TEXTILE MANUFACTURES. 



a 



d 



Fig. 21. 



Fig. 22. 



was about ,20,000,000, a vast sum in addition to 

 the home consumption. 



WEAVING. 



In describing the process si weaving an opera- 

 tion common to all tex- 

 tile manufactures, it will 

 be sufficient to treat of it 

 as performed by hand ; 

 for the principle of the 

 power-loom is the same, 

 the only difference being 

 in the motive power. 

 ~ A certain number of 

 threads arranged along- 

 side of, and parallel to 

 each other, constitute the warp. This is evenly 

 wound on the beam, a, fig. 21, of a loom, and 

 is thence extended to another beam, b, at the 

 opposite end. Between the beams are sus- 

 pended two ' healds,' or ' heddles,' 

 seen edgewise at f, g, fig. 21. 

 A front view of one is presented 

 in fig. 22, where g, h are two 

 bars, between which cords are 

 stretched, each having a loop, 

 f, in the middle. The threads 

 of the warp are drawn through 

 these loops, a thread passing 

 through a loop in each heald 

 alternately. The healds are united 

 by a cord which passes over a 

 pulley, h, fig. 21. The bottom bars of the healds, 

 f, g, are connected to ' treddles,' d, e ; by pressing 

 an end of which alternately, the weaver sitting on 

 c can raise and depress f and g. The threads of 

 the warp, after passing through the loops of the 

 healds, are taken through the openings or ' dents ' 

 of the reed, b, fig. 22, attached to the batten or 

 lay, aa, which swings to and fro on the frame, as 

 at it, fig. 21. The rising and falling of the healds 

 cause one set of the threads to be raised and the 

 other depressed, so as to cross each other, and 

 make an opening, or ' shed,' as it is termed, from 

 one side of the warp to the other. Every time 

 that the threads are opened, a shuttle, containing 

 the woof or weft, is thrown across from one side 

 of the warp to the other, and the thread of woof 

 thus left is driven home by a lay, or properly by 

 a comb-like process of reeds called a dent, which 

 the lay brings forward. A reversal of the warp 

 makes another opening, which is similarly crossed 

 by the shuttle, and so on, each cast of the shuttle 

 adding to the woven fabric by the breadth of a 

 thread. 



The shuttle is formed of hard wood, and shaped 

 like a canoe ; it is hollowed out in the middle, to 

 afford space for the cop to lie in ; the thread of 

 which is brought through a hole in the side. 

 Small wheels are sometimes provided to the 

 shuttle, to enable it to run easily in the 'race.' 

 The shuttle is driven through by what is called a 

 ' fly ' and ' picker.' Two pieces of wood, c, d, fig. 

 22, known by the latter name, move along a wire, 

 and are connected by a cord, to which a handle, 

 e, is attached ; by jerking this from side to side, 

 the pickers send through the shuttle with great 

 force. 



The only changes of pattern which can be 

 readily produced by plain weaving are stripes or 



checks the way of effecting which is obvious 

 enough. Twills v are formed by causing the thread 

 of the weft to pass alternately over two or more, 

 and one of the threads of the warp, and perform- 

 ing the reverse in its return. In ornamental or 

 figttre weaving, an expensive, or at least complex, 

 harness is required, the warp being of various 

 depths, several sets of heddles being also in requi- 

 sition, and it may be a number of shuttles, each 

 having its own system of thread or threads. 

 Looms of this kind, whether for linen, silk, cotton, 

 or carpet fabrics, are known as draw-looms, the 

 most perfect of which is that invented by M. 

 Jacquard, a practical weaver at Lyon. With 

 modifications adapted to the object in view, the 

 Jacquard-loom has now superseded all others for 

 figure-weaving the skill and labour required to 

 work it being little more than that necessary for 

 plain weaving. 



FELT HATS STRAW- PLAIT. 



Felting is the process by which different kinds 

 of hair, fur, or wool are blended into a compact 

 fabric, without undergoing either spinning or 

 weaving. It depends upon the scaly structure of 

 the fibre a structure which has already been 

 noticed under wool, and which may readily be 

 observed by passing a fibre of wool through the 

 fingers in opposite directions. This peculiar 

 structure allows the fibres to glide amongst each 

 other, but only in one direction ; so that when the 

 mass is agitated, the root end of each fibre is 

 pushed forward among the rest lying in the same 

 direction, but its scales become locked in those 

 lying in the opposite position. Felting is now 

 largely applied to the manufacture of cloths for 

 wear, decorative purposes, coffin covering, &c. and 

 is made of sheep's wool, often mixed with even 

 vegetable fibres. Druggets are also made by this 

 process. 



Straw, plaited, or otherwise worked into a 

 fabric, is in use in almost every country as a 

 material for a light and ornamental head-dress. 

 Many of the tropical grasses, and palm-leaves 

 finely split, are eminently fitted for this species of 

 manufacture, and thus navigators often bring from 

 the Indian Archipelago and South-sea Islands 

 hats, fans, baskets, and other articles, exhibiting a 

 beauty of texture and intricacy of design which 

 the most expert straw-plaiter in Europe could 

 scarcely surpass. Split -straw is an elegant 

 manufacture for women's bonnets. The straw of 

 wheat or of rye is cut at the joints ; it is sorted 

 into small bundles, and is next split by means of 

 a very simple instrument, and delivered to be 

 plaited. It is sewed by the bonnet-makers, and 

 then blocked, which is a laborious process ; and 

 after being pressed, wired, and lined, is ready for 

 sale. Of straw-hats, the Leghorn are the most 

 highly prized, as the finest in the world ; they are 

 made in the neighbourhood of Florence, Pisa, the 

 district of Siena, and the upper part of the vale 

 of the Arno, and are exported from Leghorn. 

 About thirty-five years ago, a firm established 

 straw-plaiting in the Orkney Isles, and adopted 

 rye-straw as the material. At first, there seemed 

 some prospect of success ; but it does not appear 

 that the competition of foreign-grown straw could 

 be successfully met. Various other materials 



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