MANUFACTURE OF GUT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 September 1938, Page 9

MANUFACTURE OF GUT

ORIGIN OF RAW MATERIAL. AN INTERESTING STORY. The following interesting article on the manufacture of gut for tennis racquets, musical instruments, etc., was written by Mr Scandrett, a well known business man, of Sydney:— Derivation of the use of the word “catgut” and its possible origin from the word “kit-violin” will be found in any good dictionary or encyclopaedia, and although the true birth of the term is not known, it is quite possible owing to the fact that catgut andymusical strings spring from the same source—the intestines, of sheep or lambs—that the word had a musical origin. Also that it is a very old one, for one manufacturing concern has been in the business over 400 years, since Queen Elizabeth was on the English throne, and the descendants of the family still operate it. Whole families have been employed and a long line of ancestors before them. Another manufacturing concern has been in the business over three hundred, and several over one hundred years. So even such a mundane subject has its romance.

Immediately after the sheep are killed and whilst the animal heat is still in the intestines they are stripped of all surplus matter and then, immediately, conveyed into soaking vats, which reduces all the surplus mucous to a soft state; they are then scraped leaving only that peculiar tough membrane known -in medicine as the submucous coat or tunica submucosa; this latter comprises the raw material for the manufacture of sausage casings, tennis strings, surgical gut or musical strings. This coat, of which tennis gut is made, is of a remarkable structure; not only is it strong but it is the only known tissue that can be used for internal ligatures by surgeons, when operating on human beings, that will dissolve itself in the human system, e.g., one could put some tennis strings under the skin of a human beings and in a few weeks they would dissolve into the body. In the tennis string factory the tube' of the intestine is split into two or three ribbons in accordance with their strength and calibre. For top-grade strings, only what is known as the smooth side is used; the other side is sometimes fatty, is usually perforated, and is only suitable for the cheaper type of tennis gut. These ribbons go through numerous processes of manufacture, including hardening or toughening and cleaning, so that even the smallest particle of dirt or other tissue is removed. They are then spun in their wet state, something after the system of rope, twine or cotton manufactures. The next step is further twisting, in what are known as drying rooms, where numerous twists are put in whilst the strings are in the course of drying. They are then left in these rooms for periods of time, according to the time of the year, to thoroughly dry and season. Championship quality tennis gut can only be made from -the very finest quality intestines; only a very small percentage of sheep intestines has the strength,/ resilience and tension to justify its selection for the manufacture of championship quality. The finished string must have the brilliancy and vigorousness of the “E” string in the violin or harp. All strands are also tested for weakness or cuts or faults that have occurred during process of cleaning, the faulty strands being eliminated. Some of these faulty strands can be made into a very low grade gut, but most of them are discarded and sent to the destructor. Then the intestines are carefully tested for quality—i.e., resiliency and strength. Some material is so weak as to be useless for any type of strings, and these have to be discarded. It is simple enough to make a weak tennis string out of strong raw material, and that is what an inexperienced manufacturer can do. Some manufacturers have attempted to popularise tennis strings made from cattle tissue; they are certainly strong, but, the writer claims, have not the same resilience as sheep gut, and the tennis player who needs- resilience and speed should never use them. In the course of manufacture that raw material which is naturally of a dark colour is kept apart, dyed and manufactured into coloured tennis strings. This dark material is just as good in quality as the lighter kindin fact, the best, quality coloured tennis strings is considered superior to white strings. The length of a sheep s intestine various from 20 to 30 yards, according to the breed of sheep. Heavier strings are graded down, as is done with musical strings. Light tone strings are used for the championship grades; medium tone for medium grades, and so on. Of recent years there have been many attempts at an artificial tennis string, the fiist being made from wire. One of our leading Davis Cup players, some years ago, tried to put a wire tennis string on the map, but its life was short and it soon went off the market. Many attempts have been made to oust the genuine sheep gut with synthetic gut; although

it has been tried for many years, the genuine gut still holds the demand from the players. Most artificial or synthetic tennis strings lose their tension and resiliency sooner, and become stretchy. Except for low-grade rackets, nothing has yet been discovered to take the place of the natural gut. Attempts have been made to oust the tennis string made from sheep by one made from cattle and pig intestines. Any stringer, sports dealer, or player, can very soon tell the difference between strings made from cattle or pig intestines as against strings made from sheep intestines. There is a feel like the artificial or synthetic about the beef and pig. All the raw material comes from the kill of our own sheep; the kill in Australia is the largest in the world, viz.: ovei’ 20,000,000 sheep per annum; furthermore, Australia is better equipped than any other country in the world for the manufacture of tennis strings, as the following comparison of the total number of sheep in Australia with some of tne other principal sheep-breeding countries shows: —Australia, 113,000,000; Soviet Republic, 52,000,000; U.S.A., 51,000,000; South Africa, 48,000,000; New Zealand, 28,000,000; United Kingdom, 27,000,000; France, 10,000,000; Canada, 4,000,000; Germany, 3,000,000.