September i, 1906.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER "WORLD 



403 



NEWS OF THH AMERICAN RUBBER TRADE. 



MORGAN \- WRIGHT FACTORY READY. 

 /"T^lll'- t\u\v million dollar i)l:uit of Mor<j;an iS: Wrif^lit, at 



T 



Detroit, Michigan, was formally transfcrrLcl to the 

 company on August 3, by tlie constructors. The 

 event was the occasion of a visit to Detroit of 

 Charles H. Dale, prtsident, and several other oflicials of the 

 Rubber Goods Manufacturing Co., with which the Morgan 

 & Wright company are afliliated. The factory was des- 

 cribed and illustrated in TiiK Ini)1.\ Ki niiKU Woui.u May i. 

 iyo6 (page 259). The work of construction was begun in 

 June of last j-ear. Fires were first lighted in the boilers on 

 Washington's birthday. The o])eration of the factory w as 

 begun on a small scale about the first of June, increasing 

 gr.-idually until, at the time o( the formal transfer, the re- 

 moval from the Chicago plant had been about half com- 

 pleted. The removal will be completed shoitly. "Iku 1200 

 employes will be at work in the new factory. 



VACATION TIMR. 



Till-: Ciooilrich ivublirr Man's Vacation has come again, 

 (from The B. !•". Cioodiich Co., Akron, Ohio) and ll.e " ni:d 

 summer hallucination " is all that the most daring lliglil of 

 fancy could conceive. The peaceful scenes of camp life arc 

 invaded by alligators who, for the time, take u)) the habits 

 as well as the haunts of humans. Fishing rods, swings, 

 books, unibiellas, lunches and licpiid refreshments are ap- 

 propriated, as the rubber men look on aghast. However, 

 those who " draw " a vacation picture are assured that " the 

 order book is real." But it is only the uninitiated that need 

 such assurance. 



WHKRE THE GRANT PATENT I.S VALID. 



Ag.mx a decision has been rendered, bearing upon the valid- 

 ity of the solid tire patent issued to A. W. Grant — No. 

 554,675, of February iS, 1896. The decision is written by 

 Judge Flatt, in the United States circuit court for the south- 

 ern district of New York, at Brookljn, in a patent suit in the 

 usual form, brought by I'he Consolidated Rubber Tire Co., 

 alleging infringement by the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. 

 Referring to previous decisions bearing upon this patent, 

 the tenor of which has not been uniform, the present dccis- 

 sion (juoles from that of Judge Thomas, in the same court, 

 in 1S99. Judge Thomas, in sus- 

 tair.ing the (jatent, was convinced 

 tliat in a general way no tire prior 

 I'l Grant really did what Grant's 

 tile tlid ; that it required Grant's 

 pccifu' combination of parts to ac- 

 c<inii)lisli his results; that there- 

 fore Grant did more than select and 

 aggregate ; he actually invented 

 something. 



Judge Thomas found, among 

 other things, that the specific ar- 

 rangement of channel and tire was such that the rubber tire 

 when sharply compressed on either side had a tendency to 

 rock, or tilt, in the channel iron, one wire acting as a pivot 

 and the olhci ,is .i retaining force, so that the tire would re- 



f-OLID TIRE. 



[With inside reta'liitig wires: 



made under the (liant i aieiil 



seat itself. 'I'his he thought was functional and inherent in 

 the device when made according to the specifications. 



What follows is in the language of Judge Piatt's late deci- 

 sion : 



Tlie circuit court of ajjpeals, si.xtli circuit (al Cincinnati in 1902) 

 found the Itiriiing point in the case to be al that point. They con- 

 cede that if the old parts selected from old combinations perform 

 a new function, or operate in a new way to produce a new and 

 beneficial result, enotigh will have appeal cd to constitute invention 

 They say that the rocking and reseating idea is not expressed in the 

 specifications, and that it is not necessarily present in the device 

 iiiaile tmder them, because the retaining wires nuisl not be so tight 

 that the wire would break or the riiblxr be cut before the tilling 

 and reseating could take ])bice, and nnist be loose enough to ]ier- 

 niil llie rubber to move slightl)' ; but nut so loose as to |Krmit tile 

 rubber to fall out of the rim of its own accord. This tension would 

 depend upon the whim of the workman. The specifications being 

 silent as to this function and the proper tension of the wires lopei- 

 niit the fnncliuii, it is not an iiihcrenl characteristic of the device 

 as explaiiiL'tl. 



The following is a verbatim segment of the opinion : 



" But if the retaining wires were tightened to llieir full tension 

 when their ends were weldeil or otherwise nniteil, this cajiacity to 

 rise or yield to the excessive strain a])plied to the rubber is not 

 known to exist." 



The court practically admits that if the lilting inoveinent had 

 been mentioned or even if a direction could be foun<l in Ihe speci- 

 fications that the wires should be applied at the proper tension, it 

 would be enough ; but taking the situation as they fouiiil it, the)' 

 were convinced that the patent was "void for waul of patentable 

 novelty," and ilisinissed the bill. 



In the suit al bar Ihe coni])!ainants insist that they have settled 

 by ample proof the (|uestiou of the tipping capacilj- of the Grant 

 tire. They claim to have shown beyond dispute that the rocking 

 or tilting quality is inherent in the Grant construction, and that it 

 caiujot be destroyed by the tightness of the wires, but will be pres- 

 ent and operative when the last extremity of tension \n\or to 

 breaking, has been reached They say that defendant's expert 

 clearly concedes the actual existence of that mode of operation in 

 the Grant patent which was the turning point in the sixth circuit 

 api>ellate decision. 



The court finds the patent in suit undoubtedlj' valid .ind 

 gives a decree for the complainant. 



TRADE NEWS NOTES. 



Thk New York oflice of 'I'he National India Rubber Co. 

 (Bristol, Rhode Island) is now located at No. 42 Broadwa}'. 

 The coinpanj- is represented there as to rubber insulated 

 wires and cables by Henry 1). Stanley and as to drug- 

 gists' sundries, hose, packing, and clothing b\- Henrj- D. 

 Archer. 



=There was a fire recently in the coat making sho]) of the 

 Goodyear's India Rubber Glove Manufacturing Co. (.Nauga- 

 tuck, Connecticut) which, it is believed, would have proved 

 serious but for the excellent .service rendered by the sprinkler 

 system with which the plant is equipped. 



=The Maine Rubber Shoe Co., at Portland, incorporated 

 in 1904 to conduct a rubber footwear jobbing trade, have been 

 succeeded by the Blake & Wheeler Shoe Co., composed of 

 F. II. Blake and George D. Wheeler. The house will con- 

 tinue to make a specialty of "Hood" and "Old Colony' 

 rubbers, besides adding leather shoes. 



