The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-03-30
THE NEEDLE.
Curious Facts About q Most Common ~
Well - Very Useful Article.

THE NEEDLE.
Curious Facts About Z Most Common -
Well ~ . Very Useful Article.
| Asa matter of fact, the art Of needle
! making was kept secret until about
1850, when it was revealed by Christie
| pher Greening. In the little town of
| Redditch, few miles from Birming-
ham, the needle-makers still ply their
trade for all the world. Twenty thou
sand people make over Q hundred mill
ions of needles year. From the ugly
pig of iron to the fairy-like needle are
manifold processes, but probably tho
drilling of the eye is the mostinterest-
ing of all. The experts can easily
perforate hair, and thread it with its
| own end. The steel wire is cut into
the length of bristle. and theneedles
are born as twins, heads together feet
| furthest apart. In the old days the
| ends were sharpened at a cost of life
that Vlade this industry more deadly
| than war. The grinders asthma" by
which strong mems lungs were in
wardly ground to pieces by inhaled par
ticies of steel. slew tens of thousands Of
strong men. Now. blast of air away
from the grindstone makes a grinders
! life first-class risk for insurance com
! panies. Tempering, annealing and pol
ishing are all worth seeing in the
process.
So easily and cheaply can English
needles be made ard exported that on
our American tariff needles stand on
10 81 w
industry to be protected We still de-
pend on JOHN Bull and the gentleman
who wears the spiked helmet.
But do not our Yankees, who invent,
who harness the rivers, the lightning.
and the child of welded fire and water
to do their work. make any needles?
Yes; for it was the Yankee who made
the needle turn somersault All the
world since the first fg-leaf sewers
threaded the needle in one fashion. 1t
was the Yankee who discovered that it
was threaded at the wrong end He
declared the business end of needle to
be, like {that of bee, farthest from its
head. Either Elias Howe, or the other
man, who did not win the lawsuit, was
the first man who, like the hero in
Greek mythology, held the "eye" in
his hands, and put it where he
would. He drilled the needle
and inserted the thread at the
other end. and set it in arms
Of steel, multiplying its potency. As
Americans gave the world the sewing
machine and new kind of needle, SO
they manufacture this sort and this
only. At Springfield, Mass, the
National Needle Co. make and fin
ish every year thirty million machine
needles. Prussia, the great War Pow
err, put spike on her helm and nee
humbled Austria. The United States,
which, as President Arthur declared, is
the great Pacific power. put her needle
in frame and treadle to tighten toll and
clothe the naked. Probably there is a
true parable here.
las naked as a needle" is an old
proverb, yet. though nude and limbless,
the needle has features and anatomy.
Yet all the world does not see eye to
eye, as their terms and description
show. Missionaries who translate
the Gospel, in which camel and
a needle, rich man and the kingdom
of Heaven, meet only to separate, must
keep their own eyes open. The trans
lator of the Corean New Testament had
to write: ''It is easier for camel to go
through the ear Of needle" And this
though the Coreans, like the japanese
and unlike the Chinese, wear no ear
rings. The ear Of the needle. Ha! ha.
what gossip could the steel give to a
tongue, had it one?
In English literature how often the
needle shines! The open book OF Lon
don street names-a volume of English
literature in itself-tells Of Thread.
needle street There were three needles
in the arms of the Needle-makers' COM
pany, of London. but 'the Old Lady
of Threadneedle street" is the Bank of
England All England took up Cob
belts epithet, which stuck to this Mrs
Partington of his time. Does not
DIR. Marigold call a bank-nots "a
silver curl paper which / myself
took off the shining lock of the
ever beautiful lady?" From great
Shakespeare to the poet of Sunset and
Evening Star" the shining inch or two
is often mentioned. Even in politics
and controversy an act of parliament is
only "the needle to draw in the |
thread" of the new measure. Proverbs |
also and folklore locate the needle in
strange places. Was the swain pop
ping the question when the haystack
was made the symbol of useless search? !
Is there not more of paganisn than Of |
Christianity in the name devils |
needle" given to the dragonfy? Are !
not our first parents and their limita-
tions pictured in the term bestowed |
upon the thorns and fiber. of the |
of ada ms needle and |
thread" while another velvety leaf is |
named Adams fannel?''-Williain in |
Harper's Bazar.