Evening star., 1897-04-17

around the earth. The total production Of
the country Is about twice this number. or
nearly enough to extend In straight line
from the earth to the moon.
The pins make their appearance at the
factory in the form Of coiled wire packed
In barrels. The ordinary pin is made from
brass wire. though iron is used for the
cheapest grades. The first step In the trans
formation process Is the Strengthening Of
the wire. The coils are placed On revolving
racks and fed from these into a machine
from the vise-like grasp Of which the. wire
emerges perfectly straight. Thence 1t goes
directly to the pin machines, where the
most interesting step in the work of manu-
facture goes on. The pin machine like the
printing press, combines in one compact
piece OF mechanism number Of interesting
processes. gan ,a,-s,,.
In the Machine. ~
As the wire is fed into the machinery IT
encounters q sharp knife which cuts it
off into uniform lengths Of whatever size
may be desired. AS each little length of
wire drops from the knife 1t falls upon
a wheel. perhaps ten inches In diameter,
set upright in the frame Of the machine
The edge Of this wheel is notched into
number Of little grooves. each one just
large enough to hold one Of the bits Of
wire. The embryo pins settle into, these
grooves and are carried along by the re-
volving wheel until an iron thumb and
finger seizes and holds them firmly. while
an automatic hammer, by a single smart
blow, puts q head on one end. Then they
fall upon another grooved wheel, which
revolves horizontally and looks like min
iature barbican with the bits OF wire pro-
5ectipg from its rim. As the wires move
on in the clasp Of this second wheel, the
projecting ends pass over the surface of q
number Of rapidly revolving wheels which
may be described as circular steel files.
These wheels grind the end of wire to a
neatly tapered point, and after leaving
afn
wheel to give them the smoothnessr which
the files cannot impart, and then drop into
wooden box placed beneath the machine
to receive them The process is the same
for all grades of pins, except that
in the best ones stream of oil
falls upon the points as they p6 IS
over the surface of the files. This point
ing in OIL is said to impart a toughness
1t will be seen that since the wire was
fed into this complicated machine it has
passed through four distinct processes
cutting, heading, pointing and smoothing.
There are over 100 of these machines
raIged along the sides of the manufactu
ing room. each one turning out 800 pins
per minute. Not all the machines are
like the one described, but this is the new
est, most up-to-date and most rapid in
Its operation. Back in a corner Of the
loom are some of the old hand machines
or decade ago, capable, under the direc-
tion of q skilled workman, of turning out
one-tenth much as the most improved
modern machines.
In the square wooden boxes beneath the
machines We have what may properly be
described as pin, looking very much as
1t does when 1t leaves the factory, al
though 1t has number of processes to 20
through still. The next step takes the
pins to the whitening room. Here they
are first placed in a ''tumbling BARREL -
filled with sawdust, and rolled until they
are cleaned OF grease and dirt. Then they
are passed through blower, which re-
moves the sawdust and leaves the pins
bright and shining: Next they are placed
In large square sleeves and lowered into
watts filled with a peculiar green fluid
These are the nickeling vats and after re-
naming in them an hour or more the Pins
come out changed from a brass color to
the familiar nickel hue. They are again
rolled in sawdust until dry, and then pass
upstairs to the stitching room.
Sorting the Pins.
Thus far the pins from each of the ma
chimes have been kept in separate boxes,
as the least variation in size would injure
their appearance and selling qualities
when placed in the papers. Now, however,
If there is any doubt as to the exact uni
formity Of all the pins in each consgn-
ment. If any Of them have been bent or
tmperfectly formed, they are run through
a sorter. This curious machine has q
hopper at the top from which the pins
feed down through narrow groove to an
aperture graduated to any desired size,
where every imperfect pin is thrown out,
while the others drop, out a receiver. 1t
Is impossible to get the better Of this ma
chire. Bend a pin ever so slightly mar
the point or head the least bit and the
machine will instantly reject 1t.
Next comes the sticking room, where
the pins are mounted On papers, as they
are to be seen on the shelves of dry goods
q fhat
this process was performed by hand, but
now 1t is all done by a most ingenious
machine. From the hopper into which the
pins are poured, as wheat is in a flour
mill, they pass down into a narrow Slit
which holds the pins upright In Indian
file they move down this narrow line and
at the bottom fall upon a grooved screw
which rejects all that are -imperfe city
down. and leaves them standing point
upward thirty in line, In a narrow
frame.
AS the pins enter the sticking machine
from one side, the paper. which has pre-
viously been cut into proper widths, and
gilded on the edges, Is fed into 1t on the
opposite side from a big roll. There are
raised lines along the roller over which
the paper passes and a press descends upon
it making a double "crimp' in the paper.
At the same time the narrow frame which
holds the line of pins Is automatically
raised and the pins are neatly thrust
through the paper, being released and left
in exact and orderly array as soon as they
have pierced 1t.
The long strips of mounted pins are cut
Into proper lengths as they emerge from
the sticking machines and pass on to the
inspectors. The inspectors form the court
Of last resort, where all deformed or in
jured pins that may by any possibility have
escaped the machine. are discarded and
thrown out. This work requires the great
est skill, and only experienced hands are
employed. 1t may be said in passing that
all the inspectors and most Of the workers
employed In the sticking department are
women. Men do the work In the whitening
room and operate the pinmaking machines.
Inspecting the Product.
The inspectors have the lightest and
pleasantest room In the factory, for plenty
of light and keen vision eo fopoet her To