The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-11-05

originator of the typewriter but seems to give the credit to Charles Lathem Sholes, of his state, Penn sylvania, whose machine. as stated, was patented in 1868.
 However, the author is fair enough to state that, In 1866, John Pratt, an American living in London, patented a machine, etc."
 In a review of this great modern invention, the Encyclopedia Britanica says 'Shoies resolution to attempt the construction of machine was greatly strengthened by an edito rial written by MT. Beach, in the Scien- tific American, giving a description of a machine called the Pterotype, an invention of John Pratt of Cen tre, Ala, which had been exhibited te the Royal Society in Londtn. Soule and Glidden joined Sholes and they went to work. They were ignorant of everything that had been attempted in this line before, save for the description of Pratts de- vice."
 In the Memoirs" of Ina Marie Porter Ockenden, the distinguished authoress of this state and sister in-law of John Pratt, a comprehen- sive and detailed account cf the in vention is given and the ups and | oONliS anu CiiACAl OL -hi [. Pratt, before and after his machine was patented. and full page re- view of Mrs. Ockendens literary pro- l auctions by Marie Bankhead owen, | published in the Montgomery Adver- | tiser, September 10, 1911, a pleasing and attractive 'resumeY of Mrs. Ock- enden's memoirs" as to this inven- | tion is made by Mrs. owen, as fol- | lows:
 | An Incident
 "One incident of unique interest relates to the early married life of Mrs. Ockenden's brother in-law, John Pratt. the inventor of the first type I writer, now known as the Ham mond. Mir. Pratt had gone to the home of Judge Porter to read law. | and was soon engaged as tutor to 1 the two daughters, Ina Marie and | Julia. Soon a romance developed be- | tween the young teacher and his pupil, Miss Julia. A marriage fol- lowed, but the lessons went on af- l rewards for many years, as the am | bilious young lawyer and after | wards inventor wanted an intelli- gent as well as young and charpl- ing wife for his lifes companion After his marriage to his girl wife | whose first long dress was her we'd | ding dress, John Pratt removed tc the Pratt homestead at Pine Knoll near Centre, Cherokee county.
 Ina Marie was soon sent over tc | keep the girl. bride company and tc prevent her from being homesick, os- | tensibly. however, to pursue her stud ies. At that time the young husband was beginning to experiment witf mechanical device for writing let ters. The work was done in a der at the top of the house and no one but the little wife was allowed tC enter the sacred and mysterious pre-. cinct. One day the pair of sisters went together to the awful place ot the great secret and as the adofins ! wife lifted the cover from the taol' where the invention was in progress the sister-in-law of the inventor stood silently by, her hands behind her, looking and listening with in credultus wonder as she heard il stolen whispers the story of how ;h, typewriter was nearly finished ant was to be the greatest thing evel invented in the wide, wide world.
 The Model
 "This model that these young wo. men watched grow from an idea witt successful experiment is new ir the British Museum in London, un- der a glass case and inscribed witt these words: The first model cf z typewriter patented in the world by the inventor, John Pratt. of Ala bama.' The story of how he se cured his patent is deeply interest
 ing, as gleaned from the pages O Mrs. Ockendens' memoir How he fin
 ished the machine and could no , patent it in Washington because (
 his southern sentiments; how he raf the blockade and exhibited it befor, the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in London in 1863; how he obtained patents in Europe before it was pat
 ented in the United States, is thrill
 ing part of the life and love story 0 one of Americas noble, though un
 honored inventors"
 "The John Pratt referred to abov | by Mrs. Ockenden and Mrs. Owe