He therefore thought he had discovered the secret, and through the
kindness of friends was put in the way of further perfecting his
invention at a little place in New Haven. The first thing that he made
here was shoes, and he used his own house for grinding room, calender
room, and vulcanizing department, and his wife and children helped to
make up the goods. His compound at this time was India rubber,
lampblack, and magnesia, the whole dissolved in turpentine and spread
upon the flannel cloth which served as the lining for the shoes. It
was not long, however, before he discovered that the gum, even treated
this way, became sticky, and then those who had supplied the money for
the furtherance of these experiments, completely discouraged, made up
their minds that they could go no further, and so told the inventor.
[Illustration: CHARLES GOODYEAR.]
He, however, had no mind to stop here in his experiments, but, selling
his furniture and placing his family in a quiet boarding place, he
went to New York, and there, in an attic, helped by a friendly
druggist, continued his experiments. His next step in this line was to
compound the rubber with magnesia and then boil it in quicklime and
water.
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