Suspenders

“ A garment that is tight around the waist tends to make the wearer stand straight, while one that is tight over the chest tends to make him stoop. The carriage of men that do not wear suspenders is generally better than that of men that do wear them. ”

“ It has been confined mostly to goods of short stretch, suitable for use in the manufacture of suspenders. In long stretch webs the patterns will not stand out prominently for any length of time. After repeated stretchings and wear, they lose much of the desirable sharpness of detail, and become flat and indistinct. Twills and loose weaves of a similar character should be avoided for embossing. The best results are obtained on firm, closely woven plain webs which take the impress of the design with clearness and retain it for a greater length of time. ”

“ The clothing should always be loose about the waist. As suspenders are inconvenient to wear and very uncomfortable in hot weather, I would suggest that the simplest, and I think the best, way of holding up the trousers is by means of a band sewed around the inside of the flannel shirt, with buttons sewed through the shirt and band and then the button-holes made on an extra band on the inside of band of trousers, the same as little boys’ waists and trousers are joined. ”

“ As the soil was fertile and well watered, the township had been agricultural up to this time. It is now chiefly devoted to manufacturing. Among its products are cotton goods, especially mercerised goods, for the manufacture of which it has one of the largest plants in the country; rubber, thread, elastic fabrics, suspenders and buttons. Parts of Northampton and Southampton were incorporated as the “district” of Easthampton in 1785; it became a township in 1809, and in 1841 and 1850 annexed parts of Southampton. ”

“ No one has ever yet been known to recover the suspender button he has once really lost; and my notion of it is simply that the minute a metal suspender button comes off the clothes of anybody in all the whole universe, it immediately flies up through the air and space to Twinkleville, which is nothing more than a huge magnet, and lies there until somebody picks it up and tries to sell it. ”

“ Still, though I do not know that such an untoward incident ever happened, it is within the range of human possibility that a man might be shorn of two suspender buttons at once. If, further, the hotel management were co-ordinated with the gentlemen's underwear business a safety pin would be served along with the suspender button—in view of the singular fact that, until your wife has taken a reef in them, all nether garments are much too great in girth for any figure at all approximating normal.
Working, however, as it does, with human material no hotel can get away with perfection. ”

“ The perforation for suspension is at the upper end of the handle and the body has an oval or circular perforation, which is often so enlarged as to leave only a narrow ring, like the rim of an eyeglass. ”

“ The grace and beauty of wool-spinning, ever sung by the poets, need not be described. Stepping lightly backward and forward, with arms at times high in the air, now low at the side, often by the light only of the fire, the worker, no matter what her age, seemed the perfection of the grace of motion; and the beauty of the occupation makes the name of spinster (the only title by law of every single woman) a title of honor and dignity.
The preparation of flax was infinitely more tedious and more complicated. ”

“ A good suspension also saves the carriage by suppressing the shocks which put it out of order and destroy it in a short time. Finally, suspension saves the wheel itself. On this subject let me recall a remarkable experiment of General Morin. On a high-road, in good condition, he drove a diligence with four horses at the trot, and laden with ballast instead of passengers. The springs of the vehicle were raised so that the body rested on the axles. After the diligence had passed and repassed a certain number of times, it was found that the road on which it was running was notably deteriorated. ”

“ Not only the clerk of the spinners examines the yarn when he receives it, and counts the threads in any of the knots which appear to be too small, but the name of the spinner, with a note of the quantity of knots, accompanies the yarn into the store-room, as was before observed, and from thence to the spooler, by whom it is wound off; any frauds committed in reeling cannot fail to be brought home to the spinner. ”

“ One day it happened that her spindle slipped from her fingers and fell into the well.
She was very much frightened and ran home, crying, to her mother, and told her that she had lost her spindle in the well. The mother scolded her and was so angry that at last she said, “Since you have been so careless as to lose your spindle in the well, you must get it out again as best you can.”
Suggestions.
Materials used to make yarn. Wool, cotton, etc. Sources.
Different ways of spinning. Twisting by the hands. Spinning wheel. Uses of yarn. Knitting and weaving. Source of drinking water. ”

“ Suspension-bars are made subservient to the training of the French soldier. This exercise enables him to use his body as he pleases, in any possible position, provided he can get hold of anything. Its beautiful and splendid result is extraordinary strength of arms, legs, hands, and fingers. Indeed, these suspensions of the body by the hands, the elbow, the legs, by one hand, one leg, one finger, in every possible position, show how the men are prepared for the thousand casualties of the assault. ”

“ By wiping off thread-boards, waste catching on to the ends and spinning. By rolls not being kept clean and oiled. By spinners not being careful enough when they clean their rolls. By spinners brushing and cleaning their frames. By brushing down over head. By spinners not keeping their clearers clean. The carder should be just as particular about making his roving as the spinner is about making his yarn; then there will be good work all through. A dry front roll will make bunches on spinning frames, and will do the same on speeders. Sweepers should not blow their waste under the frames. ”

“ I explained, "is because I've never had a suit which would set it off as it deserves to be set off. However, if I can't help I won't hinder you. I only came in to say that I had done the second hole in two. ”

“ In some places she uses a wire, for the purpose of drawing through the end of the roving to mend a broken yarn.
This may be considered the inherent evil of flax-spinning,—the spray thrown off by the wet yarn, as it whirls about with the flyer of the spindles. A working dress, indeed, is generally worn by the spinners; but, unless it be made of stuff impermeable to water, like Macintosh’s cloth, it will soon become uncomfortable, and cause injury to health by keeping the body continually in a hot bath. ”

“ The phenomenon called suspension, which is the third kind of mirage, and to which the term looming is most strictly applied, is the picturing of an object immediately over it in the air, frequently without reversion of the image. Sometimes the objects are merely raised above the height at which, under ordinary circumstances, they would appear. Thus sir R. K. Porter mentions a phenomenon of suspension, or looming, in the plains near Bagdad. ”

“ Spinning. The process of spinning is the last in the formation of yarn or thread, the subsequent operations having for their object the strengthening of the yarn by combining two or more strands and afterward arranging them for weaving or for the purpose for which the yarn is required. It is also the last time that the fibers are mechanically drawn over each other or drafted, and this is invariably done from a single roving. The humidity and temperature of the spinning room must be adjusted to conditions. ”

“ A suspension-saddle, constructed with a flexible portion, C, and having an under-spring in two or more parts, B, D, to which the flexible portion is attached at either end, and which metallic parts are extensible, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. ”

“ A more idle people are not to be found, except with regard to spinning, which is their constant occupation, every man and woman carrying a bundle of wool in the breast of their garments, which is spun by hand with a spindle, and wound off on two cross-pieces at its lower end. ”

“ The string which makes the spindle revolve often breaks, but if it is well-twisted, treated with wax, and then rubbed well with a piece of cloth, it becomes more durable and lasts for a number of days. ”

“ He turns a screw, or touches a spring—it is clearly impossible to note each movement of the man’s hand—and there is a sounding and rushing noise in the interior of the box, and all the sovereigns fall out from a slit at the bottom. ”

“ The suspension fibre can be raised or lowered by turning a horizontal screw which works in a fixed nut. The fibre is wound round the thread of the screw, so that when the screw is turned the suspension fibre always hangs in the same vertical line. ”

“ Snuffers? Yes—snuffers—a pair of cheap, black, iron snuffers, that screech when they are opened, and creak when they are shut; a pair that will not stay open, nor yet keep shut; a pair that gape at you incessantly, and point at you a horrid sharp [Pg 81] iron beak, as a couple of leering eyes turn the finger and thumb holes into a pair of spectacles, and squint and wink at you maliciously. A word in your ear—this in a whisper—those snuffers are haunted! their insignificant iron frame is the habitation of a demon—an imp of darkness ”

“ Nor has the lady—riding behind, instead of in front—better accommodation, being in suspension over a frame that lacks a backstay, and above a wheel that buckles under her weight; while the handles are thrown up instead of down, and their bars so slender that they must inevitably break. ”

“ The spinner fastens the hook of the spindle to the bunch of wool and twirls the spindle swiftly at its lower end, between the thumb and the middle finger of the right hand, and then draws the thread deftly with the fingers of both hands. When the twisted thread is about the "length of an arm," the spinner unhooks it without breaking it off, winds it on the stem of the spindle, just below the whorl, then fastens it again to the hook close to the raw material. ”

“ In the first spinning device, a mass of fibre was arranged on a forked stick, and, as drawn therefrom by hand, it was twisted between the fingers and wound on a spindle. During the reign of Henry VIII. of England, however, the spinning-wheel replaced the distaff and spindle, and in every cottage and palace it became an indispensable article of household equipment. The young women in all walks of life were taught to spin. Spinning became the female occupation of the age, and it is interesting to note that the modern term spinster, meaning an unmarried woman of advanced age, here had its origin. ”

“ Spinning.—The spinning operation, which follows the roving, is done in two principal ways, called respectively dry spinning and wet spinning, the first being used for the lower counts or heavier yarns, while the second is exclusively adopted in the preparation of fine yarns. ”

“ Too much twist in roving makes bad yarn, and spoils the top rolls on spinning frames. The square root of the number is about the twist for roving. It gives the Carder a chance to keep up with the spinning, and gives the Spinner a chance to make a better quality of yarn. If there is too much twist in the roving, you cannot draw it on spinning frames without spreading the rolls ”

“ SHEARING MACHINE. This is a machine for cutting off the nap that is too long, making it smooth and even. ⁠ Courtesy of National Museum Courtesy of National Museum SPINNING WHEEL. This is the old spinning wheel, once in use in nearly every farmhouse, where they raised their own wool, spun their own yarn and made their own cloth with a hand loom. With the pin shown lying on the frame, the spinner whirls the wheel with her right hand and with her left feeds onto the spindle the loose rolls of wool, as they come from the cards. ”

“ Now as there is another frame at no great distance, the spinners, who are mostly young women, are exposed to this small rain both before and behind; which is quite sufficient to wet them through in a few hours, especially when the frames are placed too close to each other. ”

“ When the spindles reach their greatest distance the rolls producing the yarn are automatically stopped, and the thread that has been spun during the outward move of the carriage is wound on the spindles while the carriage is being moved back toward the rolls. ”

“ There in a little room sat an Old Woman with a spindle, busily spinning flax.
178 “Good day, old Dame,” said the King’s Daughter; “what are you doing there?”
“I am spinning,” said the Old Woman, and nodded her head.
“What sort of thing is that, which rattles round so merrily?” said the maiden, and she took the spindle and wanted to spin too. But scarcely had she touched the spindle when the magic decree was fulfilled, and she pricked her finger with it. ”

“ It would have been simple, if the hold-all had been a simple hold-all and if it had been nothing more. But it was also a sleeping-bag and a field-tent. As sleeping-bag, it was provided with a thick blanket which took up most of the room inside, and a waterproof sheet which was part of itself. As field-tent, it had large protruding flanges, shaped like jib-sails, and a complicated system of ropes. ”

“ Since we introduced the thin Spindle, we have been keeping a number of them in reserve. When a student has his spindle bent, it is not corrected there and then but he is at once given one of the spare good ones, so there is no delay. ”

“ The spindle must turn noiselessly and without a throb in its holders. Jarring sound cannot be avoided unless the holders are made of knit straw as in the Punjab, or of tough leather.
(5) No machine is properly made unless it manufactures in the hands of a practised spinner at least 21⁄2 tolas of even and properly twisted yarn of six counts in an hour. ”