Stephens City star. (Stephens City, Va.) 1881-1883, 1882-08-19
MACHINERY.

Not 80 very long since every clock
and watch that licked in the world was
made by hand, and no wonder that they
were expensive luxuries. Each of the
tiny screws had to be turned, and every
cog in every little wheel measured off
and cut by itself, and every part adj
justed to fit every other part, while the
slightest defect in the complicated
workmanship might utterly destroy the
value of the article. Clocks and watches
have now ceased to be the luxuries of
the rich.
1t used to be said that it took seven
teen men to make pin, and the head
which was made by twisting fine wire
round the head of the pin-was always
liable to drop off. Since then much
better article has been produced with
out the touch Of C. human hand the
cutting. Matchmaking, pointing, polish
ing, and even the sticking of the pins
into the paper and folding up into
packages being done by machinery.
Once, every stitch in every garment
and in everything else made of cloth or
leather-was taken by human fingers,
and "The Song of the Shirt" was q
weary one to sing. To-day the sewing
machine, which is found in every civi.
lized land on the globe, has revolution,
lied the whole trade of the tailor and
dressmaker and saddler, while it's
rattle is heard in many a private
dwelling.
Formerly all the departments of
farming work required the most assidu.
GUS toll of hand, arm and foot. The
husbandman reaped his field as they
did in the days of Ruth and
Boaz, and threshed the sheaf and win
moved the grain as they did when John
the Baptist preached. Now the lawn
mower and the patent reaper, and the
steam thresher and winnower have won
derfully lightened the labor of man.
And all the paper we had was made by
hand, and now it flows out of the mill
like river.
These are few very familiar exam
pies of change that is going on in
almost every department of life. Thus
far there has been no invention which,
to any great extent, has superseded the
time-honored way of setting and dis
tributing type, because, no matter how
ingenious the machinery for doing this
may be, there must be in the nature
and necessity of things special action
of the mind in handling every indi.
vidual type, which, so far as we know,
cannot be said Of many other sorts OF
manual labor. The same principle, to
be sure. applies to writing, and il
requires a great deal of practice te
handle the keys of writing machine
with the same facility that we guide the
pen. After all, the machine really
prints and does not write, and we
hardly ever saw page that issued from
it which did not contain one or more
errors.
The cutting and hammering of stone
is generally done by hand-a great
part Of the work demanding an exercise
of judgment which cannot be infused
into piece of machinery. What is
known as "house- work sweeping
busting, fire making, bed-making,
scrubbing, cleaning, cooking and &c
on-is still done with little aid from
mechanical appliances-the carpet
sweeper" having been found to be 6
poor substitute for the broom, an6
many of the contrivances for Tightening
the labor of the kitchen failing to dc
what was promised. The barber con
tinues to dischage the delicate duties
of his profession in the old-fashioned
way, and the steam-engine has not as
yet seriously interfered with the orna
mental vocation of the bootblack.
The highest order of work cannot be
done by machinery. The photograph
and the chrome merely reproduce some
thing that already exists, but they car
produce nothing new. The statue and
the picture that win the admiration oil
the ages must first be conceived in the
brain of the artist. and then brought
into being by the careful touch OF his
chisel or his brush. 1t is a creation,
and machines create nothing. Even
the photograph, which is the work OF
the sun who is great artist in his
way. lighting up the sunset clouds with
gold and vermilion, and giving its color
to the rose-even his work needs to be
retouched by the hand of man.
In almost every department there is
a certain amount of machine work that
is indispensable, The world could
never go on without routine, and the
horse in mill is as true to his destiny
as any neighing steed that losses his
head SO high and outruns the strongest
breeze