Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

290 BRITAIN AT WORK. B arises, “ What is a cop ? ” “ Well, a cop is a cop.” The reply is more unsatisfactory than the one given to the more ancient query, “ What is an archdeacon ? ” But ultimately the necessary information is evolved from the practical mind. A cop reminds one of a boy’s stock of kite string. It is a long length of cotton neatly wound around a short spindle ; a length of yarn built up in a form that will stand taking up and knocking about, either for sale or for further use in the mill. Then comes initiation into the mysteries of “warp” and “weft.” The “warp” is the strong- thread that runs the long way of the calico, that is practically the foundation, the fabric of the useful drapery. The “weft” is the softer thread, the filling that weaves its close tracery across the warp, and gives texture to the manufacture. The warp yarn is wound around bobbin and beam in the process of weaving and warping; but it is in the sizing1 frame that it really gains its additional strength to bear the friction of the loom. Farina, sago, china clay, flour, tallow, paraffin wax are among many of the substances that go to make the size which slimes and thickens the thread before the adroit dropper marks its particular length and it goes on to the weaver’s beam. Either the drawing or the twisting of the thread ends is necessary to prepare it for operation ill the loom, and the stranger, watching the operative, a silent and swift Cagliostro, join- ing, as* it seems, with dexterous twist of thumb and finger, the yam ends from the healds to the thread ends on the weaver’s beam, is as much impressed with the skill and concentration of the manual industry as he is with the machinery effort. It is in the weaving shed that the latter is most assertive. There seems to be a vigorous rivalry between the over-pick looms and the under-pick looms as to which shall make the most noise. One has heard of the long arm of the law, of destiny, and of fate ; but the long arm, or picking stick, of the over-pick loom is infinitely more irresistible. It stands no nonsense as it flings itself to and fro, in aggressive coquetry with the racing shuttle and the weaver’s nimble fingers. A modern weaving shed, ill intensity of clatter from hundreds of rapidly working looms, is a pandemonium in which gossip by voice is impossible, for Jove the thunderer could not make himself heard in the din. He would have to become mortal, and, adopting the adroit method of the weaver, speak by signs, by the silent but expressive movement of the lips. Yet the huge shed is an enlightening- place. You note the skilful tend of loom by weaver, the strike of the picker, the lightning shoot of the shuttle, and the move of “ slay ” and shuttle, pressing each thread of weft forward to the warp, deftly weaving the cotton cloth, which a few days hence will be on shipboard for export or on draper’s counter. Calico, or cotton cloth, is worked up in a thousand ways to make the infinite variety of Manchester goods for home use and export, and in calico printing- art and invention help industry in the manufacture of attractive fabrics, one of the modern developments being the application of electricity as a motive power to drive the machines. One of the most interesting- manipulations of cotton is that by which it is converted into the familiar 1‘ flannelette.” The cotton made from coarse counts is subjected to a “ teasing ” or “ raising ” process^ which fluffs the fibre from the yarn, and produces a material soft and warm to the touch, like flannel, and yet much cheaper. Its price has brought it into use in nearly every home of limited income, and the poorest folks, unable to purchase the best quality flannel, are warmly clad by the imitation. But the material is always in a vortex of controversy. Many ä coroner has condemned it because it is easy of ignition. Many a maker has eulogised it on the plea that flannelette, quarter the cost of flannel, is indispensable to the comfort of the working classes, and that the loss of life by burning fatality is more than counterbalanced by the virtue of its wear as a safeguard against colds, chills, and pneumonia. Fortunately the controversy may soon be set at rest. Scientific experiment has strengthened the position of the manufacturer; and it is claimed that flannelette, by chemical agency, can now be rendered non-inflammable ! I he cotton mills of Lancashire contain, roughly, 44,000,000 spindles and nearly 700,000 looms, employing’ at least half a million hands, and there are, in addition,