The census reports say there are but 729 persons employed (of whom
495 are females) in the manufacture of the 11,500,000,000 pins sent from
our factories every year.
_Planes_.--Carpenters' planes were supplied to our factors in 1760 by
William Moss, and his descendants were in the business as late as 1844.
Messrs. Atkins and Sons have long been celebrated makers, their hundreds
of patterns including all kinds that could possibly he desired by the
workman. Woodwork is so cut, carved, and moulded by machinery now, that
these articles are not so much in demand, and the local firms who make
them number only a dozen.
_Plated Wares_.--Soho was celebrated for its plated wares as early as
1766; Mr. Thomason (afterwards Sir Edward) commenced the plating in
1796; and Messrs. Waterhouse and Ryland, another well-known firm in the
same line, about 1808, the material used being silver rolled on copper,
the mountings silver, in good work, often solid silver. The directory of
1780 enumerates 46 platers, that of 1799 96 ditto; their names might now
be counted on one's finger ends, the modern electro-plating having
revolutionised the business, vastly to the prosperity of the town.
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