The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-03
PINS BY THE MILLIONS.
How They Are Nade-An Industry
That IS q Curiosity Also.
From the Washington Star


step right in. sir. please Buy paper full
and see how pins are made-pIain, ordinary
pins-the sort we use every day of our lives,
and yet one of the most astonishing marveIs of
this mechanical age"
1t was the tail man in the silk hat who spoke.
He stood in a doorway on Pennsylvania avenue,
and barked for his own business enterprise. In
front OF the little shop gaunt stranger, proba-
bly, from Virginia, in long boots and a SLOUGH
hat, had paused hestatingly. Ills wife and five
children Of various ages accompanied him
Only the price Of a paper Of pins to git ins'
he said.
That's all. sir"
And the pins thrown int''
w ny, certainly"
WAL Mandy heerd you say this mornin'
you wanted pins, and here's a chance to buy
EN- with free show fer US all thrown in.
Come, children"
COSTLY CITY PINS.
Whereupon the stranger, followed by his wife
and offspring. strobe into the shop the front Of
which was partitiOned of, SO as to conceal the
rear and they paused before a table covered
with papers of pins.
How much for paper:' he inquired
Ten cents, if you please replied the pretty
young woman IN attendance.
Ten cents, Great gosh These must be
city prices. Why Mandy, you never paid more
than seven cents for pins at the 81 re, did yous
No, or course not, and five cents was more like
a talr price But I've allus heard that dissipa-
ton costs money, and. seem this is a sort OF
spree up in the city, I'll go it Here's a dime
gimme the pins. Now, children, let's 90 in be-
hlnd the screen an see what's on exhibition.
Heyf What did you say, young woman! Why
can we go in: I've paid Tor the pins
Hes, sir. responded the pretty girl, blush
ing, but 1t s paper of pins for each person
admitted. We can't let a whole family In for
one paper purchased"
BY thunder" exclaimed the customer from
rural parts. was told that everybody met in
the city would try to rob me. Take back your
paper OF pins, and gimme my ten cents. Now,
Mandy. let's cit out of here. I'm willn' to
walk around awhile and look at the Christmas
Things In the shop windows; but you don't
eaten me smellin into any more places, to be
roobed out OF every cent I've got"
THE PIN MACHINE AT WORK.
With that he walked out. followed by his
Struggling family. A reporter, who had entered
IN time to overhear the coHoQuy. purchased a
paper OF plns, and ventured behind the parti-
ton, where he found something well worth sec
lng-a comparatively simple-lookng machine
mat was turning out pins faster than the most
expert professional lightning calculator could
possibly think
On top of The contrvance was a horizontal
wheel frame, with coil OF wire around it, The
wire was made Of steel, with coating of tin;
IL was eXa lily the thick GeSS of an ordinary pin
ana was feeding itself INTO a little mill. by
winch II was chopped up into actual pins AS
the single wire uncoed automatically from the
wheel, passed through what q person ignorant
OF mechanics might describe as a sort of tran
hhiIe seconded upon it with rapid strokes,
cutting 1t off at DnlenEths, while at the
moment each pin was chopped off a trip
manner struck one end of it so as to hatten it
out into head Each pin in its turn after
being cut off aud headed in this way, fell into a
little groove on the rim of a wheel revolving
vertically. which carried it around and down
ward until it dropped naturally into a groove
on the rim OF wheel revolving horizontally
DStoW, the point projecting beyond tue edge.
mus the horizontal wheel went round with a
sort OF fringe of pn-points. That Is to say the
points We about 10 be made. The inner part
OF the horizontal wheel-a disk including all
put the narrow outer rim-was made TO revolve
faster than the rim itself, 50 as to keep the
pms IN the grooves on the rim all whirling rap
ldiy on their own axes AS they whirled the
wheeErm carried them past small emery
wneels swiftly circling, so that the ends were
s9arpened TO points in one revolution of the
wheelrm. At the end of this revolution they
were thrown off upon revolving endless belt
nnlSned pms, pointed, headed and ready for use.
PAPERGNG THE PINS.
But they were not ready for market vet. All
this, it must be understood. had been performed
with speed that was fairly astonishing. the
chopper chopping the pins into lengths the
hammer hammering the heads simultaneously,
the wheel carrying the pin points over the
emery wheels and throwing them off on the
endless belt at the rate of goodness knows how
many minute. 1t still remained to put the
pms in papers, as one buys them. and this was
accomplished also without the Intervention of
human hands
The endless belt carried the completed pins
into barrel-shaped drum, also revolving, SO
tnat the pins IN it were constantly being
thrown over a sort of chute inside the barrel
against an endless chain passing through the
Darrei endwayS. The chain was in sections
linked together, each section small bar of solid
steel little longer than an ordinary row of
pms, and with as many vertical grooves close
Iogether. as there are pins In a row. Poured
from the chute upon the chain the pins would
eaten by their heads in the grooves, which
would be filled up Immediately. so that the
endless chain was carrying out of the barrel as
H-the chaln-passed alony, row after row of
pms, just as one purchases them. only hanging
IN rows OF grooves, and not stuck in paper But
the chaln went along to Queer-looking attach
ment at the end through which roll of green
paper just the width of pia paper and yards
IN length. was continually passing. The attach
meut had jaws that caught the paper in such a
fashion as to crimp it into double fold lust i'm
time TO have row of pins from the chain
forced through the fold from above; the chain
IN proceeded slowly so as to bring another
row IN position for being stuck in more neatly
than human hands could do il. and so on the
paper that had taken the pin rows falling on
the floor inch by inch in long ribbon
THEN CAME THE FINAL PROCESS,
which was simply to cut the ribbon into proper
lengths for sale, each len 9Th. when folded M
making paper" TINS scissors performance
was the only part of the entire operation, from
the original wire to the papering of the pins
That was not accomplished automatically by
the machine without human interference The
proprietor said that his was the first pin ma
chine ever exhibited the pin trust having
formerly kept the improved mechanism a Sc
cret. He added that he found he could make
more money by showing the machine than by
making pins himself in any ordinary fashion.