The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1893-08-25
NEEDLE POINTS.
Something Interesting About How
They Are Made.
The Immense Number That Are Used
Each Year-Some of the Peculiar
Ones and What They Are For
Products of Skill.

One needle is pretty small item,
but the daily consumption of some
thing like three million needles all
over the world makes pretty big
total. Every year the women Of the
United States break, lose and use
about three hundred million of these
little instruments. Our needles are
the finished products Of American
ingenuity, skill and workmanship,
and yet how many women, thread
ing needle or taking a stitch, have
ever given a thought to the various
processes through which the wire
must pass ere it comes out needle?
Now, the manufacture of a single
needle includes some twenty-one or
twenty-five different processes, as
follows: Cutting the wire into
lengths; for Strengthening, by rub
bing while heated; pointing the ends
on grindstones; stamping impression
for the eyes by dies; growing; ey-
ing-the eye pierced by screw
presses; splitting, threading the
double needle by the eyes on short
lengths Of fine wire; fling, remov-
ing the ''cheek" left on each side Of
the eye by stamping; breaking, sep
arating the two needles on the one
length of wire; heading, heads fled
and smoothed to remove the burr
left by stamping and breaking;
hardening in oil, the needle is thus
made brittle; tempering; picking,
separating those crooked in harden
ing; Strengthening the crooked
ones; securing and polishing;
bluing, softening the eyes by
heat; drilling, or cleaning out
and smoothing sides of the eye;
.head-grinding; point-setting or final
sharpening; fine polishing; paper
ing; labelling. For wrapping, purple
paper is used, because it prevents
rusting. Needles are of various
sorts and kinds. First and fore
most, there is the surgeons grew
some outft-the probing needle,
made for tracking bullets or hidden
cavities of pus, the hairlip needle,
the long pins for pinning open
wounds, the post-mortem needles of
curious pattern. Some Of these
little instruments are thin, some
thick; others are long and straight;
, others, again, curve once, twice or
three times. The veterinary surgeon
has also his special outfit. The
cooks needles are wonderfully, fear
fully made. His larding needle is
J used to sew large pieces of meat
= together. The trusting needle is
! made on purpose to insert melted
butter or sauce right into thevitals
of a Christmas turkey 1t is hollow,
. and has large opening, into which
the sauce is poured. Nor less inter
esting are the needles which the up
holsterer uses. Some are half
curved, and some have round points
:, He has needles with curious eyes
\ long, round, egg and counter-sunk
= eyes; the same kinds of needles are
used by collar makers. Then there
:, are the delicate needles used by wig
! makers, glove-makers and weavers;
= they are often as fine as hair. The
- glove needles are splendid specimens
! of skillful workmanship; the finest
, of them have three-cornered points,
;, The great sail needle, which has tC
- be pushed with a steel palm, woulC
- puzzle most people; so, too, the
broommaker's needle, which must
:. also be pushed with a steel palm
- Thecurious knitting machine needle
with its latchet; the arrasene anC
crewel needles, and the needle fol
stirring machines the weaver's pin
80 for picking up broken threads, will
W an open eye in the hook. The long
y instrument used, by milliners, thu
10 rag baler's needle, the knife-poin
ham needle used in the stock yards
+ the astrakhan needle-these an,
y, other varieties do not call for specia
~. ~ notice. The needle, as we see it to
~ day, is the evolved product of cen
" turtles of invention. In its primitiv
III form it was made of bone, ivory o
wood. The making of SPANS
needles was introduced into Ems
land during the reign Of Quee
~ Elizabeth. Point by point the MAI
= ufacture has improved until tn
little instrument is one of the higl