'The Daily Republican', Poplar Bluff, MO newspaper, Friday, June 1, 1904 - Front Page: GETS PATENT George W. Holt Secures Government Protection for his Bottle Sealing Device. George W. Holt of this city has received letter patent on his bottle stopper. The patent was issued under date of June 15, and the patentee now has in his possession that which bids fair to cause a revolution in those industries which produce things which fix bottles and which will make him rich. The device which Mr. Holt has patented is a preventative for the refilling of a bottle. For years manufacturers, especially distillers, have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually by substitution of inferior goods for their well known and expensively advertised brands. This led to all kinds of extravagant offers for a bottle which cannot be refilled. One was made in 1901 by a minister, and brought the inventor over a million dollars. But the buyers of that patent kept it for their own use and the hundreds of other manufacturers throughout the county are in as bad a position as though the thing had not been invented. Therefore, Mr. Holt's invention has the practical merit of being new and there is no reason to believe that his invention will be sold for less than the first one. Mr. Holt's bottle, however, is not merely a non-refillable bottle. It is more, for the bottle cannot be opened without being destroyed, so far as commercial use is concerned, it will still be a receptacle for liquids to be used about the house, etc., which is something that no other no- refillable bottle ever made can be used for. Mr. Holt's bottle is fitted with an ordinary cork. Then a glass cap - containing a coiled spring which rests on the cork, and a side spring which engages a shoulder on the bottle, is pressed down. The catch for the spring is blown with the bottle, but does not completely encircle the neck. A groove is left for the removal of the cap by turning it until the catch spring can pass through the groove. But the cap has on one side an extension which fits between two shoulders of glass, also blown with the bottle and of a piece with it. This extension prevents the cap's being turned and the bottle is therefore sealed tightly. To open this bottle all that is necessary is to give the cap, which is supported by the coil spring, a sharp downward blow. This causes the bottom of the cap to strike the little glass shoulders and breaks them off. At the same time the extension of the cap is broken by passing over a ridge on the neck of the bottle, and the cap may then be turned until the side spring can pass through the groove provided for it. Then the cork is drawn in the ordinary manner. The breaking of the shoulders on the bottle, and the extension on the cap forever prevents the bottle from being used for commercial purposes. No one will buy anything which may be placed in it for the original article as specified by the label, for the evidences that the contents have been tampered with are plain. No valves are used, and the bottle is absolutely sure to retain its contents, for anything that would break the cap would break the bottle, and if the cap should get broken the cork will still retain the contents. Altogether, it is the most perfect and satisfactory device for making fraudulent substitution of advertised articles impossible that has yet been invented.
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