INGENUITY AND LUXURY 



Table-cutting is practically the same process, ex- 

 cept that tables take the place of blocks, and the skin 

 is dampened and stretched to exactly the right degree, 

 this process requiring much skill and practice. To 

 be a good table-cutter that is, to be able to handle 

 the leather so as to get the greatest number of pairs 

 of gloves out of each skin, avoiding flaws, and stretch- 

 ing it to the proper degree requires long practice, and 

 is at best only attained by one workman in every three or 

 four. It is the kind of work better adapted to foreign 

 workmen, Americans not taking kindly to it as a rule. 



From the cutters the glove goes to the "silkers" 

 who embroider the back, and is then passed on to the 

 " makers. " Each maker has his particular work to 

 do, certain ones sewing in the fingers and thumbs, 

 others hemming the glove at the edge around the wrist, 

 while the "pointers" work ornamental lines on the 

 back. All these operations, of course, are done largely 

 by machinery. The gloves are then drawn over metal 

 "hands" heated by steam, shaped, and given a finished 

 appearance. 



One of the most remarkable machines now used in 

 glove-making is the multiple-needle machine for stitch- 

 ing the backs of gloves. This machine sews from two 

 to six rows at the same time. An automatic trimmer 

 is attached to the head- or needle-bar of the machine 

 which trims the gloves much better than can be done 

 with shears. Other recent machines make ornamental 

 zigzags, and overstitches, the latter closing the seam 

 from the outside. 



