These 9" x 18" Bench Precision lathes were manufactured by the Elgin Tool Works a company long specialising in precision machinery and competing with such manufacturers as: B.C. Ames, Wade, Pratt & Whitney, Rivett, Cataract, Hardinge, Elgin, Hjorth, Potter, Remington and Sloan & Chace.
Sales literature for the firm is rare, but a 1920s publication shows a wide range of bench lathes and attachments, not dissimilar in general design to ones made by Hardinge (indeed, as with many of these machines with bevelled-edge beds, the compound slide rest and other accessories were readily interchangeable). During the 1930s, like the models from Hardinge and Stark, the lathes were modernised and fitted to neat, self-contained underdrive stands with control of speeds by the simple juxtaposition of levers at the base of the headstock and electrical controls. 
The spindle of the 1930/40s lathes shown on these pages ran on pre-loaded ball bearings and had a speed range from 230 to 3900 rpm. The collet capacity was 1" and both screw-operated and lever-action closers were available - in the latter case ball bearings rather than bronze sectors were used in the rotating part of the mechanism with the result that very high speeds could be obtained, and maintained, without overheating.
A turret of the lathe was also produced, designed for the repetition manufacture of small components, together with a number of simple but high-quality vertical and horizontal milling machines, including the models VM-2 and HM-5C.
If any reader has background information on the structure of the Elgin company, or its products, the author would be pleased to hear from them.