Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-01-23
'SHODDY' HURTS
WOOL BUSINESS,
CH|CAG0AN SAYS
Revoked Rags Are Being
Made Into Fabrics; Sheep
Have Declined in Numbers
in u. S. 100000.

NHlCaSO, Jan. GE.--H run lilV
time that "shoddy" began to mas
querade as virgin wool under the
double standard of 'all wool W
sheep husbandry began to decline
Throughout the world, Howard e.
Greene. of Chicago, told the Mer-
chant Tailor Designers association
at its annual convention here.
From January, 1911, to January,
Il92O. he declared, the sheep have
declined in numbers in America
5,O18.000, he said.
Twenty years ago, all wool
cloth meant cloth made from wool
that had never before been manu-
| featured" Mr.. Greene said. "At
that time, the shoddy manufacture
ers found method whereby they
were able to carboniZe out of rags
all except their wool content. This
process gave them the excuse to
lcan their cloth all wool. Then
arose the double standard of the
term.
in recent years, the practice OF
manufacturing all wool cloth from
wool substitutes has grown Sc
ITdDluIN JllhlJ III IJl's 'AANS ih''O -
| two-thirds of the raw material
used in such fabrics by American
mills. The chief wool substitute IS
shoddy-old rags, reused in some
cases as often as eight times.
"Re-worked rags may be made
Iup into handsome fabrics. They
are never used in the place of vir'
gin woods of the same grade, but IN
place of virgin woods of higher
grades and enter into many cloths
which the purchasers have n right
to believe made not only of virgin
wool but of the best virgin wool
The hooverizing of rags during the
world war gave the shoddy manu-
facturers an unprecedented supply
of raw material, yet their demand
rlore than kept pace with the de-
Vaiopment of the rag resources.
Price of Rags Increased.
United States Consul Perciva
Gassett, stationed at Leeds, Eng
land, with access to the statistics
Of the worlds chief rag market, ha.
reported that the price of rag
arose from 300 to more than 800
per cent between June, 1914, an,
December, 1919.
I'm 1919, only 627,OO0,OOj
pounds of raw virgin wool wer'
used in America. This amour
makes less than 319, 100000 pound
when secured. That year. the woo
woven cloth output in Americi
am, united to 620,000,00N yards.
1T is estimated that the cottol
used il. wool woven goods amount
t. cne-fifth of the amount o
sec ured virgin wool used. A fiftI
of the secured virgin wool con
sumed here in 1919 amounts to 62,
CO4.00J pounds. SO, all the scoure'
wool manufactured for any purpos
49, 313,000,000 pounds -- togethe
with 100000 pounds of cottol
would have amounted to $4,000,
600 pounds, which is 400, 100000
pounds less than the quantity re
uuired to make the output of WOO
woven goods entirely from pur
virgin wool, -.
There is no way at present I
+ arrive at the exact amount Q
t Ishoddv used in cloth manufacture
because many mills which are nc
| listed as shoddy mills make thei
own shoddy. Furthermore, Their
$ is no known chemical test that ca
= determine exactly how much Of an
given material is made up
= ishoddy. \
$ From the time shoddy began I
s masquerade as virgin wool, from tn
i moment the shoddy manufactui
ers began to artificiaIly divert tn
I public demand for new wool frol
t the wool grower to the rag-picke
= sheep husbandry began to declir
f throughout the world. BetWee
e January, 1911, and January, 1872
the sheep of America, alone d.
e clined in numbers from 53,633,0
. to 48,615, 1000, a loss of 5,01S,000,
s nearly ten per cent. In 1920, tt
= reduction of the flocks continue
: more rapidly than ever. In 1S1
e the spring wool clip amounted
n 314,000,000 pounds. In 1920,
r amounted to 282.000,000 pounds.
;, is estimated that the 1921 clip wi
= amount to 250,000,000 pounds.
e U. S. a Minor Wool Producer.
? america has all the natural r
l duirements needed to make her Il
. greatest wool country in the wor,
n and her output of virgin wo
G should be large enough to elimina
:, shoddy from every citizens ware
e robe, but today America is a mine
wool producer. Australasia-Au
tralia, New Zealand and contigl
7 Gus islands--has an annual on
q put of 740,000,000 pounds. Sout
\ America-chiefly Argentine-pr,
duced 470,000,000 pounds. Eve
South Africa has a higher produ'
ton than America.
: an view of the foregoing fact
you will understand why the n;
tional sheep and wool bureau I
America decided at it's annual NEE
ing in the summer of 1919 to tai
up the fight to check the sale I
" shoddy as virgin wool under cove
y of the double standard term, "a
wool
"Its officials knew that ever
pound of wool produced must e.
pect under present conditions
: meet from one to eight times tt
/ secret competition of its SECOND
: hand product. They realized TIL;
IS the law of supply and demand ha
n ceased to operate in the wool bu'
s, mess. They understood that til
s. reinstatement of natural econom
d processes could only be achieved b
k the removal of the rag picker frol
& the shepherds legitimate mark
= so that the public demand for vii
IS gin wool might get back again int
Ia