THE SEWING-MACHINE 



intermittent feed for carrying the material forward 

 as each stitch was formed. The device for thus feed- 

 ing the cloth consisted of a thin strip of metal provided 

 with a row of pins on one edge, but the cloth to be sewed 

 was not held in the horizontal position as at present 

 but carried in a vertical position. Neither did the cloth 

 run through continuously, but was fed the length of a 

 plate, and had to be rehung as often as the length of 

 the plate had been traversed. The curved eye-pointed 

 needle used was attached on the end of a vibrating 

 lever, which also carried the upper thread. The lower 

 thread was passed between the needle and the upper 

 thread by means of a shuttle working on the same 

 principle as the modern one. 



Foreseeing the possibilities of his invention, Howe 

 exhausted his scanty means in taking out a patent, 

 and constructing a machine which he deposited as a 

 model in the United States Patent Office. He then 

 cast about to find capital for pushing his enterprise, 

 but failing in this he was compelled to dispose of his 

 patent for a sufficient sum to carry him to England, 

 where a corset-manufacturer had secured his rights 

 to the patent on the payment of the equivalent of about 

 one thousand dollars. 



While perfecting this machine and adapting it to 

 corset-making, Howe engaged to work for this manu- 

 facturer at a nominal salary. For some reason that 

 is not apparent he was unable to satisfy the wishes of 

 his employer, and in a few months retraced his steps to 

 the United States, poorer, if possible, than ever before. 

 Not disheartened, however, he succeeded in securing 



