MANUFACTURE OF BOOTS AND SHOES. 



507 



arm or horn noted in the above description, from the interior of 

 which is supplied the waxed thread previously heated by a gas-jet 

 within. But Blake's first machine was very imperfect. A lead- 

 ing interest in the invention, however, happened to fall into the 

 hands of Mr. Gordon McKay. Realizing the importance of the 

 principle, the two set themselves to its improvement. As per- 

 fected, they got patents on it in 1800, which gave them the 

 practical control of the machine-made boots in this country for 

 many years. It is said that nearly two hundred thousand dol- 

 lars were spent on the invention before anything was realized 

 from it. But when the return came it was indeed a golden 

 harvest. None of the machines were sold outright to manu- 

 facturers, but they were let to them on the payment of royal - 



Fig. 10. Cofeland Rapid Laster. 



ties ; and to show what that amounted to is the fact that one 

 Lynn manufacturer in a single year paid the company fully fif- 

 teen thousand dollars for the use of McKay machines in his 

 shop. Under the pressure of the war the demand for boots and 

 shoes of stout quality but cheaper grade was enormous, and it 



