Whipmaking, as a trade distinct from saddlery, dates from about 1750, and it received a great impetus by the introduction, in 1780, of a machine by Matthew Dean for the easier manipulation of the leather thongs.

Whistles of all sizes and sorts, from the child’s tin whistle to the huge and powerful steam whistles used on board the American liners, are made in this town, and it might be imagined there could be but little novelty in any new design.  This, however, is not the case, for when the authorities of Scotland Yard (June, 1884) desired a new police whistle, samples were sent in from many parts of the country, from America, and from the Continent.  The order, which was for 40,000, was secured by Messrs. J. Hudson and Co., Buckingham Street, and so distinct is the speciality, that fifty other places have followed the example of the Metropolis.

Wire.—­Wire-drawing, which formerly had to be done by hand, does not appear to have been made into a special trade earlier than the beginning of the 18th century, the first wire mill we read of being that of Penns, near Sutton Coldfield, which was converted from an iron forge in 1720.  Steel wire was not made till some little time after that date.  The increased demand for iron and steel wire which has taken, place during the last 35 years is almost incredible, the make in 1850 being not more than 100 tons:  in 1865 it was calculated at 2,000 tons, in 1875 it was put at 12,000 tons, while now it is estimated to equal 30,000 tons.  In March 1853, a piece of No. 16 copper wire was shown at Mr. Samuel Walker’s in one piece, three miles long, drawn from a bar 6/8ths in diameter.  Originally the bar weighed 128 lbs, but it lost 14lbs in the process, and it was then thought a most remarkable production, but far more wonderful specimens of wire-spinning have since been exhibited.  A wire rope weighing over 70 tons, was made in 1876 at the Universe Works, of Messrs. Wright, who are the patentees of the mixed wire and hemp rope.  Birdcages, meat covers, mouse traps, wire blinds, wire nails, wire latticing, &c., we have long been used to; even girding the earth with land and ocean telegraph wire, or fencing in square miles at a time of prairie land, with wire strong enough to keep a herd of a few thousand buffaloes in range, are no longer novelties, but to shape, sharpen, and polish a serviceable pair of penny scissors out of a bit of steel wire by two blows and the push of a machine, is something new, and it is Nettlefold’s latest.

Wire Nails, Staples, &c., are made at Nettlefold’s by machinery much in advance of what can ba seen elsewhere.  In the nail mill the “Paris points” as wire nails are called, are cut from the coil of wire by the first motion of the machine as it is fed in, then headed and pointed at one operation, sizes up to one inch being turned out at the rate of 360 a minute.  In the manufacture of spikes, the punch for making the head is propelled by springs, which