Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/745

 WOOL (MANUFACTURES OF) such portion is fitted for spinning into wors- ted ; the small portion remaining on the combs, and called the "noils," is applied to other purposes, being usually mixed with the wool for certain cloths. The wool then un- dergoes recombing at a lower temperature. The machines for wool combing are very nu- merous. The first, that of Cartwright (1790), attempted, by means of a circular comb and of a cylindrical working comb and an oscilla- ting frame moving over the former, to imitate closely the process of combing by hand. The machine which first succeeded in displacing this was that of Platt and Collier (1827) ; in this, two wheels studded about their periph- eries with teeth parallel with their axes, form- ing circular combs, have their disks set cross- ing at a slight angle with each other, and al- most in contact by their near edges. A boy is employed to strike the wool upon the teeth of one comb, and the wheels being at the proper distance, and rotating, the teeth of the empty wheel draw through or comb the wool upon the charged one. When the combing is completed, the "top" or combed worsted is taken off by a boy or girl in a continuous sli- ver ; and by another boy the noils or uncombed part are removed. In improved forms of this, machine, the wool having been sufficiently combed, and now equally distributed on both wheels, the rotation of these is discontinued, and the top is disengaged from both of them while turned slowly, by the action of pairs of small rollers between which it is passed. For more detailed accounts of the principal comb- ing machines in use at the time of its publica- tion, see James's "History of the Worsted Manufacture" (London, 1851). Breaking is performed by the breaking frame, the object of which is to open out fibres that may have escaped the combs. In this, the sliver passed between rollers is again acted upon by the teeth of a sort of endless comb, the relative velocities of the two being so regulated that the sliver is extended as well as combed. The smaller roll of sliver thus obtained is wound continuously upon a cylinder, from which it is passed to a second breaking frame with finer teeth. The sliver is afterward subjected to the action of a machine similar to the draw- ing frame of the cotton manufacture ; and it is thus further extended and equalized. The diver, now greatly reduced, but as yet un- twisted, is then brought to the roving ma- chine, in which it is passed successively be- tween two pairs of small rollers, the second pair moving the more rapidly, so as to draw it out in length, while at the same time it is slightly twisted by a turning movement of the hollow bobbin or fly through which the thread is drawn. The spinning is conducted in much the same way as in the case of cotton manu- facture ; and this and the remaining operations to which the yarn and cloth are subjected do not require especial mention. The worsted yarn is reeled in hanks of 560 yards each ; and WOOL 721 these are named according to the number of them that make a pound, as No. 24, and so on. Ihe worsted manufactures of England have long been gaining upon those of woollens: among the causes of this change being, that the wool of the country has deteriorated in fineness and felting capacity; that the im- provements in machinery have greatly facili- tated the combing of the wool, and even of that having a shorter fibre than could former- ly be worked in this way ; that the fly-spin- dles in the preparation of the yarn, instead of about 2,800 as formerly, can now be made to perform 6,000 revolutions per minute; that while broadcloths, often 9 ft. in width before fulling, cannot be woven at more than about 50 movements of the shuttle per minute, cer- tain worsted goods are woven at the rate of 160; and that the facility of working cotton into worsted fabrics is very great. It is sup- posed that 96 per cent of the worsteds worked in the Bradford district have cotton warps,' and that of their total weight at least one third is cotton. Among styles of worsted goods which have been or are now well known are stuffs, merinoes, muslin-de-laines, bomba- zines, shalloons, says, moreens, camlets, and lastings. (See also CARPET, and STOCKING.) In connection with the subjects of wool and its manufacture, the reader is referred to " Sheep Husbandry," &c., by Henry S. Randall (New York, 1860), and to "Fine Wool Sheep Hus- bandry," by the same author (New York, 1863) ; " The Shepherd's Manual," by Henry Stewart (New York, 1876); and James's "History of the Worsted Manufacture," above mentioned. WOOL, John Ellis, an American soldier, born in Newburgh, N. Y., in 1789, died in Troy, N. Y., Nov. 10, 1869. He was first a book- seller in Troy, then commenced the study of law, and in 1812 was commissioned captain in the army. He was severely wounded at the storming of Queenstown heights, was promo- ted to be a major, and for his services in the battle of Plattsburgh was brevetted lieutenant colonel. In 1821 he was made inspector gen- eral of the army, and in 1826 brevet brigadier general. In 1832 the government sent him to Europe to examine military systems. In 1836 he took charge of the removal of the Cherokee Indians to Arkansas. In 1841 he was made a full brigadier general. For the Mexican war he collected upward of 12,000 volunteers. He commanded in the early part of the battle of Buena Vista, Feb. 23, 1847, and after Gen. Taylor's return to the United States in Novem- ber was in command of the army of occupa- tion till the close of the war, returning home in July, 1848. He afterward commanded the eastern military division with headquarters at Troy till October, 1853, the department of the east with headquarters at Baltimore till Janu- ary, 1854, the department of the Pacific till March, 1857, putting down Indian disturbances in Oregon and Washington in 1856, and again the department of the east with headquarters