New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-02-04
Ham. Manufactures nIustrafed-Prices and
Protection.


outlay directed the volume Of the Naugatuek into
canal Of some length, bringing it into the heart oil
the projected village Mr.. Smith devoted much
time and talent to the enterprise, and spent great
deal more money thereon than II ever returned 10
him. 1t has since passed into other hands and we
visited there the extensive works wherein Copper
is melted from the pig into ingots thence rolled into
bars and sheets thence drawn into wire OF al SORTS
and sizes Beside and interminged with these
the extensive Shoe Tack mandatory OF NJ snel''n,
rafting out tscks Of barley size by the hundfeu
weight the compact but admirable b'osdclotn man
ufactory Of D. w Plumb whose low priced cioths
from American wool are among the best we ever
saw Messrs. G. Il z. Kelloggs mannise'ury o.
patent machinery for tie extension Adjustment
and dressing Of fractured legs and arms whereby
difficulty in dressing is avoided, pain oovls,ed ana
all danger Of after-lameness from imperiecton IN
healing. or contraction. precluded. A more signal
manifestation Of Yankee genius and inventive sAil
ue b.ve rot seen: though in one Of the wire-dra"'
ing shops we examined Brass-Chain iaorea'o''
which did its work with superhuman accuracy sho
efficiency. At every turn Of the driving wheel the
wire unwinding from the reel or cylinder was
pulled forward to the proper position Inc enc run
ming through the lsstformed link, exactly the
length for two links cut of first one end turned
over into link then the other the former dropping
doup through the machine, leaving the after pro
;sc,ipg above 90 that the wire can be instantly
pu.hed Though ii. when il is cut oh two more
links formed and on until large roll OF "Te IS
transformed into a perfectly-iofmed chain by ihe
unaided operation of selfactng machinery. hardly
finger having been lifted during the process We
forgot TO ask who is the inventor Of this machine
but it must certainly suppant everything else IN
lis line and II only needs the application OF the
principle to Iron and Steel Wire to insure mag'
nifcent fortune to the pstentee. We lnier tns'
the use Of Brass Chain is quite limited, though TINS
may extend it.
The great feature Of Birmingham, however
is its Prs MAKING and to this our time was in good
mart devoted. The works Of the Howe Compa-
nv are here. employing some two hundred
persons and turning out more Pins, we pre-
sumo. than are msde ia America beside. Here
may be seen not one kind only Of Pinma'
chine but hall dozen kinds including the most
recent and perfect inventions, each un~indng Us
roll of ne brass wire cutting oil It's own appointed
length for pin, grinding down one end TO point
and knocking head on the other, the solid mead
being a purely Yankee invention, but now univer'
sally adopted and finally dropping the pin into
mil whence il istaken in bulk to be rubbed smooth
by rotation in box filed with saw-dust' thence
placed in immense boilers between layers OF TIM to
be whtened. thence dried, ard transferred to the
uapering and packing room Here TOO, we found
several different inventions in active use, FIRST Tor
preparing the paper, and then for sticking the pins
In one OF them the actual sticking is ELECTED by
vigorous motion Of the right hand, though We be-
lieve the pins are poured through hopper upon
grooyed plate or inclined plane, each finding rest
only in a groove but generally the machine does
all the work throughout, except that Of putting
pins in the grooves where none happen 70 lodge and
picking of the plate those which have not found
grooye-a task requiring nmble fingers. nearly
fixed attitude Of body and incessant mental appica
ton and vigilance. Once ia great while groove
passes without receiving pin, when there is OF
course one deficient the paper but this as those
VINO use pspered pins must know Il very rare
We have of course only spoken briefly and vaguely
of two or three among the many ways Of sticking
pins for we did not try 10 learn the trade, and II
we had learned should not impart it. Perhaps the
staring No Admittance' ON tie doors implies that
there is some secret about it, though we presume
not
We were happy to perceive and to learn that
the long hours Of daily toll which are too common
in our larger manufacturing villages are not IN
fashion at Birmingham. Al PM. when we were
in the packing room of the Pin factory the little
girls engaged in packing hsd finished their days
work aud gone home; and we understood that
eleven hours are about the average Of days work
in the factories of this village generally. Store
pay and all manner Of cheating substitutes for cash
pay, are unknown We fancied there was an ur-
wholesome metadust flying in some rooms and
the temperature Of the Brosdcloth factory seemed
too high; but the workmen appeared healthy.
Work is not play yet anywhere within our sphere
of observation nor is the health and comfort Of the
workers so thoroughly regarded in constructing tit
ting up and running factories as it should be- but
Birmingham may safely compare IN this respect
with any other factory village Of which We have
knowledge.
And move few words on Political Economy
and the effects Of Protective Duties illustrated in
the business OF rim making. &c VIII thhe OUT
text from a late Journal Of Commerce, which says
Prxs-A dozen years since al the pins used In this
country were imported. Now imported, except
few German pins for the supply Of the German pepua
ton Ct Pennsylvania. This wonyeriu change has been
produced by a concurrence Of cTcumsances-ihe most
prominent Of which the invention ~ Mr. samuel So
cum now Of Providence, OF pn.msking machine, far
superior 10 any then In England This led 10 the
establishment Of a pu-msnufacory AZ Poughkeepsie by
Nessrs socum. Jison Co which, contrary 20 the gen.
eral expectation, entirely successful and dis
tsnced foreign competition. Thus things went on. EEl
no passage Of The TarF Of lsil, rhse, ~ Increasing Ne
duty on foreign pins. encouraged or pdre tbs
try 70 engage s bHauess Foreseeing this, the above
mentioned Company-which was succseded by the Ame-
ricsn Pin Company-di reduced ner prtes 20 pr
csnL and have since reduced them 10 per cent o.
all the Pin Companies which have been established
tempted In the United States only three known 70
exist at present. the American Pin Co. (Which has
works both Poughkeepsie and Waterbury, Conn., the
Howe Co. at Derby, Conn. and Aessrs Peiton, fArch
4 co. at Poughksepse.
The quantity Of pins tunnel out by these establishments.
especially the FIRST Two, i enormous The statistics Of
one 0; them. have GscertAlned about follows
Per week 10 cases. averaging 10 packs esoh each pack
containing IL papers and each paper go Plus making
aggregate Of 39,ssto00 pins per week. 20706s 900
per Ii the products OF the other establish
ard the small imported together