CURIOSITIES IN NEEDLES.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 7 August 1912, Page 7

CURIOSITIES IN NEEDLES.

Needles are articles of such common use and of such small dimensions that one hardly expects to find them present any features of artistic or personal interest. Yet there are one or two instances of this kind on record. Queen Victoria possessed a needle, the stem of which was covered with beautiful designs representing incidents in the life of her late Majesty. So small and intricate was the pattern that it could be seen only by the aid of a magnifying" glass. Moreover, the needle was hollow, and within it was placed another still smaller needle.

The German Emperor, William 1., grandfather of the present occupant of the throne, also possessed a very remarkable needle. The story of the circumstances is as follows.—ln 1883 the Emperor visited a large needle factory in Kreuznach, and one of the workmen, whose task it was to bore the eye of the needles, requested the Emperor to give him one of his white hairs. The Kaiser complied with the request in some astonishment, and was still more surprised when he saw the deft workman bore a hole through the hair, draw a fine thread though the eye, and hand the threaded needle back to the venerable monarch, who kept it as one of the most interesting souvenirs- of his long an«d varied life.

The passion for cheapness must not be dignified by the name of thriftThrift is to abstain from buying things we cannot afford.