Three years later Uncle William took Jonathan on another journey, this
time to a small town west of Worcester and about thirty miles from
home. The trip was made, so Uncle William said, to consult with a
county commissioner there about the prospect of a much needed road; but
Mrs. Wheeler, when she remembered that Mr. Howe had mentioned Spencer
as his birthplace, remarked knowingly to her husband:
"Not that I would question Brother William's motive, but thee knows,
Daniel, that he was the most interested man in that room over the
Quincy Hall Market. He may need to see the commissioner, but I think
he's more interested in the fortunes of young Howe."
[Illustration: JONATHAN AND HIS UNCLE WILLIAM IN THE ONE-HORSE CHAISE]
"I believe thee's right," answered her husband. "And I hope," he added,
"that William will come back with good news about that young fellow
and his machine."
There was no railway train this time for Jonathan. It was an
interesting journey, nevertheless, through a beautiful hill country
with varied scenery. Jonathan and his uncle both enjoyed their ride
in the comfortable one-horse chaise and their dinner at the Worcester
inn. In the afternoon they drove out to Spencer and put up at the
tavern there; and after supper they went to bed in the very room where
President Washington once had slept.
"Now, if I could only see Mr. Howe on the street to-morrow morning!"
thought Jonathan as he dropped asleep.
Mrs. Wheeler would not have been greatly surprised at Uncle William's
procedure the next morning. The visit to the county commissioner was
made immediately after breakfast and the information that Uncle William
desired easily and quickly obtained.
"By the way," inquired Uncle William when the business interview was
over, "do you know anything of a young fellow named Elias Howe?"
"Elias Howe? Why, yes, I believe so. There are so many Howes here I
had to think a minute. You mean Elias, Jr., I guess. They did live
down in the south part. The young fellow had some scheme of sewing by
machinery. Couldn't make it work, I believe."
"Is his father living here?"
"No, not now. Another son invented a machine for cutting palm leaf into
strips for hats and Howe moved to Cambridge to help the thing along.
Don't believe he'll ever come back."
"My nephew and I saw young Howe in Boston four years ago with his
sewing machine. We've both been much interested to hear more about his
fortunes. Has he some relatives here who could tell us?"
"Why, yes, his uncle Tyler lives here, his father's brother. His house
is right over there. Better call on him. He's a pleasant fellow--every
Howe is--and he likes to talk."
"Shall we?" asked Uncle William of Jonathan.
Jonathan's feeling in the matter was not uncertain, but all he said
was, "I should like to, Uncle."
"Glad to see you both," was the hearty greeting of Mr. Tyler Howe, upon
hearing Uncle William's introduction of himself and his nephew. "Well,
Elias is a smart boy and a good one, but he's pretty well down on his
luck just now. So you saw him in Boston? Four years ago, wasn't it?
Since then he's had a discouraging time.
"After he exhibited his machine in the shop where you saw him, he
spent three or four months in Fisher's garret, making another machine
to deposit in the patent office. The next year he and Fisher went to
Washington, where they had no trouble in getting a patent, but no luck
at all in interesting people in the sewing machine. They exhibited it
once at a fair, but the crowd was amused, that's all.
"By the time Fisher got back to Cambridge, he washed his hands of the
whole matter. I don't much wonder. He'd spent all of two thousand
dollars and hadn't had a cent in return. Then Elias had only his family
to turn to. With his wife and children he moved to his father's and
began to plan how to interest England in the invention America had
rejected.
"He made a third machine, and with that as a sample, his brother Amasa
sailed for England in October, about a month after Elias came back
from Washington. For a time it seemed as if the trip would be worth
while. Amasa showed the machine to a William Thomas, who had a shop in
Cheapside, where he manufactured corsets, umbrellas, carpet bags, and
shoes. You can see that the sewing of such articles must be extremely
difficult, and Thomas was really interested in the machine.
"But Amasa, I'm afraid, hasn't proved himself much of a business man.
He sold Mr. Thomas outright for two hundred fifty pounds sterling
(that's twelve hundred fifty dollars of our money, Jonathan) the
machine he had brought with him and the right to use as many more as
were necessary in the business."
"Then the notice in the paper was a mistake. So Elias didn't go to
Europe?" inquired Uncle William.
[Illustration: CHEAPSIDE IN LONDON]
"Yes, the notice was true. You see, the man Thomas did most of his
trade in corsets, and the machine was better adapted to sewing overalls
and shirts. So Thomas agreed to give Elias three pounds a week if
he would go over to London and adapt the machine for use on corsets
and other stiff material. Thomas also agreed to pay the expenses of
workshop, tools, and material.
"Amasa came back to America with this news, and then he and Elias, with
the precious first machine, started together for London in February,
just as the paper said. They had so little money that they had to go in
the steerage and cook their own food. But in London things went well
for a time, and Thomas even advanced the money for Elias's family to
join him. However, the good fortune was short-lived. In eight months
Elias had adapted his machine to Thomas's requirements, and then Thomas
ungratefully discharged him for good and all.
"Things were pretty dark for Elias by this time. Thomas had agreed, but
only by word of mouth, to patent the invention in England, and to pay
Elias three pounds on every machine that was sold. There are scoundrels
everywhere, I suppose; but that Thomas has proved one of the meanest
men I ever heard of. Sewing machines are fairly common in London now,
and on every one of those Thomas has realized about ten pounds, but
Elias hasn't had a shilling.
"Of course, when Thomas discharged him, he had nothing to do but move
his family into cheaper quarters, borrow a few tools, and begin the
construction of a fourth machine. He could not finish it without more
money, so he moved his family into one very small room and worked as
fast as he could. But even then he could not buy food for his wife and
children and material for his machine. There was nothing to do but send
his family home and work at the machine till he could sell it and get
his own passage money.
"Elias has been in a good many straits for a young fellow, but he has
a marked gift for making friends. At this time he grew to know pretty
well a coach maker, named Charles Inglis, who unfortunately was a poor
man too, but who often lent him what money he could during those evil
days, and what was better, kept faith in him.
"The night that Mrs. Howe and the children left England, it was so very
wet and stormy that Mrs. Howe, who was almost in consumption, could
not walk to the ship. Inglis lent Elias a few shillings for the cab
hire, and Elias promised him some clothing in return. The clothing was
what the washerwoman had brought home that morning, but had taken away
again, because there was no money to pay her.
"Then came days of pinching poverty for Elias; but not quite such
unhappy ones, I think, now that the wife and children were soon to be
with the relatives in Cambridge. Elias knew that the Howes were too
proud to let his family starve; and as for himself, he would borrow a
shilling at a time of Inglis and buy beans to cook in his own room.
"Finally he finished the machine. Instead of getting the fifty pounds
that it was worth, he had to sell it for five pounds, and even then for
a mere promise to pay. Inglis soon managed to get four pounds of the
money in cash for him, but that four pounds was by no means enough to
pay Elias's debts and buy his passage. There was nothing to do but pawn
his precious first machine and the letters-patent. That done, he drew
his baggage on a hand cart to a freight vessel, and he and Inglis took
passage in the steerage of another ship bound for America.
"Elias reached New York last April with half a crown in his pocket, but
he found employment in a machine shop almost at once. Then came the sad
news that his wife, who had been ill when she left England, was dying
in Cambridge.
[Illustration: HOWE'S IMPROVED SEWING MACHINE]
"Elias had no money for a railroad journey. He had to wait friendless,
except for Inglis, in a great city, wholly despairing of ever seeing
his wife again and feeling that he had risked everything to gain
nothing. His father, however, as soon as he knew of his destitution,
sent him ten dollars, and Elias reached Cambridge just in time to speak
to his wife before she died. He had no clothes, though, but his shabby
working suit, and could not have gone to the funeral if his brother had
not lent him a coat.
"That was the last time I saw Elias, and then I should scarcely have
known him. By nature, he is, you know, a pleasant-faced, happy fellow;
but then he looked as if he had had a long, painful sickness. There
wasn't a trace of his old self left. And as if he hadn't had trouble
enough, word arrived before I left Cambridge that the vessel to which
he had carted his household goods had been wrecked off Cape Cod.
"Most people would have given up, I think, under all these trials, but
Elias has a good deal of the Howe perseverance. He immediately got a
position in Boston as a journeyman machinist at weekly wages."
"And where is he now?" inquired Uncle William sympathetically.
"I had a letter from him the other day. Should you like to hear it?"
Taking the answer for granted, Mr. Howe opened his desk and took out
the letter. Then he read as follows:--
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., _June 20, 1849_
_My dear Uncle,_
You will be interested, I know, in what I have to write; and I think
you will agree with me that I shall yet retrieve all my ill-luck. Any
advice you may have for me I shall cheerfully receive.
First look at the enclosed hand bill.
And Mr. Howe interrupted the reading to pass Uncle William and Jonathan
a small hand bill like this:--
A GREAT
CURIOSITY!!
THE
YANKEE SEWING MACHINE
IS NOW
EXHIBITING
AT THIS PLACE
FROM
8 A.M. TO 5 P.M.
He then went on with the reading:--
That was posted about in Ithaca, N. Y., just a few weeks after I came
back from England.
Some fellow made a machine from the description he heard of mine, and
he has been giving exhibitions of its work in various places. He says
his machine can do the work of six hands and make a pair of pantaloons
in forty minutes. And I have no doubt he tells the truth.
Only, Uncle Tyler, don't you see it's _my_ machine and he is
infringing on _my_ patent? And more than that, right here in Boston
machines have been built on my model and are in daily use. Now I know
that I am without resources and that I have pretty well exhausted the
patience of my friends. But surely my claims are valid.
Getting money to push them is the task I dread. Still I have already
raised a hundred dollars to get my machine and letters patent out of
pawn in London; and I have every hope that Mr. Anson Burlingame, who
is soon to sail for England, will deliver them safely to me in the
fall.
The next step is to see if the lawyers can find any flaws in my
claims. If they can't, the suit I propose to bring is already in
my favor; and I am sanguine enough to believe that the Howe sewing
machine will yet be a household convenience.
Yours respectfully,
ELIAS HOWE, Jr.
"Well," commented Mr. Howe, as he folded the letter slowly, "I didn't
know how to answer that. He said he wanted advice. I know he wants
money more, but of course he hates to ask for it. I deliberated a good
while; but finally I wrote him that if the lawyers gave him assurance
that his claims were valid, I would advance what money I could spare to
further his suit."
There was silence in the room for a little while. Then Jonathan said
earnestly:
"I wish I had some money to give Mr. Howe. Would he take my five
dollars, do you think?" he asked of the inventor's uncle.
"See, I have it here; and I should be glad to give it to him without
waiting to hear what the lawyers say. Do you think it would be all
right to send it, Mr. Howe?" he inquired.
"And may I, Uncle William?" he added quickly, for he had almost taken
his uncle's permission for granted.
Uncle William nodded; and Mr. Howe said, "You may never get it back,
you know."
"I think I shall," answered Jonathan confidently. "And anyway I want to
help Mr. Howe."
"Do you want to send it now?" inquired Mr. Howe.
[Illustration: ELIAS HOWE]
"If you please," replied Jonathan.
"Then you may write your letter here, while your uncle and I go for a
walk."
SPENCER, MASS.,
15^{th} 9^{th} mo., 1849.
_Mr. Elias Howe, Jr.,_
_Cambridge, Mass._
_My dear Mr. Howe_:--
Perhaps thee remembers the boy who saw thee run a race with thy sewing
machine against five seamstresses over Quincy Hall Market four years
ago. Thy uncle told me of the hard time thee has had since. I am very
sorry. I want to buy a sewing machine and I want to help thee. I am
sending thee five dollars. It is all the money I have. I hope thee
will use it to win thy suit. Sometime when thee sells sewing machines,
I hope thee will sell me one for my mother five dollars less than the
usual price. Thee can see thee will not have to pay this back for a
long time, for it will be a good many years before I shall have money
enough to buy a sewing machine.
Thy friend and well-wisher,
JONATHAN WHEELER
There is little more to tell of Jonathan's visit to Spencer. After
dinner that day he started with his uncle for Worcester, where they
stayed all night. The next morning, after an early breakfast, they set
out again, reaching home before the forenoon grew very hot.