Poor
Elias was in a most deplorable condition. He had his model in his head,
and was fully satisfied of its excellence, but he had not the money to
buy the materials needed in making a perfect machine, which would have
to be constructed of steel and iron, and without which he could not hope
to convince others of its value. His great invention was useless to him
without the five hundred dollars which he needed in the construction of
a working model.
In this dilemma, he applied to a friend, Mr. George Fisher, a coal and
wood merchant of Cambridge, who was a man of some means. He explained
his invention to him, and succeeded in forming a partnership with him.
Fisher agreed to take Howe and his family to board with him while the
latter was making the machine, to allow his garret to be used as a
workshop, and to advance the five hundred dollars necessary for the
purchase of tools and the construction of a model. In return for this he
was to receive one-half of the patent, if Howe succeeded in patenting
his machine. About the first of December, 1844, Howe and his family
accordingly moved into Fisher's house, and the little workshop was set
up in the garret.
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