River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1886-03-25
Making Need ca,

Mamma, what do they make needles
off" 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 indus
trious in her habits.
''Of wire. Dorothea. replied her
mother.
Steel wire?''
Yes
1T must be very fne?"
1T is so very fine that fifteen thous-
and ordinary needles can be made out
of one pound Of the Wire
DO they make one needle at a
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 bundle
and cut into proper sizes 10y a powerful
pair Of shears; it is so arranged that
one man can easily cut about one mil
lion needles in a day of twelve hours.
Dorothea's eyes widened.
How they are polished?' she askeds
Il hardly know whether | 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 securing machine. They are
kept in motion from eight 10 ten hours.
which give them silyery appear
ance.
That seems simple enough" OBJ
served little Dorothea.
Il didn't say they came out of the
machine polished. resumed the moth
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
i removed ana the needles are agitated
in a vessel filled with soft soap and
water
In order 10 remove the oil9' Doro-
thea asked.
Yes, dear, They are finally dried in
ash-wood sawdust, after which they
are tempered"
(which means brittle. don't it. mann
mae
just so. 1t is done by making
them hot, plunging them into oil. and
afterward burning off the oil. =
DOrothea was very much interested.
She now closely examined the needle
which she had in her hand.
Mamma. do they drill the eyes and
sharpen the needles before they tenn
per them?" she asked.
Yes. DoTothea. | was getting
along too fast in my description. A
clever workman will drill and polish
the holes of seventy thousand needles
per week. '
That Is large number, mamma.
Are they sharpened on a grindstouc2''
Yes
cone needle at a time?'
'Oh, no. An expert grinder viii
hold twenty-five of the wires at once
against the stone, presenting all their
points by deNterous movement of his
thumb.
Dorothea pushed her inquiries
Where are needles principally
made. mammal
I'm Redditch, small town near
/ Birmingham, in England. 1t is the
great centre of the needle trade, and
it may be said that il has supplied the
whole world for almost two hundred
+ years. Ninety millions of needles are
+ turned out every week
II was a larger number than Dor
Othea's mind could grasp.
ssIlfH arr r4za ,...g1.,1 -, ~.
she asked.
They are mentioned by some very
old writer's. The beautiful Babylonian
embroideries which We're often made
our of gold thread. We're wrought with
needles. The bod of the wife of the
/ Emperor HOnCriu,,, whose grave was
discovered nj Rome i'm 1911. was
wrapped up in an embroidered dress.
from which thirty TX pounds If gold
We're obtained The needles used by
the ancient Egyptians were made of
bronze They had no eyes in them.
owing TO the iii ticulty of piercing
such minute holes n the matal.'
Dorothea put away her patches, It
thoughtful look 'llhng her face.
Mamma, she said, ''they had
needles in Bible times Needles that
had eyes in them, toOY
why do you think so. Dorothea?"
Because it says, in the eighteenth
chapter Of Luke, twenty-fifth verse,
that it is easier for camel to 90
through a needles eve than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of
God. =
That, Dorothea. is now supposed
10 refer to the name needles eye
which was given 10 the narrow en-
frances in The fortified places in the
East. In India, an elephant going
through a door or through the eye of
a needle, is pTover3ial phrase.
Others say that in the dialect of Galilee
the word camel mears also the cable
of a vessel. Ii is not at all probable
that our Saviour meant the eye of n
sewing needle"