The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-05-29

eooW shoddy % Made. spun ana
How 20 Detect sh"ddy- 1eking enesr
Tsrtu Clothes for the People.
The word ''shoddy." - ordinarily
used In the past. meant sil sorts o.
wool waste made from wool which has
once gone through the various pro-
cesses ~ manufacture, such - scour-
ing. cariing or combing, spinning and
weaving.
Now, however. since 70 many substi-
tntcs for new and clear wool have been
brought into use, the broad term shcd-
dy has been narrowed down 20 include
only a clearly defined wool substitute,
and the other substitutes formerly M
cluded under II have been given new
names Thus therefore, we have In
the category Of wool substitutes the fol-
lowing: Q) new shoddy; ca old shod-
Az: az extracts; (4) fiocks; 90 cow hair;
common goat and other animal
rsir.
New and old shoddics r made in the
same way, the former from pieces and
strips Of new cloth resulting as q waste
in the making up Of wooden fabrics
into articles Of wearing apparel. and
the latter made from old and wornout
garments, wooden rags in fact every
piece Of wooden material, however
small. which have found their way into
the rag pickers' and peddlers' bags
These rags. new and old. are first run
through a machine called the picker.
which tears the yarns 10 pieces, after
which the product Is mixed with clear
and new wool. and carded OF combcd
and spun. The quantity OF new wool
necessary 10 make the spinning OF the
shoddy possible depends upon the
length and strength Of the shoddy
fiber.
Shoddy yarns made in this way were
formerly used in the welt only. but Of
late manufacturers have come TO use
more and more Of them in the warp.
The great difficulty standing in the way
OF their use in the warp is their great
liability TO break.
Extracts are. like shoddies, made from
wooden rags. but they differ from shod-
dies in this respect that they are made
from rags which contain an admixture
OF wooden and cotton yarns. Before
such rags al be put through the pick
err. which breaks up the yarns int
fbers. the cotton yarns must be separ
| atcd from the wooden yarns This il
accomplished by soaking the rags in ar
acid which. so TO speak, eats out the
cotton fbers but leaves those Of WOO
| intact. After the rags have gone
| through this extracting process they g
| through the picker and are treated II
the same way and are used for similar
purposes as shoddies Extracts. how
ever, are not worth as much in thu
markets as shoddies, since the acis
used in taking out the cotton Injuries
the wool fibcrs.
Flocks are entirely difcrentin mature
and in the uses to which they are put
from extracts and shoddies. The great
er part Of the flocks made result from
the finishing Of cloth once woven II
this process the cloth Is u over sharl
knives which cut of the projecting
ibers. Flocks are therefore too shor
20 admit of carding or spinning-to'
short even to be mixed with wool The
are used, however. to increase tn
weight Of wooden and mixed fabrics
This Is accomplished by literally blow
ing them into the woven cloth.
The other substitutes for wool, sue
rs COW, goat, and other coarse anima
hair, find their chief use in the manu-
facturc Of carpets and SO great is the de
mand for them for these purposes tina
the price Of hair for use in mixinl
plaster for houses has gone upconsideE
ably Of late years
1t Is a difficult task for a layma'
TO detect shoddies or extracts in tn
garments which he is about t~opurchase
for they are very ingeniously conceale'
he has worn his coat for awhile Ii
wool fibcrs making up the yarn use'
in the welt, nearly worn out q
they already are before they are manu-
featured. soon break. and their ne,
owner soon finds his garment shrinking
and thrcadbare-
Tlocks are so ingcniously blown int
the fabric from which our heavy coat
are made that their presence can be d
tected only after the garment has bee
worn for awhile. when they accumulat
in the corners and together with tn
broken shoddy and extract ibers max
quite q large bunch.
1t is not alone in the manufacture 9
cloths and carpets that shoddies an
extracts are used. To such an extren
ity have the wool hat manufacturer
been forced in their competition wit
fur hats by the high wool duties, tia
as early as 1850 40 per cent Of the m;
terials used by them was shoddy an
other substitutes, and to-day many wos
hats (thev should be called shoddy hats