Principles of woollen spinning

Front matter

FRANKLIN INSTITUTE LIBRARY

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR With 118 Illustrations. 8vo. 7s. 6d. net

Preface

The enormous extent and great diversity of the woollen trade make it quite impossible for any one man to be thoroughly acquainted with all its branches. For this simple reason it is impossible for any book to treat in detail of every feature of the trade. Any writer who attempted such a task would have to 'travel widely. He would spend his life collecting information, and at the end he would be so conscious of the magnitude of the task, that it would probably be left incomplete.

This is my only excuse for publishing the information which has come under my own immediate observation in the last few years. I am well aware that specialists will be able to point to omissions, but particulars regarding many branches of the woollen trade are so scarce in literature that a demand may well exist for such a work as this.

So far as I can ascertain, no book has treated in detail of the shoddy trade since Jubb wrote in 1860, and it is quite needless to point out how much things have altered since that day. In some textile books the process of carbonizing has been described as an injurious system that should certainly be eliminated, and details of the more modern methods are difficult to find, although they should be very widely known. Such literature as exists regarding the woollen mule is either imperfectly illustrated, or is too technical to be of much

18850 vi PREFACE

service to the student. It is, therefore, my ambition to remedy these defects.

It is obvious at first sight that the nature of various processes differs widely in different parts of the country. The same results may be obtained by very different means, and it is for this reason that I have invariably laid more stress on the principles involved, than on the facts and figures that are necessary to illustrate them. My work in Huddersfield has naturally influenced my views, but my experience in Ossett and the West of England has modified any inclination to be too dogmatic.

There is probably no trade in the world where the successful man must be more liberal in his views, and more elastic in his methods. He must be prepared for any eventuality, and be prepared also to treat widely differing types of wool by widely differing methods. It is a trade where those who use their brains will inevitably have the advantage over those who still work by rule of thumb.

The writer has always held very strongly that bare facts and figures are of very little use for technical instruction. No better illustration of this view could be found than in the woollen trade, and unless a reader understands the reasons that underlie the facts, he will gain little by his knowledge of them. It is with the twofold object of stating facts and then explaining them that this book is written. In the first place, it gives facts and figures that have hitherto been very difficult to find, and in the second it supplies the reasons for the great diversity in the methods that may be found in various places where woollen yarns are spun.

It will be noticed by most practical men that no reference is made to Frame or Throstle spinning. The reasons for the

PREFACE

Vll omission are twofold. In the first place, I have endeavoured to confine my descriptions to machinery that has come under my own observation. Unfortunately these frames are so scarce in this country that I have never yet seen one in regular employment. Whatever may be the case on the Continent, they seem to be only imperfectly understood in England. Secondly, I am told that the methods adopted in working them are likely to be altered in the immediate future. I therefore acted on the best advice I could get and left the subject untouched, preferring rather to leave something out, than to make any statements of doubtful value.

It is customary to close a preface with the names of those persons to whom the writer is indebted for assistance. A mere enumeration of names would be altogether inadequate in the present case, because there is one man without whose assistance the work could hardly have been carried out.

I would very gladly have associated the name of Mr. J. F. Siddle with my own on the title-page of this book, could I have obtained his consent. It is through his courtesy alone that I have had a long practical acquaintance with both English and foreign carding systems. He also gave a great deal of valuable information; his one hope being that he might add some little to the prosperity of his native town, if it were published.

All that is practical in the chapter on Shoddy has been supplied by Mr. J. W. Smith, of Ossett. He not only gave me the free run of his large factory, but in the most generous manner he supplied particulars, not only of his methods and his qualities, but also of the sizes, the setting, and the speeds of his machines. Coming as the information does from such a quarter, it is unnecessary to say anything as to its

Vlll

PREFACE authenticity, for Mr. Smith was also good enough to revise* the chapter before it was printed.

For much information relating to their well-known machinery, and for the loan and use of drawings, I am indebted to Messrs. Wm. Whiteley & Co., Ltd., of Lockwood. They were also kind enough to let me watch the construction of one of their mules of the type I selected for description, on account of its simplicity and deserved popularity.

The illustration of the Josephy cards are copied direct from drawings lent by Messrs. Newman & Son, of Huddersfield, who were also kind enough to supply complete specifications of the clothing best suited for different types of their machinery. Without these illustrations and figures the book would have been of much less interest, for they show the salient points of continental practice in comparison with those of the home trade.

Messrs. Samuel Law & Sons, Ltd., were kind enough to work out for me the particulars of card clothing, suitable for the enormous engines in use in the shoddy trade, and as there appears to be no reference to these machines in any book in print, the information is of unusual interest. It is, moreover, absolutely up to date.

I am also indebted to Professor Clapham, of the Leeds University, for directing my researches in regard to the facts and figures relating to shoddy and its production. All of them are from Blue Books in the University library ; but had it not been for his wide knowledge of the sources of information, the figures would have been as inaccessible to me as to the average technical reader. My thanks are also due to Professor Barker, of the Technical College, Bradford, for direction in regard to various departments of the industry, and especially for the

PREFACE

IX information referred to in the first chapter, and to Mr. Apperley, of Stroud, for facts relating to West of England methods.

The majority of the illustrations are line drawings, which should be regarded rather as diagrams than scale drawings. Many are really sketches made direct from the various machines with the single object of illustrating some particular point. Measurements were nearly always made, but in all cases dimensions were made subordinate to perspicuity. On the other hand, no pains have been spared to illustrate the chapter on the mule thoroughly. Diagrams of the same section of a machine are shown with various parts in different positions, in the hope that students may be able to grasp the meaning of the text in regard to this very complicated subject.

HOWARD PEIESTMAN.

Contents

CHAPTER PA6B

I. The History of the Woollen Trade 1

II. Wool, and Wool Washing 34

Chapter I

The origin of woollen and worsted spinning and weaving is now believed to be of very great antiquity. Wall paintings which depict elaborate dresses, and remnants of fabrics have been found in Egypt, in Babylonia and Assyria, dating from very early times indeed. They are thought to belong to an era of 2000 years B.C., for Herodotus tells us distinctly that the Babylonians wore a gown of linen reaching to the feet, and over this an upper garment made of wool, with a white tunic of the same material above them both. To what ex. -^t ite he alludes it is difficult to say, but the Chaldeans were . . far advanced in civilization that they left a record of astronomical observations from 2234 B.C. onwards, and it is therefore highly probable that they were expert in the simpler arts of dyeing and weaving. In confirmation of this, Layard in his book on "Nineveh" tells us that "The dresses were richly embroidered and dyed. The designs upon them were most elaborate, consisting of figures of men and animals, flowers and various other devices."

PRINCIPLES OF WOOLLEN SPLNNLNG

Many authors incline to the idea that the spinning of long wool or worsted is more ancient than the manufacture of woollen or felted cloth. This is likely to be the case for several reasons. It is often supposed that the Egyptians were the inventors of spinning, and that they applied the process first to flax. This may or may not be the absolute truth, but it does seem quite clear that if Egypt were not the birthplace of many of the arts attributed to it, it was the nursery where many of the most useful processes were brought to maturity and preserved. Clearly, any appliance that is suitable for spinning flax can be made to serve, with little alteration, for the production of long wool yarn; and as almost all known breeds of sheep originally bore long wool, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the longer fibres of animal wool were used before the shorter.

The oldest authentic references available to us in regard to spinning and weaving are those in the book of Job and in the book of Exodus, which date from about 1600 years B.C. Those writers who contend that the spinning of long wool was antecedent to the art of making short wool carded yarn, point also to the fact that all wild sheep are long-woolled or longhaired animals ; all of them having a shorter wool or fur growing amongst the roots of the longer fibres. This is still the case in the Vicuna and the Cashmir goat, and it is well known that the fine wools from these animals are the softest and most beautiful wools known to commerce.

All sheep whose wool is useful for the textile arts are supposed to be the results of artificial breeding. Whenever flocks are mentioned in ancient history, it is in relation to centres of civilization. In the Bible we have a curious confirmation of the fact that the art of breeding to obtain variations in the fleece was known at a very early date. This occurs in Jacob's dealings with his father-in-law. The passage not only tells us that he altered the colour of the wool of the flock to suit his own ends, but that he refused to impart his knowledge to the man to whom the flock originally belonged. There is another reference in the book of Ezekiel to the " white wool" which was brought from Damascus and sold in Tyre, previous to being dyed by the Phoenicians, who were the most celebrated dyers of antiquity. Tyrian purple was widely celebrated, and as any coloured fibres in the wool would greatly detract from the brilliance of the resulting fabric, we may be sure that pure white wool was not only a commodity of great value, but that clever flock-masters were even then well aware how to keep their wool free from the black fibres that occur in the wool of most wild sheep.

It is only when we come down to the Greek and Koman times that we find the first reference to two entirely different makes of cloth with two corresponding types of wool, produced on very different kinds of sheep. With the Trita or threadbare cloth we have no concern here. It partook very much of the nature of worsted; but the Densa cloth used for the Toga pinguis was a napped and felted fabric — a proper woollen cloth. It was made from the wool of sheep carefully cultivated for their very fine close wool, and though it was not much in demand, in the warm and sunny climates of Athens and of Eome, such a material would be an absolute necessity to the armies of both Empires, in their long campaigns in cold and mountainous lands. We find also that in the Augustan age it was fashionable to wear cloths with a raised nap or pile. They were known as Pexae, and the term leads us to suppose that the nap was raised with a very fine toothed comb.

In the writings of Pliny there is a detailed description of the two kinds of sheep already referred to. The long-woolled sheep was called Hirtum or Hirsutum. Sometimes, from its hardy nature it was known as Colonicum or Eustic. The finewoolled sheep were known as Molle (soft), and often referred to as Generosum (noble) from the excellence of their wool. It is recorded that their fleeces were often covered with skins to preserve the fibre from undue heat or wind, and from this they derived a third name — " pellitum."

In Pliny's time flocks of sheep existed in Dacia (which is north of the Danube), in Southern Greece, and in Southern Italy, whence they derived their name of Tarentine. They were also known as Atticum, and it is this name which is supposed to indicate their real place of origin, for we find from other sources that a very celebrated race of sheep were in existence at Laodicea in Syria. The Eomans not only paid attention to their Tarentine sheep, but we learn from both Strabo and Pliny that they introduced their flocks into their Western colonies, and taught the natives of these conquered lands the art of manufacturing fine cloth. The importation was evidently a very great success, for Strabo goes on to say that the Spaniards " formerly imported many garments, but now their wool is better than that of the Coraxi (Caucasus) and so beautiful that a ram of Caucasus was sold for £216 (our value), and that fabrics of extraordinary thinness were made from this wool."

A writer on this subject in Eee's " Cyclopedia," in 1819, says that "there seems no reason to doubt that the Eomans were well acquainted with the shawl cloths of Cashmir, and that they would wish to imitate fabrics of such a brilliant and beautiful texture. They were made from very short wool; not from combed wool as has been generally supposed in this country. The history of the manufacture in Hindustan is proof of a very high degree of perfection to .which the fabrication of woollen cloth has been carried in former times; for shawl cloth is only woollen cloth, woven without a twill and unmilled; but it is spun to so great a degree of fineness, from wool so peculiarly soft, that it has never been rivalled by European nations."

When the Empire of Eome declined, and her colonies were a prey to savage invaders, we know too well how many of hei institutions, her arts and her manufactures, were wantonly destroyed. But Eome had spread the knowledge of textile arts throughout the then well-known world ; and, as a consequence, the art of making cloth was never wholly lost. If we owed nothing more than this to Eome, it would be saying much, but, fortunately, before there came a slackening of the reins of government, Tarentine sheep had got so great a hold in Spanish pastures, that even had the knowledge of wool culture been completely lost, a favourable climate and a splendid breed would long have kept the Spanish flock from deterioration.

Unfortunately, this is not the place to go into this interesting story at greater length, for we have now enough information to convince us that the world-famed Spanish Merino, and the scarcely less renowned breed in Silesia, were both descended from the Tarentine flocks of the Eomans. What the woollen trade would have been without these flocks it is quite impossible to estimate, and as there is very little doubt that the Eomans first introduced a knowledge of the textile arts into our country, it is not easy for us to estimate how much of our commercial supremacy we owe to them.

The competition of Merino wool with the native wool of this country deserves a little more detailed attention. Ever since the Roman epoch, Merino has been intimately connected with the woollen industry, on account of its splendid felting quahties. Countries that did not possess Merino sheep, and could not get possession of the wool, never succeeded in making the better class of goods, although they might be very successful in the manufacture of worsted. This fact is very likely to account for the various opinions of ancient writers regarding the exports and imports of wool into England, five hundred years or more ago.

For example, in another article on woollens in Eee's " Cyclopedia," the writer alludes to the superiority of Spanish wool, and to the inability of English wool to compete with it in the production of desirable materials. Mr. James, on the other hand, tries to prove that all Europe was envious of the wool which was grown in this country, right through the Middle Ages, and that none of our competitors had any chance of success unless they were fortunate enough to procure wool which had come from English sheep. It may be that there w^as some truth in both contentions, but there can be little doubt that the Spanish wool remained much finer and shorter all through the centuries that intervened between the Eoman times and the present day.

Iti support of this theory there are two historical facts that are worthy of mention. Whilst our Islands, and almost all the rest of Europe, were in the grip of the semi-barbarous Northmen, many parts of Spain had found very different masters. We know to our cost that almost all the conquering tribes who came to Western Europe before 1066, made it their business to destroy the arts and cultivation which were so typical of Eoman occupation. There is, therefore, no doubt that the manufacture

K of fabrics in this country received a very severe set-back for many centuries before the Norman Conquest. Sheep were so scarce in England that a fleece was estimated at two-thirds the value of the ewe which produced it, together with her lamb.

In Spain it was far otherwise. When the Saracens first crossed to Europe, Eee says, quoting from the Archbishop of Toledo, who wrote in 1243, "Spain was fruitful in corn, pleasant in fruits, delicious in fishes, savoury in milk, clamorous in hunting, gluttonous in flocks and herds." So far from destroying the culture which they found, the invaders of that country either carried their own arts of luxury with them into Spain, or, what is more probable, improved such manufactures as they found, by their own superior industry. The revenue of one of their sovereigns in the tenth century amounted to six millions sterling. "A sum," says Gibbon, "which at that time probably surpassed the united revenues of all Christian monarchs. Several centuries later, when the Saracens were expelled, Spain saw no advantage, except a change in religion, to compensate her for the loss of great industry and wealth. On recovery of Seville from the Moors in 1248, not less than sixteen thousand looms are said to have been found in the city, and of these the greater number were employed in the fabrication of woollen cloth."

This quotation is enough to show how likely it is that we are indebted to the Saracens and the Moors for some improvements in the textile arts. At all events, it may lie said, without fear of contradiction, that we are indebted to them for the preservation of the Merino breed, and that branch of weaving which was introduced to Spain by the Eomans.

Our knowledge of the manufactures in our own country in the earliest times is practically nil, for the most cultured Latin writers had such a complete contempt for the arts of peace, that it is very seldom they make any reference to details. We know, however, that the Eomans had a woollen factory at Winchester, where they produced cloth for their army of occupation in this country. After the decay of Eoman power records are so scanty that we know^ little or nothing regarding spinning and weaving, until after the coming of William the Conqueror. From that time forward there is ample proof that Flanders (Belgium) had already become the leading centre of the woollen trade. Belgians at that day were so proficient in the art of making cloth, that they were considered to be the best craftsmen in Europe, and one quaint old writer, who was anxious to account for their proficiency, states that they were "especially endowed by nature with gifts that qualified them to excell." As a matter of fact, it is difficult to account for the pre-eminence which Flanders had acquired. Their home-grown wool was never of superior quality, but, nevertheless, it is a well-established fact that they were the best makers of cloth in Europe at the time of the Norman Conquest.

Two historians record the fact " that a number of Flemings were driven out of their own country by an extraordinary encroachment of the sea in the time of William the First, by whom they were well received in this country, and first placed in the neighbourhood of Carlisle; but as they did not agree with the inhabitants of the North, they were transplanted by Henry I. to Pembrokeshire. They are said to have been skilful in woollen manufacture, and to have been the first to introduce it into England as a separate trade," distinct from a home industry which produced cloth for domestic use. This supposition is probably correct, for no one imagines that the Koman factory at Winchester continued to exist after the withdrawal of the Eoman legions, and it may be taken for granted that for many centuries, every family spun its own wool, and wove its own cloth, for the clothing of its various members.

Historians of the worsted trade have laid so much stress on the pre-eminence of Norwich in the Middle Ages, that we are apt to overlook the very wide distribution of the woollen industry in even earlier times. At the end of the reign of Henry 11. (1189) there were guilds of weavers in London, Oxford, Lincoln, Huntingdon, York, and Winchester, who had paid, or were paying, " fines " to the king for the privilege of carrying on their trade. This shows that trade in cloth was well established, and it is also confirmed by the fact that cloth merchants were paying taxes in various parts of Yorkshire, Norfolk, Huntingdon, Gloucester, Northampton, and Nottingham, as well as at Newcastle-on-Tyne. Their taxes or "fines " were paid to the King " in order that they might freely buy and sell dyed cloths." In the same reign a licence was granted to a guild in London, directing that " if any weaver mixed Spanish wool with English in making cloth, the chief magistrate should seize and burn it." This was doubtless to encourage the growth of English wool, from which our kings derived a revenue. The circumstance rather proves the superiority of Spanish wool, and the jealousy which its importation excited amongst English wool growers.

It is also of interest to notice that in the reign of Henry III. (121G to 1272) an Act was passed limiting the width of broad cloth and " russets " to two yards, for it completely upsets the theory that is often quoted, " that the first broad cloth was made in England by Jack of Newbury in 1327."

It would of course be quite easy to fill a volume with the history of the woollen trade and its development, and it is therefore impossible to give a connected outline of its entire growth here, but it is fairly obvious that the trade in England received periodic impulses from the judicious importation of foreign workmen. In the time of Edward III. (1327), as in the time of the Conqueror, the Low Countries were celebrated for their proficiency in the arts of working wool, which was then such an extensive trade, that the city of Louvain was credited with no less than 15,000 journeymen weavers. It is also said that the King's marriage with the daughter of the King of Hainault enabled him to send emissaries without suspicion to invite their manufacturers to this kingdom. How widely these invitations were accepted is clearly proved by the fact that very shortly afterwards foreign manufacturers of—

Fustians were found in Norwich,

Says and Serges Broadcloth Kersies Cloth

Colchester and Taunton.

Kent.

Devonshire.

Coarse Cloth or

Halifax Cloth „ „ Yorkshire.

In the year 1366 two weavers from Brabant settled in York ; " as it may prove," said the King, " of great benefit to us and our subjects." Their names were Willielmus and Hanckienus, and it is surmised that the latter, who was known as Hancks, gave his name to that length of skein which is now adopted as the unit of length in various localities.

THE HISTORY OF THE WOOLLEN TRADE n

The Manor of Bradford was in the hands of the De Lacys in 1311, and it is clear that woollen cloths were manufactured there, because even at that date, the straggling village had a fulling mill of its own. Before the close of the sixteenth century it had become a populous and thriving town, largely engaged in the manufacture of cloth. Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Leeds were then only just beginning to compete in the trade for which their districts are now famous, but it is worthy of more than passing notice that towns in almost every county of England were also busily engaged in various textile trades at that date. Hull is also mentioned as a seat of the new industry before either Leeds or Bradford. Throughout the history of the Middle Ages we find frequent records, not only of keen competition, but also of considerable commercial intercourse between this country and the Netherlands. In fact, it is pretty clear that their artisans excelled our own in many branches of the textile arts. For example, there is an entry dated 1549 which reads, "King Edward encouraged foreign Trotestants to settle in England, who much advanced manufactures and trade." Until this time it seems quite clear that almost all the foreign emigrants who came to us were chosen men who came by invitation of the ruling kings, but before the close of the seventeenth century we were indebted to the bigotry and to the persecutions of Continental powers for an influx of stalwart Brotestant artisans, in numbers far greater than had ever responded to the overtures of enlightened monarchs. In 1567 the barbarous persecution of Protestants by the Duke of Alva in the Low Countries, drove multitudes of their manufacturers to England; where Elizabeth, ever quick to see an advantage, gave them liberty to settle at Norwich, Colchester, Sandwich, Maidstone, and Southampton. These refugees extended the manufacture of light woollen cloths called Bays and Says, and it is thought probable that they also introduced and taught to the people the art of weaving on a stocking frame.

The last great addition to our manufacturing population from abroad took place when the Edict of Nantes Avas revoked in 1685. After its repeal Protestants were once more persecuted with the utmost bigotry, for the exercise of their religion, and of the 800,000 who are said to have quitted France 70,000 of the most enterprising and industrious merchants and manufacturers settled in this country. England was again reaping the benefit of the religious troubles of other nations. Eor these thrifty emigrants were skilled not only in making the coarser stuffs and draperies such as were then being made in Lancashire, Cheshire, and Cornwall, but especially in the design and execution of very fine worsted crepes. These they produced in such quantities that a large trade which had previously gone to France (to the extent of £150,000 per annum) Avas now entirely supplied at home.

Few subjects could be of greater interest to the economist than a study of the fluctuations in the textile trades of this country from the very earliest times. During the whole of the nme centuries of which we have authentic records, we find that spinners and weavers laboured under foolish and vexatious restrictions, and that wool growers were hampered by State interference. The importation of Irish wool into England was prohibited, and many absurd restrictions were placed on export.

Those who are interested in this subject cannot do better than refer to a book which was written in 1869 on wool and woollens by a Mr. Samuels. It is a lucid work, not too much encumbered with figures ; but one in which many quaint statements may be found. For example, he tells his readers in one place how the King and Parliament sought to improve the state of the wool trade in 1679 by "prohibiting the use of any materials for shrouds of corpses, save those wrought of sheep's wool," and, when speaking of the smuggling which was rife at the same date, he says : " Canterbury and Dover were villainous dens infested with atrocious smugglers. The shoals and channels that embarrassed the mouth of the Stour were peculiarly favourable for a contraband trade. All these facilities were enhanced by the fogs and storms of the whole coast, which created dangers that could only be lightly regarded by bold and skilful smuggling seamen, prompted by the incentive of large and rapid gains. These gains were twofold. The French and Dutch were paying high for wool. The smugglers smuggled, smiled, drank and sold brandy freely. The French bought wool and wondered. Public morality and the revenue suffered, Parliament and the Council issued more decrees, and so the world wagged on."