WOOLLEN" MANUFACTURE 1167 



from 7 to 8 inches of the cardings to be taken out. A stop upon the carriage then 

 comes against the catch, and withdraws it ; thus allowing the upper rail to fall and 

 pinch the carding, while the carriage, continuing to recede, draws out or stretches 

 that portion of the roll which is between the clasp and the spindle-points. But during 

 this time the wheel has been turned to keep the spindles revolving, communicating 

 the proper degree of twist to the cardings in proportion to their extension, so as to 

 prevent them from breaking. 



It might be imagined that the slubbing cords would be apt to coil round the spin- 

 dles ; but as they proceed in a somewhat inclined direction to the clasp, they receive 

 merely a twisting motion, continually slipping over the points of the spindles, without 

 getting wound upon them. Whenever the operative or slubber has given a due 

 degree of twist to the rovings, he sets about winding them upon the spindles into a 

 conical shape, for which purpose he presses down the faller-wire 8, with his left hand, 

 so as to bear it down from the points of the spindles, and place it opposite to their 

 middle part. He next makes the spindles revolve, while he pushes in the carriage 

 slowly, so as to coil the slubbing upon the spindle into a conical cop. The wire 8, 

 regulates the winding-on of the whole series of slubbings at once, and receives its 

 proper angle of depression for this purpose from the horizontal rail 4, which turns 

 upon pivots in its ends, in brasses fixed on the standards, which rise from the 

 carriage D. By turning this rail on its pivots, the wire 8 may be raised or lowered 

 in any degree. The slubber seizes the rail 4 in his left hand, to draw the carriage 

 out ; but in returning it, ho depresses the faller-wire, at the same time that he pushes 

 the carriage before him. 



The cardings are so exceedingly tender, that they would readily draw out, or even 

 break, if they were dragged with friction upon the endless cloth of the inclined plane. 

 To save this injurious traction, a contrivance is introduced for moving the apron. A 

 cord is applied round the groove in the middle part of the upper roller, and after 

 passing over pulleys, as shown in the figure, it has a heavy weight hung at the one 

 end, and a light weight at the other, to keep it constantly extended, while the heavy 

 weight tends to turn the rollers with their endless cloth round in such a direction as 

 to bring forward the rovings, without putting any strain upon them. Every time 

 that the carriage is pushed home, the larger weight gets wound up ; and when the 

 carriage is drawn out, the greater weight turns the roller, and advances the endless 

 apron, so as to deliver the carding at the same rate as the carriage runs out ; but 

 when the proper quantity is delivered, a knot in the rope arrives at a fixed stop, 

 which does not permit it to move any further ; while at the same instant the roller 5 

 quits the lever 6, and allows the upper rail o, of the clasp to fall, and pinch the carding 

 fast ; the wheel E, being then set in motion, makes the spindles revolve ; and the 

 carriage being simultaneously drawn out, extends the slubbings while under the 

 influence of twisting. In winding up the slubbings the operative must take care to 

 push in the carriage, and to turn the wheel round at such rates that the spindles will 

 not take up faster than the carriage moves on its railway, or he would injure the 

 slubbings. The machine requires the attendance of a child, to bring the cardings 

 from the card-engine, to place them upon the sloping feed-cloth, and to join the ends 

 of the fresh ones carefully to the ends of the others newly-drawn under the roller. 

 Slubbings intended for warp-yarn must be more twisted than those for weft ; but each 

 must receive a degree of torsion relative to the quality of the wool and of the cloth 

 intended to be made. In general, however, no more twist should be given to the 

 slubbings than is indispensable for enabling them to be drawn out to the requisite 

 slenderness without breaking. This twist forms no part of the twist of the finished 

 yarn, for the slubbing will be twisted in the contrary direction, when spun afterwards 

 in the jenny or mule. 



It may here be remarked, that various machines have been constructed of late years 

 for making continuous card-ends, and slubbings, in imitation of the carding and 

 roving of the COTTON SPINNING; to which article therefore the reader may be re- 

 ferred. The wool slubbings are now spun into yarn, in many factories, by means 

 of the mule. Indeed, in France the finest yarn, for the mousselinc-de-laine fabrics, is 

 beautifully spun upon the self-actor mule of Sharp and Eoberts. 1 

 . Tentering. When the cloth is returned from the fulling-mill it is stretched upon 

 the tenter frame, and left in the open air till dry. 



. In the woollen manufacture, as the cloth suffers, by the operation of the fulling- 

 mill, a shrinkage of its breadth to well-nigh one-half, it must at first be woven of 

 nearly double its intended width when finished. Superfine six-quarter broad cloths 

 must therefore be turned out of the loom twelve-quarters wide. 



1 ' See this admirable machine fully described and delineated in Dr. Ure's Cotton Manufacture of 

 Great Britain, vol. ii. 



