Page 173

A Few Hammer Strokes.
does, then the maker has made a
mistake in his thinking or his manipu-
lation. But the work may be per-
formed to the highest perfection attain-
able on this earth, and yet the machine
be open to great variation of pattern;
and the ornamentation thereof is a
matter of much importance to the
builder.
Thus, of "machine tools"-on the
principle that machinery capable of
reproducing its own kind, and also of
producing all other kinds of machinery
for working in all kinds of material
whatsoever, holds the highest rank, as
embodying within itself, in making and
using, all the mechanical principles, the
knowledige, and skill of all other ma-
chinery combined-of the machines used
in the machine shop, then :-It makes no
difference whatever to the working of a
machine, whether the legs thereof are
round or square, straight or crooked;
the legs of machinery in general, being
as free and open to fancy in their form
as those of the table in your parlor; a
certain strength, a certain weight (for
steadying the whole) is required in
either, but form  and proportion are
almost unlimited, and in such matters
the machinist shows his taste.
Thus, while every machinist, in build-
ing a " turning  engine," " planer,"
slabbing," or " milling " machine, &c.,
uses straight " V " slides, and runs his
arbors in tapered bearings, that can be
crowded together as they wear loose,
these being essentials for perfect working,
yet every builder makes a different pat-
tern of frame, of legs, of hand-wheel, of
crank, of spokes to his gear, and pulleys,
and of heads to bolts and set-screws,
&c., to suit his fancy, or that of some-
body he thinks artistic in taste, often a
journeyman in his own shop; and this
will apply to every tool and machine in
the shop. A Boston manufacturer,
looking at a planer some six years old
in design, remarked, " I would not get
such a machine. I do not like the pat-
tern; it is out of date." He did not
object to the " V " slides, to the " screw
feed," to the "fast and loose " pulleys,
or to any of the essentials of the ma-
chine or their arrangement; in all these
the machine was acknowledged to be as
good as the newest; but, if purchasing,
he would look for a prettier pattern-
more beauty in the variable portion of
the machine.
The Bostonian was no more given to
the fine arts than every meclhanic in
America is.
The moulders of the foundry-at thb
"ore-bed "-kept sundry fancy patterns
of flat trivets, mantel ornaments, &C.,
which, whenever ladies honored them
with a visit to see a " pouring-off,"-
If you never saw one, Miss, go, by all
means. Choose a short day, when the
foundry is dark early, when the steam
from the "green sand " moulds makes
that darkness palpable, when the loca-
tions of the workmen are shown by the
dull, red, intense glow of the pots of
melted iron they carry, when the sparks
as the stream runs from the "' cupola,"
outshine "Fourth of July " rockets.
Enter into the spirit of the scene if you
have strength, and with the memory of
it, smile Mat all the poetic or theatrical
hells ever described or delineated--
these little trifles, then, were moulded
for the  lady-visitors' benefit, cast,
and  presented to them; a custom
too gallant to be allowed to fade.
In truth, the foundry hands showed full
as much taste in fancy ornaments and
their use, as did the factory girls, espe-
cially those American born, who never
saw a strange gentleman looking at their
machinery, but they thought it due to
his youth and inexperience to pin a tail
of ' cotton waste " to his coat, and fill his
pockets, if possible, with bits of iron,
old nails, and odds and ends, limited
only by the numbers and resources of
the fair contributors, and if from the
173
1865.]