All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

356 All About Inventions Howe is generally credited with having invented the modern sewing machine, but the honour is mis- placed. No matter from what point of view his work may be considered, his machine lacked origin- ality. The cardinal principles belonged to Saint, Thimmonier, and Hunt. There was not a detail which had not been known more or less for many years. Howe simply assembled these separate pieces together in such a way as to produce a workable whole for which he was granted protection. The outstanding characteristics were : (i) a single needle pointed at its lower end and provided with an eye through which the thread from the reel was passed ; (2) the oscillating shuttle carrying the independent thread, which was projected through the loop formed by the needle thread upon the underside of the material. The fact that Howe could not be described as the inventor is borne out by the fact that although his patent was granted in 1846, it lay dormant in his hands for fully five years. Howe came to London and disposed of the British rights in his invention for a trivial sum to Mr. W. Thomas, a well-known corsetier in Cheapside, who, it appears, had pre- viously been attracted to the sewing machine and who at that time was striving to complete essential perfections. Thomas had a flourishing business, but, being energetic and enterprising, was ever on the look- out for ways and means to increase his output. He was fully cognisant of the limitation of hand-labour, and was equally convinced of the powerful lever he would possess in competitive trade if he could only intro- duce a mechanical sewing system into his workshops.