Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-02-12
MILLIONS At STAKE
In a Suit Won by a Woman Lawyer.

with glory and the male members OF
! the bar of the state of Illinois with
| confusion by obtaining n judgment
against Il s5,000.O00 corporation in an in
| fringe.nent suit which prominent law
yers had declined to prosecute on the
ground that the essential principal OF
the patent involved had been in gen
eral use before the patent was granted.
The woman lawyer is Miss Florence II.
King and she and her client. Mrs. Myr-
| tie Nj. Rogers. seemed to stand alone
in the opinion that the patent was valid
and the principal upon which it is
| based unique. Judge kohlsaat in the
| United States circuit court in Chicago,
| has sustained their contention by issu-
! ing Il permanent injunction against the
corporation which has been infringing
| on the patent.
| Mrs. Rogers is the widow of the rail-
| road man who invented the system OF
packing for car aXles that is used by
all the railroads in the company. Up
to the time of his death he manufac-
tured the packing, and the value of mis-
invention may be judged from the fact
that the railroads use "a 200, 600 pounds
of it annually, nj Il cost to them of 20
cents Il pOund--or 1850. 900 n year. In
der his will Mrs. Rogers became owner
of the exclusive right to manufacture
and sell this packing, which is made Of
cotton waste and spiral steel turnings,
the patent covering an ingenious recep-
tacle for holding the packing against
the axle and the cotton waste carrying
the lubrc;tting oil which prevents over
heating.
c,v ,,..x 4,
mess methods and accepted propo-
sition of the Federal Supply Co. to
transfer her patents on 4 license, the
company contracting to pay 4 mini
mum royalty of cents Il pound for the
packing, CT $4,000 every quarter.
After enjoying the profits for several
years the company suddenly cancelled
her license, Feb. l. 1908, and also at
tackled Mrs. Eogers's title to the pa
tehts, defying her to assert her rights.
Mrs. Rogers Immediately organized Il
company and began manufacturing
her husbands goods on Il small scale.
The Federal Supply Cos. act raised
up Il host of friends for her. and she
quickly built up Il thriving business.
When it came to the notice of the Fed
Cral supply Co. the price was cut to the
actual cost of production and her linz
tied caDitai forbade competition at
these rlinous rates. Her orders were
returned, one road sending back 5000
pounds. The purchasing agents said:
Nc are extremely sorry for you.
Mrs. Rogers, but we cannot afford to
Pay You % cents for what we can get
for (. shilling
In vain she tried to get an injunction.
but lawyers laughed at her and abso-
lutely refused to touch the case on the
ground of priority of art. as the most
celebrated patent lawyers and patent
experts insisted that springy metal
wire and steel shavings We're equiva-
lent to the steel turnings employed in
the Rogers patents.
In despair at the prospect of losing
her income Mrs. Rogers finally gath
cred up her papers and submitted them
to Miss King. telling her of the opin-
ions of the other lawyers to whom she
had applied and asking her to ascertain
If it WAS true that she was without le-
gal redress. Miss King found that the
steel turnings used in the Rogers pro-
cess were infinitely described in the pa
tent papers, and she decided to test the
claim that wire ana steel shavings
would answer the same purpose equally
as VOL. 1t was strange, she told Mrs.
Rogers that Mr.. Rogers had not used
these things, if that claim We're true,
because. of their cheaper cost.
Experiments We're made in foundries
and machine shops by Miss King and
as Il result of these she volunteered to
take tho case.
When the matter came up before
Judge kohlsaat Miss King was primed
with facts and figures on the delative
strength, of steel shavings as COM
pared With steel turnines. In an oral
argument lasting nearly four hours
she TOLD of her experiments and their
results and introduced the expert
opinions of the engineers who had con-
ductCd the experiments. She demon
strated that under great pressure AMI
the friction caused by the turning of Il
car axle steel shavings were soon
ground into dust. and were. therefore,
useless; that spiral wires scratched
the journal when placed perpendicular
" III the box. and that when laid hOr-
iZontaily the cotton waste slipped out
leaving the coils OF wire lying useless
in the bottom of the journal box. On
Liz 'tii'i iittiib, IloNNu tiittl StCNI
turningS cut transversely from the end
Of a rcd. as described in the Rogers pa
tents. held the cotton waste with Il
thousand teeth of steel. From these
turnings the waste could not be torn
out or plucked out by hand or by ma
chinory. while the cut of the steel
against the grain gave to the turninke,
the enormous power of resistance
which enabled them TO withstand pres
sure and friction.
Miss Kings mastery of the technical
| details of the invention, no less than
| forceful and mastery argument, sur
rrised and disconnected the counsel for
the defence. She marshaled her facts
| as general does an army and she met
and destroyed the contentious of op-
! posing counsel with Il sang froid re-
markable in Il youthful practitioner.
and more particularly in a woman. And
Judge Kohsaat's decision awarded to
her the victory in the biggest legal
be tile ever fought by n woman as
counsel
| Miss Kings first appearance in n
! court of law was as a witness. That