# Chewing Gum mess

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chewing-gum-mess/232242>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [March 3, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chewing-gum-mess/232242 "2004-03-03T04:37:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bean\_Counter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/db5fbb/32.png) [@Bean\_Counter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bean_Counter)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chewing-gum-mess/232242/1 "2004-03-03T04:37:51Z")

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Good-day,

There is a bit of a typo in Cecil’s [chewing gum column.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_345.html)

> [@](#):
>
> _Paragraph 5_  
> The next breakthrough came on December 28, 1869, when Patent No. \<-98,304 was issued to William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio. The visionary Semple laid claim to the idea that a functional chewing gum could be made from rubber, combined with unnamed “other articles.” Semple apparently never discovered what the other articles were, because there is no record of his product ever entering the marketplace. He was, as we shall see, a man ahead of his time.  
> 98,304 was issued to William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio. The visionary Semple laid claim to the idea that a functional chewing gum could be made from rubber, combined with unnamed “other articles.” Semple apparently never discovered what the other articles were, because there is no record of his product ever entering the marketplace. He was, as we shall see, ahead of his time.

You can see it repeats the remainder of the paragraph starting with the patent number. Of course, it’s not a Cecil mistake. I thinks a copy-boy is going to be missing a pinky in the morning…

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chewing-gum-mess/232242/2 "2004-03-03T12:36:15Z")

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Thanks for the catch, I have alerted the Powers that Wield the Electronic White-Out.