Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-08-22

SCISSORS AND SHEARS
Where Most Of Them Come From and
How They Are Made.
Scissors and shears are not uninter-
esting articles of commerce. They are
complex and diverse in shape. and in
methods of being manufactured. The
point of distinction between them is in
the handles. The scissor handle has a
ring each Tor thumb and fore or middle
finger. Shears have also thumb ring.
but the other opening is SO much elon-
gated as to admit two fingers. Here
does the manipulation get his purchase
for the heavy work of the shears.
Shear blades are likewise longer, heav-
Ter and more carefully riveted to
gether.
Said man of this town. dealing ex-
tensively in them: ''At the present
time the bulk of the scissors used in
this country comes from Germany. In
former days it was England that sup
piled this market, but now. with the
exception of those of the very finest
A0oAAVy dA0 au1Slis IL 40
Now, good scissors ought to be hand
forged and tempered as well as crocus-
polished. What is that? Well, crocus
polish is a very fine powder of a deep
yellow. principally good for giving
that gloss you will see on new scissors.
1 have said that Germany sends us
scissors except of the very highest
quality. Now, a great number of these
come from France. Frances surgical
scissors. for example. are among the
very best made in the world. and in
very fine manicure scissors the French
excel. Perhaps, however, this is be.
cause they conceived the idea, or more
properly speaking. introduced that art
or custom to u.s. AS to manufacturing,
in fine scissors about eighty per cent.
of the cost is in the labor, while with
the lower grades it is just the reverse.
In the cheaper scissors, therefore. very
little labor is used"
But even if the foreigners do send to
this country such quantities of scissors
ard shears, a variety is manufactured
here which. perhaps. they can not. but
they do not produce-that is. ''laid"
scissors and shears. Those of abroad,
and many made here. for that matter.
are of steel throughout The 'laid"
scissors are a combination of malleable
iron and steel. Scissors of steel, the
best. as has been said, being of hard
forging, are made from bar of fat
steel, the END for the bow fiattened
and punched with small round hole,
which is gradually opened upon the
anvil. The iron for the ''laid" scissors
is cast in the regular form of handle
and blade. Bar steel is hammered into
sheets, and the iron blade overlaid or
faced" with it. The process is un-
known, but it is said TO be by means of
heat and extreme pressure. Not very
much more than the cutting surface of
the blade, or the blade proper, is
faced" The joining of the two metals
off and the iron begins is hardly dis
cernible. 1t can only be seen by hold
ing the blade to the light There the
difference in the tinges of the metals
will show the seam or point of junct-
ure.
But the composite blades. made in
this country for over half a century.
have a distinct advantage over the for
eign blade of steel. They can be
tempered to the greatest possible de-
gree, for the malleable iron of the
Should blades of steel throughout be
tempered to the point of the composite
blade, in the fitting together for the
riveting at least One-third of them
would snap. And this high degree of
temper means nothing more OR less
than a superior exec ence and fineness
of edge. Nothing that is made in
Europe will compare with them" said
the aforementioned dealer, patriotic,
but also selling imported goods. The
''laid' scissors, to speak paradoxical-
ly. are principally shears. For the
| most part they are those used by
tailors, paper-hangers. bankers and
BARRIERS, in size from six inches up.
Surgical scissors form an important
branch of the trade, but they are made
Independently, rather bysurgical. instru-
ment makers than the ordinary scissor
manufacturer. Their cardinal and s.
S0ul1d1 DOluU 10 LII Vic SIOSdO lcuSG Ill vi
| the shank. Thereby the operator gets
greater leverage. Their especially
careful workmanship considerably
brings up their cost, and it is no un-
usual thing to find a pair of small
size, but oddly-shaped. worth any
where from s. to $40. They are, fur
thermore, always of steel. It is inter-
esting to note that nothing in the way
of invention OR improvement in this
line is of any direct benefit to the de-
wiser. He can not get patent for it,
and it must go for the good of the en-
tire surgical profession. Yet new
devices continually come forth. and
| the inventor at least has the satisfac-
| ton of hearing the invention called by
| his name.-N. Y. Mail and Express.
She Saw the Rainbow.