University of Virginia Library

6. VI.
SEWING MACHINE — FELINE ATTACHMENT.

CIRCULAR: TO THE PUBLIC.

Permit me to call your undivided attention
to an invention lately made and patented by myself,
which is calculated to produce the most beneficial
results, and prove of inestimable value to
mankind. It is well known that the sewing-machines
now so generally in use, are the most
important invention and greatest blessing of the
age. Every lady considers this instrument indispensable
to her happiness; it has completely
usurped the place of the piano-forte and harp in all
well-regulated families; and she who once purchased
materials for clothing by the yard, now
procure them by the piece or bolt to enjoy the rational
pleasure of easily making them into garments.

In the humble cabin of the laborer, and in
the halls of the rich and great, now resounds from
morning until night, the whir of the sewing-machine.
The result of this universal grinding,
although eminently gratifying to the sellers of dry
goods, and the philanthropic fathers and husbands
who discharge their bills, has not been of a favorable
nature to our ladies in a physical point of
view. It is found that the constant use of the
crank has brought on rheumatic and neuralgic affections
in the shoulder, and a similar application
of the treddle has a tendency to produce hip diseases,
and white swelling of the knee-joint, accompanied
by nervous complaints of a painful character.
The undersigned is acquainted with a most
estimable single lady of middle age, who, having
procured one of the fast-running machines, was so
enchanted with it, that she persisted in its use for
thirty-six hours without cessation, and found, on
endeavoring to leave off, that her right leg had acquired
the motion of the treddle in such a painful
manner, that it was impossible to keep it still, and

her locomotion therefore assumed a species of
polka step exceedingly ludicrous to witness, and
particularly mortifying to herself. I regret to add
that she was compelled, by a vote of the society,
to withdraw from the Methodist Church, on a
charge of dancing down the broad aisle on a Communion
Sunday. A more melancholy instance
was the case of Mrs. Thompson of Seekonk, a
most amiable lady, beloved and respected by all
around her, but who, by constant use of the crank,
lost all control of the flexors and extensors of her
right arm, and inadvertently punched her husband
in the eye, which, he being a man of suspicious
and unforgiving disposition, led to great unhappiness
in the family, and finally resulted in the melancholy
case of Thompson vs. Thompson, so familiar
to most of the civilized world. A turn for
mechanism, and an intense desire to contribute
to the happiness of the female sex, have ever been
distinguishing traits in my character. On learning
these facts, therefore, I devoted myself to a
thorough investigation of the subject, and after a
month of close application, have at last made an
invention which will at once do away with every
thing objectionable in the use of the sewing-machine.

This beautiful discovery is now named

Like most great inventions, the Attachment is
of great simplicity. An upright shaft is connected
with the machine by a cog-wheel and pinion,
and supported below by a suitable frame-work.
Two projecting arms are attached to the shaft, to
one of which a large cat is connected by a light
harness, and from the other, a living mouse is suspended
by the tail, within a few inches of the nose
of the motor. As the cat springs toward the
mouse, the latter is removed, and keeping constantly
at the original distance, the machine revolves
with great rapidity. The prodigious velocity
produced by the rapacity of the cat in its futile
endeavors to overtake the mouse, can only be imagined
by one who has seen the Attachment in
full operation.

It is thus that man shows his supremacy over
the brute creation, by making even their rapacious
instincts subservient to his use.

Should it be required to arrest the motion of
the machine, a handkerchief is thrown over the
mouse, and the cat at once pauses, disgusted.

Remove the handkerchief and again she springs
forward with renewed ardor. The writer has
seen one cat (a tortoise-shell) of so ardent and
unwearying disposition, that she made eighteen
pairs of men's pantaloons, two dozen shirts, and
seven stitched shirts, before she lay down exhausted.
It is to be hoped that the ladies throughout
the land will avail themselves of this beautiful discovery,
which will entirely supersede the use of
the needle, and make the manufacture of clothing
and household materials a matter of pleasure to
themselves, and exciting and healthy exercise to
their domestic animals. I present on page 63 an
elevation of the “Feline Attachment” in operation,
that all may understand its powers, and none fail to
procure one, through ignorance of its merits.

[ILLUSTRATION]

ELEVATION OF ‘PHŒNIX'S FELINE ATTACHMENT.’
A. Sewing-Machine, Box-pattern,. . . . . . . .$75 00
C. Cat, at various prices, say, . . . . . . . $2 ½ to 10 00
B. Vertical Shaft, . . . . . . . . . . . 5 00 D. H. Projecting arms, . . . . . . . . . . 50 M. Mouse, . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ½
_
Total cost of Machine and Attachment, . . . . $90 62 ½

[Description: 548EAF. Illustration Page. Line drawing of sewing machine attached to cat and mouse.]

The Attachment will be furnished to families having
sewing-machines, on the most reasonable terms,
and at the shortest notice. Young and docile cats
supplied with the Attachment, by application at
348 Broadway, New York. Office of the Patent
Back-Action Hen Persuader.