INDUSTRIES 



Professor Abel. The cotton was first cleaned 

 and then sent to be dipped in several dipping 

 houses. After having been cooled for twenty- 

 four hours the cotton was centrifuged to expel 

 the waste acid. It was then tubbed or washed 

 again, centrifuged, and laid in tanks of water to 

 soak, from which it was taken to be beaten into 

 pulp, and then let down into ' poachers ' for 

 washing again. The quantity of acid used was 

 I3lb. to each lib. of cotton. The whole 

 process took seven or eight days to complete. 

 In 1871 there were nine 'poachers' in use at 

 the works, each of which held i,ooolb. of 

 cotton ; and all were kept in full work largely by 

 government orders, though a second quality was 

 made for mining purposes. The number of 

 persons employed was considerably over a hun- 

 dred, including about thirty boys and a number 



of girls. The date given is a terribly memorable 

 one in the annals of Stowmarket. There had 

 been a small explosion in 1868, but in 1871 the 

 works were utterly destroyed, thirty persons 

 killed, and as many seriously injured by an ex- 

 plosion that shook the whole town and shattered 

 almost every pane of glass in its houses, churches, 

 and public buildings. Amongst the killed were 

 several members of the Prentice family. The 

 managing director was away at the time.* The 

 works were soon after re-established and no 

 such serious calamity has since occurred. The 

 company, which has recently been reconstituted 

 as the New Explosives Company, manufactures 

 cordite as well as gun-cotton. In the Suffolk 

 census of 1901, eighty-three males and ten 

 females are enumerated as engaged in the 

 manufacture of explosives. 



XYLONITE 



The youngest of the industries of Suffolk is 

 the manufacture of xylonite. This is a product 

 of the same kind as celluloid. The nitrates of 

 cellulose afford the material in both cases, and 

 the structural use to which they are put in the 

 xylonite industry depends upon the ease with 

 which they are brought into a plastic condition 

 or entirely dissolved in various ' neutral ' solvents, 

 e.g. alcohol-ether, acetone, amyl-acetate. 1 Xy- 

 lonite is a semi-transparent, horn-like substance. 

 It differs from vulcanite in being originally 

 transparent so that it can receive any colour that 

 is desired, and can be made to imitate natural 

 substances such as tortoise-shell. It is very 

 largely used as a substitute for wood, metal, or 

 bone in the manufacture of brushes, combs, fans, 

 trays, musical instruments, cutlery, bicycles, 

 toys, &c., and as a substitute for linen in the 

 manufacture of collars, cuffs and fronts. 



The original patent was taken out in 1856 

 by Mr. Alex. Parkes ; but The British 

 Xylonite Company, Ltd., was not formed till 

 1877. With this company the Homerton 

 Manufacturing Company, Ltd., which had been 

 simultaneously formed for the production of 

 articles from xylonite was amalgamated in 

 1879. Several years of struggle and experiment 

 followed, and the ultimate success achieved by 

 the company was largely due to the determined 

 efforts of Mr. L. P. Merriam, the father of the 

 present managing director. When the tide 

 turned, the works at Homerton soon became too 

 small, and in 1887 the directors determined to 

 transfer the manufacture of their material to the 

 country. 



In selecting Brantham-on-the-Stour as the 

 new seat of the industry they were influenced by 



1 C. F. Cross and E. J. Bevan, A Text Book of Paper- 

 making, 32. 



the fact which explains so much of the recent 

 industrial development of Suffolk that both 

 railway and water transport were available, so 

 that they were not wholly dependent on either. 

 The company purchased Brooklands Farm, 

 which comprised 130 acres of freehold land, and 

 the new factory was started during the same 

 year. A considerable number of workpeople 

 migrated from London to Suffolk, and as the 

 house accommodation in the neighbourhood was 

 naturally insufficient, the company built about 

 sixty houses to meet the needs of the new 

 colony. Each of these handsome and well-built 

 semi-detached cottages has a good piece of gar- 

 den, and as in addition to this any employ^ 

 can have as much allotment as he wants, 

 gardening has become a fairly general hobby. 

 There is a clubhouse on the estate. A large 

 field has been set apart for sports and a site 

 allotted for a schoolhouse. The workmen have 

 organized an excellent band, which helps to 

 supply entertainment in the winter evenings, 

 and is in request for garden parties, &c., in the 

 summer. The church, which is a negligible 

 factor in the life of the London workman, is 

 found to regain some of its influence under the 

 healthier social conditions of the country. In 

 short, the new settlement seems to have many of 

 the characteristics of a model industrial vil- 

 lage. The Brantham works find employment 

 for between 300 and 400 people. The xylonite 

 there produced is sent to be made up in the 

 factory at Hale End, London, and the finished 

 goods are largely exported. 8 



' The Times, 14 and 19 Aug. 1871, report of the 

 inquest. 



3 Ex inf. of The Xylonite Co. Since the above 

 was written (Dec. 1905) the worb have been de- 

 stroyed by fire. 



287 



