MACHINERY AND PROCESSES. 137 
better and firmer stitch, elimination of vibration, and quietness of 
operation. 
The life of a plain sewing machine is estimated at from 10 to 15 
years, depending on the care and the amount of repairs put upon 
it, but special machines wear out or become obsolete in a shorter time. 
The depreciation on all the machinery in a muslin-underwear factory 
may be fairly estimated at 10 per cent per annum. 
Special tucking devices to make as many as 12 tucks at one time 
have been invented. 
The slow and tedious process of hemstitching, formerly done by 
hand, is now done on fine materials by 5 to 12 needle hemstitching 
machines. 
The same progress has taken place in overseaming and zigzag stitch- 
ing by machines, thereby allowing the of a finest laces and 
embroideries to the sheerest of materials. 
The same can be said about the process of ruffling, which is easily 
accomplished by attaching ruffling blades to the machines. The 
attachments complete a ruffled Thoda at one operation, which 
under the old system consisted of several operations, consumed much 
time, and required expensive handling of goods. 
A strip folder and guide or a tape guide is used, whereby a strip 
is folded and stitched or a tape is laid and stitched on over the edge 
of the ruffle. 
Buttonholes were formerly made by hand. The marks were made 
by the worker and a knife-like device was used to cut the hole in the 
cloth. The machines to-day make straight buttonholes at a speed of 
about 1,600 stitches per minute. The form of the stitch, whether 
purl or whip, barred ends or ends without bars, depends on the 
attachment used. 
Button Sing by hand is done quite extensively at the present 
time, but is gradually being replaced by button sewing by machines. 
These machines have automatic thread-tieing and thread-cutting 
devices. They are capable of making from 900 to 1,000 stitches per 
minute. Skilied operators can sew on about 7,000 or 8,000 buttons 
daily. Clamps on the machines hold the buttons and can be adjusted 
to any required size. 
The same line of development has taken place in the embroidery 
machines. These are as imported, Germany being the chief pro- 
ducer of these machines. Within recent years, however, American 
machine manufacturers have invented a number of machines for 
scalloping and embroidering. These machines produce a variety of 
styles of embroidery in flowers, leaves, and other el Skilled 
operators are required to manage these machines. The cloth is 
stamped with the design, then placed in a hoop and under the needle. 
The hoop is then guided by the operator to carry out the design of the 
embroidery on the goods. 
The number of cutting and sewing machines owned by the 65 estab- 
lishments reporting data, the investment in machinery, and other 
items are shown in Table 42, which follows: