Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

BRITAIN AT WORK. boxes despatched from one of the two rail- way stations was about a thousand. Beyond the presence of these boxes the streets, and of bales and bunches plait in some of the warehouses, there little or nothing to indicate to the stranger the magnitude of the trade that is carried on, though at the height of the season the factories are brilliantly illuminated in the evening, and the whirr of the sewing machine is a familiar sound. Nowadays a large part •of the work of manufacture is carried on in small factories away from the centre of the town, the finished goods being sold by the small makers to the mer- chants in the principal thoroughfares. A peep into one of the show- rooms would delight the average woman. Here are rows and piles of hats of all shapes and and of infinite regard to in of is spacious rooms, and the scene presented by a score or so of the machines being rapidly driven is a striking one. Until quite recently the machines were set in motion by the feet of the operators ; but now that electric power is available some of the manufacturers have installed electric motors. W hen the process of sewing has been com- pleted, the shapes are stiffened with gelatine, and blocked upon blocks of wood or composition, a process which is performed 1 / machinery, though hand-blocking is still by sizes, variety in both colour and mate- rial. I hey are displayed temptingly for the in- spection of the buyers who represent the wholesale houses in London, the provinces, -and abroad, who regu- larly visit the town. For the most part the hats are being left to the milliners; have during the last few years gone into the trimmed hat trade, and have been very successful. I o enter into a lengthy technical descrip- tion of the manufacture of headgear would not come within the scope of this article. A brief sketch may, however, be acceptable. I he plait having been procured—for we are now dealing with the evolution of a straw hat, pure and simple—it is sewn into the requited shape by machinists. 1 he sewing machines used for the purpose are specially adapted for use upon straw, and considerable skill and enterprise have been expended in this direction. The machinists, who are generally females, are accommodated in warren’s). Photo : Cassell & C IN A STRAW HAT SHOW-ROOM (MR. GEO. untrimmed, that but some firms resorted to in some in- stances. 1 hen the hat, when thoroughly dry, is handed over to the finisher, whose business it is to fit it with lining, tip, and leather, and trimmed with ribbon. It is subsequently ticketed, invoiced, and packed, and so is made ready for its despatch. The goods from Luton find their way to all parts of the world, the ship- ping trade being a very important department. Hostile tariffs have, however, exerted an un- welcome influence in several of the European countries; indeed, the trade with France, which was formerly a flourishing one, has to all intents and purposes died away in conse- quence of this. I he process of manufacture of fancy hats is necessarily somewhat different from that of straws. 1 he fabrics employed in these do not lend themselves so readily to the operations of stiffening and blocking. The ajour and crinoline varieties form instances of this. It would be impossible, for example, to deal with a horsehair material in the same way as the firmer straw plait, and accordingly a different means of preparation is resorted to. I he hand-sewer is employed, and when something like the required shape is obtained the hat is deftly pulled and twisted into the desired design. Many of these fancy hats are moulded upon wire frames, a device