Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1913-12-27
AN INVENTION
LOST
By DOROTHEA HALE

ity to reap the profit on his inventions.
Perhaps it would be nearer the mark
to say that the elder Forsythe had not
the capital to put the novelties he pro
duced on the market At any rate, he
died, leaving his widow and her only
child, Ned, in poverty as they had al
ways been.
But Ned understood that just before
his death his father had Invented an
explosive that would prove far more
valuable than any tuat had yet been
produced, being especially available in
gunnery He had offered his inven-
ton to the government, had given an
exhibition of its working and had re-
ceived an order for a large supply, 70
be followed by other orders at price
that would make him rich Further
more. company with an established
plant capable of manufacturing the
stun had the contract to produce the
goods. Nothing remained but to pass
over the recipe for the explosive when
the inventor fell on the floor of his
laboratory and died without speaking
a word
After his fathers death Ned hunted
high and low for the formula lie
first went through the laboratory.
searching every nook and Granny, eX.
aiming every scrap of paper, but
without success, Then he looked
through the house in which the family
lived, little frame dwelling on the
outskirts of city, with no better sue
cess. There was no other place to look,
and Ned and his mother. from a pros
pect of stepping from poverty into af
huence, found themselves worse off
than they had ever been before
But Ned did not give the matter up.
He had heard his father tell his moth.
er that he was puzzled how to keep his
secret till he had made all his con
tracts and must give 1t to the manu-
facturer
Forsythe knew that should he be
suddenly taken away his wife and
child would be cut off from the benefits
Of his invention. He had once parted
with the secret of an invention and
thereby made another person rich
without reaping any benefit himself
He had then vowed that he would new
er part with another such secret until
the last moment He told his wife
shortly before his death that he had
decided to put the recipe for the
mo 20 Of &c nj {,,tO o1
pher But as to what he was to do
with the cipher or the key he said
nothing
A month passed after the inventors
death when Mrs. Forsythe received a
letter addressed TO her in the well
known hand of her late husband. On
the envelope was written "Via San
Francisco, Bongkong, Alden, Naples,
New York" The letter bore the post
marks Of these cities and had evidently
been around the world The recipient
tore off the envelope, and there, on the
paper inclosed, was written a tumble of
words Below was written.
Before you receive this 1 shall have told
you where the key is to be found
The poor woman had received an
other disappointment Her husband
had. under fear Of losing his secrA,
deprived his wife Of that which he
desired her TO POSSESS. What was
there III these incohcreut words Of any
value without the key The letter,
however, had a different effect upon
her son. He vowed that he would de
cipher the recipe if he spent his
whole life in doing so.
Several months passed, ana it seem
ed that the receipt Of the letter had
been for worse instead Of better Ned
made no Roadway in dccinlerlng the
word puzzle Having his fathers fear
If giving away the secret, he would
not intrust any one else with it and
spent so much Of his time on it that he
was useless at anything else. He and
his mother were near the point Of
starvation when a brother Of the late
inventor was summoned and asked for
the wherewithal to purchase something
10 eat
He was told about the invention and
the cipher recipe. Having asked TO
see the latter it was shown to him.
As soon as lie looked Mt it his eyes
lighted with interest
Your father" be said to Ned "was
during the war for the Union a mem
Der Of the stan Of q general officer
This you know as wen as l. bat you
may not know what your father told
me-that when kilograms We're sent by
his commander II was his duty TO Sut
them into cipher and when they were
received to decipher them lie kept
some Of these dispatches for awhile
after the war and showed them to me
and the principle on which they were
built think he has used that prin-
ciple in this case The recipe has. I
believe. been written III q certain num-
ber OF columns, down one up another.
I proceeding till every column is filed
Here are check words having no mean
ing thrown in doubtless To make the
matter more complicated
Sitting down. Neds uncle wrote out
a ,,oseaga IN columns and cave ftAd