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encouraged in 1865 to make better records of his telephone experiments which he recorded in a bound memo- randum book given to him by Mr. Rider5 from the Rider & Clark office on Broad Street in Manhattan, where his candles had been merchandised.
Meucci’s fortunes turned decidedly for the worse on the ferry steamer Westfield on 30 July 1871 en route from Manhattan to Staten Island when its boiler burst, killing many people on board. Meucci was seriously scalded and his convalescence exhausted his finances in the post-Civil War depres- sion. During that decade, Meucci and his invalid wife lived a frugal existence. They were given charity by their
friends and coal, groceries, and a dollar a week by the Supervisor of the Poor of Staten Island as late as 1880.
His next effort was to form an agreement, validated by a notary on 12 December 1871, founding the “Teletrofono Company” in partnership with acquaintances Italian Consulate Secretary A. Z. Grandi, contractor A. A. Tremeschin and cigar stand opera- tor S. G. P. Breguglia. That agreement predated by four years an analogous February 1875 agreement between Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Sanders and Gardiner Hubbard. The U.S. Patent office “Caveat,” an announcement without drawings of intent to patent for fee of $10, had
Fig. 3-1. Phone used for transmitting and receiving. (New York Public Library)
Fig. 3-2. Phone used for transmitting and receiving. (New York Public Library)
Fig. 3-3. Phone used for transmitting and receiving. (New York Public Library)
Fig. 4. Phone used for transmitting and receiving. (New York Public Library)
whom he had assigned the patent. Meucci also obtained patents on a bright kerosene lamp (1862), paint oils from kerosene (1863), paper pulp from wood and/or vegetables (1865), wicks from vegetables (1865) and a vitamin drink (1871), a meat sauce (1873) and a Lactometer (1875) that predated the Babcock test by 15 years. He was
Fig. 5. Certificate verifying the 1871 Caveat11. (National Records Administration, New England Division)
Antonio Meucci 39