The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-10-04
Making Silk Lace.

the reach of the masses. AS n matter of
fact Nottingham is entirely innocent in the
premises, and the only connection between
the two lies in the fact that Nottingham,
being the home OF the English lace indus
try, has been adopted as an appropriate
name to be given to the output of our cot
ton lace manufactures. What Noting
ham is to England and Calais and Candre
to France Brooklyn Is to the United States
! the home or head center of the lace indus
try. The pioneer in this industry in this
country was Mr.. A. G.. Jennings of Brook
| Ign, who in 1867 opened a modest mill in
New York city, which in very few years
proved inadequate to the demands of his
growing business. In 1871 he decided to To-
cate in his native city, and the plant has
| been increased from time to time till now
there are seven large buildings covering the
| site on Hall street and Park avenue, giving
employment to about 900 men and wom-
! en-.
Mr.. Jennings is not only the pioneer in
the lace industry in America, but he is
also the head of the largest manufacture
| ing house in his line in this country. On
account of his labor saving machinery he
can compete successfully with all foreign
| manufacturers. He claims to have the
highest class of machinery in the world
| engaged in the silk industry and is the in
| ventor of several machines that have been
revolutionary in their operation the most
notable of which is a knitting machine,
capable of $40 revolutions a minute and on
which the finest silk yelling is made In
silk laces and veilings Mr.. Jennings ac-
| knowledges no superior.
TO follow thread of silk from its raw
state through its course of preparation to
be worked up into delicate lace by the mar
velously ingenious machinery is an exceed
| ingly interesting occupation. The silk i
received in this country in bales shipped
| from Italy, China and Japan. 1t is in
| skeins in the raw state, either greenish
white or yellow in color. The finest silk
comes from Italy The thread is like
! hair and is as long as the skein. The first
operation is to throw it, or, in other words,
| bring as many threads together as may be
required in very fine or heavier fabrics.
When the thread is of the desired thickness,
it is boiled to remove the gum which is
natural to it, and when dry it is wound on
spools holding several thousand yards each.
This is done by machines of from 60 to 80
| spools each.
The spools are then put on a jack or
frames OF pins, on which they revolve and
from which the silk is fed on a drum or
! less perforated with holes, according to the
number of threads to be placed in the
warp. An ingenious device registers the
| yards as they run on the drum, so that
| when the desired length has been wound
the machine is stopped. The warps vary
in width according to the work in which
they are to be used. The next operation is
to run the warps on the warp beams. These
beams are steel rollers of various thick
nesses and in widths running as high as l54
inches. Transferring the warp from the
drum to the beam is a repetition of the
operation from the spool to the drum.
To every machine there is a main warp
which forms the groundwork of the pat
tern, supplemented by several auxiliary
warps of various size threads, with which
the pattern is perfected The main warp
may be several thousand yards long, while
the auxiliary warps are shorter and are re
placed from time to time. When the skein
is wound on the spools, part of it goes in
another direction, where the silk is run
from the spools onto bobbins. The bob
bins are the instruments that in lacemak-
ing form the design of the pattern by twist
ing around the warp threads. At this stage
the machine is armed with the material
ready to be worked up. And this is the
point at which art enters.
\ corps of craftsmen are employed max
ing new desi gus and laying out the work.
The design being acceptable Il craftsman
pattern is drawn to scale, one copy of
which goes to the operator on the machine,
who threads it accordingly by running the
threads from the warp beams which set AT
the bottom of the machine through sley
cloth and perforated steel bars and fastened
on the roller at the top. This operation Is
of the most eXacting character and the
greatest care must be exercised, as the mis-
placing of Il single thread will bring disaS-
ter to the most elaborate and carefully
worked out design. Each thread is ham
died separately, and many hours are re-
quired to thread a machine of 1874 inches in
width. Within that space the pattern is
repeated as many times as the width will
allow, so that when the fabric is turned
out of the machine as many as 80 strips
may be found.
Another copy of the draftsman's pat
tern is sent to the jacquard puncher, or
what may be called a piano machine,
where the pattern is punched on heavy
cardboard on the same principle as the
music rolls of an orchestrion, but with the
difference that each piece of card (about
90 by Is iuches) contains the design OF a
single movement of the lace machine. If
there are 300 stitches in Il pattern, there
will be 300 of these carus strung together.
The machine being threaded, the cards
are adjusted to the jacquard attachment,
without which lace might better be made
by hand. The design cards operate drop
pers in heAttachment bars, through which
the threads pass and weave the pattern,
each movement being complete and per
feet. On machine l54 inches in width Is
many as 1900 threads are used.
The description Of the working of one
machine covers all. When the desired
length has been run Oft, it goes to the exam
lining room, where skilled women 20 over
it and pick N any flaw that may be found
after which 10 goes to the dyehouse TO as
sumo any color that may be chosen. From
thence it is taken TO the finishing room,
where it is washed in prepared bath and
then stretcheG on drying frames in rooms
kept at temperature of 1870 degrees. IL
now reaches its last stage preparatory 10
going into the world-the carding room
where the draw threads between the strips
are pulled out and the strips wound on
| 40 aud tlau thA nil Ria.