NEEDLES.

In the earlier times what was the mantle that covered the human person? How was it made? How was it held together? With what was the sewing thereof? When was thread first used for the seam? How early in human history was the eye made for the needle?

From the beginning of history we find references to sewing, even earlier than to weaving. We might naturally suppose that leather was sewed before cloth, and that stout leathern thongs served for thread. The leather string for thread and the awl for the needle must have been in use long, long ago. The stout moccasin, the wolfskin cap, the buckskin breeches were sewed by punching holes and laboriously pulling a leather string through them. By and by, however, some skillful inventor produced the needle. Perhaps the first needles were made of bone or ivory. Then metal was used.

What a great invention was the eye of the needle! No one knows who was the inventor, but we have reason to bless the unknown personage who first devised this ingenious arrangement. Would you not like to see the needles that were in use hundreds of years ago? They were not like the finely finished needles of to-day. Crude and coarse were they, and only adapted to the crude and coarse sewing which could then be performed. To-day the needle-woman is often an artist. Embroidery is done with the needle. The plain seam, the hem, the gather, the back stitch, are simply so many forms of the work of an artist.

Century after century our needle-makers have been improving in the manufacture of this simple but effective little machine. In the complicated civilization of the present time we have an almost infinite variety of needles: the ordinary sewing needle for the making of garments; smaller needles for lace work, the hemming of delicate handkerchiefs and the seam of fine silk goods; and coarse and heavy needles for carpet sewing, bagging, and leather work.

All this relates to sewing by hand, with a single needle and one thread. It is stitch by stich, first one, then another; it is like the brook,—"it goes on forever." It is like the clock that repeats its tick tock, tick tock by the hour, by the day, by the week, by the year. Perhaps many seamstresses would not recognize the duty of blessing the man who invented the needle. The poet Hood has told this side of the story in his famous poem, "The Song of the Shirt."

Indeed, the time had come long ago when some ingenious device was needed by which the seamstress could sew with less wear and tear of nerve and muscle. Efforts were made in England for machine sewing nearly one hundred and fifty years ago, but they were not successful. A sewing machine was invented by Thomas Saint about one hundred years ago which had some of the features of the sewing machine of to-day.

It was left, however, for American inventors to produce machines that would do the work easily and successfully; the machines themselves had such simplicity and were so nicely adapted that they were not likely to get out of repair but would remain serviceable during a long period of years. Sewing machines in large numbers were invented during the period from 1830 to 1860.

As early as 1818 a sewing machine was invented by Rev. John Adams Dodge, of Vermont. He used a needle pointed at each end with the eye in the middle. This machine would make a good backstitch and sew a seam straight forward. It was not patented and did not get into use to any considerable extent. In 1832 Walter Hunt, of New York, brought out a machine which used two threads, one being carried by a shuttle and the other by a curved needle with the eye in the point. This machine also was not patented.

Ten years later, J. J. Greenough patented a machine for sewing leather and other heavy material, but this also did not acquire any extended use. About the same time George H. Corliss invented a strong, heavy machine for sewing leather, using two needles with the eyes near the points; this machine was evidently an improvement on previous attempts. Mr. Corliss soon turned his attention to improvements of the steam engine and did not continue his efforts to perfect his sewing machine.

Hence it was that the first really successful sewing machine was that of Elias Howe, patented in 1846. The first form of Howe's machine was far from satisfactory, but it was an improvement on all previous machines. Howe could not induce the people to appreciate the value of his invention, and he went to England and there secured patents. But in England also he became discouraged, and sold out his rights for that country and returned home.

Meantime others had pirated his invention and were making his machines and placing them upon the market. Howe immediately asserted his rights and, after a series of suits in court, he succeeded in establishing them, so that finally his machine came into extended use and its inventor reaped a large pecuniary reward from his genius and skill. Improvements now came forward rapidly. Patents were soon issued to Allen B. Wilson of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Isaac M. Singer of New York, and William O. Grover of Boston. Later, the Weed, the Florence, the Wilcox & Gibbs, the Remington, Domestic, American, Household, and many others were added to the list of successful machines.

It is unnecessary to describe the difference in these machines and the various ways in which the stitch is made. Some of them make the lock stitch, others the double loop stitch, and still others the single chain stitch. The best machines make also a special buttonhole stitch and have particular devices by which they gather and ruffle, tuck, hem, bind, and whatever else is required to be done with thread.

One machine or another can be used for almost any kind of sewing. With them we sew shoes and boots, heavy woolen goods like beaver, several thicknesses of duck, or, on the other hand, the very finest and nicest muslin. Sewing machines are used in the making of gloves, pocketbooks, traveling bags, and other articles of this character. Special machines sew seams on water hose, leather buckets, bootlegs, and other articles which require the seam to be made in a circle.

No other country has so many factories or such large ones for making sewing machines as the United States. The establishments which manufacture sewing machines have a combined capital of more than twenty million dollars, and the value of their annual product aggregates about fifteen million dollars. Meanwhile the price of sewing machines has diminished so that they are now sold for less than one-half, and sometimes as low as one-fourth, of the original price.

In 1830 a Frenchman, BarthÉlemy Thimmonier, constructed of wood eighty machines which made a chain stitch of great strength. These were used for making clothing for the French army. Laborers were so incensed at this invention, which they thought was contrary to their interests, that they raised a riot and destroyed all of the machines. A few years later this inventor made other machines constructed of metal, and these were also destroyed by a mob.

Many times it has happened that laborers have supposed that they would be great losers from the invention of labor-saving machines. Instead of this proving to be true, it would seem that laborers are benefited by the inventions. There is much evidence showing that while inventions greatly diminish the amount of labor necessary to accomplish a certain result, on the other hand they open up new lines of industry which fully compensate laborers for the loss which would otherwise fall upon them. It is to be noted also that, in our country at least, the wages of laborers have increased in the period during which labor-saving machines have been invented.

The modern sewing machine is an inestimable blessing to a family. In former days, the mother of half a dozen children would be obliged to ply the needle night after night until the small hours in order to keep her little ones properly clad. Now, with the little iron machine standing upon its small table on one side of the room, the good mother can make up the necessary garments for her children in quick time, leaving her far more hours for sleep, recreation, and social life than would be possible under the old method. Many a one can now call down blessings not only upon "the man who invented sleep," but upon the man who invented the sewing machine which gives one time to sleep.