231. 4.  Twisting and cutting the heads.  The next process is making the heads.  For this purpose (a) a boy takes a piece of wire, of the same diameter as the pin to be headed, which he fixes on an axis that can be made to revolve rapidly by means of a wheel and strap connected with it.  This wire is called the mould.  He then takes a smaller wire, which having passed through an eye in a small tool held in his left hand, he fixes close to the bottom of the mould.  The mould is now made to revolve rapidly by means of the right hand, and the smaller wire coils round it until it has covered the whole length of the mould.  The boy now cuts the end of the spiral connected with the foot of the mould, and draws it off. (b) When a sufficient quantity of heading is thus made, a man takes from thirteen to twenty of these spirals in his left hand, between his thumb and three outer fingers:  these he places in such a manner that two turns of the spiral shall be beyond the upper edge of a pair of shears, and with the forefinger of the same hand he feels that only two turns do so project.  With his right hand he closes the shears; and the two turns of the spiral being cut off, drop into a basin; the position of the forefinger preventing the heads from flying about when cut off.  The workmen who cut the heads are usually paid at the rate of 2 1/2d. to 3d. per pound for large heads, but a higher price is given for the smaller heading.  Out of this they pay the boy who spins the spiral; he receives from 4d. to 6d. a day.  A good workman can cut from six to about thirty pounds of heading per day, according to its size.

232. 5.  Heading.  The process of fixing the head on the body of the pin is usually executed by women and children.  Each operator sits before a small steel stake, having a cavity, into which one half of the intended head will fit; immediately above is a steel die, having a corresponding cavity for the other half of the head:  this latter die can be raised by a pedal moved by the foot.  The weight of the hammer is from seven to ten pounds, and it falls through a very small space, perhaps from one to two inches.  The cavities in the centre of these dies are connected with the edge of a small groove, to admit of the body of the pin, which is thus prevented from being flattened by the blow of the die. (a) The operator with his left hand dips the pointed end of the body of a pin into a tray of heads; having passed the point through one of them, he carries it along to the other end with the forefinger.  He now takes the pin in the right hand, and places the head in the cavity of the stake, and, lifting the die with his foot, allows it to fall on the head.  This blow tightens the head on the shank, which is then turned round, and the head receives three or four blows on different parts of its circumference.  The women and children who fix the heads are paid at the rate of 1s. 6d. for every twenty thousand.  A skilful operator can with great exertion do twenty