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McXally & Company, and had almost
completed the erection of the machine
when, on November ,}, [891, the Arc
Light building in which he worked was
destroyed by fire, his plant and his almost
completed machine adding to the
resulting debris. Such a misfortune
should have crushed his spirit, but it is
by such trials that greatness in man is
demonstrated; those who succeed do
despite handicaps. But all are not called
upon to hear such extreme misfortune as
that then experienced by Mr. Des Jardins,
and he proved himself worthy of inclusion
among men of achievement by his opti-
mistic continuance after the disaster
[891, and his sanguine spirit eventually
carried him beyond the reach of failure.
Mr. Rand continued to have confidence in
Des Jardins' ability, and so the inventor
set to work again to create the perfect
machine, locating-, for the purpose, at
Hartford, Connecticut, in 1892. In addi-
tion to the type-setting and distributing
machine, Mr. Des Jardins planned also
to construct an automatic justifier. for
which there was a promising market. 1 1 is
first Connecticut machine was built in
Manchester in 1893-94, and was complete
in every detail, in the form of the present
successful devices ; the original model of
his new type-justifier was the second of
two machines constructed at the Dwight
Slate Machine Company's works in Hart-
ford. It went through various evolutions,
such as are continually being devised to
further enhance the perfection of mechan-
ical inventions of international import,
and at the Paris Exposition of 1900 the
Des Jardins inventions received notable
recognition, their excellence bringing Mr.
Des Jardins three diplomas from the In-
ternational Jury of Award—a gold medal,
a silver medal, and honorable mention.
Many have been the inventions Mr. Des
Jardins has since successfully devised,
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367
many of them i
if aim*