head die advances and partially shapes the head. The blank is then released and pushed forward about one twentieth of an inch, when the head is given another squeeze by the same die. By this repetition of the motion the head is completed and the blank is cut off the wire in the length desired. About one eighth of an inch of wire is required to make a pin head. If the attempt were made to upset this with a head in one motion the wire would be more likely to double up than to thicken as desired.

These headed blanks then drop into a receptacle and arrange themselves in the line of a slot formed by two inclined and bevel edged bars. The opening between the bars is just large enough to permit the shank of the pin to fall through, so that the pins are suspended in a row along the slot. When the blanks reach the lower end of the inclined bar in their suspended position they are seized between two parts of the machine and passed along, rotating as they move, in front of a cylindrical cutter, with sharp grooves on its surface, that points the pins. They are then thrown from the machine properly shaped, and if they are brass pins they are cleaned by being boiled in weak, sour beer. After they are cleaned they are coated with tin. This is done by placing alternate layers of pins and grain tin in a copper can and adding water, along with some bitartrate of potash. Heat applied to this produces a solution of tin which is deposited on the surface of the pins. The pins are then taken from this solution and brightened by being shaken in a revolving barrel of bran or sawdust. Lastly the operation of papering takes place. This process is performed now by an automatic papering machine something in the following manner: The pins to be stuck are placed in a hopper, in connection with which a steel plate is used, with longitudinal slits corresponding to the number of pins which form a row in the paper. The pins in the hopper are stirred up by a comb like tool, the shanks drop through the slits in the steel plate, and the pins are suspended by their heads. Long narrow sheets of paper are presented by the operator to the action of the machine, by which two raised folds are crimped, and the row of pins collected in the slit steel plate is then, by being subjected to the

same action, pressed through the two crimped folds. These operations are repeated until the requisite rows of pins are stuck in each paper.

Needle making was one of the first arts practiced by man, and no doubt dates back to the remote period when man first strove to shape clothing to his figure..

In its primitive pattern the needle was an awl shaped instrument, which merely perforated the materials meant to be fastened together along their edges, so that they could be laced together by hand. As the use of this needle involved two operations, it was soon displaced by a needle which had a circular depression near the blunt end for holding the thread, and thus did away with the lacing operation. Since this needle, though it did well enough for coarse work, was inadequate for finer work, the needle with the eye was introduced.

Since the introduction of the steel needle the model has remained the same and progress in the art of needle making has been confined to devices for perfecting the material used and the methods of construction. In the early days of needle manufacture, when the trade was practiced at home or in small shops, the materials and devices used were very crude. After the manufacture of the needle was started in plants provided with conveniences and facilities for its production, improvements were slowly introduced in performing the different operations.

The most notable improvements prior to 1870 may be summarized as follows: Drill eyed needles were first made in 1826 and were followed two years later by the burnishing machine, by means of which the eye secures its beautiful finish. In 1840 the process of hardening in oil succeeded the former method of hardening in water, in which a large percentage of the needles became crooked, so that their straightening involved considerable time and expense. The stamp to impress the print of the groove and the press with a punch to pierce the eye, though suggested as early as 1800, were not in general use until 1830, and by 1886 were superseded by an automatic machine. In 1839 a simple method was invented by a Mr. Morrall for polishing many thousands of

needles simultaneously, and in 1869 a machine was brought out by a Mr. Lake for doing many of the operations previously performed by hand. The more recent improvements have been made in devices for heating and ventilating, and for getting rid of the injurious dust which rises from the emery wheel in the grinding process.

To what extent, if any, the making of hand sewing needles was carried on in America during colonial times we have no means of knowing, but it is safe to assume that they were manufactured to some extent, for Bishop in his History of American Manufactures, Volume I., states that as early as 1666 Lynn artificers applied to the court of Plymouth colony for the sum of £15 for the purchase of tools for wiredrawing to make pins and needles; which sum being granted, the tools were bought and the manufacture began. He further states that Jeremiah Wilkinson, of Cumberland, R. I., made needles in that place in 1775 from wire drawn by himself; and that the colonists of the Carolinas at a convention at Newbern, on the 3d of April, 1775, encouraged the manufacture of pins and needles by offering a bounty to the person who should manufacture the first of these articles equal to those made in England.

Needle manufacture as an industry, however, was not put on a permanent basis in the United States until after 1852, when the peculiar kind of needles used in machinery was introduced. As the sewing machine is essentially an American production, and the most important feature of the invention of the machine was the needle constructed by Elias Howe for the making of the lock stitch, it was very natural that this part of the sewing machine should be manufactured in this country. It is estimated that from 6 to 8 per cent of all the operative labor involved in the construction of the sewing machine is employed in making the needle. With the successful manufacture of the different varieties of sewing machine needles, began the manufacture of needles for knitting machines. As the demand for sewing and knitting machines increased there was a corresponding demand for the needles used in these machines, and the industry developed rapidly.

The needles made are of various lengths and patterns to suit the requirements of the different sewing machines. Besides those differing generically, such as straight and curved, or specifically, such as long, short, round pointed, and chisel pointed, there are many peculiar patented needles for use in particular sewing machines. Among the endless varieties of sewing machine needles the most prominent is the common needle used in the household sewing machine. This needle has the eye at the pointed end, with a long groove on one side and a short groove on the opposite side, and is used in connection with a shuttle or other device for carrying a second thread, which is passed through a loop of the thread in the needle, thus forming the double lock stitch. The purpose of the grooves is to protect the thread from wearing or tearing in the operation of the machine.

In addition to the common household sewing machine needles there are needles for use in sewing leather, including many varieties to suit the various machines. Some of these needles, in distinction from the common sewing machine needles, have a hook instead of an eye. The material to be sewed is perforated with an awl, and the thread is then pulled through by the hook. In most leather sewing machines, however, the needle itself perforates the material and pulls the thread through. In sewing cloth only the needle with a round point is used; but for sewing leather there are points of various shapes, known as twist, reverse twist, wedge, cross, chisel, reverse chisel, and diamond. A very interesting needle, used in the manufacture of boots and shoes, is that of the Goodyear welting machine. This needle is a segment of a circle in shape and puts welts upon boots and shoes with remarkable rapidity and accuracy.

The steel spring and latch needles used in making hosiery and in stockinet work are extensively manufactured in the United States. The former is constructed by reducing the working end on a taper to an approximate point, and then bending the reduced portion over upon itself so as to form an open loop, a groove having been previously made in the needle so as to come opposite the point. In the operation of the needle the point stands out at the proper time for the

yarn to be taken, which is to be carried through to form the stitch. As the forward motion continues the point is depressed into the groove by coming in contact with mechanism arranged for the purpose, and thus the passage through the loop is secured without catching. The latch needle has, instead of the spring barb, a short rigid hook, which is formed by tapering the working end to an approximate point and bending it in combination with the latch. The latch is contained in a groove milled in the body of the needle and is pivoted upon a rivet which passes through the wall of the groove. As the latch, the walls between which it is riveted, and the diameter of the rivet are extremely delicate, each part being but one one hundredth part of an inch thick, great care and skill must necessarily be exercised in manufacturing this needle. The purpose of the latch is to aid in forming and casting off the stitch by preventing the yarn from being caught under the hook except at the proper time.

When the sewing machine needle was first made here the processes of its manufacture were similar to those employed in England in making the common hand sewing needle, and required a great deal of manual labor. The reducing of the shank to the required size and putting in of the grooves on the sides of the needle was accomplished by stamping between dies. By this method the superabundant material was thrown out at each side as a fin, cut off by hand shears, and later removed by means of a die and punch in a press, after which the needles were rounded up and pointed by filing. Gradually these operations were replaced by rolling, grinding, turning, and milling, and finally machinery was invented to do the work.

In the course of the manufacture of the sewing machine needle it passes through the following states: Blank, reduced blank, reduced and pointed blank, grooved, eye punched, hardened and tempered, hard burr dressed, brass brushed, eye polished, first inspection, hard straightened, finish pointed, and finished. There are two methods in use for the manufacture of the modern sewing machine needle. In most respects these processes are similar, but they differ in the manner of forming the blade. In one method the blade is