343 



Wool and Shoddy. 



It cannot be too clearly understood that this article is con- 

 sumed entirely in the manufacture of woollens, and is conse- 

 quently generally worn by men. 



The names given to the various cloths produced in the woollen 

 trade are too numerous to mention here, and, as a rule, convey 

 no idea of what material they consist of, as the name is usually 

 descriptive only of the method of construction. There are, 

 however, some exceptions. For instance, flannel is the name of 

 a particular "make" of goods which are composed entirely of wool, 

 whereas flannelette is the name of the same " make " composed 

 entirely of cotton. 



Some of the names of woollen goods will, however, be quite 

 familiar, such as, pilot, president, nap, witney, melton, vicuna, 

 army cloth. Any of these may contain shoddy, especially the 

 low-priced ones. As shoddy is wool, it is not possible to detect 

 it, when once mixed in, by any chemical or microscopic test. 



The Union Cloths are also given the same names as in the 

 woollen trade when made the same way, together with such 

 names as backed worsted and serge, duffel, twill, fancy costume 

 cloth, &c. These contain cotton either scribbled or carded 

 into the shoddy weft, or made of pure shoddy weft with a 

 cotton warp. The presence of cotton is easily detected, and 

 there is no excuse for ignorance in the matter on the part of 

 any tailor or dealer in cloth. Dilute sulphuric acid will burn 

 out the cotton and leave the wool. Caustic soda will destroy 

 the wool and leave the cotton. 



For a small fee the Bradford Conditioning House (a municipal 

 institution established by Act of Parliament) will give a certificate 

 not only as to whether a cloth is all wool or not but also 

 what percentage of cotton or other vegetable matter it con- 

 tains. Any person can form an idea for himself by picking 

 the cloth to pieces and applying a lighted match to the threads. 

 Cotton blazes up quickly and has but little smell, wool scorches 

 and forms a cinder and gives off a pungent odour which is 

 easily recognised. 



Protection against the fraudulent sale of cotton, or mixtures 

 of cotton and wool, as pure wcol is afforded by the Merchan- 

 dise Marks Acts. 



John W. Turner. 



