Omaha daily bee., 1909-12-26
STEALING TRADE SECRETS
Tricks on Which Great Industries
Have Been Built.
TRAINED EYE OF AN EXPERT
switserIand's Loss of the Monopoly
In watch sprinss-wire Secrets
Twice StOlen-Slip of a
supposed Minister.

ANE w 1OENHN bBA. Abs-AANNI AAG DbNV=
stole an English loom, one piece at a time,
taking the fragments to France and after
ward bringing them to Fall River, where
the reassembled parts formed the basis OF
the chief industry Of that city, manufac-
turers all over the world have been trying
to get at the trade secrets of their rivals
or to prevent their rivals from discovering
their own specia, processes. Many another
great industry has a similar basis of a
stolen trade secret.
Take the watch business for instance.
For many years Switzerland was the home
Of the watch industry. The watches that
bore the name Of makers in other coun-
tries depended for their accuracy upon the
spring, and the springs were all made in
Switzerland, no other country knew how
to temper them. The secret was held by
two men who ran a factory in the cantor
of Borne.
A man who is well known throughout the
world as ar inventor of children's toys and
was recognized as a mechanical genius in
his day undertook to get this secret from
the Swiss. He had all the qualifications
necessary for the task, being an expert
chemist, a trained worker in metals and a
fluent German and French scholar.
He went to Switzerland in the capacity
VI a. NOuHIS BtllltuIdn WHO was inter-
ested in the geological formation Of that
region. He cared nothing about the watch
business and absolutely declined to talk
watches with any of his friends, although
it was the chief industry of the country
and most of his acquaintances were en-
gagged in It.
Met His Men Easily,
By his genia! manner and free spending
| of money he found n Aaay 70 oct NO.
quainted with whom he chose and in the
course of time he brought things around
so that he met the only two men in the
world who knew how to temper watch
springs.
The n of these two men took quite
a, fancy to the visitor and they soon be-
came fast friends, but the older man
seemed to have an intuitive suspicion that
the stranger was not what he repre-
scented himself to be.
The visitor was sharp enough to discern
this feeling of distrust and to avoid the
older man, never abiding to him even, 50
as not to risk any quarrel with the younger,
with whom he was getting on better than
he had hoped.
The seeker after secrets was one of those
who believe in seizing opportunities, but
who have no faith in this talk about max
irg opportunities yourself. He was willing
to wait long and patiently for his oppor-
tULity to come, but he war not going to
seek 1t. He knew that several Of his pre-
decessors had failed by being too anxious
to create the opportunity they sought,
either by leading the conversation to the
subject or by pretending to be anxious 20
see something else that they hoped would
lead to their seeing what they sought.
| This mans OlaO IVA daanar thnp that
He did not want to see anything. He
cared nothing about anything connected
with the watch business and never took
any part In the conversation on that sub
ject. He was to get $4,000 If he could find
out the secret he was after, and he could
afford to bide his time.
His Waiting Won.
The building In which the secret temper
ing process was carried on was on the
side of a hill. The two friends had passed
1t time and again. but the owner never
alluded to 1t and the other never expressed
any curiosity about 1t. That is where he
was smart and showed the stuff he was
made OF. Your true diplomat never speaks
until his turn comes.
One day the younger of the two watch
makers was passing this building with his
friend, the supposed geologist, and in a
moment Of boastful pride offered to show
him where the most important part of the
work was done. He opened the door for
a moment only, to let the visitor have a
peep at the forbidden room.
That moment was enough. The style of
the furnaces and the smell of the flux told
the expert all he wanted to know. The
secret of the tempering process was dis
covered.
AR the two turnad au,ou FROM tba Anor
they met the older partner. One glance
at the strangers face was enough to con-
firm his suspicious, Perhaps he read the
concealed look of triumph in the visitors
face, perhaps he felt 1t in his bones that
something was wrong. Turning to his bro
Their he shook his fist in his face and
whispered hoarsely:
You have ruined our buslness!"
The g%eologist lost no time in getting out
OF the town and out of Switzerland.
Within an hour he was far on his way
and for a day or two he stood in dread
of foul play of some kind, He brought the
secret to America with him and gave it to
the company that had employed him but
on his deathbed he confessed to his near
est friend that he had never ceased to
regret having robbed the two Swiss
w~atchmakers of their secret and ruinine
their business.
Withdrawing Trade.
Drawing wire is a large and important
industry in this country now, but It is moi
so many years since American methods
were so crude that the English wire had
the call in all the principal markets of the
world. A certain wire company in Con
n%ecticut wanted to learn the secrets of the
English wiromakers and they sent over
about twenty skilled workmen to England
with instructions to get Jobs in the fac.
tories over there II they could and learn
the tricks.
The men were Of moro than ordinary in.
telligence, thoroughly trained, and It was
hoped that If only one or two got into the
works 1t would Justify the expense Of the
whole twenty, The scheme worked out
very well. AS soon as a few OF these mer
had the whole process Of wire mak.ng
down pat they threw up the Job in Eng
land and cane back to Connecticut.
With the natural aptitude OF American,
for Improving everything, the wire com
/, panies on this side soon developed much
better ways OF doing things than tn,
? English firms that they had copied, and 1
became the turn Of the English to look t.
r their laurels. Business got so good in Con
%necticut and orders piled in so fast tina