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PAY THE PRINTER.
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As honest men, attend and hear
•'The serious fact—the times are dear ;
Who owes a bill, 'tis just as clear
As star light in the winter,
That he should come without - delay
That's if he can—that bill to pay,
And ere he puts his purse away,
" Fork over" to the Printer.
The Printer's cheek is seldom red,
The fine machinery of his head
Is working when you are in bed,
Your true and faithful " Mentor ;"
All day and night he wears his shoes,
And brains to furnish you with news ;
But men of conscience no'cr refuse
To pay the. toiling Printer.
'Tis known, or ought to be, by all
His dues arc scattered and they're small,
And if not paid he's bound to fad
In debt—for fuel, bread, rent, or
Perhaps'his paper ; then to square
Up with his help—a double care
Bows down his head—now is it fair
That you don't pay the Printer ?
His wife and little prattlers too,
Are now depending upon you ;
.And if you pay the score that's duo,
Necessity can't stint her ;
But if you don't, as gnaws the mole,
'Twill thro' your conscience eat a hole !
And brand the forehead thus : " No soul !"
Of him who cheats the Printer.
The cats will mew between your feet, .
The dogs will bite you on the street ;
And every urchin that you meet,
Will roar with voice of Stentor,
" Look to your pockets— there he goes
The chap that wears the Printer's clothes !
And proud, though everybody knows
. The grub, he gnaw'd the Printer!"
Be simply just, and don't disgrace
Yourself, but beg the " Lord of grace,"
To thaw that harden'd icy " case,"
That honesty may enter ;
This done, man will with man act fair,
And all will have the " tin" to spare ;
Then will the " Editorial Chair"
Support a well-paid Printer.
3Tigreittiutotai.
.(From the Boston Post.)
OUR NATIONAL FLAG.
It is somewhat remarkable, so far as we
know, there is no entirely satisfactory account
of the origin of the device of our national flag.
There are early allusions to local standards,
or to devices on colonial flags. Thus the
standards and drums of the Connecticut troops,
immediately after the battle of Lexington„had
on them the colonial arms with the motto,
" qui tranthelit sustinet" in letters of gold ;
which was translated—" God, who transplant
ed us hither, will support us." Other local
standards are alluded to. The Massachusetts
colony had on its standard a Pine Tree. But
it would require too much space to give the
notices of such flags that aro before us. It is
singular that none of our early histories name a
common banner.
The earliest notice of a banner emblematical
ofmore than one colony is of the Now England
flag, and this is seen as early as NM. A rep
resentation of one of these flags, in a work
printed in 1701, shows it to be simply an Eng
lish ensign, with a quarter diVided into four by
a cross,,and having in ono of the corners the
figure of a pine tree. This was a favorite ein
blem in Massachusetts, and appears on its
coin as well as its flag. There is no authority,
however, for stating that this New England
flag was used in the revolutionary period.—
At any rate the flag used is not called by this
name. •
Thero are references to a common flag—ono
that had probably a symbol of a common senti
ment—in 1774 ; and it is called " Tim UNION
FLAG." The newspapers, speeches, and es
says, and toasts of this year glow with a union
sentiment. Thus a liberty song printed Octo
ber, 1774, commences :
" Yo sons of freedom smile !
America unites."
At this period, also, Boston and Charlestown
ivere suffering great distress in consequence of
the operation of the port bill ; and to relieve it
large contributions were made from all the
colonies. These donations, '&ccompanied with
patriotic letters and committees, were often re
ceived with parade : when teams loaded with
grain, or wood, or other articles, would have
flying about them " The Union Flag." 'We
never met with a description of it ; and
. aged
iieople who well remembered the processions
and " the great flags" could not recall the de
vice. The Encyclopedias describe the third
flag of Great Britain as the union flag,—a ban
ner in which the crosses of St. George and St.
Andiew are blended: Those devices may have
been on this 1774 banner as seen flying from
liberty trees and in processions ; but it is pro
bable there was something peculiar on it, and
designed to symbolize the new born union sen
timent.
R•
'4
• T•1 . ,:l R.
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. 315.tturi, .51grir,utfurt, ehration, ornf itil, mtairmri 31-larkrtg, &r,
VOLUME IX.
The writer of this article made much inquiry
to learn under what flag the battle of Bunker
Hill WAS fought. But neither contemporary
documents, nor the recollection of old soldiers,
supplied a satisfactory answer. A eulogy on
'Warren, written soon after the event, in de-
Acribing the astonishment of the British on the
morning of the rith, adds
Columbia's troops are seen. in dread array,
And waving streamers in the air display.
Tradition, a doubtful authority, says a reu
flag was used, with the motto " Come if you
dare." Trumbull, in his picture of the battle,
shows the pine tree flag.
There occur allusions to the " Union Flag"
through 1775. Now and then the British, in
describing the doings of " the rebels," name
their flag. Thus the colors carried by Gen.
Montgomery's troops, in his memorable Canada
expedition, were named by them as being red ;
letters from Boston say the same as the stand
ards flying from the American camp, though
some of them name " blue streamers ;" and in
the fall of this year, privateers captured and
carried into British ports, had colors consisting
of "a white bunting with a spreading green
pine ; the motto, Appeal to Heaven.' " A
letter of John Jay's (July 177 G), states that
Congress had made no order concerning conti
nental colors, and that the captains of the
armed vessels had followed their ow•n fancies ;
and he names as one device a rattlesnake, rear
ing his crest and shaking his rattles, and hav
ing this motto—" Don't tread on me."
At the close of the year 1775 the two ideas
of L.TxtoN and INDEmiNnExq: were making rapid
progress ; and this should be taken into ac . -
count in tracing the device. There were relief
and joy in the American army, then besieging
the British army in Boston, when it was an-
nounced that Georgia had acceded to the Union.
This made the union of the thirteen colonies.—
The camp, too, was alive with the kindling idea
of independence. It was (Oct., 1775) ollimsive
to pray for the king, and the policy of a decla
ration was " a favorite point" in the army. It
was a period of intense anxiety ; for• Washing
ton, in the face of his disciplined enemy, was
obliged to disband his old army and to raise a
new one. Even at this late period local preju
dices were very strong. The troops of each
colony were attached to their name, and were
unwilling to be called co/lit/en/al ; while
Washington was exerting every nerve to sup
plant this local jealousy by a loom national
spirit. 'These, then (Dec., 1775)were the pre
vailing ideas :—UNION of the colonic.; and sse.t-
RATION from Great Britain. Any theory that
sees in the origin of the device an idea of fu-
ure union with Cheat Britain is radically de
ective.
Prom theory we proceed to facts. The first
mention, we think, there is of the THIRTEEN
STRIPES on the flag is by Washington, in a let
ter dated Jan. 4, 1776, who states' that on the
clay (Jan. 1. 1776,) that gave birth to the iiew
army, " the Usiox FLAG was hoisted, in com
pliment to the Thirteen United Colones." A
British authority, a lieutenant who was on
Charlestown heights, states (Jan. 25, 1776,)
that this Union Flag had thirteen stripes ; and
that it was saluted with thirteen guns and
thirteen cheers. In the succeeding February,
(1775) at Philadelphia, Admiral Hopkins sailed,
with the American fleet, " amidst the acclama
tions of thousands assembled on the joyful oc
casion, under the display of a Uxiiix FLAG,
with thirteen stripes in the field, emblematical
of the thirteen United Colonies."
In the succeeding
. 1111 K, when the Virginia
convention so nobly instructed its delegates to
Congress " to declare the united colonies free and
independent States," and to propose'" a con
federation of We colonies," 'there was a great
civic and military parade, when the contempo
rary- account states, " the Union flag of the
American States waved upon the capitol during
the whole of the ceremony."
The flag is spoken of in a manner to indicate
that it was something new ; - It iS• called " the
great Union flag ;" and it was first unfurled to
the breeze in the army under Washington. No
account we have seen names the colors of the
stripes, though it is probable they were red and
white ; and nothing is said of the stars. Va
rious suggestions have been given as to the
origin of these devices; and one of them is,
that they were both derived from the coat of
arms of the Washington family. A distin
guished British antiquarian, Lower, in .a vol
ume of researches on vario us subjects, which
has recently been issued in London, has the fol
lowing curious passage on our national flag and
the Washington coat of arms. It occurs in a
discourse on heraldry :
" As to Geoige 'Washington's descent from
nobility or royalty, I have not at hand the
means of verifying the statement ; though it is
highly probable, as he was descended from a
good family in the, county of Northampton.—
Like Oliver Cromwell, the American patriot
was"fond of genealogy, and corresponded with
our heralds on the subject of his own pedigree.
Yes, this George Washington-, the man who
gave sanction, if not birth, to that most dein°.
IrDilllAl---1121121411 fIITDIII2I.OO
cratical ofsenthnents—that all men are free and
equal, was, as the phrase goes, a gentleman of
blood, of ancient time, and of coat armor; nor
was he slow to acknowledge the fact. When
the Americans in their most righteous revolt.
against the tyranny of the mother country,
cast about for an ensign with which to distin
guish themselves from their English oppressors,
what did they ultimately adopt? Why, noth
ng more no leSs than a gentleman's badge—a
odification of the old English coat of arms
borne by their leader and deliverer. A few
stars and stripes had in the old chivalrous times
listinguisheil his ancestors from their compeers
in tournament and upon. battle-field : more
stars and additional stripes (denoting the num
ber of States that joined in the struggle) now
became the standard around which the patriots
of the West so successfully rallied. It is a lit
tle curious that this poor out-worn ray of feudal
ism—as many would count it—should have
thus expanded into the bright and ample ban
ner which now waves from every sea."
This is not the first time this suggestion has
been made. But there were stars and stripes
on the Douglas arms ,as well as on the Wash
ington. Stripes, too, had been long used in
national ensigns. Thus the flag of the Nether
lands had on it three colors, red, white and
blue, arranged in three equal horizontal stripes,
which device was adopted as early as 1582.
The idea of the standard—a symbol of union
—was the same as that first designed by our
stripes : and as Holland, more than any other
nation, gave us the idea of our Federal Union,
why may not our fathers have derived the idea
of the stripes from its flag ? •
It is not - clear what there was in the place
now o-cu pied by the stars. We have before us
a fac-simile of what is termed the " flag of the
conftderattd States," which was used between.
July. 1776, and June, 1777. It has represent
ed, in the union emblem of the stripes, a rattle
snake, coiled, and ready to strike, with the
motto, " Don't tread on me." A flag with the
rattlesnake device is alluded to as having been
used on board our privateers. Thus the Lon
don Chronicle of July 27,1776, has an account
of the American standard as follows : "The
cokirs of the American fleets have a snake with
fourteen rattles, the fourteenth budding, de
scribed in the attitude of going to strike, with
this motto, Don't tread on me.' "
The subsequent history . of our national flag
has been too often given to need a repetition in
detail. The following is the original resolution
adopting the stars and stripes :
"In Congress, June 14, 1777, Resolved,
That the flag of the thirteen United States be
thirteen stripes, alternately red and white ;
that the Union be thirteen stars, white, in a
blue 'field, representing a new constellation."
This probably was the time the stars were
embodied in the flag. As new States were ad
ded to the Union, from time to • time, new
stripes were added to the flag till the number
had increased to fifteen or twenty. At length
the . stripes were reduced by act of Congress to
the original number of thirteen.
The following is the law April 4, 1813
" lie it enacted, &c. ' That from and after
the fourth day of July next, the flag of the
United States be thirteen horizontal stripes,
alternate red and white, that the Union be
twenty stars, white, in a blue field.
And .that, on - the admission of a new State
into the Union, one star be added to the Union
of the flag ; and that such addition shall take
effect on the fourth day of July,next succeeding
stick admission."
One of the sweetest gems of poesy ever writ
ten is the following, from the pen of Frances
Anne Butler
" Better trust all, and be deceived,
And weep that trust, and that deceiving,
Than doubt one heart, that if believed
Had blessed one's life with true believing.
" Oh, in this. mocking world, too fast
The doubting fiend o'ertakes our youth !
Better be cheated to the last,
Than lose the blessed hope of truth."
In the early time of youth we trust all and
are deceived ; in the reaction we doubt all, and
finally discover that man is a mixed being.
none wholly evil, none so good as 'to be free
from, alloy. Out of this lotowledge grows char
ity, and expecting less from poor frail human
nature, we are more easily satisfied with its mo
dicum of good, and less indignant at its huge
preponderance of evil.
la — lt is delicious to have a pretty girl open
the front door and mistake you for her cousin ;
but still . more deliciousto have her remain de
cieved till she has kissed you twice, and hugged
the buttons oR . your coat. " Maw, here's
Chawlcs."
• Ea'" Ma," said a little urchin, peeping from
behind the bedclothes, " I am cold : I want some
more cover on the bed." " Lie still, my dear ;"
said the mother, " until your sister comes from
church ; she has got the comforter for a
bustle."
ALLENTOWN, P
A Gcnk.
L, JULY 25, 1855.
Girls who Want Husbands,
There is a great deal of truth in what Nellie
Gray says to• " girls who are anxious to mar
ry." Some may object to the manner of telling
it, but the facts are facts, notwithstanding ;
and to those marriageable maidens, " who
Make fools of themselves : and go into a fit of
the is every time they see a hat," we com
mend them..-- V.D. -
Girls, you want to get married, don't you !
Ah, what a natural thing it is.for young ladies
who have such a hankering for the sterner sex.
It is a weakness that woman has, and for this
reason she is called the weaker sex. Well, if
you want to get married, don't go into a fit of
the hips every time you see a hat or a pair of
whiskers. Don't get the idea into your heads
that'you must put yourself in the way of every
young man in the neighborhood in order to at
tract notice, for if you don't run after men they
will run after you. Mark that.
A husband hunter is the most detestable of
all young ladies. She is full of starch and
puckers ; she puts on many false airs, and she
is so nice that she appears ridiculous in the
eyes of every decent person. She may gener
ally be found at meeting, coming in, of course,
about the last one, always at social parties,
and invariable takes the filont seat at concerts.
She tries to be takes
belle of the place, and thinks
she is. Poor girl ! You are fitting yourself
for an old maid, just as sure as the Sabbath
comes on Sunday. Men will flirt with you, and
flatter you simply because they do love to do
'it, but they have no more idea of making you a
wife than they have of committing suicide. If
I was a young man. I would have no more to
do with such a fancy than I would with a rattle
snake.
Now, girls, let Nellie give yott'a piece of ad
vice, and she knows from experience if you
practice it, you will gain a reputation of being
worthy girls, and stand a fair chance of getting
respectable husbands. It is all well enough
that you leafri to finger the piano, work em
broidery, study grammar, etc., but don't neg
lect letting grandma, or your dear mother
teach you to make bread and get a meal of victu
alp "good enough for a king. No part of the
housekeeper's duties should be neglected, if
you do marry a wealthy husband you will need
to know how to do such work, and if you do,
it will be no disadvantage to you to know how
to oversee a servant girl, and instruct her to do
these things as you would have them done. In
the next place, don't pretend what you are not.
Affectation is the most despicable of a.:complish
. ments, and will only cause sensible people to
laugh at you. No one but a fool will be caught
by affectation. It has a transparent skin,
easily to be seen through.
• Dress plain, but neatly. Remember that
nothing gives • a girl so modest, becoming and
lovely an appearance as a neat and plain dress.
All the ,flummery a nd tinsef'work of the dress
maker and milliner are unnecessary.
If you are really handsome, they do not add
to your beauty one particle ; if you are hourly
they do only make you look worse. Gentlemen
don't court your faces and jewelry, but your
own dear selves.
Finger-rings and folderols may do to look at,
but they add nothing to the value of a wife, all
Young men know that. If you know how to
talk, do it naturally, and do not . be so distress
ingly polite as to spoil all you say. If your
hair is straight, don't put on the curling tongs
to make people believe that yoti have negro
Wood in your veins. if your neck is very
black, wear a lace collar, but don't be so foolish
as to daub on paint, thinking that people arc so
blind as not to see it ; and if your cheeks are
not rosy, don't apply pink saucers, for the de
ception will be detected and become the gossip
of the neighborhood.
Finally, girls, listen to the counsel of your
mothers, and ask their advice in everything.—
Think less of fashion than you do of kitchen
duties of life—and instead of trying to catch
husbands, strive to make yourself wortby.Of
being caught by them. NELLIE GRAY.
Anatomy of the Teeth.
A nerve, an .artery, and a vein, enter the
root of every tooth : " and all through an open
ing just large enough to admit a human hair."
The dental pulp is in the termination of the
nerve in the crown of the tooth. In the molar
teeth it is a-bout the size of a smalishot. Some
anatomists call the whole of the nerve the den
tal pulp. The ivory of the tooth (that part
which lies under the enamel) is composed of an
immense number of little pipes, or teth, which
make that part of the tooth porous. This ac.
counts for the rapid 'decay of a tooth when the
enamel is gone. The acids of the saliva, heat
and cold, penetrate these numerous cells and
cause a sudden destruction of the tooth. Fil
ling the cavity solid with sonic metal ,is the
only cure. The nerve from one tooth connects
with the nerve to every tooth in either jaw.—
This is the reason why the pain is so often felt
on the side from Where the cause exists. Pain
is often - felt in the upper jaw, when the cause
exists in the lower.
Where Mosquitoes come From.
A writer on entomology, discussing about
these summer pests, thus handles the subject :
—" The mosquito proceeds from the animalculte
commonly termed the wiggle-tail. 1 took a
bowl of clean water and set it in the sun. In a
few days, some half a dozen wiggle tails were
visible. These continued to increase in size till
they were about 3-16ths of an inch in length.
As they approached their maturity, they re
mained longer at the surface, seeming to live in
two mediums—air and water. Finally, they
assumed a chrysalis form, and, by an increased
specific gravity, sank to the bottom of the bowl.
Here, in a few hours, I perceived short black
furze, or hair, growing on every side of each,
until it assumed the size of a minute clterpillar.
And thus its specific gravity being counterac
ted or lightened, it rapidly floated to the sur
face, and the slightest breath of air wafted it
against the side of the bowl. In a very brief
space of time afterwards, the warm atmosphere
hatched out the fly, and it escaped leaving its
tiny house upon the water. How beautiful,
yet how simple !
After the water had gone through this pro
cess, I found it perfectly free from anitnalcuhe.
I therefore came to the conclusion that this wig
gle-tail is a species of the shark, who, having de
voured wilole tribes of animalcula : ,, takes to him
self Nvin g and escapes into a different medium
to torturOnankind, and, deposit eggs upon the
water to produce other wiggle-tails, who in turn
produce other mosquitoes.
Any man who has " kept house'' with a cis
tern in the yard has doubtless observed the
same effect, every summer. Open your cistern
coverany morning in the mosquito season and
millions of them will fly up in your face. Close
the windows of you• mom at night at the risk of
being smothered for want of air, being careful
at same time previously to exclude every mos
quito, and go to bed with a pitcher of that same
cistern water in the room, and enough will
breed from it during the night to give you any
satisfactory amount of trouble. In fact, stand
ing by a shallow, half-stagnant pool, in a mid
, ismniner's day, you may see the wiggle-tails be
coming perfectly developed mosquitoes, and
they will rise from the surface of the water, and
fly into your face and sting you. What it is
nee) s <ary to know at this day is—has there yet
been discovered any positive exterminator of
that infernal pest and disturber of night's slum
bers, the mosquito ?
The Raining. Tree.
The Island of Fierro is one of the most con
siderable of the Canaries, and it is conceived
that its name was given to it upon this account
—that, its soil not affording. so much as a drop
of fresh water, seems to be iron, and indeed
there is in this island, neither river nor rivulet,
nor well nor spring, save that only towards the
seaside there are some wells, but they lie at
such a distande from the city that the inlmbi
'tants can make no use thereof. But the great
Preserver and Sustainer of all, remedies this
inconvenience in a Way so extraordinary, that
man will be forced to sit down and.acknowlt;dge
that he gives in this undeniable demonstration
of his wonderful goOdness. For in the midst,
there is a tree, which is the only one of the
kind ; inasmuch as it has no resemblance to any
of those known to, us. The leaves of it are
long and narrow, and continue in constant ver
dure, winter and summer, and its branches are
covered With a cloud, which is never dispelled,
but resolving into a moisture, causes to fall
from its leaves a very clear water, and that in
such abundance that the cisterns' which are
placed at the foot of the tree to receive it are
never empty, but contain enough to supply
both man:and beast.
Easy Way to Compute Interest.
In a late Baltimore paper a correspondent
gives the fidlowing plan for computing int.erest
at 0 per cent. for any number of days :—Divide
the number of days by six, and multiply the
dollars by the dividend, the result is the inter
est in decimals ; cut off the right hand figure
and you have it id dollars or cents, thus :,---
What is the interest of $lOO for twenty-one
days? 21 divided by 0 is 3, ;„100 multiplied
by 3 is 350, or 35 cents. Again ; What is
the interest on $378 for ninety-three days ? 03
divided by ois 15!.. ; 378 multiplied by 15 is
5859, or $5,85 and 9.10
NEW GHOGRAPIIY.-" John . , give, us a de
scription of the girth."'
" Yes, sir. The airth is a vast globe, filled
with mud, filth, Sebastapols and Shanghais."
"What are its products?"
" Whiskey, gin, Nebraska bills, and also
bursted bank bills."
How many races are there.
" Three—raCes of Union course, race for elec
tion, and races fur money." -
" Where is America ?" .
" All over creation—it is the paradise that
Adam, the fast fillibuster, was ever on." I
" Smart boy—go up to the head.
a
NUMBER 42
BANBURY CAK ES.—Work one pound of butter
into the same weight of dough, Made for whito
bread, as in making puff paste, then roll it out
very thin, and cut it into oval pieces, or as tho
cakes are wanted. Mix . some good moist sugar
with an equal weight of currants, and wet them
evenly with brandy,' then put a little upon
each piece of paste ; close them on a tin, with .
the closed side downwards, and hake them.—
Flavor some powdered sugar with candied peel,
grated, or essence of lemon, sift a little over the
cakes as soon as they come out of the oven.
LEMON I.llscurrs.t—One pound and a quarter
of loaf sugar, six ounces of fresh butter, four
eggs well beaten, one ounce lemon peel cut very
fine, one - desert spoonful of lemon juice. N. B.
—These biscuits keep perfectly good for several
months in a dry place.
BIRD'S NEST Punnixi:;—Pare and quarter
tart apples and place them in a buttered square
tin : then make a batter of three eggs, one cup
oteream, half cup of sour, milk, one and a half
teaspoonsful of saleratus, and a little
Pour the batter over the apples, and bake thir=
ty five minutes. •
To WHITEN LINEN WHEN l'cr.t.ow.—Cut up'
a pound of fine white soap into a gallon of milk,
and hang it over the fire in a wash-kettle.--,
When the soap has entirely melted, put in the
linen, and boil it half an hour: Then take it
out ; have ready a lather of soap and warm
water ; wash the linen in it, and then rinse it
through two cold waters, with a very little blue'
in the last.
To MAKF: GRIME CAKES,—These cakes are'
best made with milk altogether instead of
water ; two eggs, yellow and white, to a pint
of corn meal, the milk to be warmed, and the
whole to be well beaten up with a spoon or 18. 7 '
dle. The. quantity of milk used must be suffi
cient to render the mass so liquid that it can be'
poured with facility from the pan upon the
griddle--one spoonful of lard or good butter,
and ono of fine flour. The griddle should not
be made very hot, and be thoroughly cleansed
and greased while warm, to facilitate the turning .
of the cakes that they may be " done brown,"
Without burning, on both sides. The batter or
dough should be prepared immediately before
cooking.
EGG PONE.—Tako three fresh eggs to ono'
quart of meal, and mix with milk and add ono
tablespoonful of butter ; mix all well together,
and make up of a consistence somewhat thick-.
er than the cakes, or ,so• thick that it will not
pour out ; bake in a tin pan set in . a Mitch'
oven, not too hot at first, but by a gradual aug
mentation of the heat till done. The object of
this is to secure the baking of the bottom . first;
Ivhich will secure the rising of the cake, cause
it to become beautifully brown on top, anti;
when placed on the.tablo and cut, to rosetrOldi
" pound cake:" W•
Making a Needle.
I wonder if any little girl who may read this
ever thought hoar many people are all the time
at work in making things. which she every day
uses. What can be more common, and, you
may think, more simple, than a needle ? Yet,
if you do not know it, I can tell yOu that it
takes a great many persons to Make a needle;
and it takes a great deal of time, too. Let us
take a peep into a needle factory. in going
over the premises, we must pass hither and
thither, and walk into the next street and back
again, and take a drive to a mill, in order to
see the whole process. We find onp chambei
of the shops is hung round with coils of bright
wire, of all thicknesses, from the stout kindg
used for codfish hooks to that for the finest cam
bric needles. In a room below, bits of wire,
the length of two needles, are cut by a vast pair
of shears fixed in the wall. A bundle has been
cut off ; the bits need straightening, for 04
came off from coils.
The bundle is thrown Mid a red-hot furnace;
then taken out, and rolled backward and for.;
ward on a table until the wires are straight.—
This process is called " rubbing straight."—
We now see a mill for grinding needles. We
go down into the basement, and find a needle
pointer seated on his bench. He takes up two
dozen or so of the wires, and rolls them between
his thunb and fingers, with their ends on the
grindstone, first one end and then the other.—:
We have now the wires straight and pointed at
both ends. Next is a machine which flattens
and gutters the heads of ten thousand needles
an hour. Observe the little gutters at the head
of your needle. Next comes the punching of the
eyes; and the boy who does it punches eight
thousand in an hour, and he does it so fast your
t eye can hardly keep pace with him. The split
-1 ing follows, which is running a fine' ire through
a dozen, perhaps, of these twin needles.
A woman, with a little anvil. before her, files
between the heads and seperates them. They
are now complete needles, but rough and rusty
and, what is worse, they easily bend. A poor
needle, you will say. But the hardening comes
I next. They ;ire heated in batches in a fur
, naCe, and, when red hot, are thrown in a pan
of cold water. Next, they must be tempered;
and this is done by rolling them backward and
forward on a hot metal plate. The polishing,
still remains to be done. On a very coarse
cloth, needles are spread to the number of
forty or fitly thousand. Emory dust is strewed
over them, oil is sprinkled, and soft .Inap dash-
ed spoonfulls over the cloth ; the clothis then
rolled hard, up, and, with several others of the
same kind, thrown into a sort of wash-pot, to roll
to and fro for twelve hours or more. They come
out dirty enough : but after a rinsing in clean
hot water, and a tossing in sawdust, they look
as bright as can be, and are ready to be sorted
and put up for sale. But the 'sorting and the'
doing up in papers, you may imagine, is quite
a work by itself.
gijt Vourirktivr.