A Want Supplied

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A domestic hand loom of a simple construction that could be easily managed, and worked by the most inexperienced,. was a great desideratum in country districts. The old fashioned hand loom is cumbersome and difficult to work by those not accustomed to j it, apd some improvement was much to be desired. This improvement, we are able to congratulate our conntry readers, has been effected, and we have had the pleasure of viewing a new hand loom, which is illustrated on page 148, this volume. It differs from the hand loom which is at present used, in the direct action of the lay, thus working the tred-dIe and throwing the shuttle, whereas, by the other, the treddle is operated by the feet, and the shuttle thrown by the hand. This alone would be sufficient to obtain for it a preference among the farming classes, who required some such simple contrivance by which weaving might be done at home without the trouble of a long practice, which is required by the old method to obtain any sort of proficiency. The above improvement has, however, many other advantages, it will do a greater quantity of work, takes up much less room, and is so simple and inexpensive in its structure, that it can be made wherever there is a carpenter and an ordinary blacksmith. A hand loom of this description will be of incalculable benefit, for it must infallibly make weaving as common an art as that of handling the needle, and indeed requires less skill. Those who have been accustomed to the old fashioned country loam will find no difficulty in operating this, for the manner of putting in the web is precisely the same, and very little instruction will be required by the uninitiated. Allsorts of cotton and woolen articles of a common description can be manufactured by this loom, and it is. well adapted for the South, where it might be advantageously employed for weaving the common fabrics of domestic use. The patentee, S. C, Mendenhall, is now on his way to Washington, for the purpose 01 exhibiting his invention at the Metropolitan ' Fair in that city. We have not the least hesitation in venturing to affirm that this machine will eventually supersede the ordinary hand loom in country districts, aDd that it is as useful an article for domestic purposes .as we have ever had an occasion of noticing, As an in-door resource of employment among farmers and others, it will be of the greatest value, and every housewife will be rejoiced at the introduction of a money-saving machine that can be worked so easily and so effectually almost by a child,

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 24This article was published with the title “A Want Supplied” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 24 (), p. 192
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican02261853-192

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