EEPORT OF NATIONAL. MUSEUM, 1924 101 



Through the kindness of Mrs. Oskar W. Bergh, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 

 three beautiful Norwegian tapestries, valued at $10,000, were loaned 

 to the Museum for exhibition in the textile hall. These wonderful 

 woven pictures, the work of Madame Frida Hansen, of Norway, were 

 on exhibition for four months and attracted a great deal of attention. 



An American inventive genius, Simon W. Wardwell, jr., who died 

 in 1921, produced a number of valuable and interesting machines. 

 The first model of the universal winder, invented by him, was de- 

 posited in the Museum 12 years ago, and the Museum is now indebted 

 to the Wardwell Braiding Machine Co. and to its president, Carl 

 Christensen, for the gift of the first commercial Wardwell rapid 

 braider built in Central Falls, R. I., 1910. This machine is equipped 

 to braid a covering over the ordinary electric-light cable and has been 

 connected with a small motor so that it can be demonstrated. In- 

 stead of a speed of from 150-170 revolutions used in ordinary 

 production, the machine on exhibition has been geared so as to oper- 

 ate very slowly, not over five revolutions a minute, and permit the 

 braiding movements of the spools to be seen. To Harry L. Follett, 

 New York, N. Y., the Museum is indebted for the gift of another 

 historic specimen. This is the original model of the rotary lock 

 stitch shuttle invented by the donor's father, Joseph L. Follett, and 

 patented February 4, 1873 (U. S. Patent No. 130,557). 



The Museum's large collection of industrial fibers was enriched by 

 the gift of specimens of Mexican brush and cordage materials from 

 the Tanners Products Co., Chicago, 111., and by specimens of Spun- 

 artsilk, a new industrial material for use in the manufacture of wool 

 fabrics, contributed by Abeeco Mill (Inc.), New York, N. Y. This 

 material is made from artificial silk waste by a process similar to 

 that used in the production of spun silk from worm silk waste, un- 

 reelable cocoons, etc., except that the strand of short, straight, par- 

 allel, clean fibers is spun according to the worsted system, yielding a 

 rough, fuzzy yarn like that made from wool. On the other hand, the 

 yarn made from waste worm silk is spun on cotton machinery, 

 resembles thrown silk, and is largely used in combination with cot- 

 ton. Spunartsilk, being of vegetable origin, does not take dyes in 

 the same way as wool, and permits beautiful color effects to be ob- 

 tained when used in certain combinations with wool. 



In spite of the care taken of them, certain specimens of woven 

 fabrics are affected by the light in the Museum's halls. It is with 

 great satisfaction that a series of Everfast cotton dress and drapery 

 fabrics in a beautiful variety of colors and weaves has been re- 

 ceived for exhibition in the cotton section of the textile hall. These 

 fabrics were contributed by N. Erlanger, Blumgart & Co. (Inc.), 

 New York, N. Y. Novelties in fabrics are always in demand. 



