532 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



also exhibited a piece of sewing done on the bias by the lock 

 stitch, which did not crack or break on being stretched. He 

 made this remark to show how specimens might be made up for 

 effect, and did not think the work done by the double-thread 

 chain-stitch equal in any respect to the lock-stitch. 



The Chairman. — Do you mean to be understood as saying that 

 there are machines that will stitch shirts as well as they could 

 be done by hand, as to the lasting of the seam ? 



Mr. Woods said they would do the work as well as the hand. 

 He had a pair of pantaloons in use for two years, made on a 

 machine, and a stitch never ripped. 



Mr. Lansey. — The stitches on the board presented by Mr, 

 Woods do not represent them fairly. . The thread in the shoe- 

 makers' stitch has the barring between the holes for its support. 

 The barring is on the thread, and not on the cloth. (He pre- 

 sented a drawing which had the barring on the top and round it, 

 thereby causing compression. He drew the chairman's attention 

 to the ridge on the wrist of his shirt, to show that it had not 

 worn off in the washing.) 



Mr. Rowell. — How about the stretching of the three threads 

 in regard to one ? 



Mr. Lansey. — The stretching is caused by compression. Any 

 machine is liable to skip stitches if it is not in order. Work 

 done by the double-thread chain stitch is more elastic than that 

 done by the lock-stitch. By making the lock-stitch loose enough, 

 you can compensate for the bias. 



The Chairman. — (To a lady who was present.) Can the lock- 

 stitch be so managed by a good seamstress as not to break ? — It 

 can. 



Mr. Yeeder. — (To Mr. Lansey.) Will a common operator, 

 after a little experience, be as able to work one machine as 

 advantageously as another ? He did not think the samples 

 exhibited fair ones. 



Mr. Lansey. — You can get operators to do work well by any 

 machine. What is wanted is to get a machine that can be easily 

 worked in families. There is no work equal to hand work, or 

 ever will be. There is not a machine made that can do shirts as 

 well as the hand. There are only a limited number of good 

 sewers. 



The Chairman. — Does this apply to hand sewing as well as to 

 machine sewing ? 



