Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-03-09

: which spins 5000 yards per day, or fc
the 800 splndles 1000, 900 yards, or neG
2. 100 miles of thread.
In 1906 Edward Cartwright, of Eng
land, invented loom for weaving cotto
which was propelled by water. In 1S1
tho first power loom in this country wa
set mp at Waltham, Mass. In 1886 Georg
Compton invented new loom, which h
put III operation at Taunton, Mass.-th
same loom that two years later he adapt
ed to weaving fancy woolens. In 1850 h,
improved this machine so that his loon
threw the shuttle fifty times a minute
across web thirty-six inches wide. To
day, by improved machinery, the shuttle
Is thrown $50 times a minute. Over / 200
patents have been issued on looms (cottor
and woolen), 1000 on spinning machines
and $50 on cnrding machines.
Ell Whitney made our immense pro
dliction Of cotton possible. Before the
discovery of his cotton gin man could
only gin four and one.half pounds pei
day by hand. The latest improved cot
ton gins turn out 400 pounds por hour,
or =, 900 pounds per day
twenty-five years ago shoes were made
entirely by hand. Now So per cent OF
tho work is performed by machinery.
Last year 45,000,0 900 pairs of shoes were
sewed and 56,O00,000 pairs pegged by
machinery in the New England States.
A gang OF ten men, with modern machin-
cry, make GOO pairs day. A successful
pegging machine, invented by Mr.. B. F..
Sturtevant. poor journeyman shoemak-
or, who was seven years in perfocting it,
and from which he has lived to realize a
competency, punches the holes and cuts
and drives in accurately 900 pegs per
minute, at mn average cost of q cent per
par American machine-mad0 boots and
shoes are now exported in large quanti-
ties TO Germany and other foreign coun-
tries. One single skilled operator, by
machinery, will sew on the soles of from
5OO to 900 pairs of shoes per day by
hand labor he could not accomplish more
than six pairs i'll the same time Over
1900 patents have been granted or shoe
machinery, shoe tools, lasts. etc, of
which humber 276 have been issued for
shoe peggers alone
Few people have any adequate idea OF
the time and money wasted and spent bv
inventors upon their failures and sue
cesses in pcrfecting their inventions
failures are buried in oblivion along with
the money lost /; the few successes are
heralded far and wide. A case or two may
be cited rs IN illustration
Before Il select committee of the British
Parliament appointed in 1871 "to inquire
into the law and practice and the effect of
granting letters patent for inventions"
Mr. Holden and his partner, Mr.. Lester,
testified that they had spent sixteen years
of time and over $500. 900 in perfecting
their wool combing machine, and that
there had been altogether spent on the
invention, from the time Of its inception
until its perfection, not less than ST.
OOO, 600.
Bcssemcr, the inventor of Bessemer
'toel, testified that he expended 900, 900
in gold and over two and n half years of
his entire time upon experiments in per-
fcctlng his inventions, which ultimately
reduced the price Of steel from $500 to
$50 per ton, and increased the production
IN England alone from 81 900 tons in 1851
to 300, 900 tons il 1871. His incentive
for the expenditure of this large amount
Of money and valuable timo was the hope
)f ultimate reward, which lie accom-
plished through the protection of the pa
tent laws otherwise, he testified, he
wouid not have spent one dollar in ex-
pcrments.