St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1893-09-30

Schwalbach, in the work. Al with
many other inventions, there were
constant discouragemcnts met with
while the idea was being worked ont
Various principles were tried and then
discarded. and the experiments were
found by no means inexpensive.
It was in September, 1867, that . ma
chine was finally produced that would
write. The inventor was in high
feather, and letters were at once writ
ten ON tho machine and sent TO per.
sons who had been cognizant Of the
work. So satisfied was Mr.. ShOles that
he had produced . machine Of peac-
tical commercial value that he put the
cumbersome affair on an express
wagon and brought il to tho ONCE Of
. Milwaukee life insurance company.
II wouldn't give the thing table
room," said the president in his usual
gruf though well-meaning way, when
tho work of the machine had heen
demonstrated. The inventor WAS
somewhat cast down, but he lived 70
sec that very company devote . large
corridor in its building to typewriters.
perfected from this machine which
had been 50 heartlessly laughed At
This first typewriter, rs will Be seen
by the illustration, was built Of wood
almost entirely, and was crude enough,
compared with the machines Of to-day.
II was so far satisfactory, however,
that il wrote rapidly and accurately,
although plainly not yet sufficiently
s>orfoct>A HC ~ v,,,H ,,v>ov Hhn ,vr~vl,>H
One very noticeable defect was that .
sheet could not be seen until the writ
ing was completed and the plan Of
printing through the paper against the
ribbon was bad, necessitating, as il did.
the use of tissue paper entirely.
One Of the letters written on the first
typewriter was sent to James Dcns-
more, Meadville, Pa, and he WAS 50
impressed by the invention that he
asked to become financially interested
in improving it. He was permitted to
join the enterprise by paying all ex-
penses up to date and was given .
fourth interest in the machine. He
did not see the invention until le6a
lie regarded il rs valuable only be-
cause il demonstrated the feasibility
of machine writing. and he encouraged
Mr.. Sholes to persevere in bringing IL
TO . state of perfection. Offering to pay
all expenses. A shop started st Chi
cago was abandoned after fifteen ma
chimes had been made, and Messrs
Soule and Glidden drew ont of the en-
terprise, Mr.. Sholcs then fitting up .
workshop in little stone building in
the milling district Of Milwaukee,
where water power from . canal was
available. This building has since dis
appeared. Within its dingy walls the
work Of perfecting the invention
progressed, and by dint Of work that
was wearing on the patience and en-
ergy Of the inventor, . machine that
was considered complete was finally
turned out Il was put In the hands of
. stenogrspher, and afterward sent TO
James Clcphane, Of Washington. whose
opinion was considered valuable. Mr..
Clephanc tried the machine. and Il
gave way literally under the test An
other was sent him, and in the course
of time several, each having some inn
provcMent, met . similar fate. For
once Mr.. Sholes despaired, but Mr..
Densmore insisted that Il was really
the salvation of the invention, show.
ing the weak spots that would injure
il in the market, and laid stress on tho
necessity of producing . machine that
anyone could use. In 1873 the machine
was thought to Be completely worked
out Is to detail. and the propriet0rs