IN THE WEST RIDING.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1746, 10 May 1913, Page 6

IN THE WEST RIDING.

AMONG THE MILLS. WHERE NEW ZEALAND WOOL IS WOVEN. CBr S. V. Beacdeb.] Skipton, Yorkshire, March 27. Here, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, one tees tlio completion of Hie processes which arc begun on the shecpruns of New Zealand. In the combing, spinning, and weaving mills of (he dark" and jioi?y cities of the Yorkshire Dales, the fleeces that grew in the free air and sunshine of the hills of Maoriland are transformed from coverings for animals into coverings lor men. "When X inquired why nearly all the textile manufactures of Britain, and so largo a proportion of thoso of the world, were concentrated in this corner of Yorkshire and the adjoining part of Lancashire, I -was told it was becauso those are tho dampest and rainiest districts in England, and a moist atmosphere is necessary for some of the processes. This may very well have accounted for the location of tho spinning and' weaving industries in the days before machinery; and once these sturdy and tenacious North Countrymen havo taken <i grip'of something profitable, they may be trusted to hold on to it. They now uso artificial "humidifieation," which, of course, could be employed almost anywhere. Tho advantages due to their swift and abundant streams and their leagues of surrounding sheep country havo been largely .neutralised by steampower and by wool production at tho Antipodes, while emigration has carried the locally-acquired skill across tho oceans. And yet the mills of tho West Hiding flourish, and buying more and more raw material from the other side of tlie < globe and selling luoro and more of their fine cloth to ail countries. A Too Typical Town. This ancient town of Skipton, though tile mail shows it in Yorkshire, is industrially in Lancashire; tho mills, here are cotton mills. The largest is devoted to sewing cotton, and others to plain and fancy fabrics. Une, through which we were conducted by the courteous proprietor, makes a teature of ofiice dusters —all careiully and thoughtfully patterned so as to suit tho most fickle and fastidious tastes. Evidently there are fashions in dusters. To see something of tho wool'en trade, we had to go a few miles further into Yorkshire. It was a dull and foggy day, with frequent indecisive showers, when we wont to Keighley. Clouds of black smoke, surcharged with solid particles of soot, drifted down from the tall chimneys. All the buildings wero coated with the murky grime. Tho general effect was moro abhorrent than London at its worst, for London has even then its note of distinction, its sporadic nobility of architecture, its incredible floods of traffic. But for sheer, dull, brutal, unrelieved ugliness, a northern manufacturing town of tho second rank is probably unsurpassable. And of such Keighley is a specimen. Host of tlio streets through which we drove on our way |itp from the station are stone-paved in such a way as to cause the traffic to make tho maximum of noise. By this means the inhabitants arc spared tub pain of hearing visitors express their opinion of tho place.

In the Din of the Mill. At the North Bcck Mills of Messrs. William Lund and Son, a genial foreman, shouting above the din of tho Killing machines and spinning iranies. showed us tho series of processes by which tho "tops," fresh' from the wool-combers at ' Bradford, were being converted into yarns for tho looms. The general principle is simple, enough—stretching -and .twisting, twisting and stretching until, instead of a loose, thick, sott strand, you have a fine, tight) strong thread. At ono end of a machine the. half-spun yarn may be unwound at tho rale of 50 revolutions a minute, while at tho other end it is wound at several times tho speed, fc'omo of the spindles make a hundred revolutions every second. Simple as tho whole thing is in principle, the details of (he machinery aro exceedingly complex, and the various adjustments. as well as the selection and combining of the different kinds of _ wool, call for a very high degree of skill. Tho. foreman mentioned that Australian wool— "Port Phillip" ho called it—went to make yarns for the finest suitings, jvhilst New Zealand wool was tho best for thinner materials, resembling alpaca, as well as for the knitting wools used in the manufacture of tho jerseys now so much worn by ladies. In one long room, nothing, but New Zealand wool was passing through tho njichines.

Tho air in every ono of tho rooms was laden with the greasy smell of wool, and tho fluff that comes off in the working clung to tho oily parts of the spinning frames. These are unavoidable accompaniments of the trade, and it did not appear that anybody was the worse. The operatives, a largo proportion of whom are women and girls, looked fairly healthy, strong, and contented. Ono woman, working among tho New Zealand wool, was pointed out as having been employed continuously in tho mill for 55 years. Among tho spinning frames, boys and girls of, perhaps, 12 to 14 years, 'presumably half-timers, were beginning their industrial lifo as "dotfers," taking off the full spindles and putting on empty ones. We wero assured that they all preferred the mill to school.

A Weaving Shed. Shortness of timo prevented us seeing tho weaving at North Beck, but we saw it under specially favourable* 7 conditions at tho mills of Messrs. J. 11, Binns and Co. This firm, not long ago, entirely rebuilt its works, which are now regarded as perfectly up-to-date. They aro light, airy, spacious, and clean, the only drawback being the • deafening noise. "Deafening"'' it literally is. Coming out of the weaving shed, through the soundproof doors, it was a minute or so beioro we could distinctly hear ea'eli other speak. I am told that the deafness which is rather common among elderly mill hands is attributed to the noise of the looms. Weaving is such a matter of jerks and bumps that a quictly-work-ing loom may, for all I know, be an impossibility. One would suppose that, if there is any limit to mechanical ingenuity, it must havo been pretty nearly reached in tho modern power loom. To mention one of tho most obvious instances, wo saw sorao American looms in this mill regularly throwing out their empty spools and fixing full ones info tho shuttles, without a moment's pauso or a touch of tho minder's hand. Tho numerous devices for making tho patterns are still more wonderful, but much' too cbmplex for description hero. Tho big weaving shed contains 12S looms, and for tho class of work dono at this mill—fine suitings, vicunas, cloth for men's evening dress, and tho like—ono girl usually minds two looms. For some work , four looms aro watched by ono operative. When Keightlcy may be Clean. One special feature of Messrs. Binns and Co.'s mill is the power. The machinery is run entirely by electricity drawn from tho municipal supply, and each loom or other machine has its separate motor. This is the only mill of its class—tlio worsted trade is the technical term—in which this power arrangement obtains. An obvious advantago from tho public point of view is tho absence of smoke. From tho manufacturer's standpoint there are many advantages, and it is admitted that, when a new mill is being built, it pays to instal electricity instead of steam power. So one may liopo that JCeighley and tho other towns of the West Hiding will some day be comparatively clean. 11l the meantime, big and busy as thoso towns aro, tliey are but little spifts iwiong the wide, empty moors which rise to mountain hoiglit around them. Down over the rocks and heather como tho keen, fresh winds into every lane and alley. The children arc rosy-checked, and when you sen lite mill girls coming out at dinner-time, their shawls over their comely heads and their clogs clattering on the stones, you will agree that, with all its faults, the factory system, in this its earliest and greatest stronghold, has not been tho Juggernaut car that some would have ua think it,