The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-04-09
now To SELECT CLOTHING.
TaiIor's Advice az to How to Detect
Cotton Warp and ahoddy in Cloth.

''The stuff In this suit of black clothe
you made for me is not what took
for" said one of an uptown tailor
customers to him the other day in
reporters hearing. II have just ha
them cleaned, and now see how the
have whitenod ut the edges"
That's because of the cotton warp i
the material, which the securing 500
makes apparent" replied the tailor, &c
nially.
"But you assured me particularly tha
the material wasn't shoddy."
$50 did, and told you the truth
But at the same time told you that |
was cheap American goods, and that i
just what it is-a well.appearing Ameri
can Woollen manufacture with o larg
percentage of cotton warp. If you hat
wanted shoddy, / could have sent 20,
where you'd have got something still
cheaper, for shoddy is kind of goods
won't make up for love or money. But
if you will remember, I showed vol
much better but more expensive goods
of both foreign and American manufao
ture, which l offered to Recommend
heartily enough. But you wore bent OF
having the poorer but we'll appearing
goods, and 80 consulted your own wishes
instead of my advice"
The customer seemed to have nothing
to offer against these statements, anC
presently took his departure, apparently
much dissatisfied with himself, if no,
with the tailor.
How" asked tho reporter, "is an in.
experienced buyer to distinguish between
allSrnn1au n evnnIs ,,l Tho ,,,oto.;,1 800
tanning cotton warp of which that gen
tleman was complaining2"
"By merely raveling out the rough edge
Of tho material and inspecting the
threads," said the tailor. ANY one car
tell u cotton thread from q woolen thread
The one will break short in two on being
tested, while the other will fray and floss
out, like yarn aud worsted. In this way
you can readily detect a mixture of cot.
ton warp in q sham all-woolleu fabric %
How do you detect shoddy in cloth ?'
"!n just the Same way, and even more
easily. Fray out two or three threads
from the rough edge, and untwist them
II they contain shoddy 1t will drop out
of the twist, sometimes like sand, and
then again in an impalpable dust, that
will likely enough make you sneeze. II
you'd inhale enough of the stuff it would
be apt to give you both headache and
sore throat, for most shoddy is o rank
poison. Ever in shoddy factory3"
"No,"
"Well, was, and know something
about it. Fact is, worked :I {, shoddy
factory just one week when I was much
younger and more necessitous person
than | am now. Necessitous? Well,
should say 80, for nothing short ofslarva.
tion could have driven me to seek EN-.
ployment in that poison mill. Talk
about quicksilver mining and that sort
of thing for turning live workers into
galvanized corpsesl Why, such employ.
ment ia positively invigorating compared
with a shoddy MILF I stood it just one
week, and was then laid up for six
months. Lucky / switched off when
did, or I'D have been atrophied into
Kingdom Come long ago. Even as II
was 1t was close shave"
"How is shoddy made?"
Il can tell you how It was made twelve
or fifteen years ago, when served my
weeks apprenticeship at it.. They may
have made improvements in the milling
since then, though of course the product
itself Is just the same mean, swindlipg
poisonous stuff it always was. was
placed over sort of machine something
like. a patent straw cutter, only in lieu ol
straw you fed it with cloth scraps, rem
nants, clippings and rags. These passed
through the teeth of the machine on te
revolving knives, just as In straw cutter
which minced them up pretty 6ue. Af
ter that they passed through, another and
yet another, machine, getting minced
finer and finer at each operation, until
the stuff was reduced TO a coarse powder
This powder was then bolted, and the
fine, powder or dust that passed, through
the last ,seive was the beautiful stuf
called shoddy, OF. flock. Then came the
dying process, and, the dirty job was
complete. I never got any further thar
feeder, to the primary machine. al
though l kept o wet sponge tied constant
ly over my mouth and nostrils, the worl
was almost too much for me even at The
end of the first day. Why, once an houl
would squeeze out that sponge mueller
aud tho water that came from it woult
be blacker than yourhat, aud smell wors,
than any rag picker's sack. At the enc
Of the week pocketed my sc wages q
Ii ! had stolen it, and slid for home lik,
O rocket, where was sick ahed lonl
time afterward." },,eg.. 'r,,.5'
How did the other operatives stand !
so much better. than you 2" .si.,.
"Some Of them didn't while those tha
did had cast.iron throsts and lupgs liz,
bellows, I suppose. Some men can stant
anything" ts,4, ~ ;,~,
How is the shoddy mixed with ith
cloth p ~. -, ! - 7',-t =
ut is simply twisted up with tho war,
before the weaving. This gives fictitiou
weight and durability to fabric who's
native fimsiness would otherwise betra,
its worthlessness. AS 1t is, IL takes
very little wear and tear to dust out th
shoddy, and expose the general wretch
edness of the wool. Young man, bewar
OF shoddy, whose presence in cloth yol
can always detect in the manner I hav
told you." 49, @,l ,aa. j
"But in ready-made clothing 2" ID,
There You have no means Of detectin
II, save by wearing the goods. You ,hav
TO trust 20 the honesty Of tho firm O
whom you purchase. Though I dom
deal In ready.made goods myself, il, /
no more than just for me to say. tha
many firms that deal in nothing elee az
perfectly honest snd trustworthy, On,
whose guaranty of what they warrant l
as good as gold. Only, in addition. :
the precautions have given you, be YER
careful, In choosing goods, whether mad
up or not, 70 know lat the material ha
been properly fulled. Without o. perlec
course Of fnlling, .woolen cloth viii
always shrink upon becoming DAMP
What is the exact meaning of full
.cS =, p, .SsSh. 49, ~ . A5stls ~ s.