The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1907-01-25
NEED OF NEEDLES.
The Daily Output Wouldn't De Lost
Even In n Haystack.

One needle Is pretty small item, but
the daily consumption of something
like 3,OOO, 600 needles all over the world
makes a pretty big total. Every year
the women of the United States break,
lose and use about 300,000,O00 of these
little instruments.
Our needles are the finished product
of American ingenuity, skill and work
manship, and yet how many people
threading a needle or taking a stitch
have ever given thought to the vari-
Gus processes through which the wire
must pass ere it comes out needle?
The manufacture Of a single needle in
cludes some twenty-one or twenty-five
different processes, as follows: Cutting
the wire into lengths, Strengthening by
rubbing while heated, pointing the
ends on grindstones, stamping impress
sion for the eyes, growing, eying, the
eye being pierced by screw presses;
splitting, threading the double needle
by the eyes on short lengths of fine
wire; filing, removing the CHECK" left
on each side of the eye by stamping;
breaking, separating the two needles
on the one length of wire; heading,
heads filed and smoothed to remove the
bur left by stamping and breaking;
hardening in oil, the needle being thus
made brittle; tempering; picking, sepa-
rating those crooked in hardening;
Strengthening the crooked ones, scour-
ing and polishing; bluing, softening
the eyes by heat; drilling or cleaning
out the sides of the eye; head grinding;
point setting, or the final sharpening;
fiual polishing, then papering and final
ly labelling. For wrapping purple pa
per is used because it prevents rusting.
There are many sorts and kinds of
needles. First, there is the surgeons
grewsome outft-the probing needle,
made for tracking bullets or hidden
cavities of pus; the harelip needle,
the long pins for pinning open wounds,
the postmortem needle Of curious pat
tern. Some of these little instruments
are thin, some are thick. Others are
long and straight. Others again curve
once, twice or three times. The vet
Urinary surgeon has his special outfit
also The cooks needles are wonder
fully, fearfully made. His larding
needle is used to sew large pieces of
meat together. The trusting needle is
made or to insert melted but
ter {. It into the vitals of a |
Christmas is hollow and has |
n large opening, into which the sauce |
is poured Nor less interesting are the |
needles which the upholsterer uses. |
Some are half curved and some have |
round points. He has needles with |
curious eyes-long round, egg and
countersunk eyes. The same kind of
needles are used by collar makers.
Then there are the delicate needles
used by wigmakers, glovemakers and
weavers. These 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 to be pushed with steel palm,
would puzzle most people. So too, the
broommaker's needle, which must also
be pushed with a steel palm; the curl
GUS knitting machine needle, with its
latchet; the arrasene and crewel nee
dies and the needle for shirring ma
chimes, the weaver's pin for picking up
broken threads, with an open eye in the
hook. The long instrument used Dy
milliners. the needle of the rag baler.
the knife point ham needle used in
the stockyards, the astrakhan needle
these and other varieties do not call for
special notice.
The needle as we see it today Is the
evolved product of centuries of inven-
ton. In its primitive form it was made
of bone, ivory or wood. The making
of Spanish needles was introduced
into England during the reign of Queen
Elizabeth Point by point the manu-
facture has improved until the little in
strument is one of the highly finished
products of nineteenth century ma
chinery and skill.-Scientlfc American.