Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1914-01-09
AN INVENTION
LOST
By DoRoTHEA HALE

Ned Forsythe was the son Of an in
ventor who had not the business capac-
lty 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 that 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 large supply, to
be followed by other orders at price
that would make him rich. Further
more, company with an established
plant capable of manufacturing the
stuff 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
word.
After his fathers death Ned hunted
high and low for the formula. He
first went through the laboratory,
searching every nook and Granny. ex-
amining every scrap of paper, but
without success. Then he looked
through the house in which the family
lived. "a 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 pros
'pect of stepping from poverty into af-
fuence, 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 it 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 nev-
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
manufacture of his explosive into ci-
pher. But as to what he was to do
with the cipher or the key he said
nothing.
A month passed after the inventors
letter addressed to her In the well
known hand of her late husband On
the envelope was written Via San
Francisco, Hongkong, 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 l 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 secret,
deprived his wife of that which he
desired her to possess. What was
there in these incoherent words Of any
value without the key? The letter,
however, had 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, and 1t SEEM
ed that the receipt of the letter had
been for worse instead of better. Ned
made no headway in deciphering the
word puzzle Having his fathers fear
of giving away the secret, he would
not intrust any one else with 1t and
spent so much Of his time on 1t that he
was useless at anything else He and
his mother were near the point Of
starvation when brother of the late
inventor was summoned and asked for
the wherewithal to purchase something
to eat
He was told about the invention and
the cipher recipe. Having asked to
see the latter, 1t was shown to him.
AS soon as he looked at it his eyes
lighted with interest.
"Your father" he said to Ned. "was
during the war for the Union a men,
Der of the staff of a general officer.
This you know as well as l. but you
may not know what your father told
me-that when kilograms were sent by
his commander 1t was his duty to put
them into cipher and when they were
received to decipher them He 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, |
believe. been written in certain num- |
Der of columns, down one, up another.
proceeding till every column Is filled |
Here are check words having no mean
ing. thrown in doubtless to make the
matter more complicated"
Sitting down. Ned's uncle wrote out
message In columns and gave Ned
the plan. What had been tumble of
words became a perfectly coherent
message. Ned grasped the idea. and
the two went to work to decipher the