﻿568 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  19 
  2 
  9 
  

  

  began 
  to 
  make 
  working 
  conditions 
  intolerable 
  for 
  Howe. 
  The 
  

   American 
  resented 
  his 
  treatment 
  which 
  resulted 
  in 
  William 
  Thomas 
  

   discharging 
  Elias 
  Howe 
  from 
  his 
  employment. 
  A 
  stranger 
  in 
  London, 
  

   with 
  a 
  sick 
  wife 
  and 
  three 
  small 
  children 
  to 
  support 
  and 
  no 
  employ- 
  

   ment 
  in 
  sight 
  was 
  the 
  disheartening 
  predicament 
  in 
  which 
  Howe 
  now 
  

   found 
  himself. 
  Through 
  a 
  chance 
  acquaintance, 
  a 
  coach 
  maker 
  

   named 
  Charles 
  Inglis, 
  he 
  hired 
  a 
  small 
  room 
  for 
  a 
  workshop 
  and 
  

   with 
  a 
  few 
  borrowed 
  tools 
  began 
  to 
  build 
  his 
  fourth 
  sewing 
  machine. 
  

   He 
  soon 
  saw 
  that 
  he 
  must 
  reduce 
  expenses 
  or 
  leave 
  his 
  machine 
  

   unfinished, 
  and 
  decided 
  to 
  send 
  his 
  family 
  home 
  while 
  he 
  could, 
  

   trusting 
  that 
  the 
  machine 
  'he 
  was 
  building 
  would 
  provide 
  the 
  means 
  

   for 
  him 
  to 
  follow 
  them. 
  

  

  He 
  was 
  so 
  poor 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  to 
  pledge 
  some 
  of 
  his 
  clothing 
  to 
  obtain 
  

   a 
  few 
  shillings 
  necessary 
  to 
  hire 
  a 
  cab 
  to 
  take 
  his 
  sick 
  wife 
  to 
  the 
  ship 
  

   on 
  the 
  stormy 
  night 
  of 
  her 
  departure. 
  After 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  months 
  of 
  

   hard 
  labor 
  his 
  machine 
  was 
  finished 
  and 
  he 
  looked 
  for 
  a 
  customer. 
  

   Finally 
  a 
  man 
  was 
  found 
  who 
  offered 
  £5 
  for 
  the 
  machine 
  if 
  he 
  could 
  

   have 
  time 
  in 
  paying 
  for 
  it. 
  Howe 
  was 
  obliged 
  to 
  accept 
  the 
  offer 
  and 
  

   took 
  the 
  man's 
  note 
  for 
  £5. 
  His 
  friend 
  Inglis 
  found 
  a 
  purchaser 
  for 
  

   the 
  note 
  at 
  £4. 
  In 
  order 
  to 
  pay 
  up 
  his 
  debts 
  and 
  pay 
  his 
  expenses 
  

   back 
  to 
  America, 
  Howe 
  pawned 
  his 
  precious 
  first 
  machine 
  and 
  the 
  

   patent 
  papers 
  from 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Patent 
  Office. 
  To 
  save 
  cartage 
  

   he 
  took 
  his 
  baggage 
  to 
  the 
  ship 
  in 
  a 
  handcart 
  and 
  again 
  took 
  passage 
  

   in 
  the 
  steerage 
  along 
  with 
  his 
  friend 
  Charles 
  Inglis. 
  

  

  Elias 
  Howe 
  landed 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  in 
  April, 
  1849, 
  after 
  an 
  absence 
  from 
  

   America 
  of 
  two 
  years, 
  with 
  but 
  half 
  a 
  crown 
  in 
  his 
  pocket. 
  Nearly 
  

   four 
  years 
  had 
  passed 
  since 
  the 
  finishing 
  of 
  his 
  first 
  sewing 
  machine 
  

   and 
  the 
  small 
  piece 
  of 
  silver 
  was 
  aU 
  he 
  had 
  to 
  show 
  for 
  his 
  work 
  on 
  

   that 
  invention. 
  He 
  and 
  his 
  friend 
  went 
  to 
  a 
  cheap 
  emigrant 
  boarding 
  

   house 
  and 
  looked 
  for 
  work 
  in 
  the 
  machine 
  shops, 
  which 
  he 
  fortu- 
  

   nately 
  soon 
  found. 
  When 
  news 
  reached 
  him 
  that 
  his 
  wife 
  was 
  dying 
  

   of 
  consumption 
  he 
  did 
  not 
  have 
  the 
  money 
  for 
  the 
  journey 
  to 
  Cam- 
  

   bridge, 
  but 
  with 
  the 
  help 
  of 
  $10 
  from 
  his 
  father 
  he 
  was 
  able 
  to 
  reach 
  

   his 
  wife's 
  bedside 
  before 
  she 
  passed 
  away. 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  his 
  natural 
  

   gaiety 
  of 
  disposition 
  he 
  was 
  greatly 
  downcast 
  and 
  looked 
  like 
  a 
  man 
  

   who 
  had 
  passed 
  through 
  a 
  long 
  and 
  severe 
  illness. 
  However, 
  he 
  was 
  

   now 
  among 
  friends 
  who 
  looked 
  after 
  his 
  children 
  and 
  he 
  was 
  soon 
  

   at 
  work 
  again 
  as 
  a 
  journeyman 
  machinist 
  at 
  regular 
  weekly 
  wages. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  seldom 
  that 
  a 
  man 
  who 
  makes 
  a 
  great 
  invention 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  

   educate 
  the 
  public 
  into 
  using 
  it. 
  Neither 
  Elias 
  Howe, 
  nor 
  his 
  friend 
  

   George 
  Fisher, 
  could 
  succeed 
  in 
  selling 
  a 
  machine 
  which 
  cost 
  from 
  

   $200 
  to 
  $300 
  to 
  build, 
  and 
  upon 
  which 
  the 
  tailors 
  looked 
  with 
  

   contempt 
  or 
  dread. 
  Howe 
  found 
  to 
  his 
  surprise 
  upon 
  returning 
  

   home 
  from 
  his 
  experiences 
  in 
  London, 
  that 
  the 
  sewing 
  machine 
  

   had 
  become 
  celebrated, 
  though 
  his 
  part 
  in 
  its 
  invention 
  appeared 
  

  

  