OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 4033, 30 June 1931, Page 18

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

POINTS RELATIVE TO CONSUMPTION OF RAW MATERIAL. AN ATTEMPT TO BREAK A RECORD. GOOD CONTINENTAL COMPETITION EXPECTED IN COLEMAN STREET. (From Our Special' Correspondeni ) BRADFORD, April 23. An important test of the rate of the consumption of wool in any textile manufacturing centre is the proportion of the machinery which is kept running, and in going round the West Riding of Yorkshire it has recently been gratifying to find an improvement, in this direction. Each month the Ministry of Labour publishes returns showing the number of operatives employed in the woollen and worsted, cotton, and other sections of the textile industry in this country. These show that the percentage of unemployment has recently declined. In the worsted trade of’ Bradford and Huddersfield there has been a slight increase in employment, and ihe same can be said for Keighley and Halifax. But even yet far too many mills are standing on Saturday and Monday. Combing machinery which usually runs on merino wool is busy, but there is nothing like the same activity in crossbreds. The worsted weaving section remains slack, and this must also be said of the woollen section. In Huddersfield and the Colne. Valley, where the cheapest woollen tweeds are made, employment has been a little? better.

This reference to machinery activity is a reminder that the majority of woollen and worsted mills in the West Riding are fairly well balanced. One does not find mills having to run their carding section three, or four hours overtime to supply sufficient slubbing for the mule spinning frames. It used to‘be no uncommon thing before the war for mills to run their, carding department all night, having sufficient spinning plant to work up during the daytime all the filled eondener bobbins. Another feature of the woollen trade is the introduction of improved machinery instead of the old two-bobbin condensers. The majority of mills now have a tape condenser, these being able to produce at least double the amount of carded sliver ready „ for the mules. This has been a great boon to many mills, although tape condensers are not exactly suitable for all classes of raw material. Large quantities of cloth are made entirely from munga and cotton, and these need a good deal of humouring. The machinery cannot be run at a very high speed, and great care has to be exercised in the spinning of thick yarns.

SPEED AND EFFICIENCY.

Having examined some-Italian woollen and worsted cloths, the writer can speak very highly of them. Nothing better is being produced in England, but the cloths should be good, for. the best merino Wool has evidently been-used.' If Italian mills buy their raw material from Australia and South Africa, taking- the best merinos obtainable, they can scarcely do otherwise than produce excellent cloths. Relative •to the .speed at'■which goods can be turned out, it may be mentioned that Sir. Malcolm Campbell, holder of the world’s land motor speed record, has suggesetd beating a record established, by, Mr Thomas Kitson (an emigrant from Bradford) in America, by converting wool from the sheep's back into a finished suit in less than 6 hours 48 minutes. The challenge has been - accepted by Mr A.. Stoner Crowther (of. Messrs John Crowther and Sons,-Milhsbridge), Mr Arthur H. Bird (Messrs J. T. and J. Taylor, Batley). and Mr Arthur Saville (Messrs Prices Tailors [1928], Ltd., Leeds); but it is useless for Sir Malcolm to draw a parallel between the-wool textile industry and the motor industry. Even if the sheep were to be washed before ■ being shorn to enable the wool to go straight to the house, this-' would interfere with the continuity of the record-breaking attempt at the very outset, and would expose it to contempt. It takes time for any wool to go through - two or -three scouring bowls and then be dried, but if the wool used for the experiment can be washed on the sheep's - back the usual scouring operation can be dispensed with; The weaving will be the longest part of the process, but as the warp and weft will be sound, the weaver will not be troubled with ends coming down. The Toom will also be self-shuttling, and,, three and a-half yards can be woven with scarcely a stoppage. Even then the -loth will have to be scoured, possiblv milled- a little, and finished. There will be no time for anybody to play about if Mr Kitson's record is to be broken, and even then no real good will have been accomplished. ; ANOTHER LONDON SERIES. The quietness which has been seen in the West Riding of Yorkshire has been accompanied by other features which point to buyers in London at the third series of wool sales being ready to operate on. a market basis. Probably a bigger weight of tops has been sold than- the majority have been prepared to admit, but this has been accompanied by a revision of prices which has left merinos 2d per lb below the highest point, and crossbreds about lid to 2d. This means that some reduction in London values has already been anticipated, and unless bigger buying orders are in the market than is known at this writing even merinos, which have all along been regarded as being in a stronger position than crossbreds,’ will depreciate 7J per eent. The latter fall js calculated on the basis which tops have been sold in Bradford during the interval, but this is leaving the Continent out of the reckoning, and it is understood on fairly reliable authority that there are further large requirements to'be filled by that section. If this anticipation of good Continental buying is realised the maximum decline is more likely to be around 5 per cent. Tt is also important to remember that the Australian selling season is now practically over, that since the last London sales the consumption of fine wool has continued unabated, and that this description is -being absorbed in channels which it has been customary to be filled by medium and fine crossbreds. THE LIST OF OFFERINGS.

The offerings for the series do not call for much comment. There are generous supplies of New South Wales and Victorian wools, and 86,200 bales of New Zealand and Punta wools will fully provide for all the requirements of crossbred buyers. It remains to be seen whether those who have shipped to London in the hope, of realising better prices than were obtainable in New Zealand will gain by the experiment. The following shows what is available in .comparison with the two preceding series:—

Some advice to students of history was given by Professor J. Shelley in the course of a lecture at Christchurch on Saturday night. “In reading the records of anything, remember that the ordinary things are not handed down,” he said. “ Suppose ' that 4000 years hence a record of life to-day in Christchurch was found, presuming that the place had been wiped out by an earthquake or something. There would be no mention of the ordinary things; it would be extraordinary things that were recorded.” He urged his audience, when reading of the past, to remember to fill in the ordinary things in the ages that they were investigating. “The worst feature of the unemployment problem is the opportunity it is giving to the Communists to spread their propaganda," said an inmate of the Auckland City Mission doss house the other night. “ Another striking aspect is the number of .educated men one meets on the *•.- roads looking for work. I am a bachelor of arts myself."

First Second Third Series. Series, Series. Bales. Bales. Bales. New South Wales 37,800 26.250 26,900 Queensland 24,700 16,900 7,100 Victoria 27,000 26,500 24,100 South Australia . . 7,350 8,400 6,600 Western Australia 15,450 10,300 5,950 Tasmania ■ — — 1.700 2.300 New Zealand 54.850 56,850 60.200 Cape 1,800 1,400 1,230 Puntas 2.100 22,500 26,000 Falklands .. — 2,750 Sundries 450 200 370 Totals .. 171,500 171,500 163,500 The following shows current prices for tope in Bradford, compared with 1 the previous highest and lowest points:'Lowest. Highest. Current Jan. 22. Mar. 26. Prices. d. per lb. d. per lb. d. per lb. 70’s warp 24 29 27 70’s average .. 22J 28 26 64’s warp 20 27 25 64's average .. 19 26 24 60’s super 18J 24J 23 60’s ordinary . . 18 23 J 22 Cape super 21 26J 25 58’s average • . 16 21 18 56’s average .. 14 18 & 16 EC’s average .. 11J 151 * 131 48’s average .. 10 14J 12 46’s average . . 13 J 111 40’s prepared.. 9} 12J 11