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WEAVING. 
The Rev. Edward Cartwright. Weaving by Machine- 
ry : Patents. Poetry. 
I have already introduced this Gentleman to my readers, as the 
inventor of a new method of giving rotatory motion in a steam en- 
gine — as the inventor of a new method of keeping the piston in 
close contact with the internal surface of the working cylinder — . 
as the inventor of a new method of condensing steam by a large 
surface of thin metallic plates, exposed to the action of cold water 
within and without ; an invention that will continue to be applied 
as I think, in all future improvements on the steam engine. 
i have introduced him to my readers as the inventor of weaving 
by water-power or by steam. Sometime about the year 1791, his 
first experiment (near Castlefiekl in Manchester) of weaving by 
means of steam succeeded so well, that it was set on fire after 
having continued in operation about two months. A few years 
ago, the parliament of England, granted him a further term for 
his patent, but I have not heard whether the principle is yet 
brought into extensive operation. It is with difficulty and ma- 
nagement that machinery can now be introduced into that kingdom, 
if it suddenly interferes with the employment of the poor. The 
risings of the populace against the new invented stocking loom, a 
year or two ago, is a proof of this. These stocking looms I hear 
are now manufactured in New York ; information of which I re- 
quest my readers to take notice. 
Looms for weaving plain goods without the aid of a professed 
weaver, by the power of horses, of water, or of steam, are now in 
full use near Boston. Some time ago, I saw at Harrisburgh a 
loom of this kind, in which the shuttle was thrown and the treadles 
worked by a very simple motion that might be given by the hand 
or by any kind of machinery that could communicate an impulse 
to and fro. I understood that a Mr. Janes had obtained a patent 
for this invention. I can bear testimony that looms were driven 
by steam power about the year 1791 in Manchester. It seems to 
me a kind of speculation in the Eastern states, to look over the Re- 
pertory of arts, and to take out patents for English inventions, and 
sell the patent rights to the more careless and credulous ma- 
nufacturers in the Southern states. But I wish it were recollect- 
ed, that by the laws of the United States, no patent can be legally 
