WOOL INDUSTRY. 203 



tary influence of abundant woollen clothing. Recent life statistics 

 have shown that the average period of life in civilized nations 

 has been lengthened several years during this century. The more 

 extended use of woollen clothing has materially contributed to 

 this result. The soldiers of our Revolutionary war were largely 

 clothed in linen. For general female use there was nothing better 

 than the linsey-woolsey, with linen warp and woollen woof. This 

 was not abundant on account of the scarcity of the wool. As wool 

 became more abundant, the cloth was made in families, the best 

 homespun was scarcely thicker or warmer than a common flannel 

 of our times. Half a century ago, even the cloths worn by the 

 wealthy were light and thin compared with those now in use. 

 The use of woollen underclothing, such as flannel or knit shirts 

 and drawers, was almost exclusively confined to men of the easy 

 classes. Women in moderate circumstances wore only cotton 

 dresses ; for the invaluable mixtures of wool and cotton, the 

 mousselines-de-laine and alpacas, were unknown. Women and 

 children of wealth were clad more thinly than the poorest of our 

 day ; and consumption stalked with its deadly scythe over all our 

 northern land. To-day, in our New England districts at least, the 

 wool-knit undergarments are worn by all classes of every age and 

 sex. Every working woman has her mixed woollen dress and her 

 warm woollen shawl ; every workman, his knit cardigan. No 

 laboring man is so poor as not to have an overcoat. We remem- 

 ber the time when not one man in ten in the country districts had 

 such a garment. The cloths for common wear are of double the 

 thickness and warmth that they were even thirty years ago. 

 Some of them, such as the Esquimos and beavers, are impenetra- 

 ble to the cold. For out-door winter wear, the material for cloth- 

 ing of men and women is almost identical. Women discard 

 "ladies' cloth," and don cloaks of beaver or kersey and dresses 

 of fancy cassimeres ; while the universal waterproof makes rain 

 and snow innocuous. Physicians concur in declaring that, as a 

 result of this improved clothing, colds and pneumonia are less 

 prevalent, and the ravages of consumption have been largely 

 checked. The sanitary influence of the woollen industry is, there- 

 fore no mean part among those which it plays in the national 

 economy. 



Capacity and Product of American Mills. The question next 

 arises, Can our own industry perform the great work of clothing 



