are compressed by a cam, and then released at each stroke; two cutters worked by side cams on the same shaft cut off the wire and make the point.  A steel finger then advances and knocks the finished spike out of the way to make room for the next.  Wire staples, three inches long, are turned out at the rate of a hundred a minute; the wire is pushed forward into the machine and cut off on the bevel to form the points; a hook rises, catches the wire, and draws it down into the proper form, when a staple falls out complete.

Wire Gauge.—­The following table shows the sizes, weights, lengths, and breaking strains of iron wire under the Imperial Standard Wire Gauge, which came into operation March 1, 1884—­

-------------------------------------------------------

-----------------
Size |   DIAMETER  | Sectional | WEIGHT OF   | Length | BREAKING STRAINS
on   | ------------|  area in  |-----------  | of     | ----------------
Wire | Inch Mille- |    Sq.    |100    Mile  | Cwt.   | Annealed |Bright
Gauge|      metres | Inches    |Yards        |        |          |
------------------------------------------------------------

------------
lbs.   lbs.     yds.      lbs.     lbs.
7/0   .500    12.7    .1963     193.4  3404     58       10470    15700
6/0   .464    11.8    .1691     166.5  2930     67        9017    13525
5/0   .432    11.     .1466     144.4  2541     78        7814    11725
4/0   .400    10.2    .1257     123.8  2179     91        6702    10052
3/0   .372     9.4    .1087     107.1  1885    105        5796     8694
2/0   .348     8.8    .0951      93.7  1649    120        5072     7608
1/0   .342     8.2    .0824      81.2  1429    138        4397     6595
1   .300     7.6    .0598      69.6  1225    161        3770     5655
2   .276     7.     .0598      58.9  1037    190        3190     4785
3   .252     6.4    .0499      49.1   864    228        2660     3990
4   .232     5.9    .0423      41.6   732    269        2254     3381
5   .212     5.4    .0365      34.8   612    322        1883     2824
6   .192     4.9    .0290      28.5   502    393        1644     2316
7   .176     4.5    .0243      24.    422    467        1298     1946
8   .160     4.1    .0201      19.8   348    566        1072     1608
9   .144     3.7    .0163      16.    282    700         869     1303
10   .128     3.3    .0129      12.7   223    882         687     1030
11   .116     3.     .0106      10.4   183   1077         564      845
12   .104     2.6    .0085       8.4   148   1333         454      680
13   .092     2.3    .0066       6.5   114   1723         355      532
14   .080     2.     .0050       5.     88   2240         268      402
15   .072     1.8    .0041       4.     70   2800         218      326
16   .064     1.6    .0032       3.2    56   3500         172      257
17   .056     1.4    .0025       2.4    42   4667         131      197
18   .048     1.2    .0018       1.8    31   6222          97      145
19   .040     1.     .0013       1.2    21   9333          67      100
20   .036      .9    .0010       1.     18  11200          55       82
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yates.—­At one period this was the favourite slang term of the smashing fraternity for the metal used in their nefarious business, the spoons manufactured by Messrs. Yates and Son being the best material for transmutation into base coin.