YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 222, 7 June 1918, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

WOOLS FOR HOSIERY FABRICS

(I'rom Our Special Correspondent.) Bradford, March 28, 1918. jd Tt became public property towards the end of last week that the Department hid decided to produce standard hosiery fabrics. As a mutter of fact, lo the whole business has bsen talked of for a month, but it took practical shape li- a week ago, when the leading official connected with the hosiery section of the Department met in conference at Leicester, leading* hosiery manufacturers representing the trade of Leicester and Nottingham as veil as tho immediate districts. The whole matter of produc.•y ing standard ■ hosiery fabrics was gone 1- into, the Department making it very •y clear that it was desirable to make a- standard hosiery fabrics at a reasonable ■e price for the civilian population. Tt ie is known that very l>ig prices are being it demanded for hosiery fabrics, particularid ly when made from fine crossbredsl and n merinos; medium crossbreds not being 1- .".vailiiMe at all for the civilian trade, ■r , It is not generally known that no medium e< crossbred wool or tops have _ been avnill. able for many months outside Govcrni- ment military work, and everything ini- dicat.es that wools from 46's to sli's will s not be available for a considerable time >; to come. That to-day is the position, e Tho result is that when hosiery fabrics! are inudo from, say, sS's, 60'e, and 64's quality materials, the prices ticketed look fabulous. As a matter of fact ladies' underclothing is figuring anywhere from 15s. in £\ per article, and: men's pants are also correspondingly stiff in price if ' a decent quality article is purchased. • This means that where incomes are lim--1 iteil there is not much left for the purr chasing of war-time hosiery, but tho ' Department controlling all wool supplies ' and also having fixed conversion costs 5 for combing wools into tops and spin- ' uing tops into yarns, it becomes very I easy to utilise those yarns and make • good, sound, civilian underwear. As al--1 ready indicated the whole, business was ' thoroughly thrashed out ft week ago at 1 tho conference, when it was decided that 1 standard hosiery fabrics should be made ' immediately, at least in preparation for ! next winter. l I Typos of Hosiery Fabrics to be Made. 1 A Leicester correspondent in very : close touch, with tho writer has furnish- ' ed a list of the principal types of hosiery " wear required, and the counts of yarns to be u«;d. They are as follow:— Women's Plain: Single 22's to ■ 24's, plain, two threads 1-32's, 1-34's, • 1-36*3, 1-38's, spliced with 1-50's to 1-liO's. ■ Ribbed: Two threads 1-18's to 1-24'e, ac- ' cording to gauge, spliced with l-50"s. J Men's Half-Hose, Plain: Two threads 1 1-18's to 1-26's, spliced with 1-50's to 1 1-60's. Boys' Stockings: 3-U's to 3-15's hank, 1 spliced with 1-12h. Ingrain 3-11's, 3-12's, ' mid steel and two shades of heather. 1 Underwear , , comprising men's vest and ' drawers, women's and children's combhutions, hoys' vests and drawers, 1-22's to l-2S's, with cotton backings to produce fabric, 40 per cent, wool, CO per cer.t. cotton. Jerseys, Bibbed. 2-24's navy with V. single navy cotton bucking; plain, 3-12's whitp wool. The above may appear a little technical to the average reader, but if ho will take ffte trouble to analyse same it will reveal a very signilfcant feature. Single worsted warp threads are to bs from 22's to 2S's count, including throefold 12's for tho heavy class of fabrics. In fact, several different counts' of yarns

arc enumerated, it depending entirely upon the class of fabric that is to be made. Tho reader will easily see that for the production of ladies' underwear a lighter made fabric v required than for men's underwear, vests and drawers, while for jerseys and sweaters a still heavier fabric is'requircd, the thickest count of nil being required for the production of stockings. There has been a tremendous weight of yarns spun for soldiers' stockings in threefold 12's and threefold 15's, and theso counts are to be discard,ed. One can easily see that in the production of theso various counts of yarns a big weight of raw wool will bo wanted, that really being the point we set out to emphasise. "While the counts .of yarns are enumerated above, nothing is stated regarding tho quality of wool from which the yarns aro to be spun. This is si very important matter, and one directly appealing to wool-growers and the trade throughout the world, and readers will be very much interested in what is now to be stated. As a. matter of fact, there aro two or three different qualities being uxid, but the bulk is to bo. made from medium and fine r.iossbreds. Qualities of Wool Used. The writer is reliably informed by a leading spinner in the trade doing a big Leicester yarn business that 50's quality is to form tho bulk of the hosiery yarns wanted for producing these standard fabrics. As a. matter of fact, the spinner in question finds fault with the quality being 90 low, freely prophesying that the general public demands something a little finer. Ho points out that one of the largest firms of hosiery manufacturers has to-day their cellars full of goods spun from 50's quality tops, but their customers—wholesale buyers of hosiery fabrics—refuse lo purchase goods mailo from them, demanding fabrics made from qualities no lower that T>6's and 58's. His contention is that tho general public today has FO much money to spend that they are not particular' about paying a few shillings more per garment. lie alluded both (0 stockings nud underwear, statins; that fid. per pair is neither hero nor there in the former, while if a buyer is shown two underwear fabrics, 0110 produced from 50's and tho other from M's quality wool, the latter is invariably taken, although it costs, say, 2s. Cd. more. It seems to be n. question purely and simply of what the public wants, and they are prepared to pay for what they ask for. Evidently fciio general public wants a somewhat belter arliclo I hail is beinu furnished our fighting forces. "When all is said and done, the stockings and underwear garments that have been provided both for soldiers and sailors doservp the highest praise. Our men have bnen exceedingly well clothed, no army a.t uuy previous time being turned out so well and satisfactorily clad. There is reason to believo that tho Department has fixed largely upon stood medium quality wools out of which to produce standard fabrics, thus continuing the- uso of tho same class of yarns which is being utilised in the production of war-time hosiery fabrics. Wo must admit t'hat wo share the same views as the spinner in asserting that if fine crossbred.? and merinos had been selected the fabric would have found more genera) acceptance by tho public. If tho middleclass population wants something better, and tops become availablo for tho civilian trade, hosiery manufacturers will soon produce the fabrics required, and we believe this will bn found (o bo the case.

No'Jjiin? is at present known as to what will bo tho fixed price for each article, but everything is lo bo worked on standard conversion costs, allowing a reasonable profit to those doing the business. At the present time con<idorablo orders are in the hands of Leicester hosiery firms, who are making un/l»rwear fabrics for American and also Italian troops, while there seems to bf no cessation in the production of hosieries for our own forrps. As a matter of fact, while Ihe giving out of orders for uniform cloths has stopnetl. the sninnin? of military grey. Shetland and 'bWkPt worsted yam continues, nil meaninpr tKnr. preparation is still bi'in? made for miljtuvy and naveal wib of ov.r own forces and thoso of our Allio?. Jf bi> sniil to-day thaf_ Ihe nrorluction of hosiery fabrics v an important adjunct to the wool fpxHlp .industry. It was never so Inrsro as it is to-day, and when the war finishes, a big outlpt will br> found for wools suitable for tliis purpose.