THE WAUPACA POST

May 31, 1894

 

HOWE’S DREAM

 

It Resulted in the Invention of the Sewing Machine.

 

            James M. Howe, formerly a resident of Springfield, Mass., and now of Chicago, is a descendant of Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine.  He recently related a curious incident concerning his relative’s struggle for success.

            “Elias How almost beggared himself,” said he, “before he discovered where the eye of he needle of a sewing machine should be located. It is probable that there are a few persons who know how it came about.  His original idea was to follow the model of the ordinary needle and have the eye at the heel.  It never occurred to him that it should be placed near the point, and he might have failed altogether if he had not dreamed he was building a sewing machine for a savage king in a strange country.  Just as in his actual waking experience, he was perplexed about the needle’s eye.  He thought the king gave him twenty-four hours to complete the machine and make it sew.  If not finished at that time death was to be the punishment.

            “Howe worked and worked, and puzzled and puzzled, and finally gave it up. Then he thought that he was taken out to be executed.  He noticed that the warriors carried spears that were pierced at the head.  Instantly came the solution of the difficulty, and while the inventor was begging for time he awoke.  It was 4 o’clock in the morning. He jumped out of bed, ran to his shop, and by 9 o’clock a needle with an eye at the point had been rudely formed.  After that it was easy.”