New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-30

the development Of the old stocking frame
which was invented by an English clergyman
during the time Of Queen Elizabeth The In
ventor took his frame the story runs. to
the Queen but she gave him no encouragement.
and he went to France. There he met with ia
vor and prospered. From that time on dozens
of inventors devoted their time and talents to
the task of building a lace-making machine
Finally a man in Nottingham did succeed In
building a machine that proved Of practical
value After that the advance was rapid. and
for years the masters Of the industry In Not
tingham enjoyed a monopoly. In fact. IT was
not until eleven years ago that few Ameri-
cans decided TO build mill and bring over
few Of the curtain-making machines They buiit
their mill near Fordham. n. Y. and put up
three machines. each Of which cost about $oooV
1.-The experiment proved successful and
number of other plants were constructed. At
present there are mills at TariYville ~ J..
Patchoguc, Long Island. Philadelphia Wilkes
barre. Penn; Scranton. Penn; Columbia Penn.
and Nottingham Tex. 1t is difficult task to
give a detailed description of one OF these ma
chines Suffice 10 say that IT Is heavy and
cumbersome structure Of iron and STEEL yet
the mechanism is very delicate and compli-
Gated The capacity of a machine is, OF course.
limited to It's size and strength. but on an av-
erage each machine. provided it is run night
and day will turn out 300 pair Of curtains
every twenty-four hours. The workmen who
are in charge Of these machines are called
twist hands and earn $50 week. There Is
deal of preliminary work to be done before the
machines are called into use. Probably the
most important part OF the process Is the pat
terning' BY that | mean the preparation ot
the pattern, or design for the curtain
First Of ALL an artist submits design ana
these designs are only valuable when they can
be treated by the draughtsmen. who. In turn,
must adapt them 10 the gauge OF the machne'
and draught them to bring the best re-
suits This process Is both costly and uncertain.
for after the draughtsman has spent week
over the design he may find II worthless. Even
~ he IS satisfied with the result. II must be
passed on by the reader. who adjusts ana
adapts the pattern to the machine. The COM
pleted pattern weighs about 100 pounds. and
costs $50 A years supply OF patterns for tne
average mill will cost. at a rough estimate Slu-
900 and the stock must be constantly repien-
ished When the patterns are once decided upon
the linen Is fitted to the grooves and the ma
chine started After the lace leaves the machine
In pieces 400 inches wide and go yards long. II
goes to the mend.ng- room. There skiful nee
dle-vornen mend any rip or imperfectlon. al
though in some mills 'darning machine IS
used with excellent results"
When these curtain making machines were
first introduced in this country the English ex-
perts declared that only the cheaper grades or
curtains could be manufactured here on &C
count of the climatic conditions and lack of
skilled labor As a matter Of fact. the Ameri-
can mills are to-day turning out grades OF lace
which cannot be exceed by any Of the foreign
mills.