The morning journal-courier., 1907-12-19
A GREAT LACE INDUSTRY.
Nottingham Produces About s25, 5,OOO,-
 900 Annually.

In a description of the Nottingham lace industry, Consul F. ". Mahin estimates the total annual output at about $25,000,O0O The United States is the largest individual buyer, taking a quarter ot the total. Germany, France and the British colonies rank next, and every other country in the world takes some share of this Brit ish product. Concerning its manu- fracture the consul writes;
 Nottingham is pre-eminent in the production of machine lace. for sev- eral reasons: First, the invention of the stocking frame in this country; second, the town was always noted for its mechanical skill and proverb runs that "The little smith of Noting ham can do the work no other man can; third, the inventors and improv- CTS of lace machinery were Noting ham men; fourth, the damp climate. Cotton cloth making was first started in Nottingham, but was moved to Lancashire because the climate was not damp enough here, though right for lace making.
 The machines now in use in the Nottingham lace industry are the Levers, lace curtain, plain net Gall based on Heathercoats invention, with Levers Improvements, and warp lace Gan adoption of the knitting ma chine). A German machine for mak- ing embroidered net and lace Is used to limited extent, and also the Bar men machine, of mixed German and French origin, producing clever imi- tation of hand made lace The product of the machine, being in a crude brown state, must be bleached and otherwise treated to render it fit for the consumer. These various pro- eesses closely followed in development the making of lace. Samuel Hall of Nottingham patented certain devices during several years, beginning with 1917, which are essentially those used to-day,
 About 6,000 people are employed in the lace factories of Nottingham and immediate vicinity; in the bleaching and finishing processes, distinct from the factory work, probably 10000 more are employed-the number be- ing a variable quantity, dependent upon the state of the trade. The num- Der directly dependent on the lace in dustry is estimated at 50000, and the number indirectly dependent thereon is probably 125, ,000-half the towns population. At least 600 firms are engaged in the industry in this city, in making, finishing or marketing lace. A few combine the three, most of them both finish and sell, while a comparatively few deal in the finished article only. The number of firms weaving lace is 135. The annual out put of the largest factory is worth about $1,OO0,000, and of an average factory about $250,0O0,
 Many of the lace factories are in the city limits, but the present tend- ency is to place new ones in adjac- ent villages, where land and labor are cheaper. The finishing processes however, are confined to the city on account of the better facilities and be- cause trade is expedited by punching close together the firms engaged therein. As a rule. lace factories are not occupied by one firm alone, but are sub-let somewhat like tenement houses. Thus, there may be one firm or more on each floor or one firm | may have two or three floors. The rent covers all tenement expenses ex- cept lighting and insurance. Wages of factory hands range from S4 to s2O week, depending on the skill or knowledge required. .--Exchange.