The Washington times., 1901-11-01
Mr.. ISHAM WILL BRING CHARGES
Alleges That General Burlington
Lied About His Inventions.

| tary Root for the purpose of formally
presenting charges against Gen. A r.
| Burlington, Chief of the Bureau of Ord
nance. He was unsuccessful In his at
| tempt to see Secretary Root He has been
advised that II he desires to make charges
| against General Burlington he must put
| them into writing.
| Mr.. Isham did not have written charges
| with him, and he took his departure after
a brief conversation with Secretary Root S
| private secretary. Mr. Isham is the in
ventor of the Isham SHE'LL and. with the
| late DR.. Tuttle, the discoverer of thorite.
In this connection he, on Wednesday.
made verbal charges against General Buf-
| nngton. His manner at that time was
that Of an angry man with a grievance.
| AFTER Secretary Root had sent word to
him yesterday that the charges he wished
| to make must be put into writing Mr
lsham declared that he would comply with
this direction, and when asked what the
nature of the charges would be, said
| Il Will charge General Burlington with
! deliberate falsehood and misrepresenta-
| tion as to the Isham shell and thorite.
! both in the statements in his annual re-
| ports Of this and last year, and In his
statements before Congress at its last
session and to the Board of Ordnance
and Fortifications. of which he Is mem
| Der will also charge that another Of
| ncer OF the Ordnance Bureau received
| money for an interest in another inVen-
non not related to the Isham shell, a
third interest in a device purchased by
the Government. This business of giving
thlrd interests In inventions has some
bearing on my matters, because | could
have gotten favorable action on the Ish-
am shell If | had been willing to give up
a third interest
Mr.. lsham declared when asked for par
ticulars that he supposed he could not
prove the charge that he had been asked
to part with an interest of his invention
| to secure favorable action, as such a sug-
gestion was not made in the presence Of
witnesses and could not be acted upon by
the War Department.
Il propose to show, however" he said,
that one officer of the department did
have a third interest in an invention
which was favOrably reported upon and
purchased, and that he secured consid-
Grafton for that interest"
Are you referring to Captain Wheeler
and his connection with the purchase of
the Gerdom gas check?" he was asked.
Yes, that is the case. Captain Wheel
er is the man l am referring to-"
General Burlington declined TO discuss
the affair at all; saying that Secretary
Root had approved his action IN pur-
chasing Maximite, Hudson Maxim's ex-
plosiVe, Notwithstanding Congress had
turned Maximite down and had author
lied the purchase of thorite. Referring
to the statement about Captain Wheeler,
the correspondence between Captain
Wheeler, the Chief of Ordnance, the Sec
retary OF War, and Messrs. Tracy, Board
man. and Platt, of New York as TO the
purchase OF the gas check. The corre-
spondence dates back to December, 1898,
when General Flagler was Chief OF the
Ordnance Bureau.
The Government had been supplying its
breech-lOading guns with the gas check
device and Gregory Gerdom, the inventor,
notified the manufacturers of the guns
~. tx1TlI
ment of patent If they continued to use
it. He had offered to sell the patent to
the Government for SO, 600, but the War
Department had not taken action on his
offer
on February 2 1888, Messrs. Tracy.
Boardman and Platt wrote the Secre-
tary of War calling attention to Z letter
from Gerdom offering the patent for sale
for $4,000. They explained that Gerdom
had expected to have 1t accepted within
a reasonable time but that Congress had
failed al number OF sessions to make
the appropriation and meanwhile the use
of the invention had been extended so
that it was used by the navy as well as
the army. Gerdom had parted with a
large share OF his interest in the inven- 4
tion and the Government would now be
compelled to pay $4,000 for the invention
If 1t wanted it.
At the same time Messrs Ira
cy, Boardman. and Platt commenc-
ed suit against the Government
contractors for infringement of
patent. They also explained that un-
less the $4,000 offer was accepted at that
session of Congress 1t would be with
drawn. General Flagler recommended
the purchase for $4,000.
Meanwhile General Burlington became
Chief of the Ordnance Bureau, and, It Is
alleged, learned of Captain Wheeler's
connection with the invention and that
he had been promised a third interest in
all moneys which should be received from
it. Captain Wheeler wrote a letter to
General Burlington stating his connection
with the invention, as follows:
For some time previous TO and during
the years 1891 and 1885 | was stationed
at tn" Sandy Hook proving ground as
assistant proof officer and In charge OF
the machine shops of which Gregory Ger
dom was foreman. Before the latter was
employed at the proving ground he had
invented a gas check for guns, for which |
some time afterward letters patent were
granted.
las a result of the relations existing |
between Gordon and myself, | was con- |
suited by him as to the methods to be |
employed in taking out a patent, and !
having made study of breech meChan- !
isms and gas-checking devices, as an ad- |
junct to my duties advised Gerdom as |
to the claims he might make for his in |
yention, in order that 1t should not be I
an infringement of patents heretofore ex-
istlng and occasionally framed letters !
for him in the transaction of the busi- |
ness incident to taking out the. patent, |
before the matter was finally placed in |
the hands OF an attorney.
Il did this solely with view to pro- |
noting his interests, without any hope |
or desire for reward, and without any |
n agreement as to compensation.
The owners of the patent, however, |
made an agreement TO assign to me one !
third interest in all moneys they might |
receive | assume this was done as a |
for the services | had rem I
dered, Gerdom well knowing that as far |
as he was concerned they had no money |
value. AS ! did not at that time foreSee |
anN necuniary gain, and we'll knowing |
that patents on war material were not |
generally remuneratiNe, L accepted the |
Il never followed the matter sufficiently |
to know whether or not this paper had |
passed through the necessary processes |
of law. and IL was news to me TO learn !
that it was recorded in the Patent Office. !
/ have always considered this matter as |
purely personal between myself and the !
owners of the patent, and for that reason /
have not discussed the matter with others
1t has never been necessary for me to |
advocate the adoption Of the device, and /
so far as l know with possibly one eN-
ception, no officer of the Ordnance De-
partment has been aware of my connec-
ton with this matter, and l might add /
that ! have never paid any moneys in its
development. l had no knowledge what /
ever that the present Chief of Ordnance I
had recommended to the Secretary Of War I
for his approval the purchase of the pat /
ent for the United States service.
Captain Wheeler relinqaished all claim |
to his interest in the invention, and after
some correspondence as to the value Of |
the patent. General Burlington recon- /
mended its purchase. and Secretary Root
approved the recommendation.
Mr. Isham this morning explained 10 the /
reporters what he meant when he charg-
ed General Burlington with misrcpreSen-
tation before the Board Of Ordnance and
Fertilization. MY she'll he said. was
referred to the board for action General |
Burlington went before that board ana
as a member of it made such stateuel IS
about the shell as would undoubtedly