Willson

Certiorari. The purpose of the proceeding before this court is to determine the legality of a judgment of contempt and an order of commitment arising out of the refusal of a person adjudged guilty of the contempt to answer certain questions propounded to him as a witness.

The witness was the defendant in the action. He was the proprietor of a business engaged in the manufacture and sale of fireworks. As a part of such enterprise he prepared and sold an article known as an “actinic flare,’ which was particularly useful in taking photographs in the moving picture business and which, because of its efficiency and its comparative cheapness, was in great demand, and from the sale and manufacture of which the defendant derived a very considerable profit. The process of its manufacture was a secret known only to the defendant. The article was made in the form of a tube, at one end of which was a wooden handle suitable either for holding in one’s hand or for attaching by means of a nail to a wooden post or pole or other object. In the other end of the tube was a fuse to be used for lighting the flare. Upon the flare was a printed statement in the following words:

It appears that the…