Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-03-30
PROTECTION COATS.
THEY ARE MADE OF OLD WooLEN
RAGS GROUND UP.

High TSrirs Upon Raw Woods and Manu-
factured woolens Compel the Working
man to Wear shoddy Clothes-HOw the
Article Is Made.
During the whole period Of tariff dis
cussion no point received so much atten-
ton from public speakers and writers
and aroused so much interest among the
people as the effect which our outrageous
duties upon raw wool and manufactured
woolens has upon the wool raising in
dustry of the country on the one hand
and the quality Of the clothing worn by
the masses on the other.
The sheepless shepherds who defended
protection declared that the duty upon
raw wool alone stood between the wool
growers and destruction, and that the
duties upon manufactured woolens
served to stiffen competition among our
manufacturers and thus give the people
cheaper and better clothing than they
could possibly get in any other way.
The friends of tariff reform demonstrated
time and again that the result of these
duties was most grievous; that they de-
stroyed the demand for domestic wool,
which would otherwise be used in large
quantities in admixtures with foreign
woods, and at the same time encouraged
the manufacture Of "shoddy."
One of the most interesting contribu-
tions made in support Of the claim that
shoddy has taken the place of our do
mestic grown wool in the manufacture
cloth, carpets, etc., is an article written
by Mr.. W. B. Estell and printed in the
November supplement Of the New York
World. Mr.. Estell is an agent of the
New York Reform club and under its
direction made an exhaustive examina-
ton of the shoddy business. He visited
several states and some of the largest
manufacturing establishments in the
country, if not in the world, principle
among these being the great shoddy
manufacturing establishment of Muhl-
hausser & Sons, located at Cleveland.
Mr.. Estell goes into the question thor
oughly, beginning with the gathering Of
every description of rags, from the new
tailor clippings to the filthy remnants of
old clothing gathered from every con-
ceivable source: tells how they are sorted
according to quality and color, packed III
large bales by the local dealers, then sold
to the manufacturers of shoddy. The
processes employed in converting the
rags into shoddy are described in aninter-
esting manner, accompanied by illustra-
tions of the machinery used.
Shoddy of the best quality is made
from new all wool rags. The rags are
torn into shreds by means of revolving
cylinder called "the devil" covered with
thousands of short, sharp teeth. So
close do these shreds resemble real wool
that detection is almost impossible. The
shoddy is mixed with little ''live" wool,
spun into yarn and made into the "all
wool" suits we hear so much about.
Manufacturers thus foist upon the Amer
lean people clothing which has been
worn out before by four or five different
people. The last appearance of shoddy
as clothing is in the form of satinets, the
admixture of cotton and shoddy out of
which our So suits of clothing are made.
Even then we are not rid of it, for it is
put through another process by which it
is ground fine as dust, after which it
is called CLOCKS" and used for filling the
cheap mattresses and pillows which the
poorer people buy.
Mr.. Estell also tells how the rags in
which wool and cotton are mixed are
subjected to various processes which
have for their object the destruction Of
the cotton, thus leaving the wool, though
in an impaired condition, yet fit to be
torn into shoddy. The "union" goods,
as such rags are called, are bathed in
acids in some instances and exposed to
gas in others. The acids and gas eat the
cotton or other vegetable fibers, leaving
"wool extracts"
Shoddy and "wool extracts" are made
into yarn and woven into cloth. But
since duties have made foreign fine woods
so high that none but the rich can afford
genuine all wool suit made Of soft
woods many devices have been intro
duced to supply the demands for low
priced imitation fine wool suits.
One way of making "cheap coats" is
to run the cloth-perhaps already half
shoddy-through a "flock liquor" con-
tanning wool dust. The dust adheres to
the surface and is pressed firmly into the
cloth by being passed between large
rolls. Another way Of giving soft, vel
vety texture and of adding to the weigh
Of cloth consists of "fattening" the yarn.
This is accomplished by blowing CLOCKS
and fine shoddy against the threads while
they are being twisted into yarn. OF
course cloth made Of such stuff has ita
faults. These, however, are hidden from
the unwary purchaser in various ways.
The "focked" or "fulled" sides of the
cloth are pasted together, and the cloth
is then worked up into ready made cloth
ing, with openings left in the lower cor
ners of the coats to prevent accumula-
tions of "f1ocks" and "shoddy."
Mr.. Estel1 shows how the growth OF
the shoddy industry has kept pace with
the decline Of the wool raising industry,
and by quotations from the manufac-
turers of shoddy themselves proved that
"shoddy" and not "free woor is the
enemy Of the wool raisers of America
Such men as Mr.. Muhlhausser of Cleve.
land, the largest manufacturer of shod.
dy in America, if not in the world
frankly said that the admission Of for
eign wool into this country would mean
the destruction of the shoddy manufac'
turing business and better prices to the
American sheep growers for their wool
1t is the high price, because of tariff
duties, which our American clothing
manufacturers must pay for the foreign
wool, which is indispensable to the man
ufacturers of good cloths, that drives
them to the use of shoddy instead o.