( A U 



Qnet. entirely the same. Tu form the pattern, or design, 

 i <>f applying the cords is entirely similar 

 '. draw loom. Wliue the Hustling is 

 !j to be cut, it is common to intn 



i ve as guides to the knife, and 

 > ut out as soon as a sufficient quantity 

 of cloth has been woven, to secure the warp from be- 

 ing entirely cut away from the cloth. A very great 

 variety of hearth rugs, bottoms for chairs, stools, and 

 other kinds of ornamental furniture, are woven upon 

 tlii* principle. For lobby and stair carpets, many 

 are woven merely as plain cloth, the warp being of 

 .rated woollen yarn, so very closely set together, 

 and confined in the reed, as totally to cover and con- 

 th- woof. In this case, the woof may be of 

 slack turned hempen cordage, very thick. This not 

 only forms a very stout and durable fabric, but from 

 the coarseness of the hemp, gives the whole fabric 

 the appearance of a narrow stripe, not dissimilar in ef- 

 fect to corduroy. 



It seems somewhat singular, that no attempt should 

 have been hitherto made to apply mechanical power to 

 the weaving of any of the various and extensive branches 

 of the woollen manufacture, while so many attempts 

 have been made, hitherto without much success, in 

 the cotton and partially in the linen. The recent in- 

 vention of the cotton machinery ha8,no doubt, given to 

 those employed in that manufacture, a greater acquain- 

 tance with the application of mechanical agency ; and 

 the beneficial effects of the rapid succession of improve- 

 ments, must have greatly weakened that dread of inno- 

 vation which operates so strongly on the human mind, 

 especially where antiquity and long established usage 

 have thrown a sort of veil of respect, and almost vene- 

 ration, over what has passed through many successive 

 generations, almost without alteration. The very 

 circumstances of any art being long practised with 

 little variation or improvement, seems to warrant a 

 presumption, that it has already approximated as 

 nearly to perfection as can be reasonably expected ; 

 and this sort of reasoning is certainly entitled to very 

 considerable consideration before rash innovation is 

 attempted. Every department, however, of the wool- 

 len manufacture, seems to present to the judicious 

 speculator a field for further improvement, and facili- 

 ties for its accomplishment, beyond any of the other 

 branches of the cloth manufacture. The raw ma- 

 terial of itself presents very great advantages. It 

 is not only long and stout in the fibre, but powerfully 

 elastic. Hence it is admirably fitted to oppose that 

 reaction to the power of machinery, the want of 

 which is the most powerful obstacle in the cotton, 

 and still more so in the flax. When, to these con- 

 siderations are added, that of its requiring no aid of 

 chemical preparation, the most powerful objections 

 to every kind of weaving by machinery hitherto at- 

 tempted are at once removed, and the mechanic has 

 nothing to impede him, provided he judiciously ap- 

 plies the mechanical powers in the most efficient and 

 simple form. These considerations have induced the 

 author of this article to pay some attention to what 

 appeared to him an object, not only of immense nation- 

 PtiTK " importance, but which has most unaccountably been 

 totally neglected. In Plate CXXX. Fig. 6, 7, will be 

 7. found a plan for the construction of a carpet draw loom, 



T. 



543 



every operation of which is performed entirely by me- 

 chanical power, and which, instead of requiring a man 

 and boy, performs every function of both. Coose- 

 quently it would only require a casual superintend* 

 ance ; and perhaps a few boys, under a careful and ju. 

 dicious overseer, might be suflicii-nt for a manufactory 

 of twenty or thirty looms. Only that part is repre- 

 sented which is peculiar to this particular species of 

 weaving ; the other parti, which drive the shuttle* 

 and shift the boxes, being not necessarily different 

 from any of the various plans given under that de- 

 partment of the article CLOTH MAS UFA i "rum:, which 

 treats of weaving by power, as far as regards the for- 

 mer, nor from the plan given for shifting the boxes 

 from that described and represented for check and 

 pullicate lays under the article CHECK. The novelty 

 and originality of this plan, is chiefly in that part 

 which b adapted to move the harness automatically, 

 and even this is so very similar to what has long been 

 successfully applied to moving the keys in the com- 

 mon barrel organ, as hardly to come under the dcr 

 scription of a novelty merely speculative. The pro- 

 posed loom, in order to afford the utmost possible 

 room for every part of the apparatus, and also to be 

 erected with a due regard to economy of expence, 

 reaches entirely from the floor to the joisting of the 

 shop. Thus no caps and few cross rails are at all 

 necessary, and the whole framing consists of five 

 strong upright .posts, with only four rails for fixing 

 and supporting particular parts of the machinery. 

 It is obvious, that for an operative weaver renting 

 merely a loom -stance, and subject to frequent remo- 

 vals, a plan of this kind would be liable to serious ob- 

 jection ; but it is hardly presumable that any com- 

 pany or individual would embark capital in an exten- 

 sive manufactory driven by mechanical power, with- 

 out having previously secured the permanency of si- 

 tuation, tor at least a considerable term of years. 

 Hence economy in constructing machinery, when not 

 injurious to its strength and efficiency, becon. 

 very important feature in the plan of erection. Fig.6. 

 is a transverse elevated section of the loom, imme- 

 diately in front of the harness ; the following de- 

 scription of which, it is hoped, will enable any persou 

 conversant with the common modes of carpet weav- 

 ing, to ascertain the scope of the projected improve- 

 ment. In this figure, the two back posts strongly 

 secured to the floor and to the roof, are represented 

 at AA ; the frame or box of pullies at C ; the per- 

 forated, or regulating board for the harness, is at 

 DD ; and the suspended weights which lighten the 

 harness appear below at EE. An additional post, 

 peculiar to the power loom, is represented at F. 

 This post serves to secure that part of the harness 

 which is called the tail at B, in the same way as the 

 table does in the common carpet draw loom, and be- 

 low at F, serves for one end of the axis of the bar- 

 rel G, which raises the harness, and supersedes the 

 use of a draw- boy by revolving, upon its own axis. 

 The other end of G may rest either upon a vertical 

 or horizontal post, which is not represented. On 

 the end of the barrel is a ratchet wheel, which may 

 either be placed to the right, as in Fig. 6. or to the 

 left, as in Fig. 7. If the former be adopted, the 

 catch H may be driven merely by a stud in the 



- 



New auto- 

 matic car- 

 pit draw 

 loom, in- 

 rented by 

 the writer 

 of thit 

 article. 



