As we have already observed, it was war that first aroused the inventive instincts in man. Fortunately this instinct was not confined to destructive devices and engines, and the mechanical conquest of the earth, although it continues to derive much benefit from the stimulus of war, may well afford to break off relations with so grim and horrible a partner and proceed to develop under the stimulus of its own successes.
THE REAL beginning of the present age of machinery dates from Watt’s invention of the double-acting steam engine which was patented in 1782. Prior to that date the steam engine was used merely for pumping water, but now in its new form it was adapted for use in driving industrial machinery. But, as we have shown in another chapter, it was not until John Wilkinson invented his boring machine in 1774 that it was possible to bore the cylinders that Watt used in his engine.
In the field of machine tools there were several notable inventions. Henry Maudslay invented the slide rest for lathes and later in 1797 the screwcutting lathe. Joseph Bramah invented the hydraulic press and Maudslay furnished the cup leather packing that made it a success. Woodworking machinery, and particularly mortising machines for making pulley blocks, were invented by Samuel Bentham and patented in 1791 and 1793.
In the textile industry we find the spinning jenny invented by Hargreaves in 1770, Richard Arkwright’s roll-drawing spinning machine invented in 1769 and 1775, and Crompton’s mule spinner invented between 1774 and 1779, but never patented. In addition to this there was the invention of the cotton gin in 1794 by our own Eli Whitney and Dr. Cartwright’s series of patents on the power-driven loom granted between 1785 and 1788. In 1799 Louis Roberts invented a machine that would make a continuous web of paper. The machine was developed in England by the Fourdrinier Brothers and has ever since borne their name.
Just before the Nineteenth Century dawned the patents on Watt’s steam engine expired and the invention became public property.
Trevithic applied steam power to the propulsion of a coach in 1801. This was the forerunner of the automobile and it led to the invention of the first steam railway and locomotive three years later. Steam was also applied to the propulsion of boats in this decade and reached the practical stage when Fulton built the Clermont in 1807. The first application of steam to the driving of a loom is accredited to William Horrocks in 1803. Jacquard’s loom attachment for producing various patterns was invented in 1801. The first knitting machine in which the latch needle was used was patented in France in 1806 by Jeandeau.