Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/754

* WOOL MANUFACTURES. 644 WOOL MANUFACTUBES. at a very early period. At the time of Alex- ander's expedition to India the natives of that region wore shawls of great beauty. The Greeks learned many processes of woolen manufacture from the Egyptians; the Romans from the Greeks : and from the Romans the knowledge generally passed to the Occidental world. Among the ancients, the method of manufacture was, after thoroughly cleansing the wool, to sort, card, and spin the material by hand. The loom for the weaving was remai'kably simple, even crude, but under the delicate manipulation of dexterous fingers, skilled operators produced fabrics that have never been excelled in fuieness of texture or delicacy of construction, even at this later day. (See Weaving and Loons.) Woolen gar- ments were worn by the Romans at a very early period. It is probable that the early lessons the ancient Britons received in the art were derived immediately after the Roman conquest, and woolen manufacture as carried on in England •was at the outset but a repetition, and after- wards an elaboration and improvement on the methods previously known. It is generally sup- posed that certain Flemish weavers went to Eng- land in the time of William the Conqueror, and obtaining the royal patronage, established the first manufactories of woolen goods. At various periods in the reigns of succeeding monarchs, other Flemish weavers were imported, and es- tablished at different points in the kingdom. Henry II. established guilds of weavers in his reign, and the exclusive privilege of exporting woolen cloth was by him granted to the city of London. In the tl'iirteenth century Spain pro- duced her own cloth, and the beauty of her fab- rics was celebrated far and wide. Italy followed, and for a time employed processes apparently su- perior to any others in use. For many centuries the manufacture of wool was carried on as a household industry, although in occa..^ional instances a lai'ge number of looms were gathered together under one roof and their products controlled by a single individual, as in the modern factory. The fulling of the woven fabrics was at an early date developed into a separate business, and here and there on con- venient water powers fulling mills sprang up. The use of the teazel-burr for raising the nap on the fulled fabric was of early origin. The distinction between ordinary woolen fabrics and worsteds made from combed wool is mentioned in the earliest records of European wool manu- facture. The combing of the wool was done by hand till well into the nineteenth century and the wool-combers formed an imiiortant industrial class, but it was not till the latter half of the nineteenth century that all the processes con- nected with the production of a woolen or worsted thread were grouped together in one establishment. History of the Wool Inihistry in the t'xiTED States. In flie United States, as in Europe, the development of the textile mill be- gan with the introduction of the neigliborliood fulling mill. Next came the public canling luill, where the wool was converted into rolls ready for the spinning wheel. Previous to its intro- duction carding had been done by a cou])le of hand cards, which were small, oblong boards, covered with leather filled with points of fine wire. Ry manipulating the wool between these teeth the fibre was opened up. (See Carding.) The first wool-carding machine was put in opera- tion in Pittsfleld, Jlass., in 1700. The same year, at Newbury, ilass., the first successful woolen mill was put in operation. By 1810 sev- eral woolen mills were in operation and the amount of homespun was ajipreciably lessening, and the value of woolen cloth aimually produced as a household industry declined so rapidly that not enough cloth was jjroduced in the fac- tories to make up the deficiency, and larae quantities were imported. The value of "the factorv output from 1820 to 18.50 was as follows: In 1S20. $4,413,068; in 1830, $14,528,166; in 1840, .$20,696,999; in 1850, $49,- 636.881. The value of imported woolen goods was: In 1821, .$7,238,054; in 1831. $13,197,364; in 1840, $10,808,485; in 1850, $19,620,619. By the close of the first half of the nineteenth cen- tury all the great improvements which had been invented in textile machinery had been adapted to the woolen industry, and during the last half of the century the development of the industry except as disturbed by war or other political con- dition, was more steady and natural. The in- vention of the Crompton loom in 1837 and its successive improvements were of immense impor- tance to the woolen industry. In 1873 the open shed fancy cassimere loom of L. .J. Ivnowles en- larged still more the field of weaving possibilities and facilitated the manufacture of many refrac- tory patterns. Since 1805 automatic wool-scour- ing machines have been introduced, taking the place of hand washing, and during the same pe- riod the carbonizing process of freeing wool from vegetable fibre and mixed shoddy from cotton has c«me into use. The art of dyeing also advanced. In the L'nited States the woolen industry has been subject to great fluctviations. due to politi- cal events, such as the Civil War, which sudden- ly created an enormous demand for a certain class of woolen goods, and to tariff legislation. Statistics showing the present status of the in- dustry ai-e given at the close of the article. Structure of the Wool Fibre. The wool of the sheep differs from all other fibres, animal or vegetable, on account of its great felting power. (See Wool.) This is due to its corrugated structure, which makes the individual hairs, when brought in contact at an angle, tend to mat together. Another striking characteristic of wool is the curliness of the fibre. The transfor- mation of wool into cloth is divided into two dis- tinct branches: the manufacture of woolens and the manufacture of worsteds. In making woolen fabrics or cloths the natural characteristics of the fibre — its curliness and felting power — are developed by the manufacturing processes and produce a soft cloth with a nap and with the fibres so matted together that the weave is but slightly visible. In worsted manufacture, the aim is to produce a smooth, wiry yarn, more like that of the other textile fibres, and to this end the fibres arc straiglitened, twisted hard, and llie shorter projecting ones which winild fonii a nap combed out. This produces a cloth in which the weave is evident and great variety of design in weaving is possible, .-fter being sorted, the wool is subjected to a process of beating, not only for the piirpose of eliminating the dust and other impurities, but the procedure has the effect of disposing the