Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1913-12-23

! ~ AOLA DdSAlNADAAs 4
opinion, he Is one Of abe foremost men
Of the world along the mechanical
lines which have been developed by
him, especially is he strong in the de-
veloping of and patenting automatic
machinery for the production Of small
articles and contrivances ranging from
sewing machine attachments to cut
lery. grinding and rolling mill ma
chinery, and when you stop to con-
slider the fact that he has taken out
about one hundred and forty patents
covering a wide field Of various me-
chanical devices which were and are
widely used in this and other coun-
tries, you will agree with me that he
lis a man OF marvellous inventive
genius and great benefactor to man.
! kind Having been daily associated
with him when much Of this work was
done, I was forcibly struck with his
ceaseless perseverance, tireless energy
and stick-to.i-tive-ness, which trait In
; him seemed one Of his sterling attri-
butes and no doubt had much to do
with the success he has achieved.
| In his young life In the early days
Of the ruffler business, he would sit
for days at the sewing machine max
| ing yards after yards of ruffling with
the Johnston ruffler, trying to dis
cover a small defect which the work
turned out would indicate that the
same existed, but in no case would
he give up until the defect had been
located and remedied.
TIL, 80 h1
ston Ruffler Co. from 1873 to 1898
was constantly menaced by patent
litigation, the company at one time
having as many as eleven such suits
On the dockets in the United States
courts in various parts of the United
States. We were compelled to keep a
corps of high priced patent attorneys
in Chicago, New York City and Wash
ington. D. c.. to look after our inter
ests in this line. In a case in New
York City which we were trying before
Judge Blatchford in the United States
court after our side of the case had
been closed our attorney told us
there was one paper if we could get
filed in the case. we would win 1t. He
also told us there was one attorney
in New York City who could get IT
filed in the case and that was ex-Judge
John F.. Dillon, the attorney for the
Jay Gould estate. He also told us
Judge Dillon would charge us $500 for
doing so. We told him to employ him.
which he did. Judge Dillon got the
paper filed, which took less than five
minutes. and was paid $500 therefor.
and we won the case. l merely cite
this fact to show how expensive it
was to conduct patent litigation in
the United States courts.
Mr.. Munday, of Munday, Everetts &
Adcock, Chicago, very prominent
patent attorneys. said that Allen John
stcn was one of the best patent ex-
pert witnesses in the United States,
and in the patent litigation of the
johnson Ruffler Co.. Mr.. Johnston ap-
peared numerous times as an expert
witness. In one instance he was
cross-examined for five days, but
came out of the ordeal with flying
colors
In 1872 when the Johnston Ruffler
Co. was incorporated, j. T. Hackworth
was elected its president Having prac-
ticed law for ten years previous to
that time with much success, and hav-
ing naturally most excellent legal
mind which by education and practice
had become very highly trained, and
being a man possessed OF rare and
sagacious business judgment, he was
just the person to be at the head of a
business which he and his associates
made such a conspicuous success as
that which was enjoyed by the John
ston Ruffler Co. from it's organization
until the sale of the same in 1898.
For the purpose Of showing how we'll
the Johnston RuffleT stood and what
q splendid reputation it enjoyed
among the people who used 1t, | de-
sire to relate the following incident:
In April, 1880, I was on my way to
New York City in the interest of the
Johnston Ruffler Co. and stopped over
for day in Cleveland, o., to call upon
the users of Johnston Rufflers in that
city. About 8 o'clock in the morning
| called upon the White Sewing Ma
chine Co., whose offices were on
Euclid avenue After exchanging the
greetings Of the day with Mr.. Howard
White, at that time vice president OF
the company. | said tc him, How is
your stock Of Johnston Rufflers; does
it not need replenishing? Excuse
me a minute he said. and walked
across the office and consulted a mo-
ment with an employe. and then came
back and said, You may ship us one
hundred C00) gross of Johnston Ruff
flers for the White Sewing Machine"
Well, when you come to think of it
this was on order for six thousand
(sGO00) dollars worth Of goods for I'M
mediate delivery, and you will excuse
me for saying that on my way back
tc the hotel I could feel my bosom
swell with pardonable pride at being
so fortunate as to secure such splen'
did order in so short a time (not over
ten minutes. but it was the article
itself which made the sale, not any
eloquence or forensic ability on my
part.
A. G. Harrow,
Ottumwa. Iowa.
December 2, 1912.
I am indebted to Mr.. George f. Hall
OF the Johnston & Sharp Mfg. Co. Of
tot