pRflNKLiN Institute LiBRflRT FHIL^bELFHm Class.....^.?.7 Book....Mi.£. Accession .^..Q2:.0. Article V.— The Library shall be divided into two classes; the first comprising such work as, from their rarity of value, should not be lent out, all unbound periodicals, and such text books as ought to be found in a library of reference except when required by Committees of the Institute, or by members or holders X)f second class stock, who have ob- tained the sanction of the Committee. The second class shall include those books intended for circulation. Abtk^le VI.— The Secretary shall have authority to loan to membere and to holders of second chiss stock, any work belonging to the second <'LASS, subject to the following regulations. 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Article VII.— Any person removing from the hall, without permis- sion from the proper authorities, any book, newspaper or other property in charge of the Library Committee, shall be reported to the Committee, who may inflict any fine not exceeding twenty-five dollars. Article VIIL— No member or holder of second class stock, whose annual contribution for the current year shall be unpaid or who is in arrears for fines, shall be entitled to the privileges of the Library or Reading Koom. x i i n Article IX.— If any member or holder of second class stock, shall refuse or neglect to comply with the foregoing rules, it shall be the duty of the Secretary to report him to the Committee on the Library. Article X.— Any member or holder of second class stock, detected in mutilating the newspapers, pamphlets or books belonging to the Insti- tute shall be deprived of his right of membership, and the name of the oflfender shall be made public. PRACTICAL FLAX SPINNER: BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THE GEOWTH, MANIPULATION, AND SPINNING OF FLAX AND TOW. PRACTICAL FLAX SPINNER BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THE GROWTH, MANIPULATION, AND SPINNING OF FLAX AND TOW. BY LESLIE C. MARSHALL, BELFAST. ALL BIGHTS RESERVED. LONDON : Emmott and Company, 6, York Street, Covent Garden, W.C. B. AND F. N. Spon, 125, Strand, W.C. MANCHESTER : Emmott and Company, Blackfriars Street. NEW YORK : E. and P. N. Spon, 35, Murray Street. 1885. / THEGBT/CEi^'^E?; LIBRARY PREFACE. ♦ This work is a reprint — with considerable additions — of a series of Articles* which have appeared monthly in the Textile Manvfacturer for a period of about four years. When the Author commenced these Articles there was no work treating the subject of Flax and Tow Spinning in extenso. The want of a trustworthy book of reference had long been felt by those engaged in every department of the trade. The writer has endeavoured to meet this want, and he trusts that this work will be found useful to all who wish to gain a thorough knowledge of Flax and Tow Spinning. He has spared no pains to make the information given of the various parts of the manufacture both complete and trustworthy. * The first Article appeared in July, 1880; the last in Maj% 1884. INTRODUCTIOi^. In tlie present time of severe competition it behoves us to reduce, as nearly as possible, to mathematical exactness, every detail connected with our recently-developed and most important industry — Flax and Tow Spinning. Before the general introduction of steam as a motor this manufacture was conducted in a very primitive style in many, if not most, of the ru.ral homesteads of Ireland. Since that epoch, flax spinning has gravitated to centres pre-eminently favourable for the "carrying-on of the pursuit. Durable, and not infre- quently, elegant buildings of stone or brick, sometimes of very extensive proportions, have been erected in these places, and filled with machinery of ingenious and delicate construction. These " Spinning Mills," though of such recent origin, are now to be found in most countries of Europe, if not even farther a-field. At present there are about three and a half million spindles, absorbing about twenty- five million pounds sterling of capital, and giving the means of subsistence to more than a quarter of a million souls, evidencing the importance of this branch of the linen trade. Qf this a large proportion is still in the hands of capitalists in Belfast, Ireland, a city which has always enjoyed the reputation of being the chief centre of flax spinning, and which, in fact, may be said to have had a monopoly of it until some twenty-five years ago. Since that period so great an impetus has been given to flax spinning in consequence of the scarcity of cotton, caused mainly by the American civil war, that mills could scarcely be erected, fast enough to absorb the flow of capital into this channel. Thus the manufacture, which had previously c been chiefly confined to the province of Ulster, extended itself beyond the bounds of the United Kingdom ; and the number of spindles employed increased from about three-quarters of a million to three and a quarter millions. The distribution of the industry over various countries is shown in the following return of the " Belfast Flax Supply Association" for 1882 : — Country. Spindles. Ireland 873,242 England and Wales 190,808 Scotland 265,263 France 500,000 - Austria and Hungary 488.020 Belgium 306,010 Italy 59,223 Germany 318,467 Russia 160,000 Holland 7,700 Sweden 3,810 Switzerland 9,000 Norway 1,800 Total spindles 3,183,373 For extract from Belfast News Letter, please refer to Note 1, Appendix. VIU. The result of such a rapid and undue development of the manufacture is such as might have been anticipated. Much capital has been lost. Trade still languishes, and improvement cannot be expected until the demand equals the supply. Not only have many of the principal markets of the world been closed against us, from their becoming self-supplying, but, besides, we have now to contend against severe competition in our own markets from some of these quarters. As illustrative of the development of flax and tow spinning on the Continent, let us take the case of France, extracting our information from tables compiled principally from returns by the "Comite Liniere de Lille." First, they give us a table of the value of the imports and exports of linen yarn over a lengthened period : — Year. Imports. Exports. 1861 5,300,000 francs 1,500,000 francs 1S62 5,600,000 3,100,000 1^'63 7,700,000 „ 26,600,000 l!-64 5,100,000 ., 21,500,000 1865 9,900,000 11,900,000 1866 9,300,000 „ 8,600,000 1867 9,800,000 6,200,000 1868 14,100,000 5,300,000 1869 10,200,000 5,800,000 1870 10,300,000 , 3,400,000 1871 : 11,300,000 8,500,000 1872 8,600,000 12,900,000 1873 5,700,000 15,600,000 1874 5,400,000 „ 18,700,000 Second, we have a table of the tariff which they levy on imported Linen Yarns. This is for the finer counts of yarn only, the tariff on the coarser being, to all intents and purposes, prohibitory :— Duty in Francs Actual Value Approximate Per 360,000 Yards. Per 360,000 Yards. Duty. Lea of Yarn. (Six Bundles.) (Six Bundles.) Per Cent. S'i's 4'08 francs. 38-12 francs. 11 per cent. 90's 3-60 37-50 9 lOO's 325 3812 9 llO's 2-95 3812 8 120's 4-50 33-75 13 130 s 4-18 40-00 10 140's 3 90 43-75 9 150's 3-62 47-50 8 160'8 3-40 52-50 6 170's 3-20 52-50 6 180's 3-02 52-57 6 Third, the great advantage the French have over us in the matter of hours of work and of wages is shown by the following table, the time of comparison being the year 1875 : — /France, per weck\ /Ireland, per week\ /In favour o£\ V of 72 hours. J \ of 561 hours. ) \ France. / Roughers 14/6 20/- 43 per Cent. Sorters 21/'6 25/- 32 Preparers 8/6 @ 11/- 7/6 — Spinners 8/6 (ot 12. - 8/6 5 Reelers 10/- 8/6 8 Mechanics 21/8 33/- 49 Carpenters 16/10 32/- 59 Taking a just view of the significance of the information contained in these tables, and aiming at the further cheapening of the cost of production, by making our by no means inefficient machinery still more automatic, we ix may reasonably hope not only to retain our pre-eminence in flax spinning, but even to place ourselves more on a par with the elder sister " cotton spinning." Spinning mills are different now from formerly. There are those who could tell of the parsimonious and thoroughly unpractical manner in which the business of some places was conducted ; frequently in badly adapted and much dilapidated buildings which, under less favourable circumstances would have nipped in the bud any chance 'of success in flax spinning. For, as were the buildings so was the machinery ; if the walls, ceilings, and stayings were mouldering, the machines were all but certain to present a corroded and rickety appearance, such as could not be attributed to age only. The very employes, who had spent much of their life in such estab- lishments, insensibly acquired the impress of antiquity so plainly stamped on their surroundings. Now many of our Joint Stock Companies and private establishments display the true spirit of enterprise in providing the most commodious, well- ventilated, and well-lit buildings, kept in the most scrupulous order ; and in procuring plant and machinery of the newest and most approved make, properly adapted, and kept in thorough repair, mainly by not being " too much forced." An establishment of this stamp, manned by skilled contented artisans, and directed by untrammelled management, will weather storms such as the worn-out, ill-provided hulk could not contend against. In illustration of the manner in which the Joint Stock Companies con- duct the financial part of their business, we append a balance sheet (p. x.) of a flax and tow spinning mill of average size (15,000 spindles) in fair working order, and of good repute. Average lea of yarn, lOO's weft ; average yearly wages, ^16,000 ; and average number employed, 600. This statement shows the proportion of spindles to operatives to be as twenty-five to one, and the yearly wages in pounds sterling to be little more than the total spindles. Although this is a fair average yet it cannot be taken as adequate for the proper working of every Avell-regulated establishment. For, when the class of work is coarse, the proportion of spindles to operatives employed, decreases, and the wages proportionately increase. When finer counts of yarn are being spun, the reverse of this takes place. Thus the proportion of spindles per person employed may range from twenty to thirty, and of wages per spindle from twenty-four to eighteen shillings per annum. The extent of a spinning mill is regulated not only by the number of spindles it contains, but also, to some extent, by the class of work to be produced. The coarse material requires more cumbrous machinery, so much more cumbrous that 20,000 coarse spindles may occupy as much space as 30,000 fine. - The power required for propulsion increases in pro- portion to the coarseness and quantity of the article produced, but it is also greatly dependent upon the proportionateness, concentricity, and condition of the plant and machinery. No mill should consist of less than 8,000 or 10,000 spindles ; some exceed 40,000. A mill of 8,000 spindles, or thereabouts, can be carried on as economi- cally as a much smaller establishment, the latter having as many " depart- ments " as the former, and, consequently, being in quite as much need of skilled oversight. Indeed successful management mainly consists in secur- ing the services of the most efficient overlookers for the various departments. But this efficiency commands a price practically inadmissible where the charge is of too limited an extent. Consequently the small charge has to dispense with skilled oversight, unless in exceptional cases, or wheje there is skill minus some such indispensable quality as energy, honesty or obedience. X. ; o t~ M :a o CO 1— ( O ^ tC C-l O 03 05 »o C o cS gob 03 O Oj a CS 2^ -Tic gCLiccccO rfjoooroi-iooto 00>00>OSOC20 o 'o — H :o f— < o CO o_o o o as ic 00 S CO Ol t< o O a3*H O *j o3 ©Id r-J CO I o c . 205 2 p s e _ J S o.£ o r^tOOOOOC-l I C5 ^. O O O (M O ' -H CO O O C-1 O O lO — >0 »Cj i-H O CO I CiO O o o >^ W - O oo 00 CO CO —I O 00 s « o ■<-' ccq o . o Pi o ■* o 'O CO o o o 05 o Pi of XI. Some small proprietors try to negative this difficulty by amalgamating some of the " charges," to be under their own supervision, or they place them under that of some reliable substitute. They thus hope to economise in the management of their establishments. But we believe we are correct in saying that this arrangement has seldom met with substantial success. This we say without any disparagement of the unwearying energy and great intelligence generally exhibited in such cases. The commander-in- chief would be as likely to lead his soldiers to victory without his officers, or the landed proprietor to conduct the affairs of his estates without stewards, as the intelligent man, single-handed, to undertake successfully the oversight of all the details in connection with his spinning mill. Man is neither omniscient nor ubiquitous. On the other hand, objections can be advanced against the founding of those mammoth spinning mills which owe their origin chiefly to the speculative enterprise of Joint Stock Companies. In these establishments (which are happily the exception and not the rule) the various departments, likewise of abnormal extent, have to be sub-divided into "rooms" or sections, each of these being placed under the charge of an overlooker, and these overlookers being held responsible to one who is "head" over the particular department. These "head" men receive their orders from the sub-manager, and he from the general manager. The general manager has to consult and be guided by the managing director, and the latter has to work in conjunction with the head director. In such an establishment the iDroth is, no doubt, often spoiled, but even this is preferable to its entire disappearance from the inadequate utensil. Thus is the acquiring of a spinning mill of fair proportions, say of from 10,000 to 25,000 spindles, only second in importance to the securing of the best possible intelligence for its proper conducting. Having glanced at the growth, extension, and present condition of our flax spinning trade, and having briefly referred to the main ends to be kept in view by those desirous of assuring to themselves success in this enterprise, we proceed to place before our reader, in the following pages, the "minutiae" of the business in a manner which, we trust, shall be found not only instructive but interesting. CONTENTS. PAflT I. FLAX DEPARTMENT. Chapter. Page. 3 Flax Buying II. 9 Rough Flax Store and Roughing Shop . III. 13 Flax Hackling Machines IV. 18 Flax Dressing and Sorting V. 28 PAET II. LINE PREPARING DEPARTMENT. Chapter. Page. Flax Preparing VI. . 51 The Spread Board VII. . 57 The Drawing Frame VIII. . 63 The Roving Frame IX. . 75 General Remarks on Preparing .... X. . 90 PAET III. TOW PREPARING DEPARTMENT. Chapter. Page. The Carding Engine XI. . 109 Carding XII. . 116 Carding Room Technicalities XIII. . 123 XIV. PART I v. spiJsrmisrG department. Chapter. Page. XIY. . 137 XY. . 144 XVI. . 151 XVII. 15(i General Remarks on Spinninc; .... XVIII. . 169 PART V. YARN DEPARTMENT. Jrl A r 1 Hi K , Page XIX. 209 12i 1> Hi XV. i V l_i XliIlii.Ti.^LJ\J.VO WXi iLljJij Jj J. V.r . . ■ ■ ■ XX. 214 VATfN TlTfVTNrJ- ATCr» T^TTNDT.TNft XXI. 223 PART VI. MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT. Chapter. Page. Mechanics AND Sundries . . . . . XXII. . 229 XXIII. . 235 XXIV. . 239 XXV. . 250 XXVI. . 259 I GE^^ERAL INDEX. • Page. About Gills on A Cut 82 A Room ill Disorder 99 A System 55 Aids to Drying 22i „ to Hedlth 2i8 A Page. Apprentice Hacklers 28 Arithmetical Changing i69' Artificial Drying ' g- Arrangement of Machinery 56 Avoidable Friction .... 93. B BadPiecings 95 and 159 „ Rollers 148 Bands 172 Bandcord Allowance 172 Beaded Yarn 118 Belting 2i3 Belt Joinings 243 ,. Repairs .' 244 Berths, Lengths of 35 Bevel of Rollers 154 Blacksmith ' 230 Black-threads ' 166 Bobbins 75 arid 173 Bobbin Stains 173 Storing. 173 for Wetts 174 Butt ' \ 171 ,, Barrel _[ [ 171 Head , 174 ,, Store 175 ,, Stock 175 Repairs 242 Boiler Mountings 257 „ Tubes ." 251 ., Flues (internal) [ 251 „ ,, (external) 252 ., Building 251 ,, Mid-feathers 252 „ Draught 253 ,, Power 253 „ Valves " 957 „ Damping ; 258 Boiler Particulars 953 „ Firing ; . ; ] ] §54 „ Fittings 954 „ Cleaning §54 „ Sweeping 254 ,, Priming 255 „ Effectiveness 256 ,, Coating 955 Body in Card 128 Bonus on Production . . 204 Bouncing of Spindle 155 Book-keeping 39 Brass Doubling Plates 72- Brass Rollers 141 Brush and Doffer 2'> Breadth of Gill 9^. Breaking the end Breakages, etc " 101 Breaker-card igg Bruising Straw q. Brushing-out '",[ 94 Bufling Straw 7 Builders of Spinning-frame ' .' .' .' .' .' .' 138- Bunch of Dressed Line 31 Ticket 39 Bunches 298 Burned Plates . , . . . 252 Centres iqo^ Burnishing Rollers " 99 Buying Flax ' 9 'Seed ' " 4 Cages 209 Calculations 35 Calculation of Power 261 Calculations of Lea 215 Calculating by Theory 53 ,, the Cuts per Spindle .. 197 Cans in Set go Care of Sliver 91 I XVI. C— Continued. Page. Carts 1 210 Carding Department 109 Carding • HO Card Feed-sheets 109 Card Cylinder 109 ,, Stripper-rollers HO ,, Worker-rollers HO „ Calculations 114 „ Driving 116 ,, on Fire 117 „ Gratings 122 „ Bell 123 „ Change Sheet 129 Carded Results 124 Carders' Wages 120 Careless Dotiing 16o Catches 21 Cause of Ravelled Rove 97 „ Scarcity of Rollers 100 Channel 19 Changer ' 20 Charge of Rove 66 of Rollers 100 Changing of Spinning-rollers 150 „ Drums and Pulleys 191 " Changes " in Spinning 201 Change-Book 202 "Change" 203 Chain-leased Hank 213 Checking Roughing • 16 Circumference of Fluted Rollers . . 141 OltiSSCS Classification of Dressed Line 31 Classified correctly 33 Classing by Letters 35 Cleaning Roving-frames 93 Clean Rollers 164 Page Clearing Bobbin-head 154 Clogged Pins 22 Close Gills 91 Coating Roller Sides 99 Cog Grease 238 Comparison of Hackling Machines 23 Compound Leverage 64 Engines 264 Construction of Frame 66 „ Saddle 162 „ Stand 162 Constant Nos. for Drafts and Twists 88 ,, Numbers 12 Constant Numbers for Cylinder and Wharve 191 Conversion into Sliver 51 Cooled Proofs 225 Cooling Shed 225 Correct Stock 103 Cost of Machinery 129 „ „ Drying and Bundling 228 „ „ Preparing 105 Cotton's Machine 21 Covers 33 Covering Rollers 114 Covered and Uncovered Cards .... 117 Creel and Trough 141 Crovifn Wheel 77 Culture, Rules for 4 Cut Line 24 Cut-lin e Lot Ticket 4o Cut-off 260 Cut-line Speeds 25 Cut of Yarn 211 Cutter 25 Cutters of Fluting Machine 230 Dealing H Defective Bearings 236 Department Arrangement 45 Diagrams Compared 262 Dial and Clock 61 Diameters of Spindle 147 Differential Motion Calculation .... 75 Dining-rooms 219 Dirt in Yarn 164 Dirt in Troughs 165 Dirty Brass-rollers 165 Disablements 92 Dismissal of Hands 101 Diseases of Flax Plant 5 Divisibility of Flax 3 Doffing 110 Doffing Silver 69 Double Rove 79 and 105 ,, of Spinning-frame 160 Doubling Plate 58 Drafting 52 Draft Calculations 52 Drawing-frame Calculations 54 Dragged Rove 78 Draft Multiplicand Table 183 Dressing Process 29 Dressed Line Stock 42 Driving of Spinning-frame 138 Dropping 15 Drying Loft 223 Drying Machine 224 Duplicates 231 Duties of Spinning-master 170 Economising Space 72 Economiser 251 Emptying Cans 95 Engineering Emergencies 265 Eradication of Naps 27 Especial Sorters 35 Even Hanks 212 Evil of Odd Cans 63 Examination of Fallers 92 XVll. Page. Face of Pressing Roller 1G3 Faller 53 Feed Roller 58 Feeding-in the Tow 121 Finisher Card HO Files 233 Filleting Filler [ " 19 Fire Prevention 248 Flax Loosing o7 "Flies" ; 154 Floor of Spinning-Rooms 197 FIuted-Roller Gauge Table .... IIG Page. Flyers 171 Flyer and Spindle .' 75 Flyer-Eyes 157 F. O. B. ■ 12 Force of Nip 152 Fractions of Sets 73 Frame Book 214 Friction between Rollers 73 Front Conductors 58 Front Minder 63 Full Bobbins ' 213 Furnishings for Mechanic Shop .... 230 G Garment Accommodation 249 Gateman 2o4 Gearing Summary 53 Gear of Spinning Frame 142 Gearing 244 ,, Repairs 246 " Getting Ends up " 158 Gill Hackling 52 Gills in Rotary 112 Glass Roofs 102 Grassing Flax .' 6 Gradation of Tools 24 Graduation of Doublings 54 Grades of Filleting 114 Gradation of Lea-line Yarns 190 Growth of Flax 3 Guide Pulleys 176 H Hacklers 281 Hackle Stocks "2I Hackler's Complement 31 Wages 46 Hand Scutching 8 Hand-dressers' Rate 29 Hand Tools 46 Hand-dressing 28 Hank of Yarn ' ' 211 Hanks per Reel 212 Hangers ' 59 and 247 Heads, Machine 20 HeKt in lib. of Coal 264 Heat in Troughs 167 Heading 226 Heated Bearings 235 Height of Spinning Room 193 Holder 19 Horner's Vertical Sheets 18 ,, Brush and DofFcr 22 Horse-power 263 How to Build Rove 81 „ Twist „ 80 „ Card Tow H9 „ produce unusual " Counts " 191 Importance of Preparing 51 ,, of Twist 82 Improved Fly 212 Indicator Diagrams 261 Intermediate Gearing 52 Intersection 21 Intellectual Spreading 62 Irregular Bells 64 Isolation of Cards Hg "Jobbed" Flax 9 | Judging Flax 3 " Keenness " of Clothing AA 113 K I Kinds for Hand-dressing 28 XVUl. Page. Lap, the 31 Laying the Ends 93 Lead „ „ 98 Lengths of Spindle 139 Length of Fly 212 „ „ Boiler 250 Length of Bell Calculation 59 Length of Faller 98 Levelling of Spinning Frame 197 Leverage 59 Leverage Calculation 64 Licking-up 71 and 101 Light Cut 27 Light Slivers Light Carding 128 Light and Heat 161 Page. Line Preparing Machinery 105 Lining-up of Card 128 Line Stopk Sheet 44 Line Protecting 31 Line Stock Checked 38 Link Motion 77 Loading of Gills 74 Lock-top Spindle 96 Long Pins 90 Long-line Speeds 104 Looking after Details 101 Lost " Ends " 155 Lot Constant Number 42 Lot Tickets 42 and 44 Lots of Flax 13 Machine Room Hands 27 Machining of Flax 18 Mahogany Bobbins 174 Making-up a Set 63 Makers of Machinery 129 Material 57 Matters of Detail 160 Mechanic Shop 229 Mechanics' Rates 234 Mechanical Spreading 61 Method of Working a Spinning Room 159 M Methods of Lubrication 235 ,, „ Doubling 71 ,, Classification 32 Mill Scutching 7 Miscalculations 45 Mixed Parcels 35 Mixes 44 Mixed, etc.. Yarns 221 Mixing of Fibre 57 Model Mill 249 Morning Starts 158 Mounting Frames 92 N Nappy Tows 120 1 Note Book 45 Necessary Stock of Dressed Line . . 42 Number of Dotfer Rollers 128 New Belts 244 I Oiling of Card 119 Oiler's Duties 158 Oils 236 Old and New Machinery — 51 On Cleaning 92 „ Oiling 95 „ Repairs 96 „ Fluting 170 Operatives 28 Open Gills 90 Operatives' Preiudices 118 Operatives' Chai'ge 130 Organization 248 Origin of Naps 26 „ „ Slubs 72 ,, ,, Poor Yarn 74 ,, „ Black Threads 157 Over-shift 20 Overflowing Cans 72 Overdriving 83 Overseer's Wages 46 Parcel Ticket 14 Parcel Ticket (Improved) 37 Parcel Boy 19 Particulars of Cards 130 „ Rotary 130 ,, Spinning Frames — 204 P Particulars of Tow - preparing Machinery . 134 Patent Spindle Neck 156 Piecing-out 14 Pieces to lb 16 Piecing Sliver 65 XIX. P— Continued. Page. Piecers 159 Pins per Minute 24 Pinion Store 20i Pitch of Screw 98 ,, Boss 98 „ „ Fran\e 139 Pitch Line 246 Plants. Fibrous 4 Position of PressinK Roller 72 Position of Wharve to Cylinder 156 Power of Crown Wheel 77 Power Reels 210 Preparing Essentials 74 Prevention of Bad Piecings 159 *' Pressing " 58 and 226 Preparing Arbours 239 Preparers' Wages 105 Pa3E. Prevention of Breakages 116 Preventible Waste 160 Price of Flyers 157 Price Calculations 12 ,, of Hackling Machines 27 Private Stores 11 Proportion of Doublings 55 Proper Speeding 95 Proportions of Spindle 139 " Projection " 154 Proportion between Cylinder and Wharve 192 Pulling Flax 6 Pulleys of Spinning Frame 191 Putting up a Set 65 ,, in Gear 70 „ Rove 160 Quan1 ily of Carding 124 Quantity of Oil to Spinning Room . . 158 R Range of Sortis 34 Receipts 231 Reel Guides 221 „ Sockets 221 Reeling 209 Reelers' Wages Book 214 „ Fines 215 Rates 222 Refluting 145 Relative Speeds of Sheets and Heads 25 Relation Between Drafts, Doublings and Set 67 Relation Between Bell and Set 68 Reports 12 Repairs to Spinning-Frame 176 „ Notes .. 203 ,, to Hackling Machines 27 V. Weight of Set 97 Retting Flax 6 Revolving Rubbers 91 Rimraering-Out 175 Ring Piston 259 Roller to Flyer-Eye 140 „ Boy's Work 100 Root End 19 Rope Driving 247 Rotary-Head HI Roughing 15 Rougher's Lap 16 ,, Complement 13 ,, Breaking 16 Wages 17 Rove 75 Rove-Bobbin Making 80 Roving-Frame Turn-Off. 82 Rove Handling and Carrying 88 Rove Carting 89 Rove Shifter 148 Rows of Pins 22 Rule for Proportioning Gills 74 Rule for Leverage 64 Rules for Kove-Cut 82 Running-Out a Set 65 Saddle and Stand 151 Scarcity of Machinery 64 Washers 101 Scutchers' Stratagems 7 Seed, Flax 4 Selecting-Out 13 Separate Intersection 21 Separate Speeds of Sheets 21 Setting Hackling Machine 21 Set Calculations 60 „ Frame 64 Setting the Rollers 120 Shafting 216 Shape of Wharve 140 Sheets, Machine 20 Sheet-Rollers 20 Shift of Holders 19 s Shired Card-Sliver 124 Shorts 16 Short Pins 90 Short Reel 221 Size and Number of Rollers 122 „ of Pieces 29 „ „ Spindle 138 „ Flute 144 ,, ,, Bosses 149 ,, Yarns 215 Sizes of Pulleys and Twist Wheels 191 „ „ Bobbins 79 Skill in Spreading 61 Skimming-Up 73 Skin on Pressing-Roller 99 Slaving the Fibre 21 Slack Bosses 239 XX. Page. Sliding Rollers 99 SliTer Cans 102 „ Plate 110 „ Measurement 59 ,, Waste 65 Slotting of Thread-Plate 155 Smashed Gills 69 Soft Rove 79 Sorter's Breaking 30 „ Lap 31 Sorted Correctly 35 Sowing Flax 5 Spacing of Card 122 Speed of Bobbin 78 „ „ Hackling Machine 24 „ „ Regulator 266 ,, ,, Spinning Frame 177 Speeds of Rotary 112 Speeding of System Calcuiation 83 Spindles in Frame 193 Spinners' Wages 206 Spinner's Stand 137 Spindle and Flyer 137 Spinning Room 137 „ Frame Calculations 112 ,, ,, Troughs 242 Gauge Table 152 ,, „ "'Lines" 152 Drafts 181 Table of Rove-Cut 8t „ „ Twists 182 „ „ Tow Mixes 120 ,, ,, Measure 205 „ ,, Spinning Roller diameler and Revolutions 147 „ „ Spinning-Frame Reaches 167 „ ,, Spinning- Frame Turn-Off 193 ,, ,, Spinning Ciits per Spindle 177 Tables of Spinning Drafts 183 Taking in the Yarn 214 „ „ Flax 11 „ Stock 102 Technical Terms for Card 129 Ten 28 The Bell 59 „ Set 60 ,, Bobbin 173 ,, Builder 75 ., Sliver Roving-Frame 82 ,, Steam Engine 259 „ Rubbers 91 ,, Beam Engine 259 „ Set Book 103 ,, Horizontal Engine 259 „ Top-Doffer 124 ,, Vacuum 259 „ Wet Waste 160 ,, Reach 166 „ Mechanic 230 Valves 269 ,, Indicator 259 ,, Thread -Plates 141 ,, "Set" of the Rollers 151 Unclogged Pins 23 Unclassified Fibre 33 Under Slates 10 ! — Continued. Page. Spinning Pressing-Rollers 148 Axles 149 Twists 181 ,, Room Oiling 157 Creels 161 Order-Forms 204 Spoiled Rove 79 " Spoiling Him " 10 Spreading .^l „ the Tow 116 Spread-Board Calculations 53 Squaring the End 15 Stacking Flax Straw 6 Starting new Machinery 67 Stands of Spinning-Frame 148 Steam in Troui "^^^^^^^^^^^ ^"^J -^^^'^ '^^^^^ ^ ''hnSJ I 1°^ l^is table and puts it into the head, or holder channel" of the machine. This head is a liftpr ^vorkmg liorizontally over the "sheets," slowly rising LdTlHn^ abouJ eighteen inches or any other distance desired, according to the "ength of the flax. Inside the head or channel is a rack worklngV^ron a flide ilie lack, by means of detents, catches the holder as csonn Shift Of Holder, as it passes into the channel, and shifts it, each time the iiead f 1 f f/'^u ?° the length of a holder-eleven incl e'- 80 that vyhen the " head ' again lowers, the flax passes as usual between he two vertical sheets, but into a finer set of hackles. utJi-ween tne These sets of hackles are called " tools," and the number of TheMachine tools to each sheet varies according to circumstances. There are six, eight, nine, ten, and twelve-tool " Horner's Machines " the breadth of tool or " stock " varying from s'in to iS according to the number to the " sheet," as the ovjr-all ength of a Hornets machine does not vary more than one foot, say from eleven to twelve feet Siebnges? leaving the most tools-of the shorter stock^Te slightly If a machine be six-tool, six lifts of the head throw out the holder on the oppositeside,withhalf the flax hackled; if an eight-tool, eight iTftsfand 20 FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. [Chapter IV. The lifts of the heads are performed by a strong horizontal lever or arm working on a centre stud, and at right angles to the heads, but below the latter. A few inches from the centre of the stud upon The Machine wliich this lever rocks, there is a strong iron pin fixed in Heads. ^-^^ gjjg ^]jg igver, and at right angles to it. A piece of iron called a "runner" encircles this pin, and is confined in a groove cast in the side of the large wheel facing up close to the front of this pin, which is called the " wiper," because in its revolutions it causes the runner to wipe or bear on the side of this circular groove, and thus, according to the shape of this groove, is the runner lowered or raised as the Avheel slowly revolves. The pin, which is a fixture in the lever, being contained in this runner, the desired rotating or rocking motion is communicated to the lever. The " head slides " are resting upon the ends of this lever, _ and are thus alternately lowered and raised. The shifting of the holders is effected by a differently shaped groove, cast on the outside of the wiper. In this groove a runner travels, as already described, but is in this case connected with the extremity of an upright lever by a pin fixed in the_ latter. This lever has in the middle of it a V bend, the vertex being held in one position upon a strong pin set in a " stud bracket " screwed to the gable, between the " sheets." The other extremity of the lever branches into two arms which are connected with the rods working the detents in the slide, or channel Thus is the same rotating motion given to the double-armed lever working the rods, as is given to the lifting of the heads, with this difference, that the outward or shifting motion is given to the rod for drawing the holders when the head is at its height on one side of the machine, and as the other head will then be at its lowest, so does the outward motion of the rod pn that side only carry the detents back one set of holders, to be in readiness to push the holders forward towards the other end of the machine when the head rises. As there is a detent for each tool, and a holder in the channel to each detent, it is plain that every shift of the holders throws one out_ on the opposite end of the machine. This holder as it is passed out of this head, is lifted down by a boy called a " changer," who, laying it flat Tiie Changer. on the table in a bed made to receive it, allows the hackled portion of the flax to fall evenly over another " holder " lying open in its bed ready to receive the hackled end. The* beds of these two holders are set so far apart that on The Top-end. the hackled portion being screwed up in the latter holder, and the former one removed, there may be enough of the hackled portion of the flax on the same side of the holder as the unhackled, so that on its being put into the other head of the machine, the fibre on passing down between the sheets may be thoroughly cut up into that already operated on and right into the heart of the piece. Thus there Overshift. is a certain amount of shift, say two inches, necessary to the proper cutting of the fibre. The sheets of a hackling machine are composed of bars of iron the full length of the machine between the gables, The Machine and about One inch broad by a quarter inch thick, screwed Sheets. endless leather straps, at each end, and in the centre of these bars. These straps are about 5| feet in circumference, and are stretched over bottom and top rollers, revolving between the gables. The bottom roller is that which gives motion to the sheet, the top one is merely a stretcher or carrier. The bottom roller is usually about nine inches in diameter. TheSheetKoUers. It has iron bosses on its ends and centre, which have Chapter IV.] FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. 21 catciies. catclies cast on their surface. These catches bear upon the straps and bars, and so the sheet revolves with the roller. The Hackle The hackling stocks are screwed on to these bars, forming stocks. an_ endless revolving sheet of steel pins. Cast in the sides of this centre boss, and on the inside of the two end ones, are notches or grooves ; these are for containing the stripper rods, stripper Rods. which are plain pieces of tough pliable wood, as spruce, about Uin. broad by |in. to ^in. thick. Cast-iron ends, called stripper cocks, are riveted on the ends of these laths, making their length, the same as the distance from the inside of the grooves on the encl bosses to the corresponding groove in the side of the centre boss. When these stripper rods are sprung into their place in the grooves, they have freedom to play in them, shooting out level with the points of the pins as they are carried round towards the under-side of the roller, and falling back of their own weight as they are brought round to the top. The shooting out of these rods knocks the tow off the hackle pins on to a tow catcher Tow Catcher. facing close up_ to the stripper rods. .This tow catcher is upturned each time the head descends, throwing the tow off into boxes below the machine. As previously stated, the top rollers are merely for bearing the sheets. They work in brasses, which are set in slots cast in the gables of the machine. These brasses are kept stationary by being connected with powerful screws working in the frame work ; it is by turning these screws The Intersection, that the intersection of the pins is regulated. The working of the intersection is a matter of great importance in machin- ing, as it is influenced by the speed of the sheets ; quality of fibre ; size of piece, and cut required. The amount of intersection also depends, to some extent, upon the rigidity of the sheets, as they have a tendency to expand from centrifugal force. If the root end of any flax be much thicker than the top, Separate ^^^^ intersection of the head, over which the root passes, can Intersection. be Specially regulated. In altering the intersection, it is of the greatest importance that the line of pins be exactly Setting a Hack- parallel with the line of the head, and that the centre of the ling Machine, intersection be plumb with the line of holders, as they lie in their channel. Some persons work without any intersection, but merely a facing-up of the pin points. This course is adopted when a large turn-off from the machines is sought, by driving them up to their greatest speed. Others, more particular about the "cut" and appearance of their flax, look for less turn-off, and sometimes work with even of an inch of inter- section on the fine end. If it is necessary to give one end of flax more work than the Separate sjieeds other, from prevalence of "naps,"&c., the speed of sheets o ee.s. q£ Horner's newest make can be altered separately to meet the requirement. Another hackling machine, _ fast coming into favour, is Cotton's Machine. Cotton and Company's. This machine differs materially from Horner's in some points. For example. Cotton's is composed of, as it were, two machines set side by side, there being only one head and one pair of sheets to each machine. Thus, a pair of these machines takes up nearly double the room, and requires nearly double the power to drive that Horner's Duplex does. On the other hand, Cotton claims as an advantage derived Slaving the Fibre, from the adoption of his machine, that the fibre is less " slaved " and broken in the machining process, as the pins 22 FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. [Chapter IV. are longer and yield more when in contact with the flax, gradually comb- ing and levelling the irregularities and matted portions until they are straightened so as to be in readiness for the splitting of the fibre. From the specification of this patent we learn that Cotton aims at securing the above-mentioned advantage, not only by an extra length of pin but albO by fixing the hackle-stock to the inside face of the hackle-bar, that is to the face nearest to the rollers. He makes the stock broad enough to project beyond the top edge of the bar, so that the hackle teeth or pins which are carried by the top portion of the stock shall be clear of the bar. Or the hackle-bar may have arms or pieces attached to it to project above the top of the bar, so that the front face of such arm shall be level with the back of the bar. By this means, when the hackle-stocks are fastened on the face of the aforesaid projecting arms, the root of the hackle-pin will rest on the endless leather or other sheets to which the hackle-bars are attached. Intersecting hackling machines have been made where the back of the hackle-stock rests on the endless sheet aforesaid, but they have been where no hackle-bar has been employed. The object of the above improvement is to bring the hackle closer to the centre of the top sheet roller, and therefore nearer to the nip or bite of the holder during the operation of hackling. Cotton's machines are supposed to produce a better quality of tow off the same flax than Horner's stripper rod machines, as Cotton adopts the old style of stripping by brush and dotfer, so that the tow is not napped and stripping the slaved as it sometimes is by the method of stripping it off the Machine. pins adopted by Horner. The arrangement is a quick revolv- ing brush roller, cleaning the tow off" the pins of the sheet.. Brush and Doffer. The tow is then taken from the brush by means of a revolving roller clothed with coarse card clothing, the pins of which retain the tow as it is laid on to them by the brush, until it is doffed or knocked off by means of a serrated blade which faces close up, to the roller and receives its beating or rotating motion from an eccentric driven from the gearing. The brush and doffer principle can be credited with another decided! advantage,_ viz., that with it there can be more pins per inch in the finishing tool, as it is found that after a certain degree of closeness of pin is reached in_ Horner's stripper rod machines the pins become clogged Clogged Pins. -\vith a peculiar resinous gum that is given off by the finer qualities of flax, especially courtrai. This gum the stripper rods are powerless to remove, but it is kept in check by the brush. In his finer and cut line machines Horner has therefore had to Horner's Brush adopt the brush and doffer arrangement to keep the pins and Doffer. clean ; but his machines being duplex renders the mechanism of these very inaccessible owing to want of space. Conse- quently there is often trouble with Horner's brush and doffer. But in neither machine is the brush and dofter a sure preventative of the gathering of this gum, as it will accumulate more or less on that side of the pin with which the brush does not come in contact. Then the brushes are very destructive to the pins, once they begin to get short with wear and become clogged with dirt at the bottomi of the staple. This evil is all the more observable where there are two rows of pins per stock to be kept clean, as should be the case with all machine hackles. Mr. Cotton thought he had made a decided improvement in machine hackling by adopting three more open rows of pins in the- "^°^^stoS."^^" hackle instead of, as previously, one or two closely set, until he found he could not keep them clean, and so had to relinquish the idea. Chapter IV.] FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. 23 However, we have much pleasure in stating that the question of how to keep the pins of the hackling machine clean, has recently been solved by Mr. Robert W. McDowell, manager of Brookfield Spinning Mill, Unciogged Pins. Belfast. So mucli is Mr. McDowell's invention the very thing desired by Mr. Horner, that the latter was not long in secur- ing the patent right in this and foreign countries from the inventor. We cannot do better than describe this invention in Mr. McDowell's own words : — " My invention is applicable principally, but not exclusively, to those hackling machines in which vertical sheets and stripper rods are employed, such as those known in the trade as Horner's Stripper Rod. It may be attached to other makes of machine. My invention substantially consists in the application to such machines of a revolving brush, the motion of which is capable of being reversed so as to clean itself. For this purpose I provide, preferably, a spiral brush, which revolves in the same direction, and quicker than the pins of the machine, so causing the brush to pass through the pins and remove any gummy or fibrous particles adhering to them. At regular intervals, say when the head or channel of the machine rises, the brush is made to reverse its motion, and slowly revolve one or more times in the contrary direction, thus meeting the pins and allowing them to carry away any fibre that may stick on the brush, and which fibre is deposited with the tow. By means of this improvement the pins are kept cleaner than by what are called the brush and doffer machines, as in the latter the brushes only clean the back of the pin, leav- ing the cutting side dirty, but by the use of my invention, all the cutting parts of the pins are kept perfectly clean. I am aware that the revolving brush is not neAv, but as applied to stripper rod machines and reversing as aforesaid, it is claimed to be new. The gearing mechanism for producing the reverse motion of the brush may be varied, but a convenient arrange- ment, and such as I have found to answer, is as follows : — There is a wheel on the end of the bottom shaft of machine driving the sheets, into which wheel works a small pinion with clutch gear, and loose on the brush shaft. The corresponding clutch slides on a key in the brush shaft, which latter has a wheel fast on end of brush shaft, and working outside the wheel on the bottom shaft and pinion. There is another wheel fast on a socket working on a stud fastened to gable of machine, and is geared with wheel on the brush shaft. On the same socket there is also a loose wheel with clutch, the corresponding clutch sliding on a key in the aforesaid socket, and the latter wheel is in gear with the wheel on bottom shaft. The two sliding clutches are worked by a small lever or rod working on a pivot equi- distant from each other. When the clutch is fast in the pinion the brush is driven with the pins, but when the head lifts, the lever, which may be fixed either to the head or to the toAV catcher, throws out the clutch and throws in the other, which causes the loose socket wheel to become fast on the socket, and as the corresponding socket wheel is fast on same socket, it revolves in the same direction ; the wheel on end of brush shaft being in gear in the first socket wheel causes the brush to revolve in the opposite direction from what it did in the first instance." It is open to doubt whether Horner's or Cotton's Comparison of macliiues give the sounder fibre, but hitherto the latter Machines. machine produces the best tow. Cotton's machines make far less noise when working, as there is not the incessant dropping of the iron shod stripper rods in their sockets. Horner's machines are more compact and not quite so expensive to keep in order, on account of the shorter pin. We shall now give the difi"erent calculations and speeds relating to a hackling machine. 24 FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. [Chapteb IV. Horrier''s Patent Eirjht Tools. For good class of Irish, Flemish, French, and Bruges, " Long Line " flax. Speeds of Hack- ling Machine. Speed of driving shaft 130 revolutions per minute. 18 inches diameter of drum. Diam. of pulley— inches 19) 2310 123-16 speed of pulley. 20 teeth in sheet pinion. Roller wheel teeth 70) 2163-2 35'19 speed of bottom roller. 15 catches on roller. Bars in sheet 30) 527 '85 17'59 speed of sheets per minute. 123-16 speed of pulley. 28 teeth in head pinion. Head wheel teeth 100) 3118-48 34-18 14 teeth in stud pinion. Wiper wheel teeth 94) 482-72 5-13 lifts of head per minute. From the above speeds it will not be difficult to cal- culate the immense number of pins that pass through the flax in a minute, when taken in conjunction with the following particulars of the same machine. Circum- ference of " sheet," 62 inches. Pins passing through Fibra Gradation of Tools. Tool 1 2 3 4 Pins per in Rows of Pins. Wire Gauge. 2 .... 14's .... 2 .... l.Vs 2 .... 16's .... 2 .... 17's .... 2 .... 18's .... 2 .... 19's .... 2 .... 21's 2 .... 23 s .... Length of hackle stock 11 inches. Breadth of hackle stock 1 inch. Length of Pin. 1 inch over all. ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto ditto Cut-line Fla.x. Such being the particulars of a " Long Line " machine, it may be well here to give that of one for " Cut Line," but, before doing so, let us see what " cut line " is. When very superior flax is required for the finest yarns, it is procured by taking the best of the rough flax and cutting the two ends off ; the ends being always the worst portion of the flax. This leaves a pure " middle " of from 12 to 18 inches in length, according to circumstances. Out of very long flax two middles may be taken of from nine to 12 inches long ; these very short "middles" being required for only the very finest machinery, or where the flax is so sound and long that there would be waste in taking only one long middle, and thus throwing too much pure fibre into the ends. The ends are never so well dressed or prepared as the middle, and so are not spun to nearly so fine numbers, which causes a waste of such pure fibre as may be left in them. Flax may be too short to get more than one middle of the requisite length, and one end, or it may be as sound in one end as in the middle, thus necessitating the removal of only the inferior end. These two latter cases are called taking the " long middle " out of flax. Chapter IV.] FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. 25 Again, it is sometimes found advantageous to take a sound middle and one good end of flax, of which the other end is " nappy " or " birsy," and to cut off the latter as short as possible and send it straight to the cards to be carded into tow. The "roughing" of flax which has to be converted into " Cut Line " is usually performed differently from that of " Long Line," the pieces being made a great deal larger, and getting a mere draw over the pin points to level the fibre. This style of roughing is called " stacking," and Courtrai flax is principally treated in this manner. The reason for the pieces being made larger is that the fluted rollers of . the breaking machine, or " cutter," get a firmer hold of the piece as it is passed in to be broken or " cut," it being thus broken square in the end, with no dragged fibre. The cutter boy can hold and guide the large piece under the fluted pressing rollers, and get through a much greater quantity than if the pieces were of smaller size. As the fibre is broken by the cutter, the short pieces are pieced out into suitable sizes for undergoing the machining, by boys, who soon become as accurate in performing the operation as a " rougher " himself wovild be. The breaking machine, or " cutter," is composed of a set. The Flax Cutter, or two sots, of iron fluted rollers, resting on gables, and enclosing a revolving circular blade, also supported between the gables. A velocity of from "700 to 1,000 revolutions per minute is com- municated to the cutter, Avhicli is of the following construction : — Three wrought-iron or steel rings are firmly bolted together between two flanges. The rings have projecting points placed at regular intervals on their peri- pheries, so disposed when they are bolted together as to present diagonal groups of cutters, diamond-shape — all round the circular cutter — projecting about fths of an inch. The revolving blade is enclosed by the slowly revolving fluted rollers, and it is they that carry in and hold the flax until it is severed by the cutter. Horner's Patent Tivelve Tools. Cut Line Machine. For fine " Cut Line " Flaxes. Circumference of sheet 42in. Tools. Pins per Rows of Wire Length of inch. Pins. Gauge. Pin. 1 i 2 lis. -|in. over all. 2 s 2 15s. Ain. 3 2 16s. lin. 4 1 2 17s. lin. 5 n 2 ISs. lin. 6 3 2 19s. lin. ■ 7 5 2 20s. lin. 8 8 2 218. lin. 9 12 2 22s. lin. 10 17 2 2.3s. lin. 11 23 2 24s. lin. 12 30 2 2os. lin. Length of Hackle Stock, Sin. Breadth ,, ,, iin. There is great diversity of opinion concerning machine ■^ofshlete'and^ hackling. Some authorities prefer a great many pins per inch, Heads* ^ slow slieets, and quick heads. Others fewer pins per inch, quick sheet and slow heads. Others are for having many pins per inch and driving the whole machine as slowly as possible. The following may be taken as a fair statement of what will give the best results : — About six lifts of head, and sheet 20 revolutions per minute, with finishing tool eight pins per inch, two rows, for six-tool machine, for very coarse long line flax. About five lifts of head, and sheet 15 revolutions per minute, with finishing tool 14 pins per inch, two rows, for nine-tool machine for medium long line flax. About six lifts of head, and sheet 20 revolutions per minute, with finishing tool 30 pins psr inch, two rows, for 12 tool 26 FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. [Chapter TV. machine, for medium cut line flax. About three lifts of head, and sheet ten revolutions per minute, with finishing tool 50 pins per inch, two rows, for 12 tool machine, for very fine cut line flax. One reason of the fine machines being so much in vogue is that more speed can be given to the " head," and still put as many pins through the flax as in a coarser machine with slower head, thus increasing the " turn off." Our opinion, however, is that what is gained in this way, is lost by driving the bovs so much that they do not get time to level the pieces in the holders, and screw them up tight enough, thus causing a great loss in " yield," by slipping fibres and uneven cutting. Also, the boys will change to where the work is lighter, the first opportunity ; it costs more to keep" the hackles and holders in order ; the machine is more quickly run down ; and lastly, the same free open cut is not procured as when there is more moderate speed on the head. The sheets may be driven at a fair speed to split the fibres instead of tearing them, and to accomplish this the hackles need not be too fine. A coarse machine will give excellent results on fine work by driving the heads and sheets dead slow, say two-and-a-half to five revolutions per minute, respectively. This will not diminish the " turn off," when compared with a finer machine, as much as might be expected, there being f eAver shifts to throw the flax out of the head. We have known of two pairs of Horner's Duplex Cut Line Machines being converted into one pair of machines, for very fine work, by being placed end to end, and the holders shifted from one into the other by a special arrangement. Results of this quadruple machine were excellent, the graduation of tools being so regular and complete as to effect the thorough splitting of the fibre with a minimum strain. It is to operate thus gradually on the fibres that we have eight, nine, ten, 12, and 14 tool machines for the better and finer class of flax, where six tools are considered sufficient for a coarse kind. To go beyond 10 or 12 tools on ordinary machines of 11 or 12 feet over all length, would be detrimental, rather than the contrary, to the thorough splitting of the fibres, as the piece would be too much confined within the shortened "holder." Again, to get any sort of "turn off" from a machine with more than 12 tools, the " head " would have to be driven fast. Here also being a disadvantage, as if the flax be let into and drawn from the pins too fast, the strain on, and breaking of, the fibre is increased. This diminishes " yield " and deteriorates quality. Quick drawing of the " head " is also instrumental in putting the small " naps " of a gummy or oily nature into flax. These naps are weak and fine fibres drawn into small Origin of Naps hard lumps by too quick feeding of the fibre into pins, that in Flax. y^-^^y \yQ coated with a hard sticky substance. This causes the fibre to be drawn or overriden, instead of split. They are only partially removed by the hackles, and if not thoroughly cleaned out in the "dressing" process (sometimes nearly impossible), will destroy any yarn, as the preparing process only tends to increase them. Naps are most pre- valent in the top end of flax, which is usually finest, and hangs furthest out of the " holder," thus making the fibre less able to resist the " tear" of dirty pins. They also lie thickest about the extremity of the top end, as they are drawn down by the pins from the heart of the piece, and are left in the extremity where the pin cannot exert the same cleaning power, the " end " being thinner and lighter than the body of the flax. Also, a great part of the time the end is in the hackles it is entirely clear of the pins, as the " sheets" open out from each other on the lower side, so that too many pins may not be in the flax at the same time. Chaptkr IV.] FLAX HACKLING MACHINES. 27 At the expense of "yield" tliese naps can be extracted by not permitting the " head " to rise so high as to lift the flax entirely out of the " sheets " at each "shift," but to make the " shift " with the tail end of Eradication of the fibre in the intersection, this drawing the flax across the Naps. pins and cutting away most of the loose flax and impurities. There are some kinds of flax of such extremely soft and wef ty nature that, to secure a fair "yield" and " open cut," it is imperative to drive both sheets and head dead slow, with light intersections. A quick head, sloAv sheets, and light intersection will give a " light cut," A Light Cut. this being productive of large " yield " at the expense of a raw unfinished fibre. Such a course is often pursued where " big boned " flax is required for coarse lea yarn, but where naturally coarse open fibre is not procurable ; but it is not judicious, as if the fibre is not naturally big, this uncut stuff when it comes to be prepared and spun, gives the very worst results. It becomes broken and mashed up under the weighted pressing rollers, causing licking- up and " chokes " in the preparing ; and when it comes to be spun produces a poor " hairy " yarn . Besides, as before remarked, it is possible to overdrive the machine boys ! Of these, two fillers and two changers to each Duplex Machine Room machine, is the proper " manning." The tow boys, sweepers. Hands parcel and cutter boys, tippler, oiler, and the " piecers-out," bringing up the complement to an average of about five hands per machine. Fillers have the most important Avork, and most of it, and consequently should be better paid than the changers. Where female labour is plentiful, women and girls can be advantageously employed in the "machine room." Hackling machines are costly, a Duplex being from o£200 to ^un^ Ma 1 £300, according to number of tools and fineness. They are ing acames. ^Iso expensive to keep in order, the pins requiring incessant Repairs to Hack- Overhauling, as they are much torn up by the lumps, knots, ling Machines, and loops in the flax, but close supervision of the roughers and machine boys will mitigate this evil. The wear and tear of the hackling machine is pretty heavy ; channel ends, holders, bars, straps, stripper cocks, runners, catchers, brasses, etc., etc., requiring frequent renewing. . , . The rate of wages to machine-room hands, at different Wages in Machine • i i i j? n Room. periods, has been as follows : — 185.i. 186,5. 1875. 1884. s. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. Tipplers 0 8 0 lOi 1 2i 1 1 Fillers 0 7 0 9i 1 li 1 0 Changers 0 U 0 8i 1 Oi 0 llj Sweepers, etc 0 6' 0 8 0 llj 0 11 per diem, for " full time " per week. CHAPTER V. FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. The third process that the fibre undergoes is dressing and sorting, per- formed by hand. The fibre is very fairly " cut " on coming off the machines, but, to give it justice, it mustbepulled through a coarse hackle The third Process, called a " ten," broken, and then cleaned out over a fine one called a " switch." This is done by men thoroughly versed A"Ten." the dressing process. These men have also to use their judg- ment as to the capabilities and qualities of the piece dressed ; A " Switch." in fo^ct, to assort the flax, piece by piece, into various bunches. This process should be performed by none but men who Hackiers. have served an apprenticeship to this branch of the business, and who have proved themselves not only good hackiers, but intelligent sorters. Apprentice sorters can be brought forward on the very Apprentice coarsBst work, flax so poor as not to be worth the expense of Hackiers. skilled dressing, or so easily manipulated as are the short ends off cut line flax. This class of work needs little more than to be bunched, without being broken ; after a pull or two over the ten, and a finishing rub over the switch. In the case of long line, it goes by the the name of " touch 'im," and in cut-line, of " ends." Some slight knowledge of sorting is necessary in the hackling of ends. About twice as much material can be treated in this way, in a given time, as can be hackled if the flax has to be broken. Girls and women can be employed on this work. These two modes of treating the fibre must not be confused Hand-dressing with the Ordinary " Hand-dressing," which is hackling the the Fibre. ° flax entirely by hand. The machines have, generally speaking, superseded hand -dressing, from their being so much more expeditious and labour-saving. But in small out-of-the-way places, where labour is cheap, hand-dressing is still resorted to. It is also employed when the soundest fibre is necessary — as for thread-spinning — as the strain on the fibre can be regulated to suit circumstances better than can be accomplished on the hackling machine. Hand-dressing is simply a com- bination of roughing and sorting, performed by the operator over three or four tools ranged before him. The work is tedious, one hackling machine being able to get through as much work as twenty hand-dressers. It takes four roughers to supply one machine with roughed Proportion of flax-, and about seven sorters to dress the "longs" Operatives to r one Machine. irom Same. Flax of poor quality, but comparatively clean on account Flaxes to be " sliove " being brittle and well retted from the fibre, as Hand-dressed. Riga, Pernau, or indeed all Russian flax, coarse Dutch, Irish hand-scutched, and odd lots of " blashed," or water-slain Irish mill-scutched may, with advantage, be hand-dressed. The reason of this is that the pieces can be made larger than if they were being prepared for the machines,, consequently there is not the same amount of strain on each individual fibre. Thus the large piece has the advantage of tending to give better " yield," and is not detrimental in hand-dressing, as the pins of the Chaptee v.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. 29 hand- dresser's tools are long enough to permit of the thorough working of the piece to the heart, as well as up to the hand. This is very important and can be effected in hand hackling, but not so completely on the hackling machine, from the shortness of the pin. As there is no dirt in the pieces, except a loose shove which may drop out in the work, poor brittle flax treated in this manner can be well levelled and fairly cut, with a fair yield. If the same class of flax had been put over the machine, the pieces must have been made small to allow of the fibre being cut to the heart, thus causing the "slaving" of the flax, which results in loss of yield. Poor flax is "fosey " and light, as well as brittle, consequently there are more pieces to the pound weight, which implies loss in the " turn-off." Hand-dressers are paid by the cwt., say from 4s. to 5s. 6d. Hand dressers' fo^" Ordinary qualities, but for fine, strong, even flax, Rate. specially prepared for making thread, as much as 9s. per cwt. has been paid. For thread there is scarcely any flax having the same strength as Friesland, at least for the coarser numbers. But this flax requires peculiar care in its mode of treatment, as being watered in the exceptionally low lying districts of this part of the Netherlands ; the water is usually brackish, impregnating the fibre with a salt, which makes it very difficult to keep it free from damp. The damp is very injurious to the fibre in the hackling and preparing departments. The question has been raised whether it is better to piece Size of Pieces. out all classes of flax, so many pieces to the pound, say nine, as is done in some places ; or to piece out all to a certain size in the hand, say about lin. diameter, loose twist. Stating results may best answer this question. In piecing out flax so many pieces to the pound, the poorer the flax and the shorter, the larger will be the piece, and the finer and longer the flax the smaller the piece, which is very satisfactory for all parties, so long as there is a sufficient number of machines of different "sets," so that the poor and large piece may not get too much of the pins, nor the good and small piece too little. By piecing to the pound, there will be also more work got off the machines. In piecing out by size in the hand, the roughers become more expert and exact from force of habit ; and there will be a better check upon them if they try to practise the too common trick of making the pieces as large as possible, to admit of their " putting-in " their parcel sooner. When the pieces are all of one size, it is also possible to work with less frequent alteration of the " set " of the machines, and consequently with fewer of them, the changing of "sheet" and "head" pinions being usually sufficient for the different qualities of flax, as there is always the same thickness of flax body between the pins. But there will be a loss in the turn-off by this system, as there may be half as many more pieces to the pound in the case of poor short flax as in that of hard long flax. But to proceed to technicalities : As previously mentioned, The Dressing the total pouuds of machiued flax are entered on the parcel Process. ° ticket, Under the head of " longs," and the parcel is passed over to the sorting shop. The hackler gets it, and commences the dressing of a piece by lifting one from the " tipple " spread before him, and throwing its root end on his hackle first. He distinguishes between the top and root end by the colour of the latter, and by its being thicker and usually coarser than the top. A sure way to distinguish the top from the root end is afforded by the " holder " mark on the piece, the mark being nearest the root end. The mark is also a guide in hackling, as the hackler commences by catching the piece close up to the holder mark ; he then pulls the end through the " ten " with his right hand, drawing the piece through his left, which latter he keeps close up before the " ten," on a level with the tops of the pins. The delicate pressure of his fingers on 30 FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. [Chapter V. the piece enables the fibres better to resist the strain imposed on them by being pulled through the hackle, and at the same time levels and smooths them, and affords him quick means of throwing the flax back over the hackle. This operation has to be repeated two or three times before he breaks off the end which contains all the coarsest and shortest fibres, and the major portion of tow and dirt. The end is broken off by thehackler catching a very firm hold Breaking the End. of the end of the piece between the finger and thumb of his left hand, as he draws it through the hackle for the third time or so ; then by a quick jerk he pulls it out of the hackle, and with it all the longer fibres of tow that are in connection with the end of the piece. He next laps this end of tow and straggling fibres round the " touch pin " once, and in such a way that the end may be lapped without any twist in it. This freedom from twist round the touch pin allows the end to be broken off heavy and square, and with less labour than if twisted. To accomplish this breaking properly is one of the most difficult operations of flax dressing. It is not efi'ected by strength, but by the nicety of the lap round the touch pin, and by holding the right hand (with the flax lapped round the two forefingers, so as to give more purchase on the piece) in the proper position before giving it the jerk to break the piece. This position is with the palm and fingers turned upwards, which allows a straighter and stronger pull than if the hand were held sideways. The straight jerk being given and the end broken off, the hackler lays the latter down beside the touch pin, out of the way, and at the same moment by a continuation of the jerk, and the opening of his right hand, he releases the end of the flax and brings it level over the " ten " again. The piece must now be well wrought up to the hand, so that the heart may open as freely as the ends, and then, with the left hand, it must be transferred to the " switch." lit must here be drawn level and straight from the hand over the pins, turning the right hand (from the wrist only) until all the fibres are perfectly levelled and smoothed by the action of the left hand, and all impurities removed from the heart of Switching. the piece. The tow is then " switched " out of the end by holding it still in the right hand, and quickly raising and lowering the end upon the hackle with the left, thus clearing out the remainder of the tow and "shoves" or "naps" that may be in the piece. It must then get the last levelling draw through the hackles, and be caught between the finger and thumb of the left hand as it is leaving the hackle, and,_ by a twist or catch of the end in the pins in the front of the hackle, receive a crimped and squared appearance on being pulled out of the pins. This is effected by placing the forefinger of the hand holding the end against those pins as a lever on the end, and to support the pins at the same time. The piece must then be turned, and the same operation performed on the top side. On the piece being now turned properly depends to a great Turning the extent excellence of Avorkmanship, discernible by the piece Piece. opening freely at and being level in the heart. If, on being turned, the shape and position of the piece, as held in the hand, be in the slightest degree altered, the fibres become crossed, and con- sequently require extra work to be opened back into the hackled portion — in fact, this cannot be thoroughly accomplished even at the expense of time and increased tow. The " expert " turns his piece without allowing it either to expand in the shifting, or to be contracted ever so little on the hand being again closed on it. By turning the wrist of the hand holding the piece both sides can be cleaned out without loosening the grasp on the flax. It is far more important to " switch " and crimp the top than the root of the piece. Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. 31 We have now the piece properly levelled and dressed, and it is ready for laying upon whichever of the bunches on the table it niost resembles in quality and strength. But, before being laid upon the bunch. The Lap. the piece has to receive the " lap " in this way._ It is changed from the right hand to the left without tossing it. Then, with the right hand, a portion of the root end is caught up, say about one-fourth. This portion is between the forefinger and thumb of the right hand, which the hackler draws inwards and upwards, so that this portion of the end may be thrown round the end of the piece in the form of a lap. This lap falls across the piece at the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, the back of the hand being up, so that the piece of flax may, as it were, lie underneath, as well as in the hand. This gives freedom to the right hand to follow or smooth the lap as the portion is thrown over the piece, and at the same time the lap must be pressed against the forefinger of the left hand, so causing a square and firm fold round the dressed flax. The left hand then relinquishes its hold, the piece being transferred to the right hand, the top side of the lap being pressed with the right thumb to keep it in its place. Then with the aid of the left hand, the hackler lays the piece in its proper position over the other pieces, but a little to the right hand of the last piece on the bunch, so that in this way the pieces overlap each other, growing into a bunch square and firm ; which is essential to keep the flax from being tossed, and to permit of the ready lifting of each piece separately off the bunch when it is undergoing the next operation. When there is the allotted weight, say 20lbs. in a bunch, it is tied up by having four bands passed round it and drawm tight. This system is very iniurious to the fibre, compressing it much, and ruffling it, where bands are in contact. For this reason all fine and valuable flax is generally built in boxes, which are very_ suitable but expensive. Some people A Bunch of put all their dressed line into either paper or cloth covers, but Dressed Line. ^j^ggg j^g^yg Iqq tied, there is not much gained by this course. . We would recommend some sort of cheap elastic cover, which, on being closed on bunches even of various sizes, would compress the pieces together, keeping them in a firm compact bunch, without any extraneous aid. Protecting the TMs questiou of how to protect the dressed line cheaply and effectually during the interval between its leaving the flax dresser's hands and being again brought to light to undergo the next process— in some cases as long as two years— deserves more serious consideration than has yet been bestowed on it. But we digress. The reader must not suppose that it takes a tithe of the time to hackle a piece that it has taken us to describe the operation. It is possible Hackier's Day's dress two pieces in one minute. An average hackler can Complement. ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^Qlbs. to lOOlbs. weight of from 20 to 10 pieces to the lb. in the day of ten hours. , , . Too much importance cannot be attached to the necessity for careful sorting of the flax, in order to ensure each class and quality of fibre being separated and classified, so that those in authority may always be clear as to the capa- bilities of the " dressed line." This is a matter of so much Classification of difficulty, that seldom, if ever, is full allowance made for Dressed Line, difference in spinning quality peculiar to flax grown in different climates and soils. Diffe'rence in length, strength, nature, colour, cleanness, and quality may be cited as the chief stand-pomts from which the capabilities of each piece must be judged. To be able to arrive at a correct conclusion on these points, from the peculiarities developed during the few seconds occupied in the dress- ing of the piece, should be the ambition of the etticient sorter. To 32 FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. [Chapter V. be able to make use of this judgment should be the desire of the employer. In order to show the difficulties that lie in the Avay of those who know the importance of a thoroughly assorted and classified Dressed Line Stock, and whose aim is to attain it, we shall state the different methods pursued in different establishments in order to gain this object. Some persons require their flax buyer to procure, season Methods of after season, a range of flax that will be, as nearly as possible, as&i cation. ^£ average similar quality ; the poorest of this, on its coming to be sorted, being called by one application — as 30's or 6's, or anything else — and the best, 90's or 18's, etc., the intermediate qualities going to intervening numbers. Others, again, do directly the reverse of this ; they buy 'all before them, putting the worst and cheapest to 30's or 6's, and the best and dearest to 90's or 18's, without any regard to the difference between the flax of different seasons. Some rule much by the locality from which the flax comes and its price, without regard to its spinning quality. And lastly, the commonest and most erroneous of all methods is the attempt to counterbalance defects by good points, and so to do away with the evil of too many sorts. Now, one and all of these devices must prove signal failures. For instance, where the flax buyer is instructed to purchase nothing but a certain class of flax, this quality may be scarce, or it may be of the quality most sought after by others, and so pushed beyond its value, from the briskness of the demand. Whereas if the buyer had permission to suit his purchases to circumstances, he might procure flax of much finer and better quality for a trifling extra cost, and this would be repaid tenfold by the greater yield. Again, those who go in for the range of the market, without altering their system of sorting to correspond to the change in the season's quality, must obviously have a stock of dressed line varying considerably in spinning quality, when the new and old season's flax are thoroughly mixed. Tliirdly, those who sort according to locality and price, must either spoil their yarns or else work on " flax lot " calculations, so erroneous as to be the source of great loss. Lastly, and certainly not least, are the evil effects arising from the fourth method, or that of counterbalancing disad- vantages by advantages, thus : — The sorter finds coarse open and fine soft flax in his parcel, and not wishing to lay too many sorts, he puts that flax which is far finer, but not so clean, among flax clean and open, but of much coarser fibre, hoping to counterbalance the defect of the finer flax being a little dirty, and therefore not fit for the finer numbers of clean fibre, by putting it among fiax of much inferior quality, but cleaner. The evil consequences of this plan have daily come under the writer's notice, and he will mention some of them, first remarking that in the cases referred to 30's will represent the very coarsest fl.ax, and 90's the very finest ; P,the purest fibre, clean, level,and very strong ; l,pure sound flax, free from " fire tick " or shove ; 2, fair warp flax, but perhaps a little fired and shovey ; and 3, poor, soft, weak, and even dirty fibre, suitable for weft spinning. Assuming this classification, he has seen 45"2 among 35 P, because too dirty for 40 P ; 55'1 among 45 P, because not quite clean enough for 50 P ; 65 "1 among 55 P, because too poor for 60 P ; and 80'1 among 65 P, because so fine and level as to appear irreproachable, but which would be found, if carefully examined, too fine in the staple for a 65 P, but not strong- enough for a 70 P. Then, again, he has seen 45*3 among 301, because dirty ; 30 P among 351, because extra clean ; 80"3 among 501, because so fine, but not sound enough for 551 ; and 55 P among 651, because too good for 601. Again, 451 among 50'2, because if clean enough, yet too coarse for 55"2 ; 80'3 among 60*2, because fine, but not sound enough for 65"3 ; 50"1 among 70'2, because their purity will counterbalance their coarseness, and 751 among 90'2, for the same reason. Also 40'2 will appear among 50'3, Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. 33 because too clean for 45"3 ; 50"1 among 60 '3, because too coarse for 65 "3 ; 55 "2 among 65'3, as, though rather good for 65"3, yet too open and coarse for 70"3 ; and 65'1 among 90*3, as the sorter understands that a very sound piece is requisite to go to that number, but does not consider how much too coarse and strong a 65"1 is for such a class of dressed line as is a 90 3. Here we have medium flax merged m prime sorts, poor Unclassified wefty stufF among warp flax, and good fibre cast in among Fibre; its Evils, tj^e poorest, by the Sorter attempting to set off fineness against dirt, and cleanness against fineness, etc., etc. In fact, it is usual to find as many as four distinct and different qualities and sizes of fibre in a single bunch of dressed line. What have we as the result of this widespread and pernicious system 1 We cannot produce fairly coarse numbers of yarn in many instances to cover cost, from all the coarse poor flax having been pushed to the lower weft numbers, for which it is so much too big in the "bone" as to produce nothing but a poor "shirey" yarn, and this with the worst possible turn- off, and increased waste. We cannot get flax of the requisite fineness of staple to spin to advantage the finest counts of yarn, unless by going to enormous expense in specially procuring it, as all the finer bits have been put back to coarser sorts, in order to keep the latter "up to the mark," and to prevent the trouble of having too many sorts, or to guard against the risk of careless hackling being noticed, where the fineness of the sort requires it to get every justice. The same reasoning applies to all the different sorts and classes of flax, and in part explains what will be exemplified further on ; that it is in the extreme counts of yarn — very coarse or very fine — that most money is to be made, as the prices paid for these yarns are disproportionately higher, on account of the little competition existing in the ends of the trade. To sum up, our warp yarns are destroyedby being adulterated withinferior stuff, and our weft yarns damaged by being partly composed of rough strong fibre, too big for the class of yarn required, and too strong to work sweetly with the softer and weak nature of the material in general. We shall now place before our readers what we believe to Correct ciassifica- ^6 a solution of the apparently insuperable difficulties in the tion of tiie Fibre, -^yay of a proper classification. It will be remembered that the necessity for careful selection of the different kinds of flax at the markets — both home and continental — was strongly urged, and it was shown how the different qualities and portions should be marked by tickets so as to be kept distinct. These tickets should not be allowed to drop out of those kinds of flax, that, on their arrival at the spinning mill, have to be taken out of the bales and piled in lots; but should remain in the flax un- til the time for using or opening the particular lot comes round. The person selecting out the flax will then have no difficulty in thoroughly assorting the bundles or stones, by these tickets. As continental flax is so neatly and compactly put in bales— weighing 2cwt. net — there is no necessity to remove it from these on arrival at their destination ; so foreign flaxes are generally left in the bales, and these piled in lots. Therefore the portions or " heads " in these bales are not ticketed, since the foreigner has, as far as possible, put the different classes of flax in separate bales, filling only a few with the odds and ends. All foreign bales are legibly marked and numbered, and these marks and numbers, with the quantity and prices they represent, carefully copied separately into the invoice sent therewith ; so that, even in the case of the bales of odds, there is not the least difficulty in " selecting out."_ Home flax being thus carefully classified by ticket in the manner specified, and arranged in piles in the rough flax store ; and continental flax being classified according to the numbers on the bales, we have the different classes and colours of flax very fairly separated ; as flax bought from one farmer is D 34 FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. [Chapter V, visually grown from the same seed, on the same land, and steeped in the same water, and consequently does not vary much in length, strength, or colour. o o 'Cl O rH P4 o 00 (M o 00 CO O 1 O o 'p o CO o o o o CO \ ~* \ ^ i-H "-1 O 1 O 1 O CI l~ < 1 O 1 o O CO 1- C3 " o (M (M 1 <^ 00 rH O 1 O CO 1 o CO 1 rH 1 ^ 8 'O O 1 O 1 o o 1 -n 1 00 rH 1 rH 1 rH o 1 O 1 o O 1 rH 1 IC CO O 1 o >o CO oo o (M o CO CO CO (M (M 1 s o CO CO Then — premising that the sorting of the flax is entirely regulated by the size of fibre, "bone," without any regard to its quality — we have the Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING ANB SORTING. 35 majority of the sorters getting parcels all dirty or all clean, all short or all long, all strong or all weak, and generally of one colour. ^°"of°Fibre*^"° This reduces the number of sorts, and the skill requisite to thorough classification, to a minimum. As yet we only have made provision for the correct laying of the range of sorts — say from 20's or 6's, representing the very coarsest fibre, to 20O's or 18's, or any other appellation, representing the very finest fibre — some two dozen degrees of size of fibre. Still there is to be dealt with the fact of the flax being clean or dirty, long or short, weak or strong, etc. This classifi- cation must be noted by marks or letters — say, as before c'lassification by assumed, P purest fibre, level, and very clean and strong ; 1, Letters or Marks, pure, sound, cleau flax ; 2, fair warp fiax, perhaps a little mixed and shovey ; 3, soft, weak, and even dirty fibre. But, say some of our readers, there is nothing new in this system, it is carried out in most places ; and we grant that it is so, to the extent that if a sorter get a parcel of prime flax, it — the whole parcel — is dubbed P ; if a good parcel, 1 ; and so on. But what of the mixed parcels Mixed Parcels, whicli any sorter, in his turn, may get 1 has he either the ability, inclination, or room, to assort, not only an unusual number of sorts, but three or four qualities of these besides 1 We main- tain not one in ten has the ability, not one in twenty the inclination, nor one in the whole shop the room on his table — if the " berth " be like ordi- nary berths— to lay one half of the necessary sorts. Therefore is this method, as yet, a method in name only, not in deed. To _ make it a method in deed, we suggest that one or more hackling machines be devoted to the machining of all "odd" parcels; and that a requisite number of sorters of unimpeachable ability and Especial integrity be apportioned to these odd parcels. These men Sorters. must have berths with tables fully capable of accommodating any number of bunches that can possibly be selected ; tables of, say fifteen to twenty feet long, where an ordinary length Length of Berths is eight feet. A reduction of from 10 to 20lbs. per day on the allotted complement Aviil be ample compensation to these sorters for the extra time, intelligence and labour necessary to the laying of so many sorts ; whilst the employer will be recouped a hundredfold in the superior levelness of his yarns and the certain curtailment of waste in their production. The accurate cost of all dressed line can be calculated by Flax estimating correctly the cost of the raw material, its dressing, ^''malfe'°" yield, and its spinning quality. Poor flax may not be accurate. wortli half SO much as good flax of the same sort or " lea " ; a pound weight of say (iO's 3, worth lOd., may, if a 60 P, be Avorth 20d. Consequently, if a lot contain many qualities of flax, it is obvious that some separation of the classifying marks becomes necessary ; so that the lot which contains much P and 1 quality of flax may be credited with the extra value that it will have over another lot of the same average lea, but of, say, 2 and 3 quality. Now this can be done, and done simply, thus : — Turn to the table of gradation of lea line yarns, Chapter XVIII. Select from this table the line extra weft column as the sorter's No. 3 class, the line light warp column as No. 2 class, the line warp column as No. 1 class, and the line prime warp column as No. P class, we have the result as shown in the table on page 34. This range includes from about the coarsest to the finest lea of " wet spun " yarn, therefore no concern need make use of any more of this range than is necessary to cover that of their spinning. T>2 FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. [Chaptek v. o ^ O c3 5>tO 3H P bD m o 1-1 (M M CO o o Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. 37 This arrangement of the range of " sorts " will explain itself, as it will be noticed that the better class of fibre — but coarser — comes in over the finer and consequently more costly weft class, so as to equalise Improved Parcel the value of the various classes. It may be objected that the Ticket. quantity of each " class " is lost on account of its being entered under the one heading, that is under the No. 3 or " sorter's range," and that therefore there can be no correct " dressed line stock " kept. The answer to this is a request to remark the sketch on preceeding page of a " parcel ticket" designed to meet this objection. Such an extensive range as the above no establishment ever produces, nor has it the means of doing so, consequently only the particular range of any concern need be printed on the tickets of that establishment. The portions of this parcel ticket in ordinary type indicate the printing, that in italics illustrates the "separating" properties of this arrangement, as there is shown to be 14lbs. of prime against 134lbs. of the No. 1 class in the parcel. This ticket being correctly copied into the " weigh in book," to be referred to, admits of the accurate keeping of " Dressed Line Stock." The objection may be raised that no correct "average lea" can be made out with this arrangement, as it would be too troublesome to make out each range separately, therefore must the whole be made out under some one, say the No. 3 range, this not giving within a long way of the actual average. In answer it may be stated that although this average lea will calculate much finer than is actually the case, yet is it not misleading, as if it come out too fine, so is the quality much inferior, in fact the desired result of making the different ''sorts" and "classes" in the one column the same intrinsic value per pound, is at once effected by this arrangement. Thus it is, that having all the pounds of dressed line in each column — no matter of what difference in lea, or variation of quality^ — valued at the same price, it is correct to add all together, and make out averages on any range (but the "sorter's" preferable). These "averages" made off one range will be by no means misleading for the others, but will work out for all with very little variation — except in the very finest numbers — ^when credited with the marketable value per bundle. And, as will be shown, this variation in the finest numbers is actually realised, much more money being made in this end from the disproportionate marketable value of these yarns. The table on next page will illustrate the correctness of the basis upon which the " sorter's range " is arranged. In this table the assertion previously made — that the individual " sort " of dressed line capable of producing, with provisos, each and all of the four qualities of yarn assigned to it in the " sorter's range," is of the one intrinsic value per lb. — is demonstrated to be for all practical purposes correct, as the actual cost per bundle will compare favourably with the marketable value in each instance. Although in this table the calculations are made out on the " average waste per cent, and cost of production per bundle," as nearly as can be estimated, yet for general purposes there is no necessity for sailing so close to the wind, as the calculations of " mixes " can be made upon averages. Thus from 20's to 70's lea line may be safely averaged at 18 per cent, for waste, and 19 pence per bundle cost of production. From 70's to ISO's lea line at 13 per cent, for waste, and 31 pence per bundle cost of production. From 130's lea line, up, at 13 per cent, for waste, and about 4s. 6d. per bundle cost of production. In concerns spin- ning a medium average count of yarns, both line and tow, the mixes are generally calculated upon the broad basis of 20 per cent, waste allowance, and 20 pence cost of preduction per bundle. As we have introduced the 38 FLAX DEESSING AND SOETING. [Chapter V. question of "cost of production," we may liere give an average estimate of the various items totalling up these results, even although it may be con- sidered premature at this stage to broach this subject. Average Lea Average Lea Average Lea 45's. lOO's. 200's. Flax Department 3d. od. id. Preparing Department 2d. 4d. 7d. Spinning Department 3d. 5d. 7d. Reeling Department 2d. 2d. 6d. Mechanics, Sundries, Salaries, Interest] onPlant, Machinery and Stocks. Also ' on-, for " Wear and Tear" and Mill Fur- (" nishings Total 19d. Total 31d. Total 54d. per bdl. ACTUAL COST OF LEA LINE RANGE OF YARNS PER BUNDLE (60,000 YARDS.) Cost Of Dressed jine per lb. Per cent. Allowance 1 for Waste. Cost of Bundle. Produc- tion. Range Prime Warp Actual Pro- ortionate cost. Range Warp 1 Actual Pro- ortionate cost. Range ight warp 2 Actual Pro- ortionate cost. Actual Pro- ortionate cost. 1—1 a ft J ft ft 6d. 26 2kl. 7's 20/- lO's 1-1/7 12's 12/6 14's 11/- 6id. 25 2Hd. 8's 18/2 12-s 12/9 14's 11/3 16's 10/- e^d. 24 22d. 9's 16/9} 15/7 14's 11/5 16's 10/3 20's 8/6} 6|d. 23 21d. lO's 16's 10/4 18's 9/5} 8/3 22's 8/0.4 7d. 22 21d. H's 14/8 18's 9/8 22's 25's 7/5" 7id. 22 2Ud. 12'3 13/11 20's 9/0} 25's 7/7 28's C/H 7|d. 21 20d. 14's 12/6 22'3 8/6} 28's 7/1 30's 6/8} 8d. 21 20d. IG'S 11/9 25's 8/1} 7/9 30's 7/0} 35's 6/3" 8id. 20 20d. 18's 11/1 28's 32's JO'S 5/11 9d. 20 19d. 20's 10'7 30*9 7/7 35's 6/9 45's 5/8 9^d. 19 19d. 22's 10/2 32's 7/6 40's 6/3} 50'S 5/4 lOd. 19 19d. 25's 9/6 35's 7/3 45's 6/- 55's 5/2 lOid. 18 19d. 28's 8/1 li 38's 7/- 6/11 50's 5/8} 60's 5/- lid. 18 18d. 30's 8/8 40's 55's 5/3 65'3 4/10 Hid. 18 18d. 32's 8/7 42 s 6/10 60's 5/3 70's 4/8 12d. 17 18d. avs 8/2 45's 6/8} 6/7 65'3 6/1 80's 4/5 12|d. 17 ISd. .38's 7/11 48's 70's 5/- 90's 4/2} 13d. 17 ISd. 40's 7/10 50's 6/6 75's 4/10 lOO's 4/- lid. 16 ICd. 42's 8/- 55's 6/6 80's 4/11} llO's 4/Oi 15d. 16 20d. 45's 8/1 60's 6/6 85's 5/1 120's 4/1" 16d. 15 21d. oO's 7/10 65's 6/5i 90'3 5/2 ISO's 4/2} 18d. 15 22d. 55's 8/1 7o;s 6/9} 7/- lOO's 5/3} 140's 4/3} 20d. 14 23d. go's 8/3 75*8 llO's 5/4} 150's 4/5 22d. 14 25d. 65' s 8/6 80's V/4 7/9 120's 5/7 160's 4/8 26d. 13 28d. 70's 9/4 OO's 130's 6/.H 170'3 5/2} 30d. 12 32d. 75's 10/2 lOO's 8'3 UO's 6/8 ISO's 5/9" 31d. 11 36d. 80's 10/10 llO's 8/H loO's 7/2 lOO's 6/4 38d. 11 40d. 85'3 11/7 120'3 9/2 160's 7/9 8/3 200's 6/10 42d. 12 44d. go's 12/5 130's 9/8 170's 220's 7/3 4Cd. 12 48d. 95's 13/()i llO's 10/1} ISO's 8/9 240'3 7/7 50d. 13 52d. lOO's 13/9 1,50's 10/7 11/- 190'3 9/3} 260'3 7/11} 51d. 13 56d. 110 s 13/lOi 14/2 IfiO's 2O0's 9/9 28()'3 8/4 68d. 14 60d. 120's 170's 11/6 220's 10/- 3O0's 8/8 62d. 14 64d. 1,30's 14/2} 180's 11/11 240's 10/3} 330'3 9/- 66d. 14 68d. UO's 14/7i 190's 12/3 260's 10/5} 350'3 9/3 72d. 14 72d. 150's 15/U 200's 12/10 2-0's 10/10 380's 9/7 We can now assort and classify our dressed line to spin the maximum range of yarns to the very best advantage, and each flax lot is fully credited with its good or bad qualities, and this without adding in any way to the work of making up full particulars of the manner in which each lot has " turned out " in its manipulation. These particulars go under the name of "lot ticket." When the various bunches of assorted flax, that the sorter has on his table, come to be of sufficient size, or when the parcel be completed, they Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. 3J) must be carefully and expertly tied up and a ticket inserted under one of the bands of each bunch, giving full particulars, thus : — IRISH. Lot 116. 50-2. John Cook. 12/7/79. These tickets can be either written or block-printed by a boy, who between this occupation, that of " weighing in " the dressed line, and entering the completed parcel tickets into the different books, will find his time fully occupied. To prevent mistakes or mixing, the day's work dressed in Weighing in the the shop should be weighed in regularly, but only completed Hackiers. jjarcels. This is performed by the hacklers bringing up their bunches of dressed line, the breakings or "shorts," and the tow of the parcel, to the scales. The full bunches are weighed to prove them up to the standard weight of the shop (if any), say 20lb. each, the odd bits being taken at what they weigh. The total of these bunches, and the shorts and tow, should tot up to within a couple of pounds of the total weight of "longs" from the machines. After the parcel is thus weighed in, the sorter delivers the Flax Department ^^e " Dressed Line Store," and his tow into the " Tow (book-keeping). Storc," the liacklers' clerk keeping the parcel ticket, which is now completed, and requires to be entered into the "Weigh- ing-in Book," which shows an account of the dressed line received from sorters, and must balance with the "Flax Book," showing the dressed line sent to mill. This ticket has also to be entered into the " Lot Book " under the heading of the lot to which it belongs, and on the line in the page corresponding in number with that of the parcel. By this arrangement, if a parcel ticket be entered into a wrong lot, or be lost, there will be the vacant space on the page of its own lot, thus tending to the immediate detection of the error. It is the total of all the parcel tickets of each lot added together that forms the subject matter of the "lot tickets" on which the results of the working of each lot of flax is clearly made out. The spaces or lines are allotted to each parcel by the rougher's name and the quantity weighed off to him being entered in the lot book at the time of the parcel being roughed, the number of the line being marked on the ticket. On the parcel being passed through the hackling depart- ment it is time to fill up the vacancy on the page of the lot book. 40 FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. [Chapter V, TABLE OF THE MATERIAL, IN POUNDS DECIMAL, REQUIRED FOR THE PERCENTAOE FOR Leas. ! 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 8's 27-5 27-7 28-0 28-2 28-5 28-7 1 29^0 1 29-2 29^5 29-7 30 '0 30^2 30 ■S 9's 24-4 24-7 24-9 25-1 25-3 25'5 25^8 26^0 26^2 261 267 26-9 27^1 lO's 22-0 22-2 •22-4 22-6 22-8 23 0 23^2 23-4 23^6 23-8 24-0 24^2 24^4 ll's 20-0 20-2 20-4 205 20-7 •20 ^9 21^1 21-3 211 2r6 21-8 22 0 22-2 12's 18 3 18-5 18-7 18-8 ly 0 19-2 193 19-5 W7 19^8 20 0 20^2 20^3 ll's 15-7 15-8 160 161 16-3 16-4 16^5 16-7 16-8 170 17-1 17^3 171 16's 13 7 13-9 14-0 141 14-2 144 U-5 14-6 14^7 14-9 15-0 15-1 15^2 IS's 12-2 12-3 12-4 12-5 12-7 12-8 129 13-0 13 1 13-2 13-3 131 13-5 20's 11-0 111 11-2 113 11-4 11-5 ire 11-7 irs ir9 12-0 12^1 12^2 22's 10-0 10-1 10-2 10-3 10-4 10-5 106 10-6 10-7 10-8 10-9 iro 111 25's 8-80 8 88 8 '96 901 9-12 9 20 9-28 9 36 914 9^52 9-60 9^68 9-76 28's 7-85 7-93 8-00 8 07 814 8-21 8-28 8^35 8^42 8-50 8-57 8-64 8^71 30'8 7-33 7-40 7^47 7-53 7-60 7-67 7^73 7^80 7^87 7-91 8-00 807 8^14 32's 6-88 0-94 7-00 7-00 712 718 7-25 7-31 7^37 7'43 719 7 "56 7^62 35's 6-29 6'34 6-40 6-46 6-5L 6'57 6-63 6^69 6^74 6^80 6-85 6-91 6^97 38's 5-79 5-84 5-89 594 6-00 6 05 610 6-15 6^20 6-26 6^31 6^36 611 40's 5 -50 6'5o 5-60 o'65 5-70 575 5^80 5-85 5-90 5-95 6-00 6 05 610 42'8 5 -24 5-29 5 33 5-38 5 43 518 5^53 5-57 5^62 5-67 5-72 5'77 5^81 45' 8 4-89 4-93 4-97 5-02 506 511 5-15 5-19 5^24 5-28 5-33 5 37 5^42 48's 4-58 4 -62 4 '67 4-71 4-75 4-79 4-83 4^88 4-92 4-96 5-00 5-04 5-09 60'S 4-40 4-44 4-48 4 52 4 '56 4-60 4^64 4-68 4-72 4-76 4-80 4-84 4-88 52'S 4-23 4-27 4-31 1-31 4-38 4-42 416 4^50 4-53 4-57 4-61 4^65 4^69 55's 4-00 4-04 4-07 4-11 414 418 4-22 4^25 4-29 4^32 4-36 410 4^43 GO'S 3-67 3-70 3-73 3-76 3-80 3- 83 3-86 3-90 393 3-9i; 4^00 4^03 4^06 60s 3-38 3-41 3-45 3-48 3-51 3-54 3-57 3-60 3-63 3-66 3-69 3-72 3-76 70's 3-11 314 317 3-20 3-23 3-26 3-29 3^32 3-35 3-38 3-41 314 3^47 75's 2-93 2-96 2-98 3 01 3-04 3-06 3-09 3-11 314 3-17 3-20 3^22 3-24 80's 2-75 2-77 2-80 2-82 2 -80 2-87 2-90 2-92 2-95 2^97 3-00 3^02 305 85's 2-59 2-61 2-63 2 -66 2-68 2-70 2-73 2^75 2-77 2^79 2-82 2^84 2^86 90's 2-44 2-46 2-49 2-51 2-53 2-55 2-58 2^60 2-62 2-64 2-66 2^69 2-71 95'S 2-32 2-34 2-36 2-38 210 242 2^44 2-46 2^48 2^50 2-53 2-55 2^57 lOO's 2-20 2-22 2-24 2-26 2-28 2-30 2-32 2-34 2-36 2-38 2-40 2^42 2-44 llO's 2-00 2 02 2-Ot 2 0.5 2-07 2 09 2-11 2^13 214 2^16 2^18 2 20 2-22 120's 1-83 1-85 1-87 1-88 1-90 1-92 1^93 1-95 1-97 1^99 2-00 2^02 2^04 130's 1-69 1-71 1-72 1-74 1-75 1-77 1-78 1-80 1^81 1^83 1-84 1^86 1^87 llO's 1-57 l"o8 1-60 1-61 1'62 l^til 1^65 1'67 1'68 1^70 1-71 1^72 1*71 ISO's 1-47 1-48 1^49 1^51 1-52 1-53 1-54 1^56 r57 1-58 1 60 l^Ol 1^62 leo's 1-37 1-39 1-40 1-41 112 1 43 1'45 1-46 117 1-48 1^49 rol 1^52 170'8 1-29 1-30 1-32 1-33 1-34 1-35 1^36 1-38 1^.39 110 111 112 1^43 ISO'S 1-22 1-23 1-24 1-25 1-27 1-28 1^29 1^30 1-31 1^32 1^33 1-34 1^35 190's 1-lfi 1-17 1-18 1-19 1^20 1^21 122 1^23 1^24 1-25 1-26 1-27 1^28 20O's 1-10 1-11 1-12 1^13 114 1-15 1-16 117 ri8 1^19 1-20 1-21 1-22 210's 1-05 1-06 1-07 1-08 ro8 1^09 no 1^11 1^12 1-13 1^14 115 ri6 220's 1-00 101 1^02 103 1-04 1-05 1^05 1^06 1-07 1^08 1^09 1^10 rii 230's •95 •96 •97 j ^98 •99 1-00 roi 1^02 1-03 ro3 1-04 1^05 1^C6 210's •91 •92 •93 •9t •95 •96 •97 •97 •98 •99 100 1^01 1^01 250's •880 •888 •89!)i -90^ •912 •920 •928 •936 •944 •952 •960 •968 •976 260's •846 •854 •862 •869 •877 •884 •892 •900 •908 •915 •923 -931 •939 270's •815 •822 •82S f •837 •844 ■852 •859 •867 •874 •881 •889 •89b •903 280's •786 •793 •80C •807 •8U ■8-22 •8.'9 •83() •843 •850 •858 •865 ■872 290's •75S •76 a •772 •779 •78C •793 •8(0 •807 •814 •821 •828 •831 •841 300'8 •733 •74C •746 •75H •760 •766 •773 •779 •786 •792 •799 •80b •812 310's •709 •71G •722 •729 •735 •741 •748 •751 •761 •767 •773 •780 •786 320's •687 •694 •700 •706 •712 •718 •725 •731 •737 •743 •749 •755 •762 330's •607 •672 •67S •685 •691 •697 •703 •709 •715 •721 ■727 •732 •738 310's •647 •&53 •659 •605 •671 ■677 •683 •689 •695 •701 •707 •713 350's •628 •634 •640 •615 •651 •657 •662 •668 •674 •67! •680 •691 Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING, 41 PRODUCTION OF A BUNDLE (60,000yds.) OF ALL LEAS; ANY ORDINARY WASTE INCLUDED. 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 per cent. 30-7 31-0 3r2 31-5 317 32-0 32-2 32-5 32-7 33^0 33-2 33-5 33^7 =lb. dec. 27-3 27-5 27-8 28-0 28-2 28-4 28-7 28-9 29-1 29-3 29-5 29-8 30-0 24-6 24^8 25-0 25^2 25-4 25-6 25-8 26 0 26-2 26-4 26-6 26-8 27-0 22-1 22-5 22"7 22-9 23-1 23-3 23-4 23-6 23-8 24-0 24-2 24-4 24-5 20-5 20-7 20-8 21-0 21-2 21-3 21-5 21-7 21^8 22-0 22-2 22-3 22-5 17-6 177 17^8 18-0 18^1 18-3 18-4 18-6 18-7 18-9 190 19-1 19-3 15-4 15-5 15-6 15^7 15-9 16-0 16-1 16-2 16-4 16-5 16-6 16-7 16-9 13-7 13-8 13-9 140 14-1 14-2 14-3 14-4 14-5 147 14-8 14-9 15-0 12-3 12-4 12-5 12-6 12-7 12-8 12^9 13-0 131 13-2 13^3 13-4 13-5 H-2 ir3 ir4 11^4 11-5 11-6 117 11-8 11-9 12-0 12-1 12-2 12^3 9-81 9-92 10 00 10-08 10-16 10-24 10-32 10-40 10-48 10-56 10-64 10-72 10-80 8-78 8-85 8^92 8^99 9-06 9-13 9-21 9-28 9-35 9-42 9-49 9-56 9-63 8-20 8-27 8-34 8-40 8-47 8^54 8-61 8-67 8-74 8-81 8-87 8-94 900 7-68 7-74 7-80 7-87 7-93 7-99 8-05 8-11 8-18 8-24 8-30 8-36 8-42 7-03 7-08 7-14 7-20 7^26 7-31 7-37 7-42 7-48 7-54 7-60 7-65 7 71 6-47 6-51 6^57 6-62 6-67 6-72 6-78 6-83 6-88 6-93 6-98 7-04 7-10 615 6-20 625 6-30 6-35 6-40 6-45 6-50 6-55 6-60 6-65 6-70 6-75 5-86 5-91 5^96 601 6-05 6^10 6-15 6-20 6-25 6-29 634 6-39 6-44 5-46 5-50 5^55 5-59 5-64 5^68 5-72 5^77 5-81 5-86 5-90 5-94 5-99 5-13 5^17 5^21 5-25 5-30 5-34 5-38 6-42 5-46 5-51 9-55 5-59 5-63 4-92 4-96 500 5-04 5-08 5^12 5-16 5-20 5-24 5-28 5-32 5-36 5-40 472 4^76 4-80 4-84 4-88 4-91 4-95 4-99 5-03 5-07 510 5-14 5-18 4-47 4^50 4-54 4-58 4-61 4-65 4-68 472 4-76 4-79 4^83 4^86 4^90 4-10 4-13 4-16 4-19 4-23 4-26 4^29 4-33 4^36 4^39 4-43 4-46 4-50 379 3^82 3-85 3-88 3-91 3-94 3-97 4-00 4-03 407 4^10 4^13 4-16 3-50 3^53 3-56 3-59 3-62 3-65 3-68 371 3-74 377 3-80 3-83 3-86 3-27 3-30 3-32 3-35 3^37 3-40 3-43 3-45 3-48 3-51 3-54 3-57 3-60 3-07 3'10 3-l-^ 3-15 3-17 3-20 3-22 3-25 3-27 3-30 3-32 3-35 3-37 2-89 2-91 2-93 2-96 2-98 3-00 3-02 3-05 307 3-09 3^12 3-14 3-17 273 2-75 2-77 2-80 2-82 2-84 2-86 2-88 2-91 2-93 295 2-97 3-00 2-59 2-61 2-63 2-65 2-67 2-69 2-71 274 2-76 2-78 2-80 2^82 2-84 2-46 2^48 2-50 2^52 2^54 2-56 2-58 2-60 2-62 2-64 2-66 2-68 2-70 2-23 2-25 2^27 2-29 2^31 2-32 2-34 2-36 2-38 2-40 2-41 2-43 2^45 2-05 2-07 2^09 2-10 2-12 2-14 2-16 2-17 2-19 2-21 2-22 2-24 2-25 1-89 1-90 1-92 1-93 1^95 1-96 1-98 1-99 2-01 2-02 2-04 2-06 2^08 175 1-77 1^78 1-79 1^81 1^82 1-84 1-85 1-86 1-88 1-89 1-91 1-93 1-64 1^65 1-66 1^67 1-69 1-70 1-71 1-73 1-74 r76 1-77 1-79 1-80 1-53 1^54 1-55 1^57 1^58 1-59 l^OO 1-61 1-63 1-64 1-65 1^67 1-69 1-45 1-46 1-47 1-48 1-50 1-51 1-52 1-53 1-54 1-55 1-56 1^58 1^59 1-36 1-38 1-39 1-40 1^41 1-42 143 1-44 r45 1-47 r48 1^49 1-29 1-30 1-31 1^32 1-34 1-35 1^36 1-37 1-38 1-39 1-40 1-23 1^24 1-25 1-26 1-27 1-28 1-29 1-30 1-31 1-32 1-17 1-18 119 1-20 1-21 1-22 1^23 1-24 1-25 1-12 1-13 1^14 1^15 1-15 1-16 1-17 1-18 1-07 1 08 ro9 1-10 1-11 1-12 1^13 1-02 1^03 1-04 1-04 1^05 1-06 ■984 •992 1-000 1-008 1-016 •946 •954 •961 -969 •911 •918 •926 •879 •886 •847 •854 •819 •793 42 FLAX DRESSING AND SOETING. Chapter V. Another book, to be kept by the hackler's clerk, is the " Dressed Line Stock Book," showing the exact quantity of each quality and sort of dressed line in stock. The transferring weekly of the Dressed Line different totals out of this book to a dressed line stock sheet, stock Sheet. for the manager, is essential, so that he can at a glance see the sorts that are becoming scarce, or increasing too rapidly, and make arrangements for the opening up of new lots to meet the emergency, or to supply fibre more suitable for some contemplated mix. From the hacklers giving good weight in their bunches, or from mistakes in the deducting of the weight of bands returned from the preparing rooms, or other causes, the total weight of dressed line stock is liable to vary slightly, therefore it is advisable to weigh every pound of dressed line in the store — say yearly — and so start on a clear and correct footing. How- ever, it requires some discrimination on the manager's part Checking Dressed to do this, as the dresscd line imbibes much moisture while Line Stock. lying in a suitable store — one into which the sun's rays never penetrate. This moisture should never be included in the weight, it being all dried out with the friction of the preparing process. If a certain percentage be not deducted from the grand total for moisture there will be a great and misleading increase in the mill waste shown over a period. Ten pounds weightper spindlemay be setdownasthe average dressed line stock giving best results. If there be much less than this there will be confusion in the flax department with small lots, a deficiency of "of Dressed Line!^ of well-selected stock, and the necessity of sending what there is of it to the mill before it has properly "come to" in the store. If there be much more than the quantity mentioned, there will be un- necessary expense incurred by loss of interest on so much capital lying idle ; and much of the line may be rendered musty and damp from lying too long. Too much moisture in line is prejudicial to the preparing of it, and conse- quently deteriorates the quality of the yarn. But if tow be badly wanted, or storage for rough flax, or if provision is to be made against an impending strike, it may be judicious to raise the line stock above its normal average. A few remarks may here not be out of place concerning the The Lot Ticket, making out of the Calculations of a " Lot Ticket." The way to find the actual cost of a pound weight of dressed line is to get the total cost of the lot of flax, including storage, baling, freight and carriage, insurance, commission, and interest of the whole, for four months at 5 per cent, per annum. Subtract from this total cost the marketable value of the tow that is off the lot of flax. To the sum remaining add a certain allowance for the cost of dressing — say from 5s. to 7s. per cwt., according to the quality of the lot. Divide this sum by the total pounds of dressed line in the lot, and the quotient will be the cost of the average sort, per dressed pound. To find the cost of a bundle (60,000 yards) of yarn, which that average sort is suited to make, divide the lea-sort into 240 {i.e., the cuts in a bundle of yarn, with 20 per cent, added for waste allowance) ; the quotient is the pounds weight that it will take to spin a bundle of that lea. The average cost of dressed line per pound, multiplied by the weight of material per bundle, will give the average cost of material per bundle, to which must be added the average cost of producing the bundle of yarn, and the discount allowed, to arrive at a correct conclusion as to the cost of turning out the bundle. ™. ^ ^ Greater accuracy may sometimes be necessary, therefore Waste percentage i • j.i x i i i.i j. • Table. we have given the table on the two previous pages. But although we have referred only to the mode of finding- Constant Number out the cost per pound of the average lea, the cost of any sort for Lot. in ii^Q can be calculated by simple proportion of this aver- Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING. 43 age ; a short cut being to make use of the constant number of the lot. This number, when multiplied upon any sort in the lot, gives the proportionate value of that sort per pound. This constant number is found Range of Sorts. oO's to 85's SO's to lO's -10'sto55's SO's to OO's CO o GO o CO -K CO ■ra O o ~" SO's to 85's Constant Number. CO oo 'P •206 •366 CO o CO oo o CO Average Lea. CO . ^ oo p CO oo CO p o 'O Oi >ra CO p oT.h/ii A or l-341bs. of Court C.L. 75's at 29d „ „ 38-9d j &d+^0d-7/lUi per Ddl. Mix for lOO's Lea Line Warp at 9s. 9d. per Bundle. ? or l'61bs. of Court C.L. 75's at 29d per lb. = 46"4d I >7i .9^ 1 on^—'r,"! noi-hm i or 0-81bs. of Court C.L. 80's at 31d ,; „ 2i-8d f ^a+-ua-//ii per oai. Mix for no's Lea Line Warp at 10s. 9d. per Bundle. i or l'091bs. of Court C.L. SO's at 31d per lb. = 33'8d "1 «Q.n^ , Qrv^_7/r.". T^r.T. I or r091bs. of Court C.L. 85's at 33d „ „ 36-Od/''-^ M+ZOa-Vo^ per mi. Mix for 120's Lea Line Warp at lis. 6d. per Bundle. All or 2-OOlbs. of Court C.L. 85's at 33d per lb. = 66-0d+20d=7/2 per bdl. Mix for 130's Lea Line Warp at 12s. per Bundle. All or l-841bs of Court C.L. 90's at 36d per lb. = 66-2d+20d=7/2i per bdl. Although these mixes show immense profit in the yarns Cut Line. composed of Courtrai cut line (middles), and although, as Lot Ticket. previously remarked, the profits are much the greatest in the very fine end ; yet the valuation assigned to cut line sorts," although proportionately correct, is rather misleading for this reasoa : — All the coarser sorts, from 70's down, in the cut line ticket, are only the ends, which are not even nearly proportionately as valuable as the middles; these ends, from their unevenness and impurity, being suitable only for the medium range of light warp and weft yarns. Therefore the 50's, 55's, 60's, and 65's of the cut line ticket are worth only about lid., 12d., 13 jd., and 15d. per lb., where the 70's, 75's, SO's, and 85's are worth about 32d., 36d., 42d., and 48d. per lb. Before we leave this subject of flax calculations, it may be Lot Ticket advisable to remark on a few matters of importance in con- Miscaicuiatious. section with it. Small yield makes a dear dressed lb. Tow valued at one penny per lb. too cheap, increases the cost of a lb. of dressed line about ^d. ; making no allowance for either the tow or the dressing, but setting one against the other, increases the cost of dressed line about 2d. per lb. The cost of dressing taken Is. per cwt._ too dear, increases the cost of a dressed lb. about ^d. and vice versa in each instance. The manager should keep a few pages of his pocket book headed ofi'as shown below, and on the lot being finished and added up in the "lot book," he should transfer from it the particulars specified, into his note book. This list will be useful for reference and comparison and as a guide when he is calculating the cost of a new mix. FLAX NOTES. Flax Note Book. Lot. Market. Cwts. At per Cwt. Yield per Cwt. At per lb. Dressed Average Lea. Constant No. Range of Sorts. Finished Hackling. The arrangement of the "Flax Department" on the most Arrangement of approved principles must be regulated according to circum- Fiax Department gtances. If the establishment be small, say one of only 5,000 to 10,000 spindles, it may be advisable to have the " rough- ing," " machines," and " sorting " all on the same flat, and under the eye of one overlooker. If it be extensive, say from 20,000 to 30,000 spindles, the roughers should be located separately, under a roughing master, who will be responsible for his own department. Care should be taken to have this shop close to the machine room, and as near to the rough flax store as possible. 46 FLAX DEESSING AND SORTING. [Chapter V. The sorting sliop should be distinct from the two above-mentioned departments, and_ under the charge of a sorting master. It should be as near to the machine room, the dressed line store, and the tow store as can be arranged. But if these shops must of necessity be distant from one another, communication can generally be rendered easy between them by means of hoist, shoot, or trap-door. Good light and ventilation in all three places may be looked upon as indispensable, more especially in the sorting shop. This should also be protected from the sun's rays by white blinds ; yellow blinds are to be avoided, as the_ peculiar shade they give deceives the sorter in the appearance of his flax, and confuses him when judging it. Gas light has the same injurious elfect, especially upon the finer cream-coloured classes ; in fact, it may be considered impossible for any man to sort cut line correctly by gaslight. _ Men on this class of work should be permitted to work only during daylight. Where the shops are distinct from one another, the following Overseers' Wages, may be considered a fair guide as to what wages the over- lookers should receive. Eoughing master, rough er's pay and 3d. per man on all in his shop making full time ; machine master, roughers' pay, or 4s. per machine ; sorting master, sorter's pay and 2jd. per man on all his shop making full time ; all per week. This arrangement, besides tending to the introduction of steady hands, would be likely to improve the style of work turned out, as the men would not be permitted to do more than they could do properly. Sorter's standard rate of wages has been as follows : All classes ; made work. \ 1855. 1865. 1875, 1884. Long line, broken, 60 to 100 lbs. Hacklers' Wages. Long line, unbroken,90 to 160 „ ^ per day 2/9 3/6 4/2 3/9 Cut line, long, 40 to 70 C ut line, short, 10 to 40 „ j We will conclude our remarks on the flax department by referring to the hackles, more commonly called tools, requisite for all Hand-hackle classes of work. The difference of opinion which exists on Tools. many points connected with the hackles is a sufficient proof of the necessity for giving the subject some consideration. It is evident that if the pins be set too sparsely the tool will not do its work; if too much crowded there will be an unnecessary tow made ; and if the pins be either too short or too long, there will be the same results. The writer gives, therefore, a table in which all these items have received full consideration. Ruffers and 1st Hand. 2nd Hand. Sorter's " ten," 3rd Hand. Tool Pins per square inch Wire gauge No Length over all . . 10 12 14 16 18 20 25 30 35 2 3 4 6 9 12 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 55 60 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 14 15 15 15 16 in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. in. 7i- 7i 7i 6i 6i 6i 41 4i 4i 4i 3f m 3i 3rd. Hand. 4th Hand, 40 45 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 1 140 65 70 75 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 16 16 17 17 17 18 18 18 19 19 20 20 3iin. 3Sin, 3iin. 3iin. 3iin. 2iin. 2iin. 2iin. 2in. 2in. 2in. 1 2in, Chapter V.] FLAX DRESSING AND SORTING, oth Hand and Sorter's " Switch." 47 150 180 21 2in. 1 160 180 200 210 220 230 240 250 260 270 280 290 200 220 210 260 280 300 320 340 360 380 400 420 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 1 2in. 2in. 2in. 1 jin. liin. If in. Ijin. l^in. 13in. Ijin. li'in. ISin. 300 440 27 Ijin. The stocks of all tools, except the ruffer, and 1st and 2nd hand, are supposed to be one standard length, viz., T^in. ; and from 2in. to Sin. broad. The column under heading of "tool" is derived from the number of pins in a row of this length, and thus are the tools classed. For example, a 40 tool has 40 pins to the VJin., a 200 tool has 200 pins to the same length, etc., etc. The ruffers and 1st and 2nd hand are generally about 9in. long by 4in. broad. PART II. LINE PREPARING DEPARTMENT. CHAPTER VI FLAX PEEPARING. The preparing or fourth process which flax undergoes in the spinning mill next claims our attention. '^Process!' , ^he importance of care and order, combined with practical Its Importance, knowledge m this department, cannot be over-estimated. Here, m fact, is the success of flax spinning " made or marred " it matters not how carefully the fibre is brought forward in the flax depart- ment; it It be not properly treated in the preparing process allthe care previously bestowed upon it may be of no avail. On the other hand, if the machinery in the preparing room MacMnerT r ^^^Toughly adapted to its work, it is surprising how excellent a foundation can be laid for the production of a sound level 1.1 ^^^y inferior material. The best fibre, thoroughly hackled, will be " murdered " in the preparing department if it IS not treated properly, as, for instance, if it get not sufiicient "doublings " and be produced light enough at the " spread-board." _ This is the first machine through which the fibre is passed ^'"''suver'" ?^ the preparing process, and it is here converted into "sliver." The sliver may be described as one continuous riband of pure • u J dressed line, of indefinite length, and from one to five inches m breadth. It is perfectly level, of smooth, glossy appearance; the hbres lying m juxtaposition, with their ends interwoven and over- lapped, so as to give no evidence to a casual observer of their ever having been separate and distinct. The principal method of putting in sufficient doublings at Spreading. the Spread board is for the girl attending it (called a "spreader ") to piece-out the flax pieces, as they are lifted off the sorter's buncli into as many portions as are consistent with neat and accurate separation without tossing the fibre, and then to lay these pieces evenly one over ^the other, top end foremost, and extending down the revolving- table or leathers of the spread board, in an even straight line. Besides lying on each other, each piece must fall a little behind its predecessor, and It IS to allow this overlap to be as close and as regular as possible, that the pieces liave^ to be separated into many portions. Another reason for the small piecing out" is, that the close spreading may not produce too heavy and thick a sliver at the front of the spread board, when the latter is kept on a fairly short "draft." Too heavy sliver would detract from the good results derived from small piecing out, as so many less "slivers" or cans would have to be passed together over the succeeding machine, called the first drawing or " set frame," where plenty of doubling is quite as essential as It is on the^spread-board. In Preparing, the aim should be to get in the doublings," whilst the process is still in its infancy, heavy olubiiif spreading, and consequently few slivers over the " set frame " giving poor results ; even though an effort be afterwards ^■L n ™ade to counteract this evil, by an unusual amount of doubling over the finer drawings " and " roving frame." The reason for this is that If unevenness and thick parts be once introduced into the sliver even the thousands of doubhngs it will subsequently receive will not completely 52 FLAX PKEPARING [Chapter 71. obliter'ate thtse defects. Whereas, if the sliver be once formed withnit these faults, .10 after process can introduce them, unless by the grossest carelesisness. The after process in preparing consists in drawing out, or. as it is caJled, "drafting" the sliver to the requisite fineness of body, o^er drawing frames; the doubling being introduced for the purpose of keeping up or improving its levelness. Some persons hold that _:he doubling has another object, namely, to keep up a suttici^nt Gill Hacikiing. body of sliver to be again and again drafted, and hackled at the same time, by being drawn through the " gills." But, in the writer's opinion, if the fibre be properly treated in the iax department, there is no necessity for this ; in fact, it is injurious, breakng uf) and softening the fibre, so as to deteriorate the quality itself, md injuriously affect the preparation. The drafting above referred to is carried out by means of Drafting. two sets of rollers, one set before and one behind the shee". of fallers or " gills." The front set, called the boss and pressing rollers, grip the fibre as if in a vice, at their point of contact called the "n.p," and draw it rapidly from the gills. The back set called the " feed and jociey rollers," deliver the fibre into the gills, preventing more than a stated regular supply passing in, and consequently, being drawn out. The diff"erence in length between that drawn out, and that Draft caicu- given in, is called the "draft." The length of draft is regulated latioris. Y^-y toothed wheels called "gearing," and all calculations con- nected therewith can be made out in one of three ways, eitiier mechanically, practically, or theoretically. Drafting mechanically is to commence at the first or motive power, md by multiplying the revolutions of this first power, by the diameters or number of teeth (the pitch being similar) in those wheels which commini- cate this power, and which are commonly called "drivers, pinions, or lead(rs," and dividing the result thus arrived at by the diameter or number of teeth in those wheels which receive the power, and which are called " driv^ns, wheels, or followers;" getting as result the revolutions of the diffeient portions of the machine, in proportion to that of the first or motive pover. Drafting by practice, or " rule of thumb," is arriving at a conclusior by actual measurement, so much in, so much out, which is the most satisf aciory plan to those whose ignorance leads them to doubt the accuracy of the oiher method of calculation ; but it is not so accurate. Drafting by theory ii to make use of those wheels only, in the calculation, which directly affect the " draft," without any regard to in-take or out-put. These are wheels, the alteration of any of which will affect either the feed or delivery separately; all wheels common to both not afi"ecting the " draft," and therefore not requisite in the calculation. This method is the most speedy. All wheels running slack on studs, but acting as connecdng Intermediate links in the train of gearing, in no way affect either speel or Gearing. draft. These are what are called " intermediates," and aie to be entirely overlooked so long as they are themselves the CDm- municators. But, if over the elongated "pap" of one or more_ of tiese intermediates there be screwed or keyed another wheel which is in connection with some other train of gearing, then must this irter- mediate be taken into consideration, as it becomes a "follover" to this latter train. This will be understood by observing that the wheel on the stud Gearing. pap of the intermediate, and which becomes a leader, has for primary motion the speed at which the intermediate, to wiich it is keyed, revolves. This makes the introduction of these two wleeLs into the calculation, all important ; they may now be called " stud follover " and " socket leader." Chapter VI.l FLAX PREPARING. 53 Therefore all wheels transmitting motion, but running slack and un- fettered on their studs, are of no account in any calculation. But all wheels keyed or screwed to any part giving motion to any Gearing other part, are of vital importance in speed calculations. Summary. When Speaking of wheels of the former type, we will designate them as passive, those of the latter type being active. The explanation of the theoretical method will be better Calculating understood by the reader noticing the relation that the toy Theory. delivery and feed wheels have to one another ; though they be both "followers" in relation to the speed or socket leader. The larger the boss roller wheel, the shorter will be the draft ; whilst the larger the the feed roller wheel, the longer it will be. Therefore, the values of these two wheels, when taken in relation to the draft, are diametrically opposed to each other. This fact makes it necessary, in the theoretical method of performing the draft calculation, to reverse their relative positions. In the mechanical calculation the delivery quantities are divided by those of the feed • inversely, in the theoretical calculation the feed quantities must be divided by those of the delivery. Therefore, to save time, the positions of all active gearing in connection with the delivery are reversed ; that is, followers (if any) are placed as divisors, and leaders (if any) and roller diameter, as_ dividends. The active gearing and roller diameter in connection with the feed, retain their customary position. We will illustrate the different methods of calculating Caioufatfonf draft of a machine, spread-board ; according to their order : — Drafting Mechanically. 130 Revolutions of driving shaft. 12 Inch drum. Pulley, inches 20)1560 78 Revolutions of hottom shaft. 30 Speed wheel. Boss-roller wheel 60)2340 39 Revolutions of boss-roller diameter 2' 75 inches 37 Boss pinion 39 revls' Back shaft (change) wheel ... . 54)1443 107'2o* 26- 72 Revolutions of back shaft. 13 Back shaft pinion. Stud wheel 110-°°)347-36 3-16 19 Socket pinion Feed wheel 42-°°)60-04 1"43 Revolutions of feed roller ; dia' 2'50 inches. 2"50 = diameter. 3-57)107-25* 30'04 Draft on machine. Drafting by Rule of Thumb. )ller .... l-43\ 39-00 Revolution inches, 7-85 J 8 64 Inches circ In, inches 11.22^336-96 Inches, out. Revolutions of feed roller .... l-43\ 39-00 Revolutions of boss-roller. Circumference do. inches, 7-85 \ 8 64 Inches circumference do. 30 04 Draft. 54 FLAX PEEPAEING. [CHAPTER VI. Drafting Theoretically. Boss-roller pinion 37" = 13-45 Bose-roller diameter 275 54 X 110 X 42 =404-02 X 13 X 19 X 2-5 Names of Wheels. Back shaft (draft change) wheel x stud wheel x feed roller wheel. X back shaft pinion x socket pinion x feed roller diameter Feed quantity = 404-02 = 30-04 Draft. Delivery quantity = 13-45 Or, (speedy)— 54 x 110 X 42 X 2-75 =30-04 37 X 13 X 19 X 2-50 Names of Wheels. Back shaft (draft change) wheel x stud wheel x feed roller wheel x boss roller diameter Boss roller pinion x back shaft pinion x socket pinion x feed roller diameter. We will also illustrate the different methods again, in Drawing-frame the drafting of a drawing frame, the arrangement of the Calculations. gearing on this differing slightly from that of t.he spread- board. Drafting Mechanicalhj. 130 Revolutions of driving shaft. 12 Inch drum. Pulley, inches 16)1560 97-5 Revolutions of bottom shaft. 28 Speed wheel. Boss-roller wheel 63)2730* 43-33 Revolutions of boss-roller ; dia' 2-25 inches. 43-33 Stud follower 120)2730* ' 97-49 22-75 87 Stud leader. Back shaft (change) wheel.. 72-°) 1979 -25 27-49 Revolutions of back shaft, 20 Back shaft pinion. Stud follower 60-°)549-80 9-16 20 Stud leader. Feed wheel 60-°)183-20 3-05 Revolutions of feed. Diameter 2 inches. 2 6-10)97-49 15-98 Draft. Drafting hy Bide of Thumb. Revolutions of feed roller 3-05\ 43-33 Revolutions of boss-roller. Circumference 6-28 j 7'07 Circumference. Inches in 19-15^ 306-34 Inches out. 15-98 Draft. Chapter VI.] FLAX PEEPARING. 55 Drafting Theoretically. Boss-roller wheel 63 =-28, Boss-roller diameter 2"25 120 X 72 X 60 X 60 =446-89 — X 87 X 20 X 20 X 2 Stud follower x back shaft w h eel x sttid follower x feed roller wheel X stud leader x back shaft pinion x stud leader x feed roller diameter. Feed quantity. . . . =446-89 = 15-96 Draft. Delivery quantity = 28-00 Or, (Speedy) — 120 x 72 X 60 X 60 X 2-25 = 15-96 Draft. 63 X 87 X 20 X 20 X 2-00 Stud follower x back shaft wheel x stud follower x feed roller wheel x boss roller diam. Boss roller wheel x stud leader x back shaft pinion x stud leader x feed roller diameter. Reference has been made to " doubling," that is, the number of slivers that are doubled together during the drafting process, and delivered in the form of a single sliver. As before remarked, this doubling is to keep up sufficient " body " of sliver to permit of its being " drafted and doubled " to such an extent as may tend most to the production of an open and perfectly level sliver. If the number of doublings, i.e., slivers, exceed the units of Graduation of draft on any frame, it is obvious that a heavier sliver will be Doublings. produced off this frame than any of the slivers passing through it, that is, than the sliver from the front of the preceding frame. Except in the case of spread-board sliver, this should be as far as possible avoided ; as the frames are graduated, each being finer than its predecessor, consequently so should the material passing over become lighter. The gradation of frames in preparing is named a " system," A System. a Certain number of machines specially adapted to each other, and for the particular class of material for which they are set apart. A system may consist of one or two spread boards ; two to four drawing frames ; and one roving frame ; each regulated to supply the succeeding one. The general allotment to a preparing system is one spread board ; one set frame ; one second drawing ; one third drawing ; and one roving frame. It is only where the preparation is unusually coarse, or exceedingly fine, or where there may be a pinch for space, that this arrangement is departed from. The amount of "doubling" depends entirely upon circumstances, and varies from one thousand to one hundred thousand over a system. Doubling implies expense in preparing, therefore the coarse and poorer numbers are allowed as few doublings as possible, slight irregularity in the " levelness " of the sliver not showing in coarse numbers as in fine. But doublings are absolutely necessary in the finer and better numbers, though not necessarily to such great extent as in the higher limit above given. The reason doubling sometimes reaches the high figure of Proportion of " One hundred thousand " is that in the very finest preparing. Doublings. gay from 200's to 400's lea, it is advisable to have the least possible stress laid upon the gossamer sliver as it is drawn from the gills and over the doubling plate ; this being effected by fewer rows of gills to each delivery. As doublings are essential, in such a case it is imperative to give the sliver a fourth drawing, to put in doublings otherwise lost by the curtail- 66 FLAX PREPARING. [CHAPTER VI. ment of the doubling power of each machine individually. This fourth drawing increases the doublings in such a ratio as to bring the total well up to the " hundred thousand." The following table will illustrate the average doublings over different classes of system : — Machine. Slivers per Delivery. Slivers per Delivery. Doublings. Slivers per Delivery, Slivers per Delivery. Doublings. Spread Board 4 = 4 6 = 6 8 = 8 6=6 Set Frame 6 „ 24 16 „ 96 24 ., 192 12 „ 72 12 „ 288 16 „ 1,536 16 „ 2,872 12 „ 864 3rd Drawing i „ 1,152 8 „ 12,288 12 „ 34,464 12 „ 10,368 8 „ 82.944 1 „ 1,152 1 „ 12,288 1 „ 34,464 1 „ 82,944 Preparing machinery should be so arranged that there may Arrangement of the shortest possible distance to carry the sliver in cans, machinery. from the front of one frame to the back of the succeeding. This has the threefold advantage of permitting the girl attending to mind the maximum number of frames, consistently with thorough supervision ; to reduce the chances of mixed slivers ; and to lessen the wear and tear upon sliver-cans and floor. Of course, the appearance and general order of the room must not be sacrificed to these objects. For instance, the spread boards should be in a row or rows, as also should be the drawing frames, and roving frames ; the fronts of each being in a straight line, with passages between these rows. In arranging the spread boards there should be ample room left behind them for the reception of baskets containing the " dressed line " from the store. CHAPTER VII. THE SPREAD BOARD. The spread boards should be supplied daily with dressed line from the store, as it is not advisable to keep too large a stock of dressed line in the preparing room. There should be strong and well lined large Material. " skips," into wMcli the line bunches should be carefully laid in the store, as they are required for the preparing process, and not again taken out or disturbed until they are placed on the spreader's table. This system lessens the chance of mixture by mistake, there being only one sort put into each skip ; and the great injury done to dressed line by too much handling is avoided. The skips containing the bunches should be ranged behind or near to the particular spread boards for which the sort of flax they contain is needed ; or if space cannot be allotted for this arrangement the line might be lifted out of the baskets, and placed in " cells " built for its reception. In many cases it may appear impossible to transport the material from the store to the preparing room without handling it, but the buildings must be very crooked indeed where this can not be accomplished with the aid of one or more " hoists," which are no doubt costly to get up, but so convenient and labour-saving as soon to repay the outlay ; leaving entirely out of consideration the inestimable advantage of receiving the fibre into the preparing room unrufiied, and with ends free from " matting." In a room of average size there 'will be ample work for one Flax Loosing. girl loosing the bands off the bunches as they are required, straightening up the outside pieces, if they happen to have been tossed, and then laying the bunch in the proper place at the table. It is often advantageous to mix different classes and sorts of Mixing of Fibre, dressed line, and this is generally performed at the spread board by so many " leathers " being devoted to each variety. The nature and proportions of this mix are copied by the preparing master off the list he receives, upon a slate or board set up behind each frame. _ The " flax looser " is responsible for laying down the kinds and proportions of flax here specified, and seeing that the "spreader" uses the correct quantity of each. The spreading of the mix is performed as before explained. The construction and shape of a spread board is as follows : — Structure of It is a machine of about ten feet in length from front to rear, Machine. \yy about four Or five feet wide and high. A plain roller of steel, or malleable or cast iron, of any diameter from two to four inches, is placed parallel to the floor, and about three and a half feet from it, resting upon two bearings — one for each end — cast in the two gables or frames, upon which the structure of the machine is reared. These bearings are fitted with brass seats, in which the " necks " or journals rest. Of course this roller, Avhich is the " boss roller," is at right angles to the gables. In front of this roller there is placed, also resting upon the 58 THE SPREAD BOARD. [Chapter VII. gable, a cast-iron plate, called the " doubling plate." In this plate are. cast diagonal holes or slits, through which the "sliver "is drawn as it ciomes from the gills to be doubled. The nurabea' of slits in the dloub- Doubiing Plate, ling plate depends upon the number of rows of gills im the head of fallers. The faller is a bar of iron to which the gillls are rivetted, and so carried forward, as these fallers — there being many in a head — rest on "slides," their ends being retained in the threacds of FaUer. " spiral screws " revolving beside the slides. The slides prioject close up to the boss roller on each side, and thus the fallers are carried up to the boss roller by the screw ; only sufficient space intervening between the ends of the slides and the surface of the boss roller for the faller to be knocked down off the top slide to a bottom one, along which it is carried back by another revolving screw of coarser pitch, to leave room for the faller folloAving to take the same course. When the faller comes to the lower end of the bottom slides there are tappets that come in contact with it, and raise it on to the upper slides to go over the same ground again, indefinitely. There is a faller for every pitch or thread of both bottom and top screws, so that their appearance, when in position, is that of an endless sheet of iron rods covered with bristling- rows of steel pins. Remark was made of a back or feed roller. This roller Feed Roller. faces close up behind the ends of the screws and slide s, on a level with the top of the fallers, and parallel to them, and consequently to the boss roller as well. Behind this feed roller, there is a conductor plate, which is a plate with iron or brass Front conductors screwed on to it directly behind the rows of gills. Conductors. Thus anything passing through these back conductors must pass over the feed roller into the rows of gills in the head of the machine. Covering and enclosing these gills at the front of the spread board, and just over the boss roller, is a conductor bar. This is an iron bar with brass conductors a little narrower than the gills depending from it, and around the back of, and up to the top side, of the boss roller. Any- thing delivered from the gills passes through these conductors and on to the boss roller in a narrower form than it was given into the gills. The object of this will be explained further on. Working in stands or " yews," which are connected either to the conductor bar or to the doubling plate, are pressing rollers, which rest upon the upper side of the boss Pressing Rollers, roller. These pressing rollers are the means by which the flax is drawn from the gills in the form of sliver. They are formed of round bosses of wood made the breadth of the gill at least, so as to cover the front conductor on both sides. These bosses are pressed on to an axle or " arbour " in pairs, the bosses being the same distance apart as the spaces between the gills on the faller. For example, where there are six gills per head it requires three separate arbours with two bosses on each, to cover the upper surface of the boss roller. These rollers are set in the "yews "at the most appropriate angle to the "nip" or point of contact with boss roller. The slot in the " yews " to produce this desired position of pressing roller may be taken as most suitable when at right angles to the face of doubling plate. The reason for this is that with this arrangement the maximum size of the pressing roller can be admitted without throwing it so much forward on the boss roller as to become a sort of wedge on itself, which would retard its " drawing " capacity, or otherwise so far back as to come in contact with the brass conductor. Arrangements for the admission of the largest pressing rollers can be facilitated by the sheet of fallers being on a decline from the boss roller to the feed roller, as this admits of the brass conductor sloping more away from contact with the sur- Chaptek VII.] THE SPREAD BOARD. 5J) face of the pressing roller. But this decline of the fallers is not usual unless in the case of spread boards, nor indeed is a large pressing roller of so much moment in either drawing or roving frame, as in the spread board. Between the bosses of these pressing rollers is attached to The Hanger. the arbour wliat is called a "hanger." This hanger catches over the arbour by a hook with a brass seat in it, and into the other extremity of this hanger is hooked the spring-wire. On the lower end of this spring-wire j^s a screw which passes through a slot in the Leverage. end 01 a lever connected to the frame work of the machine. By placing a thumbscrew on the end of the spring- wire and screwing it up against the lever, the whole weight concentrated at this point is communicated to the pressing roller through the medium of spring- wire and hanger. Behind the feed rollers is an endless revolving sheet of leather going at the same surface speed as that of the feed rollers. The fallers also go at the same pace, or a little faster, to give them what is called a lead. This "lead of faller" is necessary to cause the fibre to bed properly into the pins, or in common parlance, "to pin properly." The flax, after being spread, is delivered by these revolving sheets into the back con- ductors, and through them into the gills, from between the Gills. feed rollers. The fibre lies in the gills until the longer and foremost portions are drawn quickly away by the boss and pressing rollers, Avhich revolve at much greater speed than the feed rollers. Thus are the fibres drawn parallel and rapidly from the pins as the fallers advance, and so are delivered in a continuous light and level sliver on to the doubling plate, down through the diagonal slits, travelling overlapped together under the plate, and up through the farthest slot, here to meet the outside sliver, which does not pass through the doubling plate, but amalga- mates with the others, all being delivered through the delivery rollers in one compact, level, and strong sliver. The sliver, as thus delivered from the spread board, is passed into cylindrical cans placed to re- siiver ceive it, after each yard so delivered is measured and registered Measurement, by a simple arrangement, which may be thus explained. There is a small "worm" wheel on the extremity of the deli- very roller referred to. This worm is in gear with a small wheel on a stud called a "socket wheel." On the elongated "pap" of this socket wheel is another worm which is in gear with a wheel called the "bell wheel." Each, revolution made by this bell wheel causes a pin, protruding from its side, to force back an upright steel rod or spring, on the top of which is fixed a bell. At a certain position the slowly revolving pin ceases to come in contact with the bell rod, this permitting the latter to rebound. The Bell. loudly ringing the bell. This indicates a certain fixed. length of sliver to have been now delivered into the can, Avhich is now considered full, and replaced by an empty one, to be in its turn filled. The intervals at which the bell will ring can be altered, by change of wheel, to deliver any required length of sliver, say from 300 to 2,000 yards. As the worm wheels on the end of the delivery roller and Length of P^P Only shift the wheels into which they are geared one tooth Bell calculation for each revolution of the part to which they are attached (unless the worms be double or treble threaded, when their power will be in the same ratio), it follows that the natural and short method of calculating the length of the bell is to multiply the circumference of the delivery roller boss, in inches, by the number of teeth in the socket wheel, and the result by the number of teeth in the bell wheel ; the total being divided by the inches in a yard will give the yards in bell ; thus : — €0 THE SPREAD BOARD. [Chaptei VII. 9*42 cir. of delivery roller boss, in inches. 37 teeth in socket wheel. 318-54 103 teeth in bell wheel. Inches in yard 36)35899"62 997 yards per one revolution of bell wheel. The measurement of the sliver off the spread boards is rendered aeces sary from the fact, that, in the preparing, it is essential to be able to produce the sliver of any required number of yards per pound weight. A certain number of these measured cans are weighed, the nett total The Set. being termed the weight of the " set." As all cans in a set are to be doubled into one sliver, there are virtually only so many yards in length to this weight of set as there are yards ii the bell. This point being understood, it is only a question of calculation to find out how many yards per pound or ounce, of 16 dram^, the length of the sliver will be increased during the succeeding draftings and doublings. The shorter the drafts and the greater the doullings, the lighter will the " set " require to be to produce a given nimber of yards ; and the longer the drafts and the less the doubling, the heavier will it require to be to produce the same number of yards. For fine and special preparation light sets are absolutely necessaty, as more than a certain number of cans cannot be put into the set, as there would not be room to place too many under the sliver f uUies Cans in Set. of the back rails of the frame ; and even if there were with too many slivers passing into each back conductor cf the *' head," they would ride in on one another ; or, as it is termed, " lurk." This lurking of the sliver produces "thicks and thins" as the filre is drawn from the pins, and, it need scarcely be remarked, is excessively injurious to the preparation. Consequently, in no instance it can be pro- nounced to be advantageous to have more than two slivers over eaci gill, and as light spreading is essential to excellence, as lefore Set Calculations, explained, so must the weight of the " set," over fine systems, of necessity be light. In illustration :— 100 yards per ounce (16 drams), rove. 16 ounces. Roving frame draft = 16)1600 yards per lb., rove. 100 yards of sliver per lb., off 3rd drawing. 8 doublings per 3rd drawing sliver. 3rd drawing draft = 15)800 53'33 yards off sliver per lb., off 2nd drawing. 12 doublings per 2nd drawing sliver 2nd drawing draft = 16-°°)639-96 40 yards of sliver per lb. off first drawing. 12 doublings per 1st drawing sliver ; or cans in set. 1st drawing draft = 17)480 28'25Nyards of sliver per lb. off spread board. )mm yards in bell 28-32 lb. per can. 12 cans in set. 340 lb. in set. Chapter VII.] THE SPREAD BOARD. CI 100 yards per ounce (16 drams), rove. 16 ounces. Roving frame draft = 12) 1600 yards per lb. rove. 133'33 yards of sliver per lb. ofT 3rd drawing. 8 doublings per 3rd drawing sliver. 3rd drawing draft = 12.°°)1066-61 88'89 yards of sliver per lb. off 2nd drawing. 12 doublings per 2nd drawing sliver. 2nd drawing draft = 13.°°)1066-61 82 yards of sliver per lb. off 1st drawing. 12 doublings per 1st drawing sliver ; or cans in set. 1st drawing draft = 14)98i 70"21'\yards of sliver per lb. off spread board y800-00 yards in bell. 11 "39 lbs. per can. 12 cans in set. 137 lbs in set. If over 28 pounds weight per can of 800 yards be not too heavy- spreading for coarse numbers, it may, at first sight, seem impossible to spread so lightly and evenly as that the same length can be Skill in Spreading, drawn out of 11 pounds ; but so delicate do the spreaders become in their sense of touch, and so accurate in the piecing and spreading of the flax, that they can produce these cans to within two ounces of any desired weight, even for weeks at a time ; and their judg- ment becomes so nice, that in many instances they can produce cans weighing within an ounce or two of any required weight, even if this be some pounds over or under the usual average weight. The limit to which delicate spreading can be brought — with skilled hands — may be said to depend on the proportioning and degree of fineness of the gills, con- ductors, etc., of the machine. We have heard of 4^1b. of dressed line being spread over a 2,000 yards bell. ^ Among exceptionally coarse work, and in some of the more backward and old-fashioned establishments, the spreader's sense of touch is not entirely relied upon, a mechanical arrangement in the form Dial and Clock, of a dial clock and spring balance being introduced for her guidance. According to the weight of sliver desired, this dial can be regulated, and the pointers on this dial and on the spring balance being then kept to the same figures or signs, as the flax is laid upon the leathers, so will the sliver produced be of one uniform weight. Such is the uniformity attained in this way that generally with this system there is no necessity for bells, nor in consequence, for the making up of sets. But in time the girls become careless, and only look to the pointers as someone in authority may happen to be coming in their direction. If they find they have been spreading too heavily or too lightly they immediately go into the opposite extreme to counterbalance the excess or Mechanical deficiency, and the evil results require no comment. This Spreading. system may be very useful for beginners, as they have not learned to depend upon their touch, but in no other case should it be adopted. Another method of trying to secure an undoubtedly level sliver off the spread board is to space off the leathers at intervals of from three to six inches, according to the class of machine, with painted stripes, the spreader being instructed to lay the top of each piece to 62 THE SPEEAD BOAKD, [Chapter VII. these lines. The mistaken judgment of this arrangement is also patent, as if the pieces be not all of one thickness such accuracy of laying on is worse than useless. Let the spreaders be instructed to spread the flax as level Intellectual aS possible, without regard to the weight the can should be, Spreading ^s this Can all be regulated in the making up of the set. If the " set boy " requires cans heavy or light he must not so advise the spreader in the middle of a bell, but must wait until the passing through of the flax on the leathers, and the set bell rings. At this juncture the boy states the weight the next can is required to be, when, in nine cases out of ten, an average spreader will come near to the weight required. CHAPTER VIIL THE DRAWING FRAME. As soon as tlie spread-board bell rings, a girl, called the "frontminder," breaks off the sliver, takes away the full can, and replaces it with an empty one. She then with chalk marks on the can the Front Minder. number of the spread board off which it came; and then rolls it round to a boy whose business is to weigh these cans, keep them from being mixed, and make up the " sets." The making up of the sets is performed in this manner : Making up a Set. All the set-caus in a preparing room should be balanced to some one weight. Then the beam and scales in which these cans, when full of sliver, are to be weighed, must be balanced with one of these empty cans in it, so that when a full can is weighed the nett weight of sliver is all that the boy has to take note of, and this he marks with chalk in pounds and tenths on the side of the can. This he rolls to the place set apart for the cans from that particular spread board, and when he considers he has a sufficient number to make up the set he places them in a row and tots up their weight. Supposing he finds this in excess of the required weight, say 5 lbs., he picks out the heaviest can and replaces it with one 5 lbs. lighter ; or if he has not one so light, with the lightest that he has. By the interchange of a couple or so more cans he can bring the set to add up within an ounce or two of the required weight, and this without any delay and without confusing the spreader by incessant demands for cans above or below her accustomed standard. All that is necessary is that the set-boy may have a sufficiency of cans to make up the set from, and that he gives the spreader timely notice of any decided tendency on her part to spread either too heavy or too light. If this latter evil has not been checked in time the boy is forced to make up a few sets with either fewer or more cans than the proper number. This proper number is two cans for each row of gills in the " head " of the first drawing or set-frame ; if there be six, eight, or twelve rows, then should there be 12, 16 or 24 cans in a set. Odd cans, less than this number, are especially injurious Evil of odd Cans, from the fact of their causing some one of the pressing rollers to be more or less tilted, there being double the body of material under one of the bosses than there is under the other. The great evil resulting from this is that the tilted boss cannot draw the fibre properly, but sends it out intermittently in thicks and slubs that cannot by any after process be eradicated, but must appear in the yarn in the form of " fishes." Another evil effect is that most of the gills are unnecessarily loaded, putting undue strain on the drawing of the material from them ; whilst one or more gills are too lightly loaded. The very same arguments may be used against putting more than the proper number of cans — whether odd or even— in the set ; only that the injurious effect is not so apparent. In some cases, especially for fine work going over " six gill Light Slivers. heads," it might be advantageous to put three slivers over each gill, for doublings' sake ; but this necessitates much more spreading, and is now generally avoided in modern machinery by the number 64 THE DRAWING FRAME. [Chapter VIII. of rows being eight to each head. Thus the sliver gets every justice ; the spreading is not overtaxed ; and the number of doublings is ample. Where preparing machinery is much pressed, it may some- scarcity of times be imperative to overload the gills, and in such a case Machinery. the evil efFects may be somewhat lessened by increased lever- age being put upon the pressing-rollers. But even this will be at the expense of extra wear and tear of machinery, and of an increase in the power required to drive, in the quantity of oil to lubricate, and of wood to renew the pressing-rollers. Thus can it be seen at a glance that a sufficiency of preparing machinery has its advantages in more ways than in the mere improvement of the preparation. To find the leverage that is upon a pressing-roller, the Compound pouuds and ounces in the weight on the end of the lever must Leverage. first be ascertained; then, if the lever be of the compound type, multiply this weight by the distance in inches from where it is pending to the centre of the pin on which the end of the lever rotates. This point is called the fulcrum. Then divide this quantity by the dis- tance in inches from the fulcrum to the centre of the pin which connects the extremity of the upper arm to this fulcrum; the quotient will be the power, in pounds weight, that the under lever communicates to the upper. Multiply this weight or power by the distance in inches from the centre of point of connection between the upper and under levers, to the centre of upper lever fulcrum ; and the product divided by the distance, in inches, from the upper lever fulcrum to the boss or point in connection with the "spring- wire," — which communicates the power to the "hanger" — will give for quotient the weight in pounds upon the arbour of the pressing-roller. If the leverage be "simple" — as in most of the old-fashioned machinery — only the former portion of this calculation has to be gone through. We give example of a compound lever calculation : — 8 pounds weight. „ , , 18 inches from weight to fulcrum. Leverage Oalcula- tion. Fulcrum to point of connection, inches 3)111 48 power transmitted to upper arm. 11 inches from upper point of connection to fulcrum. Upper fulcrum to point of) connection with spring- V inches 2)672 wire ; 3361bs. on pressing-roller. Too much or too little leverage is injurious in every way ; Rule for Leverage, the requisite amount being gauged mainly by, not only the thickness of sliver in the gills, but also by the correct pro- portioning of the gills and the conductors, points of moment that we intend to discuss more fully farther on. However, these items having received due consideration, the following may be considered a fair statement of the most suitable pressure to be put on the rollers : — Allow 200lbs. pressure for each inch in the breadth of gill ; thus a 1" gill should have 200lbs. on pressing-rollers, a 2" 400lbs., a 3" 600lbs., and so on. We now return to the "set," which we will suppose to have Set-frame. been put up at the back of the set-frame, and to be now nearly run through. All the cans having been presumably the same length, it is evident that, they having been put up together, it should take them the same time to run out, provided that any of them have not broken, and so become what is known as " dropped ends." But sometimes they do not run out evenly, and when this happens Irregular Bells, the cause is easily traceable, and the evil should be at once checked. Either this particular material has been spread on Chapter VIII.] THE DRAWING FRAME. 65 two or more spread-boards that have not exactly the same length of bell, or the frontminder has been neglecting her duties by not doffing the cans when the bell rang. When, from one of these reasons, the cans do not run through simul- taneously, the set has to be, what is technically termed Running out a Set. " run out," this giving increased work to the woman tending, called a backminder ; tossing the sliver ; and lastly, and if anything,_ worst, causing many unnecessary piecings of the sliver. Supposing that the set runs out evenly, the set-frame is stopped when only a yard or so of the sliver remains, hanging out of the feed-rollers. The empty cans are then wheeled away, and a set standing Putting up a Set ready is rolled into their place. The backminder takes up the end of sliver out of each can, and passing them all over the guides or sliver pulleys, pieces each couple of slivers to one of the ends hanging from the nearest conductor— this piecing is effected Piecing Sliver. by simply overlapping the ends some six or eight inches, and intertwisting them loosely together. When all are pieced to their proper ends, the set-frame is again started, and works away as usual. Of necessity there will be a hand- siiver Waste. ful of sHver, more or less, made into waste at the piecing up of each set, and if the preparation be extra particular the portion of silver from front of set-frame, which contains the piecings should be pulled to waste also. This after being well pulled and straightened, should be tied up in bundles, and when a sufficient quantity has accumulated of this " sliver waste," and also all the other waste made m the room, through "singling," "bad rove," &c., these bundles should be taken to a very coarse spread board, especially adapted for the purpose of waste spreading." All may be spread together indiscriminately— sliver rove— the latter drawing perfectly well if it has all been hand-reeled off the rove-bobbms," and carefully pulled into lengths of about a foot and a half, the twist being partly beaten out of these lengths with a wooden beater, something like the "handle " of a scutching machine. The sliver made put of this waste will be found wonder- Treatment of fully level, and quite good enough for mixing with the Waste. coarsest lea, by passing in, say, one can in each set regularly. , In large establishments there is enough waste made throughout the preparing department to keep one girl constantly spreading It ; as the board has to be driven exceedingly slow, to give the spreader time to separate the waste into very small portions, and to free these from any knots, lumps, or impurities that would endanger either "gill" or pressing roller." Besides, the whole construction of this spread board has to be very coarse and open. This arrangement of spreading the waste on one spread board will be tound tar preferable to the too common practice of sending all sliver waste back to the spread board off which it came, no matter how expensive the material or important the preparation. This practice not only tends to damage good sliver by lumping or "napping" it, but also makes the spreaders more careless in the handling of good tiax, when they see those m authority satisfied to have rough unshapely pieces of waste spread in along with the fibre. Besides, it is only the best of the sliver waste that these girls— accustomed to free open flax— can spread at all. All the rove waste, and much of the sliver, has to be sent down to the roughing shop, where a rougher is paid one penny per pound " made work " for taking about sixty per cent, of very rough "longs" out of it. This latter is sent to the hackler," who gets the same money for taking about the same pro- portion of 'dressed line" out of the longs ; and this dressed line is, after all, only of a very wefty nature. 66 THE DRAWING FRAME. [Chapter VIII, The " tow " that comes off the " waste " is not as valuable as the worst in the store, since besides being destitute of strength it is full of lumps and '"naps," which are very severe upon the " carding engine," and it can never be carded to the same advantage as fair tow, on account of the quantity of oil that is among some of it, causing it to clog in the pins. The percentage of waste made in the preparing department is very variable, so much depending on the cleanness of the material and the class of machinery. The range is from 1 to 12 per cent. The construction of the set-frame, or first drawing, is very Construction of similar to that of the spread board, only that it is finer in all Set-frame. j^s parts, has two Or three "heads " in the frame, and the back rails and sliver pulleys for guiding the slivers, instead of the " leathers " as in the spread board. Also the gills and fallers are horizontal instead of inclined. The object of the set-frame is to be the medium whereby the weights of sliver and rove are regulated over the system to which it belongs, and to carry on the preparing process, which, as before remarked, after the spread- ing may be said to consist of " drafting" and "doubling the sliver becoming gradually finer and lighter as it passes over this and succeeding machines. For instance, suppose it is required to prepare a " rove " to Weight of Rove ^P^^ ^^'^ 1^^' ^ Spinning draft of 10, the question arises, and Sliver what must be the weight of rove to spin to 50's leas on 10 of a Calculations. ^^^^^