1304. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
3r,i 
Wheeler and Wilson's Industrial Palace. 
The mournful melody of " The Song of the Shirt " Is 
Insl in the cheerful music of the Sewing Machine. Com- 
mon needle-work has become artistic. Lines of stitch- 
ing vie in beauty with the lines of Iho 
piotorial art. The artist and the aril- 
z.in clasp hands. Especially Is tllis _^aff . 
seen jn the palitccs of iiidiisliy with .--'<^' 
Which tho city abounds. Our mer- r^*/ 
chant and mechanic princes have hen- y^~ 
ored labor, and the city and country 
by palatial warehouses and private nj"£ 
residences, but it has been loft to al- 
most the youngest branch of Anon 
can Industry to contribute the crown 
lug grace. The Wheeler & WiLSOn 
Sbwiho Machine Company has pur- 
oboeed the Art Institute Building, No. 
625 Broadway, noted as presenting 
the most picturesque front on thai 
world-famed street, and matched the 
excellence of their machines by the 
Jinest salesroom in the world. This 
Company occupies the first floor and 
part of the second, wilii the two base- 
ments, while the Picture Gallery and 
the Studio remain above ; and every- 
thing has been done that artistic taste 
and mechanical skill could do to 
beautify and utilize it. Entering the 
front door, a vista of 150 feet in length. 
and of proportionate width is swept 
by the eye, in which is embraced a 
rare display of cabinet work, car- 
peting, glazing, furniture, gas fixtures, 
and articles of vertu, the whole evin- 
cing the most careful study. The 
wood work — cases, desks, counter, 
stair case — is all of black walnut, oil 
or wax finished, and ornamented with 
line carving and ebony moulding. 
Passing the large show windows, 
to the right is a show case and to the left a thread case 
and counter fifty feet long, and farther back on either 
side are several desks, surmounted with galleries of 
heavy French plate glass. We have never seen more 
rich and elegant fixtures. The excellence of the mate- 
rial is suited to the work, and the 
ebony moulding contrasts tastefully 
uilh the lighter black walnut. The 
frescoing of the ceiling is in panels of 
the soft tint of the tea rose, with in- 
tricate corner scrolls of scarlet and 
violet. The frame work of deep blue 
pales to violet, which, in turn is lost 
in the most delicate primrose. Here 
and there lies a tinge or line of gold, 
lending light and relief to the mass of 
blending hues. The cornice is white, 
blue, and gold. The walls are in 
panels of pearl and primrose, pen- 
cilled with violet, while between eacli 
rises a broad pilaster of ultramarine 
wrought at intervals with gilding.— 
The carpet, in squares of blue, crim- 
son, and pearl color, with wreaths of 
veined oak leaves, admirably matches 
the frescoing. By day this room has 
the additional light of two large arch- 
ed sky-lights of flocked glass, figured 
with artistic symbols, and in the even- 
ing is lighted by thirteen bronze and 
gold chandeliers and reflectors, and by 
a mellow light through the sky-lights 
from the gallery above. At the end 
of the room are the office and the 
staircase leading to the upper instruc- 
tion room. The elegant frame-work 
of this office is filled with panels of 
flocked glass, beautifully figured with 
wreaths, scrolls, and artistic devices, 
into which is introduced the Mono- 
gram of the Company, W. W. To 
those in the doors are added a view 
of the Company's Manufactory at 
Bridgeport ; also, an elegant represen- 
tation of the Sewing Machine, with 
Genius crowning the invention. The 
carpet of this office is of emerald vel- 
vet, strewn with bouquets of roses, and the furniture of 
•black walnut, upholstered in green reps. Under the stair- 
case are several small rooms for various purposes. In 
the rear is a fine instruction room, finished in light oak. 
The staircase leading to the upper instruction room is | 
one of the finest In tho world, whether In palace or In 
i < is purely Ellubethan, 
rtobrj I by figured glass panels. Tho 
newel posts nro very elaborate and surmounted by c 
columns with gas globes. To tho right of tho ascent Is 
Craw ford's exquisite statue, " Dancing Jenny," and at 
PERSPECTIVE OF SALESROOM, 
the left the " Fairy Sewing Machine, " the gem of sew- 
ing machinery. The direct ascent is six steps to a plat- 
form facing a large mirror, which gives a striking dupli- 
cation of the salesroom ; thence to the right ten steps to 
another platform, from which there is the finest view of 
THE UPPER INSTRUCTION ROOM. 
the room below and the frescoed ceiling above. To the 
left then twelve more steps bring us to the charmed pre- 
cincts of the upper instruction room. Here is the crown- 
ing beauty. Its form and size afforded the architect the 
proper conditions for the display of taste, and most suc- 
y has ho employed them. The arched celling Is 
a chef gorgeous can 
Ins athwart which glance a humiir.i rare lights and 
shades. The style of frescoing la pun que, 
and its classic beauties challenge conq is 
those of Pompeii and the Vatican. A oornlce of blue,' 
threaded with white, frames this fair 
picture. In the four comers lie ex- 
qul-lic medallions of the Goddesses 
of Justice, hull Wisdom, and 
ace. A softened radlano, 
Hie loom through the lofty oky-IIght 
of figured glass, lingering upon four 
Kapha. ubs painted within 
the arch— angels smiling upon the fail 
humanity (lining beneath. The walls 
ore In arched panels of French gray, 
thi neutral lint serving to throw out 
and enhance the radiance ol the cell- 
ing. The sound of footfalls Is lost In 
Ihc softest of Persian carpels, blend- 
ing In Its wool rich gold and crimson 
dyes. There Is no need of study to 
discover the beautiful here— the air at 
lis portals Is fraught with Its spirit, 
and within, it grows upon you with 
every moment. To love the beautiful 
is part of the feminine nature ; lo as- 
sociate and to be associated with it, 
even In the common routine of daily 
life, Is one of w Oman's fairest dreams. 
In this industrial talon assemble, 
daily, ladies of the highest social posi- 
tion, for Instruction In using the sew- 
ing machine. And ft is noteworthy 
that in this establishment Is now sold 
for $50, a belter machine than could 
be bought a few years since fcr $100. 
The two basements, each 530 ^et In 
length by 32 in width, are usee :i i d- 
justinc. packing and shipiir.g. In no 
ease has the useful teer. sacrificed to 
the beautiful, and In id parts of the 
premises the most careful attention 
has been given to the uses thereof. The minuest par 
ticulars as well as the lout ensemble are worthy II* 
study of connoisseurs and practical men. — Home Journal 
We have from time to lime chronicled the de\ 
elopment of the Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine 
until it has become of prime im 
portance. It is now no longer ai 
experiment to be tried, but a succes. 
achieved, with results far exceeding 
the most sanguine expectations. Thi 
"novelty" of ten years since has be 
cornea "necessity." So fully has i' 
commended itself to public favor, thai 
it is looked upon as indispensable is 
every department of Industry requir 
ing sewing, and the appointments o. 
a well-ordered household are incom 
I lele without the Sewing Machine. 
Not only are the wants of the house 
keeper fully met, but they are found 
a necessity for the seamstress, dress- 
maker, tailor, manufacturers of shirts, 
collars, cloaks, mantillas, clothing, 
hats, caps, corsets, ladles' boots, silk 
and linen goods, umbrellas, parasols, 
Ac. Some of these branches have 
attained gigantic proportions, and it Is 
not unusual to find from one hundred 
to four hundred Sewing Machines 
used in a single manufactory. Theit 
advantages were most signally de- 
monstrated in our military emergen- 
cies. Regiments, brigades, armies, 
were clothed at short notice. Indeed, 
the entire feminine force of the coun- 
try, unaided by machinery, would 
have been unequal to the exigency. 
One woman alone has cut out, and her 
employees stitched 500,000 cartridge 
bags. This Is not surprising when 
the efficiency of the machine is con- 
sidered. Seams of considerable length 
are ordinarily sewed at the rate of a 
yard a minule. and that, too, In a man- 
ner far superior lo hand sewing. Gar- 
ments are now made entirely by It, 
with the exception of sewing on but 
tons and the like. Laces are stitched on ; folds, tucks, 
gathers, and plaits are laid and stitched ; cord run In, 
binding put on, quilting done after elaborate and beauti- 
ful designs. This Company will soon put a machine In- 
to market, capable of stitching 1000 button holes per day. 
