Beaufort Republican. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1871-1873, 1873-10-02
WHAT HAPPENED TO A BIT OF
STEEL.

Once on time small steel rod lay
on a shelf III dingy old fifth-story
room in England. 1t had lain there so
long that it was all covered with
rust, and it really seemed rs though it
would never be of any use in the world.
But one morning something happen
ed. A man took down the rod, sharp
ened one end of it, and stuck the point
through O small hole in q curious.look-
ing steel plate fasten,d to q sort of
bench, The hole was 30 small that only
the sharp end could go through, and
then it was seized by g pair of pinch
ers with an awful grip.
These pinchers were very peculiar !;
on the end they had p stout hook. And
running over and over the bench was q
long heavy chain, worked by steam.
Now when the pinchers had a good
hold Of the steel rod, the workman
quietly slipped the hook into one of
the links of the iron chain. Something
had to give then. The chain was work
ed by steam, and couldn't stop; the
hook was strong, and wouldn't break /;
and the pinchers' grip was for good
and all, and it wouldn't let 60. Steady
and strong came the pull; the steel
rod yielded and yielded, and finally was
pulled through that small hole.
OF course it was no longer rod, but
round wire. And the man again
sharpened the end and started it through
still smaller hole. Again he fastened
on the pinchers and slipped in the hook;
again came tug and, as before, the
wire gave way, and became much small
er and much longer wire.
So he went on, that relentless man,
till the wire was 30 very fine, and OF
course very long, wheI he put it up in
@ coil and sent it off to big manufac-
tory.
Well follow it there in a minute {;
but / want to tell you that this curious
workman is called O wire-drawer, and
he not only draws iron and steel through
these wonderful little holes, but he
draws brass to make pins, copper to
make telegraph wires, and gold and
silver to make jewelry.
The smallest wire he draws is to make
gold-lace, and it's very interesting to
see. First is made q rod of silver, per-
haps an inch thick and two feet long.
This rod is heated and covered with
gold.leaf, which is gold beaten out till
it is thin as paper. Several thickness
es of gold-leaf are put on and thorough
ly FURNISHED, till it looks like q rod of
gold. 1t is then drawn through the
holes in the wire-drawer's plate till it is
fine enough to 60 through the most
minute holes, made through rubies.
When done it is no thicker than coarse
hair. This most exquisite wire, still
perfectly coated with gold (for the gold
stretches as far as the silver, is then
made fiat, and by machinery wound
around fine thread or silk.
Girls wins embroider with gold or
silver thread have probably noticed
that the gold thread is, in fact, yellow
cotton thread, with q most fairy-like
ribbon of gold closely wound around it.
This gold thread is woven into lace for
various uses.
But we mustn't forget our steel wire,
which has gone to another wonderful
fifth story, where one hundred and fifty
pairs Of hands wait to help it through
the house.
You think it could get through with
less help? Well, wait till you see
what's going to be made of it; the
finest, smoothest, sharpest, most useful
little thing in the world; famous in song
and story; hated by some and loved by
others: only q needle!
The first thing an the way to its high
honors is to have its temper tried.
Il might put in a moral here, and tell
you that you too, on your way in life,
ETC., ETC., but won't, and hope you'll
give me credit for resisting tempta-
tion.)
The temper of the wire is not tried by
having to take care of younger broth
er, go to school, wear n shabby dress, or
go to bed at nine o'clock, as your tenn
per is; but by cutting piece from the
end of the coil, heating it, and plung-
ing it into cold water. That hardens it,
and by swapping in his fingers the
workman can Judge of its quality. If
too brittle, it is put aside for some pc
culiar needles.
Being all right, however, the next
thing is to wind it on a large wheel.
Fora medium sized ueedle the coil is
about two feet in diameter, and one
mile and a quarter long. This will
make forty or fifty thousand needles.
From this wheel it is wound on to an
eight-sided wheel, and from that it is
cut in two twice, at points opposite each
other, making two bundles of wire about
three feet long, with seventy or eighty
wires in bundle.
Do you wonder how it's cut? Well,
it's done by the funniest pair of shears
you ever saw; they look like the grand
father of all shears, and are worked by
steam, opening and shutting about
twenty times a minute. All the work
man does is to hold the bundle into the
jaws. Each wire is cut the length for
two needles, by a gauge, and then thrown
into box. That is one of the busiest
machines in the factory. You'll think
it needs to be worked by steam when |
tell you that it cuts, in the ten hours OF
o working-day, eight hundred thousand
needles; and in the neighborhood OF
Redditch (where our needle is going to
made) are made one hundred millions