802 



ROI 



I joy TK FORT- 



is above tlie average. Mr Kirkuldy states that 

 tin' calculated 'stress per fathom weight,' by a 

 method akin to calculating the tensile strength 

 pei s.|ii.uc nirh of metals from actual tests, gives 

 a more useful lut-is to coiniwre the value of rope* 

 than (he hieaking stress does. This stress per 

 fathom-weight in each of the a)N>vc examples was : 

 hemp, untarred, 3457 11'.: hemp, tarred, 2631 Ib. ; 

 mamlla, 6905 11.. : c..it..n. '-NlKi it.. 



Kopeimlk .s'/i/ iiiiiiiij. Notwithstanding the sue- 

 ressful a]>plii-ai inn of machinery to the manufacture 

 of ropes, the old process of nmcwalk spinning is 

 still practised on a considerable scale. The sue 

 eessive stages in the process are (1) heckling the 

 fibre; (9) miming the yarn ; (3) tarring in 'hauls' 

 consisting of aliout 300 yarns, laid close and parallel 

 in lengths of say 100 yards; (4) winding the yarn 

 on bobbins and mounting these on bobbin-frame- ; 

 (5) forming the strands : and (0) hiving the strand- 

 into a rope. The heckling of hemp is done in the 

 name way as the heckling of flax (see LlN'KN), the 

 object being to remove UM tow or short til. res and 

 to place the long fibres called ' line ' parallel to each 

 other. Spinning in this process is done by hand, 

 hut either an iron whirl hook, forming the spindle 

 of a small pulley, or, what is of more recent intro- 

 duction, a similar hook with a small cone upon il, 

 is kept in motion for the spinner. Several of the 

 former are mounted on a circular frame, and driven 

 by hand or power ; but a set of the latter, which 

 automatically fall out of gear by weights when 

 the spinning is interrupted, are arranged in a 

 straight line, because they are driven by the 

 friction of larger cones fixed on a shaft, and there 

 may be twelve of either kind of hooks funning a 

 set. The spinner wraps a quantity of the heckled 



a, yania ; 6, Strom 



ig Machine : 



; d. hMd-runnen or regiiter-pUte* 



r licad-runm-r. 



hemp round his waist, and attaches some of the 



(Mires to one of the hooks, which by its revolving 

 motion twists them as he continues to pull out 

 and regulate the supply of fibres with one hand, 

 and pie, them into proper form with the fingers 

 of the other. He carries in his right hand a piece 

 of woollen cloth, with which he grasps the floras, 

 and walks backward*, while he spins, to the farther 

 end of the long covered walk. 



The hauls of yarn are tarred hy passing them 

 through Archangel tar, heated to Ulu I .. a nipping 

 apparatus lieing used to regulate the quantity 

 taken up hy (lie lihre. The next step is to wind 

 .!.. yarn on bobbin-, which are then placed on a 

 vertical frame. In order to form a strand of say 

 ten yarns, one from each of ten Ixibbins is drawn 

 through as many holes ju a metal disc or register- 

 plate, and immediately afterwards brought together 

 and formi.il into a compact bundle of yams by pass- 

 ing (hem through a stranding tnlio. On emerging 

 from this the strand is fastened to the rotating 

 hook of a forming machine on a travelling earn 

 which, hy means of proper gearing, is drawn along 

 the walk, giving at the name time the proper i 



to the strand. In this way three or more strands 

 are formed at the same time by the machine. 

 These are then laid into a three-stranded rope .,1 

 'hawser' by attaching them at one end to tli,- 

 centre hook of the machine, w bile the other CM 



itie of the strands are attached to thiee I ks. 



At that end where they are hung together on one 

 hook the (bice siiand- are kept equidistant by 

 placing them into the three longitudinal groo\. 

 a conical piece of wood, called a ' top.' The tw i-t 

 ing of the strand- is cfH-ctcd b\ the mtalion of the 

 hook, from which the top recedes a- the 101 

 formed. As the twi-t of the laying is in the 

 opposite direction to the twist of ihe si rands, the 

 single hook requires to lie turned in a contrary 

 direction to the other three. A hawser has either 

 three or four strands, the latter living said to U- 

 'shroud hawser laid." It requires a core- piece, and 

 is much used for trawling. A Cable (q.v. ) is a 

 thick rope with usually nine, sometimes twelve 

 strands. 



Rutn -iiml.-iiiii /'';/ Mut/iinery. By this is under- 

 stood the making of ropes by machines which do 

 their work without the necessity of having a rope 

 walk. The heckling, the drawing, and the spinning 

 frames for preparing rope yarns are the same in 

 principle as the corresponding machines used for 

 spinning linen yarn for weaving purpose-. Then- 

 is, however, some difference in detail, owinv, to the 

 greater average weight of rope yarn, so that, for 

 example, there are comparatively few bobbin- on 

 the spinning-frame proper. Separate machine 

 perhaps more generally used for making strands 

 and for laying these into ro|H.-s than compound 

 machines which perform both operations, especially 

 for very thick ropes. All these are now made ..i 

 different designs, and with a good 

 deal of variety in their details. 

 The annexed figure of Clover & 

 Guiltinane's patent compound ro]x> 

 machine will give a fair idea of 

 one of the newest forms of this 

 kind of apparatus. It is con 

 stunted to make three-strand 

 ropes up to 3.\ inches in diameter, 

 there being in the one here figured 

 six bobbins for each st i ami. It is 

 furnished with change wheels, to 

 enable either hard or soft laid 

 ropes t<> he made. From a fuller 

 description in Tin /./"/>//i<r (7lh 

 March 1890) we extract' the follow- 

 ing : ' The yarns being wound round 

 on the bobbins in suitable numbers, 

 according to the size of the rope to he made, they are 

 from each liobhin threaded through a head-runner 

 (register-plate) of six holes, and gathered at a die, 

 at which they are closed into strands, there being 

 a separate die for each of the three strandx. The 



strands lieing for I, they are then threadud 



through a main head-runner of the holes, and 

 immediately closed at the main closing die into 

 finished rope. The rope is drawn thioiigh the die b\ 

 means of strong hanling-otV drums, and ultimately 

 wound on a storage creel.' AVirc -ropes (q.v.) and 

 textile fibre rope- are now hugely employed lor 

 driving machinery instead of lie-It ing. 



RoqilC (Lat. Rochta), ST, the patron saint of 

 those sick of the plague, and the enemj ot' rattle 

 plague. He .i- born in Montncllier, about I. 

 devoted himself to the care of pet-mi- suffering 

 from the plague, especially ill Italy, and died in I3'J7. 



Roquefort, a village in the Trench department 

 of Aveyron, situated on the western edge of the 

 Gausses plateau, 44 miles N. by W. of IJcziers and 

 10 8W. of Millaii, and celebrated since Roman 

 times for iU ewe-milk cheeses. Pop. 973. 



