The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1894-06-09
HOW FELT IS MADE.
ksRsnd Says st. Clement. the Hat-Anl
ers, Patron saint, Was Its D~iscoverer.

eaRsnd Says 81. Clement. the Hat-Anb
ers' Patron Saint, Was Its Discoverer.
St. Clement, the patron saint OF hat
makers, and whose day occurs Nn the
Esd of November, is said to have acct.
dentally discovered felt Starting on q
pilgrimage. he put some wool between
the soles of his feet and his sandals to
make his trip easier. The wool after
an interval became felt, owing to the
Continued pressure to whichit was sub
jected by the feet Of the saint St.
Clement was not the first to discover
felt, as it was really known long be-
fore his time. but the legend illustrates
the simple manner in which the mate.
rial itself may be made.
Great improvements have been made
Of late a in the felting industry.
Felt is composed of wool. fur or hair,
Of which the fibers are so entangled
and iuterlaced that they can not readi-
ly be separated, and this is done with.
out spinning or weaving. Its use for
ca ,,s, hosiery, floor cloth. cloaks and
tents has Icing been known in the east
By the nomads Of the desert At pres
ent it is largely made from waste
wool, which is first deprived Of is
oil, then carded and placed in o MA
shine. llers is is kept wet with hot
water aud subjected to . process o:
beating by which the fibers are made to
nov upon each other until the inter
locking of their parts and the curling
of the fiber itself unite the whole into
l& "a lila IT., E[ IT,
Of cloth is but a partial felting OF wool
already woven. This felted wool Is
Used for carpets, CARPET covers, coarse
hats, Carriage Innings, pads in saddle-y,
shoulder pads for mems clothing. slip
pers and shoes and wen for cloaks and
other garments. The cheapest wooden
rags ami other articles are worked into
felt for covering steam boilers, although
felt is being gradually superseded for
that purpose by asbestos. RCof-g felt
Is a coarse kind, usually coated and
filed with coal ta-, and sometimes with
tar and powdered slate. Felt stiffened
with dcxtrine is used for making SUR
geors splints. by far the most i'm
porta1t use to which felt is put is that
Of making hats. Technically, felt hats
are of three kinds-''plain soft, ''plain
hard and mapped" or "rufied." The
quality of felt hats has a wide range
and in the finer and more expensive
qualities the entire body is composed of
fur. For comloncr qualities a mixture
Of fur and Saxony wool is used, and for
the lowest kinds wool alone is en-
ployed. The fur used by matters n
SIS" .,ipAily OF the hair Of rabbits
technically called coneys) and hares,
with some proportion of n~utria, mus
luash and bcS,er hair, and generally
the parings and cuttings that can be
obtained from furriers. Furs intended
for felting are deprived Of their long.
coarse hair, after which they are treat
ed with a solution Ct nitrate of ner.
.ury, an operation nzllcd carroting ~
'isecreinge," which greatly incIeayea
the feiting properties of the fur. Tho
fur il then cut by hand or machine
from the skin, and in this state it is
delivered To the bat-maker. Rabbit fur
Tor hat-rr7king now comes in large
quantities from Australia, and II is also
largely collected in the United n;ng-
ON IN ncuthera Europe. A consider
able amount If rabbit fur is exported
from Great Britain to the Utica States.
Fashion and Tailoring.