3io 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



ment of the operatives. Consequently, women have almost uni- 

 versally superseded men in its operation. 



I shall attempt no description of the power-loom, or of its com- 

 plicated motions. The illustrations represent the most recent 

 patterns of American broad looms for heavy worsteds, of twenty- 

 five or thirty-six harness capacity, upon which can be woven every 

 variety of fabrics, from the simplest to the most intricate. These 

 looms can be arranged for the Jacquard attachment. 



Fig. 23. Knowles's Open-sued Fancy Loom. 



Remarkable success has attended the efforts to increase the 

 speed of the power-loom. They are built to vary in speed from 

 fifty-four to three hundred picks a minute, according to the fabric 

 upon which they are employed. One hundred and fifteen picks a 

 minute, for each one of which the shuttle travels one hundred and 

 fifteen inches, is now accomplished in the weaving of fancy worst- 

 eds. This is not a single or simple motion, but a series, each 

 dependent on the other. The power-loom, at one and the same 

 time, forms the shed in the warp threads, as called for by the pat- 

 tern or design, and, through the agency of few or many har- 

 nesses, propels the shuttles in consecutive order across the piece, 

 beats the picks of weft into close compact, and winds the woven 

 cloth on the piece-beam. Should the wet yarn break or run off 

 the bobbin, or should the shuttles fail to reach home, the loom 

 automatically stops itself. What more can human ingenuity do 

 for the power-loom ? 



However improved, the principle of weaving is that utilized in 

 the primitive hand-looms. !NTo more couquicated pattern or weave 

 can now be made than the ancients achieved on their hand-looms. 



