Great Fortunes, and How They Were Made | Page 6

reward.
CHAPTER XV.
ELI WHITNEY.
The home of General Greene in Georgia--The soldier's widow--An arrival from New England--The young schoolmaster--A mechanical genius--Early history of Whitney--Mrs. Greene's invitation--Visit of the planters--State of the cotton culture in 1792--A despondent planter--Mrs. Greene advises them to try Whitney--Origin of the cotton gin--Whitney's first efforts--His workshop--The secret labors--How he provided himself with materials--Finds a partner--Betrayal of his secret--He is robbed of his model--He recovers it and completes it--The first cotton gin--Statement of the revolution produced by the invention in the cotton culture of the South--Opinion of Judge Johnson--The story of an inventor's wrongs--Whitney is cheated and robbed of his rights--The worthlessness of a patent--A long and disheartening struggle--Honorable action of North Carolina--Congress refuses to extend the patent--Whitney abandons the cotton gin--Engages in the manufacture of firearms--His improvements in them--Establishes an armory in Connecticut, and makes a fortune--Death.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHAUNCEY JEROME.
The old-fashioned clocks--Their expensiveness--Condition of the clock trade of Connecticut sixty years ago--Early history of Chauncey Jerome--A hard life--Death of his father--Becomes a farmer's boy--Is anxious to become a clock-maker--An over-wise guardian--Hardships of an apprentice--How Jerome became a carpenter--Hires his winters from his master--Becomes a dial-maker--The clock-making expedition--Jerome's first savings--Takes a wife--A master carpenter--Poor pay and hard work--Buys a house--A dull winter--Enters Mr. Terry's factory--The wooden clock business--Sets up in business for himself--Industry and energy rewarded--His first order--Sends his clocks South--Enlarges his business--Improvements in his clocks--Losses on southern shipments from dampness--Depression of business--Jerome's anxiety--A wakeful night--Invention of the brass--A new era in the clock trade--Beneficial effects of Jerome's invention--Magnitude of the Connecticut clock trade at present--Growth of Jerome's business--Makes a fortune--Organization of the "Jerome Clock-making Company"--Practical withdrawal of Mr. Jerome--Difficulties of the company--Jerome a ruined man--Honest independence--Finds employment--Becomes the manager of the Chicago Company.
CHAPTER XVII.
ELIAS HOWE, JR.
The first sewing-machine--Birth of Elias Howe--A poor man's son--Raised to hard work--His first employment--The little mill-boy--Delicate health--Goes to Lowell to seek his fortune--Thrown out of employment--Removes to Cambridge--Works in a machine shop with N.P. Banks--Marries--A rash step--Growing troubles--A hard lot--Conceives the idea of a sewing-machine--His first experiments unsuccessful--Invents the lock stitch and perfects the sewing-machine--Hindered by his poverty--A hard struggle--Finds a partner--His winter's task--His attic work-shop--Completion of the model--Perfection of Howe's invention--Efforts to dispose of the invention--Disappointed hopes--Popular incredulity--Becomes an engine driver--Amasa Howe goes to England with the sewing-machine--Bargain with the London merchant--Elias removes to London--Loses his situation--The rigors of poverty--Returns to America--Death of his wife--Fate's last blow--The sewing-machine becomes better known--Adoption by the public--A tardy recognition--Elias Howe sets up in business for himself--Buys out his partner's interest--The sewing-machine war--Rapid growth of the sewing-machine interest--Earnings of the inventor--A royal income--Honors conferred upon him--Enlists in the United States Army--A liberal private--Last illness and death.
CHAPTER XVIII.
RICHARD M. HOE.
Growth of the art of printing--Birth of Richard M. Hoe--Sketch of the career of Robert Hoe--He comes to America--His marriage--Founds the house of "Robert Hoe & Co."--The first steam printing presses--He retires from business--Richard M. Hoe is brought up in the business--The mechanical genius of the house--The new firm--Richard Hoe's first invention--Obtains a patent for it--Visits England--Invents the double-cylinder press--Demand for increased facilities for printing--Mr. Hoe's experiments with his press--His failures--How the "Lightning Press" was invented--A good night's work--Patents his invention--The first "Lightning Press"--Demand for it--Rapid growth of the business of the firm--Statement of the operations of the house--Personal characteristics of Richard M. Hoe--The "Lightning Press" at work.
CHAPTER XIX.
SAMUEL COLT.
Birth and parentage--A restless boy--Dislikes school--Early fondness for mechanical inventions--Is sent to boarding-school--Runs away to sea--The story of a boy's invention, and what came of it--Origin of the revolver--Returns home--His chemical studies--Dr. Coult--The lecturing tour--His success--Completes his design for the revolver--Patents his invention--Visits England--Discovery at the Tower of London--Returns home--Formation of the "Patent Arms Company"--Objections of the officers of the army and navy to the revolver--The Florida War--It is decided by the revolver--Triumph of Col. Colt--Cessation of the demand for arms--Failure of the company--Beginning of the Mexican War--Action of General Taylor--No revolvers to be had--A strange dilemma for an inventor--The new model--Contracts with the Government--Success of the revolver in Mexico--The demand from the frontier--Emigration to California and Australia--Permanent establishment of Col. Colt's business--The improved weapon--Builds a new armory--Description of his works at Hartford--A liberal employer--Other inventions of Col. Colt--His submarine telegraph--His fortune--His marriage--Visits to Europe--Attentions from European dignitaries--Witnesses the coronation of the Emperor of Russia--His last illness and death.
CHAPTER XX.
SAMUEL F.B. MORSE.
Birth--Parentage--Early education--Graduates at Yale College--Becomes an artist--His masters--Visits England--His first attempt--"The Dying Hercules"--Opinion of Benjamin West--Wins the medal of the Adelphi Society of Arts--Ambition as an artist--His cold reception by the Americans--Mr. Tuckerman's comments--Organizes the National Academy of Design--Visits Europe the second time--The homeward voyage in the "Sully"--News of the experiments at Paris with the electro-magnet--How the electric telegraph was invented--Morse is made a professor in the University of New York--Completion of his model--An imperfect telegraph--His first experiments--The duplicate finished--First exhibition of the telegraph--Morse applies for a patent--Visits Europe