The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 404, December 12, 1829Various
History
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 404, December 12, 1829
Various
Popular literature -- Great Britain -- Periodicals
"The novelties and curiosities in this way are extremely numerous, and
the makers and inventers are as modest and communicative as they are
original and ingenious. Thus a knife an inch long, weighing eight
pennyweights six grains, containing seventy odd blades and instruments,
cost £30 in making: scissors the eighth of an inch long, twenty-five of
which weigh but a grain, sold at 3s. per pair: a knife, mounted in gold
and pearl, containing thirty blades, is valued at £30; pocket-knives
with twenty-six parts are sold at six guineas; the very best two blades
mounted with pearl and gold, made by Crawshaw, are in common sale
at two guineas in Sheffield. Messrs. Champion are esteemed the best
makers of scissors; and ladies' working scissors, in general commerce,
are finished and mounted as high as five or ten guineas. The best
pocket-knives are made by Crawshaw, and fetch, in mounting, from two to
five guineas. He is also the general maker of what are called the 'best
town made.' I may here add, that Messrs. Champion can make a single set
of table knives and forks, the fair market price of which would be 100
guineas.
"The mechanical ingenuity of Mr. Crawshaw has also been displayed in the
construction of AN ORRERY consisting of at least 1,000 wheels, which, by
a single winch, turns all the planets in their respective periods; and
also the whole of the satellites, including those of Herschell. This
orrery, perhaps the completest in the world, was made in all its details
by this gentleman, and, in its wheel-work, is an astonishing production.
"One of the wonders of Sheffield is its Grinding Establishments. To aid
the grinders, companies have erected very spacious buildings divided
into small rooms, and provided the whole with steam engines. The rooms
are then let out by the month to master grinders; and at properly
adjusted grindstones in each room I saw every variety of grinding,
sharpening, and polishing. The finest work is polished by hand, and in
this slavery I saw the delicate hands of the superior sex solely
employed. The payment is trifling; but I was told that the hand of woman
is the softest, most pliable, and most accommodating tool which has yet
been discovered for conferring the finest polish on the refractory
substance of steel. Can we wonder at its effect in softening the
ruggedness of the other sex, and how hard must be the heart of that man
which does not yield to an influence which subdues even the hardness of
steel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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