Page:Federal Reporter, 1st Series, Volume 3.djvu/296

 TALE liOCK MAîfijF'O 00. V. tOOVIIiL MAÎITJF'a 00. 289 �ent was issued to Baid Brooks on September 10, 1871, and �bas been re-issued three times. �. The post-office boxes which were in use before the date of the invention were either a series of wooden pigeon-holes, each box having a permanent glass front, or a series of wooden pigeon-holes, each box having a wooden door in front, fur- nished with a look and key. The contents of the first-named kind were inaccessible to the lessee of the box untU he was waited upon by a olerk. The latter kind was not econom- ical of space, and was not considered safe. �In May, 1867, General William L. Burt, then postmaster of Boston, conceived the idea of a series of wooden boxes, fin- ished with metallio doors and frames fôr each box, with the rest of the wooden front covered or veneered with a continu- ons metal casting. He caused a plan to be prepared of a box in the Boston post- office, which plan clearly showed his idea. A casting of the metallio front was made from this plan, and was delivered to General Burt, and was sent to the plaintiff to be fiUed with doors and locks. This continuons metallic frame, or front, was discarded on account of its actual or supposed impracticability, and in its stead Mr. Yale invented the improved box front for a series of boxes, •which was subsequently patented by his administrator, and •with which the Boston post-office was supplied. So far as is disclosed by the evidence, the Burt box frame was never used in a post-office, and was merely experimental. It originated the invention, but there is no evidence which can justify a finding that Burt was the inventor. �The invention is thus described in the original patent: "This invention relates to an improvement in the construc- tion of the fronts of post-office boxes, and consists in making Baid fronts, including the doors and box frames, of metal, and in securing the frames to the wooden pigeon-holes by rivets, Connecting the frames with each other at top, bot- tom, and sides. The body of these boxes is to be made of wood, in the usual manner, namely, a series of pigeon-holes; but the front of the box and the door frame are made of iron or other suitable metal. Each door frame ox box front is so �v.3,no.5— 19 ����