﻿THE 
  SEWING 
  MACHINE 
  LEWTON 
  565 
  

  

  machine 
  set 
  him 
  to 
  watching 
  the 
  process 
  of 
  sewing 
  as 
  performed 
  by 
  

   hand, 
  and 
  to 
  wonder 
  if 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  way 
  to 
  accompHsh 
  it 
  by 
  machinery. 
  

  

  This 
  youth, 
  Ehas 
  Howe, 
  jr., 
  born 
  on 
  his 
  father's 
  farm 
  at 
  Spencer, 
  

   Mass., 
  in 
  1819, 
  had 
  his 
  attention 
  directed 
  at 
  an 
  early 
  age 
  to 
  mechanics. 
  

   There 
  were 
  a 
  grist 
  mill, 
  a 
  saw 
  mill, 
  and 
  a 
  shingle-cutting 
  machine 
  on 
  the 
  

   home 
  place, 
  but 
  all 
  of 
  these 
  and 
  the 
  farm 
  together 
  barely 
  sufficed 
  for 
  

   the 
  needs 
  of 
  the 
  family 
  of 
  eight 
  children. 
  

  

  When 
  but 
  6 
  years 
  old, 
  Elias 
  Howe 
  worked 
  with 
  his 
  brothers 
  and 
  

   sisters 
  at 
  sticking 
  wire 
  teeth 
  into 
  strips 
  of 
  leather 
  to 
  make 
  cards 
  used 
  in 
  

   the 
  spinning 
  of 
  cotton. 
  After 
  "living 
  out 
  " 
  for 
  a 
  year 
  with 
  a 
  farmer 
  in 
  

   the 
  neighborhood, 
  he 
  returned 
  home 
  to 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  mills 
  there 
  until 
  

   he 
  was 
  16. 
  Then 
  he 
  obtained 
  a 
  learner's 
  place 
  in 
  a 
  factory 
  in 
  Lowell, 
  

   Mass., 
  making 
  cotton 
  machinery, 
  until 
  the 
  financial 
  panic 
  of 
  1837 
  

   closed 
  the 
  shop 
  and 
  forced 
  him 
  to 
  look 
  for 
  work 
  again. 
  Finally 
  he 
  

   found 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  shop 
  of 
  Ari 
  Davis, 
  an 
  ingenious 
  mechanic, 
  where 
  

   occurred 
  the 
  conversation 
  already 
  related. 
  

  

  When 
  Howe 
  was 
  21, 
  and 
  still 
  a 
  journeyman 
  machinist, 
  earning 
  $9 
  a 
  

   week, 
  he 
  married 
  and 
  before 
  long 
  there 
  were 
  three 
  children 
  to 
  be 
  fed 
  

   and 
  clothed 
  out 
  of 
  his 
  weekly 
  wage. 
  About 
  the 
  year 
  1843, 
  the 
  pres- 
  

   sure 
  of 
  poverty 
  and 
  the 
  fatiguing 
  nature 
  of 
  his 
  work, 
  forced 
  him 
  to 
  

   make 
  earnest 
  attempts 
  to 
  invent 
  the 
  machine 
  which 
  he 
  had 
  heard 
  

   four 
  years 
  before 
  would 
  bring 
  an 
  independent 
  fortune 
  to 
  the 
  inventor. 
  

   He 
  wasted 
  many 
  precious 
  months 
  in 
  endeavoring 
  to 
  copy 
  the 
  motions 
  

   of 
  his 
  wife's 
  arm 
  when 
  sewing, 
  using 
  a 
  double-pointed 
  needle 
  with 
  the 
  

   eye 
  in 
  the 
  middle. 
  One 
  day 
  the 
  idea 
  came 
  to 
  him 
  of 
  using 
  two 
  

   threads 
  and 
  forming 
  a 
  stitch 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  a 
  shuttle. 
  By 
  October, 
  1844, 
  

   he 
  had 
  constructed 
  a 
  model 
  which 
  convinced 
  him 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  a 
  

   machine 
  which 
  would 
  really 
  sew. 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  he 
  set 
  up 
  a 
  lathe 
  and 
  a 
  

   few 
  tools 
  in 
  the 
  garret 
  of 
  his 
  father's 
  house 
  at 
  Cambridge, 
  Mass., 
  and 
  

   brought 
  his 
  family 
  to 
  the 
  house, 
  giving 
  up 
  his 
  job 
  as 
  journeyman 
  

   mechanic. 
  He 
  had 
  his 
  invention 
  worked 
  out 
  in 
  his 
  head 
  but 
  these 
  

   ideas 
  could 
  only 
  really 
  be 
  tested 
  by 
  the 
  construction 
  of 
  an 
  accurately 
  

   working 
  model 
  of 
  metal. 
  He 
  was 
  desperately 
  poor 
  and 
  could 
  barely 
  

   provide 
  the 
  necessities 
  of 
  life 
  for 
  his 
  family. 
  

  

  The 
  money 
  needed 
  to 
  purchase 
  the 
  raw 
  materials 
  for 
  a 
  working 
  

   model 
  that 
  would 
  put 
  into 
  concrete 
  form 
  his 
  mental 
  picture 
  of 
  a 
  

   wonderful 
  machine 
  seemed 
  beyond 
  his 
  reach. 
  His 
  earnestness, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  convinced 
  a 
  friend 
  and 
  former 
  schoolmate, 
  George 
  Fisher, 
  then 
  

   a 
  coal 
  and 
  wood 
  dealer 
  in 
  Cambridge, 
  of 
  the 
  feasibility 
  of 
  his 
  project, 
  

   and 
  a 
  partnership 
  was 
  drawn 
  up 
  for 
  bringing 
  Howe's 
  invention 
  into 
  

   use. 
  

  

  By 
  its 
  terms 
  George 
  Fisher 
  was 
  to 
  board 
  Elias 
  Howe 
  and 
  his 
  

   family 
  while 
  Elias 
  was 
  making 
  the 
  model 
  of 
  his 
  machine 
  in 
  Fisher's 
  

   garret 
  as 
  a 
  workshop, 
  was 
  to 
  provide 
  money 
  for 
  material 
  and 
  tools 
  

   to 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  $500, 
  and 
  in 
  return 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  owner 
  of 
  one-half 
  

  

  