INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



"Inventions covering the sewing-machine and its 

 attachments are numerous, and patents for them are 

 continually being granted. The same is true of the 

 machinery used in producing the various interchange- 

 able parts of the sewing-machine. The American 

 principle of making all parts of the machine inter- 

 changeable has been carried to the fullest extent in 

 this industry. Machines for producing the most 

 intricate parts of the sewing-machine are so perfected 

 that they perform their work with remarkable speed 

 and exactness. The special tools required to make 

 the various parts of sewing-machine often require 

 more inventive talent in their construction than the 

 machine manufactured. In the larger factories the 

 experimental department is one of the most important 

 and expensive. Here the inventor has every facility 

 for developing new ideas and putting the results to 

 preliminary tests. When, after a great deal of time 

 and labor has been expended on an invention, and it 

 has reached an apparently perfect condition, it is sent 

 to a factory engaged in the class of work for which it 

 is designed, and is thoroughly tested. If its opera- 

 tion proves satisfactory, a special plant of machinery 

 is installed for the manufacture of the new machine or 

 attachment, so that any number of duplicates can be 

 made. After all this expensive preparation and ex- 

 periment, the invention may be soon replaced by some- 

 thing better, and abandoned." 



[102] 



