"THROUGH THE MILL."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4118, 21 May 1892, Page 2

"THROUGH THE MILL."

(By <mr Special Reporter.) In compliance with an invitation from Mr Leithead, the manager, I found myself on Monday last at the entrance of tho Kaiapoi Woollen Factory, in company with the Resident Magisprato'for this district and Mr J, L. Wilson, J.P., who is a regular encyclopedia on local and general matters.

We were met at the door by the manager and Mr T, Miller, the company's experienced and trusted wool buyer, who informed us that as it was a.busy day at the mill, they would leave us in Mr Wilson's handß. We hud no reason to complain of the arrangement, as it ia from his lucid descriptions during our tour of inspection that I am enabled to write this report. , "

The site of the laiapoi Woollen Mill is on the left bank of the Cam river, a tributary of the Wairnnkariri, is Mthin ten minutes' walk of the railway station, and the space occupied is about eleven acres, To the left stands the manager's residence, and the numerous cottages round about are occupied by the employees, Over the entrance gate is a powerful electric light, and o, few yards inside the gate is adrinking fountain supplied from an artesian well driven to a depth of one hundred and ninety feet. In tho centre of the land is the factory itself, with the boiler and dye house in the rear. The main building,

which has three floors, is 230 feat long and 108 feet .widoi, This provides accommodation for the carding machines on the lower floor, the spinning mules on the next, and a spinning mule designer's loom, and store room above, On the right side are the three weaving sheds, measuring 200 feet by 100 feet and built of corrugated iron, At ihe wes> em end is the engine room, milling house, dye house, drying, house, and finishers' rooms, covering an area of 154 ft x 90ft. To the right of'the weaving sheds is a brick store 60ft x 58ft, with two floors for storing wool, Further to the right is the wool sorters room, which holds about 300 hales of wool. Between this and the river is the sulphuring house, wherein flannels md blankets are whitened by being exposed lo the action of the fumes of sulphur in a closed brick chamber. To the east of the sortinghouse there is an elevated drying stand, with battened open floor, covering an aVa of a quarter of an acre, whereon tho washed wool is exposed to dry. To'the left of the main building are two brick buildings, one used as a carpenter and blabksmith shop, and the other occupied by teasing,devilling,andmotingniachines, Water is supplied by two large pump, iug engines, and during tho time the mill is working these pumps can supply a body of witter sufficient to quell the most serious outbreak of fire. In addition to a most complete fire service, there is a stenra fire engine for use in case of an outbreak at a time when the mill is not working. The employees are exercised once a weeK at firo drill and an efficient fire brigade of two companies of twelve men each has been organised. Every attention has been paid to light and ventilation and in winter the buildings are wanned by hot air pipes. In each department are Gltors, lavatories, etc,; and in ono of the rooms is a large steam chest in which the employes oan keep warm the cans of teaorsoup which they bring with them. At night light is supplied from a powerful electric light motor fitted up the Giilober Electrio Lighting Company. The boiler house contains five 20ft- Cornish boilers, sft in diameter, built by Messrs J, Andep son and Co,, of Christchurch, and car be worked up to a pressure of 60ibi to the square inch, Water is supplied to the boilers through a Green 1 ! patent Economises which consists o a series of upright tubes,.three inche in diameter, placed, in a chamber a the foot of the chimney stack/ ant supplied with water from tanks, Th heat which passes from the boilers i: to escape with the smoke to th ohimney, raises tho water to near) boiling point before it leaves the tube to take its placo in the boilers. Th saving in fuel is estimated to bo' a least 20 per cent,, and the heat of th toilers is better mainiained, thai when supplies of cold water had to b pumped in from time to time, B means of a scraping apparatus workei by the machinery, the tubes of thi ecouomiser are cleared of the sooi which would otherwise clog them, and it falling into a pit below h scraped outside as occasion requires. Forty tons of coal a week are used in keeping up steam to drive the engines. The smoke staok is eighty feet in height, with a base of eighteen feet, The engine, made by Scott Bros., of Christchurch, is a horizontal compound stationary engine ol sixty horse power, and runs at a speed of seventy revolutions a minute, with a stroke of thirty-six inohes. The fly wheel is twelve feet in diameter, and weighs five tone. The driving pulley is six fent, and drives nine ropes, This engine (which was delivered at the factory £25 cheaper than a similar engine delivered at London Docks) is a beautiful piece of machi-ni-ry and shines like polished silver, The electrio light motor driven by a small horizontal engine, stands in ont corner pf tho engine room. From tin engine room throughout the main portions of tfie rpjll tjie main shaftinf is five inches and the branches fom inches, borne by brackets bolted t the ceiling, and works bo smoothl, that there is hardly any vibration, Tho eoursa of the wool through tin I mill is as follows:—The bales an taken jo the sortinc; room whore eacl fleece is sorted into five classes.' Fpu olassesare tjenerally used, two fo blanketing and two for flannels ao( tweeds. The fifth class is composed of" motey " wool, which has to bi differently treated to get rid of sticks burrs, grass-seed, etc. From tliii room, the wool is taken away to tlu washing or spouring roorn. Hen there are two machines coutinuoußlj at work. In the first the wool is washed in warm water and soap, and in the second thoroughly rinsed io cold water, These machines ojnsist of an iron trough in whioh the wool if kept moving by means of a series ol rakes until it reaches the opposite end to that in whioh it was put in. It it then lilted by. a rake on to a platform, and passes b|*eeii Wringers on to a fan whictfopens'ilie Wand throws

it out" nearly "dry. il ' The" wool.' is usually put through this Operation a second jtjnie.' Tlis soap : aseu is melted in a Btca'ru tank' before jt Js placed in the machine, 'Jflt js dye the fibre/soap isnot'used jn''thb washTO; . a - 8 'h 6 gr.ease would preyept Jhe .dy,e from holding, 'from tbjs' room it is tjken to' the drying' »!«[. form and eprca.d put to dry ; or, if the weather is wet, 'Jt i'b placed on the perforated floor of a chamber above the boiler house. When dry it is ready for dyeing.

' Tim dye house is a brick building 72ft long and 30ft wido with an iron roof, and concrete floor, soconstruotetl BB''to oarry 08 all drainage, and contains two indigo tanks, holding each a thousand gallons, There are also twelve vats for tbe various colours, an indigo crusher, a squeezing machine and a y«n wringer. Thfi vats are supplied with hot and cold water pipes, and in busy times tbe work is carried on day and night, The manage informed me that over fifty tons of logwood chips are used every year in dyeing, After being dyed the wool is taken to the teasing house. This contains five machines—a abako willow, devil, moting machine, and two smaller willowing machines, The moting machine is used to romove the dirt, thistles, etc. The willowing maohines open the wool and disentangle the tips. The devil has a cylinder,' 46 inches in diameter, with teeth, like those on the drum of a musical box, but in this case two and a half inches in length, A roller in front takes the wool off a travelling table and passes it to the cylinder, which revolves at great speed, As the cylinder revolves with the wool on it it is subjected to the action of five' rollers with finer teeth than the cylinder and four' strippers, which latter return the wool which has escaped a proper leasing in order that it may be put through again. After going through this process it falls on to an endless table, from whence, by the blast, from the velocity fan it is blown out underneath the tablo,- at: whioh it was- first put into the machine. After this it is sprinkled by machinery with' olive oil, which assists, to improve the wool and aid its progress through tho carding, condensing, and spinning machines, which are in the main build", ing, and to which it is next taken. These machines are in charge of girls, and somewhat'resemble'the " devil," on a finer scale and work at a great speed. The wool is carefully weighed into these machines, as on the weight of the threads finally to be spun everything depends. After being weighed it is carefully placed between Oertain marks on a travelling table and f°.d to the machine by means of rollers. In the carding maobine it is evenly and thoroughly separated. The rollers of this machine are covered with " card clothing'"' which consists of a sort of brush made of leather, the bristles being fine steel points Jof an inch long. In a square inoh of some of this" card olothing " there are over 300 points, Those points are so set astothoroughty catch each hair of the woo! in its passage and tho objeot of this carding and the action of the millions of card points is 10 bring out the hairs so straight as to allow no imperfections or inequalities in tho twisting. From these rollers the wool passes to a second set, then to the main cylinder. Around and above these rollers revolve Bmaller rollers, distant from each other only one fiftieth part of an inch and coated with carding, which open out tbe wool. As the fibre emerges in a sheet from the last rollers, a comb draws it off on to two revolving funnel shaped tins, from which it passes through a funnel at the end of tho engine and is slightly twisted into an inch rope which passes into the "balling " machine, where it is pressed flat and wound on bobbins. The bobbins are restricted to a certain quantity by the automatic action of the machine, and when a bobbin is fiill and ready for removal, a spring strikes the bell and gives the girl in charge of the machiuo due notice. Should 1 the notice not be attended to the bailer cuts the rope and proceeds to fill a spare bobbin. These bobbins are placed on a frame capable of holding eighty of them, and tho woollen rope is redistributed into the condensing engine, where it is separated into straight fibres again. This is a finer operation than the carding, and by an ingenious arrangement of rollers the wool is separated into narrow strips, each sufficient to form one yarn. Forty twoof these stripsaremade at one time by. each machine. These strips pass out between two leather rubbers, which are formed by two endless pieces of hide containing two seta of Small rollers, and perform a lateral as well as a revolving motion. By these rubbers the strips of wool are drawn and rolled into slender threads of sufficient strength to hold together until spun into yarn. Those threads , are' taken oft on to large bobbins, each holding ten yarns. In its passage the wool has travelled a distance of from 300 to 400 feet through each machine.

' The bobbins containing the yarns i arc taken by means of a lift up to the second floor to.bo dealt with by the 1 spinning mules. The bobbins aro > placed along a stand, the ends of the I strands arepassed through whs guides, I then beneath' .small steel rollers, ' thence to their proper pirns upon pins f of the travelling carriage The pirns 1 or spools upon which the yarns are ' wound as they are twisted stand in a 1 row along this carriage which res sorables a light long box, 86 feet long. Two of these oarages form one raulo ■ 72 feet long, and there are eight mules » in constant work, containing 8,040 spindles; The yarn 'has' a second

• small roller laid upon 'it near the > spindles, and the oarriago starts on i its course, half way across tho room, i running on small iron rails. When the i carriage starts, the first roller lifts and allows the .yarns tq pass out until half tip distance is tnyorsed, it then falls, and the yarns are * drawn' 1 during the rest of the distance. In the operation of drawing out, the spindles rotate and the throad is tnisted, and having been/ laid' sufficiently, the carriage returns, While returning, the pirns wind upthelength just twisted and the operation is then repeated, The whole machinery moves like clockwork, and at any moment should a yarn break, the attendant who stands by to splice broken threads can stop the machine by simply touching a lever. If the yarns are to he again twisted Jo make a jrjixed threap they ■ are pfaoed on a'Sykes and 'Sons'fester, a very ingenious machine, of.which there are three in the factory,' If a black and white thread is required, a row of pins is filled with black yams and'another with white. A black and a white yarn are next passed to a lower spool through a guide wire and a ring which encircles the latter spool, by which the twisting;and the winding of tho spool is effected with surprising accuracy. A su|i winder is usetf \for ttiriding lwb%'.U're ■threads into one, an'd' so delioVtely'is the maoliliie arranged th'at should one thread'snap, a brake is lowered which stops'tfiat part of the machine wIM tfief breaj? nWoc'oumd'.'iin'tirifie'gifj in charge can repWihe damage. "''', "'Tbe'yarns''are"'next tikerrfo-the top Qqpr'atjd njaj3e"up into : hanks'", ''At one en' 4 of 'the' top 'jjoor 'ig'the designer's loom, 'whew th'e designer sits patiently' and painstakingly at.wk.. ~ On returoiog to the lower floor we

entered the weaving sbeds where wa were nearly deafened with the rattle andolatter of the eighty looms at work. The first objeot a visitor is shown is the "warping mill" whioh winds the yarns evenly, to be unwound on to the beams of tbe looms, whioh is called" beaming, " TJi£q are three of these warping Jgßls. These mills are revolving wooden cylinders, 6ft in diameter, and 14ft in length, and can take on three widths of flannel at the same time. The spools of yarn brought from upstairs are placed on a stand of upright phis opposite the oylinder, ready for unwinding. The euds of. 160 or yarns are then passed through wits' guides, thence to a travelling "heck" whioh travels aoross the mill, and the.ends are attached to the ; woodert cylinder of the mill, which slowly revolves, and the yarns arejaid on it, Two small wheels at the end denote the number if revolutions; and as soon as the requisite length of" warp" is laid on tho cylinder, a catch falls into a notch on tho wheel, which rings a bell-too signal for another warp. The warp is then" placed ou the beam of the loom by putting the beam into a frame in front of the mill and winding it on to it. < 'As the beams are filled they are plaoed in a raok until required by .the weavers. When wanted the hpn containing the warp is put tion on the loom and the threads are passed through guides whioh alternately raise and lower every second thread. The shuttle containing tho "weft," as the cross threads are called, is then Bhot backwards and forwards between the threads of the ' warp, and bo forms theoloth—a large comb at the same time pressing eaoh thread that has passed through close upto the previouaone. The shuttles are contained in. chambers at each aide, and are filled with the different coloured, wefts,, and upon the regu> larity with whioh each colour is shot aoross the warp tho uniformity of the pattern, depends; The action of the shuttles is controlled by an endless chain eonneoted with the meobanism of the upper part of the loom, Every variety and ■pattern of oloth is produced in this department, from the finest doeskm to a horsecloth, and each piece us .it is. manufactured is sentonto.lhe burling room, where it is inspected by a number of women and girls who pass it over sloping tables and pick off with tweezers all knots which may have been foaiied in any of the threads, EaohfpWis also inspected against a lighted win- ' dow, in order to deteot flaws in the weaving,'etc. : In- this room are the knittinK 1 maohine's, worked by girls, who turn 1 out socks as if by magic. Here also . the travelling rugs are bound with ■ silk aud the blankets are herringboned with red wool by a machine 1 resembling a sewing machine, After leaving the burling room the fabric is taken to the washing and 1 milling room to be oleaned lot • oil and dust and to be milled or felted. This process is in- ' tended to shrink the cloth, so as to ■ cause it to become firm or matted. ' The washing niaohines are on a concreto floor, and. include felting machines, stocks, and scouring rollers, The folting machines resemble huge ohests, in which the fabrio is placed with a solution of soap and passed over heated brass rollers; whioh causes the fabrio to shrink, As the pieces are quite enclosed and pass through the rollers at a tremendous speed, it is impossible to see if anything goes wrong. Bo to obviate any accident, a patented invention is used inifer to disoonneot. the belting from the 1 driving wheel, Tho piece of oloth is made to pass through two holes in a 1 heavy board and if it becomes en- > tangled it pulls up this board which acts upon a lever, and throws the machinery out of gear and the rollers oome to a dead Btpp, thus saving the , cloth and preventing damage to the machine. _ Mr Wilson informed me that this simple oontrmnce was tho invention of a boy named Barker, of Bramley, who after witnessing several accidents, sot his mind to work, and eecurod a patent, for whioh he now onjoys a large royalty from the leading manufacturers. After the milling process has been gone through the fabrio is rinsed in soft water and then plaoed in .a Syke's' hydro oxtraotor, whioh is a circular reservoir 6tt in diameter, in whioh a strong wire cage revolves at the rate of 4000 turns a minute. This throws the water right catpf theoloch and in ten minutes it isMen out nearly dry, Blankets and rugs aro then removed while still damp to the raising gig in the finishers room, This is a fast revolving drum 14ftin widthand 6ft in diameter, faced with heads of the teasle. Those heads are inserted in the frame work on the faoe of the drum and the lengths of oloth are brought oyer it in suoh a manner that tho teasles raise the nap, the cloth working in'the opposite direction to the motion of tho gig, Blankets and rugs are then conveyed outsido, dried on a tenter frame, and when thoroughly dry are returned to the ' finishers room to be pressed and folded for sending away, Tweed-after coming from the hy. dro ; extraotor—undergoes a' different process, -It is taken to the drying chamber, \yhich isb.uilt of'brick and

, so constructed'to prevent the esoarje ! of the heat. The drying maohihe i consists of 4,000 feet of pipes through t which step is forced,' tq get tbjo i .requisitedegree 'of" heat, whioujj ' 180 degrees. Passing betweenjfie i several rows of pipe? 'is an erjcKjv i travelling belt iyith tenter hqolfl',' i From the outside of the chamber the ■ fabric to be dried is inserted by being i placed on the endless belt, and about 150 yards can be.thoroughly dried at one time. After being dried the machinery brings out tho cloth and -■- places it on a platform, neatly folded for removal. It 'a then taken to the finishing room where the nap ia raised in the same manner as'the blankets, and is then put through the cropping machine, which some' what resembles a large Archimsdjatj lawn mdwer.The edge's this '''oropper" cut against a bar of steeUnd the nap of the. tweed being passed under its action is cut away until the requi* site finish is gained, Next the cloth is passed over ao iron steam trough and slightly stoamod, and then conveyed -over a circular brush, which lays the nap in one direction and gives the final cleaning. It is then placed between-large sheets of card board, asfajjsjos, andjiotqron, andtfi. placed in a hydraulic ; p : resß : 'a'nd ! tp put' through tile folding machine; wlijch {olds it in'the neat 'mariner in whiqh it is' exhibited in the 'draper's! shops, J : • In tbjs part of the establishment are also'measuring machine?, curling m : i'ohinesi 1 etc., the 'description'' o? which would'occupy too much'apacei ' but in .conclusion'l should say'that anyff'rje paying a visit to, "this" djtrj|)| would .flnd himself amply rewarded for.the time spent in making an inspection of Ibis faotory, whioh. employs over 250 hands, •