Windham County Democrat. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1836-1853, 1852-07-07
From Dickens Household Words.
Needle Making.

NccOlc w u Il
The best wire comes from Yorkshire the infe-
rior from Birmingham There is a small cham
ber really pretty in its way, from being hung a
round with coils Of bright wire, suspended from
hooks. This wire is Of all thicknesses, from the
stout kind required for fsh-hooks for Newiound-
land cod and for packing and sail-making needles,
TO the finest for cambric-needless. In the dark
and dingy rooms below bits of wire, the length of
two needles each are cut by pair of vast shears,
we'll fixed TO the wall. The "measure" is a steel
instrument furnished with screw, which deter
mines the length of the bundle of wires cut ut
once Two iron rings, about five inches in diam
eter, are placed on edge, and nearly filled with
the cut wires of which there is thus pretty large
fagot before US. These wires, having come off Of
coils, are curved, and must be Strengthened. A
sort of hooked poker is thrust into the rings, and
transports the faggot to the furnace, where it is
presently heated red-hot. 1t is taken out a cur
we'd iroi. bar is laid between the rings, and the
bundle is rolled backwards and forwards on ia
BILE until the wires are straight. This is called
"rubbing straight"
We now find ourselves in the country--a pref
ty place, with its pond, its unceasing gush of wa
ter its little ravinc, its cheerful farmstead, fields
with COWS grazing, even at this season. There is
amier peeping out at us. What does he do here ?
One end of the mill is let for grinding -four, the
other for grinding needles. We go down some
steps to a basement room, where straps are revol-
wing with all possible zeal. The water-wheel is
under our feet and round us are placed four grind
stones. Each is furnished with a cap or cover,
like collapsng Dutch oven. 1t does not fit close
but leaves a space, through which the deadly dust
is blown. Here is the secret of the salvation of
the dry-grinders. A comfortable looking needle
pointer is seated on bis bench. He takes up two
1;o. II l. Al.
grindstone. While doing this, he has to roll eve
cry wire between his finger and thumb. Back
wards and forwards he makes them revolve, in
continual contact with the stone and off flies a
shower of sparks. One end being done, he pre-
sens the other; for it must be remembered that
these wires are of the length of two needles. AS
he works. we see the dust rushing under the COW
en- quite away from the workman's face and we
are invited to 90 and see what becomes of it. In
the middle of the chamber there is a covered fam
wheel turned by water-power; and this is what
sucks away the dust from all the four grndstones
at once We pass outside to the end Of the build
ing, and 90 down some more steps, to the brink Of
the stream which is flowing down the little ravine.
We observe that patch of the opposite bank,
some way down, is whitened-crusted over with
dust and looking carefully we see pufs, as of a
thin smoke coming from behind grey stone on
our side of the bank. Behind that stone is the
outlet from the fan-wheeT, and the whitening on
the grass and brambes is the dust which would
have hung about and in the men, if they had not
consented to this saving measure.
1t is a plan which costs little money in the
first instance although it saves vast deal in the
end That fan-wheel uses up third of the wa
ter-power appropriated to this chamber. The
men have nominally the same wages as of old
but they pay their share of this loss, at the rate
of one shilling a week. This is their toll for life
and health. The masters bear a much larger pro-
portion, and with extreme content. 1t may be
mentioned here, that from the nominally high
extremely high-wages of this class of men, mus
be deducted the mill-rents they pay, and the cos
of their TOOLS amounting altogether to ten or twelve
-rhtilings week.
We now have the wires straight and pointed a
both ends. We next find ourselves in a Workshop
in the next street to Mr. James's. Here, we sec
a stamping machine and die, which fattens anC
prints space precisely in the middle of each bi
of wire. The print shows where the eye is to be
and at the same time the "guttering" is done-tht
forming of the little channel seen in the heads O
needles. The workman strikes off five thousand
of them in an hour that is, he fattens and "gut
ters" the heads Of ten thousand needles per hou
rather an advance upon the old method of doin.
each one by hand Then comes the punching o
the eyes. The punch is double, of course ant
dhe boy who works it, peforates four thousand al
hour, or eight thousand needles. This is dexter
GUS work, the wires being laid and removed al
most faster than the eye can follow.
The next boy we noticed was seven years old
a little fellow hired by the woman under WHOM
he worked. "This boy" we were told, "earns hi
living by splitting. He is not an American ye
he passes his days in splitting" Before him Ia
bits of wire almost rs fine as hair; and these h
was running through the eyes of the twin needle
which had come from the punch. He ran wir
through each line of eyes, Splitting" two dozen O
so on his two wires. A woman whose wrists an
arms were obviously of unusual strength, receive
these spitted needles, laid them on prepared stee
plate, and filed off all roughness on both Sides
The twin needles had yet TO be separated, and tn
fragments of fattened steel surrounding the head
to be removed. This was done by woman clos
at hand who sat before her little anvil, filing wit
precision between the two rows of heads, so this
they separated easily and then by another move
ment, clearing away all extraneous bits and shar
edges, delivering her spittsful of needles complet
in form.
They are still rough and rusty-looking; anC
what is worse, they are soft so soft as to bend
the touch. The hardening comes next. The
are heated in batches in the furnace, and whe
red hot, are soused into pan Of cold water
Next, they must be tempered and this is done b
hcaping them (all lying the same Way on yer
hot metal plate, where man with metal slic'
called i'knife," in each hand, shifts them inces
sanity backwards and forwards, upon each othe