John, that is very helpful. It was very fortunate for White that Colt was dead by the time of the 1863 case. Actually, Rollin White began his experiments not by buying a revolver from the factory, but by taking "refuse" cylinders. This from his testimony in White v. Allen. I am not a factory maven, but I can imagine that imperfect cylinders would be "scrap", not "refuse". The former has value, the latter none. In other words, White stole scrap materials to begin his experiments, so-called.
He gave the story about Colt firing anyone found to be fooling around with pistol design is absolutely bogus. White told that story in order to back date the date of invention so that it preceded the filing of a certain foreign patent which appeared several years before White's filing. He had to explain why his invention was prior in time, even if his filing was not. White's story is quite implausible. Where'd he get the idea to backdate to a specific date? I do note that White's attorney in the case, Charles Keller, was not restrained by scruples.
As for working out a deal with Colt, we have only White's word and in the application, to which you kindly drew my attention, subject to cross examination. Now, it makes sense he would have offered it to Colt. And it makes just as much sense that Colt would have laughed him out of the office.
White's patent was wholly preposterous and impractical. It would blow up, just as Colt's early experiments with chambers open at both ends blew up. The breechloading of firearms was hardly a new concept, it had been around only for a couple of centuries. The problem was always with communication of fire, that is having all the chambers go off at once. Well, until the advent of the metallic cartridge no one had a practical answer. White's solution was to plug the chambers at the rear with leather. That was not practical either.
In White v. Allen, Allen had two fine third party expert witnesses, both of whom said of the White design that it was a disaster. White had one expert who said the thing worked like a charm each and every time. That expert was Daniel Wesson. Hmmm.
White prevailed in that case in which the opinion of the court is laden with specious reasoning and some rather bizarre holdings. That was to be expected given the presiding judge, Nathan Clifford, and the Allen's counsel, Benjamin Curtis. Curtis had been on the Supreme Court and became an arch enemy of Chief Justice Taney. Curtis resigned from the court and was replaced by a staunch Taney ally, Nathan Clifford. When in White v. Allen Clifford got Curtis before him, Curtis's client (Ethan Allen) didn't have a chance.
The application for patent renewal was turned down. What ensued in Congress was a battle for bill requiring a rehearing. That bill passed handily, but Grant vetoed it and the veto was sustained.
The patent renewal hearing was to be heard in the Federal Court House in Manhattan. On the eve of the hearing the courthouse was broken into, and the only thing taken were the models and papers of Rollin White. I won't go on, but somehow the break-in just did not make it into any newspaper. Whaddyaknow?
Last edited by handejector; 01-31-2022 at 04:21 PM.
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