The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-04-15
How shoddy is Made.


as the effect which our outrageous duties
upon raw wool and manufactured woolens
has upon the wool raising industry 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 re-
form demonstrated time and again that the
result of these duties was most grievous:
that they destroyed the demand for domes-
tic 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 ofthe most interesting contributions
made in support Of the claim that shoddy
has taken the place of our domestic grown
wool in the manufacture of cloth, carpets,
etc, is anarticle written by Mr.. w. B. Estell
and printed in the November supplement
of the New York World Mr.. Eslel is an
agent of the New York Reform club and
under its direction made an exhaustive ex-
animation of the shoddy business. He
visited several states and some of the larg-
est manufacturing establishments ia the
country, if not in the world; principal
among these being the great shoddy manu-
featuring establishment of Muhlhausser K
Sons, located at Cleveland Mr.. Esiell
goes into the question thoroughly, beginn-
ing with the gathering of every description
\ of rags, from the new tailor clippings to
the filthy remnants of old clothing gatber-
ed from every conceivable source; tells how
they are sorted according to quality and
color, packed in large bales by the local
dealers, then sold to the manufacture
ers of shoddy. The processes employed in
converting the rags into shoddy are des-
cribed in an interesting manner, accompani-
ed by illustrations of the machinery used
Stoddy 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 shoddv is mixed
with little olive" wool, spun into yarn
and made into the ''all wool suits we hear
so much about. Manufacturers thus foist
upon the American 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 sati-
nets, the admixture of cotton and shoddy
out of which our S5 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 s'hocksn and used for filling the
cheap mattresses and pillows which the
poorer people buy.
Mr. Estell also tells how the rags in
which wool aud cotton are mixed are sub
jected to various processes which have for
their object the destruction of tie cotton,
thus leaving the wool, though in an inn
paired 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 "w0ol 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 introduced to supply the
demands for low priced imitation fine wool
suits.
One way of making 'eheap coats is 10
run the cloth-perhaps already half shod-
dy-thorough "fock liquor containing
wool dust. The dust adheres to the sur
face and is pressed firmly into the cloth By
being passed between large rolls Another
way of giving a soft, velvety texture and
of adding to the weight of cloth consists of
'slattening" the yarn. This is accomplish
ed by blowing ahocksn and fine shoddy
against the threads while they are being
twisted into yarn. OF course cloth made
of such stuff has its faults These, how
ever, are hidden from. the unwary pur-
chaser in various ways. The "hocked or
"fulled" sides of'the cloth are pasted to-
gether, and the cloth is then worked up
into ready made clothing, with openings
left in the lower corners of the coats to
prevent aecumulations of CLOCKS and
/ ''shoddy.
Mr.. Estell shows how the growth Of the
shoddy industry has kept pace with the
decline of the wool raising industry and BY
quotations from the manufacturers of
shoddy themselves proved that "shoddy
I IL, ..f tl,e.
wool raisers of America. Such men as
Mr.. Muhlhausser of Cleveland, the largest
manufacturer of shoddy in America, if not
in the world, frankly said that the admis-
sion of foreign wool into this country would
mean the destruction Of the shoddy manu-
featuring 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 manu-
faturers must pay for the foreign wool,
which is Indispensable to the manutactnr-
ers of good cloths, that drives them to the
use Of shoddy instead of native wool.
An examination of the statistics relating
to the price of wool and the price shoddy
as given by the American Wool and Cotton
Reporter shows that every upward stride
of Che manufacturer of shoddy has been
followed by decline of the price Of
American woods.
While prices of bogus woods have been
well maintained, prices Of real WOODS have
gone down rapidly and increasingly until
the election Of 1892, when the lowest
prices on record were reached. Since then
real wools are 10 better demand, and
prices have recovered several cents per
pound. With free wool our shoddy manu-
factnrers may be expected to take back
seat and leave room for manufacturers Of
all wool cloths. In few years our farm
ers and laborers viii be induIging in as
cninfnrtnhle Climbing and blankets as are