Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-12-31
TO SAVE LABOR.
The Wonderful Inventions That do the
Work of Human Hands.
Machines That Make Clothes, Shoes, Set Type,
Knead Bread, Run Motors and Do Farm
Work-Efect on the Toilers.
New York Star.

New York Star.
An ardent student of political economy
who is regarded as an authority in mat
tiers pertaining to that science, while dis
cussing the growth in popularity of labor
saving machinery, recently gave utter
ance to these words:
sit has never been questioned that
machinery has added greatly to the pro-
ductive power and possessions of man.
kind. A mischievous fallacy has,
however, been often accepted by the un-
instructed to the effect that machinery has
q tendency to dispense with hand labor +,
and SO to benefit the consumer at the ex-
pense of the workingman. To clear away
this false belief it is only necessary to re-
member that machinery itself must be
made with hands, that the capital of a
country will not be diminished by the
employment of machinery, and that such
capital must continue to be employed in
paying wages as of old. 1t is true that
there is shifting of the parties to whom
the wages are paid
Discussions on this subject have been
frequent of late. They become more
general as the use of Saving ma
CIIIHCEy STbhS. All uU uOI Its-IcO DIS ~
the effect that the introduction of ma
chinery has on the workman. Many
hold that it is injurious, depriving him of
employment. 1t is of frequent occur
renee when the calling INTO use of ma
chinery has been the means of depriying
large numbers of employment that ad-
verse criticism has been called forth.
Agitation followed, but it SOON died out
for the reason that the majority of those
workmen superseded by the
machine had found other en-
ployment. In the last quarter
of century great progress has been made
IN the invention and manufacture of
labor saving machinery, especially in the
United States. Still, Notwithstanding
the fact that the population has increased
with wonderful and at times alarming
rnpidity, the great majority of the work
ing people are remuneratively employed.
'This question has been frequently
asked of late: what new labor saving
machines are there now in the market?'
The fact that the American Watch
Case Company of this city recently
laid off over 800 men whose
work is now being done by machinery
caused considerable discussion Among
the men were a number of engravers. 1t
was regarded "a 4 new departure that
their work was to be done by machinery.
All that was new about il was the iunova-
ton in that company 8 works. Engrav
ing watch cases by machinery is now an
old process, and has long been in vogue in
the works of the Waltham Company in
Massachusetts, and those of the National
Watch Company at Elgin, III. The ma
chimes have passed the state of crudity,
and are almost perfect. They save the
manufacturers from 80 to so per cent.
Very few new labor saving machines
have been introduced III the last few
years. 1t is possible, though, nowadays
to get almost anything done by machin-
cry. Everything that man wears from
the shoe that covers his foot to the hat
that he puts Oh his head, can be turned
ont by machinery. 1t is generally known
that shoes, coats, trousers, vests, hats
and underwear are sewn together by ma
chimes. 1t is not a matter of general
knowledge, however, that every detail of
the work done on these articles can be
performed by mechanical contrivances.
This age is one of progress. Clothing
is now chopped into shape by eloth-cut-
ting machine, just as n piece of plain
wood is turned into an ornament by
scroll saw or molding machine. The
Cutters art is becoming less popular
with the large clothing manufacturers.
Fully one-half of the ready made cloth
ing worn by the people of New York to-
day has been cut out of the piece by
machine. A pair of trousers or n coat is
not cut singly. The machines cut two
or three dozen trousers or coats at the
same time. This means large saving TO
the manufacturer
1t is not all, though. Hand labor is
saved in other departments. Where
some years ago in a large factory there
were dozens of men and women busily
engaged in cutting button-holes and
threading the edges, there are now two
OF three machines which cut and sew
with as much excellence, more regularity
and ten times greater rapidity. There
are also machines which measure clotn
Thousands have been thrown out of work
by the introduction of these machines.
A mechanical continuance which has
only lately been brought to that state
where it has become useful is the type
setting machine. There are two or three
of them in newspaper office in this city.
They are not however, in the opinion of
many, so useful as those in the Office of
the Hartford Conn Post. In recent
issue of the Post 1t was announced that
the entire paper had been set by ma
chimes. 1t is the first office in the coun-
try in which such feat has been accom-
plished.
"The type-setting maching is an old
invention. The first was made i'll En-
gland. 1t was invented bv William
Church. On the records of the English
patent office the specifications of the pat
ent appear under date of March, 1922
After n lapse of twenty years this was
followed by Il number of others, scarcely
q year passing without one or more being
patented. Two men named Young and
Delcambre became quite celebrated
through their efforts TO perfect the ma
chine. They were unsuccessful. For
more than half q century the construc-
ton of n useful type-setting machine has
been problem which number of in
genius men have tried to solve. 1t is only
within the past few years that there has
been anything more than the mere ap-
pcarauce of success.
''The want of an efficient distributing
has hitherto been the great
drawback, but now IA Mr.. Fraser has con-
structcd distributor that bids fair TO
supply the want. 1t separates the differ
ent letters by series of switches acted
upon by keys similar to those of the COM
posing machine. On the depression of a
key the corresponding switch is opened
and the type guided to its proper COM