Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1918-04-03
Purchased by
The Government
BY ETHEL HOLMES

Abel Hawkins was an inventor. He |
made several very valuable Inventions;
but. not having the capital to put them |
on the market, he was obliged to con- |
tide his secret to capitalists. AS soon |
as the capitalists got the secret they
found a pretext to use the invention |
without paying a royalty to the In
ventor. Finally Hawkins determined
that II he made another invention he
would keep his secret until he had Sc
cured legal contract for the manu-
facture of the article In question.
The next thing he invented was a
powerful explosive He offered it to
the United States government and was
referred to several ordnance officers
who would witness a demonstration.
Hawkins made some of the explosive,
fred 1t from q cannon and sent hun
dred pound shot farther than one had
ever been sent before. So pleased
were the officers with the test that
they recommended the purchase Of the
inventors secret at once.
At that time, July /, 1914, the gov
eminent was troubled to find work for
the few soldiers it had. They were
called upon to do civil work In emer-
gencies. The president called the
soldier the nations handy man, mean
ing, for instance, that If a food
came and destroyed a town the sol
der could put up tents and otherwise
provide for the sufferers. As to fight
er, he was not expected to hurt any
one; his duty was only to succor. The
consequence was that Abel Hawkins
invention was pigeonholed in the war
department, there being no use for it.
Hawkins died suddenly on July 80,
1914, the day the European war broke
out. Had he been alive to intrust his
secret to any one It would have sud-
denly become very valuable He had
written his secret in cipher, but had
left no key to the cipher.
He left a widow and a daughter,
Ethel, seventeen years old. Ethel ex-
plored g tin box In which her father
had kept what few valuable papers he
possessed and there found the cipher.
1t was a string of words without any
meaning. Ethel saw at a glance that
she would not be able to translate it.
There was chance that a chemist
might do SO, for there were In it q
large number Of chemical terms. But
Ethel did not dare show it to chem
list for fear he would steal the secret.
She had her fathers want of conf
dence in his fellow beings.
Besides, she saw no probability of
selling the invention to any but for
eign government, and she had no
means to 60 abroad and reach any of
the powers at war. Therefore she put
the cipher back in the tin box and took
it out only once in the next two years
to show to Oliver Steadman, a young
man to whom she was engaged.
Meanwhile Germany began to sink
ships, and Uncle Sam began to grow
wrathy. Oliver Steadman advocated
trying to do something with the inven-
ton, but since the United States was
not at war he received no encourage
ment, even If the cipher could be inter-
preted. It. seemed hard that so valu-
able process should not be utilized,
but there was no help for it.
Then came the breaking of relations
with Germany, followed by declara-
ton of war on the part of the United
States.
One day a message came to her moth
er In an envelope bearing the stamp of
the postoface Of Hongkong, China. It
was from the postmaster Of that city,
who wrote that there was a letter in
his Office held for postage and had been
thus held for long WHILE The letter
had been mailed at San Francisco, ad-
dressed to Mrs. Abel Hawkins, New
York city, via Tokyo, Japan, Hong
kong, Alden, Port Said, Gibraltar. If
she would send the necessary stamps
he would forward the letter.
None Of the parties concerned could
see why any such letter should have
been sent in this round about manner.
However, the expense Of getting it be-
ing small it was decided to send the
money to secure it.
Meanwhile the government Of the
United States was getting ready to
kill as many Teutons as possible and
was looking for an explosive that
would carry a shell further than any
possessed by their enemies. Some one
In the war department ran upon a re-
port Of the test made of Abel Haw-
kins' explosive and sent him a formal
request to come to Washington. Haw-
kins, not having lived long enough for
the United States to need his invention,
could not respond, but his daughter
went In his stead. She received an Of
fer Of million dollars from the gov:
eminent for the cipher formula and &C.
cepted it at once. But no one was
found to interpret it, and the govern
ment was out q million.
Not long after this the letter from
Hong Kong was received, and it con-
tanned the key to the cipher in ques-
ton. Hawkins had chosen this original
method to lock up his secret for a
length Of time.
The government offered Ethel Haw-
kins another million for the key and
she was tempted to teach lesson, but
honesty prevailed, and she turned over
the key gratis.
Some months after this some one in
washington stumbled on the report of
the test made Of Hawkins invention
and, not knowing that $1,000 had
already been paid for the secret, Offer
ed another 100000 for it. Ethel
&1~A
to do with any more money and made