s, and it was then thought a most remarkable production, but far
more wonderful specimens of wire-spinning have since been exhibited. A
wire rope weighing over 70 tons, was made in 1876 at the Universe Works,
of Messrs. Wright, who are the patentees of the mixed wire and hemp
rope. Birdcages, meat covers, mouse traps, wire blinds, wire nails, wire
latticing, &c., we have long been used to; even girding the earth with
land and ocean telegraph wire, or fencing in square miles at a time of
prairie land, with wire strong enough to keep a herd of a few thousand
buffaloes in range, are no longer novelties, but to shape, sharpen, and
polish a serviceable pair of penny scissors out of a bit of steel wire
by two blows and the push of a machine, _is_ something new, and it is
Nettlefold's latest.

_Wire Nails, Staples, &c._, are made at Nettlefold's by machinery much
in advance of what can ba seen elsewhere. In the nail mill the "Paris
points" as wire nails are called, are cut from the coil of wire by the
first motion of the machine as it is fed in, then headed and pointed at
one operation, sizes up to one inch being turned out at the rate of 360
a minute. In the manufacture of spikes, the punch for making the head is
propelled by springs, which are compressed by a cam, and then released
at each stroke; two cutters worked by side cams on the same shaft cut
off the wire and make the point. A steel finger then advances and knocks
the finished spike out of the way to make room for the next. Wire
staples, three inches long, are turned out at the rate of a hundred a
minute; the wire is pushed forward into the machine and cut off on the
bevel to form the points; a hook rises, catches the wire, and draws it
down into the proper form, when a staple falls out complete.

_Wire Gauge_.--The following table shows the sizes, weights, lengths,
and breaking strains of iron wire under the Imperial Standard Wire
Gauge, which came into operation March 1, 1884--

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Size | DIAMETER | Sectional | WEIGHT OF | Length | BREAKING STRAINS
on | ------------| area in |----------- | of | ----------------
Wire | Inch Mille- | Sq. |100 Mile | Cwt. | Annealed |Bright
Gauge| metres | Inches |Yards | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
lbs. lbs. yds. lb