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vices on the market, and Mr. Des Jardins
had more than one unfortunate experi-
ence owing to over-capitalization by
financiers ; also the first rewards of more
than one of his inventions were lost to
him by his indiscreet surrender of con-
trol to promoters. In the case of his
Type Justifier, Mr. Des Jardins person-
ally found a purchaser for part of the
patent rights, using the proceeds to wipe
out a corporation debt of practically
thirty thousand dollars, which he felt
himself morally compelled to meet ; and
later, in the case of the typewriter-adding
machine, he liquidated another debt of
twelve thousand dollars, by similar pro-
cedure. His experience brought him cau-
tion, and he further safeguarded himself
by actually entering upon the reading of
law, so that he might qualify as a patent
attorney, and in that way adequately en-
sure secrecy and absolute protection to
his subsequent patent interests. These
precautions have of late years consider-
ably increased his financial returns. In
1905, Mr. Des Jardins purchased a handsome
residence in Washington, D. C, and
there, in close proximity to the Patent
Office, the talented inventor has of late
years pursued his research and experiments
at his leisure and pleasure.
The true estimate of a man is best obtained
in his home ; likewise, the full significance
of an invention may be more
truly gauged by the impression it produces
on those for whose facility it was
devised. Consequently, it will be permissible
herein to include an excerpt from
the Hartford "Post" article of March 10,
1900. The excerpt reads:
The machine (Des Jardins Type Justifier) will
space type and justify as rapidly as the most
expert operator can manipulate the keys of a
typesetting machine, and the work is smoother
and more accurate than can be done by hand.
Mr. Des Jardins's invention is the first which has
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
102
been produced to justify movable type. Type
setting machines, of which there are many different
kinds, were all lacking in this very important
feature. The linotype, which casts a line from
molten metal, has a justifying attachment, and
is in general use in large newspaper offices. But
there has always been a demand for a machine
that would justify movable type automatically,
and after struggling with the problem for
eighteen years, Mr. Des Jardins has succeeded
in perfecting it to stand the test of usage. The
process of justifying a line of type is strictly
automatic, and occupies only about ten seconds,
and the justifier may be speeded high if neces-
sary, but in ordinary work the machine as
adjusted will outstrip the swiftest operator, so
that by the time the second line has been set, the
justifier is waiting to receive it and repeat the
process.
This may be considered valuable testimony,
constituting as it does the independent
opinion of the trade directly ben-
efited by the invention.
Mr. Des Jardins's home life has been
his wife has followed him through
happy ;
most of his adversities ; she gave him her
hand while he was yet a humble inventor
with a doubtful future, and their appre-
ciation of each other is thereby the
stronger. It was while residing at Evans-
ton, Illinois, in 1889, that Mr. Des Jardins
married Cora Viola Snyder, daughter of
Herman and Harriet J. (Smith) Snyder,
of that city. Mrs. Des Jardins was born
in McHenry, Illinois, but her father, who
died in 1898, was a native of Hudson,
New York ; her mother, who died in 1910,
in the home of her daughter and son-inlaw,
was born in Cambridge, Vermont.
Mr. and Mrs. Des Jardins have become
prominent in the social life of Washing-
ton, partly because of Mrs. Des Jardins's
charm and skill as a musician. They also
have a palatial summer residence, "Buena
Vista,'' at West Hartford. Connecticut,
where they spend many happy summer
months. A pronounced fondness for the
company of children has manifested itself
in Mr. Des Jardins, arising, maybe, from