Essentials of United States history . ines, because it was thought these inven-tions would take away from the working man his means oflivelihood. After a time, when people realized the value ofsewing machines, Howe made a fortune. The machine wassoon adapted to the sewing of all kinds of materials, and thecost of clothing was lessened. No invention has proved agreater blessing or made more of an advance in Americanlife than this. 336. The Reaper. — Another invention of great impor-tance was produced about this same time. Hitherto all hayand grain had been cut by the hand-scythe or sickle. This
Essentials of United States history . ines, because it was thought these inven-tions would take away from the working man his means oflivelihood. After a time, when people realized the value ofsewing machines, Howe made a fortune. The machine wassoon adapted to the sewing of all kinds of materials, and thecost of clothing was lessened. No invention has proved agreater blessing or made more of an advance in Americanlife than this. 336. The Reaper. — Another invention of great impor-tance was produced about this same time. Hitherto all hayand grain had been cut by the hand-scythe or sickle. Thiswas a slow process and suitable only for small farms. Asearly as 1831 Cyrus McCormick had produced a successfulreaper, but for ten years farmers would not buy it, and by1850 only three thousand had been sold. The next year exhibited his machine at the Worlds Fair inLondon. The English papers made all manner of fun of the reaper easily proved itself superior to all 264 ESSENTIALS OF UNITED STATES HISTORY. ( h in s \\. McCormick. similar machines. The watching farmers were obliged togive it three hearty cheers, and one broke his sickle across his knee, saying that he wouldno longer need it. Since thenthe reaper has been improvedagain and again, and other farm-ing machines equally marveloushave been invented. But forthem we should not have ourgreat grain fields of the West. 337. Ether. — One of the mostwonderful discoveries of thisperiod was the use of ether as ananaesthetic. It was found thatthe inhalation of ether would puta sufferer to sleep and render him unconscious of pain. Itwas first successfully used in a surgical operation in theMassachusetts General Hospital in 1S46. 338. Petroleum. — The first profitable oil well in thiscountry was sunk by Colonel Drake in western Pennsylvaniain 1S59. It was soon discovered that oil existed in largequantities under the surface of the ground in various partsof the country. In different forms it was put
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