The herald., 1897-08-02
Fortune in the Balance

Half the governments of the world
have eyes on a case now pending al
Washington whose issue may involve
millions and the fortunes of war. Or
the records it masquerades as Inter
ference No. 17,411, Bauschlicker VS..
Porsch." 1t has to do with the manu-
facture of smokeless powder, that new
munition Of war which is revolution
izing the destinies of battle.
Not so long ago in Frankenthal, Ger
many, there lived two men. August
| Bauschlicker and Heinrich Nowak, the
best of friends. One of them invented
the chemical acetone, the basis OF
| smokeless powder-which one the
Washington patent office is trying to find
out Nowak grew rich beyond his
widest dreams by virtue of the process;
| that all the nations of Europe would
have given fortunes to possess solely
Bauschlicker didn't remain poor, either
But at last things went wrong. Nowal
lost every pfennig he owned, and sough
| the United States to recoup. Letter;
passed between the two old friends
Finally Nowak, now DR.. Ottokal
Porsch, got out patent on acetone, arc
lllC vi SllSliiSd4 COMPANY VI
Nyack started in to make and sell it.
Bauschiicker got wind of ii. 1t was
his process, he asserted. The Hass-
lacher & Rassler Company were sell
ing it in this city, too. So he brought
suit, and now the case is near a final
settlement. Thousands and thousand:
of pages of testimony have been taken
here and in Germany. DR.. Porsch, who
now lives at 932 Park avenue, Hoboken
admits that he has changed his name
from Nowak to Porsch, but says he did
it because he wanted to start life anew
here. He swears that he invented the
process Of making acetone, and his
wife, Olga, backs him up.
In his testimony, taken abroad
Bauschlicker swears that the invention
is his, and that one day in fit of con-
fdence he told the priceless secret to his
friend Nowak. He accuses him now Of
having sold the secret to the United
States and to Russia for use in the
manufacture of smokeleas powder fol
their respective armies.
"This has caused me a loss of 81 ,000,0 00(
in royalties" swears Bauchlicker.
at isn't true that he invented ace.
tone" swears Porsch, just as positively
IT discovered it years ago in my factory
in Frankenthal."
"Porsch worked for me in my factory
rejoins Bauschlicker, ''and there learned
the secret so valuable in warfare"
Porsch's disappearance from his old
town was a mysterious one. No one
knew Of his whereabouts, swears
Bauschlicker, until he heard that ace
tone was being manufactured in the
United tSates by one Ottokar Porsch
He had grown wealthy over it. Bausch-
ticker wanted the royalties that every
pound of smokeless powder had to pay
and so the action was brought. He
wants the patent declared null and void
If he wins he will sue all the manufac-
turers who have used acetone under
Porsch's patents.
When the missing Nowak was firmly
established here as Porsch he sent fol
his wife. His employers sent their ex-
pressman to the steamship pier for hei
trunks, but none could be found. The
only ones that the check called for were
those Of Mrs. Heinrich Nowak. The
expressman came back with his story
and the secret 80 long concealed came
out. DR.. Ottakar Porsch was Heinrich
Nowak.-New York World.