YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 41, 12 November 1918, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

IMPORTANCE OF THE WOOLLEN

INDUSTRY ,

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

Bradford, September 19. " During f-he past six weeks three orders a have been-issued by the Department ]' which put them in a stronger position " than ever, and placed the trade within ± the grip of the ."authorities more than P they havo evey been before. These orders refer to 'the absolute commandeer- J ing of machinery engaged upon .'he wool- -' len industry, the hosiery trade, and slab- " bing dyeing. Tho effect of these orders J) is to prohibit civil trade in the sections c to which thev refer, except under per- o mit from the'Direetor of Wool Textile jProduction. xOf ■ course . the object of j these official announcements is to ensuro " adequate output on Government account, u to .which no party can reasonably object. 1: It does seem, strange that it should have 1' been found necessary to commandeer. <•' three branches'of tho textile- trade, .while ° the big worsted industry remains as it p was. It shows.conclusively how import- ' ant the woollen, hosiery, and slabbing 8 machinery is for the Government, and l every practical man knows it would be .impossible b get on without it. .What annoys tho trade' is that all tho legitimate needs-of the. Government are n being met. there being very few indeed f win bilieve that such a drastic stop was e .necessary. No.doubt the requirements v of the Department so'far as 'military n clctli and liosiery fabrics nro concernsd e are colossal, but we have never yet conio t across a single woollen oi - hosiery firm r Kko was not prepared to put,all their e pi nit at the disposal of the Department 1 in order to facilitate output. We need e not l.ere go into technical details, but in o the- piovisinns of the Board of ContrJ : i there ;■ a clause which distinctly states a that "working hours and the limitation i •o? the right's of use and sale of wool own- t fd by spinrers and manufacturers and { other liiatters directly affecting the inter- v e-ts of wool spinners and manufactures, c .shall, .'ome under the review of the f bo'iid." Th> writer'is . not ill a posi- r tion to sty whether tho three drastic orders leferred to ever came within the t purview of the Hoard of Control, ale though we are reliably' informed that .1 such a thing did not take place. How- fl ever, these Army Council orders _ have i been issued, and the trade is having to c carry them out. i Woollen Machinery. «■•/... 3 It has been a real eye-opener to the c worsted industry to find that the woollen j branch of, the textile, trade is first horse 1 in tho traces, notwithstanding that far * more virgin wool is consumed' annually J in iho worsted industry than in the woolleft. This is a remarkable fact, and yet when it comes to producing, military j fabrics, woollen manufacturers stand al- j most, head and shoulders above their ! worsted contemporaries. It can be safe- -j ly said that the woollen trade has come ' 'into its own, and although it has, been -stigittftiscd for many years for using silt.ii big quantities of mungo and, shoddy, ' without .woollen manufacturers the sol-. diers of Great Britain, our colonies, and ' 'ji;r Allies, would have been nothing ( near so well clothed as they are. The ; (jut stion. naturally arises, Mow is it that fabrics made from worsted .yarns are not ' as acceptable to the Department?' Another question can be reason- ' ably asked, namely, how comes it about ' that a woollen-made "fabric possesses more heat-retaining' property than is made from wuisted yarns? These are two questions which are well worth looking- at, and we will, try to answer them briefly. The hist question .is really involved in the, sec-cud, and by answering the latter :the reply to the former is obvious. The principles of ,'manufacture ui;e entirely responsible for woolleh-niaile fabrics be-, ing m.iie acceptable to the Cloth Section , of'th'e AVar Office. A woollen cloth may -not possess the same strength as ahvorsted fabric, it may hot appear as smart as ."dressy," but on such a gigantic task as fighting battles our soldiers require a cloth which has something;more about it' 'than it good appearance. Standing 'in the trenches day' and night, being exposed tcr'all weathers, and particularly cold winter months, it is of the utmost importance that soldiers bo warmly clad, - and a w ooller. yarn is on entirely different principles to a worsted yarn. ,The latter is composed'of fibres which have been drawn out and placed parallel in combing and in spinning, whereas: a woollen yarn is carded, which means,that the fibres are all interlaced one with, the other, and in the spinning operation this principle.is', continued, the spun yarn being \cry compact and very full' in 1 handle. To see the two operations would be.to learn far more.in five minutes than by anyone writing for an hour. A woollen yarn is simply spuii from threads which have been, as it were, rubbed together until they form a compact, mass of fibres, ancV when strength has been imparted to them in spinning, so as to i .enablu them to weave, the piece when it 1 comes from the loom is taken and milled, ' which imparts further strength to the fabric by causing the woollen fibres to I interlaco and lock-'together. Now this ,is noc so iii the cnto of worsted yarns. I The surface of a worsted yarn is smooth, i which largely accounts for :a worsted cloth when worn for some time becoming ,6hiny, and the fibres being drawn out . straight and spun in that way gives a ,- totally different appearance in> the woven '■fabric,'rind makes it handlo so very 1 differently to a woollen fabric. It has - been found that in order to gain the j maximum strength and heat-retaining j. properties it is best to, -use a worsted warp and a woollen weft.' By this means a cloth is obtained giving maximum Jesuits from a wearing and heat-retaining standpoint. It can be safely said that a is to-day being mado of wool in the' production of army cloths than f ever. , The number of cloths being mado for the troops, the fabrics for underclothi. ing, etc., and many other materials not '• of a clothing nature is very large indeed. The.tables-have been completely turned, and the enemy now knows the value of the woi'l supplies of the British Empire. .) . ! Manufacturers' Yarn Ration,

I As this 1 is being written some of the .worsted manufacturers have, received a supplementary allocation of yarns. No 'doubt tins will help to relieve the tension at themaMifacturing end of the trade, It Has been felt for soem time that a largo element of unfairness had entered into the treatment whicli. worsted manufac; titrers have teen, receiving. Obviously there ought to be some sort of relation between the quantity of tops allocated to spinners and tho amount,of yarn which' manufacturers are allowed to receive. This has not been the case, and so far as one is' able to judge those who have been loyal to the rationihg scheme are having to suffer through the disloyalty of, others. At any rate, some manufacturers have been more careful with their yarn, allocation than others, having exceeded it, are entitled to a proportionately larger quantity' than others ' who have gone a long way over the mark. The Board 'f Control gave its warning respecting •; probable shortage on civilian account, ••'id those manufacturers who have jic-i* <1 on the advice given them to spin finer counts and to substitute wherever possible are in (ho best position to-day. Jt is impossible to overlook the fact "that lo keep machinery running on civiliaii account is very important, and yel.unless an ademiate quantity of tops art yarns are available for the "purpose this cannot be done. As matters stand at present, a better aspect has been put upon the situation, and it may be expected that other firms will shortly receive an additional quantity of yarn. All the same it is evident that the" workings of State control need a. very loval and co-operative spirit to bo displayed by each and all. It seems very harsh'treatment of hVms who have done their best, if they are to be required to go short of yarn to help to keep running, tho machinery of others who have made no effort to e'avo yarn.