The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-04-10

Patent.
Mr.. Speaker, there is perhaps no one
implement that portrays more beautifully
the progress of inventions in this country
and the inventive genius of the a mcri-
can mind than the Mckay sewing ma
chine. 1t is All implement complex and
yet simple; there is little that is auto
matte in it, and yet it has only to be
guided in its movements, when it accom-
pIishes work that can neither be eouaed
or surpassed by the most ekilfui me-
chanic. This machine comprises per-
haps fifty patents, the results Of as many
combined intellects, the controlling one
OF which will expire during the current
year. The purpose of the petition now
under consideration is to secure a new
lease of life to this controlling patent,
and thereby continue to its owners the
privilege of levyirg or imposing speci.
he'd royalty upon every pair of shoes the
solcs Of which have been scwed to tho
uppers by any one Of the twelve hundred
machines now in operation throughout
the United States.
Anterior to the war there were very
few large shoe manufactures. AL shoes
were made by hand, the material Of
which they were made being cut out and
distributed among mechanics who did
most OF their work at their homes The
demand, however, was greater than the
supply, and the thoughtful American
mechanic soon proved himself equal to
the occasion. Invention, protected by
the wise provisions Of our organic law,
was not long in substituting machinery
for muscle, and foremost among the
minds that contributed To this end was
one l.. Il. Blade, who in 1860 secured
letters patent upon a machine for bot
tomng boots and shoes. Without being
perfected, this machine was sold to Mr..
Gordon Mckay, Of Cambridge, Massa-
chusetts, shoe manufacturer, in whose
employment lived Mr.. r. ii. Mathes.
This employee being man of peculiarly
inventive powers, was assigned the duty
of working, and, if practicable. perfect
ing this machine. He gave it constant
study for months and so closely did he
apply himself that an idiosyncrasy was
produced that resulted in his committing
suicide.
During his employment by Mr.. Nc
Kay, Mr.. Mathics received wages that
averaged SO per day, and in August.
1862, was awarded letters patent for an
opOib ttlC <flCIAdS lIluCIIIUc,
(,hc Blade patent,( AS soop.as this was
lin. il: tie tse1lIs . g Sa. i,s
prctIer was rejected, Mathis pfgserring
io sell his patent, which he did, in the
spring of 1868, to Mckay, for $4,000
cash. In October, 1868, the same year
he sold his patent, and before it had been
satisfactorily tested by the purchaser.
Mathies, in fit of abberration commit
ted suicide
MIR. Mckay continued to improve this
machine, and finally organized COM
pany, known as the Mckay Sewing Ma
chine Association, who built these ma
chimes and sold them at about the cost of
manufacture to shoe manufacturers, cx-
acting small royalty OF from one to
three cents upon every pair of shoes made
upon them.
Anterior to 1860 the life of patent
WAS by law limited to fourteen years,
with the privilege, however, of an extern
sion for seven years under certain condi-
tions. The patent Of Mr.. Blade, which
j.; one of the controlling patents in the
Mckay machine, was issued in 1860 for
fourteen years, and extended for seven,
and will therefore expire in 1881.
Since 1860 the life Of patent is legiti-
matcly seventeen years, without the I'M
piled condition of extension. The
Mathies patent, which is another con-
trolling patent i'll the Mckay machine,
WAS issued in 1862 for seventeen years,
and will expire next October. Though
all these patents are owned by the Mckay
Sewing Machine Association, the appli-
cation fer the extension Of the Maihies
patent IL brought in the name Of Mrs.
Manvillc, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who
WIS the widow Of 'he inventor Mathes,
AMI the reason assigned why the exten-
sion should be granted is that $4,000, the
amount paid by Mckay to Mathies for
the invention, was inadequate compensa-
ton for the incalculable advantages re-
sulting to the public from the use of this
patent. 1t will be observed that the
a'tnt was granted in August, 1862 the
$4,000 were paid i'll the spring of 1863,
before the utility of the patent was
thoroughly appreciated, and in the fall
at that same year the patentee commit
ted suicide.
The Mckay sewing machine rs at
present built is about six feet high, and
weighs over four hundred pounds. Be-
fore the inventions of Mathies were at.
tachcsl to the Blade Machine, it was
ahnnt one fourth that size. The inyen-
tions of Mathies were an automatic stick
and revolving horn," upon which the
sine is held while being sewcd, the sew
ing being simply that Of attaching the
soics to the uppers Of the shoe.
Mr.. Mckay organized an association,
which, in attempting to perfect and
utilize the Mathes inventions, incurred
n debt of over 100000 before they sue
ceeded. And, indeed, they were utterly
ignorant of the advantages of these two
Inventions until a drunken employee
somewhat recElessly held a shoe upon
t;'c horn and made the successful effort
o; sewing entirely around the sole with
out removing the shoe from the horn.
Before this the shoe was sewed from the
heel to the toe, taken from the horn.
turned, aud sewed on the other side in
began at the heel, sewed to the toe, held
sewed back again to the heel From that
Invaluable. Previous to that time forty
pairs of shoes day was an average task
upon one of these machines. Soon one
II ndred pairs were scwed, and to-day
SIX hundred pairs Is II moderate task
aud one man has been known 10 sew the
sole to the uppers of nine hundred pairs
oi shoes in ten hours.
!; is nowhere recorded that Mathics
latl the most distant conception oi the
value of his patent. Indeed, it was not
until one. third the life of the invention
hid secn expended that the capacity ol
this machine WAS discovered to be meas
urcl by the endurance of the operative,
and mt Inv The iuppnlIity nf tho invpn-