Curiosities Of The Sewing Needle

Sewing needies of bone, stone, glass and broiize antedate all historie records, but tliose of iron, brass and steel are conaparatively modern. Bone and glass needles have beun found in Egyptian tonibs that are known to be over 4,000 years oíd, and similar domestic instrumenta of bronze and copper have been found in the mounds and burial caves of Europe and America which are believed to be ruuch older than those found with the Nile mummies. The needie first appeared in its present form in European countries in the year 1410, but the art of making them was kept a secret for upward of 150 years af ter the date last given. In the year 1680 they were first made in the American colonies, but at what point is a mooted question among the historians. At present there are no needie faetones in America, except those which make sewing machine needles, it being considered much cheaper and more economical to import them from the great Kedditch and other English needie factories than to make them at home. Our great National Needie company at Springfield, Mass., makes about 30,000,000 machine needles every year, and the great Redditch (English) company makes three tiiues tïiat many, or 90,000,000, of the hand variety annually. - St. Louis Republic.