The Kanzas news., 1859-01-22
BY HENRY WARD BEEcHER. - !;

Machine sE -
BY HENRY WARD BEEcHER
Amongst the many things which We did
not. but now do believe in, is the Sewing
Machine. One thing after another had been
Invented: one machine after ano.her super
eeded manual labor, until human hands
seemed abent TO go out of use, for any 9TH
er mechaHicat pur poses than that of lovers
pressures. orators gestures, and for beaux'
and bellies gloves. Butwe always consoled
ourselves that one or two things there were
yet. which no hosmaekiuery could peTferm.-
We could imagine children put tnrnHgh a
whipping machine, and we had long been
accustomed 10 sealhem taught BY automatic
machines. There WAS tie tiTne-ifpnyred bu-
siness handed downito US, without a break
from the Garden of Eden, of courtipg-and
kissing as one, of It's ordiuances-lio ma
chinery eouldever perform that. Machine
poetry, and machine sermons, we were ia
miliar with. Babbage can make machines
for cyphering, for computing logarlthms,
for casting up interest, but can he invent Il
machine for savirq interest, and capital too,
for that matter? And oh! can there ever
be machine for answering letters? We
would pay any price for a machine. int"
which letters being put. and a crank turned,
there should drop out at the other side an
swers as good as the letters, folded, directed
and stamped
Bur machines have steadily gained ground.
and the iron muscle has relieved the flesh
hand machines for boring. saving. cut
ting. planning for making bread, 4 wish
there was one for eating some of ID for
u
own drink But, Notwithstanding we firm
" believed that some things would never be
done by any fingers excect human. and em
inent among these impossible things was
Sewing. Nothing, We were sure, could eY
er perform that, except the latest and best
invention OF Paradise-Woman.
When the rumors began to prevail, then.
respecting an invented sewing machine, We
lifted our eye -brows gently, and went on
our way with quiet consciousness that We
could not be taken in by any such story
We regarded it as of a piece with new found
morality in cid politicians, with the thous-
and annual rumoFs of some heaven-dawned
virtue in Washington City-a mere device
10 catch the credulous.
But day by day. the clatter grew. In
deed we surprised ourselves with coat
sewed in important respects by machine
We saw linen, and pyramids of sheelng
made for hotels and steamboats, by sewing
machines.
The case was growing serious. indeed !;
and at last it came to head. when the head
of the family informed US that woman was
to come in few DAYS, witt, her Wheeler d
Wilson, and do up the family sewing. OF
course, we submitted without word And
the three capable persons of this household
began TO prepare matter for the machine.
to an extent which showed how perfectly
they had been fooled by the story of its ex
eeutive ability. Piles of large stuff lay
in each corner; little stuff covered the ia
BILE; and miscellaneous stuff lay everywhere.
We ran against cotton heaps, were in dan
ger of getting tangled in webs of linen and
sheeting ut every turn. and such ripping
an tearing, and cutting, and basting, As
went on. would lead one TO imagine thai an
army was to be clothed
The day dawned The woman came, and
the iron Wheeler dE Wilson came with her,
her aid TO wait on Messrs. W. dE w. After
a little, there arose hum from our cham
Der, not unlike the buzz of wheat mill.
such rs we have heard in summer, sitting
under willow trees on the edge of stream.
over against a led mill, white-dusled. Soon
we heard excited exclamations. Everybody
seemed stirred up. The girls left their
work the children forsook their play things,
and we followed tie example.
There sat before the simple machinest stand,
fair young woman. some sixteen years
old. whose foot, like that of old-fashioned
fax spinners, was working the treadle with
the nimblest motion. Then came the con-
viction, for the first time, that sewing was
conquered and vanquishedl Long sheets,
entering the fatal pass, streamed through,
and came out hemmed, in ridiculously
short time. An hours work done before
your eyes in one minute A shirt was set
in, of such dimensions, that we eaH Baron
Munchausen TO witnessi1 man could not
get round Il by fair walking, in less than
well. In some timei Il STRAINED through
the all-puncturing Wheeler d Wilson about
as soon as a good-sized fiag. being hoisted,
would unrel and flow out to the wind. A
bundle of linen took its turn, and came forth
a collar, a handkerchief. cap. There
goes IN piece of cloth there came out a
shirt We were. bewildefed. Not much
was done for some hours in that house but
gaze and wonder. We mistake. "A good
deal more was done. and done more effeetu-
Tally, than had ever been done in ten times
the time beforei What heaps of towels
what piles of sheets-what bedfulsof small
trumpery-what bureaus full of fine trash
what earpet-litteEiug stacks ofauDmen-
tienable matters thai make mp the eleth-in-
i.yentory of household wealth.
- I :
her three days prepared work melting away
before noon, as three days April snow
disappears IN a few hours