As these were direct infringements upon the patent rights acquired by
the Babcock Company, their encroachments were resisted in the courts,
and much money was spent in the effort of the company to sustain their
rights, including the purchase of the patents of several rival machines
that possessed real merit or whose business was worth controlling.
Among these purchases was the right and good will of the "National"
Extinguisher Co., who used an acid cartridge of glass, the acid being
liberated by breaking the glass. This feature, united with important
improvements in general construction and the use of a peculiar glass
bottle instead of a tube, is the Babcock machine of to-day, the
combination making the simplest and most effective and reliable
apparatus ever built. In the meantime, an investigation before the
courts brought out the fact that the French patent was antedated by an
American invention, for which a patent was applied by a Dr. Graham, in
1837. and which possessed the essential features of the principle in
dispute. Graham, through lack of means, or for some other reason, had
failed to perfect his papers up to the time of his death, and, as the
invention was one of obvious importance, a bill was passed through
Congress for the reopening of the case, and the patent was issued to the
Graham heirs in 1878.
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