„ '-a ■ ■■hH ■ mann WBB ■ hd HHh ■ 9933 ■Hnn ■ .S9 ■HHH ■ U55 HHH ■ l908 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924089510550 DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR BUREAU OF MANUFACTURES JOHN M. CARSON, Chief SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY By ■ W. A. GRAHAM CLARK Special Agent of the Department of C6mmerce and Labor WITH ADDITION AL REPORTS FROM CONSULAR OFFICERS IN OTHER COUNTRIES WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1908 ,^LBtKI K. MAWN LIBRARY AT CONTEffti^OMril |J[\||\;FRCIT Page. L«tter of submittal 5 Switzerland : St. Gall the embroidery center of the world _' 7 Switzerland's important ad vantages 8 Low wages of operatives — Hand and power machines. _ _ - -^ 9 Effects of business depression 9 Arrangement of factories ._ 10 Process of manufacture 11 Embroidery making — Meaniii^; of trade teruis 11 Average stitch rates — Reproducing the pattern 12 The pantograph — Boring and shaping the perforations 13 Operation of the hand machines - - - 14 Conditions amongthe home workers 15 Classes and prices of embroidery clotliH 15 ^ Embroidery yarn — Factory methods 10 Burnt-out lace — Regulation of embroidery values 17 Manufacturing costs 1 f^ Hand-machine embroideries witli cotton thread is SchifHi embroideries with cotton thread is Embroidered handkerchiefs 19 Other incidental processes and jiroducts. . .■ - . - L'O Application of the stitch rate -l^ Stitchers' wage tiiriftH -1 Wages of other operatives — Freight and incidental expenses _ L'l Electric-power rates in St. ( iall '-- Experimental bleaching in the United States 22 Cost distribution --I Analysis of the Lake Constance water 2~ Consular report — Development of American and Swi.ss embroidery industries I'S Labor, wages, and exports 29 Great increase in exports to t he United States .^0 Market affected by American financial disturbance 30 Excessive manufacturing activity 31 Business recovery pre ispects - - - 32 France: Laoe successfully produced in America— Technical schools 33 ' Number employed and value of output - 34 Increased exports due to lace industry 34 England : A great number dependent on the industry - - 36 Germany: Factories and employees— Extent of the business 38 Wages of the operatives - 39 Belgium : Earnings of the lace makers— Future of the industry 40 British India: Prices of the chikon work 42 S ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. Plate I. Shuttle machine with pantograph, to embroider 6| yards 10 II. Hand machine with two rows of needles, to embroider 4 J yards 14 Fig. 1 . Embroidery accessories of the schiffli machine 13 2. 4/4 Rapport embroidery, 385 stitches in a repeat 23 3. Diagram showing cost distribution of embroidery shown in Fig. 2.. . 24 4. Plattstich embroidery, 4/4 rapport, 1,079 stitches in a repeat 25 5. Diagram showing cost distribution of embroidery'shown in Fig. 4... 26 i LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. Department or Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Manufactures, Washington, February o. 1908. Sir: I have, the honor to submit herewith a report from Special Agent W. A. Graham Clark on the manufacture of cotton goods in Switzerland, and especially cotton laces and embroideries. ^Methods of manufacture, wages paid, and other mattei-s incidental to cost of production are set forth in the report. The total value of cotton laces and embroideries imported into the United Slates during the calendar year was $41,443,;!('(;'), of wliich amount $10,800,000 was received from Switzerland, which is ecjual to about 40 per cent of the whole. These figures do not include the value of silk ril)l)ons, laces, and t'luhroid- eries, aggregating $8,502,(i!)4 in the last calendar year, about one- half of which came from Switzerland. The i^roduction of cotton embroideries of e\erv description is an important and progressive industry in the United States, and efforts are being made by American manufacturers to produce fabrics that will take the plact' of many of those now imported. To assist in promoting this object, the report of Sjjecial Agent Clark was pre- pared. Lace and embroidery factories in many countries find that their best market is in tlie United States. For this reason descriptions of how the industry is carried on in Germany, France, Belgium, Eng- land, and India will also be of interest. Reports on the trade are tlierefore added from consular officers, making a rather comprehen- sive review of tlie lace and embroidery output from the leading cen- ters of world production. Respectfully, John M. Carsox, Chief of Bureau. To Hon. Oscar S. Straus. Seeretury of Gomineree and Labor. 5 SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. Switzerland, with only 15,469 square miles of land and some 3,500,- 000 people, had a total foreign trade in 1906 of $855,770,382, made up of $465,739,730 imports and $390,030,652 exports. The imports are mainly foodstuffs and raw materials, while the exports are prin- cipally manufactured products. The largest single item in the export list is silk goods, while the second largest is cotton goods, and for 1907 it is probable that cotton goods will rank first. In 1906 Switzerland imported cotton and cotton manufactures to the value of $21,410,273, clothed its own people, and exported cotton manufactures to the value of $4(),'.)2H,053. The total Swiss figures for cotton and cotton manufactures show that $32,900,670 came in over the border and that $52,409,450 went out over the border, but of this $11,481,397 represents the value of cotton manufactures that simply passed through the covmtry, and as it did not in any way affect the actual Swiss trade it may be disregarded. The average value of the raw cotton imported in 1906 was 14.55 cents a pound. The average vahie of all manufactures of cotton exported reached $1.15 a pound, while the average value of the em- broideries and laces alone reached $2.07 a pound. The " raw ma- terial " used in Swiss cotton manufacturing includes not only cotton, but yarns, thread, and cloth; but after taking these into consideration Switzerland still holds the record for the greatest difference between the value of cotton imported and cotton exported. Three-fourths of the cotton exports consist of embroidery and laces. ST. GALL THE EMBROIDERY CENTER OF THE WORLD. I Cotton mills in Switzerland center around Zurich, but have not enjoyed any great measure of prosperity and show no tendency to increase. Embroidery manufacturing, however, which is centered around St. Gall, in eastern Switzerland, has been on a great boom for several years, and its increase has been wonderful. Its exports to the United States alone were in 1906 double those of 1900. Its sales to other countries also show great gains, and St. Gall is now the em- broidery center of the world. Just at present the business is experi- encing a sharp setback, due to the money crisis in Xew York, but this 30314—08 2 7 8 SWISS BMBEOIDBRY AND LACE INDUSTRY. is only temporary. There are in Switzerland some 6,000 power ma- chines and 16,000 hand machines for niaking embroidery. The great bulk of these are centered around St, Gall, and their production is exported from that point. Around St. Gall are also situated the machine builders, the bleacheries, and the large number of small industries allied with this line of manufacturing. As yet there are only 616 embroidery machines in the United States, and the St. Gall manufacturers laugh at the idea of America being able to compete with Switzerland in this industry. It seems to be a fact, however, that on cheap handkerchiefs and some other ar- ticles, especially novelties that have to be put on the market quickly to meet a sudden demand, the United States is already getting the home market, and in time may be able to compete on broader lines. "What has been done in watchmaking may yet be done in embroidery making. In St. Gall itself the industry in a great measure owes its development to the application of American business methods, and the largest and most up-to-date factories are those owned and con- trolled by Americans. Switzerland's important advantages. The main advantages of Switzerland over the United States seem to be, first, the inherited aptitude of the St. Gall people for designing and manufacturing embroideries, which is fostered and aided by the concentration of the business in one place where everybody thinks and dreams about nothing but embroidery; second, facilities for ob- taining, at reasonable prices, high-grade yarns and cloths; third, extra fine Avater for bleaching ; fourth, cheaper first cost of machinery and building; fifth, cheap labor. The first point, in regard to the " embroidery atmosphere," about which much is sometimes made, affects mainly the designers and man- agers. The stitcher is a skilled worker, but it is work that any in- telligent man can soon learn and calls for little headwork. As (or the girl overseer, the shuttle filler, the sewing-machine repairer, etc., a large number are Italian girls who have been imjjorted and trained after arrival. In regard to the second point, high-grade muslins and cambrics and fine Egyptian yarns, such as are used on fine embroid- eries, can be obtained in St. Gall from Zurich or Manchester mucli cheaper than would be possible in Ncav Jersey. This fact tends for the present to limit the American embroidery factories to the cheaper grades on which the Swiss have not such an advantage in regard to the foundation material. The Swiss bleaching is exceptionably fine, which is due to the very soft water obtained from Lake Constance and other sources, and also, it is claimed, to secret bleaching processes. As no embroidery machinery is made in the United States the ma- chines will cost the American, including freight, duty, and installing. SWISS EMBEOIDEEY AND L,ACE INDUSTRY. 9 about twice what they will the Swiss, and the latter also gets his building somewhat cheaper. LOW WAGES OF OPERATIVES HAND AND P01\ER JIACHINES. The greatest advantage of the Swiss manufacturer is undoubtedly his cheaper laljoi. For instance, the operatives employed on the ac- tual work of eniljroidering or " stitching," as it is technically known, are the stitcher, the girl overseer (watcher Avould be a better word), and the shuttle filler. The stitcher in St. Gall will make, say. it^S to $12 a week, in New Jersey $18 to $30 ; the girl overseer in St. Ciall will be paid from 38 to ~>7 cents a day, in New Jersey from 8.1 cents to $1.35; the shuttle filler in St. Gall will be paid 3s cents a day, in New Jersey 75 cents. This is quite a difference and is especially important on fine embroideries, where the labor cost is really the controlling factor. The power machines are refeiTcd to as shuttle or schiffli machines. " Schiffli," from the (ierniiui word for boat, refers to the reseiiil)lnnce in shape to boats of the small shuttles used. In Switzerland there arc more hand machines than ])owcr machines, lint the larger portion of the power machines ;ire groujied in factories, while the hand machines are in the Avorkers' homes and are dependent on o\'erflow orders from the factories. The hand machines, therefore, do not run as continu- ously as the power machines, and when times of slackness arise, as at present, they are the first to feel the depression. For the last few j'ears there has been work for all and hand-machine workers have made good Mages. \t present a gTeat number of hand looms are stopped and others are being run at starvation prices. The hand ma- chines used around St. Gall are jn-actically all -i} yards long, while the bulk of the schiffli machines are (ij yards long. There arc also a large nmnber of 10-yard schiffli machines. These are the longest sin- gle machines, but recently there has been introduced from Plauen, Germany, a double machine — that is, 134 yards long. This is two Of-yard machines coupled together and worked liy one j^antogi-aiDh. It is more complicated than the ordinary .Swiss single machine, and can not be run quite as fast, but as it makes double the amount of em- broidery at a time and only uses one stitcher, one girl overseer, and two shuttle fillers it reduces the cost of stitching and seems to be a success. EFFECTS OF BISIXESS DEPRESSION. Sw'iss embroideries are now being sold in the United States at prices, due to lowered stitch rate, that must tend to seriously affect the American industry in all grades. Most of the big factories themselves are now running short time, three to four days a week, or else six hours a day, and wages have also been reduced. There 10 SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDXJSTBY. have been few cancellations of orders from the United States, but there is no new buying. The manufacturers are very gloomy over the outlook, but the larger mills have their previous big profits to fall back upon and are quietly taking advantage of the slackness to make needed alterations in their plants, to tighten the reins of discipline, and, where possible, to reduce wages and effect other economies. The business was so prosperous in 1904, 1905, 1906, and the first half of 1907 that there was a great increase in the number of ma- chines, and hence in the demand for labor. Wages in consequence rose steadily, and manufacturers claim that they went up out of proportion, but they now find it hard to force them down to the old level. ' If the present depression continues much longer, wages 'will weaken rapidly, as there is now not enough work to go round and large numbers are being thrown out of employment. The " stitch rate " rose correspondingly during the flush years, but with the slackening of demand since October this has dropped, and as wages have not dropped in proportion, the stitch rate is now the naked manufacturing costs. By " stitch rate " is meant the price that will be charged for taking cloth supplied and returning it " stitched "' — that is, embroidered. The stitch rate, therefore, should include all strictly manufacturing costs — labor, yarn, power, oil, repairs, rent — and the manufacturer's profit. At present the rate affords no profit to the manufacturer. ARRANGEMENT OF rACTORIES. The larger schiffli-machine factories are of brick or stone, usually two stories high, with heavy wood floor, iron columns, double win- dows, and saw-tooth roof. On the first floor are offices, bobbin- winding room, and one large room for the schiffli machines. On the second floor are inspecting tables, sewing machines, and brushing and shearing machine. Separate from the factory, which is always located in the suburbs or in the country, are the warehouses, which are mostly located in St. Gall. Some of these are very large and three to five stories high. Here are kept samples of goods from all over the world, great rooms full of embroidery patterns all indexed and carefully arranged, and in the basement £lre stored bales of cloth and yarn. In this building are the main offices, rooms for the designers, and show rooms, while the remainder of the building is devoted to inspecting the finished goods, putting them up in paste- board boxes and baling in wooden cases, and storerooms. The industry really divides itself into four processes — stitching, bleaching and finishing, cutting out, and putting up. The larger firms own their own warehouse as well as factory, but many confine SWISS EMBHOIDEEY AKD LACE INnUSTRY. 11 themselves to manufacturing, and export firms buy from them, put up the goods, and export. Cutting out is al-n'a3's done outside by home workers, while, with one exception, bleaching is also performed by a separate company. xVll the larger companies have their own designers, but smaller ones buy their patterns from special design- ers or have them supplied by the export company for which they are working. PROCESS OF irAXTJFACTXJRE. The processes straight through are as follows: The cloth and yam are bought from Zurich or Manchester. The cloth usiuilly comes in lengths of 63 yards, and is cut up into Gf-yard strips for use on the machine. It is mostly US or ri.5 inches wide. The yarn for embroid- ery comes ready for use on paper- tubes or spools. The schiffli yarn — that is, the yarn to be used in the small shuttles — comes in larger tubes or cones and is rewound on a special automatic machine into the little bobbins, made on a bare spindle, of a size to go into the shuttle, about 1 inch long and one-fourth inch diameter. The ma- terial is then stitched. From the schiffli machines the embroidery goes to the inspecting room, where it is pinned on long tables and clippers used to remove all floating threads. It is then run over an inspecting table and all defects marked with blue chalk. It goe^ to the sewing machines, where all defects are carefully repaired, using blue thread. It is again run over the inspecting machine and further mistakes nuirked M'ith red chalk and repaired as before. Some chisses of goods are then run through a brushing and shearing machine antl others brushed and threads clippecM)V hand. This finishes the manu- facturing. Every evening the bleacheries send around wagons or automobiles and collect the day's work for bleaching and starching. The usual ."io-inch goods have three lines of embroidery woven in each width, but there may be any number of strips in a piece. These are sent out to the workers' homes and cut apart with scissors. The goods then go to the warehouse, where they are inspected, rolled on sheets of cardboard, tagged, put up in jjasteboard boxes, and cased. They are inarked and turned ovei' to the shipping agent. EJIBEOIDERY JEAKIX'G MEANING OF TRADE TERMS. Embroider}' is made by " stitching " on a foundation of cloth, and the process on a schiffli machine is similar to that of a sewing machine, but instead of a single needle there is a row of needles, and instead of the cloth being laid horizontally it is fastened vertically. The foundation material is usually cambric or muslin, which is bought in wholesale lengths and cut up into pieces the length of the machine. Two strips are embroidered on each machine at a time, but as the process is exactly similar for each strip I will describe the working 12 SWISS EMBBOIDEBY AND LACE INDXTSTEY. jjarts and processes used for one. A study of Plate I will make clear the description. A single strip of cloth is known as a " coupe," Avhile the two strips together are called a " stickete." This coupe, usually 55 inches wide and 6f yards long, is fastened to pin hooks on two horizontal rollers in a vertical framework, so that it is stretched tight. Usually three pieces are sewed together side by side, so that they can be unrolled for stitching in succession and the macliine stopped for renewing only when all three are finished. In front of each coupe is a sliding bar, carrying a row of ordinary needles, which are clamped to the bar ^t equal spaces apart. Each needle does exactly the same work as every other needle and the distance between them shows the repeat, usually called the " rapport," of the pattern. This distance is measured in French inches (1 French inch=1.08 English inches), and the 1-inch French spacing is known as the 4/4 rapport. Similarly, for other spacing the machine is called a 3/4, a 6/4, a 12/4, or a 16/4 machine. The 3/4 is the smallest spacing used. There are only three makes, the 3/4, the 4/4, and the 6/4. The 3/4 machine (6f yards long) contains 342 needles to a row, the 4/4 machine contains 228 needles, and the 6/4 machine 156 needles. To make 8/4 work the 4/4 machine is used and every other needle re- moved, similarly the 6/4 is used for 12/4 work, etc. The greater the separation, the larger may be the design produced, and therefore the less changing of coupes. Stitchers are paid highest for the 3/4 rap- port, less for the 4/4, and still less for larger rapports. AVERAGE STITCH RATES REPRODUCING THE PATTERN. The following table shows the yearly and half-yearly range of stitching prices, in centimes (1 centime=about one-fifth of a cent), for staple 4/4 cotton embroideries from January 1, 1902 to 1908, on both schiffli and hand machines: Year. Schiffli machine' (6| yards) , Hand machine (4i yards). January. ; July. January. , July. 1902 Centimes. 37 38 27 29 sa 39 34 Centimes. 33 31 20 .■i8 39 Centimes. 29 29 23 26 81 3S 28 Centimes. 29 1903 29 190i 24 1905 32 1906 35 1907 __ . ._ 41 1908 _ __. „_. Behind each needle is a small tube, or cone, of embroidery yarn. Each paper cone holds some 500 yards or more of thread, and unless the thread breaks the needle does not have to be rethreaded, but when a cone runs out another is put on by the girl overseer without stop- SWISS EMBROIDEEY AND LACE INDUSTRY. 13 ping the machine. The needles are all fastened horizontally and point toward the cloth. The frame in Avhich they are fixed slides back and forth, so that the needles can pierce and withdraw, from the cloth, but has no other motion. The needles, when they pierce the cloth, carry through the em- broidery threads. Back of the cloth are an equal number of little pointed steel shuttles that carry small bobbins of yarn. These shut- tles slide up and down in slightly sloping grooves and are controlled by a bar that moves all alike. Each shuttle carries its yarn, usually called " schiffli yarn," under the embroidery yarn, making a lock stitch similar to that of an ordinary sewing machine. The needles Fig. 1. — Embroidering^ accessories of tlie schitHi machine. a_, shuttles : on bobbins ; c. needles : d, borers ; c', rounders. &, schifB! yarn moving in and out on a fixed slide, their working position in the cloth can only be controlled by moving the cloth. The cloth is therefore mounted on a movable framework, as stated, and this framework is moved to right or left, or up and down by means of a pantograph. rilK PANTOGRAPH BORING AND SHAPING THE PERFORATIONS. The pointer of the pantograph is held by the stitcher, who stands at the left of the frame, and with it he follows the lines of a design tacked on a vertical board. The design is always six times larger than the pattern to be reproduced, and the pantograph arranged for this projiiortion. It is seen that the schiffli machine, while large and 14 SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. very ingeniously constructed, is, after all, not very complicated in its operation. Besides the row of needles there is also usually a row of " borers," of " rounders," and of "festooners." Embroidery work without holes or openings in the cloth is called " blind work." For most embroid- ery it is necessary to perforate or " bore " the cloth. For this pur- pose there are used borers having four sharjp edges tapering to a point. These are pushed through the cloth by a method similar to that used for the needles, and the holes made the size required. After these edges are embroidered another instrument called the " rounder " is run through to shape up and round out the holes previously made. Most machines also have a festooning apparatus, consisting of a line of hooks on a long bar, to catch the thread of each needle when de- sired and by giving it a turn to work a loose border around the fin- ished embroidery. In Fig. 1 are shown full-size illustrations of the schiffli shuttles, the schiffli bobbins, needles, borers, and rounders. [Several sets of these accessories are on file in the Bureau of Manu- factures.] OPERATION OF THE HAND MACHINES. The majority of the schiffli machines are grouped in factories, but owing to the present wide distribution of electric power there is an increasing number of power machines being worked at home. The majority of the cottage machines, however, are hand worked. This machine is still simpler than the schiffli machine and is an exact re- production of ordinary sewing. The cloth is mounted on a mov- able framework, and, like the power machine, is controlled by a pantograph. The needles are pointed at both ends and threaded in the middle with short lengths of thread. On either side of the cloth are movable frames that roll in and out on slides. The needles are held in clips in one movable frame, but when pushed through the cloth are grasped and pulled through by the clips of the other sliding, frame. This frame moves out to the length of the thread to tighten it, then moves in and returns the needles through the cloth to the other row of clips, which repeat the process. The distance the slide moves out shortens each time with the decreasing length of the thread. The operator moves the pantograph with his left hand, with his right he operates the crank, and with his feet he works pedals that move the carriages in and out. ( See PI. II. j The needles have to be frequently rethreaded, and for this purpose there has been invented a very ingenious little machine that takes the needles from a slot, threads each in turn and cuts off the thread to the exact length required, and sticks the needles in. a row in a cushion. Those not able to afford this machine have to thread the needles by hand, which is a tedious process, especially as the lengths of thread SWISS EMBEOIDEKY AND LACE INDUSTRY. 15 have to be all the same to prevent waste. Hand-machine workers are supplied with cloth and patterns by the factory, but have to find their own yarn, power, and other requirements. CONDITIONS A3I0XG THE HOME WORKERS. To prevent advantage being taken of special workers to get work done at low wages, the hand workers, though scattered, have a strong organization that insists on equal rates to all. Some workers, how- ever, agree to buy the machines from the men who furnish them work, and as they have to pay jiractically all their jorofit for years on install- ments they have a miserable existence. For the last few ji'ears there has been a great surplus of work and the home workers have made a \'ery comfortable living, and in some cases large profits. Just at present the money crisis in the United Htates has affected the industry here so that the factories themselves can not keep running full time, and ino^t of the home workers are being thrown out of employment. The result is that they are glad to get work at any price, and in a good many cases arc actually working below cost. Thus, on standard 4/4 goods it is usually considered that, taking into account the cost of yarn and power and the cn-l .;] cents) ; Swiss mus- lin, about 10,000,000 francs; English nainsook, about 4,000,000 francs. The January 1, liiOS, quotations for the standard cloth qualities used for hand-machine and schiffli embroideries are given herewith. All other cloth qualities are according to market values. Prices are for unbleached goods and nominal number of threads (for cambrics IDer one-fourth inch English; for muslins per one-fourth inch French; 1 French inch=1.08 English inches). The English cloths are bought bv the yard and the Swiss cloths by the aune. (One aune=1.28G yards, and 1 yard=0.77S aune; tV^ yards=.)i aunes.) A •' stickete," which is the amount embroidered by a machine at one time, is there- 30314—08 3 16 SWISS EMBEOIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. fore 10| aunes (13J yards) for the schiffli machine and 7 aunes (9 yards) for the hand machine, there being two rows of needles on each. One piece. One stickete. Length. Price. Length. Price. Yards. Francs. Yards. Francs. 63 26.50 13J 5.89 63 27.25 13i 6.08 63 31.50 131 7.0O 63 33.50 13J V.45 63 33.50 m 7.89 67 24.50 9 4.08 57 29.50 9 4.92 57 33.00 9 5.50 S7 35.00 9 5. 83 57 37.00 9 6.17 57 40.00 9 6.68 Aunes. 44 22.00 9 3.8S 44 23.00 9 3.83 44 24.00 9 4.0O 44 27.00 9 4.50 44 30.00 9 5.00 44 33.50 9 5.88 48 29.00 135 8.44 48 31. OO 13J 6.89 48 34.00 13i 7.55 48 36.00 8.00 48 .38.00 13| 8.44 48 40.25 13J 8.96 Schiffli cambrics, 53-inch: Gray— 19/18 - __.. 22/19 22/24 Secoured — 22/26- 24/26 ^_ Hand-machine cambrics, 53-inch; Gray— 22/18— 24/24 Secoured— 26/24 22/26 26/28 30/30 : Swiss muslins: 47|-inch (120cm.), 2 J.«— 22/18 22/20- 22/24 24/24 24/26 65-inch (140 cm.), 2 1.''— 22/18 22/20 22/24 24/24 - 24/26 26/26- CHEMICAL LACES. Por the schiffli machine; Wool cloth, 14/14, 160 cm. , up to 100/3 yarn Meter." 1 1 1 . 1 1.00 1.25 1.80 1.95 13J 13J 13i 9 12 25 Wool cloth, 16/18, 160 cm. , for 120/3 yarn, -- Silk cloth, 120 cm., for above 120/3 yarn _ 22 50 Por the hand machine: Silk cloth, 120 cm 17.20 "If. one-half franc per piece more. ''If. three-fourths franc per piece more. " Meter=39..37 inches. EMBROIDERY YARN PACTOEY jNIETHODS. The embroidery yarns used runs from 40s to 240s, and is always ply yarn. Formerly the main number was 120s 3 ply, but as 60s 2 ply is the same size and is cheaper, this is now the predominating number. A large portion of the yarn is Egyjjtian cotton. Of course all these yarns are combed. There is a large consumption of 200s for the fine work and a smaller consumption of 240s, and some even finer, for special work. A good deal of mercerized yarn is used, and there is much embroidery made by threading alternate needles with artificial silk and with Egyptian yarn, which makes the repeat seem double the actual. The factories on fine goods do quite a little manipulating with the machines ; such, for instance, as embroidering the center of the figure with silk, rethreading the needles, and embroidering the remainder of the figure with Egyptian cotton. In other cases chem- SWISS EMBEOIDEEY AND LACE INDTJSTKY. 17 ically prepared cloth is used with a backing of cotton cloth, and in places the cotton backing is folded back and the embroidery made on the chemical cloth alone. When finished the chemical cloth dis- appears and there is shown embroidery with spaces of open-lace effects, etc. Different embroidery is made for different markets. An instance may be noted in the holes or bores in the cloth. For England quite a little is made with elliptical holes, but for the United States the round hole is the style. A large amount of embroidered cotton net is sept to France, but comparatively little to the United States, etc. As the schiffli yarn (used in the shuttles) does not show, it is usually finer than the embroidery yarn, being cheaper because giving more yards to the pound. This fact alone will usually show whether the em- broidery is made on the schiffli or on the hand machine, as the latter uses the same thread on both sides. BURNT-OUT LACE REGULATION OF EJIBROIDERY VALUES. Most of the lace made at SI. CJall is the kind known as "' burnt-out lace," and is made on the regular schiffli embroidery machine. It is made on a foundation of prepared woolen m- silk cloth instead of the ordinary cotton cloth. After manufacture this is treated with chem- icals and the blue or yellow chemical cloth disappears, leaving the cotton lace uninjured. Some of this material is prepared so tliat by passing a hot iron over it the animal material disappears, as in the case of the chemical treatment, leaving tlie cotton. In regard to the expense of making embroidery ready for sale it will be found that on most embroideries the stitch rate is the largest item, then the cost of the foundation material, and then the bleaching and putting-up costs. In the case of embroideries shipped to the United States these rates are all officially fixed every week by an agent of the United States Treasury stationed at St. Gall, who keeps in active touch with the market. His method is to ascertain the market rates and fix the official values for stitch rate, for bleaching, for cutting out, and for special work. These uniform values have to be figured in the export valuation of every lot of goods. There then has to be figured in 5 per cent for office and managing expenses — in other words, fixed charges, including salary, insurance, interest, and taxes. To this the exporter has to add at least 8 per cent for profit. For fine goods and specialties the profit thus figured runs from 8 to 50 per cent, but must be put down on the invoice be- tween these limits. There is then added the cost of the pasteboard boxes and the wooden cases, the legalization or consular fee, amount- ing to $2.50 on each invoice, and then the freight. The insurance in transit is usually paid in the United States. 18 SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. MANUFACTURING COSTS. To give a complete idea of this system, and also to show some of the inside manufacturing costs, I will first give a summary of the official table made up by the Treasury agent, then details of some of the costs, and then figure the costs landed at New York of a couple of standard styles of embroidery. The following are the official rates for stitch work, etc., that had to be adhered to in their detailed valuations by all exporters shipping embroideries to the United States during the week from December 19 to 26, 1907 : HAND-MACHINE EMBKOIDEKIER WITH COTTON THKEAD. The liand-macbiiie stitch rates for the different classes of embroidery are as follows : Rapport. On cambric, nain- sook, or muslin with white or ecru yarn. On white founda- tion with colored yarn (one color only) . On colored founda- tion with white yarn. On colored foundar tion with colored yarn (one color only) . Coarse. Medium and fine. Coarse. Medium and fine. Coarse. Medium and fine. Coarse. Medium and fine. 6/4 5/4 4/4 3/4 — - Centimes. 30 34 34 48 Centimes. 28 32 28 40 Centimes. 36 36 42 52 Centimes. 32 34 36 52 Centimes. 36 40 40 7,1 Centimes. 36 40 38 52 Centimes. 38 44 44 52 Centimes. 38 44 42 52 Gratli, 4/4, up to 100 stitches, 45 centimes per gratli ; up to 200 stitches, 38 centimes ; from 200 stitches upward, 34 centimes. Hand-machine embroideries, large repeats, S/4, 12/4, 16/4 and larger, each 27 centimes. Irregular shirt waist and other Irregularly embroidered ma- terial, 3/4 to 24/4, 42 centimes per 100 stitches.. Hand-machine embroideries with application (net or other cloth), 4/4, 6 centimes more than others; 6/4, 8/4, and 12/4, each 4 centimes more than others, Coarse, up to 150 stitches per needle thread. Colored, 3 centimes more for each color. Glanz yarn, 2 centimes more than others. For finishing the rates per coupe of 4i yards on goods up to 55 inches In width are : Description. Cost. Francs. Singeing, bleaching, and finishing white goods 91 Singeing, washing, and finishing ecru goods 80 For colored foundation with white or colored yarn 91 For white foundation with colored yarn I 91 Embroideries with woven laces, tucks, or on double cloth, piqu6, etc., 50 i)er cent more. Hand-machine laces and trimmings, and all other special articles, including white goods, special articles, glanz-yarn embroidered goods, embroideries on linen, mercerized cloth, and other cloth than cambric, muslin, or jaconet, ac- cording to the article. SCHIFFI.I EMBROIDERIES WITH COTTON THREAD. For the OJ yards machine : 3/4, 44 centimes ; 4/4, 34 centimes ; 6/4, 30 cen- times ; 8/4, 30 centimes ; 12/4, 28 centimes ; 16/4 and larger, 29 centimes. SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDXJSTBY. 19 For finishing tlie rates per coupe up to 6J yards on goods up to 55 inches in width are : Description. Singeing, bleacliing, and finishing white goods Singeing, washing, and finishing ecru goods For colored foundation with white or colored yarn. For white foundation with colored yarn Cost. -I France. 1.32 1.1.5 1.32 1.32 BmbroiderieK with woven laces. tucUs, or on double cl(Jtli, pique, eti\, 50 per cent more. Colored. 3 centimes more for each color. Glanz yarn, 2 centimes more. On cotton net foundation (Orientales), for the 6J yards machine: 4/4, 40 centimes; 6/4, 40 centimes; 8/4, .3.S centimes; 12/4, 35 centimes. Bleaching, dyeing;, and finishing, 2..5(i francs up to li;o/l (400 centimeters), 6i yards one coupe. Cotton chemical laces (without application), for the U] yards machine: G/4, 2S centimes; 8/4, 2!) centimes; 12/4, 2S centimes; l(;/4 and larwr. I'.ii centimes. The stitch rules for cotton chemic.-il laces with net. batiste, or other cloth applications to be valued at 2 centimes more for eaih repeat. Irregularly em- broidered schiffli-niaehine materials, 5 lentimes more per ItHJ stibhes in all repeats. Silk chemical laees and silk embroideries, same stitch prices as ecrttcm. but the proper prices for silk thread. Schiflli-machine special .-irticles, including white «oods special articles. Klauz- yarn or colored embroidered ;; Is, embroideries on linen, njereeri/.ed rleth, and other cloth than cambric, muslin, or .iaeonet. according to the articles. E.MIiBOIDKHKl) 1 1 .\NDKEIiCll lEFS. Embroidered handkercliiefs on eotlon and on linen foundation, jirr frame of 24 pieces, for all four borders: Description and rapport. While enibroiderie.-i; 8/-I l/l Colored o:iiliroidt'ri('M (uiie or two colors only): 6/1 4/1 U|i to im stitches. Up to stitchr tio s. c |. to 700 itches. ^ntiii^e.'i. JS 46 60 60 From 700 stitches up- ward. Centimes. 1.) Centimes. :a .32 0-> Centimes. 40 40 48 48 Hand-machine handkerchiefs irregularly embroidered (without frames) : 4/4, up to 300 stitches. 50 centimes; from 300 stitches upward, 45 centimes; t!'4 up to 200 stitches, 511 centimes; from 2ti0 stitches upward, 45 centimes. Schiffli-machine handkerchiefs: 4/4, 2X17=34", 34 centimes per 100 stitches. For embroidering handkerchiefs of silk the following rates additional to those for cotton or linen are charged : Cotton embroideroil; White Colored Silk embroideroil: Wliite Colored Description. Dp to 70O _f ji.hpci 111, stitches. '"'™afa"P 1.5 1.5 Centimes. 10 10 20 SWISS EMBK.OIDEBY AND LACE INDUSTBY. Glanz yarn, 2 centimes more. Sewing togetlier, bleactiing, and finistiing (excluding cutting out, hemming, and mailing up) : Muslin and nainsook, up to 700 stitches, 25 centimes per dozen ; from 700 stitches upward, 31 centimes per dozen ; linen, 37 centimes per dozen. OTHEE INCIDENTAL PROCESSES AND PBODUOTS. For Gegauf and other sewing-machine work the following rates : Description of worli. Gegauf. Singer. Hemming handlcerchiiefs _ - .... Hem in continuous length .. - per dozen.. _ _ . . per aune Centimes. 60 3i 1 Centimes. 35 2J rlo 1 Cutting out (for ordinary scallops) : For hand-machine embroideries, 0.6 centime per aune ; for schlffli-machine embroideries, 0.7 centime per aune. Hand and schlffli machine embroideries on double cloth, 3 centimes more per 100 stitches for each repeat. Hand and schiffli machine ties and scarfs, 3 centimes more per 100 stitches for each repeat. APPLICATION OF THE STITCH RATE. The " stitch rate," as previously explained, is the price charged by the manufacturer for stitching, and this is usually the largest item in the cost of the finished embroidery. The wages of the " stitcher," the man who operates the machine, are usually about one-fifth of the stitch rate, but this varies with the different qualities. The stitcher is paid by the hundred or by the thousand stitches in a repeat of the pattern. Suppose there are 500 stitches in a repeat of 4/4 goods, and that there are three strips of embroidery to be made from each 55-inch width. The stitcher has to run his pantograph pointer over the design for one strip, then move the cloth up one-third its width, trace the design again, move the cloth up another third, and trace again. He is therefore paid for 3 times 500, or 1,500 stitches. As there are two pieces of cloth on a machine at the same time, he really embroiders six strips, but as the lower row of needles simply dupli- cate the work of the upper this is not considered in fixing his wages. If he is paid 7 centimes a hundred stitches, he makes therefore 7 times 15, or 1.05 francs a stickete. If he makes 12,000 stitches a day, he gets off 8 sticketes and makes 8.40 francs, say $1.62. The schiffli ma- chines can run up to 120 stitches a minute, but this depends on the class of work, and for ordinary goods 80 stitches a minute is a good average. The embroidery factories usually run ten and one-half hours a day (the variations are from nine to eleven) nominally; that is, they start at 7 o'clock and run to 12, start at 1.30 and run to 7, but there is a fifteen-minute rest at 8 and at 4 o'clock, so that the actual time is not over ten hours. Eighty stitches a minute for 600 minutes gives SWISS EMBEOIDEKY AND LACE INDUSTEY. 21 48,000 stitches as the theoretical production, but the actual produc- tion varies between 8,000 and 12,000 stitches a day, so that on few goods can the production be figured over 25 per cent of the theo- retical. stitchers' wage tariffs. Two tariffs, found posted in separate factories, are given, showing the wages paid stitchers for various classes of goods. The first may be taken as the average wages for ordinaiy standard articles, while the second is from a mill on fine specialties and may be taken as the high-water mark. All prices are in centimes per 1,000 stitches (100 centimes=:19.3 cents) : bore: work (EMBROIDERIES). Classification. Averaffe. Special. 6S yards. 10 yards, i 6!^ yards. , 10 yards. 4/4 blind 4/4 minimum 4/4und6rl,000 stitclics 4/4 1,000 to 2.0OO stitches I 4/4 2,000 to 3,000 stitches... 6/4 blind _ i 6/4 minimum ' 6/4 under l.OOOstitelies ' 6/4 1,000 to 2,000 stitches ] 6/4 2,000 to 3,000 stitches ■ Largo rapports: Minimum Underl.OOO stitches 1,000 to 2,000 stitclii* I 2,000 to 3,000 stitches ... Centime}!. Centimes. m 70 80 100 , !X> I Centimes. Centimes. 70-80 7.V-80 70-7,-) So 70 100 78 60 8.') 120 107 U.7 80-8.5 L 7V,HI) . 65-71" . eo 70 80 00 75 li.) S 1 75 U>'. Siimnles of any rapport, l."i to 'iO centimes oxtru. BURNT GOODS (LACES). 3/4 with or without cord 4/4 smooth goods 6/4, 8/4, 12/4, and larger rapport.s, smooth goods Application to rapport, additional High relief, additional Blouso goods: 4/4, additional 6/4 and larger rapports, additional Samples, per rapport additional ,-*..-..-, 60 .'•0-.'.2 60 3 4 3 2 10-12 10 .... 62 .78 67 .-.7 07 5 10 5 ■ 20 15 I For extraordinary relief, application with two or three cloths, silk goods included, by agree- mout. On silk and very fine goods the stitcher i^ usually paid by the daj', especially for work that has to be done very slowly and carefully. W.VOES OF other operatives FREIGHT .\ND IXCIDENTAL EXPENSES. In regard to other operatives, the girl overseer, who walks up and down the front of the machine to see that the needles are stitching cor- rectly, keeps the needles threaded, corrects any slight defects found, etc., is usuallj' paid 2-J or 3 francs a day. The shuttle filler usually gets 2 francs a day. She keeps the schiffli .shuttles supplied with the little 1-inch bobbins of yarn, and for ordinary work it takes a shuttle filler to a machine. The girls who inspect the cloth, those who repair 22 SWISS BMBEOIDEBY AND LACE INDUSTEY. defects with the sewing machine, and others get also from 2 to 3 francs. The superintendent of an 80-machine factory on fine goods that I visited got 400 francs a month, but 250 francs a month is about the average. The highest paid men in the business are the managers of the company and the designers, who are paid wages more nearly corresponding to what similar men ayouM get in the United States. The cost of bleaching and of cutting out has been given in the Treasury statement. In freight rates there is a slight difference according as shipped by Hamburg, -Southampton, or other points. The present rate by way of Hamburg is 13^ francs per 100 kilos ($2.61 per 220.46 pounds) , and the insurance on goods in transit is one-fifth of 1 per cent. The pasteboard boxes in which the embroideries are put up cost from 30 to 50 centimes each, while the average wooden case containing, say, some 225 kilos costs 16^ francs, or $3.13, each. ELECTEIC-POWER RATES IN ST. GALL. The city of St. Gall supplies electric power to factories and to home workers, and there are also outside companies, who get their power from waterfalls. As this saves a great deal in the first cost, all of the new mills use electric power, and most of the old ones have taken out their old steam and gas engines for this source of supply. Last year, owing to an unusually dry season, there was not enough water for the electric plants, and some of the mills that had changed over had to make hurried alterations and fall back on their old source of supply and those that had none had to run short time. Some of the mills for this reason still kept their old engines as an auxiliary in case of trouble. The following schedule of yearly rates for electric power, furnished me by the city of St. Gall, has been reduced to United States values: Horsepower. Rate. Horsepower. Rate. One-half $48.25 81.06 144.75 202.65 252.06 Five - Six - — $308.80 One — 365.93 Two Ten ^ 579.00 Three . . 1,003.60 Four _ Forty 1,698.40 All power is supplied on a yearly contract. The rates given are for 1908, being the new rates just made. They are much higher than the 1907 rates, when the rate for 1 horsepower was $62.73, and others in proportion. The 6| schiffli machine requires about one-fifth horse- power per machine. EXPERUIENTAL BLEACHING IN THE UNITED STATES. To show the proportions of. the component costs in the manufacture of embroideries I have worked out the following details in regard to two standard makes of 4/4 embroidery, one having 385 stitches and SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. 23 the other 1,079 stitches. [The original samples are on file in the Bureau of Manufactures. For illustration of them see Figs. 2 and -t.] The figures, of course, are for bleached goods, as few goods are shipped in the gray to the United States or elsewhere. Those that are so shipped are either goods to be used in the gray, of which there is a small amount, or else, as occasionally happened last year, goods that Fig. 2. — 4/4 Rapport embroidery, 3S5 stitches in a repeat. Stickete, 13* yards. 13i .yards of cambric weighed l.Si! pounds, the finished embroidery 3.36 pounds. could not be finished in time, because the bleacheries were so rushed, and were therefore sent over to be finished in the United States so as to be delivered on contract time. One manufacturer informed me that his firm had tried the experi- ment of having goods bleached in the United States. Shipping in the gi-ay, the goods not being put up in cardboard, saved in freight, and 24 SWISS EMBKOIDEEY AND LACE INDXJSTEY. the v^lue of the gray goods being much lower than the bleached and finished goods, there was quite a saving in duty. Also, the cardboard and boxes were cheaper in the United States and the cost of putting up not materially different. His firm figured that, on the whole, it was slightly cheaper to ship in the gray and bleach and make up in the United States than to ship the bleached goods, but that on account of the American, bleaching not being as pure white as the Swiss bleaching and because they have their own warehouse, etc., for this . Fig. 3. — Diagram showing cost distribution of emi>roidery sliown in Fig. 2. purpose already at St. Gall, they have never followed up the results obtained. COST DISTRIBUTION. The detailed itemization of the cost of the 4/4 rapport embroidery, 385 stitches in a repeat, shown in Fig. 2, is as follows : Francs. Cloth, two 6i-yarcl pieces of .53-iucli cambric, 19/18 cousti-uctioxi 5. S9 Stitcliing, etc., 385 stitches, at 34 centimes, 3 strips 3. '.13 Bleaching and finishing 2. 04 Cutting out, lOJ aunes, at 0.7 centime au aune, 3 strips .21 Making up, carding paper, etc .36 Expenses, 5 per cent .? .55 Profit, 8 per cent .84 Boxes, case, etc .20 Legalization ($2.50=13 francs for, say, ]0 cases) .01 Freight and insurance (freight at 134 francs per 100 kilos; insnralice at 0.2 per cent) .24 Total 14.87 SWISS EMBBOIDEKY AND LACE INDTJSTKY. 25 This would be price f. o. b. Xew York. To this has to be added CO per cent duty and then about 75 per cent to cover all expenses between Fig. 4. — Plattstich embroidery, 4/4 rapport, 1.079 stitches in a repeat. Sticltete, 13J .^ :irds. i;^'i yards of muslia" weighed 1.67 pounds, the finished embroidery :i.81 pounds. i;tO sticlcetes, or ."lI'iI.T yards of single strips, put up in each case. the custom-hou.se and the customer, including landing charges, im- porter's costs, etc., and retailer's profit, so that the retail price in Xew 26 SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. York would be 41^ francs, or, say, $8. As each stickete consists of six strips 17 inches wide and 6f yards long, this is 40^ yards for $8, or, say, 20 cents a yard. The stitch rate in the above case, not including the manufacturing profit, was made up as follows : Stitcher, 8 centimes ; overseer, 3 cen^ times; shuttle filler, 2 centimes; repairing, etc., 2 centimes; yarn, 15' centimes; power, oil, and other expenses, 4 centimes; total, 34 cen- times. Pig. o.-^-Diagi-am showing cost distribution of embroidery shown in Pig. 4. The items of cost of the Plattstich embroidery shown in Fig. 4 are as follows : Prancs. Clotb, two 6 J-yard, pieces of 55-incli muslin, 22/24 construction 8.00 Stitching,, etc., 1,079 stitches, at 34 centimes, 3 strips 11.00 Bleaching, etc 2. 64 Cutting out, lOi aunes, at 0.7 centime an aune, 3 strips . 21 Making up, carding paper, ?tc .36 Expenses, 5 per cent 1.10 Profit, 25 per cent 5. 2S Boxes, case, etc . .20 Legalization ($2.50=13 francs for, say, 10-case invoice) .01 Freight and insurance (freight at 13i francs per 100 kilos; insurance at 0.2 per cent) .2!) Total 2!). 09 This would be the price f . o. b. New York. . To this has to be added the 60 per cent duty and, say, 100 per cent for intermediate costs, including landing charges, importer's costs, etc., and retailer's profit, so that the retail price in New York would be about 93 francs, or, say SWISS EMBEOIDEEY AND LACE INDUSTRY. 27 $18. As each stickete (the amount embroidered on a machine at one time) consists of two 6J-yard lengths, each containing three single strips, this makes the price per yard of each strip about 4.5 cents. The history of this particular piece of embroidery might be summed up as follows : Per pound. Raw cotton sold by American farmer .Tt $0.12 Muslin .sold by Manchester manufacturer at .!)2 Embroidery sold by St. Gall exporter at 1. 4S; Embroidery bought by American farmer's wife at 4. T.'i ANALYSIS OF THE LAKE COXSTANCE WATER. One of the main advantages of the Swiss over the American em- broideries has always been claimed to be the exceptional whiteness of its bleaching. Most of the water used for bleaching in the .St. (lull district is obtained from Lake Constance, and to test their claim in this respect I had an analysis made by the l)esl expert in this line at St. Gall and submit a translation of the same herewith: [Expert analysis of the Lake Constance water, liy E. Schaufelberger, St. Gall.] AViitcr is judged, first, ncconlin^ Id its aiipoaraiic-i'. and, mm-chhI. aci-urdinK to Its chemical iiroperlics. In ajipcarancc it sliuuld lie cnlorlfss, clear, and almvi' suspicion. As to its inner iircipcrlics, it slicndd be not too bard, or at least should possess only so-c.-illcd Icnipcirary and not permanent hardness. The averat,'(' analysis of the wnt<'[' of Lake t'onstanee, with a comparison of other Swiss waters, is as follows: [Amounts slated in inillit'i-ams i« liter. 1 Constituents Carbonate of lime Carbonate of magnesia Sulpliate of llmc_„ Chloride of soda Silicic acid Arsillacciius earths Oxide of iron Potasll Dry residuum .- Calcined residuum Total carbonic acid Fixed and one-half tixoit carbonic acid Free carbonic acid Lake (innstancc water. s ample 1 Samiilp2. Samples. i.Samiilc 4. I1S.3 iii.ri 41. li 3.: Trace. Trace. Trace. ISil.l) 173.2 126.1 120.4 Spring water." River water. 120.0 I 12|-..,5 I "il'l'l li).7 ! Trace. 108.8 Pond water. Ills. II Ki.ll 174.0 14S.0 107.0 180.0 404.0 :t74.0 171.0 201). .S 220.8 111.0 2S1.8 2l:1.2 a-i.o HEIJRBES OF HARDNESS SHOWN BY ANALYSES. 'French.'' li.7 U.5 'French. 15.0 . 12.5 "Fre/ich. li.O 12.5 'French. 18.0 12.5 Temporary hardness Permanent hardness (gypsum or sulphate 4.2 2.5 2.5 5.5 (1 Pure, very hard. 6 1° Prench^l part carbonate o( lime, in 100,000 parts water. Scale: 1° German= 1.79° Frcnch^l.i;.5° English hardness. The water of Lake Constance is therefore comparatively pure, and may even be^lsed for drinking (especially if filtered). The properties of the water make it excellent for bleaching purposes. 28 SWISS EMBEOIDEBY AND LACE INDUSTEY. By dividing the calcined residuum by 10 the degree of total hardness may be approximately ascertained and a c6mparative table may be made of the various analyses. Bleaching can be effected with hard vcater if an arrangement exists for purifying the water. The Clark method " is a good and cheap one for this pur- pose. It is the best for depositing the carbonate of lime, which can then be removed, and the cost of it is small. Purified water is good for use in steam boilers, as it enables considerable saving to be made in soap, soda, acids, etc. CONSULAR REPORT. [By Consul-Generai, S. C. McFari.and, St. Gall.] St. Gall is the clearing house of a large manufacturing district embracing some four Cantons. The actual producing processes are carried on in numerous and small towns, in villages, and almost uni- versally in the homes of the inhabitants. The highest in altitude of any community in the civilized world, its surrounding hills practi- cally capable of producing grass only, its people in the last century were impelled to creative industry, and were assisted by its location on the old route between Italy, Canton GrisonS, and south Germany. At first all attention was given to flax products, and the looms to be found in almost every house soon gave it a local reputation in linens. The introduction of cotton rapidly changed all this, and the house workers in flax developed into expert producers of handmade laces and embroideries, for which the district of Appenzell is still famous. The Eittmayer embroidery machine was invented near St. Gall about 1830, but it was not until 1886 that the first half dozen machines were in operation to compete with hand machines. The growth was then rapid, new improvements being added by various manufacturers, until the number now in operation in the embroidery district — the Cantons of St. Gall, Appenzell, Thurgau, Zurich, and of the Vorarl- berg, for which St. Gall is the market and clearing house^s approx- imately 6,000. These are all immense new machines, whose use dates back not further than 1894, machines in prior use having been neces- sarily relegated to the scrap heap. Of hand machines, which have not materially changed in character, there are some 16,000 in opera- tion, according to Mr. Karl Kaufmann, the American treasury agent at St. Gall. DEVELOPMENT OE AMERICAN AND SWISS EMBROIDERY INDUSTRIES. It is here interesting to summarize the American embroidery devel- opment. From 1890 to 1906 the number of embroidery plants estab- " A full description of this method may be found on page 410 of " Water Supply," by Prof. W. P. Mason, published by John Wiley & Sons, New York City.— B. of M. SWISS EMBEOIDEEY AND LACE INDUSTEY. 29 lished in the United States and the number of machines therein were as follows : state. Estab- lish- ments. Ma- chines. Estab- State. , lish- ments. Ma- chines. New York . . . 62 60 11 3 1 291 233 29 36 3 19 1 Including four machines sent to Canada, Switzerland furnished 259 of these machines and Saxony 361, a total of 620. The exportation of Swiss machines to the United States still con- tinues; but manufacture there can reach development only through trials identical to those experienced at St. Gall. The low wage rates here laid the foundation of the industry; and with it, aided bj' abun- dance of pure water, grew up the accessories of bleaching, dyeipg, finishing, machine and tool production, and the almost numberless subindustries whose very existence is dependent upon the mother industry. The blending of community interests in practically one product — such as, for instance, embroideries at St. Gall ; silk cloth at Zurich; silk ribbons at Basle; gold watches at Geneva; common watches, in all possible grades, at Neuchatel and Solothurn ; locomo- tive and heavy machinery at Winterthur; electrical machinery at Oerlikon and Baden ; embroidery machinery at Arbon ; knitted goods in Aargau, and chocolate and cheese in their specific cantons — may not be the wisest economic procedure. Diversification may offer the advantage of modifying the disasters of inevitable hard times in one industry, but the application in one line of all thought and all effort, generation after generation, results in a rare perfection and economy of product. This is the chief secret of St. Gall embroideries. LABOR, WAGES, AND EXPORTS. Mr. Kaufmann places the number of office embroidery employees — designers, enlargers, and clerks — at 7,000 in St. Gall, and of direct embroidery work people of both sexes in the district at 80,000. In allied industries, outside of dairy and purely mercantile pursuits, may be aligned almost the entire balance of the population. Factory wages, small from an American standpoint, are perhaps the highest in Europe, as is also the standard of living. Foremen receive from $1.20 to $1.80 a day, expert stitchers from 90 cents to $1.90, ironers from 90 cents to $1, and less expert workers down to 60 cents. Sal- aries of managing experts are large, even from an American salary standpoint. Three-fourths of the factory and house workers are females. The number of manufacturers and exporters having warehouses or headquarters in St. Gall is about 250, and the total value of ex- 30 SWISS EMBROIDERY AND LACE INDUSTRY. ports of embroideries and laces alone from the district in 1906 was $30,593,474, distributed as follows: Whither exported. Value. Whither exported. Value. United States $14, 877, 148 6,279,184 2, 348, 628 1,667,218 634,680 501,574 .568,840 626,021 6867,465 612, 643 707,745 220,586 208, 786 484, 056 Great Britain Central America Argentina Italy Holland Total Austria 30, 593, 474 The largest single St. Gall concern exports annually about $2,000,000, chiefly to the United States, while several fall only a small sum below this. The average concern, however, exports about $200,000. There are many engaged in business on a small scale — collectors of house-industry products — ^whose aggregates run only from $2,000 to $10,000. GREAT INCREASE IN EXPORTS TO THE UNITED STATES. The exports of laces and embroideries to the United States given in the foregoing general statement throw some light on that St. Gall industry, but nothing illuminates it like the record of total exports to the 'United States for specific years since 1864, as follows: 1864. $67,989; 1870, $1,343,744; 1880, $4,351,995; 1890, $7,247,952; 1900^ $7,389,924; 1906, $15,981,168.' The following statement shows the value of declared exports from the consular district of St. Gall to the United States during the three months ended September 30, 1907: Article. Value. Article. Value. Appenzell goods, hand embroideries .1 S3. 365 Job of handkerchiefs ?13,305 12, 929 29 962 Bolting cloth, silk Cheese 26,108 97,183 2,893 4,287 V84, 982 1, 873, 695 35, 027 173,272 102, 204 300,342 32,167 9,939 4,691 271.947 19,318 67, 222 Kilo embroideries (imperfections): Chocolate Schiffli machine Church articles 11,741 28,569 10, 008 Cotton embroideries: Hand machine .- Plain cotton cloth: Schiffli machine Cotton laces and trimmings: Silk laces and trimmings: SchifHi machine 91, 687 21 226 Collars, blouses, robes, ties, and other Schiffli machine . embroidered cotton fancy articles. . Curtains Tidies, pill o w shama, scarfs, and other tamhonred articles, except curtains Yarn 41,230 25,753 16,525 Figured and dotted Swisses: Woven Embroidered Total • Gegauf, tucks, and other sewed arti- cles 4,112,753 3,919,763 Total same period in 1906 Handkerchiels Job of hand-machine embroideries . . . 192,990 Job of Schifai-machine embroideries. . MARKET AFFECITED BY AMERICAN FINANCIAL DISTURBANCE. The recent American financial disturbance might have been pre- sumed, had its occurrence been foreseen, to have produced much more serious local consequences than have as yet resulted. Of the total Swiss embroidery exports of $30,593,474 in 1906, the United States took $14,877,148, Great Britain coming next with $6,279,184, and the balance being distributed throughout the world. During 1907 ex- SWISS EMBBOIDERY AST) LACE INDUSTRY. 31 portations not only increased, but the United States has taken a greater proportionate share. As the industry not only relies chiefly upon the American market, but with respect to many of its concerns is American in fact, the sudden stoppage of business upon the other side, coupled with fully 33| per cent of cabled cancellations of orders booked and largely in hand, might well have been disastrous. That conditions were somewhat unhealthy did not tend to help the situation. In 1864 embroidery exports to the United States were $67,550 and in 1897 they had risen to $5,734,029. In 1906 they had jumped to $14,877,148, and for 1907 (December estimated) will amount to over $18,000,000. These figures presume a boom growth, which exactly describes conditions when the American financial crisis upset all plans and threw the market into a state of almost hysterical uncertainty. The increase in October had been $749,853 as compared with October, 1906, the month's total figures being $1,822,560, breaking all records. It had been figured, upon the basis of orders received and in prospect, that November and December increases would show a similar gain over the figures for the corresponding months of last year, and that until June, 1908, at least, nothing was in sight to disturb the phe- nomenal growth of business so far as the United States was concerned. The figures given for 1907 (December estimated) need explana- tion in view of my former reports fixing the probable total at between $19,000,000 and $20,000,000. As a basis for previous figures I took my predecessor's annual declared export return for 1906, figuring therefrom current gains by months. It recently became apparent that our aggregate of monthly totals would not balance with these figures. My predecessor's figures for 1906 were therefore gone o\er month by month, resulting in the discovery that, instead of a total business of $15,981,168, as he reported, the actual figures should have been $14,879,058, a difference of $1,102,100, which exactly explains my previous miscalculations. EXCESSI\K JIAIv'tFACTimiNG ACTIVITY. Old concerns were increasing their plants as rapidly as machinery could be had. New concerns, large and small, financiered by local capitalists and backed by local banks, were springing into existence all through the embroidery district of East Switzerland and the Voral jSIountains. Local machinery manufacturers were pushing production to the utmost limit, one concern alone having orders booked in October for 550 machines, and turning them out at the rate of 90 per month ; and, the local supj^ly not being equal to the demand, machines were being imported from Saxony in large quantities. Fac- tories, unable to keep pace with orders for embroideries, competed with each other in bidding for " house work " — letting out their orders to small concerns and families operating one or more machines in a fashion peculiar to this district. 32 SWISS BMBEOIDEBY AND LACE INDXJSTKY. Technical papers and expert observers had, entirely apart from any anticipated disturbance such as came so suddenly from the United States, uttered conservative warnings, pointing to the unsatisfactory European markets, especially in Germany, to the impending Presi- dential election year in the United States, and to strained credits at home, so many of the new enterprises operating almost entirely upon bank credits. Nothing, however, availed to stop the rush until the American crisis, as it is here called, effected a sudden halt. Not a single failure has, however, so far occurred, although it is frankly admitted that many large and otherwise solvent concerns have been in straits for cash, to say nothing of the smaller and newer enter- prises. BUSINESS EECOVEEY PROSPECTS. Bank accommodations ceased, bank rates advanced- sharply, no money was to be had for current Americ'an shipments, and altogether the situation was discouraging. It has been met philosophically and a much more optimistic feeling prevails now than four weeks ago. A consensus of opinion of leading manufacturers, many of them well conversant with American conditions, agrees in predicting an early partial and an eventual full recovery, based upon the excellent indus- trial as distinguished from the financial conditions in the United States. Some canceled orders have, indeed, already been replaced, and it is confidently predicted that a normar and perhaps healthier business will soon follow. The effect upon prices is bound to be severe, and upon miscellaneous and house labor still more drastic. Ultimate effects are, however, purely speculative at this time. Switzerland, as distinguished, for instance, from Austria and Ger- many, has no official chambers of commerce; but, similarly to the American method in such things, there are maintained in every trade center unofficial associations of leading business men for cooperative purposes. The St. Gall association — and the fact is perhaps the best illustration of the seriousness of the local situation — on December 4 took the unusual course of publishing the following announcement : In I its report for 1906, entitled " Commerce and industry," this committee predicted a set-back to tlie liigh point reached by machine embroideries, result- ing in a change of white embroidery fashions. This expected set-back came sooner than anticipated — not through a change of fashions, but through a sudden and unexpected financial crisis in the United States. The crisis did not fail to have its effect upon the embroidery market,' but It can be safely said that the solidity of the American firms which are chiefly consumers of our goods is beyond the question, and that the demand will continue. America has also just put under roof rich crops of cotton and grain, which she can dispose of at good prices. This presents the question : What shall we do ? Nothing, but to keep cool and give the market time to return to its normal condition ; to gen- erally curtail production of staples until present stocks are safely placed, and, above all, not to circulate any alarming rumors or reports. FRAXCE. [By CoNsnL James R. Mii.ner, Calais.] The preeminence of the French city of Calais as a lace center is chiefly due to the cleverness of its lace makers. It should be borne in mind that a lace loom, although of the most intricate mechanism, is still only an instrument, the production from which depends entirely upon the ability and intelligence of its operator. Cahiis has ambi- tious citizens, among whom exists a spirit of rivalry and a desire to excel, not only financially, but in art. The greater part of the French people here believe in having something which they can call their own and are not disposed to let one man rim everything. Their mental make up and manner of working render monopolies of an industry of this kind impossible. This characteristic alone, per- haps, has contributed more to the success of Calais in recent years than any other, since lace to be beautiful must receive in its fabrica- tion the greatest care and attention, wliicli is too often overlooked in a large concern. Calais has a population of 70,000, about (>0,000 of whom gain their existence from lace making, yet very large concerns do not exist here. On the contrary, there are (;50 small factories in Calais, in many of which the wife adds her intelligence t