The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-02
NEEDLE MAKING AN ART.
Although of Great Antiquity, Manual
Labor Is StiII Requisite for the
Production of Needles.
From the New York Times.

From the New York Times.
Needles have probably been an import
ant factor in domestic economy since
aboriginal man corroded his primitive
garb with prolonged use for accidental
friction with glacial formations, and re-
quested aboriginal woman to use her YER
satlle efforts in his relief. The Old Testa
ment has It that the SHINING couple of
Eden. after the fashion of the latter day
sewing circle. constructed aprons by sew
ing fig leaves together. Despite their
evident antiquity, the present day needles
are largely the product OF manual labor
and as yet the industry OF their manu-
! fscture has never been introduced into
the new world. OF late the prospect that
needle making is TO be begun here IN
| New York on so large a scale as to
| threaten the English industry, and the.
report that a keen-witted inventor has
devised the machine that will take The
| steel bar and turn il out an cases of the
| finest needles. have attracted attention to
the method of making this useful adjunct
/ OF ordinary life
Fish bones were used by primitive folk
| as needles so far as can be ascertained.
| In its earliest stage the needle was a
| rough bone bodlxin, with which hole was
| A'ttNt Ah inc ohli VI ildttiHS VI the Niblll-
ing material in vogue, and the fber or
| sinew was then pushed through, Just
| when the eye was added is hard to fix,
but certain it is needles with eyes were
used in China long before there is record
| of their use in The West. NeedleworlS is
often mentioned in the Old Testament:
THE hangngs OF the door OF the tent of
| the tabernacle and the girdles for the
| priests were to be wrought with fine
| needlework." Job makes mention on sew
| eral occasions of sewing, notably when ne
refers TO a nice bit of needlework In say
| ing: 81 have sewed sackcloth upon my
| skin"
| Although Its antiquity is beyond dispute.
| II was not until 1915 that ID was brought
| from India into England, now the home of
! the industry. native Of India first in
| troduced it,. and upon his death it was re-
| garded a lost art Fifteen years later
| Christopher Greening recovered the pro-
| cess, which was thereafter maintained
| with an increased annual extension. To-
| day in the principal mart of the industry,
at and near Redditch. 5000 persons are
concerned In its production In Germany,
in the two towns to which its manufac-
lure is confined. about as many more are
also employed.
AT first the making of the needle in Eng
land was entirely manual Small square
rods of steel were passed through char
| coal fire and wrought into cylindrical
|
| the rod was run through a large hole in
| wire-drawing iron. Successfully heated
| and drawn through smaller holes, care
| being taken to grease the steel each time
/ it was reduced to make 1t more managea-
| BILE, the steel bar was at length tapered
to the diameter demanded for the needle
| IL was then cut into sections the length
of needle, after which each was hatten-
ed at one end to form the head and put
| in the fire to soften. A puncheon of well
tempered steel then stamps out the eye,
and then the pieces are laid on a leaden
block while a finer puncheon makes out
the fiat pieces remaining In the eye.
The corners of the head We're then filed
and a point filed on each bit OF steel. Al
ter being heated over a charcoal fire The
needles were then submerged In cold wa.
ter TO be hardened. This was a crucia
par: of the making. If the needle was toe
hot or too cool the steel was spoiled fol
its purpose. A second baking was admin
istered to complete the operation Of tenn
pering. Polishing was the next step. To
do this some 10000 or 12,000 needles We're
taken, ranged in little heaps against OF e.
another, sprinkled with emery dust and
olive oil, and placed on a piece of now
buckram, the package being made into a
big roll, tightly fastened at each end.
WorlImen then took the roll and placed it
on a polishing table beneath thick plank
loaded with heavy stones, Then for a day
and a half or two days they rolled this
backward and forward, the needles being
agitated against one another and gradual
~ assuming fine polish.
washing in hot water and soap fol-
lowed the operation of drying consisting
of depositing the needles in a box of bran
a trihed dampened and stirring the COM
position until bran and needles were thor
oughly dry. When the needles had then
been separated, the good from the bad,
the good were aligned with points all ore
way, and the points were given final
sharpening to fit them for the market.
Nowadays the Introduction of machinery
has greatly facilitated needle making, but
not by any means threatened to supersede
manual skin. The first mills were run by
horse power, and were established very
early in the last century. They were utii
ized for securing and pointing needles, dis
placing the process of wrapping in emery
dust and olive oil and the two days roll
ing. In 1896 the machine for producing drill
eye needles was introduced and two years
later the Furnishing machine came into
use. In this last named sprocess which
gives the beautifully finished head the
needles are threaded on a steel wire, pre-
vousy roughened, and the bunch is then
attached TO a machine that causes the
needles to revolve with great rapidty and
with an oscenting motion, effectuallg
smoothing the eye.
Previous to the employment Of these
machines the needles of English make
were square eyed. Mary Queen Of Scots
when in captivity, embelished the walls
of her prison apartments with tapestry
wrought with the square eyed needle. II
was not until 1870 that the operation OF
hardening needles IN water was aban-
doned. Owing to the action of the water
many of the needles were taken out crook
ed, and in Strengthening them a large
number of persons were employed. In the
year mentioned a Reddtch maker tried
hardening In OIL with so good results
that crooked needles were scarce. The
needle straighteners of yore thus thrown
out of employment were so angered thai
they mobbed the entsrprising manufacture
| ing and ran him out Of town. Their dem
onstration OF violence only delayed the use
OF the new process, for a short time, how
ever. ..H4r
Latest and most important of the new
machines for facilitating the industry Is
the pointing machine. It's introduction
as in the case Of the oil hardening process
rrvfth