The Van Buren press., 1870-08-30
About Pins.

l Ss II
Our pins, the oldest OF them, come
from the tolnhs. The Egyptians baried
them for us years ago. They arc elab-
crate and costly in workmanship, the
longest being eight inches In length.
These pins are Ornamented with largo
gold heads and bands. The ancient Mexi-
cans used the thorns Of the agave and
The aloe Tor pins. Our English grand
mothers of the sixteenth century exercis.
ed patience and impatience in using their
little pins, which were Goodea skeCsys.
| Il wonder how they dressed the babies
Of that century
| The first pins made In England were
manufactured at Gloucester in 1926. Ten
years later, they we're made In London,
and afterwards in Birmingham. We owe
the business Of pinmaking In the United
States to the war OF 1912, which SO inter-
rupted our commerce that the value OF :
six penny paper rose to one dollar. Our
hrst pins were made by Englishmen st
the old State prison il. Green wich village,
| now included within the limits of ths
city of New York. The effort was soon
abandoned. Again, in 1920, tho same
tools were made to do duty in pin. max.
ing at Bellevue Almshouse. The entsr
prise failed. Mr.. Lemucl Wright OF
Massachusetts,. invented and patented In
England the first machines that made
solid headed pins. That effort failed to
meet success, and he waited nine years
before the FIRST solid headed pin was sold
in London. One year earlier Mr.. John
/. Howe. Of New York, obtained . patent
in the United States for making pins with
wire or spun heads, and these were the
first machines IN which the pin was com.
pleted by one process that proved sue.
ccssful The same inventor patented Ia
lS40 proceas for making Plus with sol.
I'd heads.
There are now, in the United States
eight or nine mills where pins are made.
and Connecticut elaine the pin business
as almost exclusively her own, fonr Of
the mills being in the Valley Of the Nau.
gatuck. "a
An application ut one ofthcse Connccp
ticut factories TO see q pin made was met
with the reply: I'VE will show you with
pleasure plenty Of pins after they are
made, and every process except the max.
ing OF the pin" There is secret, won.
derful department in this mill, whero
eighty five machines dcyour tons Of wire.
and send forth millions ofpins, and from
this department curious eyes are exclud-
ed A man named Fowler invcnted the
machines are so carefully hidden, aud
story is told that, in his last great period
of doubt and egony lest, aftcr all, HE
creation should fail Of life, help camo TO
him in the form of a dream, and by il,
success. The capacity OF one Of these
mills is 1000, 900 pins day, or 2,l9I,-
O00,0CO per year. f#t iAsssas4s
/ The best English pins are put In grsss
paper which was sacred to tha best quail
| ity Of American pins but now, alas I! u
is made TO cover the poorest quality Of
iron pins MS well, sdch rs are sold 1t
fraction more than three cents paper.
The best pins Of the American and Howe
companies are now put up in form CTS
book, and are called "book pins A
book contains two hundred and sixty
four pins, including FIVE sizes, in eight
rows, one Of which Is black.
| The Plus, as first shown ct the millarv
of brass and iron. The brass pins receive
whitening from long boiling In copper
vessels with block tin The iron pins re-
cevc their whitening by process which
is kept secret
After whitening. the pins are put
through machine which throws OF AL
the straight. Informed pins, and car.
ries away all tho bent. imperfect pins a
absolute waste. Another machine ~
sorts the pins, selecting with precision
each size, and conducting il to its proper
receptacle. 'eeit
The most curious and interesting pro-
cess Is that OF putting the pima into TIE
papers 1t requires possibly thirty secr
onds for the pins to pass from the lrsss
of their places in the paper, the same
machine selecting them BY the head.
marshalling them in single Ole. delivering
them over into companies, creasing the
paper, and fixing them in place, II 10 the
iron pins which have created the belief
that English pins are alone worth buy.
ing Merchants buy the poorer qualities.
and even the iron pins, consumers alone
suffering, since the merchant buys att1e
lowest valuation the cheapest article and
sells it at the price OF tho best quality ~
brass pins. A paper Of NJ plse .3lvs
pins contains S60; the poorer Quel!uee
but ESQ The cheapest q1nlley ~ 3eo
nina are callnd 'aae@1H1lnk, 6eeUoe0