Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/158

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from being out of order as long as the durable ma- terials last of which it is composed. The mode of preparing the velverets and velveteens shews how far the ingenuity of man will extend, when he is stimulated by gain to exert it. At this manu- factory the pieces brought from the country (where they are made) with the pile uncut, are stretched upon a board, and passed over longitudinally with a narrow sharp steel instrument like a long needle with its point flattened, held by the two hands. This being introduced with great nicety and skill un- der a course of the threads, cuts them through, and produces a pile on each side, which is made broad or narrow, according to the pattern. But a still more wonderful part of the process remains; the article is then carried to the furnace, where it passes over a semi-cylindrical mass of red-hot iron, from twenty to forty different times, being in complete contact with the glowing metal during its passage. This is to render the surface of the pyle smooth and equal. It is then exposed to the outward atmosphere, to deprive it of the smell it had acquired from this process ; then dyed ; and such pieces as are of a plain pattern, being afterwards passed through a machine called the Devil, to give an uniform surface, are brushed, and smoothed with a stone; rolled, and packed for sale. This slight sketch of two branches

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