SEWING-MACHINES. 



479 



bags, and many other articles of this general charac- 

 ter. Other machines adapted to special work are 

 the carpet sewing, the book sewing, the shoe sewing, 

 the sail making, etc. The 

 most useful among these 

 . are the shoe-sewing ma- 

 chines, their importance 

 being almost equal to that 

 of the ordinary cloth-sew- 

 ing machines. By their aid 



and the special button-hole stitch. The lock-stitch 

 is made by all shuttle machines and by those em- 

 ploying a rotating or revolving hook. Of all stitch- 

 making devices the shuttle is now most extensively 

 used, though it is replaced in some machines by 

 other devices yielding the same general result. In 



Cylinder Sewing-machine. 



many millions of boots and shoes are annually pro- 

 dnced, with a cheapness and rapidity unapproachable 

 by hand-work. Of the various machines nsed in this 

 industry the McKay, invented about 1858, is that 

 principally employed. For statistics of the factory 

 work produced by the aid of these machines, see ar- 

 ticle, SHOES. 



Another instrument of remarkable character is the 

 automatic button-hole machine, of which we give an 

 illustration. There is no department of sewing-ma- 

 chine work in which greater progress 

 has been made. A few years ago it was 

 considered an excellent performance to 

 make 1000 button-holes in a day of ten 

 hours by machine labor, yet to-day from 

 3000 to 6000 holes per day can be" made 

 the number varying with the fineness 

 of the stitch and length of the button- 

 holeand with less futigue to the oper- 

 ator than in the old process. The 

 machine here illustrated is an instru- 

 ment of almost magical efficiency. It 

 can be run to make from 1000 to 1200 

 stitches per minute ; it will make a 

 straight button-hole of any length up 

 to one inch ; it cuts the hole in the 

 material, winds its own 

 bobbins, stitches or cords 

 the hole as desired, and 

 stops automatically, with- 

 out aid from the operator, 

 when the stitching is com- 

 pleted. It seems almost 

 possessed of conscious in- 

 telligence. 



Various stitches have 



from time to time been used in sewing-machine 

 work, but at present the lock-stitch is employed in 

 fully four-fifths of all machines made. Of other 

 stitches now employed may be named the Grover & 

 Baker double loop, the Willcos & Gibbs single.chain, 



Bobbins and Bobbin-attachments. 



the Wheeler & "Wilson, for instance, the bobbin is 

 made to do the duty of the shuttle, and presents the 

 advantage that the lower and upper parts of the 

 machine can be driven at the same speed, instead 

 of the lower having to be driven at double speed, to 

 achieve the backward and forward movement of the 

 shuttle. The figure above gives an illustration of this 

 bobbin, the case in which it is confined, and its po- 

 sition in the machine. It is capable of holding "over 

 100 yards of No. 70 cotton, having about twice the 



Button-hole Machine. 



capacity of the largest bobbin heretofore in success- 

 ful use in any lock-stitch machine." 



The United States is much the largest producer of 

 sewing-machines in the world, no other country hav- 

 ing so many or so large factories. Some of these 



