realization of duty well done and if that be true Mr. Stringham has his reward and the appreciation of all those who have the best interest of the Patent Office Society at heart.

Mr. R. E. Adams is the newly elected president. He is no stranger to readers of the JOURNAL having been active in Society and JOURNAL matters for several years. At our suggestion Mr. Adams writes the following relative to the aims and achievements of the Society.

The Patent Office Society has now passed the tenth anniversary of its organization, the meeting at which the constitution was adopted and signed by the original charter members having been held January 4, 1917. That the accomplishments of the Society have justified its existence there can be no question, although it may not have reached those heights of importance and achievement for which its founders fondly hoped.

The efforts of the Society have been directed toward improvement of the application of the Patent system wherever possible. The large turnover in the examining corps, continuing from year to year has necessitated the constant training of new examiners. By courses of lectures and papers on rules and practice, and by moving pictures of industrial and scientific processes and products fostered by this organization, much aid has been given in training new members of the corps into a closer acquaintance with each other.

The Society embraces a large percentage of the corps and is prepared to act as a unit in the interest of the corps should occasion arise. The organization maintained in active condition has thus operated to give a feeling of solidarity and coherence to the body of examiners as a whole.

The most important work of the Society, however, is evidenced in the JOURNAL which is now moving toward completion of the ninth volume. This periodical provides a medium of expression and exchange of thought

which should and perhaps does accomplish much in aiding progress toward an improved and more uniform practice of the patent law, since the articles therein are read widely, both by Patent Office examiners and Patent Law practitioners. The cooperation of all sharing these interests is earnestly solicited.

JOHN HANS.

Chief of Issue and Gazette Division.

John Hans, was born in Albany, New York, and received a Primary, Grammar and Business School education. He worked for seven years on one of the leading newspapers in Albany.

Mr. Hans was appointed to the Executive Office Staff of the White House in 1903. This position was held until 1909 when he was transferred to the Patent Office, as a clerk, and assigned to the Issue and Gazette Division. He was acting Assistant Chief from 1919 to 1922 when he was appointed Assistant Chief.

Upon the death of the Chief of the Division, Mr. Mortimer, in May, 1924, Mr. Hans was appointed Chief. The work of this Division is considerable both in quantity and variety. Besides the Official Gazette, there are on an average at least 1200 patents and trade marks issued each week. Here also are handled all requisitions on the Government Printing Office for printing and binding, amounting to more than a million dollars per year. There are forty five employees in this Division.

It is of interest to note that while on the staff of the Executive Office, Mr. Hans in 1905 accompanied President Roosevelt on his Southwestern trip which included a wolf hunting trip in Oklahoma, the Rough Riders' Reunion in San Antonio, and a bear hunt in Colorado.

Mr. Hans' conduct of Division B is efficient and harmonious, he being found genial and accomodating at all times to all comers.

MILES O. PRICE.

Librarian, Scientific Library.

Miles O. Price was born in Plymouth, Indiana, and in 1909 graduated from the Plymouth High School. He was awarded a scholarship in the University of Chicago from which he received the B. S. degree in 1914, having in the meantime held the position of Department Chief for two years, in the University of Chicago Library.

Mr. Price occupied a similar position in the University of Illinois Library from 1914 to 1922 and by two years post-graduate work earned the degree of Bachelor of Library Science in 1922 from the University of Illinois. He has been Librarian in the Scientific Library in the Patent Office since August 15, 1922, and besides his duties there, he has been active in various lines of work allied to his profession. He served as President of the D. C. Library Association, 1924-25, as member of the Council, American Library Association for the same period, and as member of various committees of the American Library Association since 1924 to date. He has also been Vice-Chairman of the Technology-Commerce Department of the Special Libraries Association and Chairman of the Government Librarians' Committee on Re-Classification since 1923.

In connection with the work of the Patent Office Society, Mr. Price has served as a member of the Executive Committee and on the Editorial Board of this Journal since 1923, besides being contributor for Department of Government Publications, U. S. and Foreign, to American Political Science Review since 1923. On detail to the Personal Classification Board in 1924, Mr. Price was instrumental in having Librarians placed in the Professional and Scientific Service. He is at present compiling for the D. C. Library Association a directory of the two hundred libraries in Washington and preparing a list of the worlds' official patent publications for the American Library Association.

As evidence of the recognized standing Mr. Price holds in his profession it may be observed that he appears in the 1926 edition of Who's Who in America, and the Patent Office is fortunate in having the service of one so well equipped for the duties of this position.

MR. CARL O. MARKHAM.

The death of Mr. Markham removes from among us one of the familiar and respected figures in this Office. He died January 20 after an illness of some months with heart disease.

Born December 10, 1860, at Ashtabula, Ohio, Mr. Markham received his education at Valparaiso, Indiana, and Olivet, Michigan. He resided at Eaton Rapids, Michigan, for a number of years, serving as city treasurer and city attorney before coming to Washington in 1900.

He served on the Board of Pension Appeals, Office of the Secretary of the Interior, for some years and later, on July 1, 1908, was appointed Third Assistant Examiner in the Patent Office. In this Office he was located in Div. 29 for seven years, in the Interference Division, three years, and his more recent work has been in connection with design cases. He took up this class of work the latter part of 1919 when design applications were examined in the Trade Mark division. Later, when a separate Design Division was' established, Mr. Markham was placed in charge of it and so continued until his death.

He was a member of the Michigan bar and the bar of the District of Columbia and was credited with several years of legal experience before entering this Office or coming to Washington.

Always dignified and courteous, Mr. Markham will be remembered with great respect by the many in the Office who knew him and by attorneys whose business in his specialty brought them in contact with him.

Mr. Markham leaves a widow and two married daughters. He was buried at Eaton Rapids, Michigan.

DESIGN PATENTABILITY.

By E. S. ALLEN.

Had the Patent Office existed three thousand years ago, it would be amusing to consider the ancient architect of the Dorians, who originated the Doric column, presenting himself with a carefully prepared drawing of his column showing, what he no doubt considered, an inventive improvement in the then known building art, and one which to him must have possessed ornamental appearance. In the course of several months after filling his application no doubt he would have been deeply aggrieved to receive an Office action worded somewhat as follows:

"The merits of this case have been considered. The claim is rejected on the picture of Noah's ark in the ancient Phoenician catalogue of 2200 B. C. page 6, the Figure at the right of the page. To utilize a supporting column such as is shown for supporting the roof of the front porch of the ark would not be invention in view of fluted front legs of the Sphinx, Egyptian design patent No. 1235."

Unquestionably the old Dorian would have felt hurt. Presumably he would have wished to argue the matter. His column, he would have said, was more than a fluted column. As an applicant he would have said that he had provided a column of certain proportions, with a capital at the top, and that his whole structure was very different in appearance from the round column shown in the picture of the ark. Moreover, he would have argued that the flutes of the front legs of the Sphinx was an entirely different arrangement.

Again he would have waited, and eventually he probably would have received another action worded somewhat as follows:

"The arguments of applicant have been carefully considered. The claim, however, is rejected on the references of record. Mere change of shape is not invention; see Knapp vs. Will and Baumer 372 F. R.