Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-03-31

II
carriage shop Of Daniel d. Flint who
made the greater part Of the machin-
cry Of his works himself, much Of
which was better than that which OBJ
tains in many carriage shops today.
II went from one mechanical position
to another until entered the service
Of Oliver p. Drake Of Boston, who was
also one Of the cleverest machinists
have ever seen. From Boston went
to New York, where received high
pay as a craftsman. lived economi-
cally and laid up money, but In the
meantime my father had beer taken
Ill and was unable to work. The fami-
ly being large, 1t was necessary for me
to put my shoulder to the wheel ana
assist them. During this time con-
ceived the idea Of making q gun that
would load and fire itself with the
energy derived from the burning
powder.
Kick Givss Him Idea.
1.-THE idea occurred to me when, af-
ter the civil war in America, was
trying to fire Springfield rife. The
effect. was SO great that the idea
might be said to have been kicked In
to me. There was enough energy In
that kick to perform all the functions
Of loading and firing the weapon"
The drawings Of this gun were taken
to Paris and then to London, where
the money was obtained for the first
experiments. From the first II at
tracted a great deal of interest, though
when the announcement was made In
the papers that young American
engineer and electrician had succeeded
in producing gun that would load
and fire itself simply by touching q
button. the news seemed too good to
be true.
The first order came from the Brit
ish government, which specified that
the gun was to weigh not more than
hundred pounds, and should lire 400
rounds In one minute. and 600 rounds
In two minutes. Sir Hiram sent a gun
weighing forty pounds, which fired
more than 600 rounds In one minute.
and discharged 1000 rounds ia three
minutes. It was of this gun that Lord
Salisbury once said to the king, "Sir
Hiram has prevented more men dying
Of old age than any other man who
has ever lived"
Bell Wins by an Hour.
Patent No. 174,465 was perhaps the
most important ever allowed by the
United States patent office. One hour
after 1t was filed by Alexander Bell,
Elisha Grey of Philadelphia, also filed
In the patent Office caveat warning
inventors against any attempt 10 pat
ent an instrument such as tha tele-
phone, as he was doing some work
looking to the Transmission OF speech
by sound. Had this been filed before
Bells application he would not have
been granted patent.
Bell sent his rude models to the
Philadelphia exposition, where they
were practically shelved. In the mean
time he was conducting the classes In
his fathers system Of visible speech,
out of which he earned living.
His financial backer In another idea
upon which he had been working
telegraphed him that on a certain day
special board Of scientists was to
inspect the experiments In phonetics
of young inventor named Elisha
Grey. As a special favor Hubbard, the
backer, had obtained permission for
Bell to exhibit at the same time his
telephone contrivance. He was to go
the next day, but he was discouraged
at the hardships which the invention
had 80 far received and class work
was pressing him, SO he determined
not to neglect his scholars again or
to waste more of his badly needed
money in the already expensive enter
prise He had nearly made mp his
mind to let the train go without him.
Fianese Urges Him On.
The daughter Of his partner, how
ever, was his fiancee. At the last min
ute some one knocked at his door and
said that Miss Hubbard was waiting
in her carriage and desired to speak
with him Immediately. He seiSed his
hat and went down to her,
why aren't you ready to 90 to
Philadelphia was the question which
greeted him.
The young man began to explain
about his classes and other duties
which were keeping him from the
trip.
well, come and take a drive with
me-" said his fiancee. This was an
invitation which he could not refuse.
He got into the carriage Immediately
and was driven to the station. There
Miss Hubbard descended, MF. Bell
did likewise. The New York train
was already upon the track, steam up,
and waiting to pull out,
"Mr. Bell, you are going to Philadal-
phia, to exhibit your invention" was
the decided order that the young man
received. In the minute that was left
he bought his ticket. Miss Hubbard
saw him safely on the train, and re-
turned triumphantiy home,
In a short time the name OF Bell was
on every tongue and the young man
awoke to find himself famous beyond
his widest dreams.