"Now, gentlemen," said Mr. Howe, "may I not have your orders for a sewing machine? See what a money-saver it will be! I can make you one for seven hundred dollars. It will pay for itself in a few months, and it will last for years."
Jonathan expected to hear many of the tailors present order a machine at once. But he was witnessing, although he did not know it till years afterward, "the pain that usually accompanies a new idea." The invention which was to make the greatest change of the century in the manufacturing world lay for several years unused and scorned by the public. The short-sighted tailors over Quincy Hall Market made one objection after another.
"It does not make the whole garment."
"My journeymen would be furious."
"Truly, it would beggar all handsewers."
Faneuil Hall, Boston, Adjoining Quincy Market
"The Cradle of Liberty."
"We are doing well enough as we are."
"It costs too much."
"Why, Mr. Howe, I should need ten machines. I should never get my money back."