The Detroit times., 1910-11-22

Teen times their weight In gold. VT
he can make the iron into watch
screws so small that hundred thou
sand may be put into lady's thimble,
each screw possessing perfect
thread.
II is I'm planning machinery for man
ufactures that the inventor performs
one of his most signal services. To de-
wise a huge hydraulic forge able to
exert a pressure OF $4,000 tons, on the
one hand: and to make a machine
which will cut thread with 260 turns
TO the inch on the other, represents a
wide range Of ingenuity, and the In
ventor has been able 10 do both. one
machine will produce giant cable;
while another will make a wire only
one-tenth the diameter OF a woman's
hair. Another machine will weave an
iron netting heavy enough for the
front OF Tigers cage: while another
will produce steel gauZe so finely
spun that II has 10000 meshes to the
square inch. The manufacturer Is
able to make a cutting machine which
will cut slices OF material so thin that
thousands may be piled up In layer
an inch high and on the other hand
makes huge steel saws which weigh
1876 tons and cut a groove through
steel with as much ease as a knife
cuts a slice of bread.
A large proportion OF the labor-say-
ing machinery OF the world has been
produced by the American inventor.
Labor In this country always has re-
ceiyed better rewards than in other
countries and this has made the neces-
sity OF labor-saving machinery all the
greater. The result has been great
stimulation In the effort to solve the
problems OF mechanical production.
One OF the first labor-savers Invented
in the United States was machine
for making nails. II was the inven-
ton OF Ezekiel Reed. OF Bridgewater,
Mass. The naiLmaking machinery OF
the world has undergone many I'M
proyements since the day OF Reed. and
nails are produced 30 cheaply now
that. like a pin, IL Is cheaper to pass
one by than to stoop and PICK IL up
Ca-pet tacks seem to be small things
vet a single western factory produces
3, ,000, 900 pounds OF them every year.
AS the cut-nail was the product oi
American ingenuity. so also Is the
wire nail. OF which there are approx
mately 100000 kegs a year USED IN
the United States today. -
The modern machinery for MAKING
wire Ia also product OF the invent
i've American mind Wire Is now SO
widely used that it requires more than
twice as much TO supply the demands
OF the country as II requires OF struc-
tural steel. Wire nails are made from
drawn wire, as are also pins. Inc
f,rst solid-headed pin-making machine
ever used was brought out by j. l.
Howe. of New York. In 1881. IL for-
merly required seven men TO make
single pin, and the process was an ex-
pensive one, but the modern pin-maK-
ing machine with single operator,
turns them out by the millions year.
After the pins are out and the heads
hammered on by automatic hammers
and the points properly ground, they
are then placed In bath made or
sour beer and cream of tartar. This
nroduces the well-known yellowish col
ar They are then washed and timed,
after which they are ready to De
placed In papers by automatic macnin-
cry.
The possibility Of carpets for the
millions was brought about by an In
vention of Erastus Bigelow. or Boston,
who. in 1914, brought out power
loom for the weaving Of ingram car
nets. The modern methods OF felt
making are the result OF patents is-
sued to ]. r. Williams. in 1920. Me-
chanical rope weavers also were
given to the world by American in
ventors. These enable few operators
TO manufacture more rope In a year
than a hundred could on one OF the
old-time rope-walks Of Kentucky.
he Hoe printing press is only one
step forward in the application Of me-
chanical knowledge, and yet mod
ern newspaper press, operated by five
men, will produce more papers In an
hour than a pressman and his assist
ant could turn out In a hundred days,
working ten hours day, with an old
fashioned Franklin press. II the
world obtained its newspapers as IT
did a hundred years ago, the daily pa
per OF the present would have to be a
quarterly. provided the demand for pa
pers was as great. The new printing
nress has made Il possible for the
SmdlIeSI Sldle III TIC uuiOh w piOuutc
a hundred times as many papers as
we're turned out in the whole country
hundred years ago.
The modern elevator, which has
made the tall buildings OF the world
possible, and therefore. modern city
conditions, vas invented by an Ameri-
can. The first ideas In safety devices
for elevators we're i'm the shape of air
tight chambers at the bottom OF the
shaft. II was figured that IL the ele-
vator should fan. Il would strike on n
cushion OF imprisoned air. thus render
ing the danger practically nil. This
idea was followed for long time, and
in the course OF experiments, Il was
discovered that with a properly con-
structed shaft, an elevator could fall
2S7 feet without fracturing an electric
light bulb or breaking an egg shell.
Since then the safety clutch has been
placed on the elevator and the air
tight chamber at the bottom OF the
shaft has almost disappeared.
An American first conceived the
modern ice-making machine, and the
many blessings that have grown out Of
artificial refrigeration had their begin
ming in the crude little plant con-