Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-02-23

Reported for the Boston cJnmorclni Bulletin.
One or two more chapters ought to
be devoted to the subject of ladies'
dress goods since the manufacture Of
these comprises an industrial field of
which very important portion still
remains unOccupied by domestic
manufacturers. or the $4,000, 900
worth OF woolens imported into the
United States last year $40. 900 900
worth consisted of worsted dress goods.
IL has been stated that the American
production In 1880 was but 10000, 900
square yards. while the imports were
18,0DO,000. While the manufacture Of
the higher grades Of ,eorstod dress
goods II still retarded, however, IL Is
gratifying 10 know that American
wooden mills have lately achieved such
triumphs In the manufacture OF Hdnnoi
dress goods. Let US visit II mill In
which these fabrics are made.
In 1874 or rs the flannel trade Of the
United States was more depressed than
most other branches OF the wooden IN
duHtry. But, n few years ago, ladies
began to manifest u liking for flannel
dresses, and the mills which made q
speciality of such goods devoted
80 MUCH SKILL
and ingenuity to their fabrication and
coIoring that the popular demand for
them has steadily Increased, Addi-
tiopal wooden machinery has been di
verted to their manufacture each
year, aud several flannel mills that
never made dress goods before are
showing samples Of them this Scnson.
For various reasons the manufacture
of these soft wooden dress fabrics has
been principally monopolized by the
tlannel mills. In the irst place, man
ufncturers, of mems woolcns sell their
goods principally 80 the clothing trade
and do not come In contact with the
dry goods dealers who are the distribu-
tors of ilnnnels and dress goods.
In the second place, the looms Of the
cashmere mills, which are designed
for weaving n variety Of colors in the
same piece Of cloth, are not as well
adapted for dress goods as Is the more
simple weaving machinery of the
flannel mill Flannels are generally
- Inches Wide and are woven three
In a breath. That IL, they are made
upon a sufficiently broad loom SO that
three breadths can be woven at Il time,
constituting what appears 10 bc n fab
rio 80 or 30 inches Wide. But ut the
place whore the three brcndths are to
be torn apart two or three threads of
the warp are left out, and when the
separate piece of flannel Is finished
for market IL Is shrunk up to
- or ~ inches. a good many
CASHMERE LOOMS ARE so NARROW
az to only admit of weaving single
breadth of goods - inches wide. Most
of the flannel dress goods are 81 inches
wide when finished, aud must CON
sequently he woven upon the broad
looms with which flannel mills are
generally equipped. Fifty~four inch,
or slx-quarter, dress goods are woven
in a single breadth, but wooden dress
fabrics are also being made 81 or As
inches wide aud are woven two In u
breadth and then torn apart. Some
are also being made this season 80 and
even ~ inches wide,
Flannels and flannel dress goods are
principally woven white and dyed In
the piece, and many great improve
ments have had to be mnde In the
methods ofdyelng In those mills which
have introduced the manufactures of
dress goods, Common cOlorcd ilnnnels
are principally scarlet or blue. The
process of dyeing scarlet In the mill We
are inspecting is as follows; Nine
pounds Of gray-black cochincnl, II
pounds Of white tartar, q ounces OF
ilnvlne aud 10 pounds of murintc of tin
are put into n Kettle with water heated
to "a temperature of l70o In this pre-
pnration 100 pounds of cloth Is immcrs-
ed by running over Il reel above the
kettle and thence through the coloring
matter, the cloth being kept In con
slant motion through the liquid aud
over the reel. Meanwhile the liquid
Is raised 10 the boiling point IN twenty
minutes. and Is allowed 10 boil for
threc.quaricrs Of IN hour. The cloth
is then taken cut and put intoa" wash
en- which consists OF two squeeze roll
ers suspended over Il pit about six feet
deep through which stream OF cold
water IL constantly flowing.
OTHER coLoRiNc PROCESSES.
More than half the scarlet ilannels
made In the United States are died lii
the above manner, but the use OF AMI
line dyes for scarlet ilnnnels ms well rs
cassimers aud carpets is increasing,
Anilinc scarlets will stand washing
better than those colored with cochi-
neal, but meet with some opposition
on account OF the fear of nrsenical pois.
oning which Is often held toward
them.
The blue fiannels are most generally
dyed with ono pound of red prussiate
OF potash aud q pounds oil OF vitrio
To 20 pounds OF cloth, the coloring be.
ing done In kettlcns previously de-
sclibed, This frat bath, however, only
gives the iinnnel IL sky-hlue "hottom.N
A second bath h necessary In u liquor
composed OF lockwood aud the crystals
in hot water. rhe quantity of log
wood varies according 10 the depth oe
The color required, The result of this
second bath is the 'Uyal-hme, which
Is 30 common hue for shifting ilan-
nels, The great variety of coloring
now employed in flannel dress goods
eNhausts the resources OF the import
ers and manufacturers of dyes and
chemicals, COX -hloodn Is popular
hue, the dye for which comes TO the
wooden mil ready prepared by the
manufactures of anlline. 'Sronze
Green Is obtained by iirst putting ths
cloth through u bath OF chrome and
oxalic acid, into which the fabric Is en-
tered cold aud the liquid Is then
brought up to Il boiling point and so
continued Tor m hour to an hour and
half The cloth Is then put into Il
n A 80 a a q q.