POOR SANCT CRISPIN

Southland Times, Issue 4156, 25 October 1881, Page 2

POOR SANCT CRISPIN

— : — «. _■ ■ ■ Messrs John Kingsland aad Co. have recently imported, and set to work this week, a very complete series of machines .for preparing and sewing on thejßOle* of boots and shoes of all makes and dimensions. The first of these is a channelling machioe which with startling rapidity cuts a deep groove round the prepared soles for the reception ef the thread. This will shortly be supplemented by a grooving machine, which will still further facilitate the .process of sewing; by widening the thread groove or channel. The waxing of the monster spool of thread ia also accomplished by Van efficient? find cleanly set of implements. There is, first, a Binall ocean of cobbler's wax ieptJ'fiot by means of a gas jet ; and second, a spool winder several sizes larger than tfhose used by Jadies in sewing machines — this may be inferred from the, fact .that the spool holds sufficient thread to feisw 250 soles on. The thread, by^simple devices, is made 'to pass through the cauldron while on its way to the spool, the surplus wax being kept back by drawing the thread-through a hole in a plate) In preparing a boot for the sewing .prQceasOthe inner sole, and its accessories are laid on an iron last, and the. upper neatly tucked in. over it all round, whan it is • secured by means of sprigs. The outer Bol«Sj~chapnelled and shaped, being placed on top of all are temporarily, fastened with brass pins. We now come to the most important part of the plant, i.e., the Blake eolesewing machine. This, although the first of its kind introduced here, is not a very recent invention. An attempt to describe its ■ elaborate mechanism would vfejl-Tto c6nvey a fair idea of how it does us wfctk. The boot lobe sewn ie slipped.- over thY end of a hollow arm resembling; a, (man's arm sharply doubled back, and free to describe a circle. Up this arm, rtfibichJs Kept heated by gas or spirit, the -waxedi thread is passed and comes out at; the apeih immediately under the needle tho^ottgKHr softened and pliable. The stitclf 'ik^tliat known .as a " chain-' or sihgfe'-Shrekcf one the needle being eyeless, b'ult proViffiafl with a hopk similar tp a crochet needle. There are also appliances to' regulate TU^) JenaUi of : stitch, : .andJke§!BLJhft. l iQtttJ» place while the needle is withdrawing. The machine will ultimately be driven by a gas engine, but at present is propelled by an ordinary treadle. On being started the needle plunges down through the sole into the interior of the boot, whence it emerges with a loop of waxed thread. Making another dive the former JTobp is drawn taut and, embedded in, the leather, while another '*' is brought up on the l\dbk of the needle. While tl^sjakoa some time to toll the operation is dqw so speedily that three bo6ts r ' t contajmng about 250 stitches can be , sewn in one minute ; being about as much as a tradesman under the old order of things could do in several hours. The sewing is qfiite oqnal in streugth to the average of hand .work, while it has great advantages >io oliability andco^nfort in wear as compared vvith the rivetted or pegged boot. .The tsenm is thoroughly incorporated- with" ib» leather ; and the channel in which it lief being one of uniform and extra depth the sole ie worn through before th« wwteg

becomes exposed. So great is this giant's capacity for work that about 2'> im-ti aro re mired to prepare the work for it, if noing steadily. Messrs Kingslaml and Co. V factory is one of the very few local industries we hare, and it is then-fore gratifying to be able to-iecord that they are progressing satisfactorily. So much so that the premises they entered but a few months ago have already become too stn-it for them and arc being nearly doubled in size-, by the addition of back premises similar in design. In these provision is made for the foundations of a gas. engine of sufficient power to drive the numerous machines of the modern bootmaker.