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Many of the rubber articles he had made by this unsatisfactory process were returned to him. He was swamped with claims and went further and further into debt. He had to auction his household goods to pay the butcher and the baker. 
In 1839, by sheer accident, you will
remember, he had smeared a piece of rubber with sulphur and left it
lying overnight near a hot stove. In the morning, he found that part of
the rubber had become very hard; in fact, he had discovered the
material now known as "vulcanite." Other parts of the piece were
elastic - the stickiness was gone. Goodyear was at last in sight of his
destination.But Goodyear found that his battle had only begun. He became poverty stricken trying to get a patent, and fighting legal battles. It was not until 1853 that Daniel Webster won the final decision for him. Goodyear's train trip had taken nearly 20 years. |
