The age-herald., 1901-05-05
SMe cavNegle compaNY BeateN Settlement of the Long Legal Battle Over Nickel Steel Patents
BY w. T. MANNING.

Washington, May 1.-The long centre- .versy over the infringement of the patent rights of the American Nickel Steel Com
 ernment and the Carnegie Steel Company
 has been finally settled in this city. The contention involved the rights of the American Nickel Steel Company in the Schneider nickel steel patents the validi- ty and scope of the patents, and cense-
 quent thereto large sum of money &C., crulng and accrued as royalties. The legal battle has been. fought In the courts for some years; and the settlement was the Navy in behalf of the government, by Messrs. Knox and Reed of Pittsburg, and Messrs. McCammon and Hayden of Washington in behalf of the Carnegie Steel Company, and by Mir. Philip Mauro, of Washington, in- behalf of the patentees and American Nickel Steel Company.
 By this settlement the Secretary of the Navy has acquired the right for the gov ernment to use the patented inventions in a government armor plant, the establish mtht of which has been long In contem- plation, and the Carnegie Company has made over to the American Nickel Steel Company the nickel steel patents former iy owned by 1t. The American Nickel Steel Company has received a large sum in settlement for royalties, sustained it's contention as to its rights In the Schneider nickel steel patents and estab- lished their validity and scope. It Is now fin absolute control of the Schneider and Marbeau patents, which cover the entire field for riicket steel This important de- cision will doubtless shape the course to be taken by other infringers who, 1t is said will be sued for royalties and in- fringement If they do not follow the ex- ample of the Carnegie Company and the government.
 The introduction of nickel steel as a new armor plate, in 1890, revolutionized the naval armament of the world. Infor- nation of the greht discovery or inven- ton made by Mir. Schneider, of Le Creusot, France, was confidentially i'm parted to Hon. Benjamin F. Tracy, then Secretary of the Navy. With the view of making a thorough test of the best plate then In use by other countries, MT. Tracy ordered three plates from Europe one from England and two from France. The one from England was of the same character as was then specified by the admiralty for warships. One of those ordered from France was of plain steel, aHu one was or nlcKel Steel. IneSe three plates were taken to the navy testing grounds, at Annapolis, and set up side by side, and were then fired at by a 8h-inch gun at distance of fifty feet The re- suit was that the British plate was smashed to pieces, the French steel plate was badly cracked and battered. while the nickel steel plate suffered little in- jury.
 These tests produced a revolution in nj of otut1i1ad world. Congress at once voted a million dollars for the purchase of nickel, and the department changed all it's contracts for the manufacture of armor plate, and specified nickel steel to be used thereaf- ter. MT. Schneider had in the meantime applied for letters patent In France, Great Britain and the United States for his invention. MT. Tracy deemed 1t of such importance to the public service that he made official request to the Sec retary of the Interior to eXpedate the examination of the application and the issuance of the patent
 MT. Carnegie, of the Carnegie Steel Company, on learning the result of the Annapolis test immediately proceeded to London and negotiated a license from the nickel steel syndicate, the owners of the Schneider patents granted to him by the United States patent office. Carnegie agreed to pay a royalty of two cents per pound of armor for the right to use the invention. MT. Carnegie, having secured this license, was then enabled to obtain a contract from the navy department dated November 20, 1890.
 It is a fact, therefore, that the United States government secured, through citizen of France, the first use of this invention. MT. Schneider hay ing communicated in confidence to tho Secretary of the Navy the substance of his discovery, and the Secretary having been thus enabled to secure tests and es- tablish the value of nickel steel for de- fersive armor for the benefit of the Unit ed States before any other government had opportunity to do so. The discovery came at such a time as to render the gov- ernment a signal service by introducing an armor plate made of nickel steel that has built up our navy and made it what