KAIAPOI WOOLLEN FACTORY. [BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] II. (Concluded.)

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1975, 5 March 1885, Page 4

KAIAPOI WOOLLEN FACTORY. [BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] 11. (Concluded.)

Tll'cnr. ,vim larger ending opines than those dmcrilwd th« wool passing over 300 to 100 font of circled surface. Tha aver.vjfo of washed wool ended per week is nb >ut 0000 to 10,000 lbs. which h equal to about 20,000 lin. of greasy wool. Wo wore now condnct«d to the upper storey, when the bobbins of nnspun v.irn had arrived. Tho self-acting am) liU'bly interesting mules were here again fuaud in operation. The yarn is now iugctiiou dy wound on to pint or spools. The- pun upon which tho y.vrn is w >und na it is twisted, ntwd in a row along tin travelling cum go. Two of t{>o cuii.i'^oi form onr in.Jin 7Jft. in lensrtli, a mule containing SOlO spindla^. The yam has a second small toiler upon it near the npindlo, and now the machine starts mi a nilwnv linking conno pirtlv across tho room, iiySli inch". Daring tliu pngiJ-s of i- icii v.vrn dnwmg i>nt \l-> threads, the lint little roller lift » and allows the yarn to pass till half the dntanco is traveled ; it then fills and tliu y.viu is drawn tho rein under of the distance. After tho thread is iw is ted and " la<d " aofficiently tho carringo returns. The forwaid nnd counter wheels which give motion to this machine, ar.i very intricate but work like clockwork. If the yarns Imvo to bo again twisted to make a mixod thread, the s»ame are placed on pms upon a Sykes and Snn'n twister. All those raachinoH, of which there are sivor.il, are very nicely worked by small boy*. Tho Sykes drum winder is also a machine whicii at once merits attention. It in tiirulo so na to wind two <>r more threads into one, and ho delicately that should one of the slender threads snap a brake is lowered that stops the portion of the machine where tho break has occurred, till tho pci -ion in charge can repair the damage. On tli« upjwr floor, at the further end, we find tho designer working patiently at his pattern loom. A great deal of tlio success of tho factory depends upon his skill and judgment, and ho has since his arrival executed somo thousands of patterns and designs for tweod«, shawl*, shirting, &c. Wo also find here several set* of mules, which aro kept in reserve. Here wo also find in whines for knitting stockings nnd mont underclothing, which* aro most complicated, but which I am told work o\cellenlly. JtL'tracing our stips to tho lower floor wo shoitly find ourselves in tho loom-ing-iooin, whero there are sixty of them at work. Tho yarn, however, before being put upon thorn haa been put through a warping mill, and is now unwound on tho beams ready for tho loom. This work they call " beaming." There are three warping mills. The mill is a revolving lattice cylinder, fift. in diameter, and 14ft. in length. This takes tho warp for threo widths of flannel at tho mime time. Tho pieces of ynrn whon brought up are placed on a stand on upright pins, opposite Hie cylinder ready for unwinding. Tho ends of the yarns nre then passed through wire guides, then through a travelling "neck," with the thronds attached to the cylinder, which slowly revolves, and tho yarns are laid in it, the nuinbor of revolutions of tio cylinder being determined by registering wheels, and directly the required length of y nil is on the mill a catch fall* into n notch on the wheel, casing a boll to ring, the signal for another warp. The lx>.i>»» being filled they lomain on the rack till roqni red by tho weavers. An inspection of tho weaving department occupies a considerable time, as upon the various looms niny bo aeon, mauds, morinos, tartons, rugs, blankets, ladies di oss cloth of mi ny kiudn, and all color". Thero nro 2'i plain looms mado by Leach of Rochd.ilo and 34 thrco box jacquard loom*. Thoru are nho somo others making, a t'ltil of nnirly a 100 looms nvnilablo for wen ing. The warp bane with its threads to f inn tho warp boiug put in position, the shuttle of tho loom is shot across and back through the threads of tho warn and so forms tho cloth. In tho lm looms however, when a variety of colours have to be woven into tho patterns tho work is now intricat". Tho shuttlo»nrc kept in chainheis nnd aro filled with differpnt coloured wefts, as th° cross thread in turned, and upon the regularity with which each colour is nhot acro<H the wnrp the regularity of the pattern depends. The looms of (I. Schoficld and Xii k of Huddersfio'd, arc capable of producing an almost infinite combination of patterns. As the fibies nro manufactured, they are sent to tho bulling room, which is in the weaving shed. Here wo find a large number of women nnd girls at work, inspecting tho pieces by pasising them over sloping tables, picking of the knots or curls by the aid of twoozera, which may have been found in any of the threads, and avo o<posed on the surface of tho pieces. Hero also the travelling rugs are bound with silk binding, and the ends of the blankets nre herring - boned with red woollen thread, this being done by a simple machino resembling a common sewingmachine. From the curling-room the fabrics are taken, in n loose and open state, to tho washing and milling room. Here they »re cluinscd of the nil alluded to in tho notice of tho teasing-room, as well as from tho dust which they may have gathered in their progress through thi machinery. They are, hkewiie, what in cllfd milled and felted. In tho process to wlneh they have now to ba anbjected it is intended to shrink tbo fibro so a» to cause the cloth to become firm or matted. The washing machines are placed on a concrete fl-rrn.and include threo fulling or felting machines, two pairs of stocks, nnd two piirs scouring rollers. In tho fi rut named t!ie fabrics nro pined with a solution of Mup. Tho "webs aro" passed over brass rollers hcitcd by friction, which cauies tho f.ilnics to shrink considerably, and attain the, dosired "firmness. Subsequent to this tho web< aro scoured, thon rinsed in soft v. itei. T may h«ro say that tho blankets mi: mado in webs of ten ; flannels three widths on u pieco, and tweeds two widths on a piece ; rugs are made the same way as tho blankets. After tho iin«ing the webs arc placed, dripping, into a Syke'a hydio eiti actor <n wringing 1 machine, ft is a circular reservoir, five feot in diamoter, in which there is a htiong wire cage revolting at tho rate of 4000 times per minute. The materials while still d imp aie taken from the hydror <tractor to tho mining gig in tho finiaberN room. This is a fast revolving drum lift in width and oft in dinmotor, faced with di*«icated hrault of tonsle (dipsacus fnllonium). These henda nre inserted in the fmiiKiworlc on tho face of the drum, nnd ti.o lengths of cloth are brought over it in such a tn.uinor that tho teasels raise the nap or fl'»si, the cloth working in an (ippo'ite diiuction to tho drum of tho gig. Ti.e blankets aro now taken outside, and I)- m; pl-ic-d on frames filled with tenterhooks of which then are several hundred feet, and after being thoroughly dried, tin sv*d and folded roady for sending away. Tweeds however, go through a different pmcesH of drying. The machine for the pnipoKo w.vs made by Whitely and Sona, of Lcckwood. It stands in a brick dumber ho constructid that thero m no e^c.ipo of heat except through theArchiinudian ventilators m the roof. It conswts of suveral rowu of pipes, through \vhi(!i steam fa conducted to promote tho KKjiiisito degree of heat, and between the 40f)0ft of pipe, is a travelling belt with tenter-hooks. The fabrics nre fixed upon the endle<-s bands, and three " cuts, or :'limt HOyaidscau bo diied at ono time. The he it is about 130 degrees. The inicliino after diyinp, it places it on a platform outside ready for removal. The cloth is now taken to tho finishers loom, when it is raised at the gitr in tho m.uiic, manner as the blankets. It is next subjected to the cropping machine, which is merely a roller with a series of mtting blades, resembling nn Archimedian l.iwn mower, tho ed'/cs of which cut against a h.ir of steel, and tho nap of one side of the tweprl passed under this cropper is cut nu'.iv till tlin mqniHito finish in this respect i.« gamed. This is an operation requiring n n.nsidfsrahln amount of skill, and I observed tli >L tho woikman had to keep both his eyn and a powerful magnifying glass at wnik to perform it with Biifficionfc earo. After the nap Iris been laid in ono direction, by a eueular brush being put ovor it, along with steam, it is folded between largo wheels of pnsteb ard nnd plneed jn a hydiaiilio press. It is now folded by machinery, nnd is ready to go tho draper's e-t ililisliinent, Flannels, Indies' dresscloth, t-erge, and no foith are all finished the s,nno way. Abo\o the packing-room is one where figeung y.irim aro iimde, which in texture nppear nearly equal to Berlin wool, and th"ie seems to bo no end to the variety or biilhancy <>f their colour. In all about 300 hands aro employed on the mill works. Provision haa bortn made in cue. of firr, sn nil to successfully cope with it. There nro two or threo portable extincteur machines, and tho employes have two hie brigadex, with a supply of hose, which can ho placed on tho ongine at an in taut's notice. At night tha works aro lighted by elnetrie light, and thny nre also coiuioctod by telephone with Chri»tohi\rph,,

B '-ides tho mill promncM which 1 liavp 'I'MUil) 1 ), tin 1 c imp my hue .1 (lnthintf ficfc'iy in C.Miel ,tivct, (Muittchurch, wh'-iv Ui n wiinle-i.ih* tiad" is dmn 1 , ivn f l el. tiling ni.uli'. >Vl)ont 300 li uxK ,ilsi> find Kinployniuut hcc. The ]>• iiise-< hi\u a iKAuliful fiM.it.T^o, Mil occujiy :i very cc.it r.U p >-.iti'in Li'<'> tho works Xt K,iit;>oi. iv c Hisid'ji.ilJf (-lin nii^lit ,vlk» bj proHt.iluy <• ripl-iyod in^pectin^ the (Jhiiilclmrui) jtii'iui •>«•<, l>.il, J prc^nnj, 1 li ivu now wnt ton i-iMiiffli ti slni'.y that in fc'.io X li.ipoi ■\V<m!cn Com|,iviy thnrj ni.iy bo hCiMi an indn^tiy which will yet ao-<nino mncli larger pmpoitioiw. and oiivj iiUi> of which cveiy coloni'.t nniy fool piimd.