In some cases, in order to obtain sufficient adhesion, without having recourse to too tight a belt, the pulley is covered with leather, which is put on with white lead, and fastened with copper
rivets.
61. Hosiery.—A large establishment at Waterbury is occupied exclusively in the manufacture of under-vests and drawers. The cloth waist-bands of the latter are stitched by sewing machines, working at the rate of 430 stitches per minute. These machines have been worked with entire success for the last eighteen months.
The manufactured goods and the sewing machines are all that are shown to visitors. No stranger is ever permitted to see the hosiery looms; workmen, directors, and president, all enter into a bond not to disclose anything connected with the machinery of the company.
62. Shirt Making by Machinery, Newhaven.—In a shirt manufactory at Newhaven, entire shirts, excepting only the gussets, are sewn by
sewing machines.
By the aid of these machines one woman can do as much work as from twelve to twenty band sewers. The workwomen work by the piece, and are frequently able to finish their estimated day's work by 2 o'clock, and, when busy, work overtime.
