New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-01-26
Albert S. Janin Takes
Credit from CurtiSS for
HydrO-AerOplane.
OBSCURE CARPENTER
WINS PATENT CASE
wheels" Staten Island Neigh.
bOrS Said. but Wife
Was Game.

uiehner ana an lmpOSter, AlDcft =.
Janin has been declared inventor Of
the hydro aeroplane.
This decision WAS given on Saturday
against Glenn Il. Curtiss, who had
heretofore been credited with the ere
alton of the flying boat, by the board
OF examiners in chief Of the Patent
Office in Washington. This is the appesl
board in all questions OF patents. The
judges are Frank G. Skinner, 7. q.
Steward and Fairfax Bsysrd.
Janin, thirty-fve years old, car
penter and cabinetmaker living at IS
Clifton av.. Rosebank, Staten Island,
has for years skmped his wife and
seven children in the necessities of
their daily life for the sake OF actual
izing his dream. He has lost his
friends on account Of it they have
pointed 20 their heads as he passed
and said. "Wheels!" The neighbors
and the capitalists whom he tried TO
persuade to finance his dream have re-
peatedly told him he was going crazy.
The strain of it all is worrying him,
as might have been seen by the full
swing of JOY in him yesterday when
he was told that his sacrifices were
justified. He was the tailor in fairy
story who had been given the hand Of
the princess in reward for his per
slStcnce.
Seaguls Inspired Him.
at all came from the flying fishes
and the seagulls,' said Janin. 81 was
what is called cadet, representing the
government on a mail ship in 1893.
] was detailed TO Ward boat, running
down South. and used to stand on the
bridge and watch the flying fish rise
in an arc from the surface OF the
sea. used to say: If fish can
do that ! can make a machine do the
same stunt That's why got the idea
of the water machine first, while oth-
ers worked on the land machine idea.
"The notion about wsrping the
wings / got from the sea gulls that
were always sailing around us. 30 !
began TO make drawings OF flying boats.
Right away my friends said. crazy.
The difficulties through which Janin
has made his way are limited at in the
decision of the chief.
Here, for example, is an excerpt from
their report:
Following the date OF his concep-
ton (of the invention, Janin made
drawings, and in 1909 attempted 10
build a full sized device himself. He,
however, was a poor man, evldently
struggling TO meet his current living
expenses. ,.s O..
From what his witnesses testify, 1t
;s apparcnt that he was continuously
striving to raise funds TO develop his
ideas. which were regarded by many
as missionary. Janin himself testifies
that his friends joked him about his
airship, and the testimony OF the wit
ness Stats shows pretty clearly now
al least some Of his acquaintance re-
garded the subject
Wife's Sympathy Spur.
Without the help OF any one, and
with no encouragement except the SYM
patty of his wife, Janin persisted IN
completing his invention. Inc Value OF
the aid given him by Mrs. Janin can
only be guessed from the few words he
said Of her yesterday;
Everybody laughed at me except inc
family. They were game. My Wlie
was a sticker, even when there was
sickness in the family, and lot of
troubles that / won't tell about she
believed in me all the way
Finally. in January, 1911, Janln made
applicstion for patent on his design
for the flying boat On August q OF
the same year Glenn II. Curtiss applied
for patent on the same counts" His
description Of il in the application
brought up a question on which the
Examiner OF 1nterferences IN the rat
ent Office decided in favor OF giving
the rights to Curtiss.
Janin then told his story TO Thomas
A. Hill. a patent attorney ana during
1912 president of the Aeronautical
Society of America. Hill had been re-
/ tanned by Curtiss in his suit against
/ the Wrights, but had been nosed out
bv the firm of Newell & Neal. Here
was his chance to square the BOOKS
and he took the case without compen-
| sation A hearing oil the appeal was
| given on December 4; the decision was
| given on Saturday.
The tabulation of dates made oy the
/ examiner-in-ch was:
cartl ,s,, cOn'i'u'a I., only
/ cogsepiic1 Dec. 1905 May. 1899 go,
Drawings Jan. lgV5 shorty nle' hh'' 4'''
/ Reduction TO MAY. lso'
/ practice .....Apr, 1893
To this is added by the board OF eX'
aminers:
"Curtiss has made no pretence OF
/ substantiating any OF the dates OF the
| invention alleged in his statement, no
/ has he Lnered any explanation OF the
dates so alleged. Janin, on the other
/ hand, has testified consistently with
the dates he alleged, although he is
not correlated as TO any earlier date
than the making Of his model IN 1907
Janin's poverty was partly what won
the case for him.
Poverty VS.. Society.
The patent law says distinctly that
Al IL 10 n hot
benefits society. Curtiss's attorneys
insisted that Curtiss was the man who
had benefited society--that Janin was
a dreamer of perpetual motion, and had
/ failed 10 make his idea useful.
ut was Curtiss who demonstrated the
practical utility OF the hydro-aero ma.
chine and gave TO the world a new art, y
said the Examiner OF lnterferences in
the decision, which was reversed Satur-
day.
"While he was thus engaged. Janin
was sleeping on his rights, from which
slumber he did not awaken until after
the achievements of Curtiss had been
widely published. Even then. the most
that he did was TO file a patent appli-
cation that ne subsequently abandoned.
| Under such circumstances il is thought
that Curtiss is justly entitled TO an
award of priority, and il is so held"
/ In answer to this the Examiners in
Chief sey:
( From the above quotation We must
decidedly dissent. We do not think
that the evidence shows that Janin
was sleeping on his rights, but. on the
I contrary. we find that he was making
as much effort as one in his circum-
stances could we'll make toward the
J. ,.oxfoc,,np Of the tnypntiOn'
81 guess all those medals and things
belong TO me now" said Janin, when