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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  The 
  infringers 
  of 
  Howe's 
  patent 
  were 
  men 
  of 
  small 
  means 
  and 
  could 
  

   not 
  put 
  up 
  much 
  fight, 
  but 
  in 
  August, 
  1850, 
  Howe 
  crossed 
  swords 
  

   with 
  a 
  man 
  capable 
  of 
  carrying 
  on 
  a 
  much 
  more 
  vigorous 
  warfare 
  

   than 
  they. 
  This 
  man 
  was 
  Isaac 
  Merrit 
  Singer. 
  

  

  ISAAC 
  MERRIT 
  SINGER 
  

  

  This 
  part 
  of 
  our 
  story 
  also 
  begins 
  in 
  a 
  machine 
  shop 
  in 
  Boston. 
  

   Lerow 
  & 
  Blodgett 
  had 
  patented 
  a 
  sewing 
  machine 
  on 
  October 
  2, 
  1849, 
  

   the 
  peculiar 
  feature 
  of 
  which 
  was 
  that 
  the 
  shuttle 
  was 
  driven 
  entirely 
  

   around 
  a 
  circle 
  at 
  each 
  stitch. 
  It 
  was 
  in 
  some 
  ways 
  an 
  improvement 
  

   on 
  the 
  Howe 
  machine, 
  but 
  the 
  circular 
  movement 
  of 
  the 
  shuttle 
  took 
  

   a 
  twist 
  out 
  of 
  the 
  thread 
  at 
  every 
  revolution 
  and 
  the 
  machine 
  was 
  

   hard 
  to 
  keep 
  in 
  running 
  order. 
  Several 
  of 
  these 
  machines 
  had 
  been 
  

   brought 
  for 
  repairs 
  to 
  the 
  shop 
  of 
  Orson 
  C. 
  Phelps 
  in 
  Boston, 
  where 
  

   in 
  August, 
  1850, 
  their 
  operation 
  was 
  watched 
  by 
  Isaac 
  M. 
  Singer 
  who 
  

   had 
  shortly 
  before 
  patented 
  a 
  wood-carving 
  machine. 
  With 
  the 
  

   experience 
  of 
  a 
  practical 
  machinist. 
  Singer 
  criticized 
  the 
  clumsy 
  work- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  the 
  sewing 
  machine, 
  and 
  when 
  Phelps 
  asked 
  him 
  how 
  the 
  defects 
  

   could 
  be 
  overcome. 
  Singer 
  promptly 
  said 
  : 
  "Instead 
  of 
  the 
  shuttle 
  going 
  

   around 
  in 
  a 
  circle 
  I 
  would 
  have 
  it 
  move 
  to 
  and 
  fro 
  in 
  a 
  straight 
  line, 
  

   and 
  in 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  needle 
  bar 
  pushing 
  a 
  curved 
  needle 
  horizontally 
  I 
  

   would 
  have 
  a 
  straight 
  needle 
  and 
  make 
  it 
  work 
  up 
  and 
  down 
  this 
  way." 
  

   Phelps 
  assured 
  him 
  that 
  if 
  he 
  could 
  make 
  a 
  practical 
  sewing 
  machine 
  

   he 
  would 
  make 
  more 
  money 
  from 
  it 
  than 
  from 
  his 
  carving 
  machine. 
  

   A 
  recent 
  boiler 
  explosion 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  City 
  had 
  wrecked 
  the 
  machine 
  

   shop 
  where 
  Singer's 
  carving 
  machine 
  was 
  being 
  built 
  and 
  his 
  machine 
  

   was 
  utterly 
  destroyed. 
  He 
  was 
  without 
  funds 
  to 
  rebuild 
  it 
  and 
  abso- 
  

   lute 
  poverty 
  stared 
  him 
  in 
  the 
  face. 
  The 
  remarks 
  of 
  Phelps 
  set 
  him 
  

   thinking 
  and 
  after 
  considering 
  the 
  matter 
  overnight 
  he 
  became 
  satis- 
  

   fied 
  that 
  he 
  could 
  make 
  the 
  thing 
  work. 
  The 
  next 
  day 
  Singer 
  showed 
  

   Phelps 
  and 
  George 
  B. 
  Zieber, 
  a 
  machinist 
  working 
  in 
  the 
  shop, 
  a 
  rough 
  

   sketch 
  of 
  the 
  machine 
  he 
  proposed 
  to 
  build. 
  It 
  contained 
  a 
  table 
  to 
  

   support 
  the 
  cloth 
  horizontally, 
  instead 
  of 
  a 
  feed 
  bar 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  was 
  

   suspended 
  vertically 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  Blodgett 
  machine, 
  a 
  vertical 
  presser 
  foot 
  

   to 
  hold 
  the 
  cloth 
  down 
  against 
  the 
  upward 
  stroke 
  of 
  the 
  needle, 
  and 
  an 
  

   arm 
  to 
  hold 
  the 
  presser 
  foot 
  and 
  vertical 
  needle-holding 
  bar 
  in 
  posi- 
  

   tion 
  over 
  the 
  table. 
  The 
  story 
  continues 
  as 
  told 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Singer 
  him- 
  

   self 
  in 
  a 
  statement 
  made 
  during 
  the 
  progress 
  of 
  some 
  litigation 
  in 
  

   which 
  he 
  was 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  engaged. 
  

  

  I 
  explained 
  to 
  them 
  how 
  the 
  work 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  fed 
  over 
  the 
  table 
  and 
  under 
  

   the 
  presser 
  foot 
  by 
  a 
  wheel 
  having 
  short 
  pins 
  on 
  its 
  periphery 
  projecting 
  through 
  

   a 
  slot 
  in 
  the 
  table, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  work 
  would 
  be 
  automatically 
  caught, 
  fed, 
  and 
  freed 
  

   from 
  the 
  pins, 
  in 
  place 
  of 
  attaching 
  and 
  detaching 
  the 
  work 
  to 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  

   baster 
  plate 
  by 
  hand 
  as 
  was 
  necessary 
  in 
  the 
  Blodgett 
  machine. 
  

  

  Phelps 
  and 
  Zieber 
  were 
  satisfied 
  that 
  it 
  would 
  work. 
  I 
  had 
  no 
  money. 
  Zieber 
  

   offered 
  $40 
  to 
  build 
  a 
  model 
  machine. 
  Phelps 
  offered 
  his 
  best 
  endeavors 
  to 
  

  

  