The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-22 00:00:00

INVENTION OF THE SEWING DIN

BY ELIAS HOWE, OF MASSACHUSETTS.

In the year 1841, Ries Howe, si native of Cam'
bridge Port, Massachusetts, first, conceived the idea
of constructing a really practical sewing machine.
A young mechanic, only 22 years of age, hardly
capable of supporting himself and those most dear
to him on his scant earnings, be laboured manfully,
in a little garret in his native town, at his self-
imposed task, during the few hours that were
spared to him after the ordinary labours of the
day were ended. He became enthusiastic, and
although, as he says, he could not devote his
attention to the subject during his working
hours, he thought upon it when he could, both
day and night. It grew upon him till he felt im-
pelled to yield his whole time to it, and being pro-
mised assistance by a friend, he devoted himself
exclusively i 9 the construction and practical corn'
pletion of his machine. The result was that in 1845
he perfected his first sewing machine, and, in order
to test its practical success, he sewed with it all the
principal seams in two suits of clothes. On the 10th
of September, 1846, he obtained his patent. In
Howe's original machine a curved needle, attached
to the end of a vibrating lever, was combined with
a reciprocating shuttle, for producing the lock'
stitch. The needle had an eye near its point, and a
groove formed along the upper and under sides, to
allow of the thread lying therein and so passing
more easily through the cloth. The cloth was
attached to pins on the edge of a thin steel rib,
called a " baster plate," from the fact of its serving
the purpose of a basting thread in bolding the two
thicknesses of material together whilst being
stitched. This plate formed a portion of the feed
mechanism for propelling the cloth; it was carried
along step by step by the teeth of a small pinion
which geared into holes made in the baster plate,
an intermittent rotatory motion being imparted to
the pinion by self-acting mechanism working in
concert, with the needle and shuttle. This feed
motion was found to be defective in many respects,
and has since been entirely abolished in all sewing
machines. The cloth was held in a vertical
position against the side of the shuttle race by
a spring presser-plate at the part where the
needle entered. The shuttle was driven to and
fro in its race or groove by two strikers,
carried on the ends of vibrating arms, worked
alternately by cams. The most important few'
tures embodied in this machine were the
adaptation of suitable contrivances for imparting
the requisite amount of tension to the needle and
shuttle-threads, for taking up the slack formed on
the needle thread when the needle enters the cloth/
for tightening and drawing up the stitch, and Al
supporting the cloth against the thrust and with'
drawal of the needle. Shortly after obtaining h 1
patent in America, Howe sent over a machine to
this country, and disposed of his invention to
William Thomas for a trifling amount.
On the Ist of December, 1846, Mr. Thomas 01?
tained a patent for the machine in England, 00011
after which Howe himself arrived here to assist
him in adapting the machine to the peculiar kind
of work required, namely, stas making. Howe doer
not appear to have prospered here, for in the spring
of 1849, indebted to a friend for a steerage passage
home, he returned to America, poorer if possiblil
than when he left. He found his wife on a bed o
sickness and in a state of utter destitution. 'J
days after his arrival she died. During his absenei
in England his patent had been extensively
fringed, and in 1850 he commenced legal proceed'
ings, and succeeded in every case in establishing
the validity of his patent.
In the course of these proceedings a prior claiol
to the invention of the sewing machine was set of
by Walter Hunt, who was said to have constructed;
exhibited, and sold, in 1834 and 1835, shuttle of,
lock-stich sewing machines, similar in all essential
particulars to Howe's. That Hunt had tried 1311
hand at a lock-stitch sewing machine, and was the
inventor of the shuttle or lock-stitch, there is
nt
doubt, but it was never satisfactorily proved that
such machines were so far perfected as to render
them more than abortive experiments. The turning
point in Howe's career had now arrived, and for
tune soon began to smile upon him. In 1853 114
granted his firet licence, and in 1855 was enabled U,
regain possession of the whole of his patent, which.
at one period he had entirely disposed of, in order
to meet the pressing demands that were made Wit
him. His patent rights being finally acknowledged
and his patent prolonged for a term of seven year
he now receives a royalty upon every sewing
machine manufactured in the United States, pro'
during an income of upwards of £50,000 pet
annum.—Social Science Review.