Opinion of the Court.

gates can be fastened in their opened or closed positions; and that such locking may be accomplished by having the handles pivoted to the rods, f, as shown, and provided with extensions which can be turned so as to extend in front of the inner posts, and hold the gates closed, or so as to lie in the rear of lugs and hold the gates open. It then describes an arrangement whereby the rods, f, and links, e, may be placed upon the inside of the guard-railings, as well as upon the outside; and also an arrangement by which the connections for operating the gates may, if desired, be placed beneath the platforms; and also an arrangement whereby the gates may be so hinged as to lie against the body of the car when open, instead of against the guard-railings; and also an arrangement whereby sliding gates may be used, instead of swinging gates.

There are six claims in the patent, only the first five of which are involved in the present case. They are as follows:

"1. The combination, with a gate arranged to close the side entrance to a car-platform, of an operating-handle located at or near the inner end of the platform guard-rail, and means connecting said gate and handle, whereby the attendant may open and close the gate while standing at the end of said guard-rail, substantially as described.

"2. The combination, with gates arranged to close the side entrances to the adjoining platforms of two cars, of operatinghandles located at or near the inner ends of the platform guard-rails, and means connecting said gates and handles, whereby the attendant may open or close both gates simultaneously while standing at the ends of said guard-rails, substantially as described.

"3. The combination, with a railway car and its platform, having an end guard-rail, by which a side entrance thereto is provided, of a gate for closing said entrance, a rod, as ƒ, sliding in or on guides secured to said guard-rail, and a link, as e, connected to said gate and rod, all substantially as described.

"4. The combination, with a railway car and its platform, having an end guard-rail, by which a side entrance thereto is provided, of a swinging gate for closing said entrance, a rod, as f, sliding in or on a guide secured to said rail, a link, as e.

Opinion of the Court.

connected to said gate and rod, and means for locking said gate in its closed position, all substantially as described.

"5. The combination, with gates arranged to close the side entrances to the adjoining platforms of two cars, of rods, as ƒ, sliding in or on guides secured to the guard-rails of said platforms, and links, as e, connected to said gates and rods, substantially as described."

The opinion of Judge Wallace is reported in 26 Fed. Rep. 314. The only question he considered was that of the patentable novelty of the improvement, saying:

"A brief reference to the prior state of the art will indicate that the combinations referred to in the several claims are merely an application to a new situation of old devices which had been previously applied to analogous uses. Devices to open and close an aperture at a distance from the operator, in a great variety of forms, were old. As illustrations of those things which are matters of common knowledge and of which the court will take judicial notice, it is sufficient to allude to the strap used by the driver at the front of the omnibus to open and close the rear door; to the devices for opening or closing valves at a distance, in steam and hydraulic apparatus ; and to the devices used at railway switches for opening and closing the rails.

"Referring to the prior state of the art, as shown by various prior patents which have been introduced in evidence, it appears also that mechanism to open and close the entrance to passenger cars at a point distant from the operator was likewise old; as, where the operator standing upon the front platform employed such mechanism to open or close a door at the rear platform. One prior patent alone, the one granted to John Stephenson September 15, 1874, shows five methods of closing and opening the rear doors of street cars from the front platform.

"Mechanism for closing and opening apertures at a distance from the operator, in which the same devices were employed as are employed by the patentee, was old, and is disclosed in a number of earlier patents, which have been put in evidence. It will suffice to refer to two only. The patent to Wollen

Opinion of the Court.

sak of March 11, 1873, for an improvement in transom-lifters, describes the means for opening and closing the transom as consisting of a sliding rod, which is connected by a pivoted link to the arm of the transom frame. The patent to Corrigan, granted April 16, 1878, for an improvement in blind-adjusters, whereby outside blinds are opened and closed without lifting the window-sash, describes as the mechanism employed a sliding bar connected by a pivoted link with a hinged shutter. In both of these patents the aperture to be opened and closed at a distance from the operator-in the one case a shutter and in the other a transom - is opened and closed, as is the case in the patent in suit, by pushing or pulling the sliding rod or bar. In both of these patents there is likewise described a locking device, by means of which the sliding rod or bar is retained in a fixed position, so that the shutter or the transom will remain fastened when opened or closed, at the option of the operator; thus showing opening, closing and locking apparatus in all essentials like that of the patent in suit. Moreover, the patent to Corrigan shows this apparatus arranged to open and close the two shutters of the window, at the option of the operator, simultaneously, the sliding bars being so arranged as to be pushed or pulled each by one hand of the operator.

"Mechanism for opening and closing apertures distant from the operator, in which the devices used for the purpose are the mechanical equivalents of those employed by the patentee, is shown to be old by a large number of patents which have been put in evidence.

"This partial exhibit of the prior state of the art demonstrates that what the patentee did was to adapt well-known devices to the special purpose to which he contemplated their application. It was necessary that the gate should swing inward to open and outward to close; that the sliding rod should be located where it would be out of the way of passengers entering or leaving the platform; and that the end or handle of the rod should be located where it could be conveniently operated by the attendant, without inconveniencing outgoing or incoming passengers. The new situation required

Opinion of the Court.

adequate modifications of existing devices for opening and closing an aperture at a distance from the operator, appropriate to the new occasion. Accordingly, the patentee located the rods on bearings secured to the guard-rails, with their handles near the passage-way formed by the space or opening near the middle of the guard-rail. If this required invention, his improvement was the proper subject of a patent. He did nothing more and nothing less than this. It seems impossible to doubt that any competent mechanic familiar with devices well known in the state of the art, could have done this readily and successfully, upon the mere suggestion of the purpose which it was desirable to effect. When it was done as to one car-platform, it was only requisite to duplicate it upon another to make the improvement of the patentee in all its length and breadth.

"The patentee is entitled to the merit of being the first to conceive of the convenience and utility of a gate opening and closing mechanism which could be operated efficiently by an attendant in the new situation. His right to a patent, however, must rest upon the novelty of the means he contrives to carry his idea into practical application. It rarely happens that old instrumentalities are so perfectly adapted for a use for which they were not originally intended as not to require any alteration or modification. If these changes involve only the exercise of ordinary mechanical skill, they do not sanction the patent; and, in most of the adjudged cases where it has been held that the application of old devices to a new use was not patentable, there were changes of form, proportion, or organization of this character which were necessary to accommodate them to the new occasion. The present case falls within this category."

We concur in these views, and affirm the decree of the Circuit Court.

Opinion of the Court.

KEYSTONE MANGANESE AND IRON COMPANY v. MARTIN.

APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF ARKANSAS.

No. 51. Argued and submitted November 1, 1889. Decided November 11, 1889.

A bill in equity prayed for an injunction restraining the defendant from trespassing on the land of the plaintiff and taking mineral and ore therefrom, and that he account to the plaintiff for the value of the ore already taken therefrom. After a hearing on pleadings and proofs, the Circuit Court made a decree granting a perpetual injunction, and ordering an account before a master: Held, that the decree was not final or appealable.

IN EQUITY. The case is stated in the opinion.

Mr. U. M. Rose and Mr. G. B. Rose, for appellant, submitted on their brief.

Mr. G. N. Tillman for appellee. Mr. J. M. Moore filed a brief for same.

MR. JUSTICE BLATCHFORD delivered the opinion of the court.

This is a suit in equity, brought in the Circuit Court of the United States for the Eastern District of Arkansas, by Matt Martin against The Keystone Manganese and Iron Company.

The bill alleges that the plaintiff, owning a piece of land in Independence County, Arkansas, conveyed it, in June, 1853, with other lands, to one Smith and his heirs forever, subject to the condition that Martin retained to his heirs, representatives and assigns "a perpetual and unlimited right in fee to all the stones and minerals that may be in or upon said lands, and full and unquestioned power and right to enter said lands for the purpose of digging, quarrying and mining upon said lands, with full power and right of ingress and egress thereto and therefrom, and upon said lands to remain and erect buildings thereon, and to use such timber and other materials as may be convenient and proper for the excavation, preserva