Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1881-06-19
Official Report of the Committee on First
Award Rendered in March, gs4.,.
1881.

|
W CrameI Ger eth --s-aa sth st
| man, singer. ra otn aat.s. ON ..t
The Singer ana Howe Companies withdrew
| from the contest. ''- b"
Kernot, chairman; Harvey, vice-chair-
man Walton, Kay, Droop, Mclean, Put
nam, Basche Chesney, Villains.
The above result was the unanimous YER
dict of the jurors, after very thorough tests
and examination of both family and hand
machines in the jury room, which was ap-
pealed from by the leading sewing machine
companies, and lis fully explained in the fol-
lowing letter to the Davis Company from J.
I p. Newton: .es.s at.r.. .. ..-.tts- .-# ... ...
c. :. .E. MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, }
| . April Is, 1881.
The Davis Sewing Machine Company,
| Watertown
| Yours of February and March 2 re-
ceived by this mail. We have had very
lively times here since I last wrote, and we
are more than victorious this time. 1 wrote
you pretty fully the circumstances of our
being awarded the only first degree of merit
| on family and hand sewing machines. Well,
| seven of the other machines appealed,
and the executive appointed experts
to examine and report to them. | felt very
nervous over the matter, for l had
got good thing and wanted to keep it, of
course. And when I came to consider that
| these experts were selected by the machine
ry committee and I did not know one of
them, and these other machine men were
old residents and had their friends and
chums ON that committee and who could get
any one favorable to them appointed as an
expert, 1 felt that they could Ht-general me,
do the best could. Mr.. Rigg, one of the
commissioners, was away in Western Aus
tralia, and could not learn anything about
what was done or being done. Everything
was kept mum. Every day [ would see
these other sewing machine fellows in
earnest conversation and fixing up some
| thing One day, a little later than we gen.
orally closed up, three men came around
who had noticed had been at the W. & w.
for couple of hours and introduced them
selves as experts on sewing machine appeal.
They looked at our machine for few mo-
ments and then said that each of US was to
send III one of our machines to the large
jury room the next day and at 5 p. N. be
III readiness to operate it, as their
duties would only allow of their sitting
in the evening. One of the men was r. g.
Ford, of the railway department. who ex-
pumping engines, &c, &c, which had been
was vice-chairman, and it got third degree
of merit, while he was wild because it did
not get first. Jury 26 aud jury 81, sewing
machines were the same men with the ex-
ception of myself and one other, SO you can
see how I felt as by reporting unfavorable
to the jury it would ''spot" me and bring
their Judgment into discredit and influence
the executive on his own appeals at the
same time The time came; we went to the
jury room, and there they were; each agent
| with three or four operators, two or three
adjusters, half dozen agents and friends
to blow for them, prepared for business.
l knew nothing of what was up, but the
others did and were prepared. | was alone
with one operator. After taking a few
measurements of length of arm, height, size
of puneys, Wheel &C., they asked US all, one
at time, to take our machines to pieces,
and we took them entirely to pieces. Every
screw out of stand table tension, spOoler,
shuttle, &c. Every piece was counted and
tried with file, and their clerk took down
the result On their book. The entire even
ing up to o'clock was taken up with this.
We then had to put them up. and sew, but
the sewing was deferred to the next evening.
I have not been able to obtain the tabulated
report as yet, but have few items. We
had the least number of pieces by ovel
thirty. The largest number Of hardened
steel parts in any other machine was four
in the Davis eleven. They tested upper and
shuttle tension with machine for the pur-
pose, and the variation was less in ours than
any other. The greatest variation of oul
shuttle in the entire bobbin was one-sixth
of an ounce, some of them two ounces In
speeding our machine we made one hundred
and fifty stitches more than the w. &. W,
which made it great point (rapidity)
They gave us thirty minutes to make differ,
ent samples of work. The largest number
made by our opponents was seven, the next
i've We made twenty three, and much larg.
er and nicer. [ offered ego to any operator
who would duplicate them in two hours.
And SO we went through and beat them in
everything. When they made their report
they sustained the jury, saying that the
Davis was entitled to the only first award :
that the Standard which is known at home
as the New Home, by Johnson, Clark & Co,
was the only machine entitled to the second
degree and that Wheeler & Wilson and
| Wortheim which is an improved German
Singer, should be awarded from the second
to the third degree. One of the experts
bought Davis before they finished the ex-
animation. One of them has bought two
since. The commissioner, executive COM
mittee, jurors and experts are wild over the
Davis. You cannot imagine what an ex-
element it has caused have never seen
it equalled in all my experience in sewing
machine business, and I think 1 am the best
known man connected with the Melbourne
exhibition. have the best help ever had
engaged the help of Mrs. .Aldworth, who
had a little experience at Sydney with one
of the German machines. She is highly ed
ucated--speaks French. well. and is very
quick. She can beat me running the Davis,
think, and [ would not be willing to ad-
NIT as much of any other person. I ope-
rated the machine before the jury, and they
thought was necremaneer and that it
was all the operator. They then called her
in and found she could do just as welt and
for the sake of the impression, she did the
operating before the experts with the above
results, which l think is just glorious. Hol-
lerman d Co. sent me telegram congratu--
latlng me on our success. He spent some
time with me awhile ago, as did his man
ager, Mr.. Slock. .l,a5 +. gr... 3
|. l may conclude to,goate Bombay and see
Balentlne on my way to Zurich shall try
and get away by the first of June
shall get all the information with report
of jury and experts, &C., and send it to you
to haven't published in pamphlet form for
distribution. Agentleman here who writes
for the American Mail is going to write the