Henry Alonzo House
Encyclopedia
Henry Alonzo House was an American inventor who developed machinery and processes that have had a lasting impact on several industries.
in perfecting and getting capital interest in his New Printing Telegraph
.
In the spring of 1846 the House family moved to Little Meadows
, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
, where they built a home on the side of a hill which was known as the Castle. There was a natural spring nearby, which was piped into the house to give running water, an unusual thing for those days. At that time there was no railroad to that part of the country, so in order to move their household goods from New York, they boarded a barge which was towed by steam up the Hudson River
to Troy
where it was taken through the lock into the Erie Canal
and towed by horses to Ithaca
on Lake Cayuga, New York. The last part of the trip was made by ox teams and the whole journey took over a month.
In 1852 the family moved to Owego, New York
where there were better educational facilities. Here they lived by the Susquehanna River
. The boys James and Henry built a boat and rigged it up like the side wheelers they had seen on the Hudson River. This they used to take people up the river on excursions and also to carry produce down the river, thus earning money with which to pay their father for the material used to build the boat.
. Henry and his brother went to Rockford in the fall and started in business with their father. In 1857 Henry took a position with his father who was superintending the raising and reconstructing of the old city hall in Chicago
. While working on a building in New York
, Henry had the misfortune of having the extension muscle of his right hand severed by a chisel which dropped from a scaffold. This incapacitated his doing any carpentry work for several months. During this enforced idleness, he designed and patented an automatic gate.
broke out and Henry was rejected as a volunteer on account of his slightly cripped right hand, he turned his attention to making a button
hole machine. He and his brother James entered into partnership with Mr. Seaman and in 1862 they perfected an automatic buttonhole sewing machine. It was then tested in a clothing shop in New York on army overcoats and capes, where its average was from 1,000 to 1,200 buttonholes per day. This caused hard feelings among the hand buttonhole workers, and one day during the noon hour they smashed the machine. However, the next morning another machine was working in its place. All together there were over one hundred thousand button holes made there. The patents were taken over by the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company
of Bridgeport, Connecticut
. While House was in Washington D.C. looking after the patent application, he met Abraham Lincoln
, for whom he cast his first vote.
In November 1862, he again returned to Little Meadows and married his cousin Mary Elizabeth House, daughter of William House, a miller. As his mother was very ill they hurried to Brooklyn where his mother died on November 28, 1862.
He then took his bride to Bridgeport, Connecticut
where he was engaged by Wheeler and Wilson to superintend the making of his buttonhole machine. In the Spring of 1863 his father Ezekiel House died in Brooklyn. During that year four patents were issued for the automatic buttonhole sewing machine. In 1867 House represented the company at the Paris Exposition
Universelle, which opened in France
in May 1867.
In 1875 his attention was called to the dressing of fur skins, such as buffalo
hides. Using existing processes, it took from two to two and a half days of hard labor to bring a large hide down to a flexiable state. When House claimed that he could make a machine that could dress four hides or more a day, they were astonished, as they claimed no tool could stand up to those dry hides for even ten minutes. To meet the challenge, House developed a rotary plane with a ring knife that could be fed as it moved, with a set of small emery wheels each side of the knife so that it was sharpened on every revolution. The plane was universally hung and counter balanced so it weighed nothing in the hand of the operator, though it was driven by power from the engine. On a wager, the first operator finished fifty hides in ten hours.
s. House came up with a folding attachment for their old machines, and although this was satisfactory to a degree, the machines were still old, and were not properly constructed. House then designed new machines.
While working the attachment in Philadelphia, House was asked if he could help one of Union's western branches in making the paper dishes, as they had trouble in drying them. When House produced samples with a round flange, the design was accepted and he was given a contract to build a machine that would make twenty thousand paper dishes in 10 hours. Much work was required to maintain the heat at 800 to 900 degrees, which was necessary to dry a dish in two (2) seconds. Mr. House involved a system of using superheated steam which kept the dies at red heat. The press was first tested at his factory in Bridgeport before being shipped to Clinton, Iowa
.
. The employees, adverse to any innovations that might reduce their value to the company, went on strike. The hat flanging machine fulfilled all requirements, and after the machine had been working a few months the strikers were ready to compromise. In later years the Hatters Union voted against its use entirely.
In October 1878, House suffered a severe shock from the accidental death of his younger son, William Ezekiel House, who was accidentally shot and killed by his cousin, Alfred Bishop Beers, Jr.
, New York, called on House at Bridgeport, and the two reached an agreement for House to develop a machine that would pick a bull pelt six feet long and three feet wide, while being kept moist and warm. This patent, also the first of its kind, for treating pelts, was issued on October 19, 1882 just one month and five day after the application was made.
Work on the large machine for the London Co. was finished in the spring of 1882. The pelts, after being moistened, went around on a drum which was kept warm with the circulation of hot water. Frasure was more than satisfied and was anxious to ship it to London
, England. as soon as possible. Passage for House was booked on the S.S. Adriatic
of the White Star Line
for the middle of June.
Several weeks of delays after his arrival, the demonstration was performed in secret one Saturday afternoon. In three hours, more work was accomplished than one skilled workman could do in two days. The London Co. bought all the patents pertaining to fur picking and treating of pelts. Everything was boxed and shipped to London in 30 days. Ironically, these machines were never unpacked, leaving the entire control of the fur picking trade with the English market.
At this time his son Henry (Harry) Alzonzo House, Jr. joined him in his experimental work.
s required for the wew Treasury building
in Washington, D.C. These balusters were an elaborate design incorporating leaves, beads and moulding, all intended to have a bright finish, which required a great deal of hand work. Deoxidized could make, but not burnish, the balusters and sought to subcontract this work, but no one took them up on their offer. At that time there was no machinery for polishing metals, the usual procedure was to immerse in acid, and hand work was too costly. The contract from Washington definitely stated that acid was not to be used.
The president of Deoxidized contacted House, "the man who had done so many queer things" to see if he could devise a way to perform the polishing. House submitted samples which were sent to Washington and accepted. He used a small cabinet, twice the length of the baluster, in which the baluster was slipped on a shaft and fine, high-velocity sand was shot at the baluster, thus polishing all surfaces, both concave and convex.
and was made superintendent of their experimental department. During his research, House came across a patent taken out by his uncle, Royal E. House, in 1866 for a device called the Electric Phonetic Telegraph which for transmitted messages by sound, signals and letters. This invention embodied the fundamental principal of electric telephone
.
Its construction was that of a triple-sized modern telephone. The hollow ear piece was made in such a form to focus the sound waves direct to the operator's ear. A thin metal diaphragm was secured to the opposite end, a pair of magnets with a pivoted armature was secured to the frame of the armature, and connected with the diaphragm by means of a strut, thus keeping the armature from contracting poles of the magnets, which were energized by a battery current. When the current was closed, the armature held the diaphragm in magnetic suspension. The slightest change in the current manifested upon the diaphragm and upon all those on the same line. It was decided best to move everything in connection with developing and manufacturing this project to House's shop in Bridgeport, . also taking Royal House (who was then over 70 year old) and his wife with them.
In due time the instruments were perfected, adjusted to all conditions and ready to manufacture, but some misunderstandings with the directors and stock holders of the company in Binghamton resulted in a law suit, which stagnated in the court process until the patents expired.
In 1886–87 when the Royal E. House Telegraph was produced with the printing telegraph, the Morse Telegraph tried to enjoin them from infringing the Morse patents. Morse claimed the sole right of transmitting intelligence by electricity (which utilized the Morse code
). The courts decided the House Company did not infringe the Morse patent in the slightest degree, as the messages using the House system were all printed on a slip of paper, while the Morse signals were embosed and in code (dots and dashes) which afterwards were translated into words.
As soon as Henry House procured a copy of the phonetic telegraph patent, he saw it contained all the elements and requirements of the speaking telephone, and he proceeded to make a set of instruments, which he patented on Dec 14, 1896, as the Electric Phonetic Telegraph Sender. This patent shows the exact combination and principle of the original Royal E. House patents of May 12, 1866, years before the Bell patents were issued.
Henry House's invention consisted of the use of direct current
, whereas the Bell Company at that time was using alternating current
House demonstrated to his attorneys that he employed a different current from the Bell system and also explained that the Bell patent was on a discovery, and not an instrument.
About this time the Royal E. House Company and the Morse Company merged and formed the Great Western Company.
In the meantime Henry House invented and produced the first liquid door check. This was a basic patent taken out by House and his son, H.A. House Jr. in 1887. The devices were later manufactured by the Pittsburg Co. under a license.
In 1888, Mr. House entered the wood-bundling business using the machines he had patented in 1873.
flying machine at Bexley
, Kent
. In November, his son Henry House Jr. joined him to assist in this work. During this time, many patents were issued to House Sr. and assigned to the Maxim Syndicate. P.T. Barnum, a friend of House took his famous circus
to England in 1889 and called on the Maxim Syndicate, expressing interest in investing in the flying machine project, but Maxim objected.
After several tests of the Maxim flying machine, the project was abandoned.
on the River Thames
, to build fast motor launches using kerosene
oil as fuel. During the trials of the first launch, the Doil, its speed caused a wake to wash up on banks of the river. For this Henry House was summoned to appear in court and fined 10 pounds and costs. One of the witnesses for the Crown swore the craft was going 26 knots an hour, testimony which proved to be a good advertisement.
After the court trial in 1893, it was decided to move the works to East Cowes
, on the Isle of Wight
, where they formed the Liquid Fuel Engineering Co. (LIFU) trademark. This company built high-speed launches for the Duke of St. Albans, Prince of Wales
, the German Emperor, King of Belgium, Sir Thomas Lipton, and many other notables. This system used high pressure copper tubular boilers, burning kerosene oil, compound steam engines and specially designed propellers.
In 1894, Henry House left his son in charge and returned to America and at Bridgeport, perfected the larger sizes of his kerosene burners. Ten sizes were developed, ranging from 1/2 HP to 100 HP.
House returned to the Isle of Wight in the spring of 1896 with new patents for the burners, which were assigned to LIFU Co. The company built for House Sr. a high speed, 40 foot, 35 HP launch which he brought to America in August 1896. He expected to use this launch for demonstrating his system in forming Liquid Fuel Engineering Company in America, but on account of the death of his English associate, Sir Robert Simons, he gave up the launch business.
, Massachusetts to develop a chain for the Baldwin Chain Company, and while there he also patented a Liquid Indicator and Air Pressure and vacuity indicator. In Bridgeport (1906–07), he deveopled and patented an all-steel barrel and keg. In 1908, he was again associated with his son Harry House Jr., who had returned from England, in developing a metal belt.
In 1909, through George Mortson of Hartford, with whom had been associated on the Maxim Flying Machine, House became interested developing a parafinized drinking cup. This led the two men to form the U.S. Paper Bottle Co.
Company at Niagara Falls
, New York. He constructed an entirely new system for baking, handling and packing shredded wheat biscuits. The first machine was built in his shop in Bridgeport and was accepted by the Shredded Wheat Co. and shipped to Niagara Falls. The further development of the system was turned over to Earl Webster, who had been associated with House from the beginning of the project.
It was at this time, while travelling to Niagara Falls and Rochester, that Mary House became seriously ill and died at the home of their niece, at Forest Lawn, near Rochester
.
Several years later, the Shredded Wheat Co. erected a new factory at Niagara Falls, Canada, to house the new automatic oven which was a part of the House system. This oven could produce 456,000 biscuits every 24 hours.
From 1929 House, who was then 89 year sold, spent his declining years perfecting his metal barrel and flexible stick metal belt.
In all, House estimated that he had obtained over 300 patents, including those taken out in foreign countries, and although he developed thirteen basic patents, he felt that the baking process for shredded wheat biscuits to be his greatest achievement.
Henry A. House died, aged 90, on December 18, 1930, being survived by his son Henry A. House, Jr., and two daughters, Mrs. John Binkley and Mrs. George Mortson.
Early life
House was born in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest son of Ezekiel House, an architect and builder, and Susannah King. His father was an architect and builder, and at that time was assisting his brother Royal Earl HouseRoyal Earl House
Royal Earl House was the inventor of the first printing telegraph, which is now kept in the Smithsonian Institution. His nephew Henry Alonzo House is also a noted early American inventor....
in perfecting and getting capital interest in his New Printing Telegraph
Printing telegraph
The Printing Telegraph was invented by Royal Earl House in 1846.The device was made by linking two 28-key piano-style keyboards by wire. Each piano key represented a letter of the alphabet and when pressed caused the corresponding letter to print at the receiving end. A "shift" key gave each main...
.
In the spring of 1846 the House family moved to Little Meadows
Little Meadows, Pennsylvania
Little Meadows is a borough in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 290 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Little Meadows is located at ....
, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 42,238 people, 16,529 households, and 11,785 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 21,829 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
, where they built a home on the side of a hill which was known as the Castle. There was a natural spring nearby, which was piped into the house to give running water, an unusual thing for those days. At that time there was no railroad to that part of the country, so in order to move their household goods from New York, they boarded a barge which was towed by steam up the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to Troy
Troy
Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...
where it was taken through the lock into the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
and towed by horses to Ithaca
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
on Lake Cayuga, New York. The last part of the trip was made by ox teams and the whole journey took over a month.
In 1852 the family moved to Owego, New York
Owego (town), New York
Owego is a town in Tioga County, New York, USA. The population was 20,365 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the Iroquois word Ahwaga, meaning where the valley widens....
where there were better educational facilities. Here they lived by the Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...
. The boys James and Henry built a boat and rigged it up like the side wheelers they had seen on the Hudson River. This they used to take people up the river on excursions and also to carry produce down the river, thus earning money with which to pay their father for the material used to build the boat.
Inventing years
Ezekiel House left Owego in the spring of 1854 as he had taken a contract to build a county court house in the suburbs of Rockford, IllinoisRockford, Illinois
Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois. Often referred to as "The Forest City", Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County, Illinois, USA. As reported in the 2010 U.S. census, the city was home to 152,871 people, the third most populated...
. Henry and his brother went to Rockford in the fall and started in business with their father. In 1857 Henry took a position with his father who was superintending the raising and reconstructing of the old city hall in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. While working on a building in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Henry had the misfortune of having the extension muscle of his right hand severed by a chisel which dropped from a scaffold. This incapacitated his doing any carpentry work for several months. During this enforced idleness, he designed and patented an automatic gate.
Automatic buttonhole machine
When the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
broke out and Henry was rejected as a volunteer on account of his slightly cripped right hand, he turned his attention to making a button
Button
In modern clothing and fashion design, a button is a small fastener, most commonly made of plastic, but also frequently of seashell, which secures two pieces of fabric together. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact. In the applied arts and in craft, a button can be an example of...
hole machine. He and his brother James entered into partnership with Mr. Seaman and in 1862 they perfected an automatic buttonhole sewing machine. It was then tested in a clothing shop in New York on army overcoats and capes, where its average was from 1,000 to 1,200 buttonholes per day. This caused hard feelings among the hand buttonhole workers, and one day during the noon hour they smashed the machine. However, the next morning another machine was working in its place. All together there were over one hundred thousand button holes made there. The patents were taken over by the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company
Wheeler & Wilson
Wheeler & Wilson was an American company which produced sewing machines.- Overview :Allen B. Wilson in 1849 made possible one of the world's greatest industries, and the sound administrative policy of Nathaniel Wheeler and his associates was responsible for the transformation of the industry from...
of Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
. While House was in Washington D.C. looking after the patent application, he met Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, for whom he cast his first vote.
In November 1862, he again returned to Little Meadows and married his cousin Mary Elizabeth House, daughter of William House, a miller. As his mother was very ill they hurried to Brooklyn where his mother died on November 28, 1862.
He then took his bride to Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
where he was engaged by Wheeler and Wilson to superintend the making of his buttonhole machine. In the Spring of 1863 his father Ezekiel House died in Brooklyn. During that year four patents were issued for the automatic buttonhole sewing machine. In 1867 House represented the company at the Paris Exposition
Exposition Universelle (1867)
The Exposition Universelle of 1867 was a World Exposition held in Paris, France, in 1867.-Conception:In 1864, Emperor Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867. A commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction...
Universelle, which opened in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in May 1867.
Another sewing machine patent
In 1864 his shop was moved from Brooklyn to Bridgeport, with his brother James joining him there. They soon perfected an attachment to be used on the family sewing machine. This system was entirely new and since the patent was issued in 1868, it has been adopted throughout the world. On February 27, 1865, Henry Alonzo House Jr. was born. Another son, William Ezekiel, was born on February 22, 1874. On November 21, 1875, a daughter, Libbie Grace, was born.Steam horseless carriage
In the spring of 1866, Henry House, Sr. and his brother James built a steam carriage for their own amusement and recreation. It carried seven, including the driver and the fireman on the back seat. It developed 15 hp and could travel 30 mph on a good level road. It frightened so many horses and even men, so they did not use it long.Knitting machine
House left Wheeler and Wilson in 1869 and turned his attention to developing a machine that could knit various-sized goods, both flat and tubular. At the time, there were no machines on the market doing that type of work. In 1870, the Armstrong and House Manufacturing Company was organized and a shop was built to produce the new knitting machines. Five patents were issued to House from 1869 to 1872, among them was one for a new system of knitting stockings in a continuous tube. The process would first knit the leg, then form a mitered heal, then the foot and mitered toe then a leg, and so on. The toe was then separated from the leg by drawing a thread leaving all the loops ready to close.Other inventions
House resigned from Armstong and House in the fall of 1872, and proceeded to invent a bundling machine for kindling wood in 1873.In 1875 his attention was called to the dressing of fur skins, such as buffalo
American Bison
The American bison , also commonly known as the American buffalo, is a North American species of bison that once roamed the grasslands of North America in massive herds...
hides. Using existing processes, it took from two to two and a half days of hard labor to bring a large hide down to a flexiable state. When House claimed that he could make a machine that could dress four hides or more a day, they were astonished, as they claimed no tool could stand up to those dry hides for even ten minutes. To meet the challenge, House developed a rotary plane with a ring knife that could be fed as it moved, with a set of small emery wheels each side of the knife so that it was sharpened on every revolution. The plane was universally hung and counter balanced so it weighed nothing in the hand of the operator, though it was driven by power from the engine. On a wager, the first operator finished fifty hides in ten hours.
Paper dishes
In 1878, the president of the Union Paper Bag Co. of Philadelphia called on House, as he had heard that House had developed a machine that was able to make sachel-bottom paper bagPaper bag
A paper bag or paper sack is a preformed container made of paper, usually with an opening on one side. It can be one layer of paper or multiple layers of paper and other flexible materials. A bag is used for packaging and/or carrying items....
s. House came up with a folding attachment for their old machines, and although this was satisfactory to a degree, the machines were still old, and were not properly constructed. House then designed new machines.
While working the attachment in Philadelphia, House was asked if he could help one of Union's western branches in making the paper dishes, as they had trouble in drying them. When House produced samples with a round flange, the design was accepted and he was given a contract to build a machine that would make twenty thousand paper dishes in 10 hours. Much work was required to maintain the heat at 800 to 900 degrees, which was necessary to dry a dish in two (2) seconds. Mr. House involved a system of using superheated steam which kept the dies at red heat. The press was first tested at his factory in Bridgeport before being shipped to Clinton, Iowa
Clinton, Iowa
Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 26231as of 2010. Clinton, along with DeWitt, Iowa , was named in honor of the seventh governor of New York, DeWitt Clinton. Clinton is the principal city of the Clinton Micropolitan Statistical...
.
Hat manufacturing
Late in 1878, in collaboration with hatter Dwight Wheeler, House invented and patented a machine for blocking felt hats in 28 seconds. The patents were issued on February 25, 1879 and in the same year the House and Wheeler Hat Flanging Co., a joint stock company, was formed in Bridgeport. A practical machine was built and installed at the Marrinet Hat Co. at Salisbury, ConnecticutSalisbury, Connecticut
Salisbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is the northwest-most in the State of Connecticut. The MA-NY-CT Tri-State Marker is located just on the border of Salisbury...
. The employees, adverse to any innovations that might reduce their value to the company, went on strike. The hat flanging machine fulfilled all requirements, and after the machine had been working a few months the strikers were ready to compromise. In later years the Hatters Union voted against its use entirely.
In October 1878, House suffered a severe shock from the accidental death of his younger son, William Ezekiel House, who was accidentally shot and killed by his cousin, Alfred Bishop Beers, Jr.
Fur work
In 1880, S.D. Castle and Henry House became interested in the picking of furs. Buffalo hides were getting scarce, and Castle wanted to use muskrat or beaver, but he found the pelts had to be picked of the outer long hair, a tedious job for an unskilled hand. After a few months, House had a small machine working that would pick large or small pelts without missing a hair. The machine-picked skins were shown to furriers in New York. A few days later, a Mr. Frasure of Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
, New York, called on House at Bridgeport, and the two reached an agreement for House to develop a machine that would pick a bull pelt six feet long and three feet wide, while being kept moist and warm. This patent, also the first of its kind, for treating pelts, was issued on October 19, 1882 just one month and five day after the application was made.
Work on the large machine for the London Co. was finished in the spring of 1882. The pelts, after being moistened, went around on a drum which was kept warm with the circulation of hot water. Frasure was more than satisfied and was anxious to ship it to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England. as soon as possible. Passage for House was booked on the S.S. Adriatic
SS Adriatic
SS Adriatic may refer to one of several notable steamships named after the Adriatic Sea:, operated by the Black Ball Line in the mid-19th century, and was among the first ships to be depicted on a postage stamp when used on a 12c value of the United States in 1869, operated by the White Star Line...
of the White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
for the middle of June.
Several weeks of delays after his arrival, the demonstration was performed in secret one Saturday afternoon. In three hours, more work was accomplished than one skilled workman could do in two days. The London Co. bought all the patents pertaining to fur picking and treating of pelts. Everything was boxed and shipped to London in 30 days. Ironically, these machines were never unpacked, leaving the entire control of the fur picking trade with the English market.
Paper boxes
In 1883, House organized the Compressed Paper Box Co. and proceeded to make seamless paper boxes. He invented a new form of box termed "a round square", particularly adapted for holding cartrages, as the corners were compressed in, not out, giving extra strength. The machines built to make the boxes were semi-automatic.At this time his son Henry (Harry) Alzonzo House, Jr. joined him in his experimental work.
Metal polishing
The Deoxidized Metal Co. of Bridgeport in 1885 secured a contract for the bronze balusterBaluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
s required for the wew Treasury building
Treasury Building (Washington, D.C.)
The Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. is a National Historic Landmark building which is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Treasury....
in Washington, D.C. These balusters were an elaborate design incorporating leaves, beads and moulding, all intended to have a bright finish, which required a great deal of hand work. Deoxidized could make, but not burnish, the balusters and sought to subcontract this work, but no one took them up on their offer. At that time there was no machinery for polishing metals, the usual procedure was to immerse in acid, and hand work was too costly. The contract from Washington definitely stated that acid was not to be used.
The president of Deoxidized contacted House, "the man who had done so many queer things" to see if he could devise a way to perform the polishing. House submitted samples which were sent to Washington and accepted. He used a small cabinet, twice the length of the baluster, in which the baluster was slipped on a shaft and fine, high-velocity sand was shot at the baluster, thus polishing all surfaces, both concave and convex.
Telegraphs and telephones
In 1885, Henry House Sr. became stockholder in the Postal Telegraph Co. of Binghamton, New YorkBinghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
and was made superintendent of their experimental department. During his research, House came across a patent taken out by his uncle, Royal E. House, in 1866 for a device called the Electric Phonetic Telegraph which for transmitted messages by sound, signals and letters. This invention embodied the fundamental principal of electric telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
.
Its construction was that of a triple-sized modern telephone. The hollow ear piece was made in such a form to focus the sound waves direct to the operator's ear. A thin metal diaphragm was secured to the opposite end, a pair of magnets with a pivoted armature was secured to the frame of the armature, and connected with the diaphragm by means of a strut, thus keeping the armature from contracting poles of the magnets, which were energized by a battery current. When the current was closed, the armature held the diaphragm in magnetic suspension. The slightest change in the current manifested upon the diaphragm and upon all those on the same line. It was decided best to move everything in connection with developing and manufacturing this project to House's shop in Bridgeport, . also taking Royal House (who was then over 70 year old) and his wife with them.
In due time the instruments were perfected, adjusted to all conditions and ready to manufacture, but some misunderstandings with the directors and stock holders of the company in Binghamton resulted in a law suit, which stagnated in the court process until the patents expired.
In 1886–87 when the Royal E. House Telegraph was produced with the printing telegraph, the Morse Telegraph tried to enjoin them from infringing the Morse patents. Morse claimed the sole right of transmitting intelligence by electricity (which utilized the Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
). The courts decided the House Company did not infringe the Morse patent in the slightest degree, as the messages using the House system were all printed on a slip of paper, while the Morse signals were embosed and in code (dots and dashes) which afterwards were translated into words.
As soon as Henry House procured a copy of the phonetic telegraph patent, he saw it contained all the elements and requirements of the speaking telephone, and he proceeded to make a set of instruments, which he patented on Dec 14, 1896, as the Electric Phonetic Telegraph Sender. This patent shows the exact combination and principle of the original Royal E. House patents of May 12, 1866, years before the Bell patents were issued.
Henry House's invention consisted of the use of direct current
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
, whereas the Bell Company at that time was using alternating current
Alternating current
In alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
House demonstrated to his attorneys that he employed a different current from the Bell system and also explained that the Bell patent was on a discovery, and not an instrument.
About this time the Royal E. House Company and the Morse Company merged and formed the Great Western Company.
In the meantime Henry House invented and produced the first liquid door check. This was a basic patent taken out by House and his son, H.A. House Jr. in 1887. The devices were later manufactured by the Pittsburg Co. under a license.
In 1888, Mr. House entered the wood-bundling business using the machines he had patented in 1873.
The flying machine
Following a disastrous fire in March 1889, which partly destroyed his factory, Henry House Sr. accepted a position with Hiram Maxim in England to construct a 300 horsepowerHorsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
flying machine at Bexley
Bexley
Bexley is an South East London]] in the London Borough of Bexley, London, England. It is located on the banks of the River Cray south of the Roman Road, Watling Street...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. In November, his son Henry House Jr. joined him to assist in this work. During this time, many patents were issued to House Sr. and assigned to the Maxim Syndicate. P.T. Barnum, a friend of House took his famous circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
to England in 1889 and called on the Maxim Syndicate, expressing interest in investing in the flying machine project, but Maxim objected.
After several tests of the Maxim flying machine, the project was abandoned.
Boats
In the spring of 1891, House left the Maxim Syndicate and started a factory, at TeddingtonTeddington
Teddington is a suburban area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in south west London, on the north bank of the River Thames, between Hampton Wick and Twickenham. It stretches inland from the River Thames to Bushy Park...
on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
, to build fast motor launches using kerosene
Kerosene
Kerosene, sometimes spelled kerosine in scientific and industrial usage, also known as paraffin or paraffin oil in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Ireland and South Africa, is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid. The name is derived from Greek keros...
oil as fuel. During the trials of the first launch, the Doil, its speed caused a wake to wash up on banks of the river. For this Henry House was summoned to appear in court and fined 10 pounds and costs. One of the witnesses for the Crown swore the craft was going 26 knots an hour, testimony which proved to be a good advertisement.
After the court trial in 1893, it was decided to move the works to East Cowes
East Cowes
East Cowes is a town and civil parish to the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina next to its neighbour on the west bank, Cowes....
, on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, where they formed the Liquid Fuel Engineering Co. (LIFU) trademark. This company built high-speed launches for the Duke of St. Albans, Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, the German Emperor, King of Belgium, Sir Thomas Lipton, and many other notables. This system used high pressure copper tubular boilers, burning kerosene oil, compound steam engines and specially designed propellers.
In 1894, Henry House left his son in charge and returned to America and at Bridgeport, perfected the larger sizes of his kerosene burners. Ten sizes were developed, ranging from 1/2 HP to 100 HP.
House returned to the Isle of Wight in the spring of 1896 with new patents for the burners, which were assigned to LIFU Co. The company built for House Sr. a high speed, 40 foot, 35 HP launch which he brought to America in August 1896. He expected to use this launch for demonstrating his system in forming Liquid Fuel Engineering Company in America, but on account of the death of his English associate, Sir Robert Simons, he gave up the launch business.
Miscellaneous inventions
From 1898 to 1904, House worked on horseless vehicles and patented many devices used on the early motor cars. In 1904, he went to WorcesterWorcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, Massachusetts to develop a chain for the Baldwin Chain Company, and while there he also patented a Liquid Indicator and Air Pressure and vacuity indicator. In Bridgeport (1906–07), he deveopled and patented an all-steel barrel and keg. In 1908, he was again associated with his son Harry House Jr., who had returned from England, in developing a metal belt.
In 1909, through George Mortson of Hartford, with whom had been associated on the Maxim Flying Machine, House became interested developing a parafinized drinking cup. This led the two men to form the U.S. Paper Bottle Co.
Shredded wheat
In 1915 Mr. Herny House became associated with the Shredded WheatShredded Wheat
Shredded wheat is a breakfast cereal made from whole wheat. As of January 2010, it was available in three sizes: bite sized , miniature , and full size, which may be broken into small pieces before milk is added .Both sizes are available in a...
Company at Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
, New York. He constructed an entirely new system for baking, handling and packing shredded wheat biscuits. The first machine was built in his shop in Bridgeport and was accepted by the Shredded Wheat Co. and shipped to Niagara Falls. The further development of the system was turned over to Earl Webster, who had been associated with House from the beginning of the project.
It was at this time, while travelling to Niagara Falls and Rochester, that Mary House became seriously ill and died at the home of their niece, at Forest Lawn, near Rochester
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
.
Several years later, the Shredded Wheat Co. erected a new factory at Niagara Falls, Canada, to house the new automatic oven which was a part of the House system. This oven could produce 456,000 biscuits every 24 hours.
From 1929 House, who was then 89 year sold, spent his declining years perfecting his metal barrel and flexible stick metal belt.
In all, House estimated that he had obtained over 300 patents, including those taken out in foreign countries, and although he developed thirteen basic patents, he felt that the baking process for shredded wheat biscuits to be his greatest achievement.
Henry A. House died, aged 90, on December 18, 1930, being survived by his son Henry A. House, Jr., and two daughters, Mrs. John Binkley and Mrs. George Mortson.
Sources and references
- Reference to House as an inventor
- Connecticut Heritage Gateway
- Wheeler & Wilson Sewing Machine information
- More Wheeler & Wilson info
- Maxim, Sir Hiram, Artificial and Natural Flight
- Information on the Maxim flying machine