WHAT BECOMES OF ALL THE PINS?

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1633, 11 August 1887, Page 3

WHAT BECOMES OF ALL THE PINS?

The manufactories of Birmingham, wbioh hold the first rank m the pin iudustry, are aaid to produce about 37,000,000 of pins par day ! The output of other pin factories m this country is about 17,000,0.0 per day, thus making a grand total of 64,000,000 of pioa for England alone. In France they make about 20,000,000 per day, while m Holland, Germany, and other countries the produce abot 10.000,000. -The European production of pins is therefore about 84 000,0.0 daily, which appears so large a number that one naturally aake : " What do we do with all the pine?" It is seldom that a pin is broken or spoiled, or even worn out but they are often loot In fact there m perhaps no small domentio article that one can think of, of which there is bo much waste by loss as id pins. It is so email and insignificant an article that few people would take \ha trouble to stoop and pick one up ; aud if A fey are tost daily m every household m this way, collectively the number which disappears trill be very large. It is probable, therefore, that pina disappear from circulation by loss,' and consequently, that, roughly spe&kicg, 84,000,000 of pina are lost every day m tiurope. Taking the population as 240,000.000, it would appear that one pin is not lost by eccb individual every day but on an average* as nearly as possible on evory third day ; but if all the world participates m this wiste of pins, then it would seem, after all, that we are not very prodigal of pine. This loss of pina represents more than a £1000 per day. In the factories the pins are made faster than cne can count them. The machines employed are so perfect, that they cut the wire into pieces, point them, polish them, sort them ou', and stick them Into papers all m rcwa ; to such a pitoh has our mechanical icgeuuity reached. A machine of this kind so far as pinmaking is concerned appears to Save life, so rapid and precise are He movements. *— From The "World of Wonders for May.