Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/744

720 WOOL (MANUFACTURES OF) &c., are then worked in at one end of the piece. The brushing is then again performed, and the piece folded is subjected between polished pressing boards to the action of a hydraulic press. A deceptive gloss may be produced in inferior cloths, by hot pressing by means of heating the iron plates ; and in any case, with or without a final steaming and drying, the cloth is then folded and packed for sale. Such is a general description of the nature and or- der of the operations required in converting wool in the fleece into marketable cloths ; though some of the less essential of these may not enter into the preparation of all the spe- cies of woollen goods, and in particular in- stances other slight deviations from the usual order besides those already named may oc- cur. It would be impracticable to describe or enumerate the many minor changes or improvements connected especially with the working of the wool previous to carding, with the operation of spinning, and with those to which the cloth is subjected, and of which taken together a great number are every year patented, and many of them introduced into use, not only in this country and in Eng- land, but also in countries of continental Eu- rope. We may mention, however, the machine introduced in 1858 by Mr. Archibald of Tilli- coultry, Scotland, for piecing the cardings, BO as to form them into a continuous length or roving ; and that patented by Messrs. Tolson and Irving of England, for imparting to wool- len cloths a metallic lustre, in which the yarn or piece is impregnated with a salt of copper, lead, or bismuth, and the metal then disen- gaged and left upon the fibre by exposure to steam charged with sulphuretted hydrogen. In the United States, in 1858, Mr. Waterman Smith of New Hampshire patented mechanism for keeping the soft woollen thread or sliver of other fibrous materials hot while being drawn, by passing it over or against heated surfaces, the objects being to render the fibres more soft and pliable than otherwise, and to straighten and elongate them in drawing ; and Messrs. Kennedy and Plummer of Connecticut, in the same year, obtained a patent for a novel combination of tubes and drawing rollers, and means of working the rollers, by which the processes of drawing and twisting can be per- formed simultaneously, or either of them sep- arately, and in consequence of which, when the two actions are combined, it is claimed that great convenience is secured, in the way of vary- ing the relative degrees of draught and twist, to suit various lengths and quantities of fibre. Among woollen goods proper are broadcloths and narrow cloths, cassimeres (or kerseymeres), and beaver or double cloth, the last named of which, coarse and warm on one side, and pre- senting a finely finished surface on the other, was the invention of Daniell and Wilkins, in 1838. Processes of Worsted Manufacture. The object in view in preparing the long wools for manufacture is not to produce that thorough interlacing of fibres which is completed in fulling, but rather to produce a simply spun and woven fabric. The chief preparation of the wool accordingly consists in obtaining the fibres in a straight and parallel condition; and this is effected by combing. The combing wools are themselves subdivided into the long and the short ; the former, of lengths varying from 6 to 12 in., are chiefly used for carpets and other coarser goods ; the latter, of lengths from 4 to 7 in., for hosiery, merinoes, &c. The principal processes are : 1, sorting ; 2, scouring; 3, drying ; 4, plucking ; 6 (for certain fabrics only), carding ; 6, combing ; 7, breaking ; 8, drawing; 9, roving; 10, spinning; 11, reel- ing; 12, weaving; 13, dyeing, &c. The wool may be scoured, and mainly dried by passing between rollers ; but by the washing machine of Messrs. Petrie and Taylor, both the scouring and drying are more speedily and effectually performed. The wool, in this, is rapidly agi- tated in hot suds in an iron trough by iron rakes ; and being then drawn from the trough by a cylinder with metallic teeth, it is briskly winnowed until dry. Plucking is performed by passing the wool through a machine in which spiked rollers beat up and separate the fibres. The combing of the wool is still performed by hand in some instances, though now more commonly by machinery. In hand combing, the workman uses as re- quired either of two pairs of combs, one having three, the other two rows of long teeth; the rows in either case, from the outermost inward, growing successively shorter. The handle is set into the head of each comb at right angles to the direction of the teeth; and by means of holes, one vertically through the handle, the other entering it at the end, and of correspond- ing pins projecting from a comb post near the workman, and upon which the handle is to be fixed, the comb can be steadied when required. Near to each workman is also a comb pot, or stove. The teeth of the combs are placed in an opening in the top of the stove long enough to heat them. The workman meanwhile takes about four ounces of wool, sprinkles it with olive oil, and thoroughly rubs this through it with his hands. One of the heated cmbs, and after it the other, is affixed upon the comb post; among the teeth of each of them in suc- cession the comber jerks or " lashes " one half the wool ; and as each is thus charged he re- turns it, teeth and wool downward, into the heated space in the stove. When the wool is properly warmed, seating himself on a low stool, he holds one comb with the teeth up- ward by his left hand over his knees, and with the right hand works the other comb, the teeth of which point downward.; and he con- tinues this operation, using the teeth of either comb to straighten the wool on the other, and thus working through the wool from the out- ermost portions until the combs nearly meet. The fibres of the greater part of this quantity of wool are thus properly straightened, and