The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1883-04-12
Clothes Pins,

Probably very few realize the extent
of the manufacture of clothes pins, and
the amount of capital employed in the
business. Their manufacture is mostly
confined to New England, and the State
of Maine produces its share of the COM
modify.
According to the Bangor Industrial
Journal, one of the most complete and
extensive clothes pin factories is located
at Vanceboro, Maine. From the same
source the process of manufacturing the
pins is given.
The wood used is mainly white birch
and beech. The logs are cut and hauled
to the shores Of the lake or to the streams
emptying into it, thence they are foated
down to the mill. As fast as required
they are hauled into the mill by wind
lass and chain worked by steam power,
and sawed into lengths of sixteen or
twenty-five inches-the former to be
made into pins and the latter into
boards for the boxes required in pack
ing. The sixteen-inch lengths are next
sawed into boards of Prerequisite thick
ness by a single machine, then into
strips of the proper size by gang of
twelve circular saws. and finally into
five inch lengths by gang of three saws.
The logs have now been cut up into
blocks about five inches long and three
fourths of an inch square. Falling, as
they leave the saws, on an elevator belt,
they are carried in.o an upper story, and
returning to the first floor are deposited
in troughs, whence they are fed to the
turning -lathes, of which there are sew
eral-each being capable of turning
,nvt~k 1,rc IA
passed to the slotting machines, in which
peculiar arrangement of knives in.
serted a circular saw gives the slot the
proper fange, after which they are auto
matlcally carried by elevator belts to the
drying bins on the first floor, where they
are subjected to high temperature,
generated by steam pipea. until thor
oughly seasoned. There are several of
these bins, the largest of which has
capacity of one hundred boxes, 10000
pins, and the smaller ones so.
The pins are now ready for polishing
and packing. The polishing Is accom-.
plished by means of perforated cylinders
OF drums, each capable of holding forty
bushels, in which the pins are placed and
kept constantly revolving until they be-
come as smoth as if polished by hand
Win the unest Sanupaper. A lew minutes
before this process is completed, a small
amount of tallow is thrown in the drums
with the pins, after which few more
revolutions gives them beautiful glossy
appearance. These polishing drums are
suspended directly over the packing
counter on the first floor of the mill and
being thus Immediately beneath the floor
above, are readily filed through scuttles
from the drying bins on the second floor,
and as easily emptied upon the counter
below, where they are sorted into first
and second grades, and packed in boxes
of five gross each. The sorting and pack
ing are done by girls. Two hundred
boxes are packed per day.
The market for clothes pins is not con-
fined to any special locality, but is
found nearly all over the world. Ten
thousand boxes have been shipped to
Melbourne, Australia, within the past
four months. Ten firms in London carry
stock of ten thousand boxes each, and
two firms in Boston carry like amount.
One thousand boxes constitute load. -
Scientific American.