The above list does not however contain any reference to one improvement by James Hargreaves of Blackburn, Lancashire, to which in this story special mention must be made.
It appears that in 1764 or 1765 this individual had completed a machine for spinning eleven threads _simultaneously_; and five years later he had developed the machine to so perfect a state that he took out a patent for it, from which time it became known to the industrial world as a _Spinning Jenny_. His right to the patent has over and over again been challenged, and it has been alleged that Thomas Highs of Leigh, also in Lancashire, was the real inventor. Baines, in his "History of the Cotton Manufacture," is inclined to the view that Hargreaves was the first to perfect the machine known as the "Jenny" (see Fig. 21).
From whatever point of view Hargreaves' machine is looked at, it must be acknowledged to be a decided step forward in the direction of spinning machinery improvement.
The jenny was so unlike Arkwright's frame or Paul's, and preceded that of the former by some years, that its claim to originality can not be questioned. How the inventor came to produce his machine can not be stated, but it is reported that on one occasion he saw a single thread spinning wheel which had been accidentally knocked over, lying with the wheel and spindle free and both revolving.
If the reader will think for a minute it will be apparent that the horizontal position of the spindle would be changed to a vertical one, and Hargreaves argued if one spindle could revolve in that way, why should not eight or any number of spindles be made to work at the same time. How far he successfully worked out that idea will be seen if reference be made to the illustration of the jenny which is shown in Fig. 21.
After what has been said under the head of Carding, Drawing, and Roving, it will easily be understood when it is said that, unlike Arkwright's Machine, Hargreaves' Jenny could only deal with the cotton when in the state of _roving_, and it was the roving which this machine attenuated and twisted or spun into yarn.
If the reader will imagine he or she is standing in front of the jenny, the following description will be made much clearer:--