Samuel Blatchford

“ I have had experience in mechanics and patents; have photographed models; have been consulted about the patentability of mechanical devices; have been an expert witness in patent causes; have done patent soliciting; have examined and am acquainted with the May patent, in suit; know its specifications and claims, and am acquainted with its practical operation and effect. I have examined the jail of the defendant county, and the cells therein, and the device there in use for fastening the doors of the cells, its arrangement, and method of operation. ”

“ This defense was set up in the answer, and the motion to direct a verdict for the defendant was broad enough to cover the question of the invalidity of the patent, although that ground was not then distinctly urged. Want of patentability is a defense, though not set up in an answer or plea. ”

“ The novelty consists in the particular combinations whereby a new and useful result is produced. I think an angle door is old; have never seen them in jails; have seen angle doors and curved doors and illustrations of them in books many years ago,-before 1859. Locks and bolts upon doors are also old; and to put a lock or bolt on a door would not be novelty or invention. The operation and effect of the lever in moving the device which locks and unlocks the cell doors are precisely the same without or with a wall or grating interposed between the lever and the door locked. ”