CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OR PROCESS OF PREPARING OR DRESSING YARNS OR WARPS FOR WEAVING
Year: 1842

page_text: ANDREW'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ANDREW junior, 'of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two, and in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Andrews, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said James Andrew, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said James Andrew, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should agree with, and no other, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OR
PROCESS OF PREPARING OR DRESSING YARNS OR WARPS FOR WEAVING;" in which
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James Andrew, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery' within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Andrew, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following explanation thereof (that is to say) :-

page_text: My Improvements in the Method or Process of Preparing or Dressing
Yarns or Warps for Weaving consist in substituting the employment of
"farina" (a well-known article of commerce) in the cotton manufactures,
and prepared from potatoes and other vegetable matters), in the common
process of preparing, stiffening, and dressing yarns or warps in the place of
wheaten flour, now commonly employed for such purposes, and, when in a
proper state for use, called "sough," or "sow," I am perfectly aware that the
employment of the same article "farina" has already been attempted to be
used for such purposes, but entirely without any beneficial result, owing to its
mode of application and use, as in all instances hitherto known and used the
farina had completely lost its thickness or stiffening quality before it had
been used, and thus no important or useful effect was produced upon the
yarn. I use the farina as follows, and which peculiar mode of its employ-
ment or application constitutes the only feature of novelty or claim in my
present Invention:-Instead of mixing farina in large quantities, and allowing
it to stand so long that all its glutinous or thickening and stiffening, quality is
lost, it must be mixed, when in the flour or pulverized state, in small pails or
buckets, each dresser mixing his own quantity, and using it immediately in
the dressing machine, whilst hot. The vessel or trough in which the farina.is
used in the dressing machines must be lined with brass. It requires simply mixing
with hot water, in such small quantities, and instantly being used, to preserve
entirely the peculiar stiffening quality it possesses. The effect of this employ-
ment of farina is directly evident to the manufacturer, owing to the clearness,
regularity, and beauty of finish of the yarns or warps, and the great facility
with which they may be subsequently wrought or woven when compared to
the ordinary produce as stiffened or dressed with "sough" made from flour.
I have found, by practical working, that the saving in the manufacture of
cloth by the use of farina as above explained, is seventy per cent in the mere
cost of the stiffening matter alone, besides the subsequent advantages of the
superiority of the produce, and the facility of weaving, and other advantages
the cloth possesses. The use of the above improved method or process of
preparing, sizing, and dressing yarns also dispenses with a considerable portion
of hand labour, such as steepers, sough makers, carriers, room, and
apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Andrew, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JAMES (I.s.) ANDREW JUNE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Tenth day of August,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid James Andrew came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.