comb, an essential and highly complex machine used in the British system of spinning, is made by only one small American maker, whose product is not largely used by domestic mills. English-system spinning machinery is now made by one large firm in the United States, but the quality does not appear to be considered by the mills to be equal to that of the British machines. On the other hand, domestic equipment for the manufacture of woolen and for the earlier steps in worsted manufacture is satisfactory in quality, and the supply is sufficient. A survey made by the Tariff Board in 1912 indicated that at that time the proportion of foreign combs and drawing and spinning frames in American mills ranged between 85 and 100 per cent. The percentage of foreign carding and weaving equipment and woolen machinery ranged between 8 and 50.2

England is the largest producer of wool machinery in the world. France also is a large producer, especially of machinery for the French system of spinning. The product of both these countries is of very high class.

Domestic labor costs vary with the type of machine, but average approximately 50 per cent of the cost of production. American prices of material are very nearly the same as British.

GENERAL INFORMATION.

ACT OF 1913.

PAR. 167. Articles or wares not specially provided for in this section; * * * if composed wholly or in chief value of iron, steel, lead, copper, brass, nickel, pewter, aluminum, or other metal, but not plated with gold or silver, and whether partly or wholly manufactured, 20 per cent ad valorem.

DESCRIPTION.

This surely includes machinery used in the manufacture of wool textiles, from the fleece to the finished fabric. There are two principal classes of wool fabrics-worsteds and woolens. The distinguishing characteristic of woolen fabric is homogeneous nappy appearance, the identity of the warp and weft threads being almost or entirely obliterated. In worsteds, on the other hand, the threads remain distinct, the surface is smoother and harder, and a well-defined pattern may be woven in the goods. These differences are due in part to the selection of the materials, the short fiber being generally used for woolens, while the longer and more lustrous wools are selected for the manufacture of worsteds; but there are also important differences in the methods of manufacture, and the equipment employed will be separately described. It should be noted, however, that the distinction between the two classes of fabric is not hard and fast, as the materials employed, the processes and machinery used, and the results obtained may overlap to a considerable extent.

Report of Tariff Board on Schedule K, p. 1042. 62d cong., 2d sess., Doc. 342.

MACHINERY COMMON TO BOTH WOOLEN AND WORSTED MANUFACTURE.

Wool washing machine. The fleeces as they are received in the mill are covered with the natural grease and perspiration of the animal. These must be removed before the fleeces are in condition to work. There are a number of processes and types of machines used for this purpose, but the general principle of their operation is similar. Warm water and volatile or alkaline solvents are employed; the solution is contained in troughs, through which the fleeces are slowly propelled by forks, or are floated. The material may be mechanically agitated, or may be subjected to the action of sprays as it passes through the machine. The wool as it leaves the washing machine is squeezed by rollers which remove a portion of the water. There is also an electrolytic process which is employed to some extent by the French, but this system has not as yet come into general use.

Wool-drying machine.-There are several methods of drying the wool after the washing process. Centrifugal extractors are said to be efficient and satisfactory in operation, but have not come into extended use. Hot-air driers are of two types, table and machine. The drying table is not properly a machine; it consists simply of a large sloping table of netting with underneath steam pipes and with an air blast above. Manual labor is necessary for placing the material on the tables, turning it over, and removing it, since it is claimed that there thus is less risk of injury to the wool than if mechanical driers were employed. In the machine type of air driers the fleeces are conveyed slowly against a blast of heated air; there is a variety of machines designed to accomplish this result in the most efficient

manner.

Carbonizer. In many wools there are burrs adhering to the fleeces, which are difficult to remove by mechanical means. The carbonizer

is a machine which carries the wool slowly through a dilute solution of sulphuric acid, after which it passes through a drying oven, where the acid becomes more concentrated, and the burrs are carbonized before the animal fiber is affected. Corrugated rolls then crush the burrs, which fall out.

Up to this point the treatment of the material for the manufacture of woolen and worsted is the same. After carbonizing, however, the processes differ and must be discussed separately.

WORSTED MACHINERY.

Preparation for combing. There are two methods of preparing wool for the comber. Long wools are generally prepared in gill boxes, while the shorter wools are prepared by the card. In this country probably not more than 5 to 10 per cent of the wool.is prepared in gill boxes.

Gill boxes.-The function of these machines is to break up the tufts of wool and to begin the work of laying the fibers straight. The material is fed in between two rollers, and as it emerges a set of steel pins pierces it and moving at a rate greater than that of the feed rollers combs it out. The pins are set in steel bars, called fallers, which are carried along by the action of a screw, and on reaching the end of their travel fall into mesh with a screw below, which carries them back to their starting point. As the wool is carried along by the fallers it is seized by another set of rollers, which moving faster than

the fallers continue the combing action by drawing the wool through the teeth of the fallers. As the wool passes out from the last set of rollers it is wound up on a leather belt in the form of a thin sheet, which is cut and laid out straight. This process, called preparing, is carried out in five or six stages, so that the strain on the material may not be excessive. The first machines of the set deliver the wool in the form of a sheet and are called sheeter boxes; in the last two or three the sheet is passed through a funnel before delivery, which forms it into a loose cylindrical shape, called a sliver. The sliver is coiled in large cans as it comes from the machine.

Cards.-Gill boxes are not adapted to the preparation of short wools, as the short fibers would not be properly acted upon by the faller teeth. This class of wool is prepared for combing by the worsted carder, or carding engine, as it is called in England. The worsted carder consists usually of two main cylinders (swifts), covered with card clothing, above which revolve a number of similar smaller cylinders. (Card clothing is a composition fabric, set thickly with teeth of fine steel wire.) As the material is fed to the main cylinder it is caught up by the teeth and successively passed between the swifts and the smaller cylinders, the fibers being disentangled and laid straight in the process. In addition to the main set of eylinders there is a set of opening "lickers in" and dividers. There may be as many as 30 of these rollers covered with card clothing, and as many distinct processes as the wool proceeds through the machine. The cylinders. run at high speed and require close adjustment. The card is not suited for the working of very long wools, as the fibers would be caught and broken.

Back washer. The wool as it is delivered from the gill boxes or the card contains considerable impurity, some of which is not removed in the previous washing, because the material is not sufficiently open, and some of which is accumulated in its passage through the machines. The back washer operates on a principle similar to that of the first washer, but as the material is in the form of a sliver, the machine requires more careful designing in order to dry the wool without damage. The sliver from the card or the gill boxes is fed by rollers through a soap solution, squeezed, fed through a rinsing tank, squeezed again, and dried by passing over steam heated rollers. To straighten out the fibers, which become somewhat disarranged in the washing, another gill box is placed after the back washer.

Comb. The operation of combing, which separates out the short fibers and places in a parallel position those which remain, is the basic operation which distinguishes woolen from worsted. There are four types of comb, the Noble, the nip, the square motion or Holden, and the French or Heilmann comb. The general principle is the same in all, though there are important differences in the construction. The wool is combed by the action of a cylinder set with fine teeth. either while being held by a nip, or while being worked between two such cylinders, after which the long fibers, hanging out from the teeth, are drawn off by pairs of rollers. The shorter fiber remain in the teeth, and are carried around the cylinder and removed by noil knives. The Noble comb is in the most general use, both in this country and abroad, and is adapted to the greatest variety of wools. The French comb, however, finds considerable application in this country, and is suited especially to fine short wools for the

manufacture of hosiery. The output of a French comb is only about one-half that of a Noble comb, so that, in using the cheaper short wools, the higher labor costs in this country offset its advantage. The nip or Lister comb is used in connection with the gill box system of preparing, although the Noble comb is also used with this system. This type of comb is therefore rare in the United States. The square comb is practically obsolete.

Finisher gill boxes.-After combing, the wool is passed through a series of gill boxes, similar to the preparer boxes, except that they are of lighter construction. The first of the series draw out the fibers into finer and finer slivers, which are combined and again drawn out, producing a uniform untwisted thread. The last of the series also inserts a twist into the fiber, which is then called roving. Spinning frames. In the English system the roving from the gill boxes is spun into yarn principally on the cap frame. The roving is fed from between two feed rollers, to a rapidly revolving bobbin, on which the yarn is wound as it is fed from the rollers. As the bobbin revolves much faster than the rollers feed, the roving also slips rapidly around the top of the bobbin, inserting the twist. A cap fits over the head of the bobbin, the yarn passing under the edge of the cap, thus keeping it taut, and guiding the yarn as it is wound on the bobbin.

The flyer frame is in use to some extent, for yarns for special purposes, such as Palm Beach cloth and plushes.

In the French system of spinning, the mule is used. The roving is fed out through rollers, to a revolving bobbin, as in the cap frame, but the bobbin is mounted on a traveling carriage, which draws out the yarn as it rolls away. At the same time the bobbin revolves rapidly, and being set at an angle to the feed rollers, the yarn winds up in a spiral until it reaches the end of the bobbin, after which it slips over the end of the bobbin, and is simply twisted, while the carriage continues its motion. The thinner parts of the roving are twisted the most, while the thicker parts are more drawn out, thus producing a very uniform yarn.

When the carriage reaches the end of its travel, the feed rollers stop, the bobbins revolve in the reverse direction a few times, to unwind the spiral on the end of the bobbin, and then the carriage rolls back. As the carriage moves back, the bobbins again revolve forward, winding the spun yarn on the bobbins, the yarn being guided by wires which descend.

Although it has been in use in France for a number of years, the ring spinning frame is in a somewhat experimental stage in this country. It is in use by the New Jersey Spinning Co. and the Botany Worsted Mills.

Machinery preparatory to weaving. Before the yarn as it is spun is ready for the loom, a number of operations are required to get it both in the physical condition and the mechanical shape for weaving. These operations and the equipment used vary with the yarn used and the product desired. Among the machines used are winders, doublers, and twisters, slashers for applying size, warpers for winding many threads side by side for inserting in the loom, cleaners, and many others.

Looms. The essential operations in weaving are the dividing of the warp into two or more sets, the throwing of the shuttle carrying

the weft thread between the warp, and beating up the weft close to the preceding thread, to form a firm fabric. Each of the warp threads is passed through a small loop of wire or twine, called a harness, by which it can be pulled to one side. Plain goods are produced by pulling up alternate threads of the warp, which is thus divided into two sets, when the shuttle is thrown through. For patterns, the harness is divided into a number of sets, controlled, in the case of the more simple patterns, by a dobby. The pattern produced depends upon the form of the links of a chain which are run through the dobby. For more complicated patterns, a Jacquard is used, which controlls the motion of the harness by means of a roll of perforated paper, similar to that used in a piano player.

Finishing machinery. The apparatus used in finishing cloth is of great variety, and could not well be briefly described. It includes shearing, singeing, calendering, dyeing, printing, drying, napping, milling, and many others. There is also a line of machines designed for waste working.

WOOLEN MACHINERY.

Willow. After carbonizing, wool to be wormed on the woolen system is opened up and mixed in the willow, a machine similar to the card, but having strong hooked teeth.

Card. The woolen card differs only slightly from the worsted card. All wool to be made into woolen is carded, but the gill preparers and the comber are not used for woolen. A series of several cards is used; the last of which delivers the material in the form of a sliver, or loose rope.

Mule.-Woolen is spun on the mule, similar in general principle to the worsted mule. There are two types of woolen mule, the heavy English type, and the light American. The light type appears to be gaining in use in this country, owing, probably, to the fact that it requires less skill for its operation. Both types are made in this

country.

Woolen yarn is woven on looms of the same general character as worsted looms, except that intricate patterns are not employed. Much of the machinery required for finishing is of a special kind, and is of great variety.

DOMESTIC PRODUCTION.

The production of wool machinery is not shown separately. In 1914 the production of all classes of textile machinery in the United States amounted to $30,437,689. In previous years textile machinery was included with foundry and machine-shop products. The dependence of all textile industries upon machinery of a highly specialized character gives this industry an importance greater than the value of the output would indicate.

Material. Cast iron and steel are the chief materials used in the construction of wool machinery. Alloy steels are not employed to a great extent, but the selection of the proper grades of steel for certain parts of the machines is a factor of importance.

Equipment.Textile machinery is made in shops equipped for the production of fairly heavy machines of a high degree of accuracy. The most of the plants purchase their castings from foundries. The