The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1871-03-10
MoHA1R AND CASHMERE WOOL.

n1ohdiT 10 INC heccc VI 5oab1 WhICu
is a native of Turkey and other east
ern countries. The product of this
goat is scarcely known as an article
ofcommerce outside ofTurkey, Great
Britain, France, Belgium, and some
parts ofGermany. AS textile fabric
it bears a very important relation to
silk, which it resembles in its lusture
touch, and appearance; but tits less
hexable, and has not that gossamer
fineness that belongs to the latter
article.
Mohair is very often COMPOUNDED
with Cashmere wool, but while pos
sessing many of the qualities of the
latter, it is not equal to it in softness
and elasticity. The genuine Cash
mere is the fleece of a small goat of
very graceful form, which is found
in the Himaylaya Mountains, on an
extensive table-land at the height of
about IA, 900 feet above the level of
the sea. The color of Thibet goats
fleece is generally grey or brown,
and is of the most exquisite fneness,
This fleece is usually bleached by be-
ing placed in a preparation of rice
-four and some unknown substance,
which Europeans have never yet
been able accurately to determine
After the wool is bleached it is dyed,
and while undergoing these two pro-
cesses, it is said to loose one-half its
original weight.
The most beautiful and costly
"Camel Hair Shawls" are made of
Cashmere Wool, and there is no evil
dence that shawls ever were made
of cameps hair, or that any known
species of this animal ever furnished
a substance that will comparein soft
ness and delicacy of fibre with the
fleece of the Thibet Goat. The near
est approach to hair of remarkable
tineness in animals of this description
is found on the Lama, or Alpaca,
which inhabits Peru and the Andes
of South America. Alpaca is very
often mixed with Mohair, which it
closely resembles. Fabrics made
from these articles are of brilliant
lusture, and are very serviceab!e.
A cloth called CamIet was very
fashionable few years since, and is
said to have derived its name from
having first been woven from "Cam-
ELS Hair" but the pure Oriental
Camlet was made ofthe hair of the
Angora Goat. The best of these
Camlets were noted for their lustrc
and durability but they were stiff
and unyielding, and on this account
moro than any other, their use was
abandoned.
Mohair differs from wool in not be-
ing adapted to telling; but for this
very reason it is particularly valuable
in the manufacture of upholstery
goods. In many descriptions of
of cloths it is mixed with wool, cotton,
or silk the warp being either one Of
these articles and the wool of Mohair.
Silk and wool are also twisted togeth-
or, and then wove with Mohair.
In the manufacture of velvets,
pushes, and even laces, Mohair is
very extensively used, and on ac-
count of its beauty and durability, it
is every year finding favor with the
general consumer Some of the laces
made from this article are substitu-
ted and sold for the genuine Chantilly
Valenciennes. Shawls are also made
of this product, but they like the
softness and richness of the genuine
Cashmere, which watt their praises
in every breath of fragrance that
floats out of their native valley
Utrecht Velvet has heretofore been
extensively manufactured in France,
and has been largely used in cover
ing furniture, theatre and railroad
seats, and for hotels and other places
Of public resort. It possesses the
rare quality of not retaining dust, of
being easily cleaned, and much less
liable to fade than many other de
scriptions of goods. Mohair has a
wonderful affinity fer dyes, which it
entirely absorbs, and by this means
retains its color, until completely
worn out. The best Astrakhans are
made of this material, and for outside
garments they are not surpassed
either in brilliancy or quality.
Mohair is imported from Turkey
in Closely packed bales, weighing
175 to 200 pounds, and the cost laid
down in Europe, has been for many
years, nearly twice the value of the
best English Combing Woods. In
this country the importation has
ranged for several years from twenty
to twenty-five thousand pounds, most
of which has gone to Lowell, to be
manufactured into dress goods.
Light Summer dress goods, pop
Inns, and other fabrics, are also made
at Bradford, in England and Mohair
enters very largely into their fabri-
cation. The warp of these goods is
silk and cotton, or silk and wool,
while the woof is entirely of Mohair.
The Cashmere or Thibet Goat has
never been domesticated to advan-
tage in any other land than its native
mountains but the Angora Goat has
been largely imported into France,
and has readily hacnma annlimated