. This, however. was an event
which could not have been contemplated
by the inventor. The latter owned another
patent at the same time for making bomb
shells from molten iron. This process was
also used by Uncle Sam to his own great
advantage. Nevertheless. not q penny has
ever been paid to the owner as q recon-
pense for the infringement Of his rights
Strange Inventions.
Mr.. Ward has not given up inventing yet
He has some very astonishing schemes
which he has refrained from patent ting, his
intention being to carry them out when he
gets his bullet money from the government
1t will be time enough then to secure pro-
prietary rights. One OF these ideas is a
process for telegraphing without a WIRE
The inventor says that he can send q mes.
sage all around the world without any wire
or other connection. By the aid Of his
method the Secretary Of the Navy could
sit in his Office at Washington and COM
municate directly with any United States
ship in mid-ocean in any part of the world
The advantage of such q system in the
conduct of naval operations would be enor-
nous, certainly.
Mr.. Ward has a new type Of marine en-
Blne winch Will, 80 ne says, carry a steam
ship across the Atlantic in less than four
days. consuming only as much fuel as is
ordinarily required for one days voyaging
1t furnishes three and a half times the
power of the best engine now known Mt
a quarter of the cost, occupying one-fifth
of the space and using one-half of the
steam. A vessel thus equipped could take
on board a cargo of early products of the
southern states on one day and deliver the
fruit or what not at northern ports the
next day In much fresher condition than
is practicable with the present Compare
lively slow transportation. 1t would be
very much quicker than rail. A Ward en-
CINE of 1000 horse power can be built for
5000. whereas an ordinary reciprocating
engine of that caliber costs $500
Another idea Of this inventors Is for
stock cars of a new and ingenious pattern,
in which cattle may be nearly as comfort
able in transport as IL browsing on the
ranch. Each beast is provided with a COM
Portable stall, with plenty of water and food
in the shape of fiaxseed cake" In winter,
while enroute across the continent, the con-
veyance is kept warm by steam from the
locomotive. The cake" which is the res
idue from naxseed pressed for OIL is the
stuff that Is fed to cattle in England, to
give the peculiar flavor Of the famous Lon
don beef" The animals thus shipped, feed
ing and resting all the way, will arrive in
as good condition at their journeys end as
when they started. 1t would not be neces-
sary to fatten them up and get them into
good condition for killing after their arrival
and in this way much money would be
saved.