Griggs courier., 1893-03-24
THE NEE0lE.


THE fsEE0le. ..--
osrious Fksts About Mose Connoa -
Well - . Very Usefdl Artleas.
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, a few miles from Birming-
han. the needle-makers still ply their
trade for all the world. Twenty thou.
ions of needles year. From the ugly
pig of iron to the fairy-like needle are
manifold processes, but probably the
drilling of the eye is the most interest
ing of all. The experts can easily
perforate q hair, and thread it with its
own end. The steel wire is cut into
the length of a bristle. and the needles
are born as twins, heads together. feet
furthest apart In the old days the
ends were sharpened at a cost of life
that made this industry more deadly
than war. The grinders asthma" by
which strong mems lungs were in
wardly ground to pieces by inhaled par
ticles of steel. slew tens of thousands of
strong men. Now, a blast of Air away
from the grindstone makes grinders
life Il 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 and exported that on
our American tariff needles stand on
the free list. We have no hand-needle
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, tho lightning,
and the child of welded fire and wa ter
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 fig-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 a needle to
be. like ethat of a bee, farthest from it's
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
cr, put spike on her helm and nee-
die in her gun, and with the latter
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
''As naked as a needle" is an old
provcrb, 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 m;sa 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 car
-, I. TT
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-~s6fs 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 epithetcwhlch stuck to this Mrs.
Partington of his time. Does not
DIR. Marigold call bank-note ";,
silver curl paper which / myself
took of the shining lock of the
sver-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 1.-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 Adcvil's
needle" given to the dragon-fy? Are
not our first parents and their limita-
tions pictured in the term bestowed
upon the thorns and fbers of the
yucca-plant, of ada ms needle and
thread" while another velvety leaf is
named adams fannel?"-William, in
Harper's Bazar.
QUEER PICTURES IN CUBA.