WHAT HAPPENS TO N.Z. WOOL

Hokitika Guardian, 10 April 1930, Page 8

WHAT HAPPENS TO N.Z. WOOL

RuMANCE OF AN INDUSTRY

(By Will Appleton.)

I little dreamt when years ago, as a small hoy, 1 was scolded by my old Scotch grandmother lor not keeping a tight enough strain on the skein of wool she was winding off my 'hands in the old-fashioned way, that I would one day visit the works in Scotland from which that “Behive” wool was sent. When 1 was in Scotland recently, I had the pleasure of visiting Alloa, one of the oldest manufacturing towns in the north, and was shown over the plant of Patous and Baldwins, a concern that has been in existence for wall over' a century.

I must say that T was amazed at the amount olf work that is necessary to ensure that the lady who plies the kii’ft

iug needle receives the best possible article for her purpose. First of all, the wool which comes from the; sheep grower has to be sorted, and good sorting is essential for the production of highclass yarn. After sorting the wool ha*--to be cleansed from grease, or “yolk” as it is called, and other impurities by a process of scouring. It will interest readers to know that during this piocess a loss in weight occurs of from to 70 per cent. After washing, the wool is dried bv elaborate machinery, and is then passed on to the carding machine, the function of which is to take the raw wool and form the short fibres into a continuous ribbon. The various rollers of tlr 1

machine arc covered with what is known as card clothing, the basis of which is a very strong fabric covered with fine wire bent in the centre and sharply pointed. The wire covering of

the large rollers, running at a fixed speed, comes into contact with the

points rlf the wire on a slower moving roller, which moves in a contrary direction .These rollers, which are clos'd'set. but do not touch, ensure that the wool passing between them, is .subjected to a combing action which tends to .straighten and lay the fibres parallel to each other.

The resulting material from the carding machine, which is called silver, is then passed on to combing wheel box and goes through this machine in order to draw out, straighten and level the fibres in preparation for the cofnbing operation. What is known as the combing balling machine makes the silver up into suitable balls, in order to facilitate the feeding, into a more complicated combing machine. This intricate piece of plant adjusts the fibres in parallel form and removes the short curly filaments still present in the wool. If these were not taken out the material would he unsuitable for worsted yarns. The levelled and parallelised fibres form what are known as “tops,” while the short curly fibres which are removed, commonly called “noil,” have to he used in another branch of the business.

The rope-like ribbon which emerges is then passed forward to- a finishing box in order that it may have greater equality in thickness. The process also merges the fibres together, and makes the material more suitable for the next process ,and this finishes the carding and combing section.

In the sixth machine, through which the wool has passed, the operation is known as drawing, and here one sees a combination of several ribbons of wool of the same or various qualities, in order to form the required blend. The ribbons or silvers are also equalised an levelled, find it is in this machine that the colours are first united for forming the various shades and heather mixtures.

Another machine known as the spindle gill box, lengthens the ribbons and the wool is then wound on two bobbins. By the use oif another piece of plant, the wool is again reduced m thickness, nnjd is passed on to what is known ns a fourspindle drawing box. "he process is repeated and goes on to a six-spindle drawing box. The material and bobbins which have now been through nine machines are weighed, which shows any inequality +bat mnv have occurred during provious operations. The thickness is

•uoiin reduced and the material is then 1 " I '">n forward to a 12-spindle box or

'•nb’ bm box

!,1,, 0m h’ y lho bobb’iis are taken to a coring machine in which two stands are now united and are again, not only reduced in thickness but a twist is in-

trod need. All the time the material has been gradually getting smaller and smaller, and at this stage it is passed to a spinning frame. Only at this point can the material be called yarn, and tin's is wound on two smaller bobbins by a revolving- flyer. It then goes forward to a twisting frame, and on this any number of single threads up to six are twisted, producing a yarn folded in the ply in which it is sold two, three, four, or six ply.

An interesting feature of this machine is the ingenious stop-motion with which it is fitted. The adoption of this automatically stops the spindle, and the snpnlv to it of yarn, when any single thread breaks.

The product from the twisting frame is then reeled into skeins of a definite weight on a reeling machine and after being taken 'from the reels and washed to remove the oil, which has been put on to help the process of .spinning, the yarn is dried and twisted into heads of a certain weight. These hanks or heads are then made up into bundles for distribution. Several hundred hands are in eon«+int emnlovniont at Alloa, where. T believe, the industry was first.establish ed on account of the very fine supply of ’water that is available.

It wa;s my privilege, subseguentlv. to see the plant of Patou and Baldwins, at Halifax, Yorkshire. Here much the same class of manufacturing is done, but 1 found that the firm also turns out a tremendous amount of Turkey rug wool. Judging from the enormous sale in England and Scotland it would appear that a good proportion of the population are now busily en-o-aged in making rugs. I saw some magnificent rugs which had been turned out by some of the girls at Halifax, and at my suggestion the manager is going to send out a few dozen to New Zealand to let our people see what can he done.

TKg process is a very simple one. and it occurred to me that the incTustrv is one that could he profitably undertaken by people who are crippled or who cannot pursue the usual avocations in life.

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