FRANKLIN INSTITUTE LIBRARY PHILADELPHIA, PA. strictly contidential. DEPARTMENT OF SKILLED TEXTILE LABOR (Overseers Bureau) The functions of our Mill Bureau are to find employ- ment for the efficient workman who is out of work, to aid good men to obtain promotion, and to harmonize conditions within the mill gates. To enable us to render the best Bureau service we require that every applicant for membership fill out blanks making his statement cover all the essentials of his experience. On receipt of these forms properly filled out, and all the requirements met, we put the naijie of applicant on the active list and let him know of positions which his experi- ence qualifies him to take. In preparing these forms to meet our requirements we kept in view the convenience of applicants for registration. The items will remind him of the various processes, machines, methods, and materials used. We consider it essential to best Bureau service that statements of experience, practical and technical, be very complete, that we have the names of people to whom we can write and verify all statements made, and obtain testimonials as to efficiency and character. Also it is of the greatest importance that we know where presently and previously employed, positions held, and time employed. FRANK P. BENNETT & CO., INC., 530 Atlantic Ave., Boston, Mass. DEPARTMENT OF SKILLED TEXTILE LABOR (Overseers Bureau) OPPORTUNITIES The reputation of our Bureau Service, the large field our paper, American Wool and Cotton Reporter, fills, its agencies scattered all over the continent, are the causes and sources from which we derive the opportunities we offer to members of our Bureau. We do not meddle in the administration of mills by offering men for positions, but we endeavor to maintain a reputation for good Bureau service that will merit the patronage of all good mills wanting good and efficient men in all departments. We accept no gratuities, only fees as per contract. CONTRACT I, the undersigned, do hereby agree to pay one week's wages to Frank P. Bennett & Co., Inc., in consideration of my securing a position through them. I agree to pay one-third of said sum within six days of going to work, one-third in three weeks from going to work, and one-third in six weeks from going to work. vShouId I hold the position less than six weeks I agree to pay to said company a sum equal to one day's pay for each week that I work. I also agree that if my name is submitted to a manufacturer who places my application on file at that time, and as a result engages my services later, I will pay a sum equal to one week's pay at the rate at which I go to work. I further agree to keep the information given me by Frank P. Bennett & Co., Inc., strictly confidential and if I disclose any informa- tion furnished by said Company to any one else who secures a position thereby, I bind myself to said Company to pay said Company a sum equal to one week's wages for that person. If by means of an offer received through this Company an increase of wages is received, I agree to pay to said Company an amount equal to the increase of wages for one week. (SIGN here) A rebate shall be allowed to fixers, dressers, perchers, slashers, grinders and watchmen, bringing the charge for placement to jjjio.oo, FRANK P. BENNETT & CO., INC., 530 Atlantic Ave., Boston, Mass. Textile Processes A COLLECTION OF ESSAYS ON Processes in Woolen, Worsted and Cotton Manufacturing PUBLISHED BY FRANK P. BENNETT & CO., Inc. New York Boston Philadelphia Washington, D. C. a Rector St. 530 Atlantic Ave. 30S Chestnut St. 208 Corcoran Building Copyright, 1910, hy FRANK P. BENNETT & CO., Ixc. THE GETTY CENTER LIBRARY PRIZE ESSAYS ON TEXTILE PROCESSES The essays printed in this volume were written in competi- tion for one of the Anierican Wool and Cotton Reporter's famous contests. A series of ten prizes of $25 each — or. |250 in all — was offered, the first prize in each series being ?10; the second, $6; the third, $5, and the fourth, ?4- The attrac- tiveness of the offer, however, was not so much in the money value, as in the eminent character of the judges by whom the contest was decided. The winners of these prizes were as follows : WOOL CARDING. First Prize, Essay No. 50, by George F. Maguire, Malone, N. Y. Second Prize, Essay No. 18, by John S. Sherwood, Plainville, Conn. Third Prize, Essay No. 93, by E. A. Jones, Burnesville, Ohio. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 43, by A. B. Hanscom, Lowell, Mass. WOOLEN SPINNING. First Prize, Essay No. 56, by C. C. Harris, Killingly, Conn. Second Prize, Essay No. 48, by Matthew Allan, Waterville, Me. Third Prize, Essay No. 13, by John E. Gilroy, Hillsboro Bridge, N. H. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 67, by Leonard W. Maine, Proctors- ville, Vt. WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. First Prize, Essay No. 23, by George T. B. Jackson, Augusta, Ga. Second Prize, Essay No. 39, by George Needham, Philadelphia, Pa. Third Prize, Essay No, 58, by William F. Rawley, Stafford Springs, Conn. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 84, by Norman Hirst, Providence, R. I. WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING, First Prize, Essay No, 60, by L. G. Drummond, Winchester, Va. Second Prize, Essay No. 42, by Joseph H. Ridings, Providence, R. I. Third Prize, Essay No. 31, by Jas. A, Taylor, Martinsburg, W. Va. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 17, by John L. Timmermann, Worcester, Mass. 3 18815 COTTON CARDING AND OTHER PREPARATORY PROCESSES. First Prize, Essay No. 95, by William Shaw, Fall River, Mass. Second Prize, Essay No. 55, by John J. Hogg, Philadelphia, Pa. Third Prize, Essay No. 4, by F, G. Stephenson, Weldon, N. C. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 98, by W. Smith, Brunswick, Me. COTTON SPINNING. First Prize, Essay No. 29, by F. I, Hall, Augusta, Me. Second Prize, Essay No. 100, by Rodger Graham, North Adams, Mass, Third Prize, Essay No. 101, by J. C. Edwards, Rome, Ga. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 33, by Sidney S. Salsbury, Allenton, R. I. WORSTED COMBING. First Prize, Essay No. 91, by W. H. Cockcroft, Farnums- ville, Mass. Second Prize, Essay No. 5, by Thomas F. Johnson, Camden, N. J. Third Prize, Essay No. 73, by A. W. Hadden, Philadelphia, Pa. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 62, by H. Robinson, East Dedham, Mass. WORSTED SPINNING. First Prize, Essay No. 46, by Joseph Harrison, Passaic, N. J. Second Prize, Essay No. 1, by Henry Ingham, Ashtabula, Ohio. Third Prize, Essay No. 83, by George J. Dunn, Philadelphia, Pa. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 89, by Wm. S. Shaw, Fall River, Mass. PROCESSES OF KNITTING. First Prize, Essay No. 71, by S. M. Peterson, Utica, N. Y. Second Prize, Essay No. 69, by J. C. Lowrey, Wilmington, Del. Third Prize, Essay No. 6, by Walter P. Brown, Philadelphia, Pa. Fourth Prize, Essay No. 66, by Wm. N. McCard, Philadel- phia, Pa.- THE JUDGES. The eminent and experienced manufacturers who kindly consented to act as judges in this contest were: Charles H. Fish, General Manager of the Garner Print Works and Bleachery Co., Wappinger Falls, N. Y. 4 Louis B. Goodall, Treasurer, Goodall Worsted Co., Sanford, Me. R. W. Eaton, Agent, Cabot Mfg. Co., Brunswick, Me. Elmer E. Page, Agent, York Manufacturing Co., Saco, Me. Carl Henniche, Aberfoyle Mfg. Co., Chester, Pa. Jolin Burt, President of the Southwark Mills Co., Philadelphia, Pa. John ShirrefEs, Treasurer, Shirreffs' Worsted Co., Pitchburg, Mass. Walter Buck, Secretary, Fitwell Knitting Co., Cohoes, N. Y. William C. Payne, of the William Carter Co., Needham Heights, Mass. The competition was open to all persons engaged in any of the above pursuits as a means whereby overseers in one part of the country, or in one branch of any of the above industries, might compare and exchange methods with over- seers in different localities and in different lines of textile manufacture. The educational value of the contest was great, the aim of the competition being to draw out facts known to one person and to distribute this knowledge among others engaged in similar branches. The articles covered nearly all processes of manufacture in the woolen, worsted, cotton and knitting industry, and the publication of the essays in book form will be valuable to manufacturer and operative alike. In this competition the prizes were awarded solely on the merits of the articles submitted, irrespective of their author- ship. The authors' names were not divulged until after the judges had rendered their decisions, and they were absolutely unknown to the judges themselves, who pronounced upon the merits of the articles submitted in competition according to the actual worth and value of the knowledge and ideas contained in them, regardless of rhetorical style or gram- matical construction. The matter contained in these articles, rather than the form or manner in which it was stated, gov- erned the awards of the prizes. Grammatical errors, errors in spelling, punctuation, etc., if any occurred, were corrected by our editor. Very little of such correction was necessary, however, and the matter is mentioned merely to emphasize the fact that the essays were judged solely upon their value as technical discussions. 5 CHARLES H. FISH. General Manager Garner Print Works and Bleachery Com- pany, One of the Judges in the Contest. 6 LOUIS B. GOODALL. Treasurer, Goodall Worsted Company, One of the Judges in This Contest. Louis B. Goodall was born in Winchester, N. H., September 23, 1851. He was the son of Thomas and Ruth (Waterhouse) Goodall. Thomas Goodall, son of a woolen manufacturer, was born in Dewsbury, England, September 1, 1823, and came to the United States in 1846. Ruth Waterhouse, his mother, was born in Dudley, Mass., April 10, 1826. Her father, Jerry Waterhouse, also a woolen manufacturer, was born in Eng- land, December 18, 1778, and came to the United States in 1819. His ancestors were Flemish and went to England in the eleventh century to establish the manufacture of woolen cloth in that country. EARLY TRAINING. Louis B. Goodall's education was begun in the common schools of Troy, N. H., where his father established the Troy Blanket Mills, and he continued one year in a private school in Thompson, Conn., 1862-3; then at the Vermont Episcopal Institute in Burlington, Vt., for three years, 1863-6; and in a private school in England, 1866-7. In 1870 he entered the Kimball Union Academy at Meriden, N. H., to prepare for Dartmouth College, but soon after was called home to take an active part in the Sanford Mills, Sanford, Me. His father established these mills in 1867 and Louis B. Goodall went to work in them as a common hand until 1870, to learn the business. In 1870 he was promoted to the office as book- keeper and paymaster. In 1874 he established the Mousam River Mills in Sanford, acting as treasurer and superintendent. In 1881 he organized and started with his two brothers,- under the style of Goodall Brothers, the mohair car and furniture plush business. In 1884 this was incorporated under the name of the Goodall Manufacturing Company, with Louis B. Goodall as treasurer. In 1885 the Goodall Manufacturing Company and Mousam River Mills were consolidated with the Sanford Mills, and all these concerns have since been carried on under the name of the Sanford Mills. In 1883 he was elected clerk and in 1885 a director of the Sanford Mills, which position he still holds. VARIED ENTERPRISES. In 1889 he organized and started the Goodall Worsted 8 Company, acting as treasurer, with a capital of thirty thousand dollars, which is now one million dollars. In 1893 he was elected treasurer of the Mousam River Railroad Company. In 1896, the Sanford National Bank was established with Louis B. Goodall, president; its capital was $50,000. On January 1, 1910, its surplus was $100,000 and reserve $67,009.76, its deposits being $1,055,429.17. It is the Honor Bank of Maine. In 1897 he was elected treasurer of the Sanford and Cape Porpoise Railway. In 1897 the Sanford Power Company was organized with Louis B. Goodall, treasurer. In 1899, he organized the Maine Alpaca Company, acting as treasurer. In 1903 he organized the Goodall Matting Company and acted as treasurer. In 1904 he was appointed chairman of the Maine Commis- sion to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis. In 1909 he received a commission of Lieutenant Colonel and was appointed on Governor Fernald's staff. (Maine). He is First Vice-President of American Association of Wool and Worsted Manufacturers. He was one of the organizers and directors of the Fidelity Trust Company, Portland, Me., and is a director in the Maine Insurance Company and treasurer of the Atlantic Shore Line Railway, an electric road owning 100 miles of track. CARL HENNICHE. One of the Judges in the Prize Essay Contest. Was born in Gera, Reuss, Saxony, September 10, 1866. He received his education at the public high school at Gera. He took a course at the textile school of the same place. He learned textile manufacturing with W. Theodor Gey, Gera, mainly in woolen and fine worsted dress goods. He enlarged his knowledge of weaving and finishing at several mills at Glauchan and Mesrane, Saxony. In 1903 he came to New York and was for a short time with C. A. Auffmords & Company, New York City, and went in 1907 to the Aberfoyle Manufacturing Company, Cheever, with which concern he is still connected. He took a course in the Philadelphia Textile School even- ing class, and was one of the founders and incorporators of the Alumni Association of the Philadelphia Textile School. 9 WILLIAM C. PAYNE. One of the Judges on Processes of Knitting. Is a native of Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, where his father and grandfather both had shops of hand knitting frames until the power frames rendered them unprofitable in the seventies. His earliest recollection is of going into his father's shop to watch the knitters, and before he was ten years old he used to wind yarn for them after coming out of school. At eleven years of age, in 1874, he entered the employ of William Crow (afterwards Crow & Truston), of that town as a winder and caster, and at fourteen years of age was apprenticed for four years to learn the flat rib knitting and striped knitting thoroughly. He continued with this firm until its dissolution in January, 1891, having charge of their rib knitting machinery and winders from 1886 to the close of his employment there. In April, 1891, he arrived in America and entered the employ of William Carter at Needham Heights (then known as Highlandville) two days after his arrival, running their flat rib knitters for a number of years, and for the past eight years has been in charge of the fashion knitting department of that firm, now known as The William Carter Co., manufacturers of union suits, infants' shirts, vests, bands, leggins, mittens, gaiters, ladies' vests and drawers and knit- goods in general. During the period between 1893 and 1900 he contributed articles on knitting subjects to the "Reporter" occasionally, but for the past few years has spent his spare time in writing for various Boston newspapers. From the above it will be seen that he has a knowledge of knitting processes extending over thirty-five years and the length of his service with both firms will be sufficient evi- dence as to his capacity. In these days it is not very often that you will find knitters who have stayed with two firms for a period covering thirty-five years. On April 15th, next, he will complete nineteen years of service with the William Carter Company. 11 TEXTILE NEWSPAPER CIRCULATIONS. The value of advertising depends on the quality and quantity of circulation of the publication employed, and in the word quality we include the adaptability of the field which the pub- lication covers for the purposes sought by the advertiser. There are advertising solicitors who argue that the person- ality of the canvasser is the most important element in se- curing business; but if such were the fact, the sale of gold bricks would be a popular industry, since that occupation demands no intrinsic value. But it will be the general con- clusion that the final test of the value of advertising space, as of every other commodity, is intrinsic value. The AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER is willing and anxious to submit to any test of the intrinsic value of its advertising, whether that test be the number of names of its subscribers, the amount of postage paid at the Post Office, the number of copies which come from the presses, or any other test in which competitors for business are in- cluded upon equal terms. But after all this has been said, we return to our original claim that the real test of circulation, in a business field like the textile industry, lies in the amount of collections from paid subscriptions. We repeat that the value of newspaper advertising depends upon the quality and quantity of the cir- culation. Under the term quality may be included the extent to which the circulation covers the kind of buyers whom the advertiser desires to reach. Under this heading may also be included the fact that a single copy' of the publication is eagerly read by many different persons; for example, a single copy of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER may be read by twenty, or even fifty, persons in a mill or sell- ing house. This element, however, is subject to some lim- itations; as, for example, if the persons desire to see the paper each week at the earliest possible moment, then they will not wait until it becomes their turn to secure the single copy of the publication. Hence, the fact that a single copy is read by fifteen or twenty or one hundred persons may be interpreted both for and against the merits of the publica- tion. In respect to quantity, the real circulation is not determined 12 by the number of copies printed, for it might happen in ex- ceptional instances that two-thirds of the edition was destroyed or thrown away or distributed free to persons who were not interested. If papers are distributed free to persons who are not interested in them, it is evident that such copies cannot be properly included in circulation within the full meaning of the term; on the other hand, if a person subscribes and pays for a paper it is evidence, at least in the majority of cases, that the paper is read, otherwise it would be discon- tinued. Hence, even Post Office receipts showing the number of pounds of matter mailed are not conclusive. Of course, there is sometimes a freshness of interest in free sample copies which may cause them to be read once by persons who would not be continually interested in the publication, but the fullest examination of this kind of newspaper circulation in every direction — and with the admission that the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER is willing also to meet any other test which may be submitted to by alleged com- petitors brings us back to the conclusion that genuine circula- tion is to be measured only by the amount of collections from paid subscriptions. The textile manufacturers of the United States who have regarded the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER as their only organ for nearly a quarter of a century are being much annoyed by various fake publications in New York and elsewhere. In order to save them this annoyance, if possible, we made the following challenge several months ago, and it has thus far failed of acceptance, though various and many efforts have been made to explain it away. As the quality of newspaper circulation depends largely upon paid subscriptions, we would give the sum of $500 if it could be proven that the cash collections from subscriptions by any other textile newspaper, either weekly or monthly, from mill presidents, treasurers, agents, superintendents and other officers of mill corporations for the twelve months ending July 31, 1909, were one-half those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER. This challenge is now continued for the twelve months ending December 31, 1909, and in so far as this warning refers to any textile newspaper in New York City, our announcement is that all of the above conditions will be complied with if such textile publication can show that its cash collections during the period specified were one-third 13 those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON RE- PORTER. Moreover, this challenge is good against any other alleged textile newspaper which can show either: 1st. As above stated, that its total collections from mill presidents, treasurers, agents, superintendents, and other officers of mill corporations, for the twelve months ending December 31, 1909, were one-half those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER, or in the case of an alleged textile newspaper published in New York City, one- third those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON RE- PORTER. 2nd. That its total collections for subscriptions of over- seers and second-hands for the twelve months ending De- cember 31, 1909, were one-half those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER, or in the case of an alleged textile newspaper published in New York City, one- third those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON RE- PORTER. 3rd. That its collections from all sources, including pres- idents, treasurers and other executive officers; overseers, second-hands and other responsible employees inside the mill; salesmen, wholesale clothiers, shippers of wool and cotton, and all other sources, for the twelve months ending December 31, 1909, were one-half those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER or one-third those of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER in the case of any alleged textile newspaper published in New York City. The conditions of this offer are that the journals com- plying with this test on both sides shall submit their books to a chartered public accountant, that the inferior party on either side shall forfeit the sum of $500, and that the money shall be divided as follows: $250 for such form of prize as may be selected by the National Cotton Manu- facturers' Association, and $250 for such form of prize as may be selected by the American Association of Woolen and Worsted Manufacturers. The usual effort to evade this challenge by the advertising solicitors of various fake publications of little if any circula- tion, was to assert that our large collections from paid subscribers during the twelve months ending July 31, 1909, were due to unusual activity in collecting old bills. We 14 have now renewed the challenge for the twelve months ending December 31, 1909, and are perfectly willing to prove that our increase of new unpaid subscribers in 1909 was greater than the number and monetary value of the old subscribers collected; that is, while our collections were double those of any alleged competitor, our uncollected sub- scription bills from new subscribers also increased in amount during the same period. It is easy to make large statements about newspaper cir- culation, and many advertising solicitors are willing to do so, but the test which we propose is absolute and un- escapable. Another evasion of our challenge is accompanied by the statement that, while our alleged competitor may not have half the paid circulation of the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER, yet that we are more than matched by its distribution of free copies. In answer to this we are willing to make a similar challenge in respect to the number of copies sent out last year on paid orders, or as samples to secure circulation. Where the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER was sent out on paid orders in large number, as was done by many textile man- ufacturers and others, we have not included the money paid therefor in our subscription collections. We have no special desire to either press or withdraw the above offers to test circulation, but they are open until further notice, and we hope will free the textile manufac- turers of the United States from further annoyance. FRANK P. BENNETT & CO., Inc. 'JpHE textile industry has become the King of all Industries and the true barometer of the trade of the world. To properly educate those advertisers who desire to secure partici- pation in the rich purchasing power of this great textile industry, the AMERICAN WOOL AND COTTON REPORTER has been publishing the above challenge so generally that it must finally meet the eye of every advertiser. 15 INDEX TO ESSAYS COTTON CARDING AND OTHER PREPARATORY PRO- CESSES. Essay No. Page Cotton Carding 3 F. G. Stephenson . 31 Cotton Carding 8 J. A. Greed 40 Cotton Carding 95 William Shaw ....287 Cotton Carding 102 Rodger Graham ..310 A Few Hints About Speeders.. 10 G. S. Brown 44 Imperfect Carding 4 F. G. Stephenson . . 32 The Licker-in and Its Action . . 15 F. G. Stephenson . . 54 Running a Card & Spinning R'm 54 E. C. Bennett 183 A Few Points About Cards .... 65 E. C. Bennett .. ..209 WOOL CARDING. Carding 50 G. F. Maguire 160 Carding 88 T. F. Ashe 260 Some Points on Carding 51 Lawrence Parker.. 176 Wool Carding H Eli Ebenbeck 46 Wool Carding 18 J. S. Sherwood .... 62 Wool Carding 43 A. B. Hanscom ...148 Wool Carding 74 T. A. Gray 230 Wool Carding 93 B. A. Jones 273 Woolen Carding 92 George Wilkinson .270 Woolen Carding 28 G. T. B. Jackson... 90 Woolen Carding 35 G. T. B. Jackson.. 106 Wool or Woolen Carding 75 H. S. Lawler 232 Blends or Mixing for Colors 38 C. Covington 110 Work in the Card Room 55 John J. Hogg 185 Carding 81 John T. Horn 246 WOOL SPINNING. Wool Spinning 44 A. B. Hanscom . . Wool Spinning 46 Joseph Harrison Woolen Spinning 13 John E. Gilroy .. Woolen Spinning 16 John E. Astley .. Woolen Spinning 19 Thomas E. Foley Woolen Spinning 32 G. T. B. Jackson Woolen Spinning 48 Matthew Allan . Woolen Spinning 56 C. C. Harris 186 Woolen Spinning 67 Leonard W. Maine. 212 Woolen Spinning 90 William Shaw 265 Woolen Spinning 97 Alfred Holmes 303 16 151 153 51 56 67 99 156 WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. Essay No. Difficulties in Worsted Weaving 80 Weaving of Fine Worsteds 79 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 96 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 2 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 7 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 12 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 14 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 21 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 23 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 24 Woolen and Worsted Weaving. 39 Woolen and Worsted Warp Prep- aration and Weaving 58 Knowing How and Doing 49 Working at a Profit 59 Weaving 63 Handling Tender Warps 78 Starting Up a Woolen Mill 82 Weaving 84 Theory and Practice 85 Page Thomas Whitehead. 2 43 Julius Bernhard . . 241 T. P. Olmstead ...295 C. E. Legg 26 E. T. Keily 36 Oscar W. Wall .. 48 C. W. Everett 52 G. T. B. Jackson.. 71 G. T. B. Jackson . . 75 G. T. B, Jackson. . 78 George Needham . 112 W. P. Rawley 191 G. H. Came 158 George Needham . 195 G. Rymarczick ... 205 Thomas Whitehead . 239 J. J. Hogg 246 Norman Hirst 252 Norman Hirst 253 WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING. Finishing Woolen and Worsteds Goods 57 Finishing Woolens and Worsteds 31 Finishing of Broadcloth 34 Finishing Blankets 27 Finishing Woolens and Worsteds 42 How to Get a High Lustre on Broadcloth 47 The Melton Finish 41 Woolen Finishing 60 Woolen and Worsted Finishing. 17 Woolen and Worsted Finishing. 25 Woolen and Worsted Finishing. 26 Woolen and Worsted Finishing. 36 Woolen and Worsted Finishing. 37 Worsted Finishing 30 Scouring and Fulling of Woolen Flannels 52 Fine Worsted Piece Dyes 76 Cloudy Piece Dyes 77 17 E. S. Avison , J. A. Taylor , E. E. DeNoye Geo. Lockwood J. H. Ridings . .190 . . 96 . .103 . . 86 . .118 L. L. Peterson 155 G. T. B. Jackson . . 117 L. G. Drummond . . 199 J. L. Timmermann. 57 G. T, B. Jackson . 80 G. T. B. Jackson . 84 G. T. B. Jackson .107 G. T. B. Jackson.. 109 F. G. Forest 95 Hervey Piatt 177 Julius Bernhard ..234 Rudolf Mueller 236 COTTON SPINNING. Essay No. Page Cotton Spinning 29 F. I. Hall 92 33 S. S. Salisbury . .101 Cotton Spinning 40 G. T. B. Jackson .115 Cotton Spinning 100 Rodger Graham .306 Cotton Spinning . ..,101 J. C. Edwards . . .308 The Self-Acting Mule . , , 98 W. Smith 304 99 W. Smith 305 WORSTED COMBING. Drawing 62 H. Robinson .204 Scouring, Carding & Combing.. 5 T. F. Johnson .... 34 Worsted Combing 73 A. W. Hadden 225 Worsted Combing 91 W. H. Cockroft 266 WORSTED SPINNING. Manufacture of Worsted Yarn.. 1 Henry Ingham .... 19 Worsted Spinning 83 G. J. Dunn 249 Worsted Spinning 89 William Shaw 262 Worsted Spinning 94 W. H. Cockcroft ..278 Worsted Yarn Spinning 72 Alfred Holmes . . . 224 PROCESSES OF KNITTING. Knitting — Improving the Quality and Production of Yarn 20 J. J. Kearns . . . . . , 69 Knitting Fancy Shetland Shawls 68 P. 215 Knitting Ribbed Underwear .... 69 J. 216 9 Robert Weddell . . . . 42 Points on Knitting 66 W. N. McCard . . . .211 Rib Knitting 6 Walter P. Brown . . 34 Operations Preliminary to Knit- ting 71 S. M. Peterson .219 MISCELLANEOUS. Dyeing of Loose Wool 53 T. H. Spurr 181 Tropical Weight Woolens 61 Union Piece Dyeing 64 Cotton Warp Piece Dyeing .... 70 T. H. Spurr . . An Original Suggestion 86 Joseph Brook A Proposition for a "Commercial National Standard of Efficien- cy," Its Possible Results 87 Norman Hirst 256 J. S. Butterworth . . 202 Herbert Warkup .205 ...217 . . .255 18 THE MANUFACTURE OF WORSTED YARN. ESSAY NO. 1. After the wool has been sorted, the first process to consider is the scouring. On account of the difference in the hardness of the water in different localities, no hard and fast rule can be established as to the proper amount of soap and potash that should be used to scour any given amount of wool. The tem- perature of the scouring liquor should be about 120 degrees. Sufiicient potash should be added to the water to soften it; then add sufficient soap to scour the wool. It is essential that the grease or gum in the wool should be cut before the wool goes through the first pair of squeezing rollers, because, if the grease is not cut, the squeezing rollers will not take it as they should do, and in the case of very fine, short stock, such as a fine delaine, they will not take it out at all, the rollers having a crushing, grinding effect on the stock, increasing its noilage, and injuring its spinning qualities. The importance of good wool scouring and clean wool cannot be too strongly empha- sized. It means good carding, a low percentage of noil and good yarn, other things being as they should be. In the wool scouring I favor the use of a neutral olive soap, and add the potash required, according to the condition of the water. A little ammonia is found to be useful in cutting the grease. Scouring compounds are generally good to fight shy of, as they are usually too severe in their action, destroying the spinning quality of the fibre. Clean wool is very self-assertive, and if it is clean, you do not handle it and wonder if it will do; you know at once that it is clean. The next process is the drying, and leaving the wool in nice condition for carding. The lower the quality of the stock, the drier it ought to be. Low, long, coarse stock ought to be nearly bone dry, while a fine half blood or a delaine may be taken directly from the scouring machine to the card without drying, providing the squeezing rollers are in good condition. It is of the highest importance that the rollers of the card should be true. The usual method of turning up is to attach 19 a turning rest to the card and use a turning tool. Now, while that method is satisfactory when a good man is doing the job, there are few carders or machinists who have had the neces- sary experience to do such a job. A better method, in my estimation, is to sew a strip of new filleting tightly around the grinding pulley, and set it to the cylinder and doffer as in grinding, employing the same method for the workers and strippers in the grinding machine. When the rollers have been turned up, make a pencil mark about three-eighths of an inch from each edge of the roller, and keep your wire-edge to it when clothing. I have seen a good many rollers clothed with the wire actually overlapping the edges. It is slovenly and unworkmanlike, besides causing more fly and waste. The clothing must be put on as tight as it is possible to get it; then grind up lightly, and set your card with the object in view of getting your stock through without chewing it up. Give the workers a little room, that is, do not set them any closer than you have to. Set the strippers and dofCers pretty fine, and get as much speed on your dofCers as the nature of the stock will allow. The theory of worsted carding is that the stock shall not go twice around the cylinder, and that when the feed rolls stop, the card shall immediately run clear. The proper speed at which a card ought to run should vary according to the stock. For instance, a card ought to run at 85 per minute for one- quarter blood or three-eighths blood, but it would not be ad- visable to run at more than 70 or 75 for low carpet stock. It is a mistake to have a fancy any larger than 12 inches in diameter, as a larger fancy runs too heavy and loses speed, the belt is more apt to slip and, owing to the larger arc, in contact with the cylinder, it does not raise the stock as it should do, but on the contrary it is likely to beat the stock in the cylinder. After carding, the card balls go to be backwasbed, though many mills dispense with this operation, which consists in passing the sliver through two bowls of suds and through two pairs of squeezing rollers, then over five or seven steam- heated cylinders, then through a gill box. In this operation an automatic oiler drops olive oil or an emulsion of olive oil and soap on to the wool as it passes through, to put it in a condition for combing and spinning. The gill box is a machine for drafting and equalizing the 20 sliver. It consists of a pair of delivering rollers and a pair of dravring-off rollers. The wool passes through the bacls rollers and through a set of fallers, and is then drawn off by the front rollers. If the front rollers draw off six yards where the back rollers deliver one yard in, it is called a draft of six. By altering the speed of the front roller we alter the draft. In case the backwashing operation is dispensed with, the olive oil is put on in the first gilling operation. The wool is gilled twice, and sometimes three times, to equalize it and lay the fibres parallel, and to get the sliver the proper weight for combing. The first principle in gilling or drafting is that in each oper- ation the wool shall be drafted or drawn in the reverse direc- tion to the previous operation. Consequently, after the card balls have been once gilled, and if the wool has been run on in the form of a ball, the balls should be put in a creel and run from the outside. If the wool has been run into a can, of course it is reversed. The combing operation consists in extracting the shorts, or noils, straightening the fibres and laying them all parallel, one with the other. The circles are heated with steam, the object being to draw the fibres more easily through the pins, and the effect of the heat is to keep the fibre straight; on the same principle that a young lady will heat her curling tongs, to keep her hair in curJ, so we heat the circles to keep the fibres straight and free from kinks. The question of the percentage of noil is open to much discussion, and I will try to give a few reasons, pro and con. If a comber has been having a run on a certain lot of wool and there has been no alteration made in the wool room and he has been averaging, say, 9 per cent, noil right along, and the noil suddenly jumps up to 11 and 12 per cent., the manage- ment naturally wish to know the reason; the comber will prob- ably say, "poor carding," and it may look like it. But the chances are that there has been some dirty wool washing. Dirty wool is the chief cause of excessive noil. The percentage of noil will increase if the stock is combed too dry. If the wool is dabbed down too deeply in the circles, the fibres will break more or less, thereby making more noil. If the comber allows his help to run broken sets, instead of leveling up, and putting full sets in, he will make more noils because a full ball pulls back and he has to set his noil for the 21 full balls, allowing the half balls and bits to throw too far over the circle; and on account of the uneven delivery he is also liable to have a few hard twisted ends, which will not draw out in the subsequent giUing. If the noil is found to contain too much long stock, it Is probably because the star wheel or stroker is set too close to circle, and at the same time it is throwing too high. The comb made with the S bar makes less noil than the straight bar, because the S bar allows the small drawing-ofC rollers to get a closer nip, thereby drawing ofE more stock. On two combs that I tested with the same circles and the same stock the S bar comb noiled 8.5 per cent, and the straight bar 10 per cent. If the fancy on the card does not work properly, so that the dofCer cannot clear the cylinder, there will be more noil. Any roller on the card that carries more wool than it ought is a noil maker. The operation of wool combing consists in dabbing wool into circles at the nearest point, and by the revolution of the circles the wool is parted, and the clear beard is drawn ofE by means of rollers, leaving the shorts or noil in the small circles. The noil is then raised out of the small circles by means of knives or plows, and it then drops on the floor. The draft of the comb is a matter of importance. It is obvious that the comb should have a longer draft on for long wool than for short wool. The draft may be altered by the speed of the circles, or by the drawing-oflE rollers, according to the judgment of the overseer. The alteration of the draft is neglected very often where it ought to be attended to. The combed top is then gilled twice, and is made up in the form of a top, each top having the same number of yards (the ma- chine being stopped with a regular knocker-ofC), and each top is made to weigh approximately alike. The tops then go to the drawing room. The drawing oper- ation consists in dravsdng down, and equalizing the wool, and making it into a roving of the proper weight to spin to what- ever counts are required. When the drawer gets a lot of wool to put through, to make, say, a 3.5 dram roving to spin to 36s, he will first examine his stock, measure the length of staple, and determine what draft it will stand. Suppose it is three- eighths blood and measures seven inches and he determines to put it through with about six of a draft, and he has seven operations. He will figure it up in this way: 22 Make 40 yards weigh 160 drams at first box, and weigh up his cans accordingly. Operations, 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th. Weight in drams at each operation, 106.6, 106.6, 71, 35.5, 11.3, 3.5. Number of ends at each machine, 4x6x4x3x2x2 divided by 6x6x6x6x6 1-4x6.5 draft. Thus bringing out his roving to weigh 3.5 drams at the seventh operation. The draft may vary a tooth or two from these figures, but it will be pretty close. The fourth operation is generally the weigh box, and a gear is put on the knocker-ofif that will just nicely fill the bobbin, and if it knocks off at six pounds, the sets are made up to six pounds for the next machine, each bobbin having the same number of yards wound on it. For instance, if one bobbin weighs six pounds, and another weighs five pounds 13 ounces, and another one six pounds three ounces, they will go together for one set, and average six pounds each. If they begin to get a little lighter or heavier, the draft gear is altered at this operation to correct any variation. The purpose of the carriers is to retain the twist in the ends while the wool Is being drafted, otherwise the stock would slip and be uneven. The twist is a matter of judgment in the drawing. The fallers in the gill boxes should be kept in first-class shape, so that they will penetrate the stock easily, and allow the wool to feel easy in the fallers. If the back rollers go too slowly and keep the wool too deep and tight in the fallers, it is likely to make an uneven end, besides being hard on the machine. The Bradford system of spinning is not a true spinning pro- cess. It is simply a continuation of the drawing process. A 3.5 dram roving means that 40 yards weight 3 1-2 drams. It is required to spin it to 36s and we wish to know what draft is required. The formula is this: As the gauge point (18.3) is to the weight of the roving (3.5 drams) so are the proposed counts to the draft required. Example: As 18.3 :: 3.5 : 36 36 210 105 18.3)1260(7 Draft required 1281 23 The length of the staple is then measured and the ratch or back roller is set accordingly. We now proceed to find out what gear is required to give a draft of 7. For a frame geared up as follows: Front roller, 4 inches diameter; back roller, 1 1-4 Inches diameter; back roller wheel, 100; double stud, 100x83; draft gear, 40: Then if 40 give 9.6, what will give 7? As 7 is to 9.6, so is 40 to 55, gear required. The twist varies somewhat according to the quality of the stock, but in this case we will put in 14 turns per inch. For a frame geared as follows: Front roller, 12.6 inches in circumference; cylinder, 10 inches in diameter; wharle, three- quarters of an inch in diameter; driving pulley, 8 inches diameter; driven pulley, 18 inches diameter; front roller gear, 268; wist gear, 64, the twist veill figure out as follows: Therefore 64 gives 10 and we want 14 turns. 14)640(45 or 46 gear 56 80 70 All calculations for draft, twist, knocker-off, etc., are worked out on the same principle, A larger draft gear will give less draft, and a larger back roller gear would give more. Simply divide one set of factors by the other. The gauge point 18.3 in the calculations for the draft is the gauge point for 40 yards of roving, worked out as follows: 24 256 drams equals 1 pound. 560 yards equals 1 hank. Therefore 40)560(14. Then 14)256(18.3 Gauge Point. 40 14 160 116 160 112 40 42 The number of turns of twist per inch depends a good deal on the spinning quality of the stock, as the better the quality the fewer turns are necessai'y. The more turns of twist we have to put in, the less the production; as the speed of the spindles is a fixture, we have to speed up the delivery rollers, or slow them down to alter the twist, thereby affecting the production. It does not pay to spin too close, or to go to the extreme limit of what the stock will spin to. In measuring the length of the staple and setting the ratch or back roller, while it is permissible to break one or two of the longest fibres, I do not advocate it. It is better to give the stock its full length; if it is nipped at all, it makes a wild, hairy yarn. The method of finding the count of two different sizes of yarn twisted together is as follows: Multiply the two counts, then add them together and divide one by the other. Example: What is the combined count of 20s and 36s twisted together? 36 20 56)720(12.85 Counts 56 160 112 480 448 32 There are several causes for uneven, twitty yarn. The stock may be spun finer than it ought to go, or it may require a little more twist, or the ratch is too far back or uneven 25 rovings, or there may be bad top rollers, or excessive draft. A pretty safe rule for drafting is to have your draft correspond to the length of your staple in the spinning. Thus, if your stock measures seven inches, have a draft of seven, or maybe a trifle over. In some cases it may be desirable to have a longer draft, but the above is a safe rule. I have seen some rather elaborate calculations made to find out the equivalent worsted counts for cotton and woolen. There are 560 yards in one hank of worsted; there are 840 yards in one hank of cotton; there are 1,600 yai-ds in one hank of woolen. Therefore 560 is to 840 as 2 is to 3, which makes 24s cotton, 36s worsted (add one-third); 560 to 1,600 is as 7 is to 20, therefore, 7-run yarn is 20s worsted. What worsted counts is 5-run woolen yarn? As 7 is to 20 so is 5 to 14 2-7 (worsted counts). There are several forms of twisters on the market, but my preference for worsted twisting is a cap trap. The calculations for finding the turns of twist are on the same principle as in the spinning; the doll rollers are driven by a double-cut worm, which counts as a 2-toothed gear. The rest is about the same. One side of twisting is calculated to take two sides of spinning, and the usual way is to let one dofflng from the spinning go to one side of twisting, so the bobbins will run out together, saving time and waste. If they are thrown into a box, and the girls help themselves, the sets get broken up, as the frames do not all doff alike. WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 2. I will consider both woolen and worsted weaving under one head, as the act of weaving the different kinds of yarns into cloth is the same in both cases with the exception of a few alterations in the setting of parts of the loom. This article is not intended to explain the art of weaving to the uninitiated, but rather to set forth a few ideas as the subject presents itself to me. We have to-day a wonderful machine for the process of weaving, not alone in complicated appliances whose oper- ations seem almost impossible of accomplishment except with 26 human hands, but also in strength, simplicity and positlveness. After the first of our box motion looms were put on the market, within the last twenty-five years, there has been no radical change In the looms, except in the matter of strength and speed; the working pai-ts are aiTanged in a little different manner to get more positive results. On the market to-day we have three makes of looms to choose from, practically at present only two, as the loom put on the market lately in Worcester is the same as the Knowles loom, with a few changes in the reverse motion, enabling the weaver to get back to the break caused by a defect in the yarn. The looms which are in use to-day are of two types, made by the same concern, an open shed and a closed shed. At present, this is the radical difference between makes of looms — the closed and open shed. I do not dare to state which is the better loom, for on certain grades of work one loom will do better than the other, and vice versa. But for general ex- pense in running, for repairs, etc., I believe that the Knowles is the loom. To handle worsted weaving properly, consider- ing the expense of repair, production, etc., will require a heavier and more solid loom, about 74-inch reed space, and geared 2 and 1, and a Knowles loom; woolen goods, men's wear, a 92-inch reed space, equal gears; for ladies' dress goods a lighter intermediate loom with 92-inch reed space and equal gears. In men's wear there is a gi-ade of goods which to-day we are compelled to weave on what is called a narrow loom and run at a very high rate of speed, one weaver running two looms. Fancies are made to some extent on these narrow looms, in the cheaper fabrics, as a narrow loom will handle tender yarn far better than the broader ones. I would like to state just here my opinion in regard to the type of looms to be used. For worsted weaving I favor a Knowles loom. In woolen weaving, especially where there is such an uncertainty of good strong yarn, I think a Crompton loom is preferable. I believe that the production will show up better in the finishing room from the above looms. We now come to the weaving. First I will consider the matter of preparation for the loom. See that the warps are dressed properly and laid out in width correctly; if a warp is laid too wide on the beam, on certain grades of goods, it will be impossible for any finisher to match the sides and middle of his goods to a nicety. This is a defect not recognized by many. Look out for the listings. See that they are kept straight. A 27 great source of trouble is poor listings. There is no need of loose ends and sections, and a man is shown how, if he does not know, which means only a little care and judgment on the dressers' part. The drawer-in takes the warp next. In- struct this person about the different grades of goods; impress upon her the need of carefulness and thoroughness on her part, — overlooked later, can do lots of damage. The only way to make a success is to start right here; have a system; have it right throughout your room, with not too much red tape and complication. Avoid all confusion of signs or ideas in the diflEerent books or guides. It is a necessity to have a drawer-in book, chain-draft, and filling-draft book, besides your own. After the warp is ready and the loom properly cleaned, the fixers take it and get it ready to start, after which the filling carrier consults the warp ticket, previously made out, and brings the proper filling. The overseer now takes the work in hand, starts every warp and gives it a general inspec- tion. See that the warp is hung correctly, that the colors and pattern are correct. Start the weaver and give it a final inspec- tion after the leader is taken off. Now is the proper time to see how the loom is handling the work. I don't care how good your loom fixers are, they are apt to hurry or be pushed just at this time, and may have neglected to have things in the proper shape. Production is to be considered just here. The highest compli- ment I ever heard paid to an overseer was this: "Why, you can go on any loom and you do not have to get used to it." Have them say this about yom* room. Get a good even pick; keep your sweep straps level. One can tell the condition of a weave room in a very few minutes after entering it, whether the looms are old or new. If a man can't make old looms run, it will only take him a few years to wreck new ones. Let m,e say here, that if a man cannot get a good, smooth pick on his looms (himself), he will never make a success of having charge of weaving. Production depends on this. Instruct your fixers that the looms must run, and keep the shuttles out of the win- dows, trying to find a resting-place up against the wall. It is generally unnecessary to have a loom continually banging off and mending in breakouts. There is no need of so-called bad looms in a shop. You often hear — Well, that man or woman can't weave; always running after the fixer. When you have one of these, get the loom fixed and the little things attended to so that they can't have any fault to find. Look 28 out for the little things; the big things are generally fixed, and the former left to cause lots of trouble. Be on the alert; don't be afraid of a little work yourself; you are supposed to be just as wide-awake as the weaver and not sitting down in an easy chair trying so hard to keep awake. If you want production, you must hustle yourself. Don't use profane language because of carelessness and in- difference on the part of the help; one or two cases of dis- charging will accomplish much where talk will do nothing. It is the overseer's place to see that the looms are in good running order and kept there, as much as it is to arrange his other work. Keep continually in the minds of all that it is produc- tion that counts. How many times we have seen a fixer sitting down, when a weaver comes along with a timid air, saying that something is wrong; the fixer scowls and mutters some- thing, perhaps at times more than a mutter. After five or ten minutes he condescends to go and see what is the matter; with a rush and a mind distorted with anger he proceeds and with a hasty knock with the hammer or a tightened bolt the job is done and the handle pulled on; lo, and behold, the shuttles have come together, causing a large breakout or per- haps a broken casting, caused by nothing else than anger. The overseer is subject at all times to a display of temper, but the successful overseer is the man that controls himself— U he can't control himself, how can he control others? The happy condition of a weave room is the complete trust in the man in charge; this is brought about by careful study and thought, he having no favorites, thereby using all alike and fairly. Do not allow yourself to sympathize with the help in case of bad work and yield to them when they say that such and such stock ought to be put in; they know nothing of the condition of the markets and the close margins at times. I will not give rules and methods of fixing, as it is an in- exhaustible subject. See that the looms are set and running rightly, the weaving even and the cloth smooth. Look out for kinks, thread fioats, filling, pulling in and roweyness. These all can be stopped easily by a careful looking after. What is needed is always to be on the watch. A man that gets the pro- duction with quality is the one wanted. Have your reports readable and neat. Keep a record of things for yourself, which will enable you to look back and compare with this day or week. Know exactly what yarns you 29 have got, where they are, and the quantity, etc.; a system will make this easy. Waste is quite an item in a weave room, and causes quite a lot of trouble. If there is an extra amount coming, first see where the blame lies. Usually it is the weaver who is at fault, but many times the trouble is elsewhere; it may be improperly started at the bottom, by the spinner, by the help lying on yarn in boxes and by loose winding by the spinner. See that these are stopped. There may be too much power on the loom, causing the filling to knock off the bobbin as it enters the shuttle boxes. Here is a chance to put in a good word regarding power. Have as little power on the shuttle as pos- sible. Run your loom with the least possible amount. All extra power means money going out of the company all the time, and more or less imperfect work. Have the weavers trained to keep their flying waste and hard end waste separate at cleaning-up time. The repair department is quite an item and waste can go on here. See that castings are not ordered needlessly, and when ordered are right; at times a patch is as good as a new casting. Instill into the fixer's mind the need of saving in the supplies for the looms. Some look at the stock on hand, caring nothing for the cost, and only make a halt when the stock is getting low. Shuttle checks are a grand good thing, and a mill that is not using them is losing by it; they are a sure money-saver. A saving in waste is claimed by the maker, but I claim more — that there is a saving in the general wear of the whole pick- ing motion of the loom. Let me emphasize right here that the principal point in weaving is a smooth, even pick on your looms; get this and you will not have so very much trouble with your looms; there will be no need of being troubled with the different matters which we often see discussed in numerous papers concerning the loom. See that your belts are in good shape. I find that olive oil is better than all patent prepara- tions, and keeps the belts in good shape. A great source of trouble is found in long lengths of shafting, what is called in the mill "back lash"; it is the vibration in the shaft, and if it is there, no man can make the loom run rightly. Stop it by either putting on balance wheels or belting to main shaft if possible. The rate of speed of a loom is a question; high speed figures look well on paper and sound well in conversation, but the run of work has to be taken into consideration. Worsteds can be 30 run advantageously with a higher speed than woolens; plain work can be run with a higher speed than fancies. I don't think it practical to run a fancy worsted loom over 105 picks per minute and fancy woolens more than about 95; but this may vary according to the condition of the yarns. One thing more I would like to add: Bad work cannot be made to run good, but good work can be made to run bad in a weave room. COTTON CARDS AND CARDING. ESSAY NO. 3. Card setting varies with the amount of cotton carded, the condition of the card and with the quality of the work required. Some goods require cleaner carding with more short staple taken out than others. For example, the good man would set closer and card lighter for print goods than for the heavier ducks, drills or sheetings. On the former, all leaf and other impurities have to be removed to make a marketable piece of goods, while the latter will stand more leaf and also more short staple because of the coarser yarn spun. For a card in a condition with clothing tight, evenly ground, and licker-ln, cylinder and doffer paralleled, carding around 150 pounds in 11 hours from about a 12-ounce lap, the following settings will be found to give good results: Feed plates to lick-In, .012 degrees; licker-in to cylinder, .010 degrees; cylinder to flats, .010 degrees; licker-in knives to licker-in, .012 degrees; cylinder screen to cylinder, .022 degrees; cylinder to doflfer, .007 degrees, and front knife plate to take out from 2 1-2 to 3 pounds per day. For coarser work set the feed plate form .017 degrees to .022 degrees, according to the weight of lap, and the licker-in knives the same. Flats can be set to about .012 degrees, but doffer to cylinder should be .007 degrees for good work. Other writers may difCer as to distances the different parts of cards should be set. Different results may require slight changes In settings, but 81 no matter what settings be used, all cards on the same woi-k should be set alike. The above settings are for cards in good condition. If the fillets be loose or the cylinder out of line or flats ground hollow, the settings will be too close and face the wires. A cylinder that runs against the arch shows the card either to be out of level or cylinder bearings of different height from the frame. Wear of bearings can be helped by releveling cards before each grinding. Cards should be lightly ground even every 20 days. If the wire be not faced or mashed, from four to six hours will be long enough. Before grinding, all cotton accumulated between the arches and the cylinder and doffer should be picked out and all fly removed to lessen the danger of fire. After grinding the flats, licker-in and doffer should be set. And in every three or four grindings screens should be taken out and the accumulations of oil and dirt taken out, which will produce a great change in your carding. IMPERFECT CARDING. ESSAY NO. 4. In their efforts to get a larger production many mill man- agers adopt methods that practically defeat the object which they are supposed to accomplish. The most harmful and common error is to overload the pickers and cards by run- ning more cotton through in a day than the machines can properly clean. If the gross impurities be not removed during picking, the cards will to an extent be compelled to perform the functions of the picking process. As a result of this the clothing becomes quickly choked, and the principal object of carding is not attained. Carding is practiced for the purpose of laying the fibres in as nearly a parallel order as possible, and at the same time removing imperfect fibres, neps, bits of leaves and broken shells of seeds. The teeth of the clothing scrape along the fibres and accomplish this when the cards are not overloaded and when the laps from the pickers do 32 not contain impurities that should have been removed during picking. When unclean laps are fed to the cards and at the same time the card is overloaded, the total production may be at such a figure as to please the manager, but when this mass of imperfectly cleaned cotton goes to the spinners, spoolers, warpers and weavers, the ratio of production is not main- tained. The reason is clear to those who have seen more than one method of getting production employed. In many cases the evils are unclean cotton going through the cards, not to mention the almost utter failure of paralleli- zation of the fibres. This is increased by the formation of neps, that would not exist if it were not for the overloading. Neps are small bunches of fibres rolled into knots, and wherever they are found in a thread of yarn, there will be found a weak point, as while the neps add bulk to the yarn, they detract from its strength by preventing the long fibres from properly twisting together, so that the full strength of the fibres cannot be utilized to keep off a strain that under ordinary conditions would not serve to break the yarn. When the cards are overloaded, some of the fibres that otherwise would be cleaned and straightened are or will become matted and form neps. If the card grinder sets the grinders for heavy grinding, the result is the same as if the cotton were unclean and the cards not looked after. Heavy grinding gives the wire hooked points and the cylinder will soon be found filled up with fibres and dirt and the fibres are more or less matted and form lumps and neps. Neps do not affect the production of the speeders to any great extent, but in the spinning room the evil of them is felt in full force. In attenuating the roving a break is often sure to follow the pressure of a nep, with the result that the spinners are not able to keep the warp up, and the production falls off. When the neps fail to break the thread on the spinning frame or mule, the spooler tender is kept on his feet repairing broken ends, unless the guides are set wide. If this be the case, the warper tender and weaver have to take what the spooler tender escapes. When the guides are set close, but few neps will pass them, and the spooler, in his hard labor to keep up the end, will make many knots that will bother the weavers. Perfec- tion is the only way to success. Success will overcome all imperfectness. 83 SCOURING, CARDING AND COMBING. ESSAY NO. 5. Following are my ideas on scouring and carding for worsted. The heat of the water should, in my opinion, never exceed 120 degrees for the most greasy wools. Wool which is over- heated will have its serrations weakened, its natural curl taken out, and the fibres will be harsh and difficult to card into a satisfactory sliver. The finished yarn will be twitty, rough and tender. The same can be said when soaps too strongly alkaline are used. Potash rendei-s wool soft and silky to tlie touch. Soda in any form used with wool has a tendency to make it hard and brittle; also the wool a poor color. The carder should know or understand how the moistm-e of the wool should be. When it is ready for the cards the pre- paring of it previous to its transfer to the carding and combing room should have due attention. If the wool be too wet it will mat and roll in the card, and the doffer will turn ofE a sliver so full of nibs and slubs that no amount of combing can perfectly clear it. If too dry, especially if the card be running at a high speed, the wool will be slippery and there is danger of the fibres getting broken, and shoits flying out, which makes un- even and tender sliver. To obtain the best results the wool must be in good working order and the speed of the doffer and feed well regulated to suit the material. The cards should be well ground, with clothing to suit the nature of the wools, and no irregularities in the teeth of clothing. RIB KNITTING. ESSAY NO. 6. In knitting rib tops three things are of the greatest impor- tance: The setting of the machine, the quality of the yarn used and the condition in which the machine is afterward kept. The dial needles should be set just a little to the right of the centre of the cylinder needles, so that they will come directly in the centre when the work is run on. The dial stitch "cam" should draw the dial needles in just far enough to cast off the 34 stitch freely. The "welt cam" lever should draw the dial needles out just as far as the welt cam pin will allow. If this is not done, tuck stitches are sure to result. The dial should be set so that the thread will strike the dial needle at a point on the latch almost at the rivet and high enough to allow the welt to pass under it. The yarn caiTier should be set high enough to let the dial needles pass under it without the hook catching and just far enough out to prevent the cylinder needle hooks from rubbing against it, which wears the face of the hook and bends latches, therefore making bad work. It should be set just far enough to the right to allow the latch of the cylinder needle to just clear it when closing on the stitch. The cylinder-stitch cam should draw the needles down far enough to make the stitch uniform with that of the dial. The slack course should be made just large enough to be seen plainly and about a half inch from the welt. The quality of the yarn used is one of the most (if not the most) important things to be considered in making first quality goods. If the yarn is not free from bunches, sticks and heavy and soft places, no amount of adjusting or setting of cams will produce good work, and a large increase in needle breakage is sure to result. The condition in which the machine is kept is a very im- portant factor in the production of good work. In order to avoid as much as possible the breaking of needles the cams should be kept in a good, smooth condition, for if a cam becomes rough or worn it is liable to break needles at the butt, which damages the cylinder or dial and always knocks something out of adjustment. The machine should be kept clean; the cleaner it is kept, the better. The operator should keep the waste from collecting on top of the machine and around the yarn guide by blowing it off at short intervals during the day. The grooves in the cylinder and dial should be cleaned out as often as possible, in order to avoid the wide stitches which will result if dirt or waste is allowed to collect under the needles. If these rules are followed and the adjustment is done with care, good, elastic work is sure to result. 35 WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 7. Before beginning an article on the process of weaving, it is well to decide where this process begins. To my mind, the mental process of weaving begins at the designer's desk, while the mechanical process does not begin until after the warp is in the loom. There are, of course, mechanical processes, such as dressing, spooling, twisting, etc., between, but as these do not come under the direct head of weaving, I will omit them. I will touch the subject but lightly, as to go deeply into it would necessitate the writing of a volume, whereas I intend to write only an article. I will suppose that I am asked to make a piece of woolen and also a piece of worsted goods, but as the kinds are not stated, 1 will make something very simple in the line of each. For the woolen I will make a simple shepherd's plaid with over- plaid, 17 ounces per yard from loom, and 72 inches wide in reed between selvedges. Right here I run up against four distinct questions, and a number of indistinct ones: How many warp threads per inch? How many fulling threads per inch? What counts of warp? What counts of filling? As this is a piece of woolen goods, it will probably be shrunk in finishing 15 per cent, in width, and 10 per cent, in length; therefore, the warp will be 5 per cent, heavier than the filling, and there will be 5 per cent, more picks than there will be of warp threads. Then there is the take-up in weaving to be considered, but as this amounts only to about .18 of an ounce per yard, and as I am not splitting hairs, I will omit it, and say that the yarn will be required to weigh 17 ounces per yard of cloth, and that one- half of this yarn will be required to be 5 per cent, heavier than the other half; the heavier yarn being warp. Then, 17 divided by 2 equals 8.5, and 5 per cent, divided by 2 equals 2.5 per cent.; 2.5 per cent, of 8.5 equals .2125, which I will call 1-4 ounce and add to my 8.5, making it 8.75 ounces, which subtracted from 17 ounces leaves 8.25 ounces. There- fore, there will be 8.75 ounces of warp, and 8.25 ounces of filling required per yard. Now what will be the counts of my warp? and how many threads per inch? What will be the counts of my filling? and how many picks will there be per inch? 36 I will deal with the warp first. As there are to be 8.75 ounces of warp, and as the standard for woolen yarn is 100 per ounce, I have 8.75 times 100 equals 875 ends of one-run yam (no figuring required; just strike out the decimal point, or add "00" if there is no decimal, and if there should be one decimal, strike out the point and add "0"). But supposing I want to use finer yarns, say 4.5 run: Then, 4.5x875 equals 3937.5; but I can't use a half thread, so I strike out the .5; and then 3937 divided by 72 equals 54 ends per inch, and 49 ends over; 3937 minus 49 equals 3888; the 49 ends I will replace with ends enough to make a suitable list, say 24 on each side, 1-2 inch in reed. Before going farther it is well to know whether or not 54 ends of 4.5-end run yarn will go into a cassimere weave, as that is the weave on which I have decided. In order to find that out, I should know the contents of my filling. As there are 54 warp ends per inch and 5 per cent, more picks of filling than warp ends, 5 per cent, of 54 equals 2.7; then 2.7 plus 54 equals 56.7 picks per inch. Then 73 inches (including selvedges) in reed: 73x56.7 equals 4139.1 yards of filling required for one yard of cloth. Then 4139.1 divided by 100x8.25 equals 5.016 or a 5-run filling. Of course I knew it would be a 5-run filling, since the filling is one-half ounce lighter than the warp, and a half ounce is a half run. It was the width of selvedge that caused the fraction .016; I used the figures merely to show the working process. Now I have a 4.5-run warp and a 5-run filling; how many threads will fill a 2 — 2 weave? Mean size of yarn, 4.75 run, and 4.75x1,600 (standard for woolen yarn per pound) equals 7,600. The square root of 7,600 equals 87.25 (nearly); then 87 1-4 threads less 16 per cent. v:ill lie side by side in one inch. Sixteen per cent, of 87.25 equals 14 (nearly); 87.25 minus 14 equals 73.25, which is the number of 4.75-run threails that will lie side by side. But a 2 — 2 weave won't take that many, nor do I want it to, as the cloth would be too sleazy if It would. I want the weave to be filled with 54 or 56 threads, warp and filling, that is, 110 threads in all (per square inch). 73.25 ends divided by the title of the weave, that is to say, 2 and 2 equals 4, and 4 into 73.25, equals 18.31. Now I subtract my 18.31 from my 73.25, and the remainder, 54.94, is the num- ber of ends that will fill the weave. This, of course, is approxi- mate, not exact. We have no rule by which we can figure 37 exactly the number of a certain size of yarn to fill a certain weave. It will therefor be seen that I need 3,888 yards of warp, with an allowance of, say, 2 per cent, for take-up in weave, and 4,139.1 yards of 5-run filling to make one yard of cloth. As I have already gone much deeper than I at first in- tended. I will briefly lay out my dressing draft thus: Dress: 48 ends in pattern, 81 patterns equal 3,888 ends. Light 2 4 4 1 2 4 4 2 Dark 4 4 4 4 4 4 Fancy l 12 harnessed: 3,888 divided by 12 equals 324 heddles on each, 2-list harnesses — straight draw. Reed: (3,888 divided by 72 equals 54; divided by 4), 13 1-2; 4 in dent. Here I leave the subject, until I am called upon to find the centre of reed. I look carefully so as to make sure of its being a 13 1-2. I then look for the length, and find it, say, 88 inches. I then measure off 73 inches from one end, carefully subdivide the remainder, and mark the point of subdivision, at which point the drawing in hand will begin to reed the warp. When the warp is ready, we place it on a truck and tie strips of cloth, on which we have spread powdered blacklead, around the friction heads; this is to allow the beam to turn smoothly during weaving. We then put the warp in the loom, and hook up the har- nesses. Whether we hook the tops or the bottoms first scarcely matters; each shoe has its own way. If it is a Knowles loom, we secure the reed, and then tie on the leader; if a Orompton, we tie on the leader first. We adjust the temples, see that the hooks of the heddle shafts do not crowd the heddles one way or another, then we turn the head by means of the hand crank carefully, so as to be sure that the harnesses are all free. We then throw in a few picks carefully by hand, then lock the head motion, and weave a heading, We next raise the harnesses, one at a time, and look over the warp threads carefully, lest there should be mistakes in dressing or drawing in. I will not discuss the different methods of finding the change gear, as I have already exceeded 1,(XX) words and am not fin- ished yet; only this: If the change gear is a driver, the number of picks times the gear gives a constant dividend, and if the 38 change is a driven, the piclts divided into the gear that gave them is a constant multiple. In order to avoid a complicated box motion I will use a simple filling chain, using two shuttles of dark, one of light and one of fancy, taking care that the right color goes into the proper shed, in order to get the desired check effect. I now look at the shed and see that the threads are not scattered, and that the lower ends are as close to the race as possible, but not close enough to chafe. There should be weight enough on the beam friction to hold the cloth steady, and if it takes the picks too hard, the cylinders of the head should be set as early as is consistent with the perfect working of the head. Some men, and men in authority, too, claim that the changing har- nesses should be together when the reed is up to the fell of the cloth — that the picks are going in easiest then. I say that these men have a perfect right to think that way if they want to. "A man's mind is his kingdom," even though it be a fool's paradise; and he who has not tempted the fool-killer at one time or another is a Solomon, indeed. I know the contrary to be true from practical experience, just as I know that four and two do not make seven. The loom should be kept clean, and carefully oiled; the sweep of the pick motion should be kept long, rolling and smooth, and the gearing should be kept snug. Discipline should be resorted to, and the room should be kept clean, so as to impress neatness on the minds of the operatives. Mispicks, long threads out, filling, drawing-in, etc., should be carefully avoided. The warp should give out at each beat of the lay and not drag, or stick and then jump. As there are 56 picks in an inch of this piece of cloth, the beam should pay out that inch in 56 distinct installments, and the take-up should be set so that there should be no possibility of its missing a tooth, or taking up a tooth too many. With a fairly good weaver on the loom, I think that the rest of the process ought to take care of itself. I will now turn my attention to the worsted and finish that briefly. After deciding on what to make, I work it out as I did the woolen, but using the worsted standard of counts, that is, 560 yards to the pound for number Is. If I use some ends of silk, I will convert the standard of silk (840) into the worsted counts, so as to have only one system in my work, thus: If I 89 have a 20s silk, 20x840 equals (its own counts and its own standard) 16,800, divided by 560 equals (the worsted stan- dard) 30s worsted. And in finding the number of ends that will lie side by side in an inch I will subtract 10 per cent., whereas in the woolen I subtracted 16 per cent. I will also slay the worsted closer, and weave it more tightly. I will also take great care to avoid the making of unnecessary waste, as this yam is expensive. COTTON CARDING. ESSAY NO. 8. The cotton carding machinery of to-day is as nearly perfect as can be hoped for, at least for some years to come. There are defects, however, which may be overcome to some extent by a more carefully designed mechanism. One of the faults of the revolving top flat card is the uneven- ness of the top flats, notwithstanding they are claimed to be ground within one-thousandth part of an inch of each other. Every carder knows that it is sometimes only possible to have a few flats on a card set "just right," i. e., if you want them set snugly to a No. 7 gauge, perhaps you can only get a few of them down to this gauge; the others, by having shorter wire, will be "ofE" to perhaps a 12 or 14 gauge. This defect can only be remedied by continual grinding of the flats until they are all alike and will set to the same gauge. There is considerable difEerence of opinion among carders as to the setting of cards, and it is also true that some are jealous of their knowledge as to how to get best results. This is against the spirit of the times, and he who would try to conceal "useful knowledge" is self-conceited and narrow-minded, to say the least. Of course it would not be considered wise for any man to proclaim his discoveries from the housetops, but in this age of newspapers, magazines and journals, devoted to every art and industry conceivable, knowledge of any kind is, and of right ought to be, public property. Upon the common law that it is a fraud to conceal a fraud, some have the idea that it is wisdom to conceal wisdom, and who is the practical cotton mill man that will say it requires no wisdom to set a card to get clean and good running work? Some years ago, while em- 40 ployed as carder and spinuer in a mill of 10,000 spindles, it was my privilege to do a great deal of experimenting on card setting. In the same city where I was located there was another mill equipped with the same kind and make of machinery, using the same grade of cotton and producing the same class of goods. In the mill where I was the spinning ran unusually well, while at the other miU there was continual complaint of bad running spinning, especially during hot, dry weather. Neither mill at that time was equipped with humidifiers. After months of search and comparison of speeds, drafts, settings, etc., it was decided, between a few of us, that the difference in the running of the work was due to the difference in the settings of the feed plate to licker-in. I had frequently been told that my carding did not look as well as the other mill's, but that my spinning ran one hundred per cent, better; on the grade of cotton we were using and the numbers being made I set my feed plates to 19-1,000, while the other feUow, who was my superior in age and experience, set his feed plates to 7-1,000. The "Reporter" readers will pardon the mention of this per- sonal incident, as I only wish to show that an experience, covering many years and much experimenting, has proven to the writer that the best carding does not always mean the best spinning. Cotton can be worked to death, while it is not work that kills man, but worry. The cotton fibre is strongest, and contains the maximum amount of natural twist, when It is first picked from the bolls, and each process from the gin to the loom tends to weaken the fibre. The cotton gin does much damage to the fibre when the cotton is ginned immediately after being picked, for it is then hardest to separate from the seed. If the seed-cotton was stored for, say, four weeks after it has been picked, before ginning, the fibre would absorb oil from the seed and become more easily separated from the seed, resulting in less damage to the fibre. The fibre should be subjected to as little wear and tear as possible in order to retain its length and strength. At the gin this idea should dominate and the fibre be taken from the seed as quickly and easily as possible, reducing the action of the saws on the lint to a minimum. At the pickers the Idea to keep in mind and the thing to be done is to loosen up the 41 cotton, extract the motes, dirt and other foreign substance with as little beating of the fibre as possible. At the card it should be borne in mind that it is not the amount of carding done that counts, but the least possible strain put upon the fibre to obtain the desired results. The- card should loosen up and disengage the fibres, remove dirt, nits, short or immature fibres, etc., and comb out the fibi'es into a partially parallel order, without any unnecessary action on the same. At the drawing, the object sought is to lay the fibres parallel and to do this without any injury (if possible) to the fibres themselves. As to the number of processes required, opinions vary con- siderably, but suffice it to say, that any more than is absolutely necessary is not only unnecessary, but injurious to the fibre, and adds additional cost to the manufacture. At the fly frames the attenuation is carried forward, and if it becomes necessary to add twist to the roving, care should be taken to preserve the strength of the fibre, and any un- necessary twist at these processes not only reduces the produc- tion, but adds strain to the fibres at the next process. You will find it pays to preserve the strength of the fibre and I have Jong sought to find out the best methods of so doing. KNITTING. ESSAY NO. 9. A new machine just from the shop should always be care- fully examined by the knitter, for the builder is just as liable to make mistakes as anyone else. By carefully going over the machine you may avoid trouble in the future. If a dial does not set up close to the cap, all the way around, as it should, it will give you trouble. The machine may run for months until you have a smash; then you will have trouble ever after. By placing the dial in a lade with a good strong arbor through it, you can tell if the defect is in the dial. If your dial is out, put three set screws between the ones that hold the dial to the collar. Then adjust set screws till true. You will always find these set screws a benefit to you, and after you find that it has not brought the 42 dial close up to the cap, as the hole is not straight up and down, I do not advise you to try and fix the cap, but send it back to the shop, as they will put a bushing in. Lower the top of the machine till you can just turn a needle around between the dial and cylinder. Try this all around the machine. If your dial sets closer on one side than it does on the other, it will give you lots of trouble, especially on fine work. Your machine will get hot and in time wear the cylinder. It is a very bad defect and should be fixed right away. It will cut holes and your cloth will not lay out right for cutting, for the machine is knitting a long stitch on one side and a short one on the other side. When drawers or sleeves are cut from this cloth the seamers cannot get the seams straight, which gives the sleeves or drawers a crooked shape; then the inspector throws them out for seconds. A new machine should always be leveled before operated, and it will wear level and run easy. To get a good elastic cloth from a machine, by turning not more than 1-32 of an inch ofC of the dial or whatever your cast-off cams will allow, you will find that you have a very nice piece of cloth; the wale will be closer and more elastic. I do not approve of a knitter taking a set of cams and grinding them himself, for he cannot get them all of the same shape or as smooth as they were; if he ground one cam and sent it to the shop, they would make a set just as he wanted them. I find it a good point to have draw cams ground to cast off one needle at a time so that the stitch is properly formed and needles fully raised before drawing the top needle in. It avoids cutting holes in tender places in yarn or knots. Knitters using magnets to fish out butts should be careful in not rubbing the gids with the magnet, as they will pick up the latches, making the machines drop stitches; then you have trouble of your own if you don't see what you have done. Good yam, good winding, good operator constitute the best stop motion. 43 A FEW HINTS ABOUT SPEEDERS. ESSAY NO. 10. One thing that every carding overseer should look out for is to keep every spindle of his slubbers, intermediates and fly frames running. It takes but little carelessness on his part to have the spinning room waiting for roving. Every loose or worn bolster or spindle gear, or a bent or broken flyer that causes the breaking back of an end, should be reported by the tender at once. In some cases the fixer or second hand is too busy to fix the trouble at that very time and lets the spindle wait. Before the end ot the week there may be a dozen stopped, and a dozen spindles on coarse roving mean a good many pounds production lost. A strict rule should be enforced by the overseer that once a week, at the very least, the fixers should make it a special object to look over and straighten out every little trouble about the spindles. There is nothing more disagreeable than when a frame is started up to hear a couple of flyers striking together. The trouble is generally caused by the spreading of a leg of one of them. If this is not the cause, then you will probably find that one of the spindles is out of plumb, letting it slant toward the spindle on either right or left. The tender vnll turn this spindle a quarter way around and it will run till the next doff. When the frame is doffed, the flyer will be turned back into its proper position by the dofCer and the same "striking together" repeated. This, if not speedily remedied, will destroy both flyers and pressers. Around coarse speeders there will be necessarily a good deal of waste, caused by flyings, broken ends, etc. Now this waste is always falling down back of the frame and getting into the gears and racks. This is very noticeable in the tension rack. A small bit of waste clogging this rack will cause the frame to run over and break all the ends down, thus necessi- tating a delay and loss of production, not counting the hard piecings for the spinner to handle. Lifter racks will get filled with this waste, but the trouble is not so quickly shown as with the tension rack. The waste will pack into these lifter racks and gears almost as hard as iron, causing them to run exceedingly hard, and finally the teeth of the racks or gears, or both, will be broken or forced 44 out of gear. The carriage will stop its traverse and a ridge will be made on the bobbins. It is not a ten minutes' job to put on a new lifter gear, especially at the head of your frame, level up your carriage, piece up and get the frame running — more loss of production, not counting the bad strain the Avhole speeder had to stand. A couple of brealidowns in the next few days, caused by this same smash, often occur and show points that were weakened. Look these racks over once a month and pick out all waste. Go into a mill and stop a speeder on the change with the carriage down. Take hold of the driving pulley with hoth hands and see if you can start the frame. Maybe you can, bat very likely you cannot. Nevertheless, if a speeder is in good condition, one ought to be able to turn it easily with one hand, at any position of the carriage. The two main causes of this running hard when the carriage is down are tight spindles and spindles out of plumb with their steps. You may be ^ble to lift every spindle out of its step when the carriage is up, but, with it down, you probably will find a third or more of them immovable. To remedy this: Doff the frame. Remove all flyers, leaving all spindles bare. If your carriage is down, run it up by hand and your tight spindles will rise with it, but a better way is to disengage your rolls and run the carriage up by power. Take out every spindle and after cleaning out every bolster, wipe spindles perfectly dry. Plumb spindles. Run the carriage to its lowest point and plumb the spindles again. See that all the steps are properly oiled and then put on the spindle gears. Oil your bolster gears, but do not put a drop into the bolsters. Connect your rolls, etc., and j'our speeder will run with quarter driving belt. I wrote, above, not to oil your bolsters. Now I suppose that I will hear from you. You will say that the bolsters would all be worn out in two months' time. I say that they will not if you have your spindles plumbed correctly. Put your finger on a spindle out of plumb and you will feel a strong vibration. Try it on a plumb spindle and you do not feel any. The vibration is caused by friction on the sides of the bolster A truly plumb spindle or one very nearly so causes almost no friction at all in the bolster. Accordingly, if we have no friction, there will be no wear. If this bolster is oiled, the flying lint collects on the sticky spindle and at every change is packed into the interior until the spindle sticks. A really tight spindle will do more damage to a frame in one change 45 than would occur In a two years' run. With no oil in the bolsters, the spindles will never get stuck, and as to the wear- ing of the bolsters, I have a pair of 10-inch frames that have not had a drop of oil in the bolsters for over four years. There is never a tight spindle on them. You can turn them easily by taking hold of the bobbins on the spindles. The bolsters show not a bit more wear than before oiling was stopped. Twist is a very important item about speeders. Many over- seers make it a rule to run just as little twist as possible. That is all very well, if they stop at possible, but a good many of these overseers go beyond this and run too little. A good deal better rule would be to run as much twist as possible, for pro- duction depends not so much on running little twist as on running the frames. One end down stops the production of the whole frame. Just a little more twist would have saved it and the frame kept running. By this I do not mean to run ex- cessive twist, but I do mean to use judgment. High speed does not mean large production. It generally means destruction to machinery and hard-worked help. I have seen a pair of slubbers changed from a 16-incb driving pulley overhead to a 13-inch and the same number of hanks obtained and better work, while the tender sat dowo and took it easy. Some parts of the mill may seem insignificant, and able to run themselves. If they are, why ha-ro you been paid to look after them? The best man is not always the one wlio can fix a bad smash in the shortest time, but the one who can prevent the smash by keeping the machinery in order. WOOL CARDING. ESSAY NO. 11. Carding being one of the first and principal processes in the manufacture of cloth, much care needs to be exercised and the machines closely watched at all times, for work spoiled in the card room cannot be made perfect by any of the processes that follow. Now in the card room we have three main objects to accom- plish: First, good, smooth, even roving; second, as much of it as possible; third, to make as little waste a.s possible. So we 4(> will take the first breaker and see that it is in proper shape; feed rolls and burr cylinder good and clean, for if not they will carry the stock to the main cylinder in bunches, causing unnecessary strain on the wire of the cylinder and first two workers, seriously hampering the work of the machine which has been put in good shape; cylinder true, level and sharp, having been ground with a traverse wheel, not run too fast, as they are apt to spring in the centre, causing cylinder to be low in the middle; workers and doffer all true and sharp. We will set the machine for stock to be carded. Here is where a carder's judgment counts for much, as no rule can be made to do for all kinds of stock; but set the machine just close enough to make it do the work required of it, and no more, as the object is to preserve the lengtJi and strength of the staple as much as possible, being sure that the fancy is doing its work well. Now we will look to the Bram- well feed and see that belts are all tight, so as not to slip, and see that the scales do not receive their weight before the pin that releases the clutch has returned to its original position; also see that they do receive their weight some little time be- fore they trip; and do not have stock on feed table too heavy, for the feed rolls will be apt to crowd it back and then take hold and carry through the heavy place so formed. Still the feed table must be well covered and not have any holes or bare places. We will now pass on to the second breaker and grind it as we did the first. Here we have a Bates or Apperly feed. The stock on this should be packed as closely as possible, so as to get all the doublings we can. A good idea is to run the breaker dofters fast, which will give a smaller drawing and make a nicer feed, less liable to cause bunches. A card will also make less waste with a fast doffer. Now as to the finisher. Here is where things must be about right. After getting workers and cylinder in good shape by light grinding, take the rings to the grinding frame and grind very light, using plenty of oil, so as to make the point smooth, and after grinding have several rings made of fancy wire to fit the traverse wheel, slip them on and set into rings about 1-32 of an inch and let them run about twenty minutes or one-half hour, and you will have a good smooth point, one that will take the stock uniformly and deliver free and easy without any twists, if draft of strip roll is as it should be. I find that a gain of 4 per cent, is about right, that is, while the surface of ring is traveling 96 inches, the 47 surface of strip roll should travel 100 inches. This is just enough gain to prevent stocli from running up between ring and stripper, pinching and causing a twist. Much could be said about the speed of the different parts of a card, but we have so many different classes of stocli and sizes of yarn that it is impossible to set any rule. The heavier the work, the faster it is necessary to run the leader, and tumble workers should be run just fast enough so as not to crowd the stock on to them, as wire will only hold a certain amount of stock; if more is forced on to it, it will roll and nub up. Run breaker doffers fairly fast. Cylin- ders for low stock should have a surface speed of about 10,000 inches per minute; for good fine wool or wool and cotton mixes 12,000 inches per minute will be found sufficient. A set of cards, prepared as above, should give a good, sound yarn, plenty of it, and with a dickey on the breaker doffers to keep the point clear, should make but very little waste. WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 12. In the operation of weaving, the first question to consider is: When does this commence? We answer, after the warp has been put into the loom, proper chains put on and tied in, started up and looked over, or when the loom is turned over to the weaver. Then we may say the real operation of weaving commences. The first thing for the weaver to do is to familiarize himself at once with the general design or plan of the pattern, whether that be stripe or check, and for our purpose we will say it will be a check whose plan is as follows: Red fancy 1 Green fancy 1 Olive 4 4 4 4 4 Black 4 3 4 3 4 X 5 X 4—96 To be crossed in the filling, same colors, filling chain to be 104 bars long, and cassimere weave employed. Having done this, the weaver will need to learn how many shuttles he is running and where the colors are in the boxes. 48 Then he must carefully arrange the filling in his filling box, each color by itself. (Not thrown in indiscriminately.) Then he is ready to commence. Now as the loom runs along, every loop and knot and lump of every description appearing on the surface of the cloth must be made the object of the weaver's close attention to see if it is a broken thread, a slub, or is making a hole in the cloth, and receive the proper attention. Every time the weaver changes his shuttle, he should ex- amine the thread of the shuttle coming out of the loom and the one going in, holding both up to the light; in this way he keeps himself checked up all the time. This does not necessarily delay the running of the loom; it can be done while the loom is running, but must be done before he puts the shuttle out of his hand. Each yard of cloth as it rolls up must receive as much attention as the first yard, and if it receives it the result will be a uniform piece of cloth from the loom. The weaver ought to keep himself busy all the time; if every- thing is running along all right in front, he ought to walk around to the back of the loom and carefully examine his warp, break ofC all the long ends of the knots made by spoolers and dressers and keep a close watch on the whole operation; in this way much time will be gained and a better piece of cloth produced than if these knots were allowed to weave close up to the reed and tangle with the adjoining threads, causing holes, floats and the throwing out of the shuttle. Suppose now that while he is doing this, something goes wrong in front, and the weaver, when he comes around, dis- covers a float or broken pick of filling; he must at once stop and pick it out, and carefully start up again. There are usually two ways open to the weaver to do this: he can, if running a Crompton loom, turn his levers and take it out thread by thread until the error is remedied, or, if a Knowles loom, turn the wheel and, reversing his chains, go backward and make it right, or he can level his harness, tear the cloth In a number of sections to the bad place, and pick it out with a comb. If he has not far to go, usually the former way is the best, but, if some distance, the latter is better. If the colors are not too close in shade he can count his pattern, set his chain, and after he has pulled his warp backward, go ahead again; but if he cannot count his pattern, the usual practice is to pick out to a 49 certain point, generally one of the overplaid colors, but some place that he is familiar with, and start again. This operation must be performed wath a good deal of skill, so that in starting up again the cloth may be of the same weight after as before, care being taken that he does not make a heavy or light place or that it is not light at the sides, though all right in the centre, the latter condition being caused by the cloth sticking in the temples, which can usually be remedied by the weaver giving it a little extra pull backward with his hand at the sides. This is at least one point where he will need to exercise patience (he is poorly equipped that has none), for after he has woven, say, half an inch, he should stop and make an exam- ination, and It will oftentimes turn out that it is a bad start and must be picked out and tried again. The best way which the writer knows is for the weaver to familiarize himself with the tension of the cloth as it weaves, then endeavor to have the same tension when the fell of the cloth is about where it is in weaving. He is the best weaver who considers his work his art, and worthy of his best pains. The loom fixer will have a duty to perform to secure good work from the loom. He ought to keep his eye on that loom until the weaver has woven several yards. By this time it will develop whether or not the loom is doing its best work. If the wai-p breaks excessively, the loom ought to be exam- ined to find the cause (there usually is one), which will often be found more quickly by the fixer than the weaver, and the attention is greatly appreciated by the weaver and by the management. The overseer ought to be a man who thoroughly under- stands weaving and is qualified to give instructions on all points, and one who, if an error is pointed out to him, either in the draw or pattern, can quickly show how to remedy it. Courteous attention and civility from loom fixers and over- seers will have their own part in the process of weaving. 60 WOOLEN SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 13. My idea of what is needed to make a first-class spinning room is, first, an overseer who understands drawing yarn and fixing the mules so that he will get the best results and knows how to work with his help. For instance, a spinner makes a complaint that his work is going so badly that he cannot keep his ends up. Instead of answering him shortly or sarcastically, that that is his lookout, it is better to investi- gate and see just what the trpuble is. In nine cases out of ten it can be made to run better. Say, for instance, his driving belt is too tight, which would start his jack too quickly; or it might be too slack, which would make the jack too slow in starting and cause a strain in the yarn; or his rim-band may be too slack and not start the spindles as quickly as it should; his scroll band might not be as tight as it should be and would let the jack draw unevenly; or his rolls might not be running fast enough, which would make twits in the yarn; or the roping might be too tight or the drum spool slack on one end of spool and tight on the other; or the mule might not be striking squarely one end before the other, or the friction might not back off the mule as it should, making kinky yarn. More might be said about kinky yarn, but It would take up too much space. One might have too much weight on his followers, which would strain the yarn, or, again, his quartering might not be set right. Any or all of the above would make the work run badly and cause general dissatisfaction. Let me say i-ight here that any man who understands spinning at all is able to make good stock run right along, but it is the overseer who thoroughly understands his business who is able to make poor stock run well. Great care should be taken of the spindle bands. Do not have them either too tight or too slack, for, if they are not right, considerable bad work will be the result. The collars should be kept tight. Do not allow them to become loosened, for it will not improve the running of the mule; neither should the steps be allowed to get loose and wear great holes in the step board that will increase the expense of running the room, but not increase the production. If all these things are carefully looked after, we will have a first-class spinning room. 51 WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 14. The weave room is a very pleasant place when everything is moving along in order; the weavers and fixers being first- class, the yarn perfect in size and shade, the looms in perfect running order, the weave room well lighted with windows and electricity and having good ventilation, the warps received from the dressing room in a perfect condition, the warps drawn in and reeded correctly, and the warp and filling layout correct, with plenty of orders to run on the year around; but we fail to find all these things working so perfectly and smoothly. This, however, ought to be what every overseer should be trying to attain. There are many things to be looked after in a weave room that the overseer must keep in mind. If the minor things are neglected they will result in damage. I believe that this saying is true, that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The overseer should get in close touch with his help. It is a good plan to practice, when a new fixer or weaver arrives, to have a talk with them and tell them what you expect and what their duty is and make them feel that they are wanted. Always speak pleasantly to your help and be manly with them and you will get good results from their labor. The weaver must be kept steadily at work if you want large production. It pays to plan to have spare work for the weavers when they are waiting for a new warp. Help the weaver to earn a good weekly salary. The weavers are contented as a general thing when they have steady work, but when they are waiting a day or two at a time, they become discontented, as it has a serious effect upon their pocketbooks, as well as minds, and this discontentment leads to strikes. The overseer should see tliat the looms are kept in good run- ning order and when the warp is running badly, he should have the loom adjusted to favor the warp. If these things are neglected, they cannot be made right in the perching room. There should be lots of attention given to the loom, weaver and fixer, if we are to get good work from the loom. There are many things that originate in other departments that cause faulty cloth. We will talve into consideration the yarn as it is received from the spinning room. If it is twitty or uneven and with fine and coarse ends caused by carding 52 and spinning, all these defects in tlie yarn have their effect upon the woven fabric. The dressing room has its part to do if good results are to be obtained in the weave room. I have in mind a covert cloth that was being woven and slacli ends showed up very prominently on the fabric. These were caused by too little tension being placed upon the yarn while spooling; as this yarn was hard twist, it would double and twist to- gether wherever there was a slack space. If the drawing in the warps in the harness and reeding is done by incompetent help it has a serious effect in the weave room — and how many wrong draws I have seen by extra heddles being left among the others. I have had my experience on single worsted warp yarn with wool filling and have had my share of uneven filling. Much of this worli is woven on two looms and the filling run on two shuttles and the weaver would change both shuttles at the same time, thus causing a shady place each time he changed shuttles. The writer has overcome this by running the filling on three shuttles in four boxes, thus getting one pick of each shuttle, and not change more than two shuttles at a time. It is advisable to always count the picks when the filling is half run down on the bobbins. In small woolen mills, with from 30 to 60 looms, it is best not to mix the filling of the jacks. It is best to keep so many looms on the filling yarn of one jack and so on. By doing this, there will be better results. To avoid rolling selvedges, if the weave is twill with listing on regular harnesses, draw listing in so as to reverse twill; if listing on extra harness, use plain weave or basket weave on listing. The writer has in mind a cotton worsted warp with two threads of mercerized cotton, about one inch apart in pattern. These threads were drawn in the two back harnesses. The result was that every time these two harnesses changed they opened so far that a greater strain was brought on these ends, and there not being ends enough on these har- nesses to steady them they came up with a jerk, and as there was not any elasticity in the mercerized cotton they were suddenly broken. These two harnesses were on a plain weave. This breaking was overcome by dropping the harness wires connecting these two harnesses down on the lever enough to remove the strain. The designers should plan to have harness with only a few ends on front, if possible, I have seen warps with misplaced heddles In every pattern where there were two fancy threads and a break in the pattern and 63 the fixer and second hand pass them; the colors would show up all right, in looking the harness over. I have learned by ex- perience that the only sure and safe way to avoid these mistakes is to go over the pattern with the layout; and if pattern does not correspond with the weave room layout, first see if the layout is like the designer's, as there may have been a mistake in making out the layout; if the layout is cor- rect, there has been a mistake made in drawing in the ends. The warp should always be measured to see if it is the right width in the reed before it is passed. Care should be taken to see if the sheds are adjusted properly to give a good clear opening for the shuttle and the take-up and let-off motion should always be examined. It pays to spend a few minutes and have things in their proper way and place. The overseer should have time to think and consider things in their proper light. Many overseers in small mills have so much muscular labor to do that they don't get rested enough to think and plan their work. Good results cannot be had in this way. The overseer should adapt himself to approaching those who are under his charge in a proper and pleasing manner; he should ignore petty grievances and look deeper than these, and crowd them out with something brighter instead, and by so doing he will not only brighten and gladden those about him, but the pleasantness will reflect back and make him a more manly general. THE LICKER-IN AND ITS ACTION. ESSAY NO. 15. My attention has often been called to the working and action of the licker-in of cards. In feeding the cotton to the licker-in the action thus imparted to the cotton is identical with placing cotton lightly in the path of a body of coarse moving combers. It will be readily understood by the readers that serious damage would result should the cotton be pressed somewhat forcibly against the teeth of the licker-in, a feature which can be overcome by making the front portion of the disk plate of a peculiar shape. If the feed plate is adapted to the kind of cotton under operation the ends of the longest fibres in the fringe of cotton 54 will project to a point opposite the most protruding points of the disk plate, and are easily withdrawn, whereas if this is not the case the resistance to their withdrawal is more than likely due to the resistance of the fibres about them. It is a sign that the disk plate is not adapted to the kind of cotton under operation, the extra grip upon the fibres being due to the pressure of the feed roller on the other end of the fibres. When again the staple of the cotton under operation is shorter than the plate is adapted for, the fibres are liable to be de- tached from the laps in numerous bodies instead of singly, which in turn causes the web when taken from the doffer to have a cloudy appearance. When this is the fault, it will be easily observed that the cotton passes on the under side of the licker-in in patches. Of the three faults referred to, a too heavy feed will produce the most damage. In order to get the most benefit of the action of the licker-in, the cotton should be fed to it gradually, so that the fibres are subjected to as little strain as possible and then the cleansing and carding actions will be more thoroughly accomplished. At the same time, the lap should not be thicker than the licker-in can effectively treat, nor lighter than the maximum amount possible. By using a maximum feed it allows the feed to be run at the lowest rate for any given amount of production. After the maximum feed has been ascertained the weight of the laps should not be changed and should not vary from eight to sixteen ounces, according to width as well as make of cards and the kind of cotton used. This part of the card is all important, and is largely responsible for the quality of work turned off, and its capacity for cleaning the stock of dirt, motes, leaf and lumps makes it an armor of protection for the wire on the cylinder and fiats, and its duty well performed wiU cut down the cost of grinding and double the life of the clothing. To bring the licker-in up to its highest efficiency will require going into minor details, and we should proceed in this direction by taking off the cop and examining the wire. If it is very dull or forced up from rabbing the motes, knives or feed plate, the best way is to take it out and place it in some kind of stand, or take it to the lathe, run it back- ward slowly, and with a handsaw file run in all of the spiral grooves from one end to the other. It is best not to have the wire ground to a fine point, for if extremely sharp it will cut up the stock and make a great quantity of waste. 55 WOOLEN SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 16. An overseer of spinning, in order to get good yarn and pro- duction, sliould be a good mule fixer, thoroughly understand drafting and drawing of yarns and should have a carder make roping on the card of the right weight in proportion to what the yarn will draw in spinning. Too many times we see the racks full of spools and no production. This is caused by not getting the roping of the right weight from the card, and try- ing to draw half way out of stock that would not properly draw one-third of the way and run good. The carder and spinner should work together as far as the weight of roping and good work are concerned. The overseer of spinning should watch his machines (mules or jacks) and see that spools have uniform rubbing — not have one end of the spool running up and the other end tight; report to the carder the number of card and call his attention to rubbing. You cannot gear a mule to run spools that need fixing at the card. Note the difference the rubbing will make, especially when you are spinning and drawing fine stock, when it is not uniform on spools. I have sometimes been puzzled about some soft bobbins being found in each set and looked for all those things that would make them, including slack spindle bands, loose cylinder, faller weights dragging on floor; but happened to have four spools in mule that were soft on one end of spool and let them run until the set was doffed, and there were my soft bobbins, which I had worried so much over. Report to the carder about all fine and heavy ends and twitty roping by sending him ticket off spools, from that lot. Get your spools right on drums, then go to your rollers and see that there is no back lash in them, which will show in yarn in twits if mule starts out too fast. Do not have drawing out of rim belt so tight that you have to steady your mule with rim band, to hold it steady, which is often done. Do not tighten rim belt when the trouble is with backing off friction being in the gear and binding on the mule. Keep good faller wires on the mule and reasonably tight, so that the faller fingers will not be continu- ally out of line, making bad bobbins and waste, which Is quite a worrisome thing when you have your waste charged to your department. How many make the mistake of putting too much weight on fallers and binding the mule to get good 66 winding, wtien the trouble is with the quadrant not being set right. See that builder is set right and builder rail dwelling just enough on shoes to make a nice bottom on bobbin or cop, which will save waste and increase weaver's production. Have discipline and confidence enough among your help to make them watch their work and have the quadrant handled right, which makes a large difference in winding. The overseer should go around the room and inspect for himself each mule and know what condition his department is in, how machines are oiled and taken care of, whether they are making any amount of bad yarn and waste, and from what cause. This is sometimes caused by putting on new scroll band and letting it stretch too low on the scroll, causing ends to crack off, or having rim band too slack to drive the cylinder and spindles or drawing out clutch not having enough spring attached; kicking when mule starts out or mule not being checked right and slamming, when going up to rollers; drawing-in bands getting on the small part of scroll too soon; mules not being square, mostly caused from not having equal tension on each one to hold mule square. Especially when making double and twist on mules, any of these faults will cause trouble. The overseer can do more for the mill that employs him by being around the room, teaching the help, cautioning where neces- sary about bad piecing and waste and showing where each one's interest would be in making good work. As a general thing, there are always good and bad lots, but watching and doing the best we can for bad lots is where the art comes in. The best way I find is to have a slight difference in wages for the best help, making them take bad work, if there is any in the room, thereby getting good production from all machines; whereas, if they all received the same pay, they would be dis- satisfied when they got bad lots, which sometimes happens in the best mills, from different causes. WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING. ESSAY NO. 17. The finishing of woolen cloths being different in principle from that of finishing worsted cloths, it is useless to attempt to treat of them in one essay, and therefore we will confine our- 57 selves to the consideration of ttie former in this essay. With very few exceptions woolen cloths depend upon the fulling process for the proper finish, and given a properly constructed fabric, it is up to the finisher to produce the finish required. The processes pi'eceding the fulling need not at this time be considered, so that the fulling may at once receive attention. The finish wanted regulates, to a large extent, the operations at the fulling mill, but the malsing of the soap is of even more importance. The usual practice in making the soap is to have it strong enough in point of alkali to properly start the grease and to have it heavy enough to last through the operation of fulling. But in order to produce a good felt on the goods and still have them feel soft and pliable it is not the best policy to have the soap of just the body required for the fulling pro- cess, for the general feeling as well as the looks of the goods will be much improved by having the soap of a much heavier body than that and any seeming waste of soap will be more than offset by the improvement in the feeling. The felt ob- tained with the use of a heavy-bodied soap will be much finer and there will be an absence of that stiff and boardy feeling which is often noticed on felted goods, provided the process of fulling is kept within reasonable bounds; that is, not extended too long. To avoid this latter it is good policy to run the goods in such a way as to bring the most possible of them under the rolls. While the goods are lying in the mill they are not full- ing, as that process only takes place at the rolls, where the pressure is applied. With a good-bodied soap to act as a cushion and lubricant the fulling process will in such way be much shortened and the results will be much better in the end. On cassimeres it is usually the habit to run one piece on a side of the mill, the capacity being such that there would not be room inside of the mill for more than that, and in such cases it will be found of much benefit to double the goods in the mill. This will bring double the amount of cloth under the rolls and at the same time the capacity of the mill is not over- taxed. When the mill is too full, there is no chance for the goods to open in their passage and the danger of creating streaks and mill wrinkles is great, especially where the fulling process requires more than a couple of hours. By doubling the goods in the mill, they will come in contact with the pressure just twice as often as they would if run single, and therefore the fulling process is hastened, but at the same time the cloth receives as much treatment as it would the other way. But it 58 is not aloue ia the shortening of the fulling process that the benefit of this practice is observable, but on account of the greater volume of cloth under pressure, there is more give or resiliency, and this will keep it from becoming stiff and boardy, while the felt obtained is just as close. When the soap is made heavier than what is actually required, the danger of its becoming exhausted during the process is avoided, and the washing can be much better performed. The use of soap or scouring liquor at the washer should be entirely abolished ex- cept whei*e the goods are to be washed before fulling, for its very use indicates that the soap used for fulling is not trusted to satisfactorily perform its mission; but if the fulling soap is made right it can be depended on to do its work, and any addi- tional soap used at the washer is a willful waste and only makes it so much harder to remove all of it in the rinsing. A fabric, however, which is not free from soap is not free from dirt, for it is impossible to have a fabric clean unless all the soap, which holds the grease and other matter in suspension and is intimately combined with them, is completely removed. It is too often accepted as sufficient when the goods have run their allotted time in the washer, and even if soap shows itself when they are extracted it is overlooked, and to this fact may be attributed the inability on the part of some finisher to pro- duce a bright and attractive-looking cloth when it is finished. On piece dyes it is w'ell enough known that soap in the goods will produce clouds, but qu cassimeres this is thought not to be of quite so much importance, but it is. At the washer a plentiful supply of warm water is of the utmost importance — not but that the process can be performed with a small amount or even without it altogether, but the results can in no case be compared with those where lots of warm water is readily at hand. When it is considered how easy it is to have a plentiful supply of warm water at command at any time, It is simply marvelous why more attempts at obtaining it are not made. It must be that the benefits to be derived from its use are under- estimated. Of the many devices used for getting warm water there are none which will give as steady a flow of warm water whenever it is required, and no matter for how long a time, as the little device of which a small diagi-am is annexed. In order to have this contrivance work its best, let the supply water pipe be bronght as high as the top of the washer and then bring a 2 or 2 1-2-inch pipe down on the side of the washer to within about 18 inches of the top of the bowl. To 59 the end of this pipe attach a 45-degree elbow and another piece of 2 or 2 1-2-inch pipe a foot long. Have this enter a coupling with a 45-degree elbow as shown in cut, marked "0." In the straight upper part of this coupling insert reducers, so that a one or three-quarter-inch steam pipe may be led to it, and from the under part continue with the same size pipe to the bowl of the washer and then put a 2 or 2 1-2-inch brass pipe across the whole width of the washer and have this pipe perforated with 1-4 or 3-8 inch holes 1 1-2 inches apart, with the holes turned toward the cloth in the washer or a trifle downward. It is best to have this on the side of the washer where the goods go down. Let both water and steam pipes be fitted with valves just above where they join and the job is done. To better understand the simplicity of its working, the diagram is an- nexed, wherein A is the water pipe, B the steam pipe, C the coupling and D a section of pipe inside of washer. By having the holes in the discharge pipe D only 1-4 or 3-8 inch in diam- eter the water is held back sufficiently to enable the steam to heat the water to the desired degree, which in no case should exceed 110 degrees F. This will make it possible to give the goods a generous supply of warm water whenever it is wanted, and after the pieces have been run into the washer and the gates have been closed, turn on the cold water fii-st and then the steam, regulating both valves until the water is of the right temperature. When the washer is about half full of warm water, shut ofE both water and steam and let the pieces run a stated length of time. Now draw off the suds and again close the gates and repeat the operation. Before opening the gates to draw off the suds the second time, start the warm water running and then open the gates and leave them open. When the pieces have run long enough, so that the soap does not show up any more, introduce the cold water gradually by lessening the amount of steam and after a while shut this off altogether and finish rinsing with cold water. As to the length of time required for the process it need only be stated that the first and second applications of warm water should last twenty minutes each and the final rinsing Is usually accomplished in from three-quarters to one hour. This, of course, depends much upon the goods in hand, and is not subject to strict rules. At any rate, the pieces should show a good, rich lather after they have run about ten minutes in the first warm water, and if this does not show up, it is a sure indication that the vitality of the soap has become exhausted during the fulling and there- 60 fore has not been of sufficient body and the soap should at once receive attention and be made heavier before there is more trouble with unclean goods. But in order to get the set already in the washer clean it is advisable to use a good scouring liquor and even then it is often a question if the goods are as clean as they should be. By making the soap heavy enough in the first place, as stated before, this trouble will not occur, and on the rule that prevention is much better than cure, it is by all means the best plan to use only a good heavy-bodied fulling soap. So far we have not mentioned the strength of the soap, which is regulated by the amount of alkali put into it, for these things must in all cases be suited to the goods in hand. As alkali is quite an aid in the fulling, the temptation is great to use as much as possible of this, but this is not the best policy to pursue. Aside from the fact that alkali will affect colors more or less, it is well known that all soda products, no matter by what name they are known, will affect the wool fibre injuriously, making it harsh and brittle and therefore, for the best interest of the goods in hand, it is always advisable to keep the alkali in the soap as low as is consistent with the work required of it. This work is to loosen the grease and other foreign matter contained in the stock of which the goods are made, so that these may combine with the soap, to be held in suspension by it until the whole is removed in the washer. How much this amount should be depends upon the nature of the oil in the stock, the amount of it and how long it has been on the stock, for the longer it has been there the harder it will be to start it. These few things well remembered will go far toward producing a well-finished cloth. It should be mentioned, however, that the amount of soap put on the goods in the mill also has an important bearing on the subject. The goods must not be run too wet, nor yet too dry, although the latter will be found to be the most injurious, as it will needlessly wear the goods, and after being finished they will always look raw and open and worn out. To run them too wet usually brings its punishment with it, but aside from that the goods will never feel as solid as they should, being more sleazy and loose. Give soap enough so that after the goods have run about twenty minutes a test anywhere will reveal the soap by a moderate twist on the goods. Next to the fulling and washing, the gigging or napping must engage our attention. The subject of napping, as well as the previous one, is large enough to merit the devotion of a 61 separate essay to it, and as this one is already of goodly size we will simply touch the most important points to be observed. First of all, it is important that the goods be perfectly smooth and free from wrinkles when they come to this process, and next, that they contain the proper amount of moisture. The worlj; of raising the felted fibres must begin slowly and care- fully, especially on face goods, where it is an object to save all the fibres possible. But on close-finished goods it will not do either to go too quickly, for if many fibres are pulled out in the process the finished goods will never look as good, even though they are shorn threadbare. The several threads will lack that roundness and plumpness which is such a desirable feature on well-finished cassimeres. Therefore let the work be begun with worn-out flats on the gig and a very slow speed on the workers of the napper, increasing either as the work progi-esses. As soon as all the felted fibres have been raised so that the threads of the fabric show clean and clear, stop the gigging or napping, for any more work will only tend to spoil that which has already been done. There is no use trying to obtain a nap from the thread and if all the felted fibres have been raised, the work is done, for no more can be gained. At all the several processes observe carefully the value of neatness and cleanliness and when trouble arises do not trust to luck or guesswork, but set about at once to find the cause and see to it that this is made right. Guesswork may help a man once in a while if he happens to strike it right, but he is no better off, for the fountainhead has not been touched, and in the end he may find himself in a much worse predicament. WOOL CARDING. ESSAY NO. 18. Without doubt carding is one of the most important and difiicult departments to run in a woolen mill. No general rules can be given. Experience counts, but there are times when the best of us are put to our wits' ends to overcome some of the difficulties. We will suppose that the stock is all right as it leaves the dyehouse, though we know to our sorrow that often it is not. We will begin in the picking room. I think it pays to run all wool through the burring picker to clean it of burrs, seeds, dirt, etc., and open the hard locks of wool. It leaves it more open and feathery than the mixing picker can. After burring, make a bed of about 100 pounds in front of the picker. Sprinkle on oil, then another layer of wool, and so on until all is oiled, not forgetting to beat the oil well into each layer of wool with a stick. For a solid color once through the small picker is enough, but mixes should be run through twice. Every picker room ought to have a barrel with steam and water pipes in it. For one gallon of oil I take two of water and put in the barrel until I have enough for my batch; then 1 put in borax, soda ash or ammonia to mix with it and coarse wool. One gallon of oil is enough for finer wools. For fine yarns use plenty of oil, according to colors, condition of stock, etc. And now it is ready for the cards. See that all lag bolts are tight. Set your engine lever with cylinder and at the same distance from shaft at each side. Finish with sandpaper. It is a good plan to give it a coat of oil, which will prevent it from springing when dry. Take some plaster and stop up all holes and cracks; space off and tack on sheets. I stretch my sheets about as tight as they will go, as I calculate not to do it again, though I have to, some- times. For grinding I like a traverse best. Be sure and set it level with cylinder. Start lightly at first, and gradually a little harder, until finished. One day is not too long to grind a steel cylinder. You cannot hook the wire, unless you let it run too long, without setting closer. If ground too hard, you will probably always be troubled with rough surface on wire. It is much better to be on the safe side, if it does take a little longer. This will apply to workers, doffers and strippers. In clothing fancy, wind it on snugly, but not too tightly. Set up to emery wheel pretty hard, and let it grind about twenty minutes. Take off belt, set into emery wheel, so that the friction will turn it, and let nin back- wards for fifteen minutes, and unless the wire is very uneven it will do good work and not wind. I prepare my old ones the same after picking up teeth. Put doffer fancy and stripper where they belong; belt, set, start up and let run awhile. Go over again with the set. Put in your workers. Set first one off a little. For fine stock and mixes set the rest close so that they will run and not strike. Some set the first as close as it will go, the next not too close, and so on toward the fancy, when it should be the other 63 way, to open wool and straighten it out gradually, and it will not be so hard on the clothing. The firsf worker always breaks out first, and some clothe it with coarser wire for that reason. The tumbler should be covered with 30 wire. Set up to cylin- der, then burr cylinder as close as it will go and not strike; set feed rolls not so close. If a Bramwell feed is used, set top of apron even with top of bottom feed roll, and not more than one-quarter inch off, or short stock will drop under. Set the weight so as to make a good even feed, with no thin places. If roving is too heavy, put on small gear. After running an hour or so, examine your cylinder; if it does not carry too much wool and the roving is clear and free from specks, all is right. If not, your fancy is not doing its work properly; the belt slips, or it may be on too hard, or not enough. Be sure and have the work leave first breaker right; if not, you cannot make it so afterward. I have wools to make a mix of that no man could get the specks out of, if he put it through a dozen cards. In making a very dark mix the white ought to be of good pulled wool, as it is free of second clip or nibs. For a light mix have the block of pulled, and if the cards are in good shape, you will not hear the finisher grumble about specks. What I have said about the first breaker applies equally well to the second, so we will pass on to the finisher. Clothing the ring doffers I consider should be most particularly done. First, if of iron, plaster up all the holes. Get tffem even and slip on the rings, and then set on your frames. Set collars up close to boxes on each side, to keep them from vibrating. Fasten your gauge with rest under centre. Have stick turned about 14 inches and of hard wood, wedge-shaped at one end, to about one-eighth of an inch thick. Put on belt and set. In this way you can get every ring in its place perfectly straight. Then get some store twine, run doffer more slowly, and wind on tightly up to surface of leather between each ring. Then cut your leather long enough to go around twice. Be sure and not cut it so wide as to crowd the teeth. Tack on with 12-ounce tacks. By filling up to within one-eighth of an inch of the point of the teeth, they strip better, and in cleaning, the teeth will not get knocked down or get bruised so badly. After pick- ing up teeth, it is ready to grind. Put on lightly at first, and don't let run too long without setting up. Some will take longer than others, but they ought to grind until they are per- fectly smooth. I generally put some oil on the fiock brush and hold on a few minutes. Put in card; set up to cylinder; have .64 beveled board to fit between doffers spaced off the same as the gauge. Set and fasten your collars on each end of the shaft. Set strip roll nearly one-eighth of an inch from the doffer; your rub roll close enough to keep it from winding. Set rub rolls so that they will not quite touch each other. I like to set my finisher a little more open than my breaker, as I am more careful to keep it in good point, although I would rather have a smooth surface than a sharp one. We will now go back to the tumbler. Set up to cylinder for leader-in (if for Apperly feed). I want it 3 1-2 to 4 inches in diameter to get well into feed rolls. Clothe it with 28 diamond pomt wire. Wind it on with the leather side up. Get a chalk line and three 3-4-inch space, pull out teeth, then wind on tight. Smooth up with emeiy cloth. Fill with picker grease. Set as close to tumbler as it will run and not strike. The bottom feed roll should be clothed with pretty coarse wire, or it will get bruised on the ends; the top with 28 wire set up to leader. Fill strip roll with grease; have it smooth, but not sharp, as I think it works better so. Now we will start up and run it a short time. Go over it again with set, and we will see what it will do. It starts finely, rings all strip well, makes a nice round thread, and so far all is well. After running a while I weigh top and bottom spools, and find top quarter run too heavy. I set off top doffer, or change gear to drive top rub rolls faster or bottom more slowly. I always put top and bottom spools together and never have any fault found because they were not alike on all kinds of work. I have worked from one to 10-run yarn. On fine stock it is very easy; on coarse stock you may have to set off top doffer, and that is the stock that will bear it. It certainly is not half as hard to keep top and bottom alike as to keep the sides alike on the same spool. We will start up again. When the spools get full, I weigh the side threads and find they are fine, but the wide side of the feed is the finest. I lengthen out traverse belt, move lifting catch, and iron pulley the spike strap runs on. Start up again. The work is better, but not right. Then I notice that the drawing, as it is carried to traverse from overhead rig, is rather tight as it comes to each end of feed. I put on small gear and try again. It does not keep up with second breaker. I then take the roving from upright rod, remove the carrier rod, put in rivet so it will work up or down, take out set screw, and put in its place with collar to keep it on. 65 In place of the wire to support carrier, I put a wire spring, ttien fasten end of carrier rod to traverse witti lace string, start up again and that is an improvement. Instead of draw- ing being tight at end of feed, it is tight in centre, if any- where. I hope I have explained this to those who have not seen it. They can alter the rig if they wish to. This was on fine work, and it satisfied. At one time we started a batch of 2-run backing, mostly waste. The first two or three threads would come uneven and lumpy, and were fine on wide side of feed. I took out the wooden roller, next feed rolls, and turned it about one-half inch smaller on wide side for first band, and the next not so small, and so on to the end, tightened bands and did two jobs at once. My roping was of the right weight, and I had no more lumps. I have never been troubled with lumps or bunches on the narrow side of the feed. Another cause of uneven yarn, where there is a spooler, is putting two large spools in second breaker at one time when they are about run down. Roping will be from 1-4 to 1-2 run coarser. A creel is better for even work, but having one large and one small spool, and keeping them so, will help. The Bramwell feed will not make even work if filled up and then allowed to run nearly empty. I have them kept about full. Putting too much waste in the feed will make fine threads. Have help make as little as possible, and feed a little at a time. The waste thread on the finisher is a nuisance, and for that reason some of the cards have waste blowers and there are no rolls dropping on the fioor or coarse ends running on spools, and no waste, and we get much stock. For a remedy straighten up teeth on fancy, or, if worn short, put on new ones. Long teeth on cylinder or rings are almost always caused by grinding too hard. Too high speed will sometimes cause them, when obliged to run doflfers very fast. Run your workers as slowly as you can. I am running dofCers 22 turns, my workers hardly 4 for 5 1-2 runs warp, two-thirds, 4 white call, one-third card waste, with very few twits in it. Strip rolls running too fast or too slowly will do it. They ought to run a little faster than the surface of the rings. Sometimes, when bothered with twits, I have lam my workers backward, and found it a great help. I think it is a good plan to run one backward on finishers at all times, but when stock is all right, I think the chief cause is in the doffer rings. In one mill I had four 48-inch finishers with 41 narrow rings on each dofifer. We put all of our fine work on them. I don't know that I 66 heard a word about twits all the time I was there. In that case we could run doffers very slowly and get the production also. I don't believe in grinding cards every time something is wrong. I have known of its being done three times in two weeks, but I want them smooth rather than sharp. After rings have run a few years, they stretch, when they are sure to make plenty of twits. Remedy, take them ofE, wind doffer with fillet, grind until all low spots are ground out, and then re-clothe it. It is better than press or any other paper, and not half so hard to slip on the rings. Doffers on fine stock, even, will make better work if not set very close to cylinder; try it. In a card room look out for little things. When anything wants grinding, or fixing, do it at once. If put off until another time, you will probably have other work more urgent still, and instead of taking it coolly and easily, your work will always be driving you. Keep your help contented and happy, if you can, and you will have more and better work. WOOLEN SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 19. Any overseer can think of a thousand and one different things to help his work and to build up his room, but not one in a thousand puts his ideas into practical use. A theory is all right if a man can work it out, but, when he cannot, he should consult his fixer and talk it over with him. Time and time again spinners will go to their overseer and tell him that their work is going badly. They can't keep the ends up. The over- seer will go and reel it, maybe, or finally he will let it out, giving the spinner more draft, and then walk away, when, if he would only stay in the mule alley for a few minutes, per- haps, he would find that the nule was not drawing right. And then again, when the spinner told him that his work was bad, he perhaps did not reel it, but let the roving out just the same. What is the result? If that yarn was heavy at first, it comes heavier now, and even if it was right at first, it comes heavy, anyhow. With heavy yarn the weaver cannot get his patterns to come right, just because the boss spinner did not 67 stop and find out whether that mule was drawing right. There are many boss spinners In this country who do this same thing every day. The writer of this article was a few yeai*s ago engaged to go to a mill where they were having a great deal of trouble in the spinning room. It was a medium-sized mill of about 12 sets, I believe. The first day I went to the town I got there at noontime, and after having my dinner I called at the mill office. The superintendent took me up in the spinning room. Well, I was disgusted with the sight. All over the floor was waste of every kind; bobbins were on the window sills and on the floor. I asked the superintendent if the work went badly. He said no; that the spinners ran the room and not the boss. I, of course, said nothing. We went all over the spinning room, and when going through the room I did not pay any attention to the drawing of the mules, as I knew that the spinners were watching me. After we got back in the offi.ce he asked me what I thought of it. "Well," I said, "it is all right if the spinners are running the room. But when I start in to work in the morning I am going to run it for a while and see how things come out." The next morn- ing I started to work, and I noticed in particular that not one of them oiled his mule. I said nothing, but the second hand and I had a talk. I asked him if the spinners oiled up every morning. He said no; they only oiled up when they were obliged to, when the mule couldn't run any longer. Well, I said no more on the subject, but he and- I took a walk around the different alleys. I felt of the way they were all drawing and I did not find one drawing anywhere near right. I did not do much that day but look around and change the draw on several of the machines, but the next day I started in. All the square shaft pulleys were full of waste. I cleaned them all ofC and lined up the mule, changed the draw, changed the wings on some and eased others up faster. The second hand said that the other man never used the ease-up motion on the floor and he did not know how to set it. After three weeks the spinners were taking off 25 per cent, more work. One great fault with most of the boss spinners is seen, when, for instance, if a spinner tells him that his work is fine or heavy, he won't go to that machine, but runs to the card room and tells the carder. What is the result? Perhaps the carder is busy and has not got time to look over the card; so he just goes to the second breaker and takes out or puts in a creel spool. That work, if just right before, now becomes 68 either heavy or fine. I don't believe in going to the card room until I am obliged to, and then I believe in going until it is fixed. Spinners don't, as a rule, look out for their machines as they should; and it is one of the duties of the overseer to see that the mules are properly oiled every morn- ing and the vp^aste kept from oft' the square shaft pulleys. By doing this you will not have twits and fine places in the yarn, as you would have if the mule was being yanked in one end at a time. There is lots of work for the overseer if he will only do it, and not be thinking of pay day. Keep the mules and rolls perfectly even and you can make more uniform work. Have the spinners keep their waste from the carriage and oil up every morning, and the machines will run more easily. Don't take a spinner's word that his work is heavy or fine. Go to his mule and find out for yourself. Don't let the spinners pick out the reeling. Take it yourself. They know where the fine ends are. And another thing: Don't forget to reel every set of roving. Keep your help in their place; keep your room clean; keep your yarn even; keep your mind from pay day, and you can keep your job. KNITTING— IMPROVING THE QUAL- ITY AND PRODUCTION OF YARN. ESSAY NO. 20. I am employed as overseer of spinning by a concern in New York State. I entered their employ in February, 1905, as overseer of spinning. At the time I went to work for them there was a lot of trouble about the yarn in a number of dif- ferent ways. At the time they were producing seven-pound merino underwear, making the yarn 10-grain, weighing 12 yards. They were not getting the proper production. It was running badly on the mule. The roving was all broken up; it was so bad that to fill these orders the firm was about to put a night force on and pay the spinners $2 a day instead of by piecework. Well, I have a friend on the road for a Boston dyehouse, who stops there and heard of the difliculty. He recommended me as a spinner, and I received a letter from the firm. I went on to see them and secured the position as 69 overseer of spinning, although they remarked that I seemed rather young. Well, I took charge. When I stepped into that spinning room, and got a fair look around, I felt like getting out very quickly; but as I was ambitious to get to the top and this was my first big job and I did not want my friends to think I could not make it go, I made up my mind to stay. The first day I just walked around the room to get familiar with it and to see just where I could start to better the thing. Well, 100 to 120 pounds of yam from a 240-spindle mule was the average production. The second day I was there I went down to the carder and asked him how heavy he made the roving. He said 25 grains, weighing 20 yards. I said, "Let us put that up to 28 or 29 grains." "Oh," he said, "my boy, you can never handle it; we have tried that before." Well, after a while I did persuade him to try it on one set, and we would see how it would go. Well, the result was surprising. It went finely. I took two holes of twist out, and the mule turned off 187 pounds of yarn that day. So in less than a week we had them all weighing 29 in the card room and I got two holes of twist out of every mule, and I must say that the overseer of knitting never knew that I took out twist. He told me it was the finest yarn he had ever knit. Well, it was a nice even round thread, with a better body than before, with all the twist. When they were making yarn from that roving weighing 25 grains, they had real tender stock; the roving was so fine that there was nothing to it, and it ran badly on the card; it was so tender that the spinner had to put twist in in order to make any kind of yarn, and the yarn was rough and bulky. Well, after we got to running smoothly and nicely, we put the production up 400 pounds a day, and up went my wages with the production. And the carder could not get over it. He said: "My boy, I have been here ten years, but my time was short if you had not come here. I had to keep it down to 25 grains, as the other spinner said it could not be run any heavier, although I thought it could." Now, this is a very important part of a manufacturer's success, as all wise mill men are fully aware. A manufac- turer, in order to be successful, must get the production; at least he has got to compete with other manufacturers; and if he is carrjdng more twist in his mules than is really necessary, his production is stopped right there. There are too many overseers of spinning who have been 70 at the business for years, who, when they put the roving in the mule, if it does not run well, go down to the carder and get it made lighter, as they will say that it is too heavy, without even changing a gear, where, no doubt, they could have drafted the mule and spun that yarn to a better advantage all around, and with less twist. Of course, there is a limit to stretching j^arn, but we want to get as near that limit as pos- sible without injuring the yarn. And you will then find that - you have better yarn and more of it; and less mending of holes in the cloth. WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 21. There is more to be taken into consideration in the weaving of woolen and worsted goods than one would at first imagine, as weaving covers a large field. There are, as we know, a large number of different weaves, some easy and others very hard, also a great difference in the goods. We have dress goods, women's wear, which, as a rule, are very light in weight. While some of these goods are easily made, there are others that are very difficult to make. The main trouble is to get an even piece of goods. As there has been trouble in nearly every dress goods mill in the coun- try over this one thing, I shall endeavor to give a few very good methods of how to procure an even piece of goods, either woolen or worsted. In the first place, if the weave is a twill weave, it will require very little weight on the beam. Even at the start of a full warp, there are not over eight pounds of weight on either side for a 16-cut warp. This will, no doubt, work very well for the first few cuts, but when half the warp is woven we find that nearly all the weights have been taken off, and should we continue to weave, we would have to take off one of the friction bands and run with only one band on one end of the beam only. Then comes our trouble. The loom starts to making uneven cloth, which is not noticeable on the loom, and probably will not be noticed until the goods are finished. To overcome this, take off the friction bands; in their stead, take a piece of heddle shaft; cut it the same length as the friction bands, then wrap them 71 with cloth and put them on the beam heads, the same as the friction bands. Be sure that plenty of graphite is put on the cloth band in under the friction band, and you will find that your uneven cloth has disappeared. The regular friction band, being 1 1-4 inches wide, puts on more friction than desired. The small 1-4-inch heddle shaft, used in its place, will allow one to put on four times the amount of weight, thereby allowing both bands to remain on the beam until the warp is out. This will enable you to keep the same amount of weight on either side of the beam, which ought to be done at all times. If you use more weight on one band than the other, it stands to reason that there will be more friction on that end of the beam. This will cause an uneven let-ofC, and an uneven let-off means uneven cloth. This is the reason why you cannot use the regular friction bands; as I stated before, if you did, you would have to take one off, when the beam got half empty, and when you did so, all the friction would be on one end of the beam, and cause it to let off in jerks or pulls. There are lots of other things which cause uneven cloth, but they are common things, such as the take-up gear slipping, or the sand roller not taking the cloth tightly enough, and allowing the same to slip, uneven filling, etc. Almost every one is acquainted with these and I shall not go into the minor details. Another thing that will cause uneven cloth, that very seldom happens, is the sand roller being warped or out of true. If the roll is not perfectly true itself, you cannot expect to make an even piece of cloth, no matter how hard you may try, for every time the large part of the roll came around, it would take up faster, causing less picks, which means light places. The third uncommon thing that causes uneven cloth is done by the dresser or warper. When he is beaming off the warp from the reel on to the beam he can cause uneven cloth by beaming the warp with uneven tension; if at one stage of the beaming he has the reel weighted tight and at the other loose, this will all show in the cloth; or if his reel, when beaming off, lets off in jerks or jumps, this will have a tendency to cause uneven cloth. A lot depends on the dresser — more than one would think. I have worked in places where the cloth, when finished, showed streaks in the centre, also baggy, and when we have been making overplaids, the plaid, filling-ways, would not be straight, but be out two inches at either side. I have seen them do everything to the loom that anyone could think of. 72 Also, I have known the blame to be laid on the finisher. He has tried to rectify it on the dryer, by starting the cloth in on the slant, but it came out in the same old way. When the matter was traced back, it rested with the di-esser. He would start with a full set of spools; the fu-st few sections would be all right, but as the spools got lower, the weight got heavier; this would not reel at the same tension as at first, and here was the reason. We prevented this by having the dresser make the first section, then run his reel over and make the end section and fill in from either side. Our trouble ended here. Another place where uneven cloth can be caused is in the distribution of the filling. The very best way I have found (if the cloth to be woven calls for plain filling) is to run three shuttles in two boxes on each side. This will allow the shuttles to follow in rotation and will distribute the filling to the very best advantage. If the cloth is not plain filling, then run more than one shuttle on the dark colors. The over- seer of weaving should attend to this, as it is left to him to turn out the cloth right, and if he is not around and ever on the alert, the fixer will naturally have the loom on as few shuttles as possible, as it makes it all the easier for him. Therefore I claim that a mill ought to have the very best of overseers, as it pays in the end. In this article I shall consider an overseer's duties — how he should run his room to the best advantage; how he should handle his help, and how he should act in general himself. He should at all times consider the production and quality of the goods with the least possible expense, as we are aware that competition is so keen that the manufacturer is some- times at his wits' ends to keep up. An overseer should always bear in mind that production is not everything, as there are plenty of mills to-day getting a large production, and yet they are not making near the money that other mills with a smaller production are making, both on the same class of goods. This does not seem reasonable, I know, yet it is so. Let us go into the details a little and I can then convince you as to my statements. In the first place, we will take the mill with the large production and the mill with the smaller production and compare them. We take it for granted that both mills are of the same size and on the same class of work. Dealing, as I am, with the question of weaving, I shall take the overseers of each weave room and point out where one loses, while the other gains. The overseer with the large 73 production does not watch his weavers as he should; he allows them to make too much waste. This is something which all weavers will do, if not checked. When a weaver makes un- necessary waste, it is a dead loss to the manufacturer, as this waste has to go back and go through the same process of Pickering, carding and spinning that it did before. This is all a loss of time. It is not only doing the same work twice, but it is also causing poorer yarn, for every time a batch of waste is run over, it lessens the strength of the fibre. This is one place where No. 1 overseer is losing money for the firm, while No. 2, ever careful and watchful, prevents this and is saving money for his firm. Another place where No. 1 is losing is in not having a competent loom fixer under him, but one who allows the looms to run in any old way so long as they will run at all. A fixer of this class is a very expensive man to any mill, and it would be far better to get rid of him and secure a good man, even if you had to pay $2 or $3 per week more, for the firm would be in pocket in the long run, as a poor or careless fixer will use two or three times as much in supplies and repairs as a good one; also there will always be a discontentment among the weavers on his section, and this is one thing that should be avoided by all means. I believe in always having harmony and contentment among the help. No. 2 overseer avoids all this. He has a good fixer, a careful man, one who does his work right and needs very few repairs and creates good feeling with the weavers. This man prob- ably gets a couple of dollars more than the other per week, but he saves more than that to the firm. I am aware that weaver? are the same as any other class of help. There are some whom no one could get along with, no matter how he would try. In the third place. No. 1 overseer allows his weavers to run their looms without oiling them. In fact, he does not care how the loom or anything else is treated as long as he gets the production. This seems to be his only aim. Here is where he makes a fatal mistake, as no machine, whether a loom or not, will run and do its work satisfactorily without being well oiled, as it will only be a very short time when the loom will need a good many repairs that could have been avoided, had the loom been properly taken care of. No. 2 overseer attends to all this, as he is a competent man, one who understands his duty in evei-y way. Here is where the firm again saves money. One would naturally think that the increased production would pay for all this. I will admit that 74 it helps to pay, but it does not pay all or one-half. One mill will probably believe in high speed, which has become the rage of late. Let me say that it is all well enough to have high speed, but do we stop to consider that there is a limit to the loom ? Also, that it has a life, the same as a person, and that the faster it runs, the shorter the life? This high speed is done for production. It will increase it in some places over one- quarter, while it will decrease the loom's life one-half. Where is the gain? Talie a person, and instead of his walking when he goes, let him run every time. Will it not shorten his life, the same as a loom? I believe I have pointed out clearly that production is not everything; also that it does not always pay. Now I will say just a few words regarding the duties of an overseer of weaving. See that your help are at work at the right time; also that they remain at their work and do not bother others, as is often the case. Do not try to be too strict. Rather drill your help into what you desire, and do not show them that you are trying to drive them. See that they turn off their work right. Prevent them from making unnecessary waste. See that your room and looms are kept clean and tidy and the looms well oiled; also see that your fixers attend to their duties properly and thoroughly under- stand their business. Don't allow them to ever have any words with the weavers, as you are there to settle all disputes, and, above all, act civilly toward your help, and use them as though they were respectable people and not slaves, and you will always have good success. WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 23. An overseer of weaving should be an Al man in every re- spect, for more depends on the weave room than we think. There are two ways of running a room; one is the right way, the other the wrong way. There are ways of making poor yarns weave fairly well; also ways of making a good piece of cloth out of poor yarn. In order to do so, the overseer has to thoroughly understand his business. An overseer's position is a hard one to fill rightly, and as a rule it takes a considerable length of time before a man can attain this position. To be an Al overseer of weaving, a man should first start at the low round of the ladder and move upward, round by round, according to his ability, being sure to thoroughly master the first round before advancing to the next. I am aware that there are mills which have poor over- seers and some which have good. Those which have the poor are always having trouble in one way or another. A good overseer of weaving should also be a good practical loom fixer and ever be ready to come to a fixer's aid when desired. Let us consider one thing that gives us one of the worst troubles on a loom and follow it through step by step and note the numerous causes and the remedies for it. This is a loom throwing a crooked shuttle. I will say here that every loom at one time or another is subject to this trouble, and some- times it takes weeks to remedy it. The first principal cause of a crooked shuttle is in the picker itself. If the hole which the shuttle point hits is so deep that it causes the box to hang, even just a trifle, it will cause the next shuttle to be thrown crooked. The remedy is to cut the picker out. Again, if the spindle hole in the picker is so large that it causes the picker to wabble, it will throw the shuttle crooked. Remedy: Take the picker off and replace with a new one. Third, if the picker stick has worn the picker too much at the back, it will cause the picker to move sideways and throw the shuttle crooked. Remedy: Replace with a new picker. Fourth, if the picker stick is worn where the picker strikes, it will give the picker an upward or downward movement which is not required and causes the shuttle either to fly out or throw crooked. Remedy: Cut the stick out if It will stand it; if not, put on new stick. Fifth, the picker spindle being bent will cause trouble. Sixth, the picker strap being too long allows the picker to come out too far in the box and causes the shuttles to hang on the picker. Seventh, the hunter or check being back or foinvard too far will cause the shuttles to hang on the picker. Always bear in mind that anything that has the least tendency to cause the shuttles to hang will make the shuttle throw crooked. Eighth, the binder or spring being bent too tight will cause the same trouble. There are different ways of bending a binder and I doubt if half the fixers to-day thoroughly under- 70 stand the different ways. There are certain ways for a binder to be bent on fast speed looms and certain ways to be bent on slow speed looms. As this subject would take an article in itself to explain, I shall not go farther into the details than to say — never have the binders or springs too tight. Ninth, if the boxes are too low or too high, or if they are not bent on the right angle, both back and sideways, they will cause the shuttles to throw crooked. Tenth, if the loom is picking too early, or if the shoe is set too far up in under the picking shaft, it will cause the same trouble, and also cause the shuttle to fly out. Very nearly everything that causes a shuttle to go crooked will cause the same to fly out. Therefore, if you get a loom that is throwing a crooked shuttle, look for causes for shuttles flying out, and nine times out of ten you will fix it all right, and vice versa if the shuttle is flying out. Eleventh, if the race plate on the latter has become loose, or is uneven, it will cause crooked shuttles. Twelfth, if the reed is bent out toward the face of the loom, forming what is termed a belly, it will cause it. Let me say that a reed bent in toward the back of loom will not cause it, as the shuttle has a tendency to hug the reed and wants to go back; so if your reed is giving you trouble, never bend it out; always bend in. The places that are already bent in, let remain; do not think for one moment that you can improve on them by bending them out; if you do, you will get yourself in hot water right off. A reed is a very peculiar thing to set, and set right. Those who understand it have no trouble at all. A reed should never be set too far down, so it will be below the clamp. If so, it will bend in the wrong angle. After you have set it in the bottom clamp properly, do not pound down -on the hand-rail, as I have seen a lot of fixers do. If you do, you will form a slight bend in the reed and cause nothing but the bottom of the back of the shuttle to touch, instead of the full back, and this will cause the shuttle to throw crooked. The hand-rail should be set on with its own weight, and never forced down, as it onlj'^ acts as a support to the top of the reed. Also, have tlie reed come flush with the back shuttle guides on the race sword; if in too far, pack the hand-rail out with leather or paper. Another thing that causes the shuttle to go crooked is the harness not being hung properly. Never allow more shade than need be, as it not only strains the yarn, but allows more 77 room for the shuttle to play. By this I do not mean to make such a small shade that the yarn will bind the shuttle and drive the power from it. Make the shade so as to give suffi- cient room and no more; also do not have the shade too high or too low, as each will cause the shuttle to be thrown crooked. If the lathe is higher at one end than the other it will cause a crooked shuttle. All these remedies which I have given for a crooked shuttle will act for three things: First, a crooked shuttle; second, a shuttle flying out; third, an occa- sional weak pick. We have all been troubled with a weak pick, and have, no doubt, never found the cause. The whole cause is the shuttle going crooked. Stop this and you stop the weak pick. WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 24. In this article I shall endeavor to explain what causes fill- ing to loop or kink, and how to prevent the same. In all classes of woolens and worsteds we are bothered occasionally with the filling kinking. Some fabrics are worse than others, as they have a different weave, and it is generally the weave that causes it. One of the hardest weaves for filling kinking is a 5-leaf, or 5-harness satin, on wool warp and wool filling. As this is considered the hardest, let us take it for an example. I shall point out, step by step, the way to pre- vent the filling kinking. Fii'st, see that the shuttles are well brushed. As a rule, most, fixers, when brushing a shuttle, do not put any brush opposite the eye. Instead, they have two brushes just about a quarter of an inch below the eye, run in either from the sides or the bottom of the shuttle. Brushing this way allows any small knots or lumps that may be in the filling to pass through the eye and run into the cloth, and requires twice as much brush as it would if the brush were put opposite the eye. On the class of goods mentioned, the idea is to have the filling draw as tightly as it will stand, and by putting the brush opposite the eye you can get as much or as little tension as is desired. When the brush is inserted this way and the tension is not enough, all you have to do 78 is to turn the shuttle over and take a nail or anything that will fit the brush hole and knock the brush in a little. By doing this you bind the filling tighter, and vice versa, by the other method, you loosen the filling. The second thing that vpill cause filling to kink is the head motion being set late. If on a Know^les loom, to prevent filling kinking set the shell gears at least six teeth ahead and seven and a half if the loom will take it. On a Crompton loom set the head motion earlier, by loosening casting on the crank shaft and driving it forward. This will make your rocker move sooner. These are the two main things that cause filling to kink. After setting the loom early, if filling still kinks, we must look to the power on the picking sticks. Do not carry more than necessary. If the fault is caused by too much power, then the kinks will show on one side of the cloth only. When this is the case, take a portion of the power off the opposite side. A good many times I have seen the cloth weaving all right, free from kinks on either side, but just in the centre, at the stop-motion, it was looping. This will happen a great deal on worsted cloth. When the filling is looping at the stop-motion, three times out of five it is caused by too much power. You must find out which side has too much and take a portion off this side and your filling will stop looping. As I said, this will prevent it three times out of five. The other remedy is to lower the stop-motion just a trifle. The majority of fixers run the stop-motion too high at ail times. The reason they do it is to keep the feeler wires straight, as they claim that by running a little lower the shuttle will strike the feeler wu-es and bend them. Whenever a shuttle does this you may depend on it that the loom is throwing a crooked shuttle. In previous articles I have given remedies how to prevent this. When setting the stop-motion to prevent filling from kinking or looping, set the feeler wires low enough so that the shuttle will just clear and no more; also set the shoe so the feelers wiU drop early, and if your power is all right you will never be bothered with filling looping by the stop- motion. Take a plain weave on worsteds and the filling will loop on worsteds and the filling will loop or kink at every knot that comes up in the warp. One cannot prevent this en- tirely. In some cases you can stop it altogether, but in others you cannot, although you may help it to a great extent. Take coarse worsted yarn, and it becomes a very difficult job, but by using good judgment you can stop it so that the cloth will 79 pass. I will go so far as to say that you take it all out, pro- viding the knots do not have long tails left on them aftor tying; but where one of these comes up, it will either loop or float. In setting a loom for this class of work, set the head motion in the same position as previously stated; that is, early. Then, instead of running the head on the slow motion, set it on the fast motion, so as to have your harness close and open as quickly as possible. This gives a tendency to spring the threads apart, which it would not do if set on the slow motion. Also carry a wider shade on this class of work than on any other, and have the whip roller set down as low as it will go, as this makes the threads have a further lift. There are other remedies for kinking and looping, but they are common and I shall not go into details regarding them, as every one is, or ought to be, acquainted with them. I have pointed out the principal causes and know that they will work thoroughly. To set the head from slow to fast motions, if the loom is on slow, first throw the upright shaft out of gear, at the bottom; then loosen set screw on elliptical gear and turn it half-way around; set upright shaft back into gear; time boxes where you want them; tighten the screw in the elliptical gear — and your loom is changed from slow to fast. WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING. ESSAY NO. 25. An overseer of finishing (the same as any other overseer) has all he can attend to to keep up his end, as there are many things coming up daily that require his closest atten- tion and all the knowledge and skill which he possesses to enable him to procure the finish which he desires. We are aware that there is more than one kind of finish for a fabric. Certain fabrics require a certain finish, some having what we term the steam finish, some the sad finish, while others must be finished for a soft feel and some for a hard feel. It all depends on the class of goods. One of the most diffi- cult fabrics to be finished in woolens that I know of is a medium-grade Thibet. These goods require a very sad finish. First, take the goods when they come from the loom. Let 80 the percher mark all imperfections. Then let the burlers take and burl them. From there take to the menders and mend the worst imperfections. I will say here that as these goods are full, in both length and breadth, a good bit more than the ordinary class, they require very little burling and mending. I know of a ten-set mill running exclusively on Thibets with only three burlers and one mender. These goods are laid in the loom, all the way from 67 to 81 inches wide, and come to the finisher from 61 to 66 inches. After the burling and mending, take and tack both sides of cloth; about every six inches apart will be close enough, just to keep the selvedge from rolling. Then put in the fulling mill. Full them into the desired width and trap them up in length. The trapping is from 8 to 10 per cent., more usually 10 per cent. Use a good strong soap. Then take from fulling mill and scour thoroughly. Take out after you are certain that all the grease is out, and extract. Send to the dyer, if piece dyes; afterward bring back and speck dye them; then rinse them well and clear; extract and put them on the di-yer. From the dryer take to the shear. Start shearing lightly and gradually come down a notch or two on each side, until you have them sheared as close as desired. Then press them. While pressing do not use the steam from the perforated pipe, as you are after a sad finish and not a glossy one. Use a mtedium amount of weight on your rolls — not too much; if you do, the goods will be too hard to the feel. Then measure, bolt up, ticket and ship. Now I shall proceed to the finishing of fancy worsteds and we shall note where they differ from one another. The finishing of high-grade fancy worsteds requires close and careful attention. In order to get the best results, the goods must not be slighted in any of the different processes they are subjected to. Let us start at the first place and from there proceed. This is when the cloth comes from the loom. After being pei'ched, measured and weighed, and all imperfec- tions marked by the percher, it is then given to the burlers, the same as the woolen Thibet was. The burlers will look the goods over on both sides and raise the knots from the face to the back. At the same time pull ofC all hanging filling ends and all filling drawing in, should there be any. They are then passed on to the sewers, who will look them all over carefully, marking with chalk the imperfections that have been overlooked by the percher or burlers, should there be 81 any. Then they will sew In all that they have marked, such as ends out and misplcks, and attend to any imperfections that need mending. I will say here that this is a very important place, where the cloth should have the very closest attention. Nothing in the mending can be done any too well, and it often pays better to spend a little too much time than not enough, as this is the last overhauling which the goods get, and nothing should be left undone. A good many finishera have a mis- taken idea that whatever is left undone in the burling and mending can easily be rectified in the finishing of the fabric. After the sewers are through with the piece, we coime to the scouring. After starting the pieces in the washer, add a few pails of thin scouring soap, enough to raise a lather, and in a short time you will soon see whether the grease has been thoroughly started. If it has not, add more soap; keep adding soap until it has been accomplished. Run in the soap about twenty to twenty-flve minutes. Then add warm water for ten to fifteen minutes; open the gates and drain off. Afterward close the gates again and add one pail of soap to each piece, and run for ten minutes. Then again run in hot water and thin down the suds so that there will not be any left. Next add a bath of fuller's earth, two pails to the piece. Run about fifteen or twenty minutes and rinse well in cold water. Then take the pieces out and extract them. Then put them through the dryer at a good medium heat. After taking from the dryer, give the goods to the back burlers to remove all knots. Then put them on a pumicing machine to soften well before going to the shear. When the goods are put on the shear, start them the same as the Thibet, lightly, putting the notches down slowly, about five runs, with the number always on the left. Then reverse right side and give about three runs. From the shear the goods pass to the percher, and after he has looked them over well, both back and face, they are given a light steam brush- ing. Then they proceed to the press. Be careful not to put too much weight on, as you will have a hard piece of goods, the same as the Thibet. Next, they are examined for shades and other imperfections, then measured, ticketed, cased and shipped. I will state that while I believe in using fuller's earth in the finishing of fancy high-grade worsteds, I do not believe in using it in the Thibots. A good many finishers do use it, but I have found that I get a better result by having 82 my goods come a little heavier from the loom. You would be surprised at the difference there is. Try it once and be con- vinced. As I stated at the beginning, there are many difficulties cropping up almost daily and always unexpectedly. Take cockles, for instance. This is one thing that may not occur once in five years, and yet it is liable to happen at any time. The remedy for cockles is as follows: First, look to your soap and make sure that it is all right, as oftentimes the firm will experiment on cheaper grades of soap, and I have known the soap to cause cockles. If the trouble is not here, see if tacking the goods more closely, always with face side in, will stop it; if not, go to the weave room boss and ask him to trace the matter. Sometimes it is caused by the loom weaving uneven; again, it may be in the dressing, and also at times it will be found in the yarn itself being uneven. After these places are looked into, I am sure that you will not be bothered with cockles. Another difficulty that very seldom happens, and when it does happen is one of the Avoi-st I know of, is the cloth having a very disagreeable smell after it is finished, and the longer it lies, the worse the smell. It mostly occurs on cotton warp goods with shoddy filling and sometimes happens with low- grade woolens. I once worked in a place where we were bothered with this, and as it was the first time I had ever had anything like it happen, I naturally thought that the trouble was in my soap being too weak. So I used a stronger soap. While it helped it a little, still it did not prevent the smell. I got my soap so strong that I was afraid of running the dye and I finally concluded that I could not overcome it in this way. I even went so far as to use coal oil. I knew that the oil would cut the grease and I had hopes that it would also destroy the smell; but no, it did not. I then traced the matter back to the picker room. I tested the oils which they were using and found them to be O. K., the same as they had always used. One thing that puzzled me more than anything else was that I noticed that one batch would come through all right and the other would have the smell attached to it. After studying and thinking for hours at a time, I cam.e to the conclusion that the fault was in the stock. I went for the shoddy at once. The firm was getting two different kinds of shoddies from diflCerent companies. I took some of each of the shoddies, scoured them, and put them to dry, and I soon found 83 that one kind of shoddies had the smell, while the other was clear and all right. Then I knew where my fault was. The company that made the bad-smelling shoddy had no doubt used an inferior grade of oil. I reported this to the office. We got no more of that shoddy and our troubles ceased. I will say that these goods were not pulled. They were only scoured. WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING ESSAY NO. 26. In the finishing of woolen and worsted fabrics there are always some little things turning up that we least expect, and most generally it is these little things that cause the most trouble. A big thing is usually easily seen and while it takes a considerable length of time to fix it, we know that when it is fixed the trouble ceases; but where a little thing is giving trouble, it is sometimes days and weeks before we can find out what it is, much less fix it. If an overseer of finishing will stop and consider well before rushing in, headstrong, when these little things come up, he will save himself a lot of un- necessary time. As we are all endowed with brains, if put to use as they should be, we can overcome the greatest of difficulties. There are, as we know, two classes of difficulties, one common, the other uncommon, and I take it for granted that it is the uncommon difficulties that we should try to enlighten each other about. A short time ago I worked in a 15-set mill that was making woolen cassimeres. We had one range that gave us a lot of bother, and thought that it was in the finishing. The goods were black and white checks, on the order of the golf cloaking. The checks were two inches wide, both filling and warp ways. The first ten or twenty pieces came out very nicely. After that the black block seemed to draw up and show small ribs, similar to a concertina. The finisher, having the blame laid on him, tried every way imaginable to prevent it, but it was all in vain. After trying different soaps, also different kinds of finishes, he concluded that the fault must have been some- where else, and reported it to the superintendent. After the 84 finisher had explained to the superintendent that the goods were finished the same as the sample, even making him stay and see one piece put through, he came to the conclusion that the fault was elsewhere. Then there was a general tracing back, from weave room to dressing, and so on, until they came to the picker room. Here is where they at last found the fault. It appeared that the owner of the mill had never had any experience in the textile business, outside his own mill, and had never used shoddies, but had always made first-class woolen goods. A shoddy salesman came along one day and talked it into the owner that wool shoddy was the same as wool, and no one could detect the difference, once it got into the goods. He also pointed out the vast difference in the price, his shoddy being 21 cents per pound, and the wool at that time being 64 cents. The windup was that the owner ordered 2,000 or 3,000 pounds of black shoddy to try. When the shoddy arrived, he had it put away in the storehouse, un- known to the superintendent, and one day when this par- ticular batch was laid, he had the picker man add in 25 per cent, shoddy. No one seemed to notice the difference until it reached the finishing. Then, naturally, the black, being the only color that had the shoddy in it, would not full as quickly as the all-wool; hence it left the concertina ribs. The way we finished these goods was as follows: After burling and mend- ing, the goods were put in to full; we only fulled them in width. After being fulled to the desired width, we then scoiu-ed them, first in warm water, with four pails of thin liquid to the piece; then we opened the gates, drained off and ran them in cold water until thoroughly clean. Then we took them out and extracted them and put them on the napping machine and napped the back of them while wet, or just after we had extracted them. Then we put them through the dryer and from there to the shear; then they were pressed, bolted, cased and were ready for shipping. I will state that the reason why we napped them after extracting and not after drying was twofold: One reason was to make the nap cover better; the other was to make it lie right after it was dry. We had tried napping after drying and found that while we could get it right, it would not always lie the right way if it had the least bit too much handling, so we concluded to nap while damp, and found that it was just the idea. No matter 85 how we handled the cloth afterward it always kept the nap the way it was laid. Another very bad thing I have noticed in goods was that after they were finished they came out full of spots, just as though someone had had oil on his fingers and had touched the goods here and there. This caused us a lot of trouble. It lasted for weeks before we found it out, as some of the pieces, I may say the majority of them, came out all right, and again one came that was spotted. By refinishing the piece it all came out, and seemed to be all right. We hunted high and low for this, trying our soap first, as I have seen this same thing caused by the soap; but it Avas not in the soap. We finally found that the rollers in the washer had all been worn so badly that they were almost of an egg shape, instead of being round. We took the rolls out, sent them to the car- penter, and had them turned down true; afterward we put them back in and ran again and our spotted pieces ceased to come. These two things I have mentioned very rarely occur, and had we used more brains than we did, they might have been overcome easily, for in both instances I believe I have clearly shown where some pieces were all right and a fe^v were not; and we might have known from this that some little thing was causing the trouble and not our soap. FINISHING BLANKETS. ESSAY NO. 27. Before putting our blankets in the fulling mill, there are several things to be considered or ascertained: The capacity of our soap tank; the strength and density of the soap; the number of inches in width and length, respectively, that our blankets must be shrunk. There are several methods of determining the capacity of tanks. The following will be found to give results that will be near enough for all practical purposes. Rule: For circular tanks multiply the square of the diam- eter in feet by the depth in feet, multiply this by 47, and divide the product by 8, and you will have the number of gallons. We will suppose that our tank is three feet in diam- 86 eter and four feet deep; then, 3 time 3 times 4 equals 36, and 36 times 47 divided by 8 equals 211 gallons. We are now ready for making our soap. Fill tank half full of water and put in 75 pounds of good neutral soap, and boil for three or four hours, stirring occasionally to make sure that it will be all dissolved. Then put in 25 pounds of pure alkali; or, if you use sal soda, put in 68 pounds of that, as it takes about 2 3-4 ounces of sal soda to equal one ounce of pure alkali. Stir well, and when thoroughly dissolved fill up with cold water. Some finishers use more alkali than this, but If good wool oil is used and you have some delicate colors, you will find that this soap will give excellent results. On one or two occasions, when soda has run out, the writer has been re- duced to the extremity of using caustic soda. But let me im- press very forcibly upon the mind of the inexperienced user that this is a very risky alternative, and should never be adopted by anyone who has not a thorough knowledge of its effects and purposes. Whatever kind of alkali is used, care must be taken that there are no pieces of wood, nails, or other foreign substances intermixed with it or the conse- quences may be disastrous. The soap should not be too warm when poured upon the goods, particulai'ly where the colors are delicate. A good plan is to make the soap late in the day, so that it can stand over night, when it will be in excellent shape for using. This soap, if tested, should register about 2 degrees B. We are now ready for our blankets. We first find out how much they should be fulled in width and length. Sometimes goods will reach the finisher in queer shape. The writer has frequently had blankets of the same style and weight vary as much as 24 and 28 inches in the length of the pairs fi-om the looms. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to measure two or three blankets of every piece before running same into the mill. Now put on your trap or spindle such weights as are needed according to yom* judgment. Many finishers full two pieces side by side in the same mill. But in the opinion of the writer it is best to full one piece at a time, for the reason before mentioned, inasmuch as it gives the operator more control of the process by varying the weights to suit each piece. This is easily accomplished by running the piece in in two draughts. See that your shipper is in good working order. If it is not, get after it and fix it, as it is better to fix It now than to wait until there are several seconds made. Start up 87 the mill and pour on in a steady stream two cans of soap, if you do not happen to have a soaping machine, or a "leclier," as we used to call it in Yorlishire. This should be sufficient for a piece weighing 45 pounds, unless some of the stock has been dyed with extract of logwood, when it will require more soap. We always find it harder to raise the grease on this class of goods than most others. After the goods have run about five minutes, take them in the hand and squeeze them between the forefinger and the thumb nail, and if the fluid squeezed out has a saponified appearance, they are all right, but if the fluid is thin or watery, our soap has not body enough. A good fulling soap should be alkaline enough to cut the grease in the goods thoroughly, and have body enough to carry the grease and soap in the form of an emulsion through the entire process. During the fulling process the goods should be repeatedly measured in width and length, and weight added or taken off as may be required. When goods are fulled up to the required limit, we run them into the washer. Close gates and start up machine and run on warm water until they are thoroughly wet, and let run for about five minutes, when we will probably find that a good thick lather is forming; if so, let them go for ten or fifteen minutes. If not coming up good, give them a little more soap. After running for the above length of time, open top gates and run on warm water. Never let water get too hot; about 120 degrees or comfortably hand warm is about right. When the suds begin to assume a watery appearance shut off water and give about three quarts of soap to each piece. In a few minutes a beautiful white firm lather should be formed. Let them run in this for ten or fifteen minutes. Then open top gates and run on warm water again until all the soap is thoroughly rinsed out, and then give them lots of cold water for fifteen or twenty minutes, when your goods will be per- fectly clean. Take out and extract, not too dry, nor yet too wet; if too diy, the fibres are harder to raise, and if too wet, the nap will lie too flat. To finish well, they should be just damp enough so that the fiocks won't fly too freely. In napping it is well not to have too much tension on blankets. We find it a good plan to let the goods hug the cylinder pretty well, and have the tension just sufficiently strong to prevent the piece from sagging while traversing the 88 overhead carrier rolls. Arrange the napping energy so as to obtain a good full, lofty nap, with web well covered, when goods have had three runs, back and face. If there are any defective places in the napper rolls, where wire has broken ofC, by moving the goods a little to one side from time to time an even nap will be produced. The goods are now ready for drying, brushing, hemming and packing. Where bleaching is practiced, it is, of course, necessary that they be bleached before being dried. If bleached by the sulphur process the goods should not be overcrowded or they will come out streaky, and for another reason which I shall mention presently. About three-quarters of a pound of sulphur to the piece will be plenty to give good results. Speaking of overcrowding, the writer remembers having considerable trouble from this cause one time. We had a big run on white blankets, all cotton warp. During a spell of hot, moist weather, nearly every morning, when the goods were taken out of the bleach house, we noticed a number of brownish-looking spots. On tasting those spots we found that they tasted very strongly of acid. Where had it come from? The superintendent said that we must have been very careless in handling the sul- phuric acid, which, by the way, I neglected to mention, we put on the goods just before taking out of washer, about one and one-half pounds in five or six pails of water. We knew that we had been careful enough and that we had not spilled acid on those goods. When those goods were dried and napped, those brown spots would become more holey than righteous, and the righteousness of the super evaporated proportionately as the seconds accumulated day after day. Finally, in sheer desperation, we went to the bleach house early one morning, and on looking in there, lo! we found the cause of all our troubles. The goods had been crowded, and the last ones put in had been dripping wet, and all these things, combined with the heat from the burning sulphur and hot, moist atmosphere, had formed a vapor, which had condensed on the ceiling in the form of drops of water; these dripping down had caused all our trouble. On tasting these drops they were found to be intensely acid. It is needless to say that there was joy in the camp. 89 WOOLEN CARDING. ESSAY NO. 28. A practical carder must have years of experience, as his position is one of the most particular to fill in the mill. I believe there are more little (as well as large) things in the card room to contend with than in any other room in the mill. We know that the carder is held responsible for the yarn. If it does not spin as the boss spinner thinks it should, he goes to the carder. If the yarn does not weave right, it is more often left to the carder to attend to than to the spinner. The first and main thing we should take into consideration is the help. We should have help whom we can rely on; also help that thoroughly understand their different positions, as no card room can be run successfully without efllcient help, no matter how good a man the carder is himself. Very often have I seen cases where the carder had to be always putting small boys and inexperienced help on. I will say that ihe carder did not do it of his own accord, but was compelled to, as he could not get good help for the wages. Some super- intendents and manufacturers seem to think that any kind of help is all that is required in the card room, and then look to the carder for good results. A carder, in order to get good yarn from his cards, also should have good help. He should know what stock a lot or a batch has in it, so as to enable him to set his cards accordingly. I think it is a very good idea to let the carder have charge of the picker room; then he will know exactly what stock is being used. He can pre- pare it according to his own ideas and set his cards to receive the same; then, if poor yarn comes, he will have no ex- cuses, whereas he would have excuses if he did not know what the stock was, or how it was prepared. When a carder has charge of the picker room, if he has a batch that he thinks will not run, it is his duty to report the same then and not wait until it gets on the card, for after it reaches the cards it is too late to say anything. In preparing a batch in the picker room for the cards we should first consider the nature or grade of our stock; if it is coarse, then see that plenty of oil and water is used, about one-third oil and two-thirds water. Boil or heat them to- gether and add a little soda ash. If the stock is fine, use less oil and water. The amount of oil and water to be used differs 90 according to the opinions of different carders. I do not believe in soaking ttie stock, nor do I believe in having too little used. The proper way is just to give the stock enough moisture to carry it through the carding and spinning nicely. Some carders make a great mistake by putting too little on. They use only enough to carry the stock through their cards, and do not take into consideration the spinning. The conse- quence is that the stock spins badly where it ought to spin well. By putting too much oil and water on, you are only making more work for yourself, as it will help to gum the cards and cause them to be cleaned too often. I once worked in a place where they stripped the first breaker twice a day, on account of its being so choked up that it would not run. After I was there a few days I had this stopped. Nothing was the matter, only, the stock being shoddy, the previous boss had used too much oil on it. After I was there three days I had the first breaker run two days without stripping on the same grade of stock. In preparing the stock, be sure that you run the wool through the burr picker, even if you think it does not need it, for running through the burr picker will help to open it out, besides taking out all dirt and burrs. Afterward put in layers behind the mixing picker. Give each layer oil and water; beat in well with a stick; add another layer of oil and water; beat with stick, and so on until batch is all laid. Then run through picker at least twice, and if it is a difficult mix, three times will not hurt it. Don't depend on your cards to do all the work, as you have pickers to aid you. Now we are ready to card. Fill your feed box and always try to keep it as nearly full as possible, all during the batch, as a low feed box means uneven yarn. Set the first worker a little farther away than the second, and the second farther than the third, and so on till you come to the last, as this will give your stock more chance to card and save your points. Then, if you should set all workers the same gauge, as most carders do, set the second breaker the same as the first. Do not feed too heavily, as this makes the finisher do too much, and does not give an even yarn. Keep your cards ground smooth — not too sharp — and you will have good results. This will in most cases overcome twitty yarn, if workers are set right. Some carders run one worker and sometimes two back- ward, to prevent twits, but I have always managed to over- come them without this. 91 Try and keep contentment among yom* help and make them feel satisfied if you can. Also keep a good clean room, and at least once a day go up into the spinning room and note how your roving is spinning. Sometimes it helps a great deal. You may see where you can better it, whereas you will not if you remain in your own room. Regarding grinding, I will say that this is one of the most particular jobs in a card room, and if in a large card room, one man ought to have charge of grinding and setting alone. In grinding a cylinder, start grinder lightly. Never grind too hard. You may think you are gaining time, but you will lose in the end. Set light at start; then gradually harder. A cylin- der should be ground at least one full day. This same way of grinding applies to the doffers, strippers and workers. Do not grind too often — only when needed. Keep the points smooth and not too sharp and you will overcome a lot of difficulties. COTTON SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 29. In considering cotton spinning from an overseer's point of view, we will take it for granted that the roving comes from the carding department in good condition. For many over- seers lay all their trouble to the roving, when a great many times, if they used as much energy in looking after their own work as they do in finding fault with the carder, they would get along better. It should be the aim of every spinner to put every bobbin of yarn into the spooling in as strong a condition as possible, for warp yarn is just as strong as the weakest thread in the warp at the loom. It is impossible to produce yarn that will weave well where the work does not run well in the spinning room. If I was to pass judgment on the quality of yarn which a spinning room was producing, I would rather see the con- dition of the room itself than see a few bobbins of yarn tested on the breaker. My argument is this: If the work is running well, the yarn produced must be of good quality. Therefore it is the duty of the overseer of spinning to see that his work runs well, and he will then find that most of his troubles are over. 9i Let us consider some of the things that will help him iu this respect. One of the most important is the rolls. The top rolls should be iu good condition and set not too far apart; the distance between the centre of the front and middle rolls should be a sixteenth of an inch shorter than the staple. If you have them set too close the yarn will show it very quickly, by being bunchy or cockley, as it is called. In that case they should be opened a little. Great care should be taken that the roUs are properly oiled, as the help in the spinning room are young and apt to neglect them if they are not looked after very closely. And right here I advocate something to which many spinners may not agree. In arranging the draft of the rolls, I believe there should be at least two teeth of draft between the middle and back rolls, and in case of a long draft there should be three teeth. It has been imy experience that stronger yarn will be produced by drawing, for example, three inches between the back and middle rolls, and seven inches be- tween the middle and front (total draft 10 inches), than by drawing one and one-half inches between the back and middle rolls and eight and one-half inches between the middle and front. But where the total di-aft is not over six and one-half or seven inches, I would not advocate much draft between the back and middle rolls. And right here is a point that I have proven to my own satisfaction. In difCerent mills you must take conditions as you find them. I am aware that a spinner will try to get as short a draft as possible, but I disagree with him a little. Let us suppose that a spinner is called to get 28s yarn from 1 1-8 inch stock, and in carding you are obliged to have one hank roving doubled in the back at the fly frame. I beUeve you can get stronger yarn from three-hank roving with a 9-inch draft on the spinning frame than you can by obliging the carder to draw his fly frame roving to a four- hank and draw 7 inches on the spinning frame. Another important point in spinning is the spindle. It imust be set in the exact centre of the ring, not only at the top, but it must be plumb, and the girdle wire must be set at the same time. The spindles must be oiled often enough to insure them from running dry and the only way an overseer can be certain that they are not running dry is to inspect them himself. The bands are also an important factor. While I am aware that tight bands mean a waste of power, my experience of twenty years in the spinning room demonstrates to me that there is a great deal more money lost from slack than from 93 tight bands. I believe that spindle bands should be put on by a well-paid man, and not by a cheap boy. Slack bands mean soft and weak yarn and bad running work at all times, while tight bands after a day or two will regulate themselves. Sev- eral times in my experience I have taken a room that was producing a good deal of soft yarn and going very badly, and by simply rebanding the spindles I have stopped the produc- tion of soft yarn and have taken out two teeth of twist, and still the work ran better than before banding. A spinner must also be careful of the travelers. One num- ber heavy or Ught will throw the best-regulated spinning room into confusion. There is no rule that a spinner can follow, for conditions change in different mills and often in different rooms in the same mUls. For instance, if in going around the room on a certain kind of work you find that the majority of the ends break down when the ring rail is at the top of the bobbin, and while the bobbins are small, the conclusion is that the traveler is too heavy. If, on the other hand, the greatest breakage of ends occurs when the bobbins are full, or rather just before doffing, and a large number of travelers break off, the conclusion is that the traveler is too light. While many spinners may have a different opinion, I believe in running as light a traveler as possible and in winding a good hard bobbin. And now a word in regard to production. While it is im- portant to produce a good strand of yarn in these days of speed, it is also necessary to produce as much as possible. While I believe in speed to a certain extent, I think that some spinners go too far in that direction. It takes very few ends down to take off the production of a spinning frame, so for that reason there is nothing gained by too much speed. There are other ways of pushing besides speeding up. It is amusing to see a second hand hurrying to get a broken-down frame started while around the room there are enough dead spindles or back ends to count up to two or three frames. Keep every spindle spinning yarn and the breakdowns will come out all right. The doffing is a place where much yarn is lost. The doffers should not be allowed at any time to have more than two frames stopped, and, if possible, but one. To sum up, an overseer should at all times be careful of small things. See that the frames are in good condition and are kept cleaned and oiled. See that the men are kept busy, 94 for a spinning room was never at any time well run where there was nothing to do. WORSTED FINISHING. ESSAY NO. 30. One way of keeping track of the work that comes into the finishing room is to have a stock book. This book contains a space for each style and range. When the cuts are given out to the burlers, the piece numbers are entered in the book under their respective styles, and when the goods are finished the piece numbers are checked off. It makes an easy method to find a cut when wanted in a hurry. The first thing to be done to the cut is to have the style, piece number, loom yards and loom weight sewed on one end of cut, also the number of the burler who burls the cut. Burling must be done carefully. All knots should be raised to the back. The cut is next taken by an inspector and pulled over a flat top table and all imperfections that need fixing should be marked with white chalk, so that they will be easily seen by the sewers. After the sewers are through, the cut is taken to a perch and perched to malie sure that everything is all right. Washing is the next process. The washer should have two pairs of guide or ring boards. The first board is placed directly in front of the rolls and the other board is laid fiat in the space between the washer frame and sud box. Have two sets of boards with different size rings for heavy and light weights ; also have an extra outlet for the water. Have it between the gate for the sud box and the bottom gate. By arranging it this way the bottom gates can be kept closed, and then there will always be enough water for the goods to fioat m, there is a greater chance for the cloth to open out and new folds go through the washer rolls. The more open the cloth is during washing, the less chance there is for washer marks. The soap will have to depend on the amount and quality of the oils that are used. The thing is to have a scouring soap that will overcome the grease or oil. One way is to make the soap strong enough so that it can be thinned down before using. Have a large barrel or tank piped into the washer. 95 Mix up the water and soap In this tank and then let it run into the washer. I think that it is best to use cold soap, and the water used to loosen the soap should not be hot, but just warm enough to take the chill off. After the first washing is done, give the goods another light scouring and this will make it a sure job. It Is best to take a little extra pains here and have the goods as clean as possible. It will pay in the long run. Extract thoroughly and dry at a moderate heat. The goods are now ready for back burling. After back burling give two or three runs on steam brush with steam. The steam will help soften up the fibres. The shearing comes next, and it must be done carefully and well. Put them on face up; give three or four runs. This cuts off the ends which the sewers have left; reverse to back and give two runs. Next is the specking, and after the specking put the goods back on the shear for a final shearing, which should be the reverse of the first shearing; this time they are cut close. Bring the blades down gi-adually, and just close enough so that a piece of tissue paper can go between the cloth and blades and not be cut up. After this shearing, the goods are taken to the perch, looked over and any places that need sewing are marked for the finish or clean sewers. After that give one run on brush; press at a moderate pressure and roll up on a roll. Let the rolls lie over until the next day, to cool off. Next come the final perching, measuring, rolling up and ticketing. FINISHING WOOLENS AND WOR- STEDS. ESSAY NO. 31. In finishing we have to adapt our ideas to the machinery we find at hand, therefore we cannot lay down any hard and fast rules to follow, as some mills have up-to-date machinery, while others have their machinery worn out and only fit for the scrap heap. So when in a position at any kind of a mill, do the best in your power to bring about good results by a careful study of the machinery at hand. Finishing consists of wet and dry; also preliminary operations, such as burling, mending, etc. Take pieces from the loom; have them perched and meas- ured, and have fines for bad weaving, etc.; then take the last 96 end woven, put on the number of piece, style and weight per yard ; sew on neatly on the face. Next, on woolen goods, comes fulling. Fulling is accomplished by the aid of moisture, heat and friction. The rotary fulling mill has all the appliances for the same, as the soap we use causes moisture and heat is gen- erated by the friction of goods running in rotary motion. As a rule, goods come from the loom weighing more than the finished weight wanted; we find that they sustain a loss vary- ing from 15 per cent, to 30 per cent., in some cases, by waste removed, dyestuff, oil, dirt, etc. So before we proceed to full, we should know what we have to shrink before we put the goods in the mill. Example: A piece of goods from the loom weighs 18 ounces; the finished weight is 16 ounces. There is 20 per cent, loss in dyestufCs, oils, etc.; 18 ounces, with 20 per cent, loss, equals 14.40 ounces, times 36 inches equals 51,840; divided by 16 ounces wanted equals 3,240; taken from 3,600 inches equals 3.60 or 8 3-4 inches to be fulled per yard to finish 16 ounces. Put the pieces in the mill; now knowing what the end is to be, sew together with fine sewing; start up; put on your soap cold at the front of mill while running; pour on slowly; put on enough to wet even; let run ten minutes. Now examine to see if the pieces are wet enough, the object being to get an even wetness all through; if not enough, give a little more; go slowly, as too much is really worse than too little, as it causes them to slip under rollers and nip three-cornered holes. That is a trademark for having goods too wet, and also it gives them a sleazy and flat feel. Adjust your traps on shrinking forces so as to be working all through the fulling and shrink in length in proportion as width goes; if you have to full up 8 to 10 inches in width and 3 3-4 per yard, well, to every three inches in width full one inch in length. By so doing we get a much better felt and better feeling piece of goods. Also over- haul several times, and before taking out of mill, give another pail of soap to keep up life of soap; then, when in the washer, application after application of warm water will bring up a good white lather. Let your first dirty suds off; then let raise for twenty minutes. Now rinse in warm water one hour; 20 to 30 minutes in cold; take out and the goods will be all right. In scouring fancy worsteds first soap 30 minutes; rinse three-quarters of an hour in warm water; then give second soaping for 30 minutes. What is wanted now is a thick 97 white lather to break off in chunks. Then run one hour In warm water and twenty minutes in cold and the goods will come out all right, A few words about piece dyes. We must get up good suds, creamy, and run for 35 minutes, and give as much rinsing in warm water as time will permit; finish in cold 20 minutes; take out and be careful to keep clean. Lots of spots on light blue piece dj^es are caused by taking goods out of the washer with dirty hands and letting them touch things before dyeing. After dyeing, always wash off in fuller's earth; give 25 pounds to a barrel of water; put in washer; run 20 minutes; rinse off one hour in cold water; they will look and feel better for treatment. Shearing is one of the most Important things in bringing good results. Always keep the machine in good condition and have it run easily. Never allow your blades to rattle and in shearing always commence with a light cut and come down gradually on your set. By so doing you get better results, and keep your machine in better condition. The shear is a poor place to crowd the goods; if you do crowd here, you do it at the expense of the machine. When the shearing is done, have the goods specked. Keep burling irons in good shape. From here take to the remenders if necessary. Then pass on to the steam brush; give one run with a little steam. Now pass on to the dewing machine. From here put the goods on the rotary press. Give a moderately hard press. Let them roll up on the back of the press and stand all night. Then unroll and on the goods that want a velvety handle steam off lightly; then examine for imperfections that need an allowance; string the same; then roll up neatly and ship to destination, wherever it may be. Neatness counts. Use a good soap. Give as much time in warm water as possible; not hot. Have your fulling soap of a heavy body, with enough alkali to start the grease, as an excess is detrimental to colors, etc. A general rule is 7 to 8 ounces of soap to 3 to 4 ounces of alkali per gallon. Do not take what I have written as the only way, as there are many others, and on some goods we could cut down the scouring of fancy worsteds one-half, as we all know that stock varies, and that is what governs us in finishing. Then on goods which have cotton in them, our advice is to soften in the dry state. We have sanding machines that are very good, but most finishers have some way of their own. I myself have dry 98 fulled them after drying and then given them a good sanding and whalebone brushing. Have a good system and keep things clean. Instruct your help in the habits of neatness, and by close observation of above and practice, you will have the pieces finished to per- fection. WOOLEN SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 32. An overseer of spinning is, without doubt, one of the most important factors among overseers, as it depends mostly on him to get good yarn. The weavers cannot make good cloth if the yarn is not spun right, nor can they get good produc- tion if the bobbins are not wound right. There are more duties for an overseer of spinning to perform than to keep his room clean. He should always be around in the mule alleys to watch for any troubles that are liable to turn up. Many a boss spinner has an idea that as long as the mules are running, that is all that is required of him. This is where he makes a great mistake. He is hired by the company to look after the room and to run it to the best advantage; to turn ofC good work and to keep the machines well cared for. He should see that the mules are well oiled every morning. Do not let them run until they won't run any longer without oil, as the spinners will let them do, if not watched. Keep your rim bands, also spindle bands and square shaft pulleys, free from waste, as this will cause twitty and faulty yarn. Don't try to run with too much weight on yom- fallers, when it is the shoe that needs adjusting. Keep the faller wires medium tight, so as to have your bobbins built alike. Keep the tension on your spindle bands the same, so as to prevent soft bobbins. Soft bobbins are not always caused by the spindle band being loose. They can be caused by the carder not making the spools right. If you have a spool with fine ends here and there, you are sure to have soft bobbins, and all the tightening of the bands that you could do would not make any difference. A case of this kind should be reported to the carder at once. I don't believe in running to the carder for every little thing that goes wrong, but wait and see if the fault is really in the 09 card room, before I go. If your stock runs badly and you think you can improve on it by a little less draw, go to the carder and have him make a set of spools for the imule and try them. I know that most of the places try to draw more than the yarn will stand. This is done principally to help the carder along; but where is the sense of the carder filling the racks with spools, when the stock runs so badly that you can- not keep up to him, whereas, if you made the carder give you a little lighter roving, you could get better yarn and quicker results. All these little points should be studied out before going too far. Always reel and weigh each set of roving, and make sure of it. Don't ever rely on others. See that your mules are fixed right. Never allow one to run when out of order. I have seen mules running which, when they went in, would bang and pull in unevenly and come out in jerks. You can't expect roving to spin well when the mule is running in this way. A good many boss spinners run the mules without using the ease-ofC motion. Why, I do not know, but they do it, never- theless. The ease-off motion was put on a mule for the pur- pose of easing up on the yarn while spinning, and is of as much value as the scroll band itself, and when It is not in use you cannot expect roving to spin well. The very best of stock will not run well without the ease-off motion. Every spinner has at one time or other made bands for the spindles on the old-fashioned style band machine. When twisting these bands up, you could not hold them out to the same length as they were before twisting; you had to ease in on them grad- ually, according to the amount of twist you put into the band. This is precisely the same purpose that the ease-ofC motion should be used for. The more twist you put in the yarn, the more the ease-off. There are lots of things that an overseer could do to make the work run well, if he would only try, but, as a rule, all that some care for is to sit down from morning till night, and when disturbed they get cranky. An overseer of spinning should be a good mule fixer. He should understand thoroughly every part of the machine, so as to be able to set it right. I know that very seldom are there two who fix alike, yet we all have what we consider the best Ideas. Let us put these ideas into use and not keep them in our minds, and see if we cannot im- prove the conditions. Don't be satisfied if the mules are running: instead, watch the machine, and where you know you 100 can improve, do not hesitate to do so. If you have a second hand, tails the matter over with him. Tell him just what you want done, and let him carry out your insti-uctions. Be sure that your second hand is a man you can rely on. If not, then change and get one that you can depend on. A good second hand is a big help, and between you the room ought to be kept up to its proper shape. See that the help obey orders and attend to their work as they should. Train them to be punctual at starting time; also to be as neat and as tidy as they can about their work. Be sure and insist on good piecing, and don't let them piece up an end when the carriage is all the way out, for you know that just as sure as they do, it will be sure to break apart in the loom; remember that part of your reputation depends on the way the yarn runs in the weave room. It is not always the quantity you turn off, but most generally the quality. Carry out these few hints and I am sure that you will meet with success wherever you go. COTTON SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 33. I will say that when roving comes from the carding roam in good condition, as is the rule in a well-regulated mill, it should be the aim of every spinner to make as good, clean and strong work as possible. It is better to have the roving creeled on a line with the rolls if you have to run two rows, because where they are drawn over a rod from a top creel it has a tendency to strain and weaken it; and it should be given about two teeth draft between the back and middle rolls in case of a long draft, and about two inches in a total draft of 10, and 8 be- tween middle and front rolls, but in case of less draft there should be less between back and middle rolls. Leaving the draft here, we will consider the spinners. They should not be allowed to run more sides than they can handle and do their work as it should be done. Keep frames clean, and oiled, and allow plenty of time, in doing it, to do it rightly. Top rolls should be oiled in the morning and steel rolls oiled twice daily, and if you have oilers, as they do in most mills, see that spindles are oiled regu- larly—usually every two weeks for the late improved spindle— 101 and cylinders, studs, intermediate gears and all parts that are revolving quickly, oiled twice a day, and every part of the frame wiped off and cleaned at least once a day, and in mills with very coarse yarn as many times as four, or even more. All of this has something to do with making strong yarn. Then the top rolls should be gone over once a month l?y the second hand to see that every one is in good shape and pro- ducing good yarn. Then we follow the yarn through the frame. The thread board guides should be in proper place and inside wire set directly over the centre of the spindle; and the spindle should be true with the ring; if not, in either case it will produce strained and weak places in the yarn. Both should be set with great care, the travelers renewed as often as once a month, and bobbins looked after; and see that there is no roughness or splinters and that they are not damaged in any way at the top, so that the yarn will catch and draw through, as that will produce weak yarn. Never allow spinners to put oil on rings, as it gums them up and causes the traveler to draw hard, which produces weak places in the yarn, and also spoils the rings, by the fric- tion of the travelei*, which causes the temper to be taken out of the rings in some places and puts it in in other places. This knowledge comes from my experience as a frame spinner for twenty-three years, I have worked in several mills where they oiled rings, and I find that they wear out three to one, com- pared with those that are not oiled. In one mill, especially, when I went there, they did not allow it. At the time I was spinning there the rings were in good condition. It was seldom possible to find one that was bad. They changed the boss spinner, and the new man allowed them to oil the rings, and in three months they kept one man putting in new rings to keep the spindles from being idle. Shortly after, they changed overseers again, and a stop was put to it; and in less time than it took to get them in bad shape, the new overseer had them running as the first boss did. The trouble was caused by the traveler having more friction in some places than in others; and also sometimes the temper in the rings would vary, as they were not tempered evenly; the friction of the traveler and oil finds the soft places and also helps to make hard places in the rings harder. Yarns should be wound on the bobbins smoothly and firmly. The ti'averse should not be too long; usually allowing three- quarters of an inch at top and bottom will do away with 102 tangled bobbins. Have the builder motion take the proper pick so as to allow the bobbin to build with the right taper, not too steep or too blunt. If bands are put on too tightly, it will cause the frame to run hard, with a consequent loss of produc- tion; if too loose, it causes slack yarn; therefore, they should be put on by an old and experienced hand and be tested by the same hand — not necessarily every morning, as in some mills, but every time there is a damp spell and then it come off dry; then is the time that bands slacken. In case of a dry spell and no rain, they should be tested once a month. If ends run badly and the yarn is not running lightly, and there is no cause for it in the roving, look at the top rolls, steel rolls, traveler rings, and thread board guide; in most cases, where fine yarn is being spun, you will find it in the top roll, where it has become channeled, and quite often in the middle roll, as the middle roll holds the fixers, while the front roll draws them. Sometimes the middle roll slackens in speed, caused by friction on the ends; where the room is kept very hot, the ends wiU expand to a certain extent and on most frames will cause friction on cap bars; sometimes top clearers are not covered properly and securely and will come in contact with the middle roll and cause it to stop, and this produces weak yarn. Most overseers prefer boys to doff, but I prefer young men grown, with some ambition for something better for the future, as they will work harder to keep the frames running. This is the place to put the best help you have got, as the production depends on the frames running every minute possible, with no dead spindles. Overseers should figure on how much yarn there is lost on a frame stopped for one or more minutes. For example, suppose you had a frame with a front roll speed of 122, roll one inch in diameter; 3.1416x122 equals 383.2752 inches in one minute, or 388.2752 divided by 36 equals 10.6465 yards in one minute, of one spindle; if frame had 208 spindles, 10.6465x 208 equals 2,214.472 yards for one frame. FINISHING OF BROADCLOTH. ESSAY NO. 34. The first thing a man wants to do is to make a "good body of soap." What I mean by "good body of soap" is not a lot 103 of tallow and alkali boiled together for one or one and one- half hours, and the tank filled up with cold water, and called soap. There are a lot of finishers who do not know how to make soap. As I said before, they boil a lot of tallow and alkali, fill up their tank, and next morning, when they come in and look at their soap they can see a lot of streams of separated alkali in the tallow which look like curdled milk. When ap- plied on goods in the fulling mill it turns into water, and there they are with a separation of alkali from tallow and they don't know what causes it. They lay the blame on the stock. Sometimes they can't get it out of the goods. Not only will it take the lustre off the fibre and make it brittle, tender, uneven from side to centre, or cloudy, but the colors will look mottled and dull. The only way to make a good body of soap is to boil your soap in the dry state in, we will say, a 400-gallon tank; put in 100 gallons of water; bring to a boil; add your soap when well dissolved; add enough alkali to saponify your fat; but remember when you apply this (alkali) that it must be done very slowly, stirring up at the same time. If it is convenient to dissolve the alkali separately, it would be a very good idea; if not, do as stated above. Boil the contents for at least four or four and one-half hours, after which time fill the remainder of the tank with, if you can, warm water; if not convenient, connect steam and water pipes above top of tank so as to pour your water from the bot- tom of tank and at the same time heat your water before striking said soap, with which it will be mixed very easily, allowing both steam and water through the same pipe; and you will have a good and substantial body of soap that will not only start your grease without injuring the fibre, but will saponify easily, help your felt, etc. Fulled very slowly, it would be a good idea to have about 100 yards in length so as to give it plenty of time in the fulling mill. We are after a good felty feel and a lot of felt to cover up the twill when finished. Be sure that you have enough soap in fulling mill, but try and keep damp. It is a very good idea to pull the goods out and shake once in a while so as to cool them off and keep from rolling up; if they roll up too much along selvedges, tack them. Scouring is one of the most important processes in finishing. You must start your grease by adding a little soap with luke- warm water. Clean off in thirty minutes with lukewarm water by applying easily. Give a second dose of soap to make sure 104 that your goods are clean and free from all tallow or alkali, and it will be a very good idea to find out if the picking room is using any repress saponified oil; if they are, be careful and get out, as the goods are to be carbonized; it would be a very good idea to give them an ammonia bath before taking them out of the washer. I would carbonize them after scouring. Some do it before dyeing, but sometimes in either gigging or other processes they might get dirty accidentally, and not only this, but it saves dry fulling; and sometimes vegetable matter in stocks burns out, making pin holes you can see when finished, while in the other way gigging and steaming will cover them up so that you can't see them. Neutralizing is the next process, with either alkali or am- monia and warm water. After these goods are well neutralized, it is a very good idea to crab them, not only because it will benefit the lustre, but it sets them more evenly, frees them from wrinkles and makes them feel firmer after being finished. Gigging comes next. You must start to gig very slowly, and go down gradually, as the fibres loosen up. When quite loose, reverse them, and, the same as before, proceed slowly and down gradually, until you can raise the nap by the aid of a long needle or knife-blade, and every fibre must be free from the body. When finishing the gigging, wet gigging must be applied, so as to set the nap for the steamer. Steam ten min- utes on each cylinder, or according to how many pieces; if four pieces, the above will do. Cool off after each steaming; extract and dry in the gray; shear back once so as to get it free from all suspicious knots or ends, etc. Shear face almost as low as it would be after being finished. Bring back to steamer and steam for fifteen minutes on each cylinder. Cool off after each steaming; roU up, and stand roll on end for a few hours, and then reverse it, end for end, for a few more hours; send to dyehouse off the roller. If there are tight selvedges it is a good idea to tack them. When dyed and extracted, straighten on a brush and dry. Shear them low enough so that they won't rough up. Dew them on the face, but look out for water spots. Press on either rotary or hydraulic; just after pressing, steam on brush one run. They are then ready for examining and shipping. 105 WOOLEN CARDING. ESSAY NO. 35. While discussing the prize essay articles with a friend of mine, the subject of woolen carding was brought up. He claimed that he was interested in following the prize articles; also that his carding did not meet his requirements. I asked him in what way. He said that every article on carding was about the same, as it stated how to prepare stock, also how to set the cards. I told him that all stock had to be prepared, also cards were set to receive the same. He stated that he knew that, and claimed that any practical carder ought to know it, and that as his idea of a prize essay was to mention something that was not common, and that most carders had not been up against, he felt disappointed in the articles. I gave the matter very little thought at the time, but as days have passed by it has come to me more forcibly that my friend was right. What we want is to learn. Therefore, I concluded that I would write the following for the prize essay. About four years ago I was working in a mill where we made fancy goods of all descriptions. The waste was never put back into the same batches, as some mills do, but was sheeted up and piled away. When we got from 10,000 to 15,000 pounds on hand it was decided to make some overcoating goods and use up the waste in both the face and back of the cloth (which was to be filling backed goods). The backing filling was one run. Our trouble began on the cards, on the first and second breaker; we had Apperley feeds all through. It appeared that the roving kept breaking just as it left the cylinder and at the mouth and nose of the tube. We tried several different methods to make it stay up, but they seemed to fail. I will mention several different things that were done. At first the comb was set closer. Finding this was of no use, it was set farther away. Still our ends would break. Then the can or drum was taken off. This caused the roving to bag or sag in the centre, and it being so heavy it broke down. As this was the first time that either of us had ever seen it act in this way, we were at a loss to know what to do. We even went so far as to get two carders from other mills. _ They suggested several things. After they had been tried, we were no better off than at the start. Then they decided that the stock was too tender. The super- ior intendent claimed that he had run the very same In other mills and that it ought to run here. So after trying two days and not producing a pound of yarn, it was decided to take a good strong warp yarn bobbin and place it at the opposite side of the card on the floor and let it run across the card just below the comb and out through the tube for the purpose of letting the roving wind around it. This we found acted very nicely. It would run for an hour at a time without breaking. After running a day or so this way, we decided that we would try and stop the breaking altogether. After passing the warp thread from the bobbin from one side to the other, we found that it only broke at the mouth or nose of the tube and then only about every hour. We knew that the trouble was in the tube. We set it farther away from the card at first and found that it made matters far worse, so then we knew that we were going in the wrong direction. We at once set it closer to the cylinder and found that the roving did not break any more at the mouth, but would continue to break at the nose. So then we took the tube off and had one inch taken of^ it, making it one inch shorter. We put it back on and found that it ran all right and never gave us one bit of trouble. We did the same at the second breaker and it acted just as nicely as could be desired. We ran all our stock out this way and had an easy thing of it. The only trouble was that the boy had to watch the warp bobbin at the side of the card, and as fast as one was empty replace with another. One day the boy let the bobbin run empty and forgot to replace it. The carder came around and saw the roving running all right. He stood and watched it for an hour, and it never broke. So ever after we ran the lot out without the bobbin of warp yarn. I trust this may prove useful to carders who have never been troubled in this way but are liable to be. I will state that I never saw this thing occur before or since. WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING. ESSAY NO. 36. The finishing of to-day and of years gone by differs so much that I doubt if our forefathers would know where to begin. Among the many improvements in years gone by, finishing 107 has, like others, had its turn. While we have improved on some classes of goods, on others we have not. It has been the main object, it seems, to not only shorten the hours of labor, but to do away with the labor, thereby lessening the expense. For this purpose we have adopted the up-to-date fulling mills, washers, shears and dryers, and with all these new improve- ments we are not much better in regard to the finish we put on the cloth. There is yet a wide field opened for improve- ments as to the appearance of the cloth. While we have dis- carded some poor ways of finishing, we have also discarded some very good finishes, which, in time, will come back. Take goods fifteen years ago and compare them with goods of to- day and we find a vast difference. Fifteen years ago goods were practically made in the finishing, while to-day they are made in the loom. Take these goods of to-day that are made in the loom and put the old-time finishing on them and we would, no doubt, have one of the firmest and finest pieces of goods ever made. From this one would naturally think that we should adopt the old style finish. There are several reasons for not doing so. The first and main reason is that in order to use this finish, on most of the goods, we would not only have to construct our cloth differently, but would also have to use better stock. We must remember that in olden times the profit was larger. While they could afford to use fine stock, we cannot, but use substitutes instead. The second reason is that it required two to three times the length of time to finish a piece of cloth that it does to-day. They could afford this time; we cannot. For this reason, also, we do not get the profit which our forefathers did. Therefore I say that when we have to decrease the time in finishing, we also must on some goods detract from the appearance. For instance, let us take the cassimere finish of to-day and the one of days gone by and compare them, and what do we find? The cassimere of to-day looks nice, feels nice, and to all appearances, is all right. Take a suit of clothes from it, and after it is worn a few times, it begins to hang like a bag, and needs pressing. Then get caught in a rain storm without your raincoat and it is worse than a rag. Even if one has a raincoat, the part below the raincoat looks so shabby that we are obliged to have it attended to. Wear this same suit constantly for a while and it begins to look threadbare, so that we are ashamed of it. When this happens we begin to run down the stock and claim all manner of things, which may be right or may be 108 wrong. It, is not always the stock that will cause this, although I will admit that at times it has a lot to do with it. We can take a suit of the best stock and after a while the result is the same. Now take a suit of the same stock made in olden days, and it will hold its appearance better and longer than the one of to-day and it will wear one-third longer and not look half as threadbare as to-day's goods. Then comes the question. Why does it wear longer and look better, when the stock is the same? This is where I claim that the finish plays a very important part, and will go so far as to state that it is all in the finish. To-day we have what we call the regular cassimere finish that we use, and think of none other, but in years gone by we had what was known as the velour finish, which is one of the best finishes ever used for goods of the cassimere grade. As it will take an article of itself to explain this finish I will not mention it in this, any further than to say that I believe that the day is not far off when this finish will be adopted again. Most of the older finishers know what this finish is, and the advantages it has, while some of the younger ones probably have never heard of it, and for their benefit I shall explain it in my next article. WOOLEN AND WORSTED FINISHING. ESSAY NO. 37. In this article I shall dwell principally on the velour finish, which is a hard finish that gives a soft effect to the colorings, also a good firm body to the goods and enables them to wear one-third longer than the regular finish of nowadays. This finish requires a close and firm felt, and in order to get it the process Is as follows : Take the cloth from the loom and put it through the same processes of burling and .mending as all goods are subjected to. Then full to the desired width and length, using a good, strong soap. After fulling, comes the scouring. Do not use any extra soap, as the soap used in the fulling ought to be strong enough to raise a good lather while scouring. After scouring ten or fifteen minutes, take the goods to the extractor and extract. Be careful not to extract too dry; instead, leave all the moisture in the goods that they will carry. Then take the 109 goods to the gig. If the work is done ou a teasle gig, It can be best produced by frequent changes. The idea is to raise a nap which will be good and thick, like that of velvet or plush, and by reversing the gig or cloth you will keep the nap straight. Napping the goods while wet will necessitate the frequent changing and drying of the teasle slats, but it will be worth the while and pay in the long run. After napping them well, take them to the dryer and dry thoroughly. Then press. When the cloth is pressed, it will most likely have a sharp feel that is not at all desired, but this will all come out when the goods are put through the steaming process, after pressing. The steaming should be sufficient to take o£C all the gloss caused by pressing and also to raise the nap, so as to give it the full benefit of the velour feel and touch. On account of this steaming, the pressing ought to be very hard, so that the body of the cloth will retain a good degree of pressure after the steaming. After the cloth comes from the dryer, if con- venient, a dry beating will help it wonderfully. When shear- ing, do not shear too closely; instead, have a short, thick nap. Some people think that all the gigging these goods are put through helps to shorteli the wear of the cloth, but such is not the case. It will not only improve the appearance of the fabric, but will lengthen the wear and it will not become threadbare, as is the case with the regular finish. Of course, cloth finished in this way, being felted harder than our regular goods, will call for better stock, and of an entirely diflCereut construction, and the sooner we get down to it, the better it will be for all. We are constantly having calls for a harder finish on our goods, something that will take away the cheviot effect and produce one that it similar to the melton. This velour finish wiU do just what is required, and will give a nice, soft effect to the colorings, along with the good feel. This is no new finish, but a very old one, used as far back as I can recollect, and when used it always gives very good satis- faction. BLENDS OR MIXING FOR COLORS. ESSAY NO. 38. It is safe to say that not one man in a thousand has a prac- tical knowledge of blends, or colors produced by mixing 110 colored and white stock in the opeuiug department and picker room, for while mixing for colors has been practiced by paint- ei's and others since time immemorial, textile colorists are just now taking it up, many of them with very unsatisfactory re- sults, because of a tendency to irregularity in color, which is usually termed crocking. But blending is easily practicable. Take a gray or drab, for instance. Following is a formula for gray: 20 per cent, black, 80 per cent, white. For a drab formula use 30 per cent, black, 70 per cent, white. The stock should be run off the breakers separately, feeding three white and one black to the intermediate lappers, which will produce a black and white mixture that is to be fed to the intermediates again at a ratio of three mixed to one white lap, which produces a lap i-eady for the finisher, feeding four the same as for white cotton. This method gives an approxi- mate doubling of fifty and insures a regular distribution of color and a very desirable gray for blankets and napped dress goods. Among other good reasons for coloring in this way is the very important fact that it is the cheapest method known, doing away with the necessity of handling a large amount of raw stock in the dye room and warehouse; besides, it runs better in the preparatory departments than fully dyed raw stock. A pink and tan formula may be given as follows: Pink, 25 per cent, red, 75 per cent, white; double 108 times, keeping proper proportion in view. Tan, 30 per cent, brown, 70 per cent, white; double 72 times. This is a hosiery staple. Other colors can be made by anyone with a knowledge of the four primary colors. More doubling is required for some than others; shades nearly white I have doubled 136 times. This might cause some to think that the old style method Avas best, and most economical, but the best argument in favor of blending is that wherever it has been tried, under competent management, it has not been discarded. A great deal of trouble is caused by using soap or belt dressings on the evener belt. Nothing should be used on an evener belt, not even castor oil, as a dressed belt does not pi'oduce an even lap, and an uneven lap produces an uneven blend. Much coidd be said along this line, but it would be out of place under the above caption. Ill WOOLEN AND WORSTED WEAVING. ESSAY NO. 39. In the production of woolen and worsted cloths smartness, strength, solidity and tirmness are among the most important characteristics desired. In these days of keen competition great risks are often run by constructing cloths in a cheap and inferior way, resulting in tender goods and heavy financial claims, which, by the con- sideration of the above-mentioned particulars, might have been easily avoided. Perhaps the class of materials used in the manufacture of cloth is the most important of all. The wool or other raw product from which the yarn is made should be sound and strong, not necessarily fine, but more particularly firm and durable, capable of resisting an ordinary amount of wear and tear. In constructing a fabric, equally sound material should be used in the weft as in the warp, but when the exigencies of the market will not allow this, the stronger yarn should be used for the warp and the inferior for the weft or filling. While this is a practice which may be resorted to in case of necessity, it is not one which is to be taken undue advantage of, as should there be too great a difference in the strength of the materials used, the cloth produced might be strong warp way and very tender weft way. Divers methods are, of course, in vogue in making cheap and durable cloths, such as using two-fold warp with single weft, or by backing the cloth in the warp or weft way with an inferior material, the appearance of the fabric on the face remaining to all intents and purposes the same. The principal part of every cloth should always be of a sound, strong ma- terial, capable of joining the groundwork of the fabric into which the inferior threads (if it is necessary to introduce any) may be interlaced. Another very important point is the construction of the cloth, or, in other words, the manner in which the different thi-eads interweave with each other. Plain or cassimere twill makes produce the firmest cloths because they afford the warp and filling threads an opportunity of interlacing and binding with each other unobtainable by any other weave. In makes of this description the warp and weft threads cross and re- 112 cross each other the same number of times, another point which tends to impart firmness and solidity to these cloths. To obtain the best results on this principle there should be the same number of ends per inch in the warp and the filling and the same number of counts should be used. In constructing cloths of the sateen or doeskin style, where the warp or filling threads float more, a larger number of threads per inch should be inserted; in fact, it may be laid down as a general rule that the greater the float in the weave, the more numerous should be the threads in the warp and filling. Cloths are often seen constructed with a doeskin weave which have been positively tender, simply because they have been woven in too coarse a set. No doubt some of these cloths were woven with a fewer number of ends than was desirable in order to obtain the fine face of the doeskin at a cheap, easy price, but it never pays to make a fine-looking cloth, however reasonable the cost may be, unless it is firm and strong. A cloth overbalanced like this is sure to slip at the seam (especially in trousers) and cut at the bottom. If a little more attention were paid to the general rules of cloth construction, such goods would never be made, and many returns and claims would be avoided. Profits, of course, are now very small, and wherever a few cents per yard can be saved in the production of a piece, it is done; but whenever the fundamental rules of cloth construc- tion are deviated from, risks are inevitably run and conse- quences are likely to follow which it is impossible to foresee. In the designing of cloths, where we are surrounded by an almost innumerable quantity of styles and different results, the student is often puzzled as to which is the best method to adopt to find how many ends and picks he should introduce to produce the perfect cloth. Rules are often thrown aside if the cloth is intended for some special purpose, but for prac- tical and commercial results we have always found the follow- ing rule to give the best resiilts in plain twills, and often the same rule can be applied to more elaborate designs. Find the diameter of the yarn; deduct 10 per cent., which gives the number of threads that would lie side by side in one inch; half of this number would be necessary in a plain cloth, and it then becomes a matter of simple proportion to find the number required in any of the plain twills: Example: 2-30s equals 15s; 15x560 equals 8,400; square 113 root uf 8,-100 equals 92 nearly; less 10 per ceut. equals 83, number of ends that would lie side by side in one Inch. Half of this number (say 42) would be required per inch in plain cloth, the other half being allowed for the intersections. Now, say we desire to find the number of threads to put in a six-end twill 3 — 3 of 2-30s yarn to produce a perfect cloth. Rule: As the number of ends plus intersections in the new cloth is to the same number of ends plus intersections in the plain cloth, so are the ends per inch in the plain cloth to the ends per inch in the new cloth; viz., 6 plus 2 Is to 6 plus 6 as 42 is to 63. Add 5 per cent, for waste. As the diameter of the yarn was found in the grease and the above rule is intended to apply to finished cloth, the diameter of the yarn Avould be somewhat less, owing to the loss in finishing. Therefore 6(i threads per inch is the number Ave require in a 3 — 3 twill of 2-30s worsted. We may say that the above rule has been well tested by applying it to some of the best-selling cloths on the market, and found to conform to the building and construction of these fabrics. The subject of cocliling is full of interest to the manufac- turer as well as the student, because it is one about which there are so many opinions held. It is difficult to trace it to its right source; moreover, it is very disastrous to the trade. Cockled cloth has the appearance, when laid on the floor, of covering a number of cobbles, some large and some small. Sometimes the cockling extends the whole length of the piece and often only for a few yards; sometimes it is possible to see the cockling when the cloth has left the loom, and the tension is taken away; but if it does not manifest itself here, should there be any tendency to cockling, it is certain to be seen after the milling process. Cockles are often minimized by the finishing processes, but as soon as the cloths are exposed to damp weather the cockles return to as large an extent as before finishing. Bad blending, the employment of two or three kinds of raw materials, such as cotton or silk and wool or worsted, the latter shrinking much more in scouring than the former, and very often causing the cloth to cockle, the combination of various weaves, where the intersections are more numerous in one than the other, often cause the cloth to cockle. Uneven warping and uneven creeling are prolific causes of 114 this trouble and should be well watched by the overseer if he would escape trouble of this kind. COTTON SPINNING. ESSAY NO. 40. Ill order to spin good yarn, it is necessary that the sliver from the card should be delivered to you in a proper con- dition, that is to say, a good, smooth, even sliver of uniform size, otherwise it will be useless to make a decent thread. Even when the sliver from the cards is in proper condition there are then many different things which cause faulty yarn which are up to the vspinner to avoid. We Avill take it for granted that the sliver up to the spinning frame has been made in proper shape and then proceed from there. I shall endeavor to name some of the causes of faulty yarn and the remedies for some. It is not only essential that a yarn should be made that wiU weave well, but also one that will be smooth and of even appearance. Almost any ordinary spinner can produce a thread that will weave, but the question Ls, how will it appear in the woven goods? The writer has seen yarn of such character weaving, and would ask no better, as far as weaving is concerned, but as far as the goods are con- cerned I would not buy such, as they look uneven, streaky and spotted, all of which is due to the spinning. The best way of testing the appearance of cotton twist yarns is by using a mock twist, say black and white. All imperfections will show on this class of yarn much more readily than on white or any other solid color. I have seen some yarn in which the twist was very uneven and irregular; again I have seen some yarn lumpy. This yarn would have all the Avay from 16 to 20 turns per inch of twist in it and all of it would come off the same doffing. To make matters worse, I haA^e seen the very same thing occur on one bobbin. The start of the bobbin would be all right, that is to say, have 16 turns per inch in it, and the centre of the bobbin would have as high as 20 turns; in fact, the bobbins of yarn would vary all the way through in just such a manner. Again, other bobbins on the same frame would come off in the same doffing all right, with the exact 115 amount of twist in them from start to finish. Had all of the bobbins in the same dofC acted the same as the first bobbin mentioned, we would naturally say it was caused by some- thing slipping, such as the twist gear, or the cylinder drum, but such not being the case, we know that the fault was else- where. There are a lot of spinners who have worked on knitting yarn and think that it is mere play to run a spinning frame. They have a very absurd idea, for let me say that any person with average intelligence, after Avorking 18 months in the spinning room, is capable of making knitting yarn, as this is one of the simplest and easiest yarns to make; but when they come to make a yarn of finer counts, such as mock twist, they find out that knitting yam is only a mere apology for spinning, that is to say, the average knitting yarn that is being made to-day. Now let us go back to our first subject and find out the causes for uneven yam, also why one bobbin will have a different amount of twist in it all the way through. As I said at the beginning of this article, there are several dif- ferent ways by which this can be done, and when one finds them out they are very simple, yet they cause us a lot of trouble. My idea in giving these different remedies is that it will be the cause of enlightening some spinners who are now in the dark. The first and main remedy for this is in the bobbin itself. At every doffing the spinner or second hand should be at the machine in order to see that the bobbins are put on the spindle properly. If the bobbins are not put down good and tight, it will allow them to slip occasionally on the spindle, and every time one of these bobbins slips there will be more twist put into the yarn. This will continue for several yards of thread, even if the bobbin only slipped one turn, but if the bobbin kept constantly slipping, there would be a soft, big bobbin that would be of no account. This would really be better for the spinner than a bobbin that had only slipped once in a while, for the one that was constantly slipping would be thrown out as a bad bobbin, but the other would be passed as good, and this would be where the trouble was caused. Another place where yarn can be made faulty from good sliver is in the rolls of the spinning frame. The yarn sometimes will slip in under the rollers. When this occurs, it means a coarse thread, as far as the slipping continues. The main remedy for this is to keep the rolls clean, free from dirt and grease or oil. Watch these two points and you will have a good smooth thread. 116 THE MELTON FINISH. ESSAY NO. 41. A piece of melton cloth, made and finished rightly, is con- sidered a very good fabric. There have been a number of mills which have attempted to make these goods and have failed, simply because they could not get the desired finish. Some mills make a fatal mistake in the lay-out for these goods, also in the stock used. They seem to think that a melton can be made from waste alone, and such is not the case. The most important thing to a melton being the finish, I shall give what is considered one of the very best finishes. In the first place a melton should never lie over 84 inches in reed. Some mills use 80 inches, buf only when they use more ends in the warp. Lying wider has a tendency to give a spongy appearance to the cloth after being fulled. The require- ments on these goods call for a smooth, close surface and a good firm felt. In order to obtain these results the goods in fulling must be trapped up in length as well as being fulled in width. The shrinkage in length should run from 10 to 20 per cent., dependent on the stock used. Most generally 20 per cent, is used. Before starting the cloth in the fulling mill have the goods tacked well, face inside, then pour on soap gradually until the piece is thoroughly moistened all the way through evenly. Care should be taken not to have too much soap put on, as this will give a spongy piece of goods. These goods should full from four to six hours. Under no circumstances should they full under four hours. Some people think that by rushing the fulling they are gaining time. This is a mistaken idea, and the sooner one rids himself of this idea the better it will be for him. Never at any time must you let the mill get too warm; if so, the goods will be fulled too quickly and the consequence will be seconds. As the fulling is one of the prin- cipal things in the finishing of meltons, it should receive very close attention. If you find the mill getting too warm, open the doors to cool, but do not stop the fulling mill. The trapping or shrinkage in length should be in comparison with the full- ing in width. By this I do not mean that the goods should be taken up in length as much as in width, but that the trapping should be done in accordance, that is to say, not too quickly. When the cloth is fulled to width, the trapping should be exact as to length. This can be easily regulated by the weight used 117 on the ti-ap. To make this a trifle plainer we will say that the cloth comes from the loom 72 inches wide. We intend to shrink 20 per cent, in length. This means that for every two inches that the cloth goes In in width, it would have to come up one inch in length to be uniform and come out even. I will add that the amount of shrinkage in length may best be determined by the good judgment of the finisher. In the scouring of this class of goods too much care cannot be taken in the rinsing, as the firmness of the cloth renders it hard to remove all traces of soap. The libei-al use of warm water is advisable before using the cold water. Before shear- ing run over the steam brush with a moderate application of steam. This will help to raise the loose fibres which are cut off in the shearing. Now comes the shearing. Be sure and have both the raising and laying brush in good working order, as all the loose fibres should be raised up and brushed out, so as to be cut off. If not, they will become imbedded in the cloth and will spoil the appearance. Be careful and see that the lay brush is thoroughly clean before starting to shear, as this bi-ush easily gets filled up and when in this condition will be of no earthly use whatever. After shearing, the goods should be moistened by steaming. Then press. After pressing, if the goods have a glossy appear- ance, which dark shades are more or less likely to have, a good steam brushing will remove all traces. These are the principal things regarding the finishing of meltons. There are other de- tails attached to meltons which are generally known to all finishers; therefore I shall not go into them. FINISHING WOOLENS AND WOR- STEDS. ESSAY NO. 42. It is advisable for every finisher to have every piece of goods inspected by a responsible percher. As will be readily understood, a good light is most important for the inspector to do his work. The perch over which the fabrics are examined consists of two rolls, usually attached to wooden hangers fastened to the ceiling, or it may be on posts in the room; in either case it should be in such a man- 118 uer as to bring the fabrics, when pulled over the perch, squarely in front of the window. Two persons, as a rule, attend to the perching of 6 — 4 goods, the inspector on one side and his assistant on the other, in front of the fabric to be examined, pulling the fabric slowly over the perch, both persons examining the fabric carefully as to imperfections. These may be caused by the carelessness of the weaver, poor yarn, etc. However, no matter what the cause, it is the work of the inspector to detect these mis- takes, which later require attention, and when found, mark them clearly with chalk for the purpose of calling the atten- tion of the sewers to such places, whose work it is to darn and repair them. The aim of the inspector should be to bring the goods out as nearly perfect as possible, and at the same time have as few allowances as can be had. Both the face and back of the fabric should be examined. In some instances, in con- nection with the light-weight fabrics, the examination is made from behind the goods, the inspector, or more often his assistant, changing his position by stepping in between the two runs of the cloth, which brings one of the runs between him and the light, in turn, enabling him to look through the fabric, and consequently readily detect any imperfection. When the inspector has carefully examined the goods, and marked all imperfections, the piece is taken to the burlers, who are girls, and usually two girls work together on a table, in con- nection with 6-4 goods. They commence to examine the fabric with its back up, for such imperfections as knots, bunches, etc., using for this purpose both their eyes as well as their fingers, and, In fact, the latter more particularly. The tables used for burling must be smooth, so that the burlers, when feeling for the knots or bunches, etc., will not come in contact with obstructions on the surface of the table. The table should have its top fastened by hinges on one side, thus permitting the tipping of the top to any angle, to suit the size of the girl, the top being held at this proper angle by suitable movable braces placed on both sides of the table. This also permits the top to be let down level when the piece is finished. The cloth is then folded on the top of the table before being taken away. In some mills the tops of the tables are covered with zinc, so that a perfectly smooth surface is obtained; in this case care must be taken that when this covering is wearing out, 119 it is promptly repaired, or the entire top recovered, to prevent damage to the cloth being burled over it. The girls should be provided with proper burling irons and a good pair of scissors, the scissors to be used when cutting off knots, which should never be pulled off, since by this pro- cedure the respective threads in the cloth would become un- duly tightened, and when released crawl back In the structure of the cloth, leaving an imperfection, a space without a thread, consequently a chance for an imperfection to show in the finished goods. All the knots which have been tied in the threads during winding, dressing and weaving must be looked and felt for during burling, and carefully drawn by the girls to the surface, and then clipped off, leaving the ends long enough so that no space without a thread will occur. Threads which are found loose on the face or back, caused by the weaver having tied in a broken end, should be cut off and not pulled off, especially if the thread in question has been interlacing tightly; how- ever, the threads interlacing loosely should be pulled to their proper positions first. A bunch must be drawn out a little at a time, so as not to disturb or strain the thread to which it is fastened, or the surrounding threads. The same care must be exercised with runners, caused by the filling having been drawn at the selvedge into the cloth. After the back of the piece has been carefully burled, the face is taken in hand by the burlers. Here the removal of knots is attended to with more danger than on the back. It is usually sufficient to draw the knots to the surface and leave them there for the shears to clip off. Bunches in the yarn, and runners of the filling, will also require considerable attention in removing them carefully, that no harm to the cloth may be done. All places where runners have been taken out should be marked, so that the mender can examine such places to see if it has been done in such a manner as to cause no damage to the joining picks. In other words, each knot or other imperfection is removed either from bade or face, wherever it is easiest to get at it, when dealing with single-cloth structures. When in connec- tion with double-cloth fabrics, the place, whether face or back, is properly defined by the ply of the fabric in which the im- perfection is located, as will be readily understood from the constniction of these fabrics. After the piece is burled, it is then taken to the darner or mender, who is also called a sewer; this work as a rule is done only by experienced girls. 120 In fact, the person must be what we may consider an expert with the needle, in order to do perfect work. The object of darning is to bring the goods up to perfection before they are allowed to undergo finishing. It is a good plan, where sufficient room is available, to give each sewer-in the use of a perch for doing her work, since this will make the work easier, and allow her to do it better. If the person knows weaving, this will also benefit her in her work. On fancy work it is essential that the sewer should understand the colors used for producing the various effects and have a good eye for imitating, taking adjoining patterns for reference both as to the interlacing of the threads and the coloring, thereby making a nearly perfect affair of some of the most imperfect places, work which requires experience as well as attention. On plain goods or mixes the weave alone will come under con- sideration, all kinds of sewing-in being more or less regulated by the kind of final finish of the fabric, thus indicating that more exact work is required for a threadbare fancy piece of cloth, requiring little, if any, finishing afterward, than if deal- ing with a face-finished fabric, where gigging, that is, raising the nap on the face of the goods, will cover .many imperfec- tions, never to be noticed in the finished goods. The work, however, is tedious in the extreme and trying to the eyes, though experience comes to the aid of the person, and after a while imperfections are corrected to a nicety which appeared hard or impossible to be remedied. With reference to some kinds of plain face-finished fabrics, the cutting out of good picks, in place of sewing in a missed pick, is frequently re- sorted to, for sewing-in of mispicks is generally found to be too tedious. To do this cutting-out of a good pick in order to remedy a mispick requires a knowledge of weave formation in order to know which picks have to be cut and which not. Unless this is well understood by the sewer, it is best not to attempt it; in fact, it is no use for the sewer to attempt anything in the line of darning unless it can be made to look almost perfect in the finished fabric, so that an allowance need not be made. After the piece of cloth is mended and all mistakes possible at- tended to, it is then ready for the fulling mill or washer, as the case may be. The tacking of woolen goods for fulling means the stitching of the two selvedges, face Inside, either by hand or machine, and it is done for two reasons: First, it has been done with 121 fabrics requiring flocking, in this manner Iteeping the flocks from the face, most of which, during the process of finishing, would only be lost again; at the same time introducing flocks on the face of the goods would vary the shade of the indi- vidual pieces, since the color of the flocks varies constantly, thus making it hard, if not impossible, to match the goods for filling a case. Second, woolen manufacturers have found by experience that in connection with fine face goods which have to run in the fulling mill for some time, tacking them will protect the face of the goods from chafing during fulling, and the face of the goods cannot but be benefited in its general appearance when finally finished; at the same time it prevents the selvedges from curling over or rolling and from being caught and torn in the fulling mill; light and delicate colors cannot be affected in exposed places by strong soaps, and many stains caused by the uneven distribution of soap, or by soap which would otherwise get on the goods during fulling or washing, are avoided, and the goods are preserved in such good condition that it helps greatly in all after finishing pro- cesses. The matter of preventing the selvedges from rolling or curling by means of tacking them allows the combination of uneven weaves to be used more extensively in the construc- tion of fabrics than would otherwise be practicable. Another advantage of tacking is found in connection with piece dyes, and there the tacking, besides being beneficial to fulling and scouring, at the same time is of immens^i advan- tage in getting even dyeing; that is, the goods take the dye the same on the sides as in the middle and do not shade off, one of the hardest problems to overcome in connection with piece dyes. When woolens are run in the fulling mills or washers, after being tacked, the air inside the goods causes the folds to change position each time as they pass between the rolls, thus avoiding fixed creases or wrinkles and the con- sequent streaking of the goods. In addition to this, the goods will full much more evenly if tacked than if not, since when the goods are run in tubular form in the fulling mills there is no opportunity for the sides to flop around loose in the mills and thus be more exposed to the ail', receiving less pressure and heat than the middle, and consequently not fulling as much. Tacking is also practiced in connection with worsteds for washing, fulling or dyeing, either one of these processes being done more evenly if the goods are run in the tubular form. Tacking was done by 122 liaud, and iu some mills this may yet be done, but the proper way to do it is by means of a sewing machine constructed especially for this work. After the goods have been tacked they are taken to the fulling mill. Tbe purpose of fulling is to obtain the shrinkage required for the proper length, width and weight of the goods, at the same time putting the structure in such a condition as to permit the finishing processes to be properly performed. It adds strength to the goods, loosens any superfluous dyestufC matter adhering to the fibres, as well as all oil and grease added to the wool to permit carding and spinning, size added to the warp yarn for proper weaving, etc. This loss in weight of the fabric, as well as any further loss to the cloth during scouring, gigging, napping or shear- ing, or any other finishing processes, must be carefully taken into consideration by the finisher with reference to shrinking length of fabric in order to obtain proper final weight of cloth required. There is another class of goods where, instead of shrinking the goods in their length, they are required to stretch a certain amount, making them come from the fulling mill rather longer than when they entered, flocks in many instances being relied upon to bring them up to a required weight. Different pieces ought to be sorted, because every different structure of cloth will full differently, and if two pieces of a different construc- tion are put in the mill together, one will come up more quickly than the other, leaving one running alone, causing it to full more slowly, run longer and in turn become weaker than if run with one of the same style. The moisture required for felting is added to the fabric in connection with a good soap, which in turn exerts a softening influence upon the fibre, besides being useful in removing the emulsion which has been given to the wool stock in the picking room in order to be able to card the wool and spin the roving into yarn. Again, it will keep the goods from chafing and wearing oft" too much during the fulling process. The requirement for a good fulling soap is a hard soap wbich is free from caustic that is neutral. If caustic is present to any extent in the hard soap, it is sure to injure the colors more or less, if not the fibre, and if the color has been injured, it is impossible to remedy it. The strength of this soap for fulling depends upon the goods handled. It must possess sufiicient body to turn out the grease from the goods and hold it in such a state that to all appearances it might be scraped off the cloth at any time 123 to the end of the process. If the soap is not heavy or has not sufficient alkali to start the dirt, grease, etc., in the cloth, cloudiness and dullness of colors are sure to result. For goods with extra bright colors and which naturally have been more carefully handled, use a good neutral soap liquor, lukewarm. Pour it slowly on the goods, not too much at a time, the weight of the goods determining this point. A good fulling soap can be made up as follows: 3 ounces of pure alkali, 7 ounces of palm oil soap, to one gallon of water; boil together about three hours; fill tank with cold water; use it on the goods cold. In solid colors, as mentioned before, a very small quantity of alkali may be used if any difficulty is found in forcing out the grease and dirt. Some claim that alkali assists fulling, but the proper way is only to help loosen the grease and dirt by means of it, the fulling not to commence until the grease and dirt in the goods become loose. One pound of good soap used in this manner will do more toward getting the goods clean than double the amount or more used later on in the washer, by pre- venting the dirt from first being felted in the cloth structure, making it hard to get rid of in washing afterward. Thin alkali soaps, if used, will run the dirty grease and dyestufEs through and through the goods, staining them and causing the colors to become dead. There will be found a great difference in the finished cloth between starting the fulling in a greasy condition and starting when this grease has been loosened, this being the reason why very delicate colored goods are washed before being brought to the fulling mills. Heavy goods and fabrics, constructed with an extra heavy texture and such as carry in their body a considerable amount of grease and dirt, will frequently be found to full with diffi- culty, for which reason it is well to wash such goods also pre- vious to fulling. This washing does not have to be as thorough as that which succeeds the fulling; however, it has to be suffi- ciently vigorous to loosen the foreign materials in the goods and give the fibres an opportunity to come in contact with the soap during fulling and thus to get all the benefit which is to be derived from moisture, heat and friction. It might be thought that washing the goods before fulling would make the fulling, so far as time is concerned, shorter, but this is not so. However, the distinct advantage comes in the appearance of the finished goods, together with their handle or feel and brighter colors obtained, all of which should repay the extra expense of first washing such goods. This previous washing 124 will also aid when dealing with cloth in which low grades of carbonized wools have been used. Then there is a considerable difference in the amount of time required for fulling these goods when they are washed previously and when they are not. If they have been washed for three or four hours with a good supply of soda alkali, previous to fulling, the time re- quired will be reduced nearly one-third. Again, if shoddy is extensively used, as it generally is in these low-grade goods, then the washing before fulling will in many cases give the cloth the appearance of all-wool cloth, pretty nearly covering the adulterant. However, the shoddy in this instance has got to be in the right condition; that is, if it is carbonized, as it usually is, it must be washed free of sulphuric acid, since where this free acid is present, and the goods are brought in contact with a soda alkali, the tendency is for the formation of a combination upon the surface of the fibres which will act injuriously in connection with the fulling, since it is insoluble in water unless the water is considerably heated. After the goods have been soaped in the fulling mill and allowed to run long enough for the soap to spread and evenly wet the goods, the time to examine it has arrived. The goods running in the mill should be examined at stated periods to see if they come up even both ways, for If lacking in either respect, it must bo attended to at once. If the goods do not come up lengthwise, as fast as they should, more weight must be applied to the trap, but if the supply should be exhausted, as will sometimes happen, then tJie pressure of the roll -must be lessened, and in this way the shrinking sideways retarded, so that the goods may have a chance to come up lengthwise by the time it has sufficiently shrunk sideways. After examining the goods, it is a good plan for the fuller to scrape off more or less any soap which has spattered on the sides and other parts inside of the fulling mill and put such soap back on the goods, thus not only keeping the inside of the mill in a better condition, but at the same time using the soap to its full value. Soap, if deposited in quantities and left for a time on the metal parts of the machine, tends to eat them away, and if left on them to dry will form a hard scum, which in time will become loose and fall on the goods, and in passing through the rolls is apt to do damage. However slight it may be, the accumulation of soap on the wooden parts of the machine wiU have a tendency to warp them more or less. It can be readily seen when the doors of the machine shut hard and the hinges 125 rast. If the goods are flocked, all the flocks and waste matter must be taken where they belong and taken care of. The sewing together of the ends of the goods after they are put in the mill must be carefully done, making the seam firm and smooth, whether made by hand or machine. In the case of hand stitches, take small, even stitches, and in the case of machine stitches see that the seam is not made too deep into the cloth, and thus bulky in turn, creating a pounding each time such a seam passes between the rolls. Have the pro- truding ends of the seam turned inside, for this greatly helps its smoothness. Pressure in a fulUng mill for shrinking the goods must be put on easily and a little at a time. This will be found much better than putting on full pressure at once, from the fact that, if shrinking the cloth too suddenly, good felting is lost sight of. By taking this precaution the goods will not handle hard and wiry. If the goods shrink too slowly in width, a little addi- tional pressure put on the top roll will help, the same as addi- tional weights on the trap will help to shrink the goods in their length and vice versa, in both instances. Provided the goods come up continually too fast in their length, it is a good plan to draw down the rods of the elliptic springs somewhat and thus increase the pressure of the rolls, but if this does not help, then the best plan is to double such pieces in the mill, thus increasing the volume of cloth at one time under the influence of the rolls, and at the same time shortening the piece by one-half, and consequently the goods will be under the roll oftener than if they were single. On light weights, two or three pieces side by side are generally run in the mill, in this way not only increasing the production, but at the same time causing the goods to run better all around. If goods are fulling too long, take them out and reverse the ends in the mill, and when they have run about half time, shake them out thoroughly from end to end. Heat is very necessary to the felting of the wool fibre, but care must be taken to avoid too high a temperature during fulling, since such would seriously Injure the colors. About 85 degrees F. is a good average, possibly 90 degrees F. as the limit. Again there are some classes of colors very sensitive to heat and those consequently must be treated at a lower temperature, ac- cording to fastness of color to fulling. Heat Infiuences moisture and consequently as the fabric gets warm in the mill, a good deal of the moisture then in or 126 on the goods will evaporate, and it will not do to let the cloth run too dry, that is, short of soap, as the goods will chafe, re- sulting in loss in weight, creating more flocks, and the cloth thus fulled Avill not gig or shear clean and clear. As soon as the fuller sees that the pieces are not as wet as they should be, he must at once add a little more soap, remembering, how- ever, that it will not take much to bring them again to their proper moistm-e. If it should occur, either through careless- ness or otherwise, that too much soap has been applied to the goods, then the best remedy is to run, at once and quickly, a dry fabric in the mill, and it will absorb any surplus of soap from the fabric under operation. It must be clearly under- stood that without sufficient soap and heat the goods won't felt. They may shrink instead of felt, but this is not proper fulling. As soon as the goods are up in their width and length, the fuller must test the soap in the goods, and in every piece, provided two or more were fulled at one time, see if it has turned watery or not. When the pieces are handled and a gentle squeeze given, a little free soap should appear. This is a test that sufficient soap has been used, or that the soap has not lost its vitality by too long fulling. This test should not be omitted, since it will save trouble. In any case, where the soap does not show up, as thus mentioned, give the pieces an additional dipperful of soap before taking them from the mill, which then will help them in the washer. When the goods are taken out of the mill, remove the tacking strings, provided the goods have been tacked, after which open them out so that the air can get at all parts of the cloth, since they are then warm, and if left lying in piles it would start the colors and thus make them dull, unless they can go at once to the washer. Such an airing in connection with piece-dyed goods will also prevent the formation of streaky and cloudy places in them. Flocking comes under the head of fulling and one of the disadvantages of flocked goods frequently met with is the tendency of the flocks to drop out of the goods and gather in the lining of the garment. For this reason such garments as are lined, as coats, have their lining loose at the bottom, so that whatever flocks work out of the fabric during wear will drop out of the garment and not get a chance to lodge in the bottom seams of the lining. However, when flocks come so excessively out of the cloth or garment (some will always more or less come out), it is a sure sign of an error somewhere, either 127 poor flocks, a wrong way of flocking or more flocks used than are consistent with the structure of the goods under oper- ation. With reference to the flocking of the goods, there are several methods in use. All have their advantages and dis- advantages. The best method in any given case will depend considerably upon how much weight has to be made up by flocking, how long the pieces will require fulling and also the grade and condition of the flocks to be used. Dry flocking is frequently used for the reason that in this manner it is .much easier to distribute the flocks evenly all over the cloth than by wet flocking. This method of dry flocking may give satisfactory results in connection with low grades of kerseys, meltons and similar fabrics, but it cannot be used in connection with the better grades of these goods, nor on fancy cassimeres, for the reason that too many of the flocks will work through the fabric and thus get on the face, with the result that the colors and the face of the goods will have a dull, muddy appearance. When flocking dry, the amount of flocks required to be used is put on the goods im- mediately after starting the fulling mill, and after they are well distributed over the goods, the soap is applied. The best way to do wet flocking is to take about one-quarter the amount of flocks calculated to be used and sprinkle them lightly on the goods when they begin to get warm in the fulling mill; after a while add another quarter of the flocks, and continue in this manner until all the flocks have been added. The flocks put on in this way will adhere as firmly as possible to the goods being flocked and fulled, since the flocks are fed to the cloth when it is in a condition to absorb them best, that is, when it becomes heated and the felting starts. Half dry and half wet flocking is used when a rather ex- cessive amount of flocks must be added to the cloth and where it would take too long to apply the flocks by the means of wet flocking, for the reason that the goods would have fulled up in width and length before all the flocks were applied. For this reason part of the flocks are given to the cloth in its dry state, and the rest after the goods have been wet and become warm. The cloth is next taken to the washer. When the proper soap has been used at the fulling and such soap retained its vitality to the end of the process and more, then there is no question that the scouring of the goods is an easy process, in fact only a rinsing, especially if able to use lukewarm water. If the soap as used for fulling loses vitality 128 before the process is finished or just at this point, the soap being of too light a body, then a scouring soap or liquor has to be used at the washing in order to get the goods clean. It is not necessary to have the body of this scouring soap or liquor heavy; quite the reverse. It is better to keep it light, and for this reason about two to two and a half ounces of soap and from two to two and a half ounces of alkali to the gallon of water are sufficient. Cheaper grades of soap may be used from the fact that it is upon the strength of the liquor that reliance has to be placed, and for this reason the amount of alkali should be somewhat larger than is used in a fulling soap. The strength of the liquor depends entirely upon the character and the condition of the goods. If dealing with colors not fast to fulling, it will not do to use too much alkali or they may be injured. When the proper amount of ingredients has been well combined by boiling, the tank is filled up with water and left to cool. Just before the soap is cold you may add to the mixture about one ounce of sal ammonia to the gallon, but if the alkali is ammoniated, one-half ounce will do. Stir fre- quently until well .mixed. Several pailfuls of this scouring liquor are given the goods, providing the fulling soap has lost its vitality at the fulling, and after giving them twenty to twenty-five minutes in this, it is drawn off and the proceeding repeated; after that the goods are thoroughly rinsed. Another important item for per- fect washing is the kind of water to be used. The best to use is warm water, but unless this is plentiful at hand, cold water will have to do. There is nothing which will have as beneficial an effect upon the goods at the washing as a good supply of lukewarm water. To always have an even temperature for the water is another item of importance. The temperature for the water should not exceed 110 degrees F. After the washer is started, turn on the warm water and fill its trough about half full, having previously closed all the gates. Then let the goods run in this water for about twenty minutes, when there will be ample evidence of the vitality of the fulling soap used; for if it is right, the washer will be filled to overflOAving with a thick, rich lather, although dirty, for it is tainted with all the impurities of the goods, whicli liave become loosened and entered into the lather by the use of the warm water. If the goods show such a lather, no scour- ing liquor will be required for the washing of the goods. The process of scouring is simply resolving Itself into a procedure 129 of rinsing by drawing off the suds at tlie end of twenty min- utes and entering anotber supply of warm water and allowing the goods to run in this again for twenty minutes. At the second scouring the lather should show up white, and still be thick and creamy. When in turn this second suds is drawn ofl." and the washer is about half empty, turn on the warm water and rinse the goods with it as long as the supply will last, and then turn on the cold water and rinse till all traces of the soap are gone. The time for this depends upon the supply of warm water at command and upon the nature of the fulling soap which has been used. With an unlimited supply of warm water at hand, rinse the goods about half an hour and follow this w'th about half an hour in cold water, when, as a rule, the soap will be found to be well out of the goods. Keep in mind that warm water will remove the soap faster than cold water, and if there is no warm water on hand, it will take so much longer. When using cold water entirely, it will be advisable to give the goods, at the second water, about a pint of diluted ammonia to each piece, which will help to loosen the soap and thus aid in its removal. If at the first water the lather does not show itself to any extent and the suds look thin instead of thick and creamy, it is a sign that the vitality of the fulling soap is gone, for which reason a thorough washing must be at once given to the goods by drawing off this first water and giving each of the pieces several pails of a strong scouring liquor. The softening and cleansing properties of fuller's earth are appreciated by all finishers who have come in contact with it, especially the refined product, which is much to be preferred to the crude article, and like any other article in the end will be found the cheapest. The former will better combine with water and the remainder will not be as great. Do not use more of the earth than the water will hold in suspension with frequent stirring, since foo much fuller's earth is worse than not enough. A good plan is to use to one barrel - ful of water, two pailfuls of the earth; using more will give unsatisfactory results. The proper time to use fuller's earth is any time after the goods are washed. Burr dyeing has for its object the covering of the vegetable specks or impurities in the cloth. It will not affect a ^vool speck, which remains the same as if no burr dye had been used, and will have to be removed by hand finally. Burr dye 130 is made of logwood, blue vitriol and soda ash. A good receipt Is: 50 pounds of extract of logwood, 25 pounds of soda ash and 12 pounds of blue vitriol. This should make about 100 gallons of burr dye that can be used with safety upon almost any kind of woolen or worsted, excepting cotton mixtures. When properly diluted, the dye will stand at about 10 degrees, and has to be diluted with cold water to suit the goods under operation. This burr dye, as, in fact, all others, must be used only when perfectly cold. Again, it will not do to allow the goods to stand still in the liquor any length of time. Another good receipt for burr dye is: 100 pounds of extract of logwood, 50 pounds of soda ash and 25 pounds of blue vitriol. This should make about 100 gallons of dye, which also has to be reduced with cold water previous to using it. The extract of logwood as used for burr dye can without disadvantage be of an in- ferior grade, or hematine will do just as well. This logwood or hematine is put in a tank with sufficient water to fill it about one-eighth full. Add the blue vitriol which has been dissolved, then turn off after it boils moderately, and all the vitriol has been dissolved, then turn off the steam and let the liquor stand for a few hours to cool, adding at the same time a pail or two of cold water. Then add the soda ash, but remember, very slowly and carefully, since as soon as the soda ash and the vitriol come in contact fei'mentation sets in and the liquor will begin to boil and possibly run over the tank, and then the best part of the coloring matter will be lost. When all the soda ash has been added, let the liquor stand for some time in order to give it a chance to slowly work, and at the same time, if there are signs of it rising, add a little cold water. Agitate it gently until you can stir the liquor without its showing signs of much rising, then turn on steam and bring it slowly to a boil, and in turn keep this boiling up for about four hours. Next turn off the steam and fill the tank with cold water, keeping the liquor well stirred while the tank is filling. When the process is fin- ished, the liquor should be of a clear and rich claret color. If the color is muddy and of a dirty blue, gray or black shade, it is a sign that an error in preparing it has been made and that the dye will give poor results when used. The more soda ash there is used, the deeper a claret the shade will be, while if the amount of vitriol used Is increased, then the shade will be more toward the blue than the claret. Sometimes it puzzles a finisher to know how strong a burr dye 131 should be in order to produce results. This naturally varies more or less with the kind of goods treated; that is, the char- acter and abundance of specks and burrs which it has to cover, also with the method adopted in applying, as well as with the time when the dye is used. Under ordinary circum- stances and upon a fair grade of stock the dye will be found to work well at 1 1-2 to 3 degrees. The quantity of dye to be applied to the goods also varies with the amount of work which it has to do and with the method of its application. Some use the dye in the washers before gigging the cloth, when about three pails of the 3-degree dye to the piece will do the work. The operation in this case is to run the goods in the washer long enough to thoroughly start the soap and dirt and not to add the dye until a good clean lather has begun to show. Each piece should run in its three pails of dye for at least twenty minutes before the rinsing in cold water has begun. The best plan is to defer the burr dyeing until after the goods are gigged. In this case, although you may use the same amount of dye, three pails to the piece, it is only necessary to have it about half as strong as if burr dyeing in the washer, in order to accomplish the same results, 1 1-2 degrees in most cases being then quite strong enough for all practical pur- poses. Any batch of burr dye should be tested before it is used, and, if possible, kept exactly uniform for all similar styles of goods. Again it must be applied in even and regular quantities and the goods must always be allowed to remain in the dye for the same length of time. The dye is always best in its action when perfectly cold. However, we must not only use cold burr dye, but the goods also must be in a cold state, and to make sure of this give them about five minutes' run in cold water after putting them in the washer. Be sure and have them well drained before running them through the burr dye tank or adding the dye in the washer, provided no special burr dye tank is used. In the latter case never leave water in the washer to reduce the dye, for such a procedure will result in uneven work. Always re- duce your dye to the exact strength wanted before giving it to the goods. The liquor used for carbonizing is made by adding sufficient sulphuric acid to the water with which the tank is filled to make the liquor register 5 degrees B., after which the goods are entered and well covered with the liquor and left there for about twenty-five minutes, according to the con- 132 dition of the cloth to be carbonized. When they are ready to be removed, one of the ends is passed through a set of squeeze rolls fastened to the tank, and thus any surplus liquor squeezed out and saved for future use in the tank. It must be men- tioned here that all the metal parts of the tank must be of bronze, for, if not, the acid will destroy them. The tank also should be lined with lead, or if of metal, it must be of a non-corrosive kind. As soon as the goods leave the squeeze rolls of the tank they should at once pass to the extractor, with no more handling than is absolutely necessary. This extractor must be acid proof and its drainage such that all liquor extracted from the goods returns to the tank and is rinsed. Always keep the acid bath in the tank at its proper strength by adding to it from time to time more acid as it is required. From the extractor the goods are taken to the dry- ing room to transfer the vegetable matters, now completely saturated with sulphuric acid, by means of drying under ex- cessive heat, into dust, in which state the vegetable impurities have to leave the cloth. The drying room is supplied with numerous steam pipes in order to be able to quickly raise the heat to a high point, the steam pipes being placed so as not to interfere with the goods, which are loosely hung up in any way to get the heat at all points of the goods. After being hung up, the room is closed and the steam turned on and the heat run up to at least 175 degrees F., since at that point only will the baking process be completely accomplished. In other words, the strength of the acid bath, as well as the heat in the drying chamber, must both be up to the required point for perfect carbonizing. After thus carbonizing the vegetable impurities in the cloth, they in turn have to be removed. This is done either by dry heating the cloth or, in the case of bad pieces, by means of a heated fulling mill, this fulling mill being supplied with steam pipes placed out of the way of the run of the cloth. Running the goods in such a hot fiilling mill for about one-quarter of an hour or less will remove any trace of carbonized vegetable fibre, provided the process itself was well done. The next thing to be done is to send the goods to the washer and give them a bath in a solution of soda and water for about twenty-five minutes, in order to neutralize the acid, after which rinse them well. Adding fuller's earth to the latter procedure will greatly help. Previous to taking the goods out of the washer, it will be advisable to ascertain if neutralizing 133 has been thoroughly accomplished. If acid still remains in the goods, they will feel slippery and then another soda bath has to be given to the goods, to be followed with a rinsing. The cloth is next steamed or stretched. This is generally done in connection with goods which are to receive a face finish. The steaming and stretching machine ordinarily receives the cloth from the extractor and its object is to smooth out the wrinkles, prevent lightning effects, caused by too long fulling, to sadden the cloth to its natural state and finally wind the cloth onto wood rolls ready for the gig or napper, as the case may be. For improving the lustre and feel of face finished goods, as well as to remove wrinkles and creases in cloth that has lain around for a long time, and for steaming and stretching in general, this machine will be found of special advantage. It is built with a boiling tank, so the cloth runs through boiling water, the latter being boiled by perforated steam pipes set in the tank, in which instance the machine is termed a boiling and stretching machine. Some machines are built having both attachments, steaming and boiling, added, and either one can be used. Again the regular steam box can be substituted for the perforated steam pipes if preferred. Larger machines, having three stretch rolls, double the steaming capacity and a large brush with two or three cloth contacts, are also built. Gigging as it is carried on to-day has two considerations connected with the mere mechanical part of the work, which it is' very important to notice. The first of these is the teasel, and the second that may be mentioned is the condition of the goods as regards dampness during the gigging. When a lot of teasels is received at the mill it should be stored in a dry place, where the teasels will not absorb moisture and become limp and useless. In making use of the teasel the two great points to be kept in mind are the mounting in the teasel slat, and the wear upon it after it is in use in the gig. The teasels must be set in the slat so firmly that they will stand all the speed and working about which will be brought to bear upon them after they are in the cylinder. There must be no open spaces between them, and they must be as much as pos- sible of one quality. Some advocate moistening the teasel before it is mounted, so that it can be the more firmly and easily pressed into place. In regard to the second point, the condition of the cloth in the process, there are the two ques- tions of wet and dry gigging. 134 Where the cloth is gigged damp or wet, the fibres will nat- urally tend to lie down close to the body of the fabric, and when the piece gets to the shear the revolver blades pass over it and leave it much as the gig left it, at least so far as the bottom is concerned. The cause of this is found in the nature of the wool fibre, which more readily retains its position when damp. The teasel serves to comb and lay the nap in a certain way, and when the shear gets at it, it is with difficulty that it touches it at all. In cropping, a wire raising brush, ran a little faster than in the goods, raises the nap perfectly. The wetting of the goods is accomplished by means of an ordinary sprinkling can, or by a series of perforated pipes, so arranged as to eject a stream of water at the proper time and place. It is in this way that such goods as doesliins and beavers and some kinds of worsteds, etc., are treated, and it is the dis- tinguishing feature of many of the finest finishes in the market. By the method of dry gigging a different kind of finish en- tirely is produced. The fibres being dry do not retain the position which they are given by the action of the teasel, but have a tendency to stand up in their natural position. The teasel points get down farther into the body of the goods and thus work up a fuller and richer nap, and leave it in such a condition that the blades of the shear can readily reach nearly all the fibres. None of the fibres are lying down close to the weave of the goods and there are none of them that cannot be brought into contact with the shears by the use of a hard brvish, which every shear contains. The character which this treatment gives to the finish may be described as a close, threadbare or clear face finish, the nap as raised by the gig being in turn cut off short by the shear. Clear face goods, many classes of dress goods and worsteds and fancy cassimeres, are as a rule finished by means of dry gigging. In both cases, whether for wet or dry gigging, care must be taken not to push the cloth too forcibly on the teasels, for a tender piece of cloth will be the result. The teasels should be started slowly and gradually and the oldest and softest teasels should be used first, and then the sharper ones as the work progresses. There is a certain limit for gigging, to go beyond which is harmful to the strength of the cloth. To give to all pieces of certain styles of goods the same kind of treatment will in a great many instances result in failure, for although some of the pieces will finish perfectly, others will 135 be spoiled. Therefore in order to perform gigging intelli- gently it is necessary for the finisher to study the construc- tion of the goods carefully. He must see what kind and amount of gigging each individual piece may need or is able to stand. Always remember during gigging to closely examine how well the felt is raised, as well as the strength of tlie cloth, so that no tender cloth will result. The slats must be carefully watched in order that the several grades may be kept at a uniform sharpness, and the teasels in the slats used completely up. It certainly will be understood that the teasels as used correspondingly change in their gigging properties. When testing the goods under operation for strength, take both your hands and pass the cloth between the forefinger and thumb of each hand, having the thumb on top and bringing the hands close enough together to have the finger ends touch each other, then hold the cloth tightly between the fingers and bring the knuckles of the thumbs together, being careful that the cloth does not slip between the fingers. In this way you will readily ascertain the strength of the cloth under operation. It is a well-known fact that by means of this procedure by some practice you are able to burst the strongest fabric. Of course it is not at all necessary for you to do this; simply strain the fabric gradually and you can easily note where there is a tendency for the goods to part. Always test the goods near the end, in order that if a hole is burst in the cloth, the damage done will be a small expense to the mill. In order to ascertain the amount of gigging given a piece of goods, insert one of the small blades of a penknife under the nap, and lift and lay back the fibres, in this manner exposing the ground. You can then easily tell if all the fibres are raised or if some of them still cling to the body of the structure. Never take the cloth from the gig until thus tested with reference to its strength and more particularly yet regarding the nap being suflaciently raised. Then there will be no trouble at the shear, and goods will not have to be sent back to be regigged. In considering the desired finishing effect, it is apparent that a cloth which is to have a fairly long nap need not be gigged as deeply as one which if possible is to be steam lustred several times and then sheared short. Melton-like goods require only a little superficial gigging, while, on the other hand, doeskins, kerseys and that kind of goods are to be gigged very thoroughly, in view of the sub- sequent operations. With goods destined for wear, like uni- 136 form cloths, in which attention is paid more to their strength than their elegance, gigging must be restricted to its minimum. In many classes of face-finished goods it is necessary to crop down the nap during the gigging process. That is, the piece is taken to the cropping shear and the nap is partially sheared off, so that when the goods are run again on the gig, the teasels can get down well into the body of the felt. This more particularly refers to heavy weights. In gigging kerseys for a water finish, it is a good plan to gig very slowly, and as much as possible one way only, since these goods as a rule are of medium to low grade, and therefore the material used in their construction is usually not of the best felting quality. For this reason make the felt that is there go as far as possible toward producing a good face, a good plan being to gig some- what moister than would be advisable in other cases, since the less moisture the goods have, the more easily the fibres are pulled out. For the same reason, do as little reversing as pos- sible, so as not to lose any fibres on that account. A worsted finished piece of goods does not require much full- ing, only as much as the goods may felt during scouring in the flannel. All worsted cloth that is to receive a finish that requu'es gigging should be taken from the washer to the steaming and stretching machine and rolled up to give it a smooth face, free from wrinkles and streaks. It should stay on the rolls from two to three hours. At the gig it is absolutely necessary to begin with old work. After this old work, add a few slats of a sharper grade of teasels in the cylinder just before the operation is completed. To obtain the lustre required on worsteds, it is necessary to gig all one way, and to use only a fine class of teasels, or there is danger of making the goods streaked and consequently not satisfactory. The use of napping .machines in the finishing of woolens and worsteds has long passed the experimental stage; in fact, they have for the sake of production as well as a saving in labor become a necessary adjunct to the finishing room of any mill. It used to be considei-ed an established fact that nothing could successfully take the place of the teasel point, in the gigging or napping of face goods at least, but with the in- disputable evidence before us, we must admit that this is no longer wholly true, and undoubtedly there must be some de- cided point of merit in these machines, otherwise their adop- 137 tion would not be as universal as it is now. However, it is a question if gigging by means of teasels will ever be wholly abandoned, for it must be remembered that the teasel gigs are with us and will continue to be used to quite an extent in con- nection with certain kinds of goods. Such an absolute uni- formity of the working surface as is found in a napper is cer- tainly never attainable with the teasels, no matter how closely we may watch them and try to keep things as they should be. The efficiency of the napper being constant and known to the operator, it will be readily seen that any piece of cloth run through the machine will get practically the same amount of gigging as another piece, provided the application of the fabric to the action of the workers is not varied, and the number of runs given equal to that of the first piece. On clear face fin- ished goods and where it is an object to clear out the face and do it quickly, nothing can in any way surpass the efficiency of the napper, for one run over the machine will do more good in the direction of clearing out the face than any number of runs given on a gig. The different speeds at which we are enabled to run the workers of the napper, as well as the goods, and the ease with which the contact of the goods with the workers can be regulated, make it possible to produce almost any desired finish required by means of the standard makes of nappers in the market. If slow napping is advisable, all we have to do is to reduce the speed of the workers and if we want to nap fast, we simply have to Increase the speed of the workers to the desired point of efficiency. In the boiling process, the goods after proper gigging, and also a thorough wet brushing on the wet brushing gig, are tightly wound on wooden rolls at the latter machine, a burlap or canvas cover being wound around this roll of cloth and the ends tied. A number of these rolls of cloth thus prepared are then placed, by means of the protruding ends of the wooden rolls, in framings in a tank arranged in such a manner that the cloth of one roll will not come in contact with that of another, or with the sides of the tank. Two or more tiers of rolls of cloth are thus placed in one tank. After the tank is filled with rolls of cloth, water and steam are turned on, so that by the time the tank is filled with water it will be quite warm. The tank is then covered and the water allowed to boil, and kept at a moderate boil as regulated by the amount of finish required by the goods, on an average of from four to six 138 hours, care being taken to keep the goods during the process always under water. The hot water is then drawn ofiE and replaced with cold water, and the goods allowed to cool in this for from two to three hours, after which the water is drawn ofE and the rolls of cloth taken out and sent again to the wet brushing-gig and subjected to another thorough wet brushing, after which they are rolled up again on the wooden rolls for another boiling, being this time rolled in the reverse way from before, in order to allow both ends of the cloth to get the same amount of boiling. These two boilings, as thus referred to, go hand in hand. They form a process which must be repeated, provided once should not be sufficient for the finish required, giving a thorough wet brushing each time the goods are intended to go to the tank. Goods treated in the manner described will acquire a finish which is lasting, since the heat is slow and gradual, permeating the whole piece evenly, and by reason of slow boiling, the finish be- comes set in such a way that it cannot be easily destroyed. However, it is too slow a process for large production in a mill, a most important item nowadays. The steaming machine takes the place of the boiling process now. The object of this process is to force steam through the cloth for a certain length of time, and then cold water, until the goods are well cooled. As the action of the steam upon the wool fibre will bring out the inherent lustre of the fibres, one would think that this would be sufficient for the process of steam lustring a fabric; however, it is the action of cold water that tends to set the lustre which has been obtained by means of the steam passing through the goods. A great many Im- purities adhering to the structure of the fabric will be loosened and will be carried ofC by the water, thus leaving the goods in a practically cleaner condition than when they went on the machine. After winding the goods tightly on the per- forated rolls previous to steaming them, a covering the same as that used in connection with the boiling process is wound around every roll of cloth, said covering being this time about two feet wider than the goods under operation, and of suffi- cient length to cover the rolls of cloth at least with three thicknesses. After this covering is wound around the roll of cloth, its over-lapping ends are fastened down on the roll by a strip of cotton cloth run spirally around the roll, and being finally securely fastened in order to prevent the covering from flopping when the force of the steam comes through the roll of 139 cloth. After this has been done, the steam is turned on and allowed to penetrate the cloth until appearing evenly on the outside of the covering. The length of time to keep up this process is regulated by the kind of goods under operation. About five minutes is a fair average time after the steam ap- pears evenly on the covering. Then turning off the steam, the water valves are opened and a powerful stream of water is forced through the roll of goods until they are thoroughly cold. Some mills boil the cloth while steaming by filling the drip pans with boiling water. The steam and water pipes for this purpose can be easily put in by the user with no alteration in the machine. Boiling alone will not give a lustre so high or so quickly as steaming; besides, more or less unevenness is com- mon to the boiling process. The brush is clothed with stiff wool fibre in order to lay the nap well, being for this reason also run at a high rate of surface speed. For handling worsteds, and where the machine is more par- ticularly used for setting them and freeing them from, wrinkles, the brush, together with its application, roll mechanism, is not needed. During the drying, the goods under operation must be somewhat stretched in length and width in order to keep them smooth for the operations of shearing, etc., as per- formed afterward. When this precaution of maintaining this smoothness at the drying machine is neglected, then the after processes will act upon the cloth in such a way as to make all uneven places and creases in the fabric past remedying, a feature which cannot occur when the cloth is kept properly stretched during the drying. The cloth should be dried from two to three inches wider on the dryer than the finished width required. The object of shearing is to level the nap as previously raised by means of gigging, napping, or brushing on the goods, and this nap is of course more or less irregular in length, and has to be sheared off level to different lengths in different goods, to permit a certain finish required by the particular fabric under operation. In order to produce even and smooth work at the shear, before the goods are put on the machine, they should be again carefully back burled, an operation which consists in removing all bunches and knots in the goods which have been missed during the first burling of the flannel from the loom. The operation at this point should be performed most care- fully, it being advisable to use the burling irons only for the 140 raising of the bunches or knots, and then clip them by means of a pair of scissors. In removing the linots or bunches with burling irons, there is a liability of threads being broken, and thus damage may be done to the goods. As to grinding shears, see that the edge of the cloth rest is perfectly straight, and that it is kept so. Fit the ledger blade to the rest, not the rest to the blade. The shear cylinder must also be perfectly straight, and it must be of uniform diameter throughout its cutting length. A straight edge will show at once if the cylinder is high or low in the centre, but if it is tapering, that is, higher at one end than at the other, a pair of callipers only will show it. It is impossible to keep shear blades in good order without using a steel straight edge now and then. In starting up a new shear, or blades that have been refitted, first lay the blade frame, which has the ledger fastened to it, on the shear, then bring the cut of the ledger to the edge of the rest. See that it is perfectly parallel, that is, the edge of the ledger should come up as high at one end of the rest as it does at the other. Then take a piece of thin paper and slide it along between the rest and ledger blade, and see that it bears all the way alike. If you find any places that pinch harder than others, then use a fine file, taking oflC a trifle from the rest until it pinches all the way alike. However, only a very small amount should ever be taken off the rest in this manner. Should the ledger touch hard at both ends and be open in the centre, or vice versa, then try the straight edge on the back edge of the rest, also front edge of the ledger; and if the ledger is full at the ends and hollow in the centre, then grind the blades by laying in the cylinder and running it backwards, using for this purpose emery not coarser than No. 120, drawing up the ends of the ledger with set screws while grinding, but not the centre until it is brought up straight on the front side. If the centre of the ledger is full when you commence with it, then draw up the centre instead of the ends. After grinding, fit the ledger and rest together as before. When you have done this to perfection, lay in the cylinder and screw down the cap screws a little more tightly than can be done with the fingers. Be sure the caps do not bind too hard on the bearings, so as to cause them to heat. If they do bind, put some paper under the caps and screw down tightly. After running a few weeks they can be put down a little closer, and the paper can be taken out. Should the blades refuse to cut after running a short time, start the 141 upper set screws on the ledger a trifle, which will press them a little more tightly together. Sometimes when the blades do not cut near the end, the turning out of the conical-headed screw on that end just a hair will remedy the difficulty. If this does not remedy it, then lay out the cylinder, and with a hone held on the front side of the ledger, with the lower end out about one inch from the bottom of the blade, hone the edge of the blade thoroughly, then lay back the cylinder, turning it forward by hand, to cut off any feather edge that may have been turned over the hone. You are now ready for shearing again, and many times this will be much better for the blades. Always have the blades run as lightly as possible, that is, press the ledger to the cylinder as little as you can and have it do the work. If your blades rattle, slacken the ledger a trifle at the ends; sometimes honing off the bevel of the ledger at the ends will remedy the trouble. By careful and skillful attention to the foregoing directions, shears may be kept in good order without grinding for some time, but if they have been in use for a long time, and the ledger is worn down and the bevel becomes long, it is ad- visable to grind the shear cylinder together with it. For this purpose all the flocks should first be cleaned from the cylinder, and then the list motion detached and the vibrating wheel taken off, as well as all the belts, except the cylinder belt. Every part of the shear which is likely to be hurt by emery should be well covered. Loosen the screws that bind the box which holds the cylin- der to the frame, then turn the screws that hold the box up to the ear, say once around, which lets the cylinder down a trifle; then tighten the box again that holds the cylinder and com- mence to grind. With reference to grinding, a good mixture may be made of equal parts of No. 120 and flour of emery, mixed with a good lard oil to a thick paste, and when the grinding is nearly completed, finish up with a mixture of flour of emery and oil. When the proper mixture is made, you should have what is called a fiddle, about four inches wide, made by having a piece of wood four inches wide by 20 inches long, and putting cleats on 16 inches apart, leaving four inches for a handle and fastening some old four-inch belting to the cleats. Having previously covered up all parts of the machine, where needed, commence grinding. Put your belt on with a ci*oss instead of straight, so as to run the cylinder backward, put the paste of emery and oil on 142 the fiddle and apply it to the cylinder from one end to the other, and have your cylinder all through the grinding oper- ation vibrated by hand. It is good policy to change the place of beginning to apply the fiddle each time a fresh supply of emery is applied, as that part is sure to get the most grinding, and in this way things can be kept nearly even. Run for about fifteen minutes, then tighten up all top rows of screws a little. Remember not to grind longer than absolutely re- quired, since grinding takes the life out of the blades. Keep at it slowly in this way and watch the front of the ledger blade to see how evenly the emery comes through, as that is a good way to see how evenly you are grinding the cylinder. Grind until the shear blades cut wet tissue paper all the way across. As soon as they cut evenly all the way across, take out the cylinder, clean it from emery and oil, and also the ledger blade. Now use a hone and rub lightly on the ledger blade at a 20-degree angle, to remove feather edge by grinding, and finally finish honing by running the hone straight across from end to end. Wipe the ledger blade after honing and replace the cylinder, bringing it about 1-32 of an inch forward, so as to take a little away from the heel of your bevel. Put on the belt and run the cylinder backward for about ten minutes, so as to polish the blades and insure smooth running, using for this purpose oil. Take out the cylinder and wipe all clean, using for this purpose sawdust and a whisk broom; also hone the ledger blade slightly, put back, put on swab and you are ready for shearing; but do not force the machine to take ofC too much nap from the cloth at once. Keep your blades well oiled and never run them when they ai-e noisy. In shearing a piece of goods do not have the ledger blade too high or above the cloth rest, as this will injure the cloth, and if the selvedges are poor, the shearing arrangement will cut them; also every little knot or bunch on the goods will be cut ofE. Draw the frame, holding the cylinder, down so that when the last notches have been reached, there will be a slight tremble, or jar on the cloth, caused by the cylinder touching it lightly, which action will not be perceptible when the piece is finished. This applies only when shearing woolens or cassi- meres, while for worsteds the cylinder should not be allowed to touch the cloth, as it is liable to injure the threads. It is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules for regulating the amount of cutting to be done by the shear cylinder, the class 143 of goods under operation regulating the practice. For exam- ple, with a full, heavy nap, the blades would have to be set higher than where the nap is found short and thin. The lowering and raising of the cylinder, as the occasion requires, must be carefully done, for, if too much nap is being taken off the cloth at once, the flocks will soon show by being thrown in front, and the cutting effect of the shear will be very quickly impaired. For light-weight meltons, cheviots and suitings, which require but little shearing, the machine may be run with the blades set as low as is required to finish the goods with one or two runs. On goods having a nap, like beavers, kerseys and broad- cloths, the blades should be raised, so that but little of the nap will be cut off on the first run, and lowered gradually, until the piece is sheared as closely as required. Care should be taken not to lower the blades too fast, since this would cause them to pull, instead of cutting the nap properly. In connec- tion with these goods it can be noticed that the nap is getting thicker, the shorter it gets. This is due to many of the shorter fibres being raised and not being exposed to the shear blades in former runs, when the blades are set low enough down, in order to cut the nap as closely as is required. The goods should get several runs at this point to insure a clear and even nap. Much of the difficulty met with in shearing these face-finished goods is due to work improperly done in the processes of finish- ing before shearing, such trouble being frequently caused by having the goods improperly scoured and gigged, which. i<" done as it should have been, would have permitted them to be sheared perfectly. When shearing piece-dyed goods the whole number of pieces in the lot must be sheared the same, because if one is sheared closer or faster than the others, there will be a difference in the shade of these goods. The shear tender, on account of its being impossible for him to carry in his mind exactly the ap- pearance or shade required of the fabric to be sheared, should always be supplied with samples of the styles of cloth he has to shear, being careful to shear to match the respective sample as nearly as possible. On account of a variation in the weight of nearly all goods, the variation in density of the nap, also the variation in yarn and cloth during its manufacture, it is impossible for the finisher to give his shear tenaer rules! for shearing to depend upon, either as to closeness of pile or num- ber of runs to give the cloth, etc. The use of correct samples 144 to shear by and the exercise of good judgment on the part of the shear tender only can produce good results. In the mat- ter of uniformity of shade in connection with case goods, m\ich depends upon the careful work of the operator. Not that shearing can change or regulate the shade as relates to the colors, but in the clearness with which the colors are brought out by shearing, and the effect of the light upon a long or short nap, together with the prominence of the threads or pattern, the shearing may result in what would be termed in the market a variation in shade or off shade. In many cases a slight variation in fulling, the density of the felt resulting in turn in a corresponding density of nap, will render it necessary for the shear tender to give the goods in question an extra notch or run or two on the shear, in order that the pattern may show up as clearly as in the sample. Another important matter for the shear tender is to see that the two sides of the cloth shear exactly alike, so that each in turn will shade alike. If there is any variation, he must dis- cover it at once and correct it before the piece is sheared down to the final notch, or there will be trouble. The two sides and the middle of the cloth should be com- pared and must be kept uniform and the shearing made to compare with the sample as nearly as possible. After shear- ing, the pieces should be specked, and the girls should be very careful not to pick holes in the goods. Be sure and have the specking irons sharp. On some goods you can cover the specks with a pencil or ink. Now have them fine sewed, which is to sew in the places that have been overlooked by the coarse sewers. The purpose of brushing is to clean out the body of the goods from any dust, dirt, loose long and short fibres, and at the same time, in connection with face-finished goods, to lay the nap smoothly and evenly all over the surface in one dii'ection. Polishing or pumicing imparts a lustre to the face of the goods, rounding out each thread and giving it the full, rich finish that can be accomplished in no other way. The pumicing cylinders are sixteen Inches in diameter, and have iron heads with six arms upon which the lags are mounted. The cloth, when applied to a broken cylindrical surface of such large diameters, receives a heavy beating effect and vibratory motion. This limbers and softens up the cloth and produces the fine velvety feel that is so desirable. These polishing or pumicing lags are set with alternate rows of the 145 stiffest Russian bristles and fibrous whalebone, with an ad- justable steel supporting blade on each side of the lag. This blade prevents the breaking down of the outside row of bristles and whalebone and greatly increases its durability; it also gives adjustment for wear. For tightly woven and stifC goods, polishing or pumicing is unequaled by any other finish- ing process. Although primarily designed for finishing plain and fancy worsted and all hard-faced goods, it is now used in a more general manner on flannel and light goods, golf cloth and many others. The cloth is next sprayed or dampened. The object of this process is to dampen, that is, condition the fabric either before or after pressing. It is very important that this dampening of the goods should be done evenly, uni- formly, as well as thoroughly, for which reason the water must be thrown against the cloth in a very fine spray and yet with such force that it will penetrate into the structure. Now comes the pressing. This, as a rule, is the last process the goods are subjected to, previous to measuring, doubling and rolling, for which reason they must receive due attention by the operator, in order that the worli may be done well. The object of pressing is to smooth the fabric, by means of ironing it, of all its wrinkles and folds, as well as to enhance its beauty of finish. Certainly with reference to the process, the same as with all the other finishing processes, various notions prevail and the kind of pressing required for a certain fabric may be frequently regulated more by the whims of the com- mission merchant than by the actual requirements of the goods. There are two methods of pressing in use: First, the old- fashioned method of pressing the cloth in folds between press paper boards and heated iron plates by means of hydraulic presses. To this process some manufacturers may still cling, in connection with some face-finished goods, like kerseys, beavers and uniform cloth, claiming that by this process the heat permeates the cloth slowly and consequently the pressing is set better. In some instances belt power is used in place of hydraulic power. Again, pressing by means of electricity in place of heated plates is practiced. Second, the modern steam-heated rotary press is used, which, besides doing per- fect pressing (and this is as good as by the hydraulic press), gives a considerably larger production and a consequent saving in labor, time and expense to the mill. Sometimes the goods refuse to run properly through the press, that is, wrinkle 146 up badly, in some instances the press grinding parts of the cloth, a feature which may have for its cause several things, the most important of which is the dirty condition of the goods. Again, certain colors, on account of the dyestuff used, may be the cause of it; again, imperfect speck dyeing may be at the bottom, especially if the latter is made with sumac and iron, whereas if made with logwood, blue vitriol and soda ash, as it should be, this trouble is not likely to occur. Then, too, the trouble with reference to wrinkles may rest in the ma- chine. It may be caused by the cylinder, which from running for any length of time under heavy pressure, especially if dealing with poorly scoured goods, may become smooth, and in turn refuse to carry the goods as it should, causing wrinkles, besides pulling the goods out of shape. In such a case, the goods will also have to be wet out again, and after drying, etc., re-pressed. If this occurs, scour the cylinder, a process technically known as rusting the cylinder, which is done in this way: After the press is cold, apply muriatic acid with a brush, then let the press mn with all the weights off for a little while, say about twenty minutes, seeing that the cylinder is evenly wet. Then wash the cylinder thoroughly, turn on steam and clean up. The muriatic acid may be used either in its full strength or diluted, according to circum- stances. Be careful not to touch any other parts of the press than the cylinder. Although brass is not affected by the pro- cess, yet it is a good plan, after drying the cylinder, to pull out the brass bed jackets and thoroughly clean and polish them, and then return them to their proper place, when the press is ready for work again. Be careful to clean the cylin- der after this operation for a few days in the morning before starting work, since on account of the pi'ocess it will be full of rust after standing all night. After the goods have been pressed and steam brushed if so required, they are ready for final examination previous to getting them in shape for ship- ment to the market. In most .mills the goods are inspected before they are sent to the press, since in this way, if the finish is in any way lacking, there is a chance to have it remedied, and not after the goods are pressed and ready to be sent to the market. When the pieces are thus inspected before pressing, in many instances faults can be coiTected. After pressing and Inspecting or in- specting and pressing, as the case may be, the goods are measured and in turn rolled in order to bring them in a shape for shipment to the market. 147 After the goods have been properly wound in a roll, they are placed in the cradle of a special beam scale and weighed. A special scale is required, for the reason that it is necessaiy for us to thus ascertain at a glance the weight of one yard of cloth in the roll of cloth weighed, expressed in ounces. The compound sliding weight to use for sliding on the scale beam is made up according to the number of yards in the piece. After weighing, the piece is ready for wrapping in paper and shipping to the market. WOOL CARDING. ESSAY NO. 43. The process of wool carding must necessarily begin in the picker room. It is very hard to make good work from wool improperly oiled and mixed. First, the wool should be spread in layers and each layer sprinkled with the proper amount of emulsion. Different kinds of wool require different amounts of oil. If the wool is coarse and wii"y, or has been carbonized, it will take a little more oil, usually about five quarts to the hundred pounds. For finer wools that have not been carbon- ized, four quarts are sufficient. This oil should be made into an emulsion by mixing the amount of oil for each one hundred pounds of Avool with eight quarts of water. A little sal soda or borax can be added, when the oil and water will readily mix. This emulsion should never be put on the wool at a tem- perature above lukewarm. If it is, on some kinds of work it will cause electricity in the card room and prevent good re- sults. It will also require more of the emulsion on the wool in order to get the proper lubrication for the carding process, also more labor and soap to get the goods clean in the finishing room, and will cause a bad odor after the goods have lain in the case a while. The reason for this is that every wool fibre is hollow, and the emulsion, put on hot, immediately penetrates to the hollow place in the centre of the fibre, thereby lessening its lubri- cating effect, and becoming very hard to remove by any amount of scouring. This oil remaining in the fibres causes the bad odor in the 148 goods after it is stiut up in the cases. If put on at tlie tem- perature named, the oil remains on the outside of the fibres, giving the lubricating effect for which the oil is intended, and is easily removed in the scouring process of the goods, thereby making it much easier for the dyer to get good, even colors. When the batch is all spread and the emulsion all on, a pole should be used to pound the wool to send the emulsion evenly through it. In feeding the picker, care should be taken not to skim off the top of the batch, but to take it right down through the pile. Much harm can be done in an improperly arranged lint room. A long, narrow lint room is bad; the light stock in the batch will go much farther than the heavy stock, thus causing an improper mix. The mixing picker standing so that the stock enters one corner of the lint room has the same effect. Now we will take the stock to the card room. First we come to the Bramwell feed. The comb that combs the stock from the spike apron should be set as closely as possible to the spikes without danger of hitting them, allowing always that the scale has plenty of time to fill before the stock is dumped. The feed box of the Bramwell should never be allowed to run nearly empty, and then crowded full, as this will cause uneven feeding. The scale should be made as sensitive in tipping as possible. The stock on the feed apron of the first breaker card, each feed should be pushed close enough to the one before it, so that there will be no vacant places. Now we take up the condition of the first breaker card. For all kinds of stock except shoddies the writer prefers 32 tempered steel wire for this card. All wire on the card must be ground perfectly true. In setting the workers on the first breaker, I prefer the first worker set with a 28-gauge, the second with a 30, the others with a 32. For a fancy I prefer a straight wire open set. The speed of the doffer on this card may be varied according to the work being run, usually 12 to 15 turns per minute for a 30-inch doffer. The speed of the main cylinder should be about 90 revolu- tions per minute. If much higher than 90 it will have a tendency to throw too much stock from the card, and if much lower it will not card the stock out so well. The second breaker card, I prefer 33 wire, workers all set with a 32-gauge, and the speeds the same as first breaker. Next we come to the finisher card. Here I prefer 34 tem- 149 pered steel wire, and the workers set with 33 gauge. If any of the modern feeds are used on this card the wire and setting of the feed end of the card are very important factors in good work. The wire on the top feed roll should be shorter than on the bottom. Then I prefer a short wire on the leader. If long wire is used on the top feed roll the stock will leave it in bunches and a long wire leader will take it in bunches. The stock must be delivered to the cylinder evenly or it will not be so placed on the rings. There are times when running good work that the tube belt on the second breaker can be left off, letting the tube stand still, thereby making a softer end for the Apperly feed. This will prevent many bunches in the roving. When running Apperly feeds on this card, I prefer running workers backward; it will prevent much lumpy roving. As the object in carding wool is to separate the fibres and lay them as nearly parallel and as even as possible in the sev- eral strands of the roving, great care should be taken to have the dofCer rings set an equal distance apart; then they should be ground perfectly smooth, and to a good point. Frequently there is trouble in getting the top and bottom spools to weigh alike. Sometimes a very grave mistake Is made if the top spool is the heavier, in setting the top dofCer farther away from the cylinder than the bottom. This will cause nibs in the roving, which will make rough and uneven yarn. A set of gears is provided with all apron rubs to speed either top or bottom faster when necessary, and it should always be used in preference to setting the doffer ofC. Care should be taken that there are no high wires in the rings. A high wire in a ring will make a twit nearly every time that Mare comes round to the wipe roll. The proper speeding of 'the wipe roll and condenser has much to do with makinj; smooth roving. These should be speeded with a little draft, but not enough to make fine places in the roving. For tine work, say 5 run and up, I would have the finisher clothed with 35 wire, except the fancy, which I would have 34 straight, wire open set. The expression of "lukewarm" in my essay was intended for the limit of heat for wool emulsions, all chance for variation being left for the cool side; but to be more explicit in this in- formation I would say that the temperature should be between 76 and 80 degrees F., but never over 80 degrees. There are 150 two things to be guarded against in the temperature of an emulsion: One is the amount of heat that will cause the oil to penetrate the fibres. The danger point here is 80 degrees. The other is in having the emulsion so cool that it will not properly spread over all the surface of the fibres. In most picker rooms the emulsion should not be cooler than 76 degrees. As many picker rooms are kept cool, there is a great danger of the oil congealing before properly spreading. The best results can be obtained with a temperature of 72 degrees in the picker room. There should always be heat enough in the card room so that there should be no danger of the oil congealing. In cool weather, a few open windows in the card room will often cause bad work, as the cards will fill up more quickly, and necessitate stripping more often. Very marked effects of this will be seen by watching the variation of the roving between the top and bottom spools, for the doffer rings fill up very quickly on gummy stock, and as they do so, roving from the top doffer will grow lighter. Some mills use soap in their emulsion. This causes the same effect. The temperature of the card room, when running on wool, should not be below 72 degrees, and 76 degrees is better. These results are based on actual experience. I have made many thousand pounds of coated yarns for sweaters. Manu- facturers do not wash this class of goods. Consequently oils put on in the process of manufacturing remain until evap- orated. I have never knowni of any complaints from bad odor of goods when emulsion was appli