Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/551

Rh HAT 519 of the hand. At each vibration some of the filaments start up to the height of a few inches, and fall away from the mass, a little to the right of the bow, their excursions bt-ing restrained by a concave frame of wicker work called the basket. One half of the material is first operated on, and by bowing and gathering, or a patting use of the basket, the stuff is loosely matted into a triangular figure, about 50 by 36 inches, called a bat. In this formation care is taken to work about two-thirds of the fur down towards what is intended for the brim, which being effected, greater density is induced by gentle pressure with the basket. It is then covered with a wettish linen cloth, upon which is laid the hardening skin, a piece of dry half- tanned horse hide. On this the workman presses or bakes until the stuff adheres closely to the damp cloth, in which it is then doubled up, freely pressed with the hand, and laid aside. By this process, called basoning, the bat lias become compactly felted and thinned toward the sides and point. The other half of the fur is next sub jected to precisely the same processes, after which a cone-shaped slip of stilt paper is laid on its surface, and the sides of the bat are folded over its edges to its form and size. It is then laid paper-side downward upon the first bat, which is now replaced on the hurdle, and its edges are transversely doubled over the introverted side-lays of the second bat, tluis giving equal thickness to the whole body. In this condition it is reintroduced between folds of damp linen cloth, and again hardened, so as to unite the two halves, the knitting together of which is quickly effected. The paper is now withdrawn; and the body in the form of a large cone is removed to the plank or battery room. The battery consists of an open iron boiler or kettle A (fig. 2), filled with scalding hot water, with shelves, B, C, partly of mahogany and partly of lead, sloping down to it. Here the body is first dipped in the water, and then withdrawn to the plank to partly cool and drain, when it is unfolded, rolledgently with a pin tapering towards the ends, turned, and worked in every direction, to toughen and shrink it, and at the same time prevent adhesion of its sides. Stopping or thicken ing the thin spots which now appear, on looking through the body, is carefully performed by dabbing on additional stuff in successive supplies from the hot liquor with a brush frequently dipped into the kettle, until the body be shrunk sufficiently (about one half) and thoroughly equalized. When quite dried, stiffening is performed with a brush dipped into a thin varnish of shellac, and rubbed into the body, the surface intended for the inside having much more laid on it than the outer, while the brim is made to absorb many times the quantity applied to any other part. On being again dried, the body is ready to be covered with a nap of beaver hair. For this, in -inferior qualities, the hair of the otter, nutria, or other fine fur is sometimes substituted. The requisite quantity of one or other of these is taken and mixed with a propor tion of cotton, and the whole is bowed up into a thin uniform Lip. The cotton merely serves to give sufficient body to the material to enable the workman to handle the lap. The body of the hat being damped, the workman spreads over it a covering of this lap, and by moistening and gentle patting with a brush the cut ends^of the hair penetrate and fix themselves in the felt body. The hat is now put into a coarse hair cloth, dipped and rolled in the hot liquor until the fur is quite worked in, the cotton being left on the surface loose and ready for removal. The blocking&quot; dyeing, and finishing processes in the case of beaver hats are similar to those employed for ordinary felrs, except that greater care and dexterity are required on the part of the workmen, and further that the coarse hairs or kemps which may be in the fur are cut off by shaving the strrface with a razor. The nap also must be laid in one direction, smoothed, and rendered glossy by repeated wettings, ironings, and brushings. A hat so finished is very durable, and it is much more light, cool, and easy-fitting to the head than the silk hat which has now so largely superseded it. Till a comparatively recent date all attempts to apply machinery to the principal processes in felt hat-making resulted in failure. As is the case with many other labour-saving appliances of recent in troduction, the first efficient machinery for felt hat-making was devised in America, and from the United States the machine- making processes were introduced into England about the year ] 858 ; and now in all large establishments machinery such as that alluded to below is employed. For the forming of hat bodies two kinds of machine are used, according as the material employed is fur or wool. In the case of fur, the essential portion of the apparatus used consists of a cone of copper of the size and form of the body or bat to be made, perforated all over with small holes. The cone is made to revolve on its axis slowly over an orifice under which there is a powerful fan, which maintains a strong inward draught of air through the holes in the cone. At the side of the cone, arid with an opening towards it, is a trunk or box from which the fur to be made into a hat is thrown out by the rapid revolution of a brush- like cylinder, and as the cloud of separate hairs is expelled from the trunk, the current of air being sucked through the cone carries the fibres to it and causes them to cling closely to its surface. Thus a coating of loose fibres is accumulated on the copper cone, aud these are kept in position only by the exhaust at work under it. When sufficient for a hat body has been deposited, a wet cloth is wrapped round it, over which an outer cone is slipped and the whole is removed for felting, while another copper cone is placed in posi tion for continuing the work. The felting of fur bodies is princi pally done by hand-labour, although machinery has recently been introduced by which it is partly done. The bat or body of wool hats is prepared by first carding in a modified form of carding machine. The wool is divided into two separate slivers as delivered from the cards, and these are wound simultaneously on a double conical block of wood mounted and geared to revolve slowly with a reciprocating horizontal motion, so that there is a continual crossing and rccrossing of the wool as the sliver is wound around the cone. This diagonal arrangement of the sliver is an essential feature in the apparatus, as thereby the strength of the finished felt is made equal in every direction ; and when strained in the blocking the texture yields in a uniform manner without rupture. The wool wound on the double block forms the material of two hats, which are separated by cutting around the median or base line, and slipping each half off at its own end. Into each cone of wool or bat an &quot; inlayer&quot; is now placed to prevent the inside from matting, after which they are folded in cloths, and placed over a perforated iron plate through which steam is blown. When well moistened and heated, they are placed between boards, and subjected to a rub bing action sufficient to harden them for bearing the subsequent strong planking or felting operations. The planking of wool hats is generally done by machine, in some cases a form of fulling mill being used ; but in all forms the agency is heat, moisture, pressure, rubbing, and turning. When by thorough felting the hat bodies of any kind have been reduced to dense leathery cones about one-half the size of the original bat, they are dried, and, if hard felts are to be made, the bodies are at this stage hardened or stiffened with a varnish of shellac. Next follows the operation of blocking, in which the felt for the first time assumes approximately the form it is ultimately to possess. For this purpose the conical body is softened in boiling water, and forcibly drawn over a hat-shaped wooden block. A string is passed round where the band is to be, and the brim is then flattened out from the string. Next follows the dyeing of the hat in a bath of suitable dyeing materials, according to the colour desired. In deal ing with fine hats, each hat is separately dyed while en the block, but with commoner qualities it is the practice to dye before block ing. The finishing processes include shaping on a block, over which crown and brim receive accurately their ultimate form, and pouncing or pumicing, which consists of smoothing the whole surface with emery or glass paper while the hat is still stretched on the block. The trimmer finally binds the outer brim and inserts the lining, after which the brim may get more or less of a curl or turn over according to prevailing fashion. Machines of American invention for blocking and pouncing have to some extent been introduced. Silk Hats. The silk hat, which has now become co extensive with civilization, is an article of recent introduc tion. It was known in Florence about a century ago ; but its manufacture was not introduced into France till about 1825, and its development has taken place entirely since that period. A silk hat consists of a light stiff body covered with a plush of silk, the manufacture of which in a brilliant glossy condition is the most important element in the industry; and in that manufacture the French are without equals. Originally the bodies were made of felt ani various other materials, but now calico is almost exclu sively used. The calico is first stiffened with a varnish of shellac, and then cut into pieces sufficient for crown, side, and brim. The side-piece is wouud round a wooden hat block, and its edges are joined by hot ironing, and the crown-piece is put on and similarly attached to