19. Hook-and-eye Making.—Three different descriptions of machines are employed in making hooks-and-eyes,—the wire being let in on one side of the machine, and a completed hook or eye dropped out on the other.
The machines appeared to make them at the rate of about 100 per minute.
About eighty hands are employed, who are said to make 1,200 packs of pins, each containing 3,360 pins, and 2,500 gross of hooks and-eyes, per day.
20. Cutlery.—The cutlery and file works were conducted on a limited scale, Many beautifully finished knives were exhibited, and were said to command a higher price than those of a similar class imported from England.
The artizans are employed principally on piece-work.
In the cutlery department a workman was pointed out who earned $70 (about 14l.) per month, while the earnings of others occupied on precisely the same kind of work only amounted to $30 (6l.) per month.
Thus it will be seen that each workman does the best he can for himself, irrespective of others, and reaps the reward due to his superior skill and industry.
