Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1853-07-29
Chr paiIp SPY.
Wash5arn 8 CO.'S wire Man'yactoI

prosecuted in this country, and yet, in very few
years from that period, American wire completely
superseded that ill then imported from Great Britain.
This result was not attributable TO our tariff regula
tons, but was mainly due to the energy, mechanical
genius, and enterprise of a citizen Of Worcester
We mean Ichabod Washburn, ESQ. About % years
ago, Mr.. Washburn, then quite young man, began
compete with the most celebrated wire.makers of
England, and such the superiority Of the modes
he invented for the manufacture of card wrs that
in Eve years he drove bis competitors from, and had
the whole control Of the American market. lie
eschewed tie old processes hitherto employed in
this complicated aud nice manufacture; and with
true Yankee ingenuity, invented methods which not
only increased the facilities for production, but great
y improved the article produced.
We recently visited Mr.. Wasbburn's extensive
wire mandatory, on Grove street, and saw the va.
Tous stages through which steel and iron are put be-
fore they came out wire, and can be used for wool
cards, or for the delicate chords Of piano fortes.-
The iron, in bars inch and quarter in diameter,
Is carried to the rolling mill Of Henry S. Wash.
burn & Co., at Quinsigamond, and in the course of
sixty seconds, each bar is transmitted into wire of
scarcely quarter Of an inch in diameter. The staple
in this form is then carried to the wire factory
Grove street, where is drawn blocks TO the
rious sizes used for the mulllfarious purposes for
which wire is manufactured
In England one man attends seven blocks in Mr..
Washburns establishment one mar attends fifty
blocks, but as the English blocks are some larger
than the American, and go little quicker, is safe
10 estimate that Yankee w,re-maker turns off four
times the amount of work performed by wire maker
in England,
The process Of annealiug and temperng, invented
by Mr.. Washburn, great improvements upon the
old methods. He anneals the wire in double, air.
tight, iron pots; the method employed in England
late 1851, was by turning the rolls Of wire, on
the end OF rod, in the midst Of flames. This was
done by hand, aud slow and most imperfect
process. By Mr.. Washburn's method, perfect
uniformity Of quality is secured, through the equal
distribution ofheat and of the carbon which is in
the iron.
After being annealed, the wire is put into weak
solution Of acid free it from the carbon on its sur
face. tits then secured with emery, made up into
rolls, and sent off to all parts of the country, to be
~ INC fdttOus USES WHICH Is tuteOueQs
About ten hundred pounds Of wire day are manu-
featured at the Grove street factory.
About three years ago, Mr. Washburn, at the sug-
gestion Of Mr. Chickerng, Of Boston, devoted his
great mechanical ingenuity and large experience, to
the production of steel wire for piano fortes, the
manufacture Of which, for the last go years. has been
almost entirely monopolized by single house in
A. and II. l..
this new branch Of his business. that Mr. Chckering
has entirely discarded the Of the English wire in
his piano forles, and now uses Mr. Washburn's in.
stead. 1t was from this new wire that the chords
OF the grand premium piano forte exhibited by Mr.
Chickering at the Worlds Fair in London, were
made. Since that time, Mr. w has advanced so
much ahead Of the English wire, that Mr. Chicken
ing has written him,to say that he is certain that
his wire will be preferred by the London piano forte
builders, when they know its merits.
The great difficulty in the manufacture of music
wire has hitherto been to secure temper 50 uni
form, and such character, TO prevent it from
breaking yielding, under the great tension TO
which it is subjected, in order to bring il up to, and
fully maintain it at concert pitch. The ordinary
AnOAhVA duOptcu StCuIc TINS E6Suil, mas De6D 10
multiply the drafts made in reducing the wire after
annealing; IA method which has proven to be very
unreliable in consequence Of the unequal dist ibuton
Of the carbon introduced into the steel, rendering
some parts harder than Others Mr. Washburn has
completely succeeded in obVaiing this difficulty, BY
an inveRton which he uses in addition to the ordi.
nary mode. BY his new process, he secures much
hiuhar and III
been attained and also strengthens the wire render
ing II less liable to yield under the power Of the ham,
mer, and consequently less liable to get out Of tune
Mr. w has applied for patent for this important
discovery. Any person who compares the Eng fish
and American steel wire, would not hesitate an in
stant,as to which to yield the preference. The Amer
lean has finer gram, takes much higher polish
and ismuch stronger than foreign wire of equal weight
Any acquainted with the laws of sound, will per.
ceeive that these attributes must tend to increase the
fullness and soIiness Of those vibrations Of the air
which produce musical tones. We saw the com.
paraiive strength Of the English and American wire
tested by machine invented by Mr. W. for that pur
pose. The American wine, number 10, sustained a
weight Of POI pounds before il broke; the English,
number Is, snapt under a weight Of l76 pounds.
The high character, great mechanical ability, and
long standing Of the ingenious manufacturer, are su
6cienl guaranty Of the perfect adaptation Of his mu
sic wire to the purposes for which it is Intended
His reputation in his particular kind Of business, is
second TO that Of no in Europe or America and
the fact that SO celebrated manufacturer Of
Pianos as MIR Chickering gives his wire decided
preference TO that of every nthar aho.a that mas
ican music wire is no longer experiment, but
fixed fact.
JUsT YERDIcr.-We learn from The Kingston.
N. \. journal tina. Dr. o. s. BousIee, Of Plymouth
Mich, has recovered Of the owners Of vanderbidl's
through line to Californian the courts Of that coun-