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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
The Moen Case.
T H R R E L A T I O N S OK " l ) O c " WILSON WITH THE
W I R E M A N U F A C T U R E R S OK WORCESTER Wll.I.
AGAIN HE H E A R D BEFORE THE COURTS.
WILSON
CLAIMS TO HE T H E SON
OK T H E LATE P. L. MOEN
T
HIS department is edited by Bishop &
Imirie, Patent Attorneys, 605 and 607
Seventh street, Washington, I). C. All re-
quests for information should be addressed
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A
MUCH T A L K E D OK AND •
STRANGE CASE.
T
HE celebrated Moen case bids fair
again to occupy considerable atten-
tion of the public.
PATENTS GRANTED MARCH 19, 1895.
"Doc" Wilson, whom the late Philip L.
Moen, of the Washburn-Moen Co., the mil-
lionaire wire manufacturer of Worcester,
Mass., accused of blackmailing him out of
nearly half a million dollars, .is still in evi-
dence. Furthermore, he intimates that a
suit will soon be brought, which, in sensa-
tionalism, will make the other cases sink
into insignificance.
According to the New York Herald, the
"Doc" Wilson of newspaper notoriety in
535,807.
Keyed Wind
Instrument.
1885-6, was a gay, roystering fellow, oc-
William Anthony, Columbus, C). The ob-
cupying a menial position, who spent
ject of the invention is to provide keys and
money freely. He built princely stables,
mechanism whereby the sounding hole and
magnificent hotels, gave diamond necklaces
the proper vent holes may be opened and
to actresses, drank, gambled, smoked, and
closed with the least possible shifting of the
in fact, ran the whole gamut of a fast and
fingers. Employs a rockshaft and two sets
dissipated life. According to the stories
of keys secured to and mounted on the
published at the time, numerous suits were
same so that when one key is operated it
brought against Wilson for breach of
will act on others.
promise, and fathers were vowing ven-
geance against him in all parts of New En-
gland.
His extravagance was shown by the as-
sertion that he had spent ^450,000 for his
personal pleasure in less than eight years.
In fact, Wilson was held up to view as a
sort of Monte Cristo, whose source of
wealth was unknown and fabulous.
The trial of his suit against Philip L.
Moen for $150,000 on an alleged breach of 4
contract, developed the fact that it was
536,081. Stringed Instrument. William from Moen that he obtained his money.
H. Howe, Watertown, Mass.
Graduates The reason why he obtained it, however,
the top or back of the instrument, prefer- was never made clear. Moen claimed that
ably both, from the centers of the lobes so Wilson had detected some one in crime—
that the edge will be the same thickness all the details were never made public—and
around. The general vibration is thus en- that he paid the money rather than have
hanced and the local sensitiveness to cer- the affair made public.
tain notes eliminated, so that the "wolf" is
There was not force enough to this story
not present.
for an incredulous public.
Facts were
missing to give it credence, so another
story was put under way. This showed
that Wilson was Moen's illegitimate son.
The millionaire occupied a high place in
Massachusetts society, was a vestryman in
the church, and it was argued that he paid
the money rather than have his early dis-
grace made known. But the public still
remained incredulous.
This much was known: Philip L. Moen
had paid a man called "Doc" Wilson more
536,111.
Stringing Pianos.
C.
S. than $400,000 in about eight years. Why
Weber, San Jose, Cal. A sound board of he paid it, how he paid it, what his rela-
approximately box form held in suspension tions with Wilson were, and who Wilson
on the musical strings and properly bal- was have always remained a mystery.
That an important secret existed between
anced by a set of tensional supports.
the two men there was not a shadow of
doubt. What that secret relation was will
be disclosed when Wilson's statement is
made public. The reason why Moen gave
him the money, the manner and time when
it was given, and the methods which were
used in spending it will also be fully ex-
plained.
This much is known at the present time:
"Doc" Wilson, or L. W. Moen, which he
says is his proper name, will claim that the
late Philip L. Moen was his father. He
will assert that he acted like an honorable
man in receiving the money from him, that
much of it was spent contrary to his ad-
vice, and that if he had been given free
sway with the finances different results
would have ensued. In fact, the Newark
man will try to prove, it is believed, that
the chief sinner in the days gone by was
Philip L. Moen, not himself.
Moen is afraid that baleful influences are
at work against him from Worcester. He
says that detectives have been watching him
for the last four or five months, and he can-
not imagine where they come from unless
they were sent from his ole 1 home.
If Wilson's story is correct, and his rela-
tions with Philip L. Moen were honorable,
it is possible that some of the secrets of the
wire trade may come out in the trial. The
years from 1875 up to the time the original
suit was begun, were exceedingly bad for
the barbed wire business. This material
had begun to be extensively used in the
West, and many a protest went up from the
owners of cattle and horses which were
mangled by the sharp points on the wires.
The methods of making the wire have
changed since then, and the material vised
is now comparatively harmless.
Wilson was educated in mechanics, and
received patents for several inventions. It
is possible that a portion of the vast sum
paid to him by Moen was for patents he had
taken out, and another portion for securing
rights which had been obtained by others.
Several valuable wire patents were taken
out about that time, and the parentage of
some of them is in doubt. Some of Wil-
son's Newark friends contend that he was
more deeply interested in the Washburn-
Moen works than was known at the time,
and that it was partly on account of this
connection that the money was paid.
Mr. McDermit, L. W. Moen's attorney,
says that all these things will be made clear
at the trial, when a story of marvellous in-
terest will be told.
The attorney of Philip W. Moen, the
only son of Philip L. Moen, said to a news-
paper man this week in Worcester: "This
man Wilson has absolutely no claim what-
ever against the Moen . estate,'' and he
continued, "it will be so proven, if the
necessity arises. No, neither his lawyer
nor himself has communicated with us
about the case, or made any overtures to
us, and if they did such communications
would be immediately returned, and their
overtures contemptuously rejected.
We
shall have absolutely nothing to do with
him or his lawyer. "
..',