The fact was Mr. Whitworth had cursed the British nation with the solid conical lathe-spindle bearing, a perfect bearing for ordinary-sized lathes and a most captivating thing--_when new_. These hardened steel cones, in hardened steel seats, ran in the most charming manner. But they wore more loose in the main bearing every day they ran, and there were no means for taking up the wear. It came on insensibly, and no one paid any attention to it. The cream of the joke was that people were so fascinated with this bearing that at that time no other could be sold in England, except for very large lathes. All toolmakers had to make it. I remember afterwards that Mr. Freeland, our best American toolmaker, who, as I have already mentioned, went to England and worked for some years as a journeyman in the Whitworth Works for the purpose of learning everything there that he could, did _not_ bring back to America the conical bearing. The firm of Smith & Coventry were the first to fit their lathes with the means for taking up this wear, which took place only in the main bearing, where both the force of the cut and the weight of the piece were received. They made the conical seat for the back end of the spindle adjustable in the headstock and secured it by a thin nut on each end. This then could be moved backward sufficiently to let the forward cone up to its seat. This made it possible to use the solid bearing, but it involved this error, that after this adjustment the axis of the spindle did not coincide with the line connecting the lathe centers; but the two lines formed an angle with each other, which grew more decided every time the wear was taken up. This, however, was infinitely better than not to take up the wear at all.