Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-12-01

would be likely 70 slip off Of her withou
heed, but I warrant she'll get riled an
say and think half hundred anathema
In Yiddish or German or English befor
she's through with those needles.
There, the 'three-papers-for-a-p
peddler has got two customers-thos
Italian women with the bales Of half
finished coats on their heads. Their
won't be more than two needles out o
the whole three papers that will be o
the least use TO them. Look In at tn
bargain-day shops any time and youl
see the rank and file OF women customer
buying the same sort Of needles, and 81
Keeping the trade bail i'm motion, but the
wide-awake milliners. dressmakers, anC
furriers and makers OF fine lingerie anC
dainty children's things never put them
selves in the way OF being so deceived
nor the amateur home needlewomen
either. Experience has impressed IL or
them that there are needles and needles
a million needles used In the United
States in one dayl And "A bundle contain
ing hundred thousand needles in the
bulk, which is the largest single package
handled. when trundled Off the ship il
came on looks almost as big as a piano,
and weighs almost as much The lO0,00O
| needles are bundled first I'm stout thicl.
paper, then enveloped In a zinc coating TO
avoid all dampness, and the package is
! then inclosed In a strong wooden case,
which, because OF It's weight, must be
kept together with iron clamps. The
New York factory where these packets
are opened, assorted, classneds and pack
| ed In neat boxes OF regularly graded sizes
Tor shipment TO all the retail dealers
| throu4out the country is a busy place
The folding I'm ana under and over of so
.f
same time and in the same manner
makes a subdued though sharp rustic
through the rooms. and a louder sound
Is inc shaking down and into their re-
specuve holders OF the myriad shining
pointers, which are sized UP in regiments
ike soldiers, heads and points ALI on a
leYel, or else stuck singly in red and
blue flannel beds for the better convent
ence Of the users The majority of the
hands employed are women and girls.
Deftness and painstaking exactness are
main attributes Of equipment; and there
are men overseers on the lookout that no
odd-sized or undergraded needle slips in
with its betters-this with fine era 1e
goods-and that there is no slackness nor
inlsmatching in the folding gluing, and
packing.
we sort out and pack the needles
here that are tho output of our London
works, said the superintendent of q
New York needle factory. For two
years or more along in the seventies.
needles We're made in this country I'm a
New England factory, but the enterprise
was abandoned because the workmen's
wages were too high to admit of profit.
Inc law In regard to contract labor has
sun further backened the project. but
Wen get around gradually TO doing t.
now 1ob no a.
are being brought out, especially in our
Ilne The needle-pointing machine Is the
latest, hardly under way yet, but sure 10
De signal factor in reducing the expense
oil the hand labor. There are constant
improvements being made in the FURNISH
ing OF the eye of the needle and in the
tenpering, which has always been a
stumbling block to speedy manufacture
with all these Improvements and facili-
ties already established. and other i'm
portant aids In sight still, the most Of
the process incident to the making and
the perfect finish Of needle must al
ways be done by hand, and as long as
We can get for the equivalent Of $12 a
week on the other side Of the water the
same responsible, skilled workmen that
we would have to pay so TO here, IT
stands to reason that we Will continue to
manufacture on the other side Good
steel, good soft water, good nut oil, are
all plenty in America, and as cheap as
anywhere else, but patience, and the
quality Of sticking to a trying occupation
so far as the labor is concerned, costs
high and is hard to get here. The Ameri-
can workman Is more restless than The
foreigner. 1t Is q sort of instinct and in
heritance with the needle-makers on the
other side TO adhere TO the one profession
though IL is most trying on the eyes. ami
the expert adjusters, those especially
who work about the eye drilling, have
to keep glass in front of them 70 pro-
tect their eyes from the flying points
and clippings Of steel
1.-THE best needles are made in England. /
and the most needles made in Germany. |
Germany has the Chinese trade i'm |
needles, which is the cheapest grade in |
the world next TO the offscourings and /
factory sweepings, CLOSED over and ship |
ped here Of late years. l have been all |
through the German-French provinces.
Where the needle-makers live and in the /
homes OF the peasants are the same prim-
tive machines for needle POLISHING.
securing, and drying that We're I'm use n
century and more ago. Children. as well
as men and women, are to-day EMPLOYED
as polshers ana assorters, which work
they take TO do in their own homes. the
TRACE inherited from their fathers and
grandfathers In many Of these homes
are the round wooden boxes, punctured
with air-holes, used for the drying OF the
needles after their final securing when
taken out Of the polishing cloths: and
also the shallow wooden flats into /
Nhlch the needles are poured for sorting. /
In such houses, where the same family (
mas HVed Tor generations. can be seen the
old emery-stone turned by a hand-wheel.
and used for pointing needles, lust as the
ordinary farm grindstone is used for put-
ting an edge on axes at the present day.
IN some lew places the old iron shovels
used Tor the last tempering Of needles.
are yet IN existence; shovels with q long
handle, something in shape like a corn
pepper, and meant, when filed with
needles 10 be held over slow charcoal
IRE, shaken continually TO temper tho
steel and take off its brlttleness. Tho
hardening and tempering, which pro
cesses are the main secret Of successful
matchmaking, are now done always i'm
the factory by the expert Workmel. bur
aIter the needle Is actually in existence
us eye drilled, tempered, all complete In a
crude sense, the final polishing, securing.
ana drying, merely mechanical opera.
ions, are intrusted to the peasant arfi
ians who, with their families. have been
long that work for years. The asserting
5 also an occupation for them, and MANY
re wonderfully expert. and can single out !
he needles that match each other from |
bushel batch Of miscellaneous grades
n what to an amateur, seems an incredi-
'iy snort time. The polishing and securing
blemish a good proportion. and
hese must be discarded discardings. bv
ne way, that are turned to use and ship
'ed over mere for the peddlers' carts