MAKING BUTTONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22700, 12 April 1937, Page 6

MAKING BUTTONS

FACTORY IX ENCLASP AN ITALIAN'S ENTERPRISE SKILLED LABOUR ESSENTIAL [from our own correspondent] LONIDON, March 20 Of the thousands of buttons used daily in this country only 7000 gross are produced in England. The button industry is largely confined to Italy, as it has been for generations. This may shortly be altered, for an Italian engineer, Mr. T. B. Bertuccioli, who has lived in London for many years, has taken over n large factory at Ightham, near Maidstone, and intends to make buttons on a big scale. The factory is being equipped with hundreds of machines which will turn out thousands of- buttons an hour. By permission of the Home Office, Italian engineers have been admitted to this country and they are now fitting jup the machinery, most of which comes from Italy and Germany. Also at the factory are,ltalian button craftsmen, who are teaching men and girls the various processes. The manufacture of buttons lias already started and it is anticipated that the factory will be in full swing in about a fortnight's time. The factory will eventually employ about 400 men and girls and local labour is being re-, cruited. Ten Thousand Daily "I hope that when my factory is in full working order it will pro-, duce 10,000 gross of buttons daily," said Mr. Bertuccioli. "At first we shall make simple buttons for everyday use, but we shall be equipped to make fancy and coloured buttons of all descriptions such as now so popular on women's coats and dresses. "My friends have told me that I could'never run a successful button factory in this country, but I am determined to show them that I can." | Eventually, when training is complete the staff at the factory will be almost entirely English, with the exception of a few picked men. In one big room there will be 100 machines. In other parts of the factory will be dyeing rooms, departments for producing mottled buttons, and a series of big revolving drums which sort the ljutton blanks into different- sizes. . Revolving Barrels Already 30 of the big revolving barrels used for polishing the buttons have arrived at the factory, but soon •there will be 120 in use. The buttons will be manufactured from "vegetable ivory." This is actually a large nut, grown in South America. The nut 3 are hard and the first process in the manufacture of buttons is to cut them into slices. Small circular saws, eaph worked by one operative, are used for this purpose. The job calls for skill. A good workman can get from one nut enough slices to make seven or eight buttons; a bad workman will get i one slice, which will make an indiffer- | ent button. j Mr. Bertuccioli claims that running j a button factory o? a profitable basis j is harder than running a motor-cnr I factory. He says that success depends to an' enormous degree on the intelli-' gence of the workers. Workers already taken on have shown great promise.