The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-10-14
Dismantling Process Begins
at the Patent Office
Today.
COLLECTION SOON
WILL BE SCATTERED
Little Story of Heartache Woven
Into Prosaic Task Ordered
by Congress.

IKE q father might view in his de-
clining years the severing Of the ram
flv ties the passing Of the old nome
stead into strange and mercehaFy
hands, the REIMBURSEMENT OF al asso-
Citations that are dear. r. Z. Gill; TOT
more than forty years custodian OF
patents. stands today and disconsolaJeiy
watches the dismantling OF the loLOO'
models of the United States Patent Of
fee, which for nearly half a century
have been in his keeping
A score Of laborers are busy tear
ing down. packing, and carting on the
models IN the Union building, IN q
street. and by the end Of the week the
great collection which formed an illus
trated history Of the inventions Of the
country will be a thing Of the past,
and their aged keeper probably will
have been assigned to some other work
Woven into this seemingly prosaic
task, which comes through act of an
unsentimentaI and business-like Con-
gress, is another little story of heart
aches that have followed the march OF
progress, the setting aside % prece-
hopes that have been a half, century in
their building.
Knew His Charges.
No inventor could have watched over
the creation Of his own brain more ten
derby than did Mr.. Gill over those that
were gathered through the years, repre-
senting the best efforts Of our American
inventors. He knew the little history OF
almost all Of them by heart, he pointed
them out to admiring visitors and
gloried in the task. he fondled them, not
fwa hr,f "A
would a child. He asked no better
than 10 be permitted to live out his days
as their custodian.
Not for a long time. however. has the
law required that model must accom-
panv applications for patents and the
collection had remained the same, Mr..
Gill becoming better and better &C
quainted with his old friends Two
years ago, Congress passed an act abOl-
ishing the exhibition Of old models and
the beginning Of the end was near
Being an emplOye Of the Government
the aged custodian could take no action
TO influence Congress not to dismantle
the exhibitions. and although the reSO-
lution met with opposition from iuveu-
tors from all over the country the man
date came, nevertheless, and those who
know Mr.. Gill say he has been broken
hearted since
Scatter Far and Near
Within a few days the inanimat,
friends that have formed a part Of hi:
daily life for years will have been scat
tered to the four winds, some going e
the Smithsonian Institution. some IN eel
lars and attics, some to pOlyteChniCa
schools. and perhaps later, when th'
packing boxes get in the way, some o
them TO junk dealers.
Here is the first invention patented
by Thomas Edison said the aged keep
er as he walked through the confusing
mass this morning, and here is JOhI
EriCssOn's first model They look Crud
now, but they indicate, as do a lot o
others here, the progress our inventor
have made" Mr.. GIL, loyal TO his Gov
at the undoinE Of il all, but there is
elOquence in the aged keepers tOucl
as he fingers lovingly for the last tim
the models that are soon to fall int
strange and unfeeling hands.
Jesse Finley. a clerk III the Paten
Office, has charge Of the large. paCkiui
force Twenty-Five hundred packing
cases have been used in putting ava
the models When it is all over MI
GIL will be given work in some othe
department
The International Congress of Inven
tors. representing $4,000 inventors, ha
taken the matter up in an open lette
and declares that the Government ha
made a serious mistake in discontinuin
the exhibition.