NEEDLES AND PINS 335 



yarn to be taken, which is to be carried through to form the 

 stitch. As the forward motion continues the point is de- 

 pressed 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, in- 

 stead 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 con- 

 tained 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 w^ere similar to those em- 

 ployed 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 be- 

 tween 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 fihng. 

 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 poKshed, 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 



