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

358 All About Inventions was thus in the position to manufacture the articles, by the aid of his machines, at a lower price and in greater numbers than his rivals who were condemned to hand-labour. Colour is lent to this trend of opinion by the fact that the British patent for the machine devised by Howe stands in the name of W. Thomas. Thomas was unable to preserve his secret indefin- itely. But once it became generally known, he aban- doned the production of corsets and devoted his energies entirely to the manufacture of sewing machines upon a commercial scale, for sale to the public and to the textile and other trades by whom it was de- manded. The Thomas sewing machine was certainly the first to invade the British household, although shortly afterwards Howe machines were also placed upon the market. During the early years of the sew- ing machine, it was by no means uncommon to see a Thomas and a Howe machine working side by side. As the virtues of the Thomas machine became more and more appreciated the demand increased rapidly, with the result that a highly prosperous new industry became established. For many years the Thomas invention dominated the market, not only in domestic circles, but in the heavier industrial fields for which it was eminently suited. Howe, upon his return to his homeland, experienced many vicissitudes and was harassed sorely from all directions. The fact that he had merely succeeded in assembling various distinctive parts into a working whole caused his patent to be bitterly assailed. Long and expensive litigation followed. There was scarcely a detail which did not come in for its meed of attack, especially the needle with the eye at the point, which