s were declared the
strongest and neatest. (Had any curved or angular work been brought, he
could not have stitched it.) Still Howe did not receive a single order.
The fear of throwing hand sewers out of work was again expressed, and,
in addition, the cost of the machine was said to be too high. When it
was estimated that a large shirtmaker would have to buy thirty or forty
such machines, the necessary large investment was dismissed as
ridiculous.

Howe was not too discouraged. In the meantime, he had finished a second
machine for deposit with the patent specifications, as the patent laws
then required. The second was a better made machine (fig. 15) and showed
several minor changes. As soon as the patent was issued on September 10,
1846, Howe and his partner returned to Cambridge.

Without the inventor's enthusiasm or love of his own invention, George
Fisher became thoroughly discouraged. He had boarded Howe and his family
for nearly two years, had furnished the money needed to purchase the
tools and materials for making the two sewing machines, had met the
expense of obtaining the patent and the trip of Howe and himself to
Washington; representing in all an outlay of practically $2000. Since no
orders for machines had been received from either garment makers or
tailors, Fisher did not see the slightest probability of the machine's
becoming profitable and regarded his advances of cash as a dead loss.

Howe moved back to his father's house with a plan to look elsewhere for
a chance to introduce the machine. Obtaining a loan from his father, he
built another machine and sent it to England by his brother Amasa. After
many discouraging attempts to interest the British, Amasa met William
Thomas, a manufacturer of umbrellas, corsets, and leather goods. Thomas
employed many workmen, all of whom stitched by hand, and he immediately
saw the possibilities of a sewing machine. He proposed that Howe sell
the machine to him for L250 sterling (about $1250). Thomas further
proposed to engage the inventor to adapt this machine to the making of
corsets, at a salary of L3 a week.

When Amasa Howe returned to Cambridge with the news, Elias was reluctant
to accept Thomas' offer but had nothing better in sight. So the brothers
sailed for London in February 1847, taking with them Howe's first
machine and his patent papers. Thomas later advanced the passage money
for Howe's wife and three children so that they could join Howe in
England.