The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-11-26
DEVICE THAT DARNS
DENVER woMAN,s INVENTION WILL
 HE BOON TO HOUSEWIFE.
Attachment to Mend Hosfery is Easily Fitted to Sewing Machine-No Ex- cuse Left Now for Holes iI the
 Heels ana Toes of Footwear.

F1tte0 10 Sevtm8 Mnchtmo-NO Sx-x
 cuse Left Now for Holes ii the
 Heels ana Toes of Footwear.
 A machine for darning stockings will fill A long felt want" it is believed. The machine has come and 1t is the in- vention of a Denver woman. Mrs. George Henry Maynard. The darner bids fair to reyo1utionize the old sys- tenn of endless stitches day in and day out and the busy mother will lind time for rest and relaxation.
 The contrivance. which has already been patented in the United States and Canada, promises a return of no less than $1,000,000 and Is pronounced the most useful invention for Tightening household cares that has been made in years.
 Mrs. Maynard is of an inventive turn of mind. Although she Is no longer a young woman, her mind is ever on the alert and when last winter she turned attention to models for stocking darn CTS she felt that 1t would result in a patent which would crown her 1abors with a rich reward.
 And so 1t has. Mrs. Maynard some time ago. in darning a tablec1oth by machine, with the aid of embroidery hoops, began to think out a plan for mending hosiery in similar manner. But there was one obstacle which at first seemed insurmountable. It look ed as if it would be impossible to get down into the stocking so that the needle could operate. Then Mrs. May nard let the matter rest and went on with the old system of darning by hand. ,s-. ..
 Last winter she found herself think ing again of the possibility of inventing a darner which would do away with the tedious in-and-out stitch. With cardboard she made numerous models. each one a trifle less impracticable than the last. Then she hit upon the right one. She had a steel works make the slight improvement she had a patent darner which was~a revelation to her friends.
 How the Device Works.
 The model is an oval steel band about six inches in circumference. On one edge it has prongs which catch and hold the material to be darned. On the other are slender steel rods projecting. The distance between the pronged edge and the rods Is about three-quarters of an inch. The stocking is fastened to the prongs and stretched across as a piece of linen would be on ordinary embroidery hoops. The darner is shap- ed so that 1t will fit easily in the toe of a small stocking. The stocking Is
 
 so that when the garment is ready for mending it presents a perfectly smooth and plain surface. There are grooves in the side of the hoop through which the needle of the sewing machine passes after the foot has been removed and then, without lowering the ear, the stitching is run back and forth in a lattice work which. when completed, makes a surface as smooth as the un- worn part of the stocking.
 The finest thread is used in the machine and after the whole is worked solidly there is hardly a trace of the mending. Silk hosiery can be darned with the new contrivance in a manner which defies detection. The alarming of silk stockings has always been a problem. The stitches are apt to,be lost in the mending and then they ravel in what is known as ladder fashion. The mender invented by Mrs. Maynard does away with this difficulty.
 Tells of Her Efforts.
 Mrs. Maynard is extremely modest about her invention. She has pretty home out on Elizabeth street and there she has great bundles of letters from every part of thes country asking her about her work. T have always want ed to invent something, she said. with a bright smile which showed more plainly than words that she is delighted  now if the darner ib the success that everyone says it will be I have two or three other things I want to perfect. Do you know, always wanted to do something of this sort, but somehow I have just let the years slip by without making any attempt.
 Last winter when I was at work on a damask tablecloth thought that the same method could easily be applied to stocking mending If only a means of getting the stocking under the machine could be devised. As I have the darner TOW 1t can be used on any machine made am very happy over the re- suit of my work. It took long time to get my patent, but 1t is all right now. I began making models in January and in February had 1t perfected and made my application for patent. I got my Canadian patent in six weeks, but t Is only a month ago that I heard finally from the office at Washington"
 Mrs. Maynard is a pleasant woman to talk with. She has a fund of interest," ing information and Is so enthusiastic over the invention that she plans to do many other remarkable things.