Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-11-30


sic; lock stitch, twisted loop stitch, GRO
chct stitch. II fascinating ingenuity. All
honor TO the memory of Alsop and Dun
can and Grccnough and Singer and Will
son and Grover and Wilcox for their
efforts to omancipatc woman from the
slavery OF toll. But, more than that, let
there be monumental commemoration Of
Elias Howe. the inventor of the first
complete sewing machine. What it has
saved of sweat and tears God only can
estimate. In the making of mems and
boys clothing in New York city in one
year it saved S7,5O0.0o0, and in Massa-
clusctts, in the making Of boots aud
shoes, in ono year it saved S7.0OO.O00.
Practical Education.
No wonder that at some VI the learned
institutions. like the NcS Jersey State
Normal school, and Rutgers Female in
stitutc and Emirn Female college, ac-
Qu1intance with the sewing machine is a
roquisition. young lady not being con
sidcrcd educated until she understands it.
Winter is coming on, and the household
must bo warmly clad. "Thc Last Rose
of summer" will sound better played on
u sewing machine than on piano. Roll
ON, q wheel Of the sewing machine, until
the last shacl,cd woman of toll shall be
cmnncipated- Roll on.
Secondly. | look into the agricultural
world 10 see what the wheel has accom-
pliShcd. Look ut the stalks of wheat and
oats, the Owe bread for man, tine other
bread for horses. Coat off and with n
cradle made ont of five or six fingers Of
wood and one of sharp steel, the harvest
cr went across the field, stroke after
stroke. pcrSpiration 'olling down fore
head and check and chest, head blistcrcd
by the consuming sun and lip parched by
The mcrccss August air, at noon the
workmcn lying half dead under the trees
one Of my most painful boyhood memo
rirs il that Of my father in harvest time
rccling from exhaustion over the door
step, too tired to cat, pale and faintng as
hc sat down. The grain brought to the
barn. the Shcavcs were unbound and
spread on Il thrashinc floor and two men
with fails stood opposite each other,
hour after hour and day after day,
pounding the wheat out of the stalk. Two
strokes, and then Il cessation of sound
Ihump, thump, thump, thump, thump,
thump. Founded once, and then turned
over to be pounded again, slow, very
slow. The hens cac;led and clucked by
the door and picked up the loose grains
and the horses half asleep aud doing
over the managers where the hay had
been.
But bark to the buzz Of wheels in the
distance. The farmer has taken his
throne on reaper. He once walked;
now he rites; once worked with arm of
flesh. now with arm of iron. He starts
Mt the end of the wheatfeld, heads his
horses to the opposite end of the field,
rides on. At the stroke Of his iron char
lot the gold of the grain is surrendered,
the machine rolling this way and rolling
that, this way and that, until the work
which would have been accomplished in
many days is accomplished in few
hours, the grainfcld PROSTATE before the
harvesters.
What quick clean work the wheel OF
the reaper does make, Soon after the
horses are fastened to the thrashing ma
chine back of the barn. The iron tooth
ed cylinders are ready for their prey.
The horses start, the unbound wheat is
plunged into the vortex, and the broken
straw is in one place and the pure st.
Louis wheat is in another place. The
driving wheel strapped. the cylinder
humming with terrible velocity, the in
experienced warned off for fear of acct
dent, the ground aquake with the mighty
revolution, | stand in awe and thanksgiv-
ing at the agricultural conquest and cry
out with the text, 40 Wheel.
Can you imagine anything more beau
tiful than the sea island cotton? / take
up the unmelted snow in my hand. How
beautiful it is, But do you know by
what painstaking and tedious toll il
passed into anything like practicality
If you examined that cotton, you would
find it full of seeds. 1t was severe
process by which the seed was to be eX-
tracted from the fiber. Vast populations
were leaving the south because they
could not make any living out of this
product. One pound of green seed cot
ton was all that a man could prepare in
one day, but Eli Whitney, a Massachu-
sctts Yankee, woke up, got handful of
cotton and went to constructing n wheel
for the parting of the fiber and the seed.
Benefits of Inventive Genius.
/ Teeth on cylinders, brushes on cylin.
dcrs, wheels on wheels. South Carolina
gave him $4,000 for his invention, and
instead of one man taking a whole day tC
| prepare pound of cotton for the market
now he may prepare three hundred
/ weight, and the south is enriched, ant
the commerce of the world is revolution
| lied, and over 10000 bales of cottoI
were prepared this year, enough to keel
at work in this country 14,30O,OOO spin
dies, employing 100000 hands and en-
listing $2S1 400 900 of capital.
Thank you, Eli Whitney, and L. S
Chichester of New York, his successor
! Above all, thank God for their inyentiv,
genius, that has done SO much for tn,
prosperity of the world.
When / see coming forth from this cot
ton production and cotton manufacture
enough cloth to cover the tables of n ma
ton, and enough spool thread to sew ev
cry rent garment, and enough hosiery t.
warm the nations feet, and enough cord
age to fly the sails of all the shipping
and enough wadding to supply the gun
of all the American sportsmen, an,
enough Irvine to fly all the kites outsid
of Wall street and enough tape to tie VI
all the briefs of all the attorneys, ant
enough hannels to blanket a slumberin
world, | thank God.
For the $4,000 received for his cotto
gin Whitney gave wealth that make
the word millions" imbecile. Strang
that one machine should work such maj
wells. Have you noticed the constructio
of the cotton gin? On one side OF it
count three wheels, and on another side
count three wheels, while on the thir
side there is wheel on the top Of
wheel, and the salutation Of the tex
bursts from my lips, while | cry in &c
stasy and admiration of gratitude, ~