The Irish Linen Trade

Feilding Star, Volume XIV, Issue 77, 17 December 1892, Page 2

The Irish Linen Trade

: — +—• — — : — ■ ' To the minds of moat people the name of Ireland suggests evictions, agrarian outrages, Home Rule, or perhaps 1 ? good whisky, but how many -remember that the " most distressful country. " supplies the world with the ; great proportion of the linen goods which add so much to its comfort and its luxury. And yet in every royal palace and lordly hall, in every home almost of the civilized world is to be found some product of an Irish loom. Originally established by a few Huguonots who took refuge in the North of Ireland from religious persecution of their fellow countrymen in France the Irish linen trade has grown with the years from being the product of a few hunted hand-loom weavers till at" the present day the output from the steam factories of Belfast and the surrounding districts, amounts to several millions sterling. Messrs Cobbe and Darragh have at present in one of their windows a most interesting exhibit showing the Irish flax in its various stages of manufacture' from the straw as it grows in the .fields till it is converted into the various kinds of fronting linen, diapers, damasks, &c, or into the dainty cambric handkerchiefs, for now-a-days the Irish manufacturer is not satisfied with merely weaving and bleaching, but " makes up" most tasteful aprons and beautifully printed and embroided handkerchiefs, for ladies, and dress shirts and collars, j&c, for gentlemen. A brief description of the various processes may prove interesting to our readerai.: Irish flax is to be seen growing in the paddocks about Feilding, so we need not describe it. The plant is sown bioad cast, carefully weeded while growing, and when the seed is nearly ripe is pulled up by the roots, (not cut down.) Tied in bundles it is submerged in a water hole for two or three weeks : it is then spread out to dry, then scutched by machinery not unlike that used in our flax mills. This separates the woody matter from the fibres. The "scutched flax" is now sold to the spinning mill where it undergoes further cleaning by hand and also by machinery, until it is free from every particle of " straw," and becomes as soft as silk. The " dressed flax "is then passed through a series of rollers which convert it into an endless strip called " rove." The rove then passes to a spindle revolving at a very high rate of speed,' which produces the " yarn." The weaver takes charge of the " yarn," and soon it is transformed into long web? of " unbleached linen," the bleacher turns it to a snowy whiteness, and it is now ready for the market. Messrs Cobbe and Darragh import their linens direct from the mills, and not the least striking feature of their unique display is a series of views of the works of the York Street Spinning Co., which give an idea of the extensive premises of the great linen firms. This company employs over 3,000 hands, and has a working capital of nearly three quarters of a million sterling. The Irish flax plant should have an especial interest for our settlers, as from its seed is produced an article which is very extensively imported into the colony, and which could be iust as easily manufactured here, viz.. unseed oil,, while the linseed itself is largely used for medical purposes. '^ ' Much of the land in the colony is smfcable for flax- growing, and the American farmers who go in for it extensively in some of the States have proved that it pays to grow flax merely for its seed. In seasons when wheat and oata are low in price flax-seed growing ought to be a valuable stand-by for many of our settlers.