CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



those of the cotton manufacture, a very brief 

 glance at their nature and sequence is all that is 

 necessary. 



The wool is first washed and cleansed, much of 

 the moisture being pressed out after this operation 

 by passing it between rollers. The wool is next 

 dried, and afterwards passed through a species of 

 willow, which opens, cleanses, and straightens the 

 fibres, which are now ready for combing. This 

 is a very unhealthy and tedious process, being 

 carried on in hot rooms. The process consists in 

 placing wool fibres on a comb, evenly laid and 

 firmly fixed between the teeth, and passing the 

 teeth of a second comb through the mass. The 

 teeth of the combs are heated in a stove, so as to 

 render the wool soft and pliant. Each comb has 

 three rows of teeth of different heights : a portion 

 of the wool is left, called noil, which the comb 

 will not straighten ; this is used for coarse yarn. 

 Machines have been introduced to supersede this 

 process ; one of these, invented by Mr M. C. Lister 

 of Bradford, in Yorkshire, is a marvel of ingenuity, 

 and is perfect in its operations, combing out the 

 longest stapled wool, and removing the noils from 

 it Equal in ingenuity, but not in originality, is a 

 still newer machine, which combs even short- 

 staple wool, at least wool from 2| to 4 inches in 

 length ; it is the invention of Mr Noble, and is 

 called ' Noble's Combing Machine.' These two 

 really wonderful machines have done more to 

 sustain the prosperity of the worsted trade of 

 Yorkshire than any other circumstance, and have 

 led to a surprising economy of labour and mate- 

 rial. The combed wool is spun into yarns by the 

 ordinary spinning-machinery. 



Woollen fabrics may be classified as follows : 



1. West of England Coatings. These consist 

 of doeskins, stout hand-woven cloths, firm in tex- 

 ture, milled, and finely dressed on the face ; 

 cassimeres, resembling doeskins, but woven in a 

 somewhat different way ; beavers, also stout, 

 hard milled cloths, only dressed on the face ; 

 Sataras, Venetians, Meltons, deerskins, diagonals, 

 &c. 



2. West of England Trouserings, of which there 

 are similar varieties to those amongst the coat- 

 ings, with the addition of kerseymeres, and a par- 

 ticular kind of ribbed cloths called Bedford cords ; 

 but this class of fabrics is usually of stouter 

 quality, and only 27 inches in width, instead of 

 from 54 to 62 inches, as in the coatings or broad- 

 cloths. 



3. Yorkshire Woollens, consisting of coatings, 

 trouserings, of lower qualities usually than those 

 of the west of England, and often containing 

 admixtures of cotton and other materials railway 

 rugs, and the now fashionable imitations of seal- 

 skin, Astracan, sheep and lamb skins, dogskins, 

 &c. 



4. Scotch Tweeds, which are loosely woven 

 fabrics, have obtained great celebrity, and con- 

 stitute a very extensive and important manufac- 

 ture, chiefly in Scotland. 



5. Flannels, of whatever variety, are all loosely 

 woven ; baize is a kind of flannel with a tufted 

 nap ; and blankets, of which there are many 

 varieties manufactured in different parts of the 

 country, are also loosely woven, and finished with 

 a long nap raised by rollers covered with brass 

 pins. Besides the manufacture of cloths, blankets, 

 and flannels, the department of woollen fabrics 



330 



comprehends carpets and hosiery, two very distinct 

 but important branches. Three kinds of carpets 

 are usually made Venetian ; Kidderminster, Ax- 

 minster, or velvet-pile ; and Brussels. Venetian 

 carpeting is a plain fabric, composed of thick 

 linen woof on a woollen warp, and is employed 

 chiefly for stair or lobby coverings. The Kidder- 

 minster carpeting is by far the most common ; it 

 consists of two woollen webs, woven together, and 

 intersecting each other at particular parts, so as 

 to produce definite figures of different colours. 

 The manufacture of this species of carpets has 

 been long carried on with advantage in different 

 parts of Scotland. Brussels carpets possess a 

 basis of strong linen threads, on which the pattern 

 in woollen is thrown up in loops, which are kept 

 firm by small rods. When the web is woven, the 

 rods are pulled out, leaving a soft surface of the 

 closed ends of loops. Latterly, a great improve- 

 ment has been made in carpet- weaving, which has 

 also been adopted for shawls. Instead of using 

 threads of one particular colour throughout, and 

 throwing up the threads as they were required 

 to form the pattern, the plan is to dye different 

 parts of the same thread with different colours, 

 suitable to the pattern required. Thus, a single 

 thread may be dyed in patches of red, yellow, 

 black, or any other colour, and it performs its part 

 in the pattern through its entire length : the saving 

 of material by this ingenious mode of dyeing is 

 immense. 



The classification of worsted stuffs is as follows : 

 r. Fabrics composed entirely of wool ; 2. Of wool 

 and cotton ; 3. Wool and silk ; 4. Wool, silk, and 

 cotton ; 5. Of alpaca and mohair, mixed with 

 cotton or silk. 'The first of these divisions 

 comprises the well-known fabrics called merinoes 

 double twilled, so denominated from the Spanish 

 wool of which they were first manufactured. 

 (Bradford produces goods of this class little 

 inferior to the French merinoes.) In single- 

 twilled merinoes, the worsted manufactures of 

 Yorkshire have at all times had the decided pre- 

 cedence. Shalloons, says, serges, lustrings all 

 stout and heavy articles are manufactured chiefly 

 at Halifax and Keighley. Damasks for curtains 

 and hangings are also made at Halifax, and this 

 branch of the trade has arrived at great perfection, 

 both in excellence of material and elegance of 

 design. Of the fabrics composed of wool and 

 cotton, the articles denominated Coburg and 

 Orleans cloth the former being twilled, and the 

 latter plain have been staple manufactures, of 

 which the consumption has been immense ; they 

 are made chiefly at Bradford and Keighley. Many 

 of the silk-warp and worsted-weft fabrics are dis- 

 tinguished by their richness and durability. The 

 alpaca and mohair manufactures carried on at 

 Saltair, Queensbury, and Bradford are remark- 

 able for their softness and brilliancy, and the 

 great variety of purposes to which they are applic- 

 able. It is in the production of articles in which 

 wool of various kinds is combined with cotton and 

 silk, that the superiority of the British manufac- 

 turer is most apparent. The consumption of these 

 various manufactures is immense ; the looms are 

 capable of producing upwards of 200,000 pieces 

 per week, averaging thirty yards each.' In 1881, 

 the British imports of wool amounted to 450,141,735 

 Ibs., of the value of ,26,01 1,024 >' ar >d the value of 

 the exports of manufactures from this material 



