The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1872-01-04
Needle Making.

A pleasant run of about hftee1
miles from Birmingham, on the Mid
land Railway, brings US to the grea
centre of the English needle trade
Redditeh Is a mir looking, compact
bustling, clean country town, sur
rounded by some of the most charm
Ing scenery in Worcestershire, anC
presents a striking contrast to the
black and busy hardware village
we have just left behind us. Why
the needle-makers chose this place
above all others In which to settle
down 10 the pursuit OF their calling
there is no evidence to show. A,
early as the year 1850, however, one
| Christopher Greening appears to have
set up q needle shop at Little Crendon
hamlet just outside Rcdditch, and
he was followed in the course OF Il few
years by several other members ofthC
craft from London. In "a short time
however, Little Crendon was aban'
doned owing to the absence of water
power, and the needle makers cstab-
lished themselves ut Alccstcr, stud
ley and Rcdditch. In times still
more remote the district lying be-
tween Alceetcr and Redditch was a
| great industrial centre of some kind,
mills dating from mOnastic ages, and
great dams, no longer used, still re-
manning to tell Of a departed and for
gotten industry. The first mills used
in the needle trade were horse mills,
one being established at Studicy very
early in the last century. These mills
Were used for securing and pointing
needles, auper4eding the primitive
method OF wrapping up the needles
in buckram with emery dust and olive
oil and rolling them to ana fro by the
movement Of the workmam's foot,
The earliest recdles made in this dis
triCt were square-cycd, shape most
readily produced, 1t was with square.
eyed needles that Mary Queen OF
Scots wrought those beautiful tapes
try for the walls Of her prison cell.
After many fruitless attempts, drilled
eyed needles were successfully brought
out in 1926, and two years after the
furnishing machine, which gave Il
beautiful finish to the eye, was intro
| tNN WE ! II lIliN IulkNl lpIbNNF7N' ''' INV
carried out, the needles are threaded
on steel wires which have beer
'roughed' with a file and hardened
| The ends Of these wires were then
attached to steam machine, by
which the needles are made to revOlVt
At an enormous speed, with an oscil-
latng motion round the wires. Pre-
vious to the year 1910 needles were
hardened in water, during which pro-
cess the majority became crooked,
and strengthening the crooks was, in
consequence, an occupation for con-
siderable numbers Of ofwork-peoplc. In
! the year mentioned, however a Red.
ditch manufacturer revived the prac-
| ticc Of hardening in oil, and the result
was that crooked needles were the
exception instead Of being the rule
This so cxaspcratcd the crook-straight
eners that they mobbed the enter
prising manufacturer, out of town
and for some time great tumult pre-
vailed. Eventually, however, tn,
revived process came to be genera |,
adopted. 4 pointing machine is tn
latest invention Of importance in tn
needle trade. On this invention
Mcssrs. Bartlett and Woodward-tw,
excellent authoritics-thus reported ;
little while since: The ncedle-point
ing machine is an English invention
though ii is not generally supposed L
he so, and its fOrerunner, which
though not perfect, approa ehcd ~
nearly perfection rs TO alarm th'
! pointers was some years ago purchas
ell w them, and broken to pieces OF
| Redditch ChurCh Green. The needle
pointing machine is as yet only par.
! TALLY used in this district. \ grooVcd
| gIindstone, revolving ut a great spcad
IA employed to grind the end of each
wire into the desired shape. 70 this
grindstonc the wires are applied from
an inclined plane, on which number
are placed ready cut TO the length re-
quircd. BY means of Il disk, surround'
cd with caoutchOuc, revolving slowly
| in n direction transverse to the grind
stone a continuous supply Of wire
rapidly revolving in succession is sup
piled to the stone, and the same disl
causes the wires to rev0lve while he
Ing pointed.
In Redditch and the ncighborhood
matchmaking now employs some
thing like 5000 work people, q con
siderable proportion Of whom arr
females. The earnings considerably
vary, those of children ranging from
| Is. Cd. to 6s., women, SIS. to los. ant
men l2s. to iOs. per week. y needle
| has to pass through seventy pairs o
hands before it is considered to bC
| finished and ready for use; u subdivi
son of labor TO which may be attrfbut
| cd the combination Of excellence anC
cheapncss in the production Of these
articles. The variety OF needles made
in these days is marvellous; the sur
geon, harness maker, book-bindcr
| fclt-workcr, suilmaker, saddler, glOv
cr, embroiderer and housewife, eacl
requiring needles of shapes, sizes
and lengths almost infinite. Red
ditch, and the immediate district
may be regarded as the only impor'
tant centre Of the needle trade in the
three kingdoms. The principal sea,
of the industry on the Continent is
Aix-la-C Chapellc, but at Lyons, and
ono or two towns in Normandy, the
common qualities are so largely made
The Chinese supply their own re-
quirements in the needle way, and
1t Is thought that the craft is more
ancient in the Celestial Empire than
in Europe. Certain it is, that round
eyed needles were made in China long
before the primitive square eyed ones
were known in England. There is
nothing new under the sun.-Me-
chdUc's Magazine.
Brigham YOung's Finances.