The daily morning Alaskan., 1900-03-09
MARveLs OF THE LOOM.
An Interesting story ot the Birth of tn
 Bsdsproad.

MARvELs OF THE LOOM. An Interesting story of the Birth of the
 BsdspreAd.
 Twenty. Ave miles of toweiing. Ten hundred whies bodspreads in ono piece. Or even perpetual washdAy from Mon day morning till Saturday night Theso things excite no remark at tho Avon mill, Lewiston, where looms are kept busy the year round. weaving towels of varying grades of texture, and bureau scarfs and stand covers are done as a sort of knitting work at odd moments. and quilts or spreads arc finished off with the regularity never attained save by machinery.
 The yarn comes in bales weighing 500 pounds or more-all that can be conveniently handled-and must be sent to tho beamer, who with infinite pains separates all tangles and starts tho g, 700 threads evenly on the great iron beam and sees that the machinery winds the threads evenly and close on the beam. The ends arc first started through q rattle, so called, after which they arc wound upon the loom beam After the beam has been filled an iron comb is struck across the huge beam of cotton. and by practice degree of ao1 curacy is obtained which drives tho teeth of the comb between the serarate threads. The beams arc then ready for the loom.
 If ever any person since tho day of Job deserved to Do put into a story book to point . moral, it's Q beamer. The careful eye, tho cool temper, tho steady hand and tho unfailing patience TO- quired make Job a peevish, i'll natured invalid in comparison to the quiet, good naturod beamer.
 But it's pretty nearly as hard on the weaver, for when fresh beam is put on a loom each of the ends must be tied separately before the machinery can bs started.
 When the product of tho looms hai been sewed together till hve miles oi towels or 500 or SO quilts arc in one piece, this piece is run over roliera out into the room where every day is Mon day and is piled up on . platform in one corner. Then the system of roller and pulleys is reversed and the fabric Is drawn over the rollers Into the bleach Ing vat, where 1t remains for two houri in a solution of chlorine and is drawn into an empty tank overhead, wherS the chloride drains off. Then the cloth Is run through rollers. where clear wa ter Is forced upon it. then back toth' boiling kier. When the kier is filled, the soap and water are put in and tho kier kept boiling for eight or ten hourh Then final rinse is given through thi huge rollers. which sQueeze the fabric nearly dry.
 A part of the towels sre 60 woven a to leave fringed ends. and these ar quickly folded by tho delft young woman who, from practice at the pile befor' her, folds as precisely as machinery Another part Is taken to the room wher' hemstitching Is done In the twinklinI of m eye.
 Each quilt before 1t is bjeaohed passel through the hands of two keen eyet young women, who snip of any knot of tho fabric or pull away any bit o waste that may be clinging to them Then they are subjected 10 the bleach ing. rinsing and boiling process.
 When tho quilts come from the blu ing vat, they are run through a nor intricate system of heated rolleJa or account of their larger size and thet heavier weight Two young fellows with knives sharper than a NiragOi tongue. then slash into the selvage . the long stretch of quilts with rock less accuracy born of practice and ta each quilt free from it's fellowA
 Only short time ago dealers wer' satisfied to get the quilts with raw edges, tho customers hemming them ] But now every quilt must be neatl. hemmed and folded and closely wrappeC in paper, ticketed and tagged before 1 goes to the packing box and shippinI room.
 Pretty soon, says tho manager a he unfolds q beautiful Marseillqs quilt finished and ready for the purchaser pretty soon we'll have to give bras bedstead with every one of tho quilts | Lewiston Journal.