Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-11-29
FAST BLACK ON COTTON HOSIERY.
What u Is Made oi---ncw Dyed and Finished.
Some Mills Use Poisonous Chemicals.

in the market by the name of "fast
black" and is dyed with chemical
product, made from coal tar, and
known as aniline. Hence it is called
"aniline black" and is of capital i'm
portance among the cotton hosiery
manufacturers, for it gives employ
ment to good many thousands of
men and women as knitters, dyers
and finishers. 1t involves large
capital that goes by the millions of
dollars all over the country.
The South, of late years, has been
very enterprising in the textile
branch of this industry, and during
the past six or seven years capitalists
have been all over the South erect
ing large mills and starting dyeing
for themselves, and it is still going
on largely, for the Southern hosiery
manufacturers are bright and up to
the Importance of cotton hosiery, for
the simple reason that they have
natural advantages over the North
growing the cotton right at their
door, having cheap lumber, iron and
labor.
The Importance of the cotton
hosiery industry in America is not
known to the general public. Nor
is it known that fully 90 per cent of
the whole output of cotton hosiery
in America is fast black. Fast black
is everywhere, on every dry goods
counter, and, it is safe to say, there
is not home in the United States
where fast black cotton hosiery is
not worn. Indeed, this color is so
popular that every one wears it in
preference to all others. But there
is fast black and fast black. Some
are dyed by ignorant men who en-
ploy poisonous chemicals; others dye
this black with formulas they bought
from unscrupulous parties. They are
just as ignorant as the former. But
those that sold such idye formulas to
confident purchasers are to blame.
by using such poisonous black on
cotton hosiery the father. mother,
son aAd daughter are certainly en-
rsdangered to blood poison. Where
is the general public's safety? How
will they know if the black they buy
is or is not poisonous dyep All
blacks are so much alike in appear
ance, and sold by hosiery jobbers,
generally to hosiery, notion and
dry goods stores that care very little,
if at all, if the black is or is not poi
sonous dye. They buy and sell and
that is all they care for. When the
hosiery and notion stores put these
goods on their counters for sale they
do not know whether the black is
poisonous G.. not. They have no
way to know, for there is no law in
the United States that limits the Job
dyer to the use of certain chemicals,
and this is the reason why there are
so many fast blacks on the market,
dyed by many dye formulas, most of
them more or less poisonous.
Since 1888 the writer, by himself
alone, has been making fight against
the use of poisonous chemicals with
which to dye cotton hosiery. have
not yet met the right men to join me
in taking action towards urging the
boards of health of the different
States, where fast black is dyed, to
pass laws and make it mandatory
that the dye formulas be submitted
to dye house inspectors.
The writer has made numerous
improvements in the way of fast
black dyeing, and succeeded, after
years of experiment and expendi-
ture of much time and money, in
producing non-poisonous aniline
fast black on cotton hosiery, and has
introduced his discovery in many
cotton hosiery mills all over the coun-
try, principally in Pennsylvania, Con-
nectcut, Minnesota, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia and Ten