Page:Guide to the Bohemian section and to the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1906.djvu/151

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There is a great change come over the nail industry which at one time flourished in Hostomice, Rožmitál, Hořovice, Zbirov, Mýto and their districts; where in the old days 2000 hands were employed, there are now only from 600 to 700 engaged in turning out all kinds of nails and tacks; from those suitable for light shoes, to hobnails for the hunter or alpine climber. The wants of the carpenter and others in the building trades are many and varied as to size and form. It would be difficult to say how many business require a good assortment of nails to complete their equipment. And so the humble nail maker provides for the needs of little children's shoes, which certainly is a peaceful requirement, or supplies the wants of the gun carriage builder; which is suggestive of war.

The reduction in the numbers of those employed is easily accounted for, the trade suffers as all manual labour must do from the factory products made with labour and time-saving machinery; Handhand [sic] workers find it difficult to stand such competetion.

In making nails by hand, the „nailer“ heats the end of the nail-rod at his small forge, and brings it into the form of the spike of a nail by a few strokes of his hammer on the anvil. It is then cut to any required length on a chisel, leaving it still attached to the rod. Dropping it next into one of two holes in a „bolster“ and detaching it from the rod the „nailer“ forms the head from the projecting end by a few more strokes of the hammer, and then the nails is finished. Dies or „swages“ are required for the heads of ornamental nails.

The earnings of the nail maker run from 5 s to 8 s 4 d per week, that is for small ware, and from 6 s 8 d to 16 s 8 d for larger sorts. But the hours are long, 12 hours of hard work is what the nailer has to perform for but a small wage. No doubt they believe that „half a loaf is better than none“, and so in the cold season when carpenters, bricklayers and others whose trades are slack in winter, fill in their time in the nail-making industry. In Mýto they make a variety of very useful tools, hammers of all kinds and sizes, tongs for trade or household use, chisels and other requiremets