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weave carpets had no existence when Mr. Bigelow first entered upon his 

 career as an inventor; only plain fabrics, of comparatively simple figures, 

 were woven on power looms, and " he put in operation the first successful 

 power loom known in the industrial art of weaving coach-lace, wire-cloth, 

 ingrain carpets, tapestry carpets, Brussels and Wilton carpets, and silk 

 brocatel." On the latest of his looms one operative has woven 73 yards 

 of Brussels carpet in ten hours, and 50 yards is an ordinary day's work. 

 On hand looms the weaving of brocatel costs in Lyons 60 cents per yard ; 

 on power looms in Connecticut it costs but 15 cents. 



The cheapening of carpets by the inventions of Americans may be 

 stated as follows : 



"By the power loom one woman in a given time will weave as many 

 yards of ingrain as four men by hand ; as many yards of tapestry as six 

 men by hand loom ; and as many yards of Brussels carpeting as ten men 

 and ten boys by the hand loom." 



The result of these and other improvements in machinery is a great 

 fall in prices as well as improvement in quality. By the books of lead- 

 ing mills it appears that in ingrain carpets " prices of 1879 are 12J per 

 oent. less than in 1860, higher prices for labor then being paid in 1879 than 

 in 1860, the prices for wool being about the same. In dress goods the 

 prices have fallen off' 25 per cent." John and James Dobson, of Phila- 

 delphia, manufacture 30,000 pounds of wool every working day, and 

 Philadelphia has become the largest wool manufacturing city in the 

 world. Eighty per cent, of the wool now manufactured in this country 

 is produced by our own flocks, and soon we will produce a full supply, 

 and ere long export wool, if the present tariff laws are unaltered. The 

 importation of wool in the form of manufactured goods is rapidly falling 

 off. In 1860 our importation amounted to $37,973,190. In 1878, our 

 population having increased not less than 12,000,000, we imported only 

 $25,230,154. In certain classes this falling off of importations is very 

 marked. In carpets the importation in 1878 was not one-fourteenth the 

 value of the importations of 1872. Dress goods, in which the foreigners 

 still lead our manufacturers in the estimation of certain wealthy con- 

 sumers, are no longer imported as extensively as formerly, their value 

 having fallen in 1878 to $12,000,000 from $20,000,000 in 1872. 



In December, 1865, the now famous joint convention of wool-growers 

 and wool-manufacturers was held in Syracuse, N. Y. There and then 

 these two great industries, that before had been antagonistic, learned that 

 they had common interests, and that neither could prosper at the expense 

 of the other. The wool-grower must have a market at home, and the 

 wool-manufacturer must have a home-grown supply to depend upon in 

 case of a foreign war or any other cause cutting off a supply. Since that 

 time these industries have acted in concert, and have been heard in Con- 

 gress, and thus far have been able to prevent hostile legislation. The 

 wonderful progress made, to the great benefit of the whole nation, is be- 



