Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-05-07
HE INVENTED THE LOOM.
SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND WORK OF
JOSEPH M. JACQUARD.

His Machine Revolutionized Silk weay-
fns-With 1t One Man Can Do Work
That Formerly Required from Six to
Ten People, and Do 1t Better
Joseph Marie jacquard will always be
regarded as one of the foremost inventors
in the textile world, and his loom as one
of the most brilliant of industrial inven-
tons. Few have ever accomplished such
revolution in industry, and still fewer
have by so doing alleviated the sufferings
and improved the condition of their fell
low laborers to the extent realized by
jacquard. Jacquard was in the full
sense of the word self made man of
the people. and it is this fact that makes
the study of his life particularly inter
estlng to an American.
Born at Lyons July Z, 1852, son of a
silk weaver. he assisted his father at the
loom from his earliest years, acting as
draw boy" as those workmen were
termed who pulled the strings by which
means the warp was manipulated on the
OLD looms SO as to weave figured goods
Here he became familiar with all the
woes of the draw boys" life, and so
deeply did they impress themselves on
his mind that the desire to do away with
this drudgery continued to be his lead
ing thought throughout life. The boys
health gave way at the loom, so he was
apprenticed to bookbinder and later to
a type founder. But the demon of in
ventive genius had already seized upon
him, and he spent most of his time in
tinkering, and was regarded as hopeless
ly lazy by those around him.
When jacquard was twenty years of
age his father died, leaving him small
patrimony, with which the young man
began weaving brocades on his own &C.
count, and soon after married But he
devoted most of his time to tinkering
around on his looms, and this, with his
lnexperience, brought about his business
failure within few years.
Silk industry being at a low tide,
young jacquard had to accept work in a
Hmekiln, while his wife found employ
ment in plating straw hats.
In 1890 the idea of loom that would
do away with the "draw boys assumed
definite shape in Jacquard's mind, but
Ms extreme poverty rendered it impos-
sible for him to construct a model at
that time. However, he did not de-
spair, and a copy of "Poor Richards AL
manac, which came into his hands
about this time, encouraged him all the
more to persevere and to try to triumph
in spite of his poverty.
Domestic Affections now overwhelmed
him. Having enlisted in the army for
the national defence with his young son,
he saw the latter fall at his side in an
engagement on the Rhine Returning
to Lyons, jacquard arrived just in time
to be at the deathbed of his wife.
He was employed as day laborer in a
factory, and devoted his evenings with
great zeal to the modelling of his favorite
idea. Most of the work was done with
a jackhnife. In 1900 his loom was finished
A model sent to the Industrial expo
sition IN 1901 brought him a bronze
medal and a call to Paris to repair the
looms of the "Conservatoire DIES Arts ct
Meters" at a salary of 5000 francs per
with which. Vancanson had vainlv tried
to solve the question which occupied
jacquard, and from this loom our in
ventOr gained some new ideas. He re-
turned to Lyons, and after two years
faithful work succeeded in bringing
forth loom which effectively solved the
difficulty, and enabled a single weaver
to weave figured goods The govern
ment at once granted him pension of
5000 francs and a royalty of fifty francs
per loom.
To understand exactly the value of
this invention it must be borne in mind
that up to this time the weaving of fig
ured goods required from five to ten
worllmen to each loom, most of them
being employed in pulling the strings, by
which means the warp was opened for
the passage of the shuttle. A string
had to be drawn for every passage of
the shuttle. Thus the draw boys had
to work rapidly, the pulling was heavy,
neceSsitating a strained position and re-
quiring the most painful eXactness, as
single mistake would mar the figure.
For this clumsy apparatus of strings and
pedals. requiring the attention of num-
Der of workmen, jacquard substituted a
continuance as simple as ingenious, en-
aiding single workman to execute the
most complex patterns as easily as plain
goods. Not only were the draw boys"
dispensed with, but the goods were made
with a finish and exactness which before
was not even dreamed Of
However, in spite of Jacquard's COM
plete success. his loom was neither gen.
orally taken up by manufacturers at
once nor the invention hailed with de-
light by the weavers. Every new loom
threw four or more workmen out of
work Even the draw boys preferred
life of torture and deformity to starva-
ton. jacquard was publicly assaulted
by his enraged fellow workmen and al
most precipitated into the Rhone. Even
the "Couseil des Prud 'hommes'' at one
time ordered the destruction of the new
loom to appease the wrath of the weav-
ers. But Jacquard's loom, like every
truly great invention, was bound to tri-
umph, and by 1912 it had firmly estab-
lished itself throughout the Lyons work
shops.
Numerous lucrative offers were now
made jacquard from abroad, particular
ly from England, but he preferred re-
naming in Lyons, giving himself up en-
tirely to his native town. Later on he
purchased small estate at Oullins, near
Lyons, where he died Aug. 7. 1884, aged
eighty-two years.
1t may be said that to Jacquard's in
vent1on is due not only the greatness OF
Lyons in the silk world, bat the ire