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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



The first decisive step in sewing the sole and upper together 

 was taken by Lyman R. Blake in 1858, his machine being per- 

 fected as the McKay sole-sewing machine. The machine, as de- 

 scribed by Blake in his application for an English patent, "is a 

 chain-stitch sewing machine. The hooked needle works through 

 a rest or supporting surface of the upper part of a long, curved 

 arm which projects upward from the table and the machine. This 



Fig. 9. The Cutting Room. 



arm should have such a form as to be capable of entering a shoe 

 so as to carry the rest into the toe part as well as any other part 

 of the interior of it. It carries at its front end and directly under 

 the rest a looper, which is supported within the end of the arm 

 so as to be capable of rotating or partially rotating round the 

 needle, while the needle may extend into and through the eye of 

 the looper, such eye being placed in the path of the needle. The 

 thread is led from a bobbin by suitable guides along the curved 

 arm, thence through a tension spring applied to the arm, and 

 thence upward through the notch of the looper. The feed-wheel, 

 by which the shoe is moved along the curved arm during the pro- 

 cess of sewing, is supported by a slider extending downward from 

 the block and applied thereto so as to be capable of sliding up and 

 down therein. The shoe is placed on the arm with the sole up- 

 ward." In less technical language, the machine consists of a com- 

 bination of wheels so arranged as to drive an awl-like needle 

 through several thicknesses of heavy leather, and feed a waxed 

 thread in any direction. The shoe itself rests upon the end of the 



