Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 41.djvu/523

 arm or horn noted in the above description, from the interior of which is supplied the waxed thread previously heated by a gas-jet within. But Blake's first machine was very imperfect. A leading interest in the invention, however, happened to fall into the hands of Mr. Gordon McKay. Realizing the importance of the principle, the two set themselves to its improvement. As perfected, they got patents on it in 1860, which gave them the practical control of the machine-made boots in this country for many years. It is said that nearly two hundred thousand dollars were spent on the invention before anything was realized from it. But when the return came it was indeed a golden harvest. None of the machines were sold outright to manufacturers, but they were let to them on the payment of royalties;



and to show what that amounted to is the fact that one Lynn manufacturer in a single year paid the company fully fifteen thousand dollars for the use of McKay machines in his shop. Under the pressure of the war the demand for boots and shoes of stout quality but cheaper grade was enormous, and it