The way the governor was finally got into cotton-mills, where afterwards its use became general, was the most curious part. A mill in the city of Manchester was troubled by having its governor fly in pieces once in a while. After one of these experiences the owners thought that they might cure the difficulty by getting one of my governors. That flew in pieces in a week. I went to see the engine. The cause of all the trouble appeared at a glance. The fly-wheel was on the second-motion shaft which ran at twice the speed of the main shaft, and the gearing between them was roaring away enough to deafen one. The governor was driven by gearing. The vibrations transmitted to the governor soon tired the arms out. I saw the son of the principal owner, and explained the cause of the failure of every governor they had tried, and told him the only remedy, which would be a complete one, would be to drive the governor by a belt. That, he replied, was not to be thought of for an instant. I told him he knew himself that a governor could not endure if driven in any other way, and that I had hundreds of governors driven by belts, which were entirely reliable in all cases. “But,” said he, “supposing the belt runs off the pulley.” “The consequence,” I replied, “cannot be worse than when the governor flies in pieces.” After wasting considerable time in talk, he said, “Well, leave it till my father comes home; he is absent for a few days.” “No,” said I, “if I can’t convince a young man, I shall not try to convince an old man.” Finally, with every possible stipulation to make it impossible for the belt to come off, he yielded his assent, and I had the governor on in short order, lacing the belt myself, to make sure that it was butt-jointed and laced in the American fashion. More than three years afterwards, two days before I was to sail for home, I met this man on High Street, in Manchester. It was during the Whitsuntide holidays, and the street was almost deserted. He came up to me, holding out both hands and grasping mine most cordially. “Do you know,” said he, “that we have increased our product 10 per cent., and don’t have half as many broken threads as we had before, and _it’s all that belt_.” [Illustration: Condenser and Air-pump designed by Mr. Porter. (Cross-section)]