YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 87, 7 January 1919, Page 10

YORKSHIRE LETTER

STEPS FOR TRANSFORMATION j , FROM MILITARY TO CIVIL \ WORK, . ■ i .; ,___'' i (Prom Our Speci'itJ Correspondent;)' ( '.'■'■ Bradford, November W, :, 1918. : 1 Tho sifrning of, the nrmistico terms, has. f vastly ohanged the wkoU aspect of - tho : wool textile industry, and although c there is nothing to indicnto on inimedi- i ate radical change, already steps have t been token by the Department towards " important alterations. Naturally every- ; ono has welcomed the end of hostilities, I n great burden having been lifted'from, a the minds of all. /As every reader 3 ■ knows, many mills throughout the vyesP I Riding have had. 100 per cent, of their 1 •machinery on military .work; and with t tho'eud of reoruiting, and a reduction of the tremendous wear and'tear of soldiers' uniforms, tho demand for tho } cloth of which these have been made will be sensibly reduced. This has been foreseen- for many months, and practi- - { cal steps were .token ic anticipation of f the time when 'hostilities would cease, b An important step was taken \ist Thurs- 6 day by tho yarn section of the Depart- r roent dealing with-tho' French orders, b whivh"may 1» followed any day by a R similar one dealing with other military r fabrics required by British as well' as « Allied troops; The reader icon.well see. t lliat hundreds of mills throughout; Great 6 Britain all running at full speed, many 6 . till 8 p.m., and many all through the s night,- meant that the output is large, o hence with - military, requirements for j tho time being,equal to the demand, it ( is imperative that, the authorities take 6 . isteps for' transferririg.-jmachinqry . from; i 1 >toi6taiidavd :;;qr,.;;civil> '• ,-ij ' '.^French 1 'Military Cloths' 'First; Dealt -':'; a ,:;,- g:-^;. with.'■;;■'--■ ./•-":"—; 1 Aa 'already .inditttedAspi'nners :>meiv-.; j 1 ed an 'official, communication v.nt the; li 'end of last'week "halving "the present or- 5 ders for' : French ;blue grey, cloth'.'- Wo' J are .reliably .informed'that : 'th'e.'..quanf;ityi ,v ' actually'put out-some weeks agb'was-.siX; r million yards, -the • Rationing Committee, - 6 allocating-five million ibs. cf tops of <• ; 32's and'SG's quality for the /pinning. (l , of .2 : lG'a: yarns. '. These yarns,'. *'ere ■■ a: -. ■ blend' of 50' per cent; of'the-jlwo ji-iali". ties named, the woollen weft 'employed; being spun to nine- skeins. When that: "■ order was placed no one 'anticipated sveh- " an early termination of-hostilities, con- j sequeritly an official notice was sent out 4 by the yarn."-section of thel Rationing De- ■ '-partment a-'weck ago which ran as- fc!-" ' lows:—"We understand that the French , demand for".blue-gray has been reduced ' by half the original'quantity. Please 1 arrange to supply .-manufacturers "vith ; r ; half 'tho specified quantity' uf"yarn—de-. 1 livery, at the samo rate per, week, as. -t : -agreed! , Wo havo advised .the top die-') t . tribiition department to'cancel half of' < your requisition of. tops".-....-.' .<• ' ,■:]'' J It cannot 1m said that,the'abo»e,mat-. 3 ed any surprise, and it is hound to he [ ' followed sooner or. later by similar. 1,0-'. 1 ' ( tices N affecting ii.rita'ry. orders', i.r g':n-' .1 :''oral. ' It is '.veil known that'ivi;vy ir-: der that has •; been given out for the' ; past two years l.as carried with it a' ' ■'break clause," and while we are. tin-' able : to give, the official ■ wording, , the;, meaning is'that, the War •. Office reserves ■ to itself the' right inimedhroly ■ to cancel orders already placed and to' give instructions to spinners and manufacturers to.change orders as they think, best. . The clause really provides for Hie stop-, page-Of military orders by wool and. , other' materials,bcing used for other pur-' poses.' Of course, j what materials .have , been blended and ,ar'o passing through 1 the machines'are'to lie allowed to gp through in the usual way, but adequato provision has been made for changing the final; destiny of the raw material. It is? reported that manufacturers in tho Rochdale district havo been given notice to cease the manufacture of natural flannel for the troops, and-have received instructions to at ohco turn the materials iii hand to tho production of standard ' flannel for. the civil trade. It'will be remembered that this was projected some months ago, but the scheme had to be shelved on account df the extraordinary demand for natural flannel,for British ami Allied troops, the American Army making big demands -upon our resources in this one particular. Wo are at the 'moment .uncertain whether .the bTend • is to be (10 per cent, of wool and '10 per 1 cent, of cotton, or whether the present ] blend for military flannel, namely, 70 ■ ' per cent, of. wool mid 30 ner cent... of cotton, will constitute the standard ■] flannel. In any. case both- fabrics Will • '. be good and well suited to to-day's needs. One must not forgot that, practically I speaking, nine months' supplies have to be provided ■ for. .The programme works' , out like this: The Cloth Department is supposed to have three months' supplies of tho actual manufactured fabric in hand ready for putting the. scissors into tho cloths to be made into ready-to-wear suits and greatcoats. T/hen three months' supplies are going through- the. machines, every practical man knowing that it take* to-day a long time for the raw material to be put down at the scouring bowl and to pass through I he various processes nf manufacture before it reaches the finished cloth stage. In the meantime preparation is being made, ,fo.r a further threo months' supply of raw material, consequently in tile aggregate there is hound to be on hand a very big weight of both ! raw and partly as well as fully inamifnc- ■ tured materials and fabrics. This, as the reader.will see, means a huge business for somebody, and great credit is due ' ; to the many individuals who have been ; responsible for dealing so efTeelively with such a huge problem as providing for the many millions of men who have been upholding the cause of the Allies. Dual-Purpose Cloths. '■■ .The allusion which wo havo already made to the. provision of what are known 1 as; dual-purpose cloths is likely to receive more consideration in tho future 011. account of the cassation of hosilities. It is a fact that both drab and tartan , sorgo cloths have been made in the grey, , although the bulk have been dyed.in:tho 11' wool. Tho idea 6onio months ' ago was

to make big stocks in the grey in order that they could either bo dyed khnki for military purposes, or indigo, blue, black, or brown to provide suits for demobilised soldiers. The idea is good, and already important stops have been taken for diverting raw materials from the production of military fabrics to standard cloths. The reader can well seo that there is a big quantity of raw materials in the haiids of ' top'makors, spinners, and manufacturers, all destined for mili- ' tan- fabrics, but if a change be' effected such fabrics can be turned to civilian account, the very thing which is wanted to-day. We are telling no seoret when we say that the proposals which havo i already been made are sound and practical. Of course what raw materials have been blended for Icliaki purposes must be allowed to go through the scribbling anrt spinning machines. When the pieces are, woven they can be dyed indigo, black, or brown shades, ami so mado ready for suitings for the civil trade. A wider and more extensive field is to bo opened for the utilisation of Government cloths,: which is bound to give universal satisfaction. So long as the raw materials , remain unblended they can be made to serve an exceedingly ■ good purpose. : Worsted khaki warps have been woven with woollen wefts of 'black, brown,] heather mixture; grey, and other colours, j A manufacturer.who has seen the woven | 1 patterns says they look exceedingly well, \ ' and the writer makes bold to say that ; i a big weight of khaki warps will bo j i utilised in ibis way, namely, for the pro- ] I dttetion of standard cloths which will j | be most acceptable to the general trade i I of the country. In this way Government- 1 I owned materials can be used without any ! loss to the nation. There will bo no stop- | page of trade, while in the meantime | preparation can, be made to get.the trade i back to civil and more normal conditions, j These are the ideas which are at present i before the Department, and if earned out i 'will ceitainly contribute to a eontinuanca j of. business with little or no disturbance i to any branch.of the industry. j