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THE AMERICANA

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eward, su'ard, Anna, English poet: b. Eyam, Derbyshire, 1747; d. Lichfield, 25 March 1809. Some of her earlier poetical efforts were an 'Elegy on the Death of Mr. Garrick and an 'Ode on Ignorance'. Her literary aspirations_were fostered by her fellow-townsman, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, of whom she later wrote 'Memoir (1804). Her greater success was achieved with a Monody on the Death of the Unfortunate Major André (1781), and an elegiac poem on 'Captain Cook' (1807). Horace Walpole declared she had "no imagination, no novelty," and Miss Mitford spoke of her as "all tinkling and tinsel -a sort of Dr. Darwin in petticoats." Her poems were published in 1810 with a memoir by Sir Walter Scott.

Seward, Frederick William, American lawyer, son of W. H. Seward (q.v.): b. Auburn, N. Y., 8 July 1830. He was graduated from Union College in 1849, admitted to the bar in 1851, and for 10 years was one of the editors and owners of the Albany Evening Journal. In 1861 he was sent to apprize Lincoln of the plot to assassinate him in Baltimore, served as assistant secretary of state in 1861-9 and in 1877-81, and narrowly escaped death in defending his father from the assault of 14 April 1865. He went with Admiral Porter on the special mission to negotiate the treaties with the West Indies in 1867, assisted in the purchase of Alaska, and in the negotiations for Pago-Pago Harbor, Samoa. He was a member of the New York legislature in 1875, State commissioner at the Yorktown Centennial Celebration in 1881, and in 1900 became president of the Sagaponack Realty Company. He has published: 'Life and Letters of William H. Seward' (1891); A West Indian Cruise' (1894).

Seward, George Frederick, American diplomat, nephew of W. H. Seward (q.v.): b. Florida, N. Y., 8 Nov. 1840. He was educated at Union College, and in 1861 was appointed United States consul to Shanghai, China, where he remained until 1876, serving as consul-general from 1863. In 1876-80 he was minister to China, but was recalled in the last named year in consequence of refusing to undertake the negotiation of a treaty to restrict Chinese immigration. During his residence in China he was active in suppressing riots and in reducing piracy. He has been vice-president of the North China branch of the Royal Asiatic Society since 1887, and since 1893 has been president of the New York Fidelity and Casualty Company. He has published: 'Chinese Immigration in Its Social and Economic Aspects' (1881); 'Digest of System of Taxation of New York' (1902); etc.

Seward, William Henry, American statesman: b. Florida, Orange County, N. Y., 16 May 1801; d. Auburn, Cayuga County, N. Y., 10 Oct. 1872. He was graduated from Union College (1820), and having studied for the law, began practising at Auburn in 1823, but soon indicated a decided bent for politics, which grad

VOL. 19-1

ually drew him away from the legal profession. In 1830 he was elected as an anti-Masonic candidate to a seat in the New York senate, and, from that date he was, with few intervals, in one form or another, an effective and prominent leader in the councils that framed the policy both in his own State and of the Nation. In 1838 he was elected first Whig governor of New York by a majority of 10,421. Though his administration was rendered peculiarly difficult by the internal dissensions of his party, it was marked by wise measures of reform, which definitely added to Whig strength in the State. During his term many of the disabilities of foreigners were removed, the anti-rent troubles were adjusted, the natural history and geological survey of the State was commenced, the State museum of natural history was established, and a bill was passed securing for fugitive slaves a trial by jury with counsel furnished by the State. He was re-elected in 1840. From 1843 to 1849 he was occupied largely with professional practice, though he delivered several addresses on political and other topics, among them one on the life and character of O'Connell, which is accounted one of his happiest oratorical efforts. He was elected in 1849 to the Senate, and there attained great influence as both a party leader and an adviser of President Taylor. In a speech of 11 March 1850 in favor of the admission of California, he spoke of the exclusion of slavery from all new States as demanded by "the higher law," a phrase which greatly offended Southern Democrats, and was made one of the battle-cries of Abolition. Upon Fillmore's accession, Seward strongly opposed that President's pro-slavery attitude, though this was accepted by many Whigs in Congress. Having been re-elected senator in 1855, he took a leading part in the discussions immediately antecedent to the Rebellion. In an address at Rochester, N. Y., in October 1858, he made reference to the "irrepressible conflict" whose outcome must make the United States a nation either all of free labor or all of slave. In 1856 and again in 1860 he was the most prominent Republican candidate for the Presidential nomination, receiving on the first ballot at the Chicago convention in 1860 1731⁄2 votes as against 102 for Lincoln, who was eventually chosen. Seward, however, spoke for Lincoln in West and East, and was made secretary of state. This post he filled with notable efficiency, particularly in connection with the foreign relations of the government. He reorganized the diplomatic service, and by his able despatches and the instructions furnished to representatives abroad retained the confidence of Europe, which had been ready to grant recognition and support to the Confederacy. A famous incident of his secretaryship was the correspondence with Great Britain àpropos of the "Trent affair." When the Confederate agents, Slidell and Mason, were removed from the British ship Trent, their restoration was peremptorily called for, and war seemed certain. The answer, formulated by Seward and

SEWARD-SEWING MACHINES

slightly amended by Lincoln, by its skill, closed the matter. Great Britain, it said, now recognized the principle of exemption from search, contended for in the War of 1812 by the United States, which now therefore willingly released the prisoners. Seward insisted on redress for American citizens for depredations by the Alabama (see ALABAMA CLAIMS). At the time of the assassination of Lincoln, an unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of Seward, then ill at Washington. Seward was retained by Johnson, but retired in March 1869. He published a 'Life' of J. Q. Adams (1849). An edition of his 'Works' appeared in 1853, including speeches, addresses, and essays. Consult the autobiography and memoir published in 1877; Lothrop, William Henry Seward' (1896).

Seward, Neb., city, county-seat of Seward County; on the Big Blue River, and on the Chicago, B. & Q. and the Fremont, E. & M. V. R.R.'s; about 26 miles west by north of Lincoln, the capital of the State. It is in an agricultural and stock-raising region, in which wheat and corn are the chief farm products. The city has flour mills, grain elevators, stock yards, and creameries. There is a large trade in grain and live stock. The four banks have a combined capital of $210,000. Pop. (1890) 2,108; (1900), 1,970; (1910) 2,106.

Seward Peninsula. See ALASKA.

Sewell, su'el, Elizabeth Inissing, English novelist: b. Newport, Isle of Wight, 19 Feb. 1815. She wrote extensively, her works covering travels, religious topics, poetry, and various histories for young people, beside the novels upon which her reputation rests. They are of the High-Church school of fiction, were once widely popular in England and the United States, and include: Amy Herbert' (1844); 'Lauton Parsonage (1846); Margaret Percival (1847); Ursula' (1858); etc.

Sewell, William Joyce, American statesman: b. Castlebar, Ireland, 6 Dec. 1835; d. Camden, N. J., 27 Dec. 1901. He came to the United States in 1846, served as a sailor for a time, and later engaged in business. He served in many battles of the Civil War, and at its close was brevetted brigadier-general and major-general. He was interested in railroad affairs after the war; was elected to the New Jersey senate in 1872, and was president of that body in 1876, 1879, and 1880. He was United States Senator from New Jersey in 1881-7 and 1895-1901. In 1899 he became major-general of the New Jersey National Guard.

Sewellel, a terrestrial rodent (Haplodon rufus) which is formed into a family by itself, and regarded as a connecting link between beavers and squirrels. It is represented by a single species (H. rufus), restricted to "a small area on the west coast of North America, in Washington, Oregon, and California." The aborigines called it "Showt'l" or "Sewellel," the trappers the "Boomer" or "Mountain Beaver." The animal is plump, with broad head, short limbs, and hardly any tail; measures about a foot in length; and has a brownish color. It lives socially in colonies, burrows underground, and lives on vegetable matter. As a connecting link Haplodon is of much interest to naturalists,

while the Indians use its skin and probably also its flesh.

Sewerage. See SANITARY ENGINEERING.

Sewing Machines. On 17 July 1790 Thomas Saint, an Englishman, secured a patent on a machine to be used for "quilting, stitching, and sewing, making shoes and other articles.»' The patent was for some sort of a machine connected with boot-making, and the specifications and drawings of the patent comprised, among other things, a crude stitching device for forming a chain-stitch. This patent was discovered a few years ago by a searcher among the ancient archives of the British Patent Office, where it had lain unnoticed for well-nigh a century, no attempt, so far as is known, having ever been made to introduce into practical use the mechanisms described in the patent. Between 1790 and 1841 several parties obtained patents for stitching devices, making the tambour and chain-stitches, none of which was commercially successful, one of the fatal defects in each being the fact that the cloth had to be fed by hand. When, in 1841, Newton and Archbold patented in England a needle with an eye near the point, and which is essentially the same needle now in use by all sewing-machine manufacturers, one of the greatest difficulties that had theretofore stood in the way of making the sewing machine a practical success was overcome. In 1818 a sewing machine which made a back-stitch was invented by the Rev. John Adams Dodge, of Monkton, Vt., but was neither patented nor manufactured for sale. The first sewing machine put into operation was patented in France, in 1830, by Barthlémy Thimonnier, and was used principally in the manufacture of clothing for the French army, but it was later destroyed by a mob. In 1848 he put another machine on the market and on 3 Sept. 1850 took out a patent in the United States.

A machine having a needle with an eye near the point attached to the end of the vibrating arm was invented and manufactured in 1832-4, in New York, by a machinist named Walter Hunt. This machine was a lock-stitch and used two continuous threads. In 1842 a machine for sewing leather and various other heavy materials was invented by J. J. Greenough, but this did not become generally used. In 1843 a machine somewhat similar to the Greenough machine was invented by George H. Corliss. This had an automatic feed, and the needles, of which there were two, were run horizontally through the goods to be sewed. Numerous other inventions were made between the years 1849 to 1851, the most important of these being the machine for the manufacture of clothing made by Lerow and Blodgett. This had a curved shuttle, adjustable feed, and automatic tension, and the baster-plate consisted of a circular hoop studded with pins. The next invention patented that covers a fundamental and important feature was that of John Bachelder, patented 8 May 1849. Bachelder's machine was the first to embody the horizontal table with a continuous feeding device that would sew any length of seam. His invention consisted of an endless leather belt set with small steel points projecting up through the horizontal table and penetrating the material

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