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THE WOOLLEN INDUSTRY,
HISTORICALLY AND COMMERCIALLY CONSIDERED

by
Fred Bradbury
Head of the Textile Department,
Municipal Technical School, Halifax, Yorkshire

Transcript from
The Co-operative Wholesale Societies Limited
England and Scotland Annual
1900

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Part Three

Part One  |  Part Two

[ see also the illustrations accompanying this article ]

The days of the supremacy of the domestic manufacturer were now numbered; hitherto, the manufacture of cloth in England had been distributed very extensively throughout the country and was carried on by persons who made the goods in their own households or shops, employing, in some instances, besides the members of their own families, a few other villagers. In addition there were two classes of merchants — those who simply bought "pieces" from the domestic manufacturer, and the merchant manufacturer who used his capital in engaging other persons to make his goods. The manufacturer then attended the "Cloth Halls" to dispose of his goods, which were usually carried by "pack horses" to and from the wool and cloth fairs.

At one time there was scarcely a county in Great Britain or Ireland where the manufacture of cloth was not carried on and flourished; now there are many places where it has ceased to exist and where it is almost unknown. But it has always been the rule of commerce, and probably ever will be, that ancient and diffused methods must yield to the more scientific and utilitarian modes of operation. After the introduction and improvements in machinery, more collective capital was found to be necessary, for large mills sprang up, many of which were financed by two, three, or more capitalists. The domestic and small manufacturers, together with a large proportion of the rural population, consequently migrated towards the centres where these mills were built and settled down around them in great masses. These centres were chosen by the manufacturer according to the advantage they presented for his work as regards access and condition of roads, rivers, or canals, together with cheapness of carriage to and from the cloth markets.

With the exportation of merino sheep from Spain and England to the Cape, Australia, and other British colonies, as well as to foreign countries, and also of some of the English varieties, chiefly Lincoln, for crosses with the merino, we may safely state that the raw wool of to-day is the product of all countries more or less, and singularly enough no animal adapts itself so readily to the various countries and climes as does the sheep.

Consequently, there are now great diversities and varieties of breeds of sheep, which necessarily produce innumerable qualities of wool, and which it would be impossible to define here. Generally speaking they may be classed under two heads — long woolled and short woolled sheep — all others being considered varieties of these two and obtained by crossing, climate, and pasture. The illustration in Plate 5 (below)shows a few typical varieties.

There have been innumerable and many interesting controversies about long and short sheep. In the autobiography of James Hogg a good tale is told about Sir Walter Scott, at a time when this question was much to the fore, and when he had heard so much about it that it had become a bore. Sir Walter, "putting on his most serious calculating face, turned to Mr. Walter Bryden and said, 'I am rather at a loss regarding the merits of this very important question. How long must a sheep actually measure to come under the denomination of long sheep?'  Mr. Bryden, who, in the simplicity of his heart, neither felt the quiz nor the reproof, fell to answer with great sincerity. 'It's the woo', sir; it's the woo' that makes the difference; the lang sheep hae the short woo' and the short sheep hae the lang thing, and these are just kind of names we gie them, like.'  Mr. Scott could not preserve his countenance of strict calculation; it went gradually away, and a hearty horse laugh followed."

Of the long wools Lincoln, Leicester, Alpaca, and Mohair are typical examples, while among the shortest are the Southdown (Sussex), the Australian, Cape, German, and American merinoes and Buenos Ayres. But there are also many varieties of wool in the same fleece; the finer and shorter is found on the forepart of the sheep, but it gradually gets longer and coarser as it descends to the under parts of the belly and towards the flanks. A single fleece is capable of yielding a dozen or more different sorts, and to divide the fleece into seven or eight different sorts was no uncommon thing, but now very often only three are made.

In previous years the "wool staplers" purchased the wool from the farmers of England as well as abroad, and then sorted it into its various qualities or lengths and fineness of staple, retailing it to the domestic and small manufacturers according to their respective wants and the kinds of fabrics they made.

Our present supply of wool, in addition to the English sorts, is largely obtained from the colonies, but foreign wool is also imported. When the colonial sheep are shorn the fleece is made into two or three sorts and packed in separate bales, in addition to which the cross breds are also packed into different lots, which require little or no sorting when received by the manufacturer. The wool is then shipped to the wool markets, of which London is the chief, although important wool sales are also conducted at Liverpool and Antwerp. London is chiefly concerned with the colonial wools from the Cape, Australia, and New Zealand. Liverpool takes chiefly the East Indian and Asiatic, such as Persian, Cashmere, and China wools. The South American wools, such as Buenos Ayres and River Plate, are mostly dealt with on the Continent at Antwerp.

In London six series of sales are held during each year, viz., in January, March, May, July, September, and November. The date, duration, and order of selling are settled by the wool brokers. The list of acceptances is usually closed about eight days before the sales of each respective month. The wools for each day's sale are on view from 8 a.m. till 4 p.m. They are sometimes stored at the warehouses, but chiefly at the docks. Every bale of wool is shown, and they are tiered in long rows, three bales high, with an aisle between them six feet wide. In every aisle is a table on which may be placed any samples that the buyer may draw from the bales for examination. The canvas is cut at the corners of each bale, and buyers can cut open and pull the wool out of as many bales as they wish. Every bale bears a ticket showing the lot number, clip mark, and number of the bale. The wools are very carefully graded, the different qualities, also the "ewes" and "wethers", the "combing" and "clothing", being packed separately. The wools are carefully skirted, i.e. the short wool growing round the necks, legs, and belly of the sheep being taken off and packed in separate bales. The sales commence at four o'clock. All prices are net cash for purchases within fourteen days after date of invoice, which day is known as "prompt day". Each buyer has also to pay to the broker as "lot money" 1s. for each lot of wool purchased. Most spinners and manufacturers commission wool brokers to make their purchases, the rate of commission charged being ¼ per cent, in addition to ¼ per cent brokerage.

Lots of one, two, and three bales are termed "star lots", and are usually left until the end of the day's sale; a buyer having purchased a lot has the option of taking the next and succeeding lots unless his price be exceeded or he declares. The various lots on offer are usually designated, first, by the country or part where the wool has come from, e.g. Buenos Ayres and Saxony, or the port from which it was shipped, e.g. Port Philip, Adelaide, and Sydney; second, by a special mark, which may be of letters or other form or a combination of both, e.g. —

These names and marks enable buyers to identify the exporters of the wool and assist them to estimate its value as they look through the bales at the warehouses. In the case of bales bearing well-known marks, the buyer can rely upon the wool being of the same quality throughout.

The extent of British trade in imported wool during the last five years may be seen from the following official particulars, but, since very large quantities of foreign and colonial wool are purchased at the London wool sales for re-exportation to various manufacturing countries throughout the world, the amount re-exported is also given herewith, together with the total left for home consumption.

IMPORTS OF SHEEP AND LAMBS' WOOL ONLY
(Alpaca, llama, vicuna, mohair, and goat wool not included)

	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898
	lbs.	lbs.	lbs.	lbs.	lbs.
Colonial	619,176,074	660,046,377	616,895,464	613,145,259	579,309,422
Foreign	81,374,188	110,908,826	96,679,709	122,482,161	110,136,717
Total	700,550,262	770,955,203	713,575,173	735,627,420	689,446,139
Re-exported	344,949,461	404,187,913	334,403,903	370,841,212	282,799,721
Left for home consumption	355,600,801	366,767,290	379,171,270	364,786,208	406,646,418

VALUE OF IMPORTS

	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898
	£	£	£	£	£
Colonial	22,055,240	22,267,141	21,550,608	20,423,048	19,896,934
Foreign	2,735,921	3,758,819	3,407,738	4,013,823	3,540,254
Total	24,791,161	26,025,960	24,958,346	24,436,871	23,437,188
Re-exported	13,475,048	15,137,236	12,236,339	13,322,323	10,068,708
Left for home consumption	11,316,113	10,888,724	12,722,007	11,114,548	13,368,480

When the raw wool reaches the spinner it is subjected to the various processes necessary to make it into yarn, which are as follows:

Sorting (when necessary);

Scouring;

Drying;

Teasing or willowing;

Blending;

Oiling;

Carding;

Condensing;

Spinning.

The object of scouring is to cleanse the wool from all its natural impurities, such as sand, dirt, and grease, after which it is dried. If the wool has to be dyed it is generally performed at this juncture.

The next operation is teasing or willowing. The original word was probably "winnowing", since this is the most akin to the operation which is performed, viz., that of first opening the wool and then, by means of a fan connected with the machine, blowing out the dust, dirt, and loose dye-wares.

The wool is now ready for the blending process. If an all-wool fabric has to be produced, whether superfine or fancy, then different qualities of pure wool are mixed to suit the fashion and type of cloth required; if a mixture fabric is required, then two or more different coloured wools are blended in suitable proportions. This is one of the stages where there is much opportunity afforded for exercising originality of idea in the various schemes of combination and so producing what Dame Fashion is always demanding — novelty, and in some cases cheapness, for it is in the blending that the various wool substitutes, such as shoddy, mungo, extracts, flocks, and noils, also cotton and sometimes silk waste, are combined and subsequently made into the so-called woollens, and which in commercial circles are classed as part of the woollen trade.

Mungo is obtained from hard-milled cloths, and is of two kinds, new and old, the former being tailors' clippings and merchants' "tabs", while the latter is obtained from worn-out garments, both of which when placed into a rag grinding machine are literally torn thread from thread and fibre from fibre. During the process the fibres naturally get very much broken, but there is a common saying that if the material has only got two ends it can be re-made into yarn. This is rather far-fetched, but it serves to illustrate the perfection to which machinery has arrived. This material is then mixed with pure wool, noils, and cotton so as to impart adhesion among the different fibres, the wool being added in quantities varying according to the quality of the material to be produced.

Shoddy is obtained in a similar manner, but from softer materials, such, e.g. as jerseys, stockings, and various underclothing, and is usually of a better quality. It had its advent about the year 1813, and was first turned to practical advantage by Benjamin Law, Batley, which place has always been the chief seat of this section of the woollen industry.

Simultaneously with the blending, each sheet or layer of wool, shoddy, mungo, or noil, &c., is oiled. The blend is then put into a machine called the "Fearnought", which is similar to a small carding machine in principle. Its chief object is to thoroughly mix the different sorts.

The next operation to be performed is carding, the object of which is to more thoroughly open the wool and separate fibre from fibre and rearrange them so as to form one continuous sheet or film of fibres, which can be collecting into a thick roving or divided into any reasonable number of small rovings.

These carded and condensed slivers or small rovings are next placed upon the "woollen mule spinning frame" (see Plate 6 below), which is a wonderful and ingenious piece of mechanism. Each sliver is passed through a pair of revolving rollers to the spindles fixed on a travelling carriage, which, receding from the rollers, draw out the threads, whilst the revolving spindles put in the twist. When the carriage has travelled a given distance the rollers cease delivery, but the carriage with the spindles continues to recede, and so the thread is drawn out to the required fineness. When the carriage is brought to a standstill the twisting operation continues, but inasmuch as the length of the yard is diminished by this twisting the carriage very slowly commences the return journey. When the required amount of twist has been put in, the carriage quickly returns, during which time the yarn is wound on to the bobbins.

This "mule frame" is the chief mechanical agent in producing the artificial arrangement of the fibres of the modern woollen thread, as distinguished from the arrangement of the fibres in its contemporary, the worsted thread. At one time the worsted yard could only be made from long wool and the woollen was chiefly made from short wool, but with the improvements in machinery to-day the raw material from the same pack and kind of wool may be sent forth for conversion into either woollen or worsted threads, the difference being entirely due to the process of manipulation. The yarn may be made to be used either as warp or weft. The former is often twofold, and having a certain amount of turns or twists per inch so as to give it strength and durability, or, as is frequently the case in the woollen manufacture, the threads for warp are used singly, but having more turns per inch and with twist in the contrary direction to that of the weft. By adopting the latter warp, the goods manufactured are softer and fuller in the handle.

"Warping" is the first process through which the yarn passes preparatory to weaving. It consists in collecting and reducing to one uniform length the threads which are intended to be arranged longitudinally in the cloth. Other minor processes, such as sizing, dressing, and twisting or looming are also necessary. All things being ready for weaving, the "Power Loom" of the present day deserves special mention.

An illustration showing a "Modern Power Loom" is given in Plate 2 (below), also a diagram of the "Hand Treadle Loom" is shown in Plate 4 (below).

Weaving by power involves a series of automatic movements, some of which are continuous while others are intermittent. Further, some of the motions consume considerably more power at certain periods than at others, and again, should anything go wrong in the process of weaving the cloth, much damage would be done to the material if some automatic mechanism were not applied to arrest the progress of the loom. Among some of the movements to be accomplished in power-loom weaving may be enumerated:

(1) "Shedding", which motion is eccentric or variable, and is performed by means of numerous forms of outside mechanisms, such as tappets, witches, dobbies, or Jacquard machines;

(2) "Picking", which is intermittent and consumes a very great amount of power — in some cases sufficient to almost stop the loom;

(3) "Beating up the weft", which is also a variable motion;

(4) "Taking up the cloth";

(5) "Letting off the warp", to correspond with the amount of cloth taken up;

(6) "Stoppage of the loom", automatically, should the weft break or run out;

(7) "Stoppage of loom" should the shuttle from any cause or defect fail to reach its destination, when a rod connected with the belt fork causes the belt to move from the fast to the loose pulley and so mechanically stop the loom;

(8) "Shuttle-box mechanisms"; when there are several colours to put into the same cloth an alteration of the position taken up by the shuttle boxes with the shuttle mechanically takes place.

In addition, each of these motions involves a series of other mechanisms, all of which must work in unison and completely perform their work in a very brief space of time. This period is represented by one pick, and it is no uncommon thing for broad woollen looms to make as many as 80 to 100 picks per minute. I saw a narrow loom a short time ago for weaving cotton making 300 picks per minute.

These initial difficulties attempted by Dr. Cartwright and succeeding inventors have now been largely overcome, many of them very satisfactorily; nevertheless, this highly interesting and ingenious piece of mechanism, bringing in its train wealth and prosperity to the nation which first and generally adopted it and applied it to practical purposes, has still many problems connected with it awaiting solution.

After the fabric has been completely woven there are many processes through which it must yet pass ere it is in a fit state to be used as a garment of clothing or for decorative purposes. These processes vary with the class of goods made and the finish required, and may be enumerated as follows:

"Burling" or "mending", which is performed by young women, and comprises the taking out of all knots, repairing of broken threads, and replacing others which are defective.

"Scouring", which frees the cloth from oil, size, and dirt.

"Dyeing", which gives the fabric the requisite colour or shade.

"Milling" or "fulling". Wool, and especially the fine sorts, has a tendency to shrink very considerably when subjected to moisture, heat, and pressure; the fibres and yarns in the fabric become a homogenous mass which can be carried to such perfection that it appears a solid compact sheet. This factor is taken advantage of by the manufacturer of the finest and best woollens, only the best "milling" wools being selected.

"Raising" consists in pulling up the fibres on the surface and even out of the body of the cloth so as to form a dense nap or pile of fibres. This operation is done on a machine called the "raising gig", fitted with metallic teazles, though a species of thistle fixed in a revolving cylinder is still employed and preferred by some. The pile or nap is then brushed all one way and shorn to one uniform length.

"Crabbing" imparts a permanent lustre to the pieces which are wound and rewound upon perforated cylinders, through which steam is blown.

"Steaming" and "pressing" are the last processes to be performed, and impart "handle" and appearance to the finished fabric.

Most of the foregoing processes are repeatedly performed, in addition to which they vary with type of cloth and finish required. From the foregoing description of the various processes it will be very evident that the woollen industry embraces most exclusively a very large number of the population, in addition to which there are numerous other trades directly or indirectly dependent upon it, the making of power looms and other textile machinery being notable illustrations.

Reverting to the manufacture of mungo and shoddy cloths, which now form no inconsiderable part of the woollen industry, we might add that in addition to British waste materials such as rags, tabs, &c., and much wool, chiefly of the English sort, over 30,000 tons of rags are annually imported from the colonies and foreign countries to be ground into ragwool, and made into yarn or manufactured into cloth.

Large quantities of this cloth are sold to the ready-made clothier for the home trade. It is no exaggeration to state that, as a result of the discovery of shoddy manufacture, many millions of people are now clothed in garments made up of remanufactured material, who would otherwise have to be content with the pickings up from a second-hand clothier, and whose garments are much better articles of clothing than their name implies or as accords with the common belief. No doubt this class of trade has affected the pure woollen trade, especially "Scotch Tweeds", but it was necessary to meet the demand for cheapness as well as to utilise waste products, the manipulation of which must be a gain to the nation.

A fairly comprehensive idea of the present status of the Woollen Industry may be formed when it is pointed out that, in addition to supplying nearly the whole demand of the home trade in woollens, considerable quantities are exported to the colonies and foreign countries, the totals of which are given in the following statistics, gleaned from the Board of Trade returns for the last five years, but it should be noted here that with the improved methods in wool combing and other processes in worsted spinning (not herein enumerated) many wools which were formerly exclusively used for woollen manufacture are now made into worsted yarns, which fact must be borne in mind when studying the accompanying table of woollen exports.

EXPORTS OF WOOLLEN YARNS AND FABRICS

	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898
	£	£	£	£	£
Heavy Woollen Tissues, weighing above 11 ozs. per square yard:
Broad, all wool	1,613,962	2,164,013	2,073,333	1,880,844	1,742,002
Broad, mixed with other materials	1,243,056	1,757,337	1,700,089	1,424,671	1,225,103
Narrow, all wool	131,778	146,403	142,629	101,656	90,991
Narrow, mixed with other materials	35,189	44,683	33,395	26,404	33,007
Light Woollen Tissues, weighing up to 11 ozs. per square yard:
Broad, all wool	697,809	957,275	993,314	812,375	715,919
Broad, mixed with other materials	520,080	750,246	901,639	744,792	690,925
Narrow, all wool	160,400	192,760	14,257	173,415	171,530
Narrow, mixed with other materials	167,259	191,954	216,981	225,403	223,496
Flocks and Ragwool	374,327	359,386	338,353	329,883	314,871
Woollen (Carded) Yarn	85,551	118,984	103,881	100,469	83,498
Flannels	305,961	369,258	409,626	350,329	331,904
Blankets	396,880	494,265	588,177	368,409	364,137
Shawls	98,775	92,260	102,612	77,771	73,834
Rugs, Coverlets, or Wrappers	356,261	450,595	530,474	471,286	490,814
TOTALS	£6,187,288	£8,089,419	£8,348,760	£7,087,707	£6,552,031

The export trade forms a considerable factor in the English foreign commerce, since every pound of yarn or yard of cloth exported assists in paying for the large consignment of foodstuffs, &c., imported into this country, and which cannot be produced within its borders — at least not in sufficient quantities to satisfy the demands of the people; hence the woollen trade and textile industries generally deserve every encouragement in respect of technical education, for success now depends on scientific knowledge, research, and an intimate acquaintance with the inventions, the experiments, the successes, and the failures of others. Every manufacturing industry which is to obtain and maintain a position in the commercial world worthy of the name must seek to educate its workpeople by giving them a progressive course of instruction in the scientific and technical principles underlying their trade, and whether our nation does or does not provide every facility in this direction, we may rest assured that textile production will continue its progressive course and will be led by those who have made themselves capable for leading by adapted thought and knowledge, combined with enlightened energy which directs its force to meet the vast and varied requirements of the world.

Part 1  |  Part 2

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Illustrations from the article, and explanation of the plates
[ if you skipped details from the article above, these date from c. 1900 ]

	Plate 1 Two hand cards as used formerly for carding wool. The "working card" on the right was repeatedly drawn through the wool in the "stationary card" held in the left hand. Above these is a roll of carded wool, ready for the one-thread spinning wheel. Click image for enlargement in a new window
	Plate 2 The one-thread spinning wheel. A length of carded wool is shown applied to the spindle, and is ready to be attenuated and twisted to the required fineness of thread for the woollen weaver. Click image for enlargement in a new window
	Plate 3 One of the most primitive methods of weaving. The warp is held tightly during the weaving process by means of a strong cord and two stout rods driven into the ground. When the weaver has woven a few inches of cloth he unties the ropes on his right and so lets in some more warp, which thus permits him to wind up the cloth already woven, the operation being repeated until the whole web is woven. Click image for enlargement in a new window
	Plate 4 The hand treadle loom, with Kay's fly shuttle box. The illustration shows the type and principle of loom employed previous to the invention of the power loom, and which was largely employed for many years afterwards, whilst for weaving special kinds of fabrics it is still used. Click image for enlargement in a new window
	Plate 5 The relative length of "staple" of a few of the very numerous varieties of wool now grown throughout the world. Fig. 1  Port Phillip lambs' wool Fig. 2  Port Phillip sheep's wool Fig. 3  Saxony merino wool Fig. 4  American merino wool Fig. 5  Adelaide wool Fig. 6  Swan River wool Fig. 7  Buenos Ayres wool Fig. 8  Cape mohair wool Fig. 9  Australian cross-bred wool Fig. 10  English (Northern counties) wool Fig. 11  English (Kent) wool Click image for enlargement in a new window
	Plate 6 The woollen mule spinning frame, which shows conclusively the very extraordinary progress invention has made upon the one-wheel spinning frame, which method was in common use until just over a century ago. Click image for enlargement in a new window
	Plate 7 The modern power loom for weaving heavy woollen, largely used by English and Scots manufacturers. The width of piece can be woven up to 120 inches, and the loom usually runs at 90 picks per minute. It forms an interesting comparison with the type of looms and methods of weaving shown in Plates 3 and 4. Click image for enlargement in a new window

Logo of the Co-operative Wholesale Societies Limited (CWS),
scanned from its 1900 Annual

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