Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1852-05-29
miscellaneous.
From Household Words.
Making Needles,

The hest wire comes from Yorkshire; the
inferior from Birmingham. There is small
chamber, really pretty in its way, from being
hung around with coils of bright wire, sus-
pended from hooks. This wiro il of all
tbicknesses, from tho stout kind required for
fshhooks for Newfoundland cod, and for
packing and sail making needles, 10 the finest
for cnmb1c needles. In the dark and dingy
rooms below, bits Of wire, each the length of
two needles, arc cut by pair of vast shears,
well fixed to the wall. The "measure" is n
steel instrument, furnished with a screw,
which determines the length Of the bundle of
wires cut at once. Two iron rings about
five inches in diameter, are placed on edge,
aud nearly filled with the cut wires, of which
there is thus pretty large faggot before US.
These wires, having come of coils, are curv-
ed. and they must be Strengthened. A sort
of hooked poker is thrust into the rings,
and transports the faggot TO tho furnace,
where il is presently heated redhot. 1t is
taken out; curved iron bar is laid between
the ring, and the bundle is rolled back
wards and forwards on a table uuiil the
wires are straight. This is called rubbing
straight"
We now find ourselves in a mill in the
couDtry--a pretty place, with its pond, its
unceasng gush of water, its little ravine, its
cheerful farmstead, its fields with cows gru-
ziDg, even at this season. There is n miller
pceping out at US. Whnt does he do here?
One end of the mill is lei for grinding flour
the other, for grinding needles. We go down
some steps to bnsenient.room, where straps
nre revolving with all possible zeal. The
water-whcel is under Our feet; aud round us
are placed four grindstoues. Each grind
stone is furnished with cap or cover, like a
collapsiug Dutch oven. 1t does not fit close
ly, but leaves a space, through which the
deadly dust is blown. Hero is the secret of
the salvation of tbc dry-grindcrs A COM
fortabe-looking needIe.pomcr is seated on
his bench. lie takes up two dozen or 80 of
wires, and applies the ends to the grindstone.
While doing this, he has 10 roll every wire
between his finger and thumb. Backwards
und forwards he makes them revolvc, in con-
tact with the wheel aud off flies shower of
sparks. One end being done, hc presents The
olher; for il must he remembered that these
wires are of the length Of two needles. As
hc works, we see the dust rushing under tile
cover, quite away from tine workuan's faces
aud we are invited TO 20 and soe what be-
comes oft There is covered inn-whecl in |
tie middle of the chamber, turned by water |
power aud this is which sucks away tho |
dust from all the four griudstOncs AT once |
We pass outside 20 the end Of the building |
and 60 down some more steps, TO tho brink |
of the stream which is flowing away down the |
little ruyine. We observe that patch of the |
opposite bank, some way down, is whiiened |
-crusted over with dust; and, looking care
fully, we see puff, MS of thin smoke, com
ing from behind grey stone on our side of
the bank. Behind that stone il the outlet |
from the fan-whecl, aud the whitening on
ilie grass and bramblcs is the dust whirh
would huve hung about ihe men aud within
the men, if they had not consented TO this |
saving measure.
II is a plan which costs li;,lc money IN |
the first instance although it saves vast
deal in the end. That lhn.wheel uses up |
third of the water power appropriated TO this |
chamber. The men have noniinally the |
same wages rs Of old but they pay their |
share Of this loss, nj the rnte of about shil
ling u-week. This is their toll for life aud
health. Tho masters bear much larger
share, md with extreme content. 1t nny be
mentioned here, that from the nominally high
extremely high-wages of this class of
men, must be deducted the mill-rents they
pay, and the cost Of their tools-nmoun-
ing altogether to ten or twelve shillings
a-wcek.
We now have the wires straight, and
Ilotilttu Ut uOtl tlltiS. We lleAI Illu OUISClNts
in workshop, in the next street 10 Mr.
Jamess. Here, we see n Stamping machine
aud die which 1atiens and prints spaces
precisely in the middle of ench bit of vine.
The print shows where the eye is to he, aud
nj The same time the "gultiring" is done
tile forming the litllo channel seen in the
heads of all needless The workman strikes
off five thousand of them in mn hour; that
is, he hattens and 'gutters" the heads of ten
thousand needles per hour-ralher an ad-
vance upon the old laethod of doing each
one by hand Then comes the punching of
the eyes. The punch is double, Of course
and the boy who works il, periorates four
thousand wires, or eight thousand needles
per hour. This is dexterolis work, the wires
being laid aud removed almost faster than the
eye can follow.
The next hoy we noticed was seven yenrs
old lulo fellow hired by the woman nn-
der whom he worked. "ihis boy" we were
told "eans his living by splitting. lie is not
an American; YET be passes his dnys in
splitting" Before him lay hiIs of wire almost
as fine as lluirs: and these wires he was run
ming through the eyes Of the twin needles
which hud come from the punch. lie ran u
wire through each line OF eyes, splitting"
two dozen or so on his Two vines. A woman,
whose wrists aud arms were obviously of I'M
usual strength, received these spitted needles,
laid them OF a prepared steel plnlc, and filed
off all roughness on both sides The twin
needles had yet TO he separated, and the
fragments of fiattencd steel surrounding the
heads 10 be removed. This wns done by n
woman close al hand, who snt before her lit
tie anvil, filing with precision between the
rows of heads, so That they separated easily
ind then by another movement, clearing
away all extraneous bits and sharp edges
delivering her spitsiul Of needles complete IN
form.
They are still rough and rusty-looking
mud, what is worse, they are soft $50 soft ne
10 bend with touch. The hardening comes