The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1880-01-23
rhe Manufacture OF spocIs.

IL may have occurred to some oi OJ8
3adv friends while using the common
sewing thread, that a vast number OF
spooIsI are required aDnually by the
manufactures Of that article butitmay
not be generally known that the Prov
ince of Quebec furnishes its quota OF
spOols to the English and Scotch thread
manufacturers Such, however. is the
case. and while on flying visit TO the
romantic village of Drummondville re-
Gently, we had the pleasure of visiting
the spool factories there in operation.
DrummOndville is situated on the st.
Francis river, and the northern division
of the Southeastern railway passes thro'
II. Several years ago the prevailing
ReOd which grew in the vicinity was
white birch, which we believe does not
make first-class fire wood, but which ap-
pears to be the best for the manufacture
of spools. This probably was the reason
why Drummondville was selected as the
place in which to locate these factories,
and the farmers in the vicinity can al
ways find q ready market for this kind
of wood at about 3. 80 to s. per cord.
The wood. after being delivered at the
factories, is first sawed into pieces about
four feet long and from an inch to an
inch and half square, according to the
size Of the spool i. is destined to make.
These pieces are put into dry-hOuse
and thoroughly dried from thence they
are taken to the factory and given to the
''rOughers, = who in an incredibly short
space of time bore a hole in the center
about two inches deep, turn about the
same space round, and then cut off the
length required for a spool. The ma
chimes used for this purpose are revol-
v-fVR rslsa int no tor of yx-li iC a
revolving gimlet or bit, and Immediate
lv to the right a small circular saw with
a guage set the proper size for the spOols.
The '-rOughers'' receive a ceut and
half per gross for their work, and an eX-
perienced man can turn out from 100 to
a3O gross per day. The round blocks
pass from them to the ''iinishers, - who
pace them in machines which give
them the shape of SpoOls and make
them quite smooth. 1t is interesting
here to notice the men at work. \ man
stands with his left hand upon a small
lever and with the right he places the
blocks, one at q time, i'll the lathe, then
draws the lever toward him for an in
stant. and the work is done the lever
is pushed back and the spool drops down
into a box below. while the right hand
is ready with another block. These
blocks are handled at the rate of twenty
five to thirty per minute. The finish
ers'' also receive one cent and half
per gross, and they can each turn from
100 to 130 gross per day. The spOOls are
then thrown loosely into large cylin-
der. which reYolyes slowly so that the
spools are polished by the constant rub
bing upon each other for some time.
On being taken out of the cylinder they
are placed in a large hopper with an
opening at the bottom, through which
they pass down a slide for inspection.
Here the inspector sits and watches
closely to see that no imperfect spOOls
are allowed to pass, and a very small
knot or scratch is sufficient to condemn
them. The spools then pass into the
hands of packers, who handle them
very lively. They are packed in large
boxes made the proper size, SO that the
layers of spools exactly fll the box and
no additional packing is needed. These
boys receive q quarter of cent gross
for packing, and a smart boy who is ac-
custowed to the work can pack about
200 gross per day. One proprietor ships
from l., 600 to $4,000 gross lOr over two
million spOOlsI per mouth to England,
and another firm ships from 5000 to :,
900 gross Tor over one million spOolsl to
Glasgow, Scotland.