20
EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
in fire-arms. In Machinery only, however, was the Massachusetts contribution otherwise than a ludicrous failure.
In this Group (XIII.) the American exhibits generally attracted attention, on account of their merit and novelty, and, though by no means the best specimens of our mechanical engineering, did not reflect discredit. An examination of the list of awards will show, that in proportion to its exhibitors, the United States received a larger number of high prizes than any other country. The reason for this is not that the jury were lax or partial in their decisions, but that nearly every one of our machines, when compared with those of foreign make, had some points of superiority.
Massachusetts was not wanting in contributing to this result. The wood-working machinery, the boot and shoe machinery and the wool-spinner were among the chief attractions of the Exposition, not only for the gazing crowd, but for experts ; and for this reason, in an official report, the exhibits from the State in this department should receive more than a merely passing notice.
• The collection of wood-working tools exhibited by Mr. B. D. Whitney, of Winchendon, without considering the novelties in design, were most creditable in poirit of construction, since they showed careful calculation and accurate workmanship, for lack of which American tools have been too often exposed to criticism. Mr. Whitney’s pail-machinery was sent only to interest visitors, and not as a new invention. His saw- bench and short planer, which were at the Paris Exposition in 1867, were unsurpassed by any similar tools on exhibition. The scraping-machine, designed to smooth the surface of small pieces of hardwood, such as are used in cabinetmaking, was an entirely original invention. It performs its work quicker and far better than is possible by hand-labor. In order to secure the peculiar edge required on the scraping- knife, a special grinding-machine was provided, without which the utility of the scraper would be much lessened. There was also a jig-saw, balanced in a novel way, so that it could be run at a high speed without producing the trembling which usually attends the action of such machines. The most prominent of his exhibits, and the one which was brought into competition with those of nearly every manufacturer at the