MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 81 



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SEWING MACHINES. 



THE effect of the introduction of the power-loom and spinning 

 frame upon hand labor, seems about to be repeated so far as the needle 

 woman is concerned, in the introduction and general use of the various 

 sewing machines. Six of these machines are now in general use viz : 

 That of Elias Howe, Jr., patented Sept., 1846, sold for $125. 2. That 

 of I. M. Singer, sold for $125. 3. That of A. B. Wilson, patented 

 Nov., 1850, sold for $50. 4. That of J. M. Magnin, a French inven- 

 tion. 5. That of Morey and Johnson, of Massachusetts. 6. That of 

 Dr. Otis Avery, patented Oct., 1852, sold for $25. 



The machine of Mr. Howe was the first practical invention of the 

 kind, and it is claimed that all the subsequent inventions infringe upon 

 his patent. He uses two threads, and an accurate idea of his seam 

 will be formed by twisting two threads together and imagining them so 

 disposed as that the point where they cross each other is always in the 

 cloth, one of them forming the visible portion of the stitch on one side, 

 and the other on the other. The machines of Singer, Wilson, and 

 Morey and Johnson, use needles of a kind different from Howe's, but 

 produce the same stitch as his. Of these four, all are equally correct 

 and good in respeet to mechanical principles, but as they differ widely 

 in many particulars, one being vertical and another horizontal, one 

 carrying its own cloth and another requiring that it should be carried 

 by hand, actual trial can alone decide which is the best for practical 

 use. The N. Y. Tribune states, " that it has seen shirts, pants, coats, 

 shoes, and the like, made by them, in all of which the strength of the 

 seams are satisfactory. In most, if not in all cases, the material would 

 give way and tear, but the sewing would not rip. The perfect regu- 

 larity of the stitches made by these machines renders them very useful 

 for fancy work like shirt bosoms. For an inch of seam, three inches 

 of thread are used. A person with a machine will do from five to ten 

 times as much work as with the needle. In several large shops they 

 are used, and many persons wear garments made by them without a 

 suspicion of the fact." 



Magnin's machine operates w^ith a single thread, and produces what 

 is known as the tambour stitch. It may do for embroidery, and has 

 even been arranged with several needles and used for that purpose, 

 but it is worth nothing for sewing. Its principal defects are, that when 

 one stitch is broken the whole seam will unravel ; that it requires eight 

 inches of thread for every inch of sewing ; and that in fancy work it 

 gives different results on the two sides of the cloth. 



The machine invented by Dr. Avery was first exhibited at the Fair 

 of the American Institute in New York, in October, 1852. The 

 arrangement is comprised in two cam wheels, two shafts, two spools, 

 two needles, two crank wheels, and a weight. The crank wheels turn 



