The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-02

, his foreign brother, and heavy as ha
: been the pressure of prejudice agains
: him, he has made, by reason of homes
, and astonishing machinery, the mos
: giant strides in textile production. Gu
looms and dye pits today turn on
practically every fabric for moderl
need and luxury, and by aid of tim
and tariff we are rapidly coming int
our own. The consumer, because Amer
lean goods are both cheaper and bet
ter than the foreign product, is gradu
ally losing faith in the legend of i'm
ported superiority, and If all thing'
work together for good, the time seem!
approaching when the looms of the
United States will very nearly supply
the world.
There is, however, one danger thai
besetS the manufacturers path, the
same which has so sadly injured the
custom of the foreign weaver, namely
the temptation to adulterate. This is
just where the mission of the con-
sumner comes in, for it lies absolutely
| within the hands of him or her to
check at any moment this weakness
of the producer. Tests that made clear
| the frequent dishonesty of foreign
weavers will, if applied, preserve our
manufacturers from ever dropping into
| the same error, for with us the temp
| tation to adulterate is sharper even
than in other countrieS-stronSer be-
| cause the overwhelming superiority of
American ingenuity has perfected ma
! chinery that will give to the most
abominably adulterated goods an APP
| pearance of finish and stability none
but an expert can detect. We have
devices for putting out the handsom-
est fabrics, seemingly of pure wool.
! that in reality contain 20 per cent of
| cotton. On the market today are So
ell 40 1nf
fiber of either in their wool or warp
but have been so skillfully woven and
CLOSED as TO perfectly simulate the
real thing.
In no other country has positive gen.
ius been expended in concealing adul
teration as in our own, and nowhere
else have such magic results been at
tanned. This is not the consequence of
fraudulent intent, but is a perfectly
legitimate manufacturing business,
carried on to answer the demand for
imitation and cheap goods by the
poorer and bargain-hunting element of
retail purchasers.
Now, however, when the worlds
trade is slipping into the hands of our
manufacturers and the consumer is
turning to the American instead of the
English, French and German producer,
the temptation to adulterate will be, in
many cases, irresistible. and who is to
check it? The woman who shops may
be. She is a powerful factor to be con-
sidered by the manufacturer. She
spends in all branches of trade two
thirds of the money men earn and must
be reckoned with by the weavers OF
the United States. She will undoubted-
ly try to protect herself as the great
consumer, and in doing so she will in
directly fulfill a high mission in behalf
of American trade and honor.
OF course in shops of good standing
the effort always is to avoid as far as
possible adulterated fabrics, but in
truth, many retailers of high standing,
and their buyers, are ignorant of how
to detect even the commonest adulter-
ations of stuffs.
The consumer, or in other words, the
average shopper, who demands an all
wool, allSilk or ail-linen goods, and
pays good money for the same, can
afford to take time and precautions to
see that she gets what she pays for.
The means necessary to assure fair
play are too simple not to be universal
ly put in operation. All she needs do is
procure a sample of such goods as she
proposes buying, submit it to the
proper tests, and proof positive of the
component parts of the material will
be at once forthcoming.
To understand the application of
these tests it must be remembered that
all textiles are made of twisted yarns. |
the threads running lengthwise called
the warp and those extending from
selvage to Selvage called the wool or
welt. Two-ply yarns are formed by
twisting two single yarns together be-
fore the fabric is woven, and a common |
method of adulteration is in twisting
a wool and cotton, or silk and cotton |
yarn together. Such yarns are seldom |
in, he l..
necessary to examine a warp yarn. |
Untwist the yarn, and if double, two /
distinct threads Will appear; if single |
all the twist will be removed and it |
can easily be separated.
Tests for Shorts and Shoddy.
Worsted, mohair. alpaca and shoddy
are subject to the same tests as wool
The high-priced fabrics-silk. wool and
linen, are adulterated with cotton most
Untwis. a single yarn and
the average length of the
ibers under strong reading glass or
If the silk and linen fibers
average less than one and one-half
inches in length the wool fibers less
than one inch, and the cotton less than
three-fourths inches, you may feel sat
SIZED that the fabric will not wear well.
The simplest manner of testing a
wool or part wool fabric for the pres
ence of cotton is by fire. Remove two
)r three warp yarns, and, after deter
mining whether they are single or ply
yarns, take one and light an end. If it
)urns slowly. emitting the pungent
'dor characteristic of burnt hair, it is
Ill wool. If it flashes up and burns
'apidly without odor, it is cotton.
The Acid Tests.
Analytical chemists and expert buy
RS use acids TO determine the presence
md amount of cotton in a so-called
WOOL fabric. If the instructions here
'iven are followed closely, anyone can
make the test satisfactorily. 1t is
Necessary to use sulphuric acid and
his is extremely dangerous to handle
n its pure state. Even in the dilute
orm great care must be taken not to
How al drop of it to touch anything
ut the fabric to be tested, as it will
urn and discolor.
To avoid trouble, let the chemist
make a 30 per cent solution; 10 cents
-Orth is enough for several tests. A
ample one or two inches square is
efficient for experiment.; place this in
glazed earthenware or porcelain
ned dish. Put in enough of the solu-
on to cover the cloth well, then over
slow fire steep until a change is
oted in the sample; afterwards allow
ne solution to cool before removing the
it of goods. Compare the sample test
/ with the original cloth. If the for
Ter looks like a sieve. it indicates that
art of the warp yarns are cotton: if
le fabric has fallen apart, they are
|! cotton; while if only a little sedi-
lent remains, the fabric is practically