Thread.—­Strange are the mutations of trade.  The first thread of cotton spun by rollers, long before Arkwright’s time, was made near this town in the year 1700, and a little factory was at work in the Upper Priory (the motive power being two donkeys), in 1740, under the ingenious John Wyatt, with whom were other two well-remembered local worthies—­Lewis Paul and Thomas Warren.  Many improvements were made in the simple machinery, but fate did not intend Birmingham to rival Bradford, and the thread making came to an end in 1792.

Tinderboxes, with the accompanying “fire steels,” are still made here for certain foreign markets, where lucifers are not procurable.

Tinning.—­Iron pots were first tinned in 1779, under Jonathan Taylor’s patent.  Tinning wire is one of the branches of trade rapidly going out, partly through the introduction of the galvanising process, but latterly in consequence of the invention of “screw,” “ball,” and other bottle stoppers.  There were but five or six firms engaged in it ten years back, but the then demand for bottling-wire may be gathered from the fact that one individual, with the aid of two helpers, covered with the lighter-coloured metal about 2cwt. of slender iron wire per day.  This would give a total length of about 6,500 miles per annum, enough to tie up 25,718,784 bottles of pop, &c.

Tools—­The making of tools for the workers in our almost countless trades has given employ to many thousands, but in addition thereto is the separate manufacture of “heavy edge tools.”  Light edge tools, such as table and pocket knives, scissors, gravers, &c., are not made here, though “heavy” tools comprising axes, hatchets, cleavers, hoes, spades, mattocks, forks, chisels, plane irons, machine knives, scythes, &c., in endless variety and of hundreds of patterns, suited to the various parts of the world for which they are required.  Over 4,000 hands are employed in this manufacture.

Tubes.—­Immense quantities (estimated at over 15,000 tons) of copper, brass, iron, and other metal tubing are annually sent out of our workshops.  In olden days the manufacture of brass and copper tubes was by the tedious process of rolling up a strip of metal and soldering the edges together.  In 1803 Sir Edward Thomason introduced the “patent tube”—­iron body with brass coating, but it was not until 1838 that Mr. Charles Green took out his patent for “seamless” tubes, which was much improved upon in 1852 by G. F. Muntz, junr., as well as by Mr. Thos.  Attwood in 1850, with respect to the drawing of copper tubes.  The Peyton and Peyton Tube Co., London Works, was registered June 25, 1878, capital L50,000 in L5 shares.  Messrs. Peyton received 1,000 paid-up shares for their patent for machinery for manufacturing welded and other tubes, L3,500 for plant and tools, the stock going at valuation.

Tutania Metal took its name from Tutin, the inventor.  It was much used a hundred years ago, in the manufacture of buckles.