Chapter 65 It turns out that ever since John got money…
It turns out that ever since John got his money, he has become a very popular young man at the Treasury Department. His superiors especially like him, and considering that the man has two beautiful daughters, it's hard to say whether there are other considerations behind this liking.
He easily found out from his colleagues the bottom price offered by the tailor shop that used to supply uniforms to government employees and the connections he needed to make to secure the order.
Mary's garment factory hadn't even had time to fulfill its orders when it received another new order, keeping her extremely busy.
Unfortunately, William had already received orders to go to sea. Once he left, Anne immediately felt that life had lost a lot of fun. When Mary was at home, she could chat with her friends, but after Mary went out, she could only spend her time at various parties and activities.
Mrs. Price, who is still in mourning, is feeling particularly bored. Fortunately, John often visits her on Halle Street, which brings her some comfort.
“John, William, Richard, and Mary all told me not to send money to poor little Charles, who has no idea what a miserable life he’s going through at school,” Mrs. Price said, her heart aching as she thought of the letters Charles had written to her.
“Oh, Mother, if that’s the case, then I suffered a lot at school. Don’t forget, Tom was in the same school, and he didn’t write to you crying about it!”
"Alright, I can't argue with you guys. Do you know where Mary went? Is she out for a walk with some handsome young man, too shy to let me know?"
It turned out that Mary had been going out frequently during this time. Although Anne had been covering for her at Mrs. Price's place, her mother still suspected that her daughter was having an affair with a young man. She worried that Mary was keeping it from her, wondering if the man's identity was questionable.
John gave a wry smile, thinking he wanted to persuade Mary to stop going out so frequently.
Mrs. Price and John continued their chatter when Mary finally returned. She had been busy resolving problems at the garment factory and hadn't had much time to spend at home with Mrs. Price.
Seeing her daughter enter, Mrs. Price immediately stopped discussing her daughter's relationship. She had been through that age herself, and when the whole family opposed her relationship with Lieutenant Price, they couldn't stop her from marrying that man. Naturally, she knew that saying too much was useless.
The group chatted for a while until Mrs. Price left the living room for the garden, at which point John finally had time to talk to his sister about something else. Besides visiting his mother, Mrs. Price, he had also come to Harley Street because someone had inquired about his helmet patent.
After the invention of the safety helmet, Mary tried to sell it in stores. But as she had initially predicted, despite setting the price very low to make it affordable for ordinary workers, close to the price of the baseball caps that workers usually bought, and despite advertising the safety helmet, so far, apart from the workers at the Butterfly Sewing Machine Company, only a few workers from other industries have spent money to buy this unassuming hat.
If you take into account Mary's previous investment in the factory site, this business is currently still losing money!
Therefore, upon hearing John's words, Mary became curious. In the eyes of the world, this hat should have already failed, so who would be curious about it?
"Is he a coal mine owner from the north?"
“No, while I share your belief that these helmets will greatly protect the safety of those poor miners, not everyone will be as willing as you to proactively provide safety helmets for their workers. Perhaps after a while, the workers will find these helmets more reliable and will buy yours on their own initiative.” John shook his head.
"I never would have guessed that. If those wealthy coal mine owners aren't willing to spend this money, do you think those factory owners would be?"
John stopped keeping her in suspense and told his sister, "It was an officer from the War Department who contacted me. He noticed the helmet advertisement in the newspaper and submitted a suggestion to his superior."
“It can’t be that the War Department wants to equip our red uniforms with helmets, can it? Canvas won’t do on the battlefield; they need steel helmets,” Mary asked skeptically.
Upon hearing his sister's words, John laughed awkwardly: "Oh, of course not. The clerk told me that he suggested to his superiors that the Army should design new helmets based on your helmet in the future."
"Do those stubborn old men have this kind of courage?"
"Of course, the gentlemen wouldn't take the initiative. This kind-hearted gentleman suggested that we take the initiative to communicate with someone; maybe we can even get some patent royalties..."
"Forget it then, I'm not willing to. Let those old men wait. As long as I hold the patent, they won't be able to get around me in the end." Mary shook her head.
"Why?" John asked, puzzled. "If you're concerned about bribes, then you secured those orders for naval uniforms and government employees using the same method. What's the difference?"
"Of course it's different. Nowadays, the clothes produced by garment factories are difficult to sell, except for the clothes given to the workers as factory benefits. People are generally more used to custom-made clothes or making their own clothes at home. Securing orders is more conducive to garment factories recovering costs as soon as possible and building their brand. Apart from government orders, the clothes produced by factories will ultimately be sold to ordinary people."
Mary complained, "It's not as simple as you say to argue with the guys in the War Department over this little bit of patent royalties. We don't have any connections in the Army, and if we keep arguing, we might end up with nothing. It's not us who's worried about them not changing the helmet design, anyway, the patent is in my hands."
Mary's words made sense. John worked at the Treasury Department and knew the ways of those Whitehall officials well. It was good if they accepted gifts and did things, but the real problem was that they accepted the money but couldn't get things done.
He dropped the subject and instead advised his sister to stay home more during this time, noting that even Mrs. Price seemed to think something was wrong with her. Mary nodded to John, but inwardly she didn't take it seriously.
Christmas is just around the corner, and the Admiralty's orders are almost mostly completed. Mary is now planning to start selling foot-operated sewing machines, which will naturally be priced higher than hand-cranked sewing machines. The standard model will sell for thirty pounds, while the high-end model will sell for one hundred and twenty pounds.
The new sewing machine, advertised as "more effortless, faster, and better quality, and you can take it home for just £1," instantly reminded Londoners of an advertisement published in The Times two years ago.
After more than two years of promotion, sewing machines had gradually become a necessity for the upper and middle classes. For wealthy nobles, 120 pounds was nothing; now that a new sewing machine was available, they would naturally send their servants to buy it. Those gentlemen and ladies who followed the trends of high society were unwilling to appear inferior in social situations, and even if they already had an old one at home, they would buy a new one.
John Dickens, the quartermaster of the Navy, was a man who loved to follow fashion. He had an annual income of two or three hundred pounds, was married to a woman from a clergyman's family, and had several lovely children. He could have been content with a relatively comfortable life.
However, this gentleman had always pursued a gentlemanly lifestyle, and his annual income of two or three hundred pounds was not enough for him. But that was alright; he could borrow money and pay it back when he received his salary.
John Dickens had known about novelties like sewing machines for a while, but he hadn't bought one for his wife because he still hadn't paid off debts from other purchases. Seeing the newspaper advertisement again, and remembering the order the Navy Quartermaster's Price Garment Factory had received two months earlier, he decided to surprise Elizabeth by buying her a sewing machine.
When he entered the store, he was still thinking about buying the most basic hand-cranked sewing machine. The salesperson tried to sell him a few words, and he thought that with installment payments, the pedal sewing machine would only cost one pound at the beginning, which wasn't much more expensive than the hand-cranked one. In the end, when he left the store, he had taken home the latest pedal sewing machine.
The machine naturally gave Mrs. Dickens a great surprise. Seeing his wife's beautiful smile, John Dickens felt that the extra money he spent each month was nothing. His seven-year-old daughter, Fanny, had been practicing sewing for a while. Seeing the curious look in his daughter's eyes as she watched his wife operate the sewing machine, the naval quartermaster promised that he would buy Fanny one when she grew up.
A similar scene unfolded in many middle-class families in London; at least in the city, sewing machines began to enter almost every middle-class household. Mary's vision from two years ago was becoming a reality. The Butterfly Sewing Machine Company was generating over £20,000 in net profit annually, making her and Richard quite wealthy in terms of income alone.
Although His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom passed away not long afterward, people were already prepared for it. This great king had been mentally unstable for many years, and people were ready to accept the Regent as the new king.
The uniforms from the clothing factory were delivered to the Naval Quartermaster in early February 1820. Although Mary's initial price was not high, her costs were also relatively low compared to tailors who used manpower, so she naturally made a profit and recovered part of the cost of setting up the clothing factory.
Now, Mary's bonds and savings totaled £19,000, earning her nearly £1,000 in interest alone each year, not to mention the income from her sewing machine company and clothing factory. While she didn't meet Mr. Darcy, who earned £10,000 a year, she worked hard to become Miss Price, earning over £9,000 a year, truly achieving financial freedom.
However wealthy she was, she was still destined to enter the marriage market and be chosen by others. The bigger problem was that as Mary's assets grew and she needed to sign more legal documents, she gradually could no longer hide her financial situation from others.
Her godfather, Sir Edward, was the person who knew most about her income besides her brothers. He suggested that she simply disclose a portion of her assets to the public to drive away those annoying flies and rats that were trying to spy on her.
In Sir Edward's words, if she kept it a secret, people would eventually become curious and might discover all her assets. Compared to Anne, Mary had a disadvantage: Lieutenant Price was deceased, and all her assets were in her own name. Once married, her future husband could use various means to obtain her property.
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