Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1901-05-09
THE SENATOR'S INK.
He HOped to Make IL Fortune Out o2
the GOXcrnment.

! "A number Of years ago, when | was
chemist in the pOStotiice department.,
said prominent scientist the other day,
ian effort was made to find some ink for
cancellation purposes which would prove
absolutely indelibe. Tests were made OF
oil the so called indelble inks, but with
out success until through some unknown
means the report was circulated that IL
would be worth about $6OOO.OOO to any
man who would supply the department
with an ink that would stand III les's a'
to its indclihle qualities.
"you con Imagine the result of the cir
culotion of such q report. 1t was only a
matter of day or 50 before the depart
mont was flooded with inks, black, blue,
purnle and every color imaginable. Some
few were products which showed that tho
party submitting them really had some
knowledge Of chemistry and the proper
ties Of the various ingredients of good,
stable ink. But for the most part the
concoctions were merely colored solutions
made up in any and all ways, without the
slightest knowledge Of the character of
the resulting solution, in the hope that hy
some chance an indelible fluid might ho
obtained Cranks naturally came to the
trouble than all the chemists and lesiti-
mate ink manufacturers combined. But
all samples had to be tested. Under the
rules of the department each competitor
could submit two samples only, giving
him chance to correct any possible er-
rors made in his first sample. In several
instances, however, this rule was set
aside.
MAJ n,,n CO N N
some purely fraudulent schemes were re-
sorted to, although all were detected
sooner or later. Unquestionably the most
interesting of these was submitted by
man who In years previous had occupied
seat in the United States senate. His
ink resembled hundreds of other samples
except for sediment that collected in
the bottle after standing awhile. On
analyzing this ink found the sediment
to be nothing more or less than puver-
lied glass. AS you may recall all inks
were tested in the Washington city post
office, and this man had gone to the can
ceiling clerk who used the sample inks
and endeavored to bribe him to give the
stamp a turn or twist each time can
collation. was made, hoping thereby TO
have the fine particles of glass ground
into the paper, insuring an lndeiibIe marx
or nearly SO. But the clerk was not to be
bribed and in turn reported the case to
the department.
Not at all daunted at this disclosure.
this same ev senator took sample of his
own ink and made a number Of cancella-
tions in the manner he described. 10
further insure the staying qualities Of
these marks he baked the several letters
for two hours in the hopes Of setting the
ink. lie then submitted those samples
to the department, claiming they fulfilled
all requirements. The remarkable part
of it all, however, was that after all tho
grinding and all the baking his canceIla-
tions washed out, leaving no trace Of INK
whatever. We did not know for years
that his own samples had been baked,
the story having been given out by an
old friend in whom he had conhded at
the time. This just shows, however, to
what straits some people will 80 In the
hope of deirauding Uncle Sam. In spite
of fraudulent means and others no abso-
lutely indelible ink has yet been found
and probably never will be- Washing
ton Star.