October, 1911. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



38fi 



are mixed together on the floor so as to make 

 stuffings of various prices. After this the material 

 is passed through a series of mixing machines 

 or mills, which are pro\ided with exhausts for 

 taking out an\- dust which remains. 



The hand carding i-irocess is shown in 



Figure 5, 



Figure 6. 

 Horsehair ropes hangint; up to dry. 



Now comes the most curious part of thi.' process. 

 .\ short walk is pro\'ided something similar to that 

 on which hempen cords are made and here the 

 hair is twisted up to form 

 ro[)es. Each pair of work- 

 men is followed by a tio\- 

 who heats up a fresh sup[:i]\' 

 of material and that which 

 is dropped, with two sticks, 

 thus getting it ready for the 

 use of the twisters. The 

 ropes are again twisted 

 ii[ioii themselves, soaked for 

 two hours in water, then 

 baked at a temperature 

 of upwards of A5()" V. foi 

 twehe hours. The damp 

 heat, as may be well 

 imagined, destrovs all bac- 

 terial life that might 

 possibh exist in the hair, 

 and at the same time hxes 

 the curl. The ropes (see 

 F"igure 6) are hung up to 

 cool for three days. The 

 low ([ualities are then 

 untwisted and carded b\' 



machiner\", though this process is liable to break 

 the staple (see Figure 7). The good qualities are 

 opened out (see Figure 4) and hand carded, the 

 opened twists being placed on the bt-nt pins of the 

 carder which give somewhat, as thev are fixed 

 into leather that is in turn fastened to a board. 



and finished horsehair is to be seen in the background. 

 The finer the quality the smaller the rope and tighter 

 its coils. The hair from English cart horses is the 

 best, because it is the strongest, and tor the highest 

 qualities long hairs are 

 used. The \er\' finest 

 grades cost up to seven 

 shillings per pound whole- 

 sale. Black hair is usualh- 

 somewhat stronger than 

 t h e w h i t e , but U u e e n 

 \'ictoria. who was verv 

 partial to horse hair mat- 

 tresses, always had the best 

 qualit\- of white hair. .\s 

 it takes aliout fort}' pounds 

 of hair to make a full 

 sized mattress, it will be 

 seen that the cost is some- 

 what considerable. 



One man in tlie em- 



plo\' of Messrs. William 



List i.\: Sons, who very 



kindK ga\e facilities for 



this article to be written, 



can b(_)ast of o\er sixty 



• . years" service, while several 



can claim over forty. 



The men train their sons, as a long experience is 



necessar\' in nearl\- all the processes. 



-Messrs. List get the longest tails from China and 



Untwistii: 



Figure 7. 

 ■dini; the ropes of the lower grades of hair by machinery. 



Russia. These are disinfected before thev are 

 handled, as a precaution, and after being dipped in a 

 bath of soft soap and soda, are wet hackled (see 

 I'igure 8) to get out all the short fnr. The sorted 

 hairs are dr\- carded, being piled' up on a board which 

 is studded with long j)ins and drawn from the two 



