John Tidmarsh, of 3, Wellesley Place, in the town of Calcutta, Optician and Watchmaker, in the employment of the firm of Messrs. Madeley and Company, of the same place, Opticians and Jewellers, for an invention of "Ascertaining the sight of any person and selecting lenses, pebbles, and glasses of the proper focus for spectacles and eye-glasses, and called 'Tidmarsh's sight-measure.' "—Dated 29th May, 1875.
Source: The Commissioners of Patents' Journal - 10th September 1875
Providence, R. I, July 13.—At the January session of the General Assembly, 1894. there was chartered a corporation known as the India-American Company, with a capital stock of $25,000. The stock was all owned by manufacturers in this city, and Louis Lawton and Fred Brown, two young
men, went from this city to India to represent the company. The object of the corporation was to establish an import and export business. After an absence of more than a year Mr. Brown has returned, and it is stated that Mr. Lawton will soon arrive and the affairs of the company be wound up.
When the company began business a number of the manufacturers of this city and New York were to be represented, and several sent shipments of goods to Calcutta. The business at the Indian end, however, did not come up to expectations, and the amount of capital invested was not sufficient to enable the company to continue. A large number of agencies were established, with headquarters at Calcutta, but it was soon found that the scheme would tie up a large amount of money, because of the time required to get the invoices from this country to India and convert the merchandise into cash.
Among those who took hold of the matter at its inception were several manufacturing jewelers, among whom were C. G. Bloomer & Son (The Aluminum Novelty Co.), Kent & Stanley Co., O. C. Devereux & Co., Parks Bros. & Rogers, Brown & Dean, of this city, and L. E. Waterman, fountain pens, New York,
Source: The Jewelers' Circular and Horological Review - 17th July 1895
