Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-07-04
A Talk About Needles,

+ A Talk About Needles.
"Mamma, what do they make nee
dies OPS asked Dorothea, as she looked
up from her sewing.
She was a bright-eyed little girl of
seven years. of an inquiring turn of
mind and industrious in her habits.
"Of wire, Dorothea," replied her
mother.
"Steel wire?"
"Yes."
cit must be very finep"
"lt is so thin that Is, 900 ordinary
needles cam be made out of one pound
of the Wire"
"Do they make one needle at Q
time?"
"No, dear; that would be a very slow
process, and would make them rather
expensive. One hundred wires eight
feet long are placed in q bundle and Gu,
into proper sizes by a powerful pair of
shears; it is so arranged that one man
can easily cut ], 1000, 900 needles in q day
of twelve hours"
Dorothea's eyes widened. .
"How are they ~polished?" she asked.
IL hardly know whether l can ex-
plain the operation to you,'' replied her
mother. "The needles are tied up in
bundles, and are placed in what is called
the scouring-machine. They are kept
in motion from eight to ten hours.
which gives them a silvery appear
ance."
".That seems simple enough" OBJ
served Dorothea.
II didn't say they came out of the
machine nnliahaI ~ ,rNe,,-ool lon III
er. "The rolls are then covered with
putty-powder and oil, wrapped in can-
vas, and placed in a similar machine
called the polishing-machine. A third
process is necessary. The canvas is re-
moved and the needles are agitated in q
vessel filled with soft soap and water"
'In order to remove the oil?" Dor
Othea asked.
eyes, dear. They are finally dried
in ash-wood sawdust, after which they
are tempered"
(Which mean made brittle, don't it.,
mammal"
"Just so. It is done by making them,
hot, plunging them into oil, and after-
ward burning off the OIL"
Dorothea was very much interested,
She closely examined the needle which,
she had in her hand.
Mamma, do they drill the eyes andi
sharpen the needles before they temper
them?" she asked.
eyes, Dorothea. Twas getting along
too fast in my description. A clever
workman will drill and polish the holes
of seventy thousand needles a week"
THAT is a large number, mamma;
Are they sharpened on a grindstone?'':
eyes,"
"One needle at a timer"
ooh, no. An expert grinder will
hold twenty-five of the wires at once!
against the stone, presenting all their.
points by a dexterous movement Of hisi
thumb"
Dorothea pushed her inquiries. ,
"Where are needles principally made,
mammal"
':In Redditch, a small town near Bir4
mingham. in England. 1t is the great!
center of the needle trade, and it may
be said that 1t has supplied the whole.
world for almost two hundred years.
Ninety millions of needles are turned!
out every week"
It was a larger number than
Dorothea's mind could grasp.
"Did they use needles in old times?"'
she asked.
"They are mentioned by some very.
old writer's. The beautiful B%abylonian
embroideries. which were often made
out of gold thread, were wrought with.
needles. The body of the wife of the
Emperor Honorius, whose grave was
discovered at Rome in 1914, was,
wrapped up in an embroidered dress,
from which thirty-six pounds of gold
were obtained. The needles used bv,
bron zee'e The ygI IPpd no eves IN ma the1 ol
owing to the difficulty of piercing such
minute holes in the metal"
Dorothea put away her patches, q
thoughtful look filling her face.
"Mamma," she said, "they had
needles in Bible times. Needles that
had eyes in them, tool!
"Why do you think so, Dorothea?'''
because it says, in the eighteenth
chapter of Luke, tw~enty-tft6 verse;.
that it is easier for a camel to 60
through a needles eye than for a rich
man to enter into the Kingdom of God"
"That. Dorothea, is now supposed to
refer to the name needles eye, which,
was given to the narrow side entrances
in the fortified places in the East. In
India, IAN elephant going through ~
narrow door, or through the eye Of a
needle is a proverbial phrase. Others
say that in the dialect of Galilee the
word for camel e also the cable Of
q vessel. 1t is not at all probable that
u Saviour meant the eye Of a sewing
needle. Young Folks Friend.