The morning news., 1897-03-18


in 1t. Felts Ike this cost from 81 to 50 or
/ 81 a pound.
/ The most expensive of all the felts. be-
sides those for the fine cowboy hats Is
| used in the United states bureau OF en-
| craving In Washington, where bank notes
| are printed For blankets to cover the
| paper and to give the printing impression,
the government orders pieces OF telt o.
| by 81 inches in area and about one-tourth
of an inch thick, and for these 1t pays
about $i2 a pound. The government uses
only about three dozen of these year.
and il Is so particular about them that
felt men are not at all anxious TO under
take the contracts. The blankets are
made of the finest Of selected white wool,
and the presence of three or four small
gray hairs has been known to condemn
blanket When a blanket fails TO pass
the proper inspection II Immediately loses
about eleven twelfths of its value, for II
is of a form that will usually bring only
about 81 or so a pound.
Hat felts are made of nutria and rabbit
furs, and coarse felts for boiler and steam
pipe coverings and similar purposes are
made of hair, but the great bulk of felts
are made either of wool or of wool with
more or less cotton. Cotton alone will
not make felt, for It lacks the little hooks
that make hair and such things interlock
and hold together, and II takes at least
IS per cent. of wool mixed with cotton TO
make a felt
1t will probably surprise the reader to
learn that the greatest single use TO
which felt Is put to-day IS for footwear
Entire boots and shoes and slippers are
made of felt; others are made which have
tops, insoles, or Innings of felt and these
varieties are combined in many ways.
The next largest demand for felt IS for
Innings for mems and women's garmenls,
and the old-fashoned felt skirt is again
coming into vogue, and will probably
cause an enormous use of felt during the
next few years. On the other hand, the
use of felt for household purposes has
fallen off great deal within few years.
Felt for coverings has been driven entire
ly out of the market by the so-called art
squares in ingram carpet.
For many centuries the felter had to be
dependent upon practically one tool to
make the staple of his trade. He is de
picted in ancient sculpture beating his
wool or fur with the taut string of a bow,
and that was what he used up to a few
years ago, and sometimes still uses for
some of the finer felts. In the wool felts
the finest, such as the piano felts and
those for the government, are still made
by hand, the prepared wool being beaten
into place. layer by layer, under flat-faced
mallets welded by skilful workmen. The
variety and difficulties of this work are
upon one occasion make one of the gov
ernment printing blankets in two days,
and at another time he would require
four or five days.
Nowadays all the cheaper forms of felt
are made by machines. The machines
pick up one after another thin layers of
fibre of wool, and lay these upon one an
other under hot rollers, which consoli-
date them. Each layer is put on with the
fibre running at right angles to the pre-
ceding layer. For many of the felts only
an all-wool face is needed, and the evil
denceS of the process by which this has
been produced are seen In the dye. Cot
ton refuses to take the colors that dye
wool, so by comparing the even color of
the front with the white mixed color of
the back and then picking the felt to
pieces and following the white threads
through it, the percentage of cotton is
easily seen. A great deal of shoddy, or
old woollen cloths picked to pieces, is
used IN felt making.
A peculiar quality of felt, which partic-
ulally adapts it to many purposes, is that
It can be put into any shape under the in
nuence of heat and pressure, and 1t will
retain the form as long as the fabric re-
mains at ordinary temperatures.