Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-03-16

The men arc divided into teams, and
from the time that the leather leaves the
cutters table. where it starts, until il
reaches the bench OF the poii>hcr, ii
passes with astonishing CELEBRITY from
hand to hand. Ten sewing machines
s and side by side. which do work from
the finest ornamental 10 the heaviest
stitching, most OF which is done BY the
eye, and with great .lextcrity and prrcis
ion. We noticed . number OF negroes
In this shop, Il at u sewing mactlne,
the others pegsing. heeling, &c- one
OF the most ingenious things which We
observed was a machine Tor inserting
and fastening eyelets. which was done
at the rate of about WI per second oil
time. The men have tasks allotted
them. and they work rapidly and well,
most of them getting through by three
O'Clock. and nearly all OF them by four.
The shop is a new one, having been
built by Warden Willis. by adding Il
story to the old chain shop 1t is 2lU
feet long by AZ feet wide. with a high
ceiling, and good light Il ventilation.
The next in importance i'll this line is the
shop OF
BUCK. McCOCS & co.
This firm is well known in the trade.
having large houses in st. Louis and st.
Joseph. They generally work 1876 men.
but were running somewhat lighter
handed when We visited them. Mr.. Lee
Robinson. their geutlemanly book
keeper. did the donors tor US very grace
fully and politely. These gentlemen
manufacture stcga, kip and calf boots.
brogans, and substantial women's shoes
all pegged work. The same order
and rapidity of work was to be seen in
this as in the previously mentioned shop.
A. P~RElsMEfEK & 60.
This is a dis,inctive.y penitentiary
firm. They do not conceal their prison
made goods by branding them from u
house at some other point. but do al
their business from Jefferson City. They
manufacture fine mems, boys. ladies' /.
misses and children's shoes, and pride
themselves upon having built up arepu-
tatlon for Missouri prison work. which
sells it readily everywhere that it IS
known. on its merits. We are told that
they use none but the very best stock,
and that they inspect every process
through which their goods pass, with
jealous care. They worE 80 men. and
are generally behind their orders. We
noticed. while in the shop. q large mum
Der OF cases of goods, marked and ready
tor shipment to Atchison Jefferson City,
Savannah. Mo. Parsons. Ks. Fort Madi
son. Iowa, Lexington, Mo. Marshtield.
Mo. Clinton. Mo. Corning, Iowa.
Louisiana, Mo. Shelbina. Mo. and 81.
Louis. An ingenious and curious ma
chine in this shop attracts attention from
every observant visitor-it Is a machine
for sewing the soles or shoes, II has q
bed plate at the point OF an arm which IS
inserted in the shoe. and the needle
works into this. Strange TO say, 1t is
simple and durable. 1t does its work
with. great rapiditv when special haste
is used a sole can be sewet on with itiu
l5U to 100 pairs OF shoes per day.
sADDLE iI:EEs.
Though not employing tn" largest
number of hands. owing to the vast
amount OF machinery used and the great
quantity OF the product, the manuiac-
ture OF saddle trees by
JSO. s. SULLIVAN & CO..
Il the most extensive industry in the
prison. This mandatory is supposed
to be the largest of its kind in the word
1t is known to be larger than any other
three in the United States. The goods
are sold from New York to San Fran
cisco. and frequently are sold back into
Missouri as specialties of certain sec
tious. The foreman, Mr.. Henry Ruwart,
assuring us that trees made here, but
with some foreign brand, were often
sent to him by customers to pattern alter
The pattern department itself is Il carl
osi,y. Here in q pigeon-ho.ed cupboard
are kept patterns tor 800 different varle-
ties of trees, each kind being composed
of at least four pieces. the pommel, the
two sides and the cautle. To keep these
straight. and 10 have every piece work
up to pattern, to the sm al!est fraction OF
an inch. is a task which must be seen to
be appreciated. One hundred andtwenty-
FIVE men are worked in this shop; and
with the permission flour readers we viii
eudea7or to tell them how saddle-trces
are made-fronl the stump. The firm
cuts its own logs, cottonwood 5yca-
more, elm, maple and oak. with
square" labor, some 80 miles above
Jefferson City, and floats them down the
river to the prison. They are then
hauled to the shop within the walls. the
saw mill being part OF its machinery
Here i regular saw mill force is con-
stantly employed in saving out the lun-
Der in proper dimensions. In czder to
give 81 idea of what this is, we willtake
the average sizes, gay for SIDE pieces by
6 inches. for cantles 2 by IL inches, and
Tor pommels 81 by 10 inches. The lnm-
Der for the sides is then taken to another
saw, where il is cut oil in lengths, say OF
"a inches. Here is q block Of wood,
then, % inches long. and 4 by 6 inches
thick, OF which the two size piecsa Of the
saddle-tree must be made. This is taken
e another saw. where it is ripped, pro-
duding two beveled pieces. They are
then passed to q block, where they re-
ceive the wind" ortwist, which is made
with q hand-ax. only partially, wi.en
they go to the table, where they are
marked with a LEAD pencil, the exact
shape OF ths requisite pattern. They then
pass TO the band saw--a very ingenious
one, being q continuous band, which
passes over n large wheel and runs
etesG;iy at one place in the operators
table-and here tbey are sawed out eX-