The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1872-07-13
WESTMINSTER MD, SATURDAY MORNING, JULY l3 1872
How BroadcIOth is Made,


gentleman's back, VIC will trace the his.
tory Of broadcloth The wool being
shorn, goes to the stapler's, aud by him
is sorted. II is neither long nor short,
for the cloth manufacture, if wool be
not moderately short it must be short.
ened artifcially. II is next well oiled
and spun into thread or yarn, then
woven into tissue that will be cloth
by aud by, though long way distant
from cloth when it leaves the weaver.
The tissue, If examined at this stage of
manufacture, would display its threads
just as madams stuff gown docs. A
coat Of this material would be threadbare
all over, despite its newness. Before
this material can become commercial
cloth, five chief things will have to be
done to 1t. Its texture must be closed,
that is to say, it must be shruuk il
must be cleansod a nap must be put
upon it superiluous nap be shorn of (;
finally, it must be hot.pressed. FIRST,
as to the closing or shrinking. If We
bear in mind what has already been
stated about the quality Of lelting pos
sossed by wool, due to the presence of
certain saw-like teeth, the reason Of
shrinkagc well be understood. To ac.
complish this is the fuller work, and he
goes to work as follows He takes the
material to be shrunk, vets it, soaps it.
aud submits it to the fullng mill for a
considerable time-seven OF eight hours
under which operation the shrinkage
is effected. The fulling machine is an
engine SO contrivcd that heavy piles or
hammers are brought to bear upon the
texture, already soapcd, wctted and laid
in trough. The hammers are so fixed
IN the machine that not ouly do they
TALL upon the texture with heavy thuds,
but, at the same time, turn il about
each stroke being delivered on a fresh
portion.
Now, bearing in mind the saw.liko
teeth, and the quality of felting, what
happens will be easily understood
The wool iibers are well soaped, as we
already know, and, but for their serra.
tlons, all looking one way, they would
slide upon each other in various aud
irregular directions. Practically. how.
ever, they ouly slide one way-namely,
with the roots foremost. The result is
that tue saw like teeth catch among
each other, at every catch making the
wool hbers shorter, whereby the entire
texture is shrunk, and Of course pro
portionatcly closed up and thickeEcd
This result being accomplished, the
workman clears away the soap by means
OF fuller's earth and water, the fabric
still remaining in the trough, aud still
wrought upon by the falling hammers
or piles. Being taken from the fulling.
mill the sbrunkcu material has next 10
be dried. This is doue by hanging it
on tcnter.hooks stuck into the margins
OF the texture at convenient distances.
Obviously, this is an operation that ad.
mits Of considerable deceit in dishonest
hands. The wet fabric might be iniur.
iously stretched, made broader or long.
or, to the prejudice OF the material.
Formerly the exact amount of stretch.
Ing to be used was regulated by act Of
Parliament, SO important did the matter
seem. Well, our material woven. full.
led and dried, is not cloth vet, though
considerably advanced on its way TO
CLOTH 1t has no nap; so the next pro.
cess will be imparting nap to it. Let
US suppose now, by the way Of intro.
dncing the nap imparting process, that
. piece oil our material having been laid
Hat on board, cat gets on il and
scratches it. Pu's would get sort Of
nap on our material, though she would
deal with it somewhat roughly. IL the
scratching effect Of cats claws were
sacll as cloth workerrequircd, he might
initiate the operation by some sort Of
wirctooth machinery. Altogether too
violent 1t would be; for, although nap
Is really scratched up out of threads, il
- ELECTED by little hooks incomparably
iiner than the claws of any cat; finer
'han any hooks mans ingenuity has
enabled him TO dcvise-lhe agents used
oy clothiers of to day, as by the Ro.
mans, being the hook like growth Of
the Dipsdcas .Jalt0rup,, or fullcr's tea.
sci. This plant, in growth, is some.
thing like a thistle. It bears round
heads, each about the size of small
apple, aud studded all over with fine
hooked protuberances. Many of these
teasel heads being packed together, aud
bound up tight on a fiat surface, make
sort of comb, or curry comb, and this
was the invariablc way of packing tea.
sells for use in cloath manufacture once
They may also be packed on cylinder;
out, however arranged, their use in get.
ting up nap out of threads will be OBJ.
vlous, Caused to rub against the in.
cipient cloth, they scratch out little
odds and ends of wool, aud produce a
hairy surface.
One stage further, then our woven
material has advanced on tho road 10
perfect cloth; but it is not cloth vet
The nap just scratched up by the tea
scl-hooks is of all lengths, within Ger.
tain limits. Tho manufacturer wants
an even length, which he aecomplishes
by shoaring, Next follows hot pres.
sing, and this being done, We regard
the cloth as made.-Aorgaa's British
Trade Journal.
A boomerang was recently exhibited