Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1888-04-20
Carpet Making in Philadel phia.

carpet making lS fnllauclpnla
chief industry. Thousands of men,
women and children are employed,
and the output is estimated at 40,.
OOO.o 600 yards year. The largest
mills are at Kensington in the upper
part of the city, and reporter of the
Press, after describing the homes of
the employees, which are almost
empty during the day on account of
all the family, excepting the smallest
children being in the mills, proceeds
as follows:
But let US leave these empty homes
aud visit the crowded mill and watch
the toilers at their work The pro.
cess of carpet making is one of fascin.
ating interest American ingenuity
has quickened the manufacture by in
ventions of machinery that seem al
most human in it's movements. AS
everybody knows, carpets are made
on, of wool. A bale of wool lies at
one end of the factory; at the other is
q roll of Brussels carpet of beautiful
color and design. The transforma.
tion ia the result of mauy steps.
The very first step in the process is
washing the wool The bale is ripped
open, aud the wool, full of the dust
and dirt imported with it, is thrown
into one end of a washing machine.
An endless, flexible platform, carries
| . Il do in
it is beaten by iron arms, squeezed
between rollers and thrown out at
the other end comparatively clean,
Next it is taken to the drying-roon
and thrown into huge boxes, through
which current of dry hot air is
forced by blower. The air comes
out of the boxes again still hot, but
loaded with dampness. Fans in the
windows, driven with great speed,
pump this hot air out OF the room as
fast as it escapes from the boxes of
wool, but in spite Of every appliance
the temperature is almost unendura-
bic. The thermometer in Summer
often reaches l40o, and the men
work stripped to the waist.
From the dryiDg-room the wool is
carried to the picker. house or mixing.
room. Here different kinds of wool
are thrown together in order to make
the particular quality desired. Then
it is picked" This is a process to
separate into fluffy down the fbres
which are as yet twisted and knotted
irregularly together. The "picker"
is mysterious looking machine, all
boxed up After oiling the wool u
man feeds it into one end of the
picker. 1t spouts out the other in a
feecy fountain, light as down. 1t
has been whirred through wheels
armed with pointed bits of steel that
have torn the knots and masses of
wool all to pieces, separating each
hair from it's neighbor, and yet leav-
ing them all clinging together, but in
mass of uniform lightness.
The wool must next be "carded"
That rs to say, the feecy mass must
be arranged in some way 30 that it
will take the form of sheet of uni
form thickness. The carding ma.
chine is a structure too complicated
for untechnical description, but it's
essential feature is series of cylin-
ders, armed with fine points of steel
wire. Through these cylinders the
wool passes and comes out thin fine
sheet, 80 delicate that it seems almost
impalpable. BY an other series of
contrivances this sheet is folded upon
itself and multiplied in thickness un-
til it is made to take the form Of long
strips, which are drawn" and
"robed" and reelcd on bobbins. And
then all is ready for the spinning.
"Spinning" is simply making the
wool into yarn The spindles whirl
with amazing rapidity, the "mules"
roll back and forth over the floor as
if alive and the girls trip nimbly here
and there behind the "tops," picking
up broken lends" and fastening them
together again with nimble twist of
the fingers The yarn thus made is
next twisted" that is, two threads
are twisted together and sometimes
four, in which case it is called "re
doubling" The yarn, which but
short time ago was the rough wool
as clipped from the hide, is now q
stl ong line. 1t is reeled from the
bobbins into hanks and is then ready
for the dyer.
And now the process divides into
two distinct paths If Brussels car
pet is to be made the yarn goes to
the dyeroom; but if it is TO be made
into tapestry, then it goes to the
printer. When dyed, of course, oach
yarn is Of one color throughout.
When printed every yarn is Of one
color for certain lengh, perhaps half
an inch, then Of another for perhaps
quarter of an inch, then of another
for perhaps a quarter Of an inch and
so on. The dyehouse is pictur-
esque place 1t is filed with clouds
OF steam thot roll from the caldrons,
over which half naked men are stoop-
ing, lifting stout rods covered with
hanks Of yarn in and out of the boil
ing dye. When the workman thinks