1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
147 
IIow Felt Hats arc Hade. 
Now that people have found out that soft felt hats are 
much more comfortable than stiff ones, they are much 
worn by men and boys; of late women and girls have 
taken a fancy to them, and no doubt both boys and girls 
would like to know what felt is, and how hats are made 
of it. Felt is a kind of cloth made from wool or hair, 
without being spun or woven. If you pull a piece of felt 
t*o pieces, you will see that there are no twisted threads 
in it, but that the wool sticks together quite firmly with¬ 
out any twisting. Wool-felt is much stronger than hair- 
felt, which is soft, and is easily pulled apart. When wool 
is seen by a microscope, every fiber or single shred of it is 
very rough, and has a number of very fine points or scales 
on its surface, which lap over one another like the scales 
on a fish, or a pine cone. The ends of these points stick 
out a little, so that they will catch into one another and 
hold each other, when the wool is tangled and pressed 
together. These points are so small, that upon the finest 
fiber of wool, only an inch long, there are more than 
twenty-three thousand of them. If wool was perfectly 
smooth, and had none of these scales, it would not be so 
useful to us as it now is ; for instance, we could not make 
hats of it in the easy way we now do. When a hatter 
begins to make a hat, he takes the proper quantity of 
wool and lays it upon a table. Fixed upon the table there 
is a bow, which is bent, and has a bow-string, much like 
those which boys make to shoot arrows with. The hat¬ 
ter pulls this string and lets it fly amongst the wool, which 
is thus thrown up very loosely, and the finer parts fall 
down again, while the coarse ones and the dust are thrown 
out. When the wool is cleaned in this manner, it is 
beaten with rods, and in a short time becomes matted or 
felted together, as the beating causes the tiny scales or 
points to take hold of each other. The felt, which is now 
very soft, and will as yet barely hold together, is made 
into a shape like that of figure 2, and double ; in this 
shape it looks very little like a hat, but more like a three- 
cornered bag, wide at the month, and narrow at the bot¬ 
tom. If the felt is too thin in places, more wool is laid 
upon it whore it is needed, and beaten down until it is 
right. A piece of oiled paper is put between the folds, 
and the felt is then dipped into a hot acid solution, which 
shrinks the wool, and makes the felt close. The felts are 
then taken to the room where the hats are shaped out and 
laid upon the floor in piles until want¬ 
ed. In this room there is a round 
table, which slopes towards a boiler in 
the center, in which there is hot soapy 
water. The men and boys who work 
in this room, stand around this table, 
and each taking one of these pieces of 
felt, the bags just described, dips it in¬ 
to the hot soap-suds, then lays it upon 
the table, and rolls and presses it with 
wooden rollers that are thicker in the 
middle than at the ends. This is 
shown in figure 1. By this pressing 
and rolling the felt in the hot soap-suds, 
it becomes close, hard, and tough. 
A piese of flannel that is rubbed too 
much in washing, and squeezed in a 
wringer, will become hard and shrink, 
and for exactly the same cause that 
makes the hat felt thick and tough. 
After it has been worked in this way 
for some time, the felt becomes in shape similar to 
figure 3. Then it is put upon a block like those seen up¬ 
on the shelf in figure 1, and the round crown is worked 
out with the roller and the help of the hot soap-suds, un¬ 
til it is shaped as in figure 4, and looks something like a 
hat, but has no brim. It is then placed upon a shorter 
block, and the brim is turned out, the wrinkles being 
worked out by being rolled and beaten while wet. This 
is seen in figures 5 and 6. It is now a hat, at least in 
shape, but in color it is a dirty gray or brown, and rather 
rough looking. It is now dyed, and when dry, is ironed 
and brushed upon a block of the exact size needed to 
make it fit a person’s head, until it is smooth. It is then 
bound and lined, when it is ready to be sold in the shops. 
This is the old-fashioned way of making hats, and is now 
only in use in small factories. In large factories the felt 
is made by a very curious machine. This is a sort of box 
in which there are a num¬ 
ber of beaters, which go 
round very quickly and 
stir up the wool, which is 
fed into it by girls, and 
shake out the dust and 
coarse hairs from it. A 
strong draft of air is blown 
through the box, which 
carries the cleaned wool 
through an upright narrow 
opening at the end of it, 
in a thin sheet. Just op¬ 
posite this opening there 
is another machine, which 
has a hollow mold the 
shape of the hat, as it ap¬ 
pears in figure 4. The 
surface of this mold is full 
of small holes, through 
which a strong current of 
air is drawn by a fan in a 
room below. This current 
draws the loose wool 
which comes from the 
narrow opening in the 
first machine, to the hollow block and holds it 
there. The workman turns the block around as it 
may be needed, to get enough wool, evenly all over 
it to form the felt, and presses it with his hands until the 
felt is thick enough. Then the draft of air is turned off, 
and the piece of soft felt is slipped off from the mold, 
and dipped into a hot acid solution, which instantly 
shrinks it, and makes it stronger and more solid. Then 
it goes through the same operations as have been de¬ 
scribed to form and finish the hat. With this machine 
the felt is made much more quickly and cheaply than by 
hand. Some years ago all kinds of hats were made in 
this way. . The best were “beaver hats,” and very expen¬ 
sive ; they were made of the fine fur which lies next to 
the skin, and under the coarse outer hair of the beaver. 
Cheaper fur hats were made of rabbit’s fur, and even the 
fur of cats. But nearly all the stiff hats, which boys 
sometimes call “ plug hats,” are now made of a frame of 
felt or cloth, which is stiffened and shaped with a kind of 
varnish, and covered with silk plush, but very few being 
now made of the beaver or other fur. 
■- n * i • -— 
Aunt Sue’s Fnzzle-lSox. 
ELLIPSES. 
(Fill the blanks with the same words transposed.) 
1 - It was a-about as large as a-. 
2. The poor boy began to-over the tedious-. 
3. He threw a piece of-at the-. 
4. I want to go to-once-. 
5. He was a-of a different-. 
G. That bush has-in the-place. 
METAGRAM. 
Entire I am a piece of land; behead me and you will 
have an animal; restore my head and curtail me and you 
will see an article of wearing apparel; now behead and 
reverse me, and (although “ beheaded”) I am often call¬ 
ed the head of the house. Frank Vondersmith. 
pi. 
Ringenal liwl claucutmea downflulery fi ouy dad a 
fillet veery yad. Od ton tiwa orf a gnol predio fo lisueel. 
Cipk pu het kobo dan niga noe wen atlie, fi on rome. 
Vase natt noe, dna dad tlierano sa noso sa uyo anc._ 
Fig. 1.—INTERIOR OF HAT FACTORY. 
Figs. 2 to 6.—HATS IN DIFFERENT SHAPES. 
CHARADES. 
1. Two words there are which plainly tell 
What you in many a yard may see ; 
Unite the two and make one word, 
A precious stone it then will be. 
Giles Farmin'. 
2. Willie and Harry did my first, 
As they were going to play, 
My second’s a trifling article, 
You use it every day, 
My third is good in a rainy time 
To wile the hours away ; 
For my whole you must go to an architect, 
And he will explain it all correct. Bunn. 
SQUARE WORD. 
My first will name some animals, 
My next the Christian scorns, 
My third a servant you will find, 
My fourth have branching horns. Nip. 
NUMERICAL ENIGMAS. 
1 . I am composed of 12 letters: 
My 1, 3, 12, 8, 11, 6, is a river in Ireland. 
My 4, 2, 7, 9, 5, is a man’s name. 
My 10, is a vowel. 
My whole is a river. 
2 . I am composed of 11 letters: 
My 9, 8, 7, 6, is an animal. 
My 11, 5, 10, is a kind of grain. 
My 1, 2, 3, 4, is a measure. 
My whole is a plant. Herbert J. K, 
DOUBLE CROSS WORD. 
My first is in salmon but not in eel, 
My next is in onion but not in peel, 
My third is in test but not in plan, 
My fourth is in host but not in man, 
My fifth is in eel but not in ray, 
My sixth is in river but not in bay, 
Two dear ones you will bring to light, 
If you but place the letters right. 
SINGLE CROSS WORD. 
My first is in sparkle but not in glow, 
My next is in nigh but not in low, 
My third is in little but not in small, 
My fourth is in top but not in ball, 
My fifth is in eel but not in fish, 
My sixth is in long but not in wish ; 
My whole is a quadruped, perhaps in your house, 
Though it isn’t a rat, nor yet is it a mouse. Carl. 
ALPHABETICAL ARITHMETIC. 
BKT)OA IHSM(LMKK 
A B I 
B L H H 
B B B A 
IMS 
M T K 
IBM 
M T K 
L L J. A. M. 
ANAGRAMS. 
1. Gained art. 
2. H. sips my tea. 
3. I marry lean Pat. 
4. Get a label. 
5. Rose-satin cover. 
6 . I reach Mat in it. 
7. Escort pointer. 
8 . Tie ten remnants. 
9. C. R.—my angel! 
10. Inns can lose. 
DIAMOND PUZZLE. . 
The center letters, horizontal and perpendicular, form 
a slate. 
1. Part of a yacht. 2. An adverb. 3. A plant. 4. Part 
of a church. 5. Part of the year. 6. One of the states. 
7. One of the Books of the Bible. 8. Flesh of an animal. 
9. A tropical tree. 10. To compute. 11. Part of a yacht. 
Sphinx. 
• m 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE FEBRUARY NUMBER. 
Anagrams.— 1. Approximate. 2. Transformations. 3. 
Clairvoyants. 4. Grasshopper. 5. Gingerbread. 6. Exem- 
plarily. 7. Soothsayers. 8. Calumniate.’ 9. Intolerant. 10. 
Astrologists. 
Square Words.—1. 
WHEN 
HERE 
ERST 
NETS 
2. W H O M 
HARE 
ORES 
MESS 
Cross Word.— The golden rule. 
Transposition.— Evil, vile, veil, Levi, live. 
Pr.—The moustache and goatee were first worn in Spain, 
to distinguish Christians from Moors, this being as nearly 
the form of the cross as the beard can be cut. 
Numerical Enigma.— Jack Harkaway. 
Homonymous Words.— 1. Collar, choler. 2. Complement, 
compliment. 3. Nave, knave. 4. Hoop, whoop. 5. Sear, 
seer. G. Surplice, surplus. 
Characteristic Initials.— 1. Felix O. C. Darley. 2. 
Clara Louise Kellogg. 3. John Burns. 4. Frederick" Dou¬ 
glass. 5. Daniel Boone. 
Concealed Proverb.—L ive and let live. 
Bisected American Cities.— 1. Newark. 2. Lowell. 3. 
Hartford. 4. Portland. 5. Dayton. G. Camden. 7. Lock- 
port. S. Smitkfield. 
Alphabetical Arithmetic. 
“ Wicked boys.” 
Diamond Puzzle. 
Massachusetts. 
— 56G)1347G46(23S1. Key: 
Double Acrostic. 
M 
RAY 
CASEY 
BRISTOL 
GUAYAQUIL 
KAMTSCHA T K A 
MASSACHUSETT S 
SA1NTTJRC I Z E 
LOU I SBUKG 
LIBERIA 
NATAL 
A T E 
S 
Victoria. 
Napcfleon. 
V— ai -N 
I — ndi —A 
n_ o _-p 
T—oront—O 
O— i —L 
R- ag -E 
I — dull —O 
A— gai —N 
Send communications intended for Avnt Sue, to Box 111, 
P. 0., Brooklyn, N. Y., and not to 245 Broadway. 
