470 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



super-heater, which is claimed as a g-reat advaiitag-e. In regard to the 

 utility of expansion as used on this ship, the steam following the piston 

 two-thirds of the stroke, they effect an economy of only one per cent, when, 

 according to theory, it should be twenty-five cr thirty per cent. 



Mr. J. Johnson. — The theory of Mr. Weatherhead is, that steam coming 

 from the boiler has not the same elastic force, that it is too much saturated, 

 and tlnit super-heating makes it more elastic. 



Mr. J. K. Fisher. — In Mr. Weatherhead's pamphlet, he argues an advan- 

 tage in mixing wet with dry steam, as the dryer the steam is the less 

 rapidly will it give off its heat to the metal with which it comes in contact. 



Novelties at the Fair. 



THE HOUSE BUTTON-HOLE MACHINE. 



Mr. Seaman exhibited the House button and eyelet-hole sewing machine. 

 He operated the machine and distributed the specimens among the mem- 

 bers. It worked quietl}', rapidly and easily. Mr. S. said it wdl make one 

 hundred holes an hour, from one-eighth of an inch to one and a half inches 

 in length; more firm, uniform and beautiful than handwork. It works, 

 ■with silk or thread, any fabric from a single thickness of flannel to the 

 stoutest cloth or other material. Two threads are used, and a gimp of any 

 required size can be placed on the upper or lower edge of the hole. The 

 fabric is held stationary, while the needles move around the edge of the 

 hole, doubly covering it, and producing a broad or a narrow pearl, or an 

 ornamental stitch with various colored thread. 



The following article, illustrated with cuts, will give a clear idea of the 

 operation of this machine : 



At the late fair of the American Institute held in the Academy of Music, 

 the Wheeler & Wilson's Sewing Machine Manufacturing Company, exhibit- 

 ed the greatest noveltj' in this immense and still growing branch of Ame- 

 rican invention and industry' — a machine for stitching button holes. 



Its complete success, the rapidity and perfection of its operation, and 

 the peculiar movement of the machinery in accomplishing its work, were 

 all subjects of high encomium, and the committee on this class had no hesi- 

 tation in awarding to its exhibitors the highest prize of the Institute, a 

 gold medal. 



We are only able to give a brief description of its mode of working. 

 This at first sight seems complicated, but on investigation is found beauti- 

 fully simple in its adaptation to the purpose designed. 



The machine is the invention of two young men, brothers, James A. and 

 Henry A. House. Their first attempt was to produce a stitch, novel in cha- 

 racter, and throw or interlock the same over the edge of any fabric so as to 

 cover it completely. This they succeeded in doing b}' using a straight and 

 curved needle, the former penetrating the cloth from above at any required 



^5 



The straight needle threaded, with its shank. The curved needle threaded, with its 



ghauk. 



