Framingham State University - Dial Yearbook (Framingham, MA)

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17 their originally twisted condition. Then these slivers are con- densed and spun, the mules being used as in the worsted. The instructor explained to us that woolen blankets which can be bought for seventy-five cents are not wool, but are cotton fibres which have been put through the wool processes of carding and spinning. The wool and worsted yarn we saw being woven into carpets and tapestries on Jacquard looms. After the wool departments we visited the hand loom weaving department. This room was filled with hand looms which were like the power looms in miniature, having varying numbers of harnesses and boxes, some of them being hand jacquards. The work in this room is part of the first year, when by use of the hand loom, which can be operated more slowly, the student can become thoroughly acquainted with the steps in weaving. We stayed but a short time in this room, going next to the finishing room, where the cloth is taken to be looked over and sponged and pressed. There were also machines in this room for putting nap onto cloth. These were called nappers and were of two kinds. In one the burrs of the teazle were used and in the other metal hooks set in canvas. By these means the nap is picked on formerly smooth cloth. In one corner of this room was a large rack and table, at which cloth is examined, and any im- perfection, such as a dropped stitch, remedied by hand. When we had been through this room, we found that it was 12.30, so we had lunch in the school lunch room and rested a few minutes afterward in the library before starting out on our after- noon trip. . In the afternoon, neither Mr. Eames nor Mr. Mackay were able to go with us, but Mr. Ferguson, instructor in fabric analysis and fabric costs, took their place. Mr. Ferguson took us, first, through the chemical laboratories, general, qualitative and quantitative, and the balance room, which reminded us forcibly of many quiet hours last year when we were middle juniors. The laboratories were large and well equipped, and the lecture room, which Mr. Ferguson said was commonly called the Chamber of Horrors, was particularly good, the chairs being arranged in tiers, and with a stereopticon lamp in the centre. From this we went to the dyeing department. The instructor there showed us some sample books which the students had worked out, showing the results of experiments with dye stuffs, showing whether certain colors were fast or not, and the effects of soap, sunlight, acid, alkali, and so on, on them. There were also ex- periment books on work the students had done in analyzing cloth, such as plaids, where a number of colors were used and where they were required to match these colors with dyes of their own makin g.

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16 matter of all sorts. There they first sort and grade, according to quality, or sort and blend. The wool is then scoured with strong soap solution and caustic soda to remove the dirt and o1l, and dried- in a centrifugal machine. Then the cleansed wool is put into the carbonizing machine, the purpose of which is to remove all foreign vegetable matter as cotton, or burrs which have become entangled in the wool. In this machine sulphuric acid is used, which does not affect the wool, but which will take other elements from the vegetable matter and leave the carbon, which is blown out in the form of dust. The pure wool is washed and the acid neutralized with an alkali, then the wool is dried. This cleaned fibre is mixed to make it of even grade, or if a mixture of wool and cotton is desired, it is mixed at this point. The fibre is next oiled with olive oil, lard, or something of that nature, to prevent the electricity in the wool from making it diffi- cult to handle. The fibre is now taken to the carding room and prepared for spinning. First, the fibres are somewhat straightened out by the card, and the long fibres which are to be used for worsted are sep- arated from the short wool fibres. The true difference between woolen and worsted yarns is that for worsted the longer, straighter fibres are used, and they are all laid parallel by the machinery, while for woolen yarns the short fibres are used, and they are criss crossed or not combed into any regular position in the yarn. The result is that worsted yarn is softer and lighter, while wool is harsher and harder to the touch. Different machinery is required to make the two. We next examined the machinery used in the worsted process. The worsted fibres go through various processes of carding, comb- ing, gilling and drawing. all of which have the same object - to straighten the fibre, make them lie parallel and in long ribbons or slivers. These slivers are put into the rover, where they are drawn out still more and condensed and rubbed into small strips about a quarter of an inch wide. This roving is wound on spindles and is ready to be spun. A In the French system of spinning, which was most highly recommended by the instructors, a self-acting spinning mule is used. In this, two of the rovings are twisted together to make the thread. The rack which held the spindles would move away from the rest of the machine, twisting and drawing out the thread as it went. Then it would move toward the machine, the spindles re- volving and winding up the spun thread. Wool yarn does not go through so many processes as worsted. It is simply picked and carded and drawn into long slivers similar to the worsted and cotton, except that the fibres are left in nearly

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18 In the experimental dyeinglaboratory we were shown vats for the making of dyes and the dyeing of yarn, and closets in which to hang the dyed material to dry. We were also shown a small printing machine with apparatus for printing dots and stripes on finished cloth, and the machine for the mercerizing of thread. The last department we visited was that of freehand drawing and design. Here the students make the drawings for the design for their cloth and transfer it to point paper. This is paper which is checked off by line lines into sixteenth inch squares, with a heavy line every eight squares, to facilitate counting. The lines going one way represent the warp, and those going the other way, the filling threads, and by this means the students are enabled to represent on paper their design as it would be woven. When a warp thread is to be on top, the square is darkened or filled in with the color of the thread, and so on. In these rooms were samples of cloths and carpets designed and woven by the students, some of them very beautiful. There were also pictures woven of black and white silk, so finely, that they very closely resembled etchings. Mr. Ferguson told us that the students were in the habit of making the cloth for the suits they were to wear for graduation, doing every step themselves, de- signing, dyeing, spinning and weaving. When we came from the designing room, we found that it was after four, so we went back to the oliice and got our coats and said 'tgood-bye to Mr. Eames, thanking him and the others for their courtesy. We walked from the school to the station, about a mile, arriving there in time for the 5.22 train home, getting back about half past six, all feeling that we had had a delightful and instructive trip. H. E. Y. ,-r 555' ef' ff' ve? 5 if