El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-22


cotton and wool and silk and
leather and fur and metal ana
wood and a score Of other materials
but among these. so far as our ell
mate is concerned, one Of the most I'M
portant is wool. This Importance arises
not from the great amount produced I'D
America, for this country is first ID
cotton but not in wool, but from the
fact that in a great part OF the CnLtSee-
states wooden clothing is necesslty
of life during the winter months. EaC-
year the amount Of all wool clothlHs
grows less in proportion 10 lhe uS
mand. Wool is 50 hlSn IN price -
cotton and other materials are suOs.t-
tuted until genuine all wool garments
are now comparatively rare.
Is Enormous Industry.
Wool raising in the United States IS
an enormous industry Ihe nunOeI %
sheep of shearing age last year az
proximated 10000, 900 and they prouuCeG
32O,348,750 pounds OF unWasheu 49,
valued at 81, 489i638- w nile an OL ~
states supply a certain amount OF mo5'
the greatest quantity comes from West
of the Mississippi river Montana Is ~
greatest sheep raising STATE IN 80
country, having reached the 5,0OO'OVO
mark, Wyoming coming next win
500 600 New Mexico, Idaho CaI-
fornia, Ohio Colorado and Utan
also number their sheep by millions
, The lowest number OF sheep raised IN
any state is in Delaware, when re
| ceeds Delaware by only 500 sheep
Mexican Shearers Are Best.
Sheep shearing by hand is trade re-
! curing a high degree or skill me
Mexican shearers are considered the
! best and they do most of the sheep
shearing in the United states. They
/ begin work first in the southern states
! early in the spring, working nortn as
the season advances so thaJ Lney nave
the longest possible WORKING peFlou'
! The sheep IN southern California are
( ready for shearing several months pc
/ fore those in northern Montana DuL
] generally speaking May is the sheep
/ snearing month in America.
The domestic wool supply or lne
! United States is greatly inadequate 70
1 the demand. During the past year -o9'-
/ 92S,232 pounds OF raw wool were I'M
! ported at a cost Of SZ5,ozz, Ll5. IL IS
this large Importation OF raw WooI
which makes the wool and woolens tar
| if such an important political question:
Loss In Shrinkage.
The shrinkage of natural or CREASED
! wool in the securing process averaged
! so percent throughout the country last
/ year. 1t varied with the quaIlty Ol lIl9
fleece produced in the diuerent states
I The wool from the central and eastern
/ states loses much less by shrlnkaSe
] than does that from the states IN ne
! west. In Virginia last year the sLrlllh
age in wool was 81 percent Wnlle lndt
/ from Wyoming and Montana reached %
! percent AS a whole, the securing pro-
| cess reduced the quantity OF oomesLlo
( wool from 321, 362,l5O pounds 10 a.
/ SO5,s13 pounds, which is less than one
and one-haIf pounds of wool for each
inhabitant of the country
The manufacture of wooden fabrics IN
I this country IS rapidly approaching an
/ annual output Of a half billion dollars
I in value, although in this connection IL
Z should be stated that the bulk OF the
Z sOcalled wooden cloth Is IaTEely com
! posed of cotton The wages paid IN the
1918 factories in the country amounted
| to s7O.797524 last year, an increase OF
| over 10 percent during the past ~
| years The wooden factories OF Amerl-
ca now manufacture the finest kim OF
fabrics and a large percentage OF the
socalled French and German broad
I cloths the English cheviots and the
I French cashmeres are manufactured IN
I the United States from either ooInes ttC
or imported wool Many OF the Annerl-
car fscto~ies are equipped with special
machinery superior TO that IN use any
where else in the world.
Many Kinds of Wooden Fabrics
Hundreds OF kinds Of wooden fabrics
are put upon the market each year IN
der various names. Some are made from
| sDecia1 materials For example, merl-
no and cashmere are manu1actureu
! from the wool Of the merinO sheep Iof-
I merly q native of Spain, but now rhlseu
successfully in Germany and some oIhet
I rountries Alpaca comes from an AMI
NAL peculiar to the Andes noun ans
1t has a long silky wool sualShleI
than that Of the ordinary sheep anu
verv strong. Similar to alpaca Is mo
hair the product OF the angOra goat
! found in Asia Minor, and successIuliy
| crown in this country Both moIiaii
and alpaca have bright, lustrous ap-
Dearance. and if made OF the wool IN
81 ra.f-s rrsna w as 2
fabrics The SaxOny and Sileslan WOODS
have n very fine fiber and make regu-
lar fabric and the wool from AUS Jralla
sometimes called Port Phillip Is OF su-
perior quality. Some very good wool
comes from South America. 1t IS some
times. considered as good as the Austria
Ian. but is usually deficient IN strength
and elasticity.
Three classes Of raw wool are known
I TO the trade The first is Fhe short or
| cIotbfnq wool. also called carding wool,
/ which comes from two to four Inches
in length. The second is the long or
| combfne wool, four to 10 lnches IN
length The third is the carpet or knit
ti1s wool winch is very strong and
( coarse Lambs wool is the finest and
is taken from animals eight to II
months old. This first clipping is bet
ter than the wether Wool, as the suose-
quent clippings are called
No wooden fabric is put upon the
| market as st comes from the WeaYers.
1t must 90 through various refining
processes. One OF the most lmpor tanl
of these is pulling or shrinkage- Every
wool fibre is equipped with thousands
of microscopic hooks. and the shrinking
process interlaces these hooks with
| each other making a thick, felt-hke
fabric. Cloths lose much of their bulk
in the shrinkage process. Most Of the
/ heavier fabrics. such as broadcloths ana
suitings, are 20 to Y inches wide when
taken from the loom but the shrlnkase
! process reduces their width to about 81
inches as they are commonly found on
4 sale Besides the shrinkaSe process
| the materials are steamed, pressed,
I brushed or combed according to the
I finish desired. Where a long pile OF
fleecy effect Is wished sharp steel
teeth are passed over the surface Of the
this evening as I entered the dining