The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1871-11-16
NEEDLE-MAKING.

Tookino. compact, bu,tIing clean country
+o,,,n Surrounded by some of the most
obarmino scenery in Worcestershire, and
11reeents q striking contrast to the black
and busy "hardware village we have
inst left behind us. Why the needle
makers chose this place above all others
in which to settle down to the pursuit Of
their calling, there is no evidence to
show. AS early as the year 1000, how
ever, one Christopher Greening appears
to have set up a needle shop at Lh'le
CrendOn, a hamlet inst outside Reddltch'
and he was followed in the course OF
few years by several other members Oh
the craft from London. In short time
however, Creden was abandoned, owing
to the absence Of water power, ana thr
Depdlp.makers established themselves at
Alcpster. Studley, and Reddltch. In
times stIII more remote the district lying
between Aicester and Redditch was
GREAT industrial center If SOME kind,
mills dating from monastlc ages, ana
great dams, no longer uscCi, still remain.
inc t. tell of departed ald forgotten
ind, stry.
The Ilrst mills used in the needle trade
were horse mills, one being established
at Studlcy very early IN the last century
These mills were used for securing ana
pointing needles supersedlng the nrim'
tive method of wrapping up the needles
in the buckram with emery aust an"
olive oil. and rolling them to and fro nN
the movement of the workman's tont
The earliest needles made III this district
were the ''suuare-eved," a shape most
readily produced. Tt was with square
eyed needles that Mary Queen OF SCOTS
Wrought those beautiful tapestries Tor
the walls of her prison cell. Alter many
fruIlpss attempts, drilIed-e7ed nce7l s.
were successfully brought out IN 1895,
and two years later the furnishing ma
chine. which gave a beautiful finish t"I
the eve, was introduced. In this latter
process, as now carried out, the needles
are threaded on steel wires which nave
been 'rouched' with file, and harden
cd. The ends OF these WIG are then
attached to a steam machine by which
the needles are made to reVotVe at an
enormous speed with an oscillation mo
tirr round the wires.
Previous to the year 1910, needles wereI
hardened in water, during which process
the majority became crooked, and
STRENGTHENING the crooks was, in conSe-I
queue, an occupation for Considerable
hummer Of wnrk-people, In the year
mentioned, however, a Reddltch manu-
fac urer revived the practice of harden
Ing in oil, and the result was that crook
cd serdlcs were the exception instead OF
being the rule. This so exaSperAted the
crock straighteners that they mobhed the |
entcrprIsing manufacturer cut OF town,
and for some time great tumulf prevailed |
Ev, uallv, however, the revived process
came to be generally adopted. A point /
Ing machine is the latest invention !
MaSsr~. B4rtlett and Woodward-two eX
cellcnt authorties-thu reported little
while since:
TIE needle pointing machine is an
English invention, though 1t IS not gen
orally supposed to be SO, and ite fore
runner, which, tn, ugh not perfect, APP
proc ched 50 nearly p rfection as TO alarm
the pointers, was some years ago pur-
Chased by them and broken 10 pieces on
r ddtch Church Green. The needle |
pointing machine IS as yet only partially
used ID this district. A grooved grind |
stone. revolving at great speed, Is EN-
Dlpyed to grind the end Of c0Cn wire into
tn, desired shape To this grindst0ne
the wires are applied from an inclined
plane, on which number are placed
ready 10 cut to The length required. BYI
means of 4 disc, surrounded with caout
cEnuc, revolving slowly IN direction
transverse to the grindstonc, a continuous
supply of wires rapidly revolving in sue
ceseIon is supplied to the stone, and the
same disc causes the wires to revClve
whilst being pointed, In Redditch and
the neighborhood medicinal king now
employ something like 800 work people,
d considerable proportion of whom arc fe
males. The earnings considerably vary
those of children ranging from Is. 81. to
SIS, women, IS. to los, and men, IFS. to
40s. per week.
A needle has to pass through seventy
pairs of hands before it is considered
to be finished and ready for use; q sub
division Of labor to which may be attri
buted the combination of excellence and
cheapness in the production Of these
articles. The variety Of needles made in
these days is marvellous, the surgeon,
tailor, harness ker, bOOkbinder, feltI
worker, sail. maker, saddler, glover, EN-
broiderer, and housewife, each requiring
needles If shapes, sizes and length
almost infinite. Redditch, and the lm
mediate district, may be regarded as the
only important center of the needle
trade in the three Kingdoms. The prin
cipal seat of the industry on the CONT
nent is AK la Chapelle, but at Lyons and
one or two towns in Normandy the com
mon qualities are also largely made.
The Chinese supply their own require
ments in the needle way, and it is thought
that the craft is more ancient in the