“KNITTED” CLOTH.

Shannon News, 1 June 1923, Page 1

“KNITTED” CLOTH.

MAKING THE LOOM LOOK ANTIQUATED.

YARD-A-MINUTE PRODUCTION.

A small group of in the hosiery trade lihve discovered how to manufacture on a knitting- machine certain kinds of cloth at least 10 times faster and many times cheaper than on a loom. Already a number of Nottingham hosiery firms are putting the claims of the discoverers to the test, and are getting remarkable results.

This new competitor, of the loom is a circular knitting machine of unusual size. It turns out at almost, an incredible rate a close, firm-textured fabric which, when finished, is indistinguishable from the product of the loom.

For a long time the hosiery trade has concentrated on making- a garment which in its.twin qualities,of elasticity and lightness would be preeminently "suitable for underwear. Having chased the product of the looms from the underwear market the hosiery manufacturers turned their attention to outer garments like overcoats, and ladies’ coats and jackets made in knitted material. For- two years the coarser fabrics of the heather mixture variety have been successfully tested, and lately it has been shown" that with finer textures of the Melton class remarkable results can be obtained by the use of knitting machines; and when the goods are finished in the-same way jjs woven cloth they give a firm texture ‘and; stand the test of . ordinary wear. They are dyed in the piece. It is in the matter of productivity that these new knitting machines make the present power-loom seem as antiquated as its hand or foot operated ancestor. It has for years been the complaint of the inventor that the weaving loom has reached its limit in regard to production because of the principles on which it is constructed, and many efforts have been made to invent a circular loom. This ideal, I am told by professor Davis, of the University College Here, has been achieved by the knitting machine which I have mentioned. ONE GIRL —TWO MACHINES.

It is called the 80-feed circular latch needle frame, and is made by the Nottingham firm of George Blackburn and Sons. At a low estimate it will produce fabric at the rate of one yard a minute for general clothing purposes. A girl can watch two machines The fabric,., which is-..made -by* this knitting machine, probably the largest by far in the world—the Americans have built machines up to 40-feeds—-is of double width, with a very tight stitch, and when suitably milled, steamed, raised, and cropped presents a very dressy appearance.. The hosiery ‘trade section of the Nottingham Chamber of Commerce is taking the matter up on a commercial basis, and already a number of firms are jn touch with the market.

Even before the building of this 80feed : machine the knitting machines were competing in a small way with the looms. " ' For""several years one Nottingham firm has been making heather mixture men’s overcoatings for winter wear, and has been able to sell them at a lower price than the woven fabric. After two years of wear these knitted cloths are said to show no tendency to sag , or bag or lose them shape in-any way. If that is so it may not be long before The knitting, machines are placing oh the market a cloth with so little stretch in it that it can. be used for men’s suits. At present another Nottingham firm is making on a large scale flannel trousers from a knitted fabric. Speed of production is not the, only advantage which the new multi-feed machine has over the loom, as the cloth which it manufactures does not need, as does the product of the loom, any warp preparation, any drawing in, any sleying, or any tying up. The result is that the cloth is made at a cost of a fraction of a penny per yard. A SATIRE OF CIRCUMSTANCE.

It is ironical that the good fortune of this discovery should have fallen upon a trade which has no lack of orders'and no unemployed, while the lace industry, in doleful idleness, looks on. There are factories which for two years have not made an inch of lace. Fashion, first of all, is against them. Womerf.' it is said, .no longer wear frilled underclothing; they have adopted the less voluminous hut lighter and more hygienic products of the hosiery people. It was the “hobble” and then the short skirt,.- they say, which drove the'-petticoalt 'out of the woman’s wardrobe. Germany, Nottingham’s = best pre-war customer, is “dead";"Austria, a former market, is also “dead”, and Russia is another casualty of the economic eruption. One firm which before the war had 3000 accounts with Russia has none to-day. France has increased her tariff against Nottingham lace by 45 times, and America has raised her duty on lace from 60 to 90 per cent, ad volorem.

Faced with such a blank prospect the lace industry must either .become reconciled to a further long starvation wait for orders or seek fresh outlets. This cloth-knitting machine may pro-

vide a profitable outlet. Strictly speaking, the new industry would seem to be an adjunct of the hosiery trade, but a number of lace firms are reported to be considering very seriously the question of putting idle hands to work upon. it.