"
Now that Goodyear was sure that he had the key to the intricate puzzle
that he had worked over for so many years, he began at once to tell
his friends about it and to try to secure capital, but they had
listened to their sorrow so many times that his efforts were futile.
For a number of years be struggled and experimented and worked along
in a small way, his family suffering with himself the pangs of the
extremest poverty. At last he went to New York and showed some of his
samples to William Ryder, who, with his brother Emory, at once
appreciated the value of the discovery and started in to
manufacturing. Even here Goodyear's bad luck seemed to follow him, for
the Ryder Bros. failed and it was impossible to continue the business.
He had, however, started a small factory at Springfield, Mass., and
his brother-in-law, Mr. De Forest, who was a wealthy woolen
manufacturer, took Ryder's place, and the work of making the invention
practical was continued. In 1844 it was so far perfected that Goodyear
felt it safe to take out a patent. The factory at Springfield was run
by his brothers, Nelson and Henry.
In 1843 Henry started one in Naugatuck, and in 1844 introduced
mechanical mixing in place of the mixture by the use of solvents.
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