piU-^f;:;': '■ '■' /' *■:■:'■* ;:.^^'^l 4-yi| t fit It' Class T^lj-^f Book; ]/l;^ Copyright H?. COPVRIGIfr DEPOSni /K on auv hu^ine^^ all PL, CO w :^ w ^ o Q a ^ < < P U K >^ H w 3 -« ffl ^ H f o 53 ^ -?> u O h-1 -n Ph A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE BUSINESS OF WILLIAM WHITMAN &> CO. BOSTON . NEW YORK • CHICAGO • ST. LOUIS PHILADELPHIA • CHARLOTTE BALTIMORE • ATLANTA Copyright, igio By Malcolm D. Whitman THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. /^-2?^i C^CI.Aa53S53 iMftjcr tofae C0=0|jn'aUtf iuitit u^ in titr IB^b^jj^nt^itt jif tite Btt^iiu^^ #ittlin^tf in tittle IPag^^ HAND SPINNING From a Fourteenth Century MS. in the British Museum PREFACE yT E have had occasion during the past year to prepare an outline of the scope and organization of our business. In the course of the work it occurred to us that there was some information that would be of interest to our associates, to our customers, and to others who are studying the progress of textile manu- facture in this country. We have attempted to embody this information in a brief form in the following pages. LADIES SPINNING AND WEAVING From a Fifteenth Century MS. in the British Museum CONTENTS PAGE Wool Production of the United States ... 12 Wool Production of the World 13 Cotton Producing Area of the United States . 14 The World's Cotton Production 15 The Principal Cottons 16, 17 Mills Represented by William Whitman & Co. 18 Introduction 19 Arlington Mills — Officers & Directors .... 24 Dress Goods Department 25 Worsted Yarn Department 33 Wool Prices, 1900-1910 3^5 39 The World's Cotton Mills 43 Manomet Mills — Officers & Directors . .... 44 Cotton Yarn Department 45 Prices Raw Cotton and Cotton Yarns, 1900-10 52, 53 NoNQUiTT Spinning Company — Officers & Directors 55 The Eddystone Manufacturing Co. — Officers & Directors r6 Printed Goods Department 57 Nashawena Mills — Officers &' Directors ... 64 Gray Goods Department 65 Prices Raw Cotton and Staple Cotton Fabrics, 1906-1910 ,. . . . . . . . 66, 67 New Bedford Group of Mills Represented . 72 Evolution of the Dress Goods Industry . . 73 The Mercerizing Process 83 Improved Conditions in Modern Mills ... 88 Index 9 91 ILLUSTRATIONS A Flock of Three Thousand Sheep .... Frontispiece PAGE Hand Spinning 6 Ladies Spinning and Weaving 8 The First Arlington Mills, 1865 facing 25 The Angora Goat . 26 The Second Arlington Mills, 1867 29 The Alpaca, Peru 30 Arlington Mills, 19 10 33 The First Manomet Mill, 1906 -45 Hampton Cotton Mills, 19 10 46 Manomet Mills, 1910 . . 48 The First Nonquitt Mill, 1908 51 Nonquitt Spinning Company, 19 10 55 The Eddystone Manufacturing Company .... 56 Nashawena Mills, 1910 65 Nashawena Mills, Offices, and Power Plant, 1910 . 69 Calhoun Mills, 1909 70 10 The firm of William Whitman & Company and its predecessors have been the selhng agents of the ArUngton Mills from 1887 until the present time. Mr. William Whitman, the senior member of the firm, has served as Treasurer or President of the Arlington Corporation since 1867. The present members of the firm are WILLIAM WHITMAN WILLIAM WHITMAN, JR. ARTHUR T. BRADLEE MALCOLM D. WHITMAN LOUIS H. FITCH Mr. William Whitman, Mr. Bradlee, and Mr. Fitch have their headquarters in the home office of the firm at 78 Chauncy St., Boston. Mr. William Whitman, Jr., and Mr. Malcolm D. Whitman are in charge of the New York Office of the firm at 350 Broadway, New York City. The firm offices are: 78 Chauncy St., Boston; 350 Broadway, New York; Royal Insurance Building, Chicago ; 300 Chestnut St., Philadelphia; Century Building, St. Louis; Maryland Bank Building, Balti- more; Equitable Building, Atlanta; 201 South Tryon St., Charlotte. M V 3 WOOL PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD (From the latest official returns and estimates^ Country /United States North J British Provinces AmerkaA Mexico I Central America and West Indies Total North America I Argentina Brazil Chile Peru Falkland Islands Uruguay All other South America reported America Total South America /"United Kingdom . . . Austria Hungary . . . France Germany Spain Europe < Portugal Greece Italy ....... Russia (Europe) Turkey and Balkan States lAll other Europe . . . Total Europe Asia 'British India . . . . China ...... Russia (Asiatic) . Turkey (Asiatic) . . Persia All other Asia reported Total Asia ("Algeria . . . . , , . British South Africa Africa -{ rr ' I Tunis LAU other Africa reported Total Africa . (Australasia Oceania < ^,[ ^^j^^^. Oceania reported Total Oceania Total World World's production 1895 Wool POUNDS 328,110,749 11,210,000 7,000,000 1,000,000 347,320,749 392,418,800 1,130,000 20,754,000 9,940,000 4,324,000 111,552,760 5,000,000 545,119,560 133, 41, 78. 25, 52, 10, 14 21 320 90 18 705,074 600,000 000,000 ,600,000 ,000,000 ,000,000 ,000,000 ,500,000 ,000,000 ,500,000 ,000,000 804,905,074 5*0 ,000 ,000 42,253,000 60,000,000 45,000,000 12,146,000 1,000,000 210,399,000 33,184,000 89,783,000 3,735,000 13,000,000 139,702,000 756,590,163 100,000 756,690,163 2,804,136,546 2,692,986,773 13 ^ THE WORLD'S COTTON PRODUCTION {From the latest returns and estimates) The world's commercial crops in bales of the uniform weight of 500 lbs. net each. Countries 1908-09 1907-08 1906-07 1905-06 1904-05 United States India (a) Egypt Russia Brazil, etc. (&) 13,551,890 3,084,870 1,246,150 601,200 266,197 11,257,538 2,486,629 1,432,469 711,864 299,006 13,306,846 3,536,086 1,326,108 781,760 446,126 11,048,000 2,983,370 1,152,516 1,020,456 476,667 13,420,440 2,952.720 1,244,968 683,064 325,928 Total 18,750,307 16,187,506 19,396,926 16,681,009 18,627,120 {a) Includes India's exports to Europe, America, Japan, etc., and mill con- sumption in India increased or decreased by excess or loss of stock at Bombay. (6) Receipts into Europe from Brazil, Smyrna, Peru, West Indies, etc., and Japan and China cotton used in Japanese mills. These figures, revised to December i, 1909, from statistics fur- nished by the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, show the world's commercial cotton so far as known from reliable data. There is in addition considerable cotton, consumed locally in India, Brazil, and other countries, which does not enter into commercial channels and so cannot be determined. It is thought that 600,000 bales are worked each year on hand looms in the homes of the people in India, and that 149,000 bales each year are consumed locally in Brazil, but the data as to this local consumption are very indefinite. Little is known also to-day of the production and consumption of cotton in China. The world's cotton crop in running bales has been estimated by Comtelburo Limited, of London, as follows : Countries 1908-09 1907-08 1906-07 1905-06 1904-05 America India Egypt Brazil, etc. 13,829,000 4,665,000 910,000 t3,063,000 11,582,000 4,445,000 965,000 t2,867,000 13,550,000 5,197,000 926,000 t2,803,000 11,320,000 4,797,000 798,000 t2,542,000 13,557,000 4,061,000 843,000 t2, 172 ,000 Total 22,467,000 19,859,000 22,476,000 19,457,000 20,633,000 t Including all other countries. The countries embraced in this list are also given by Comtelburo, together with estimates of production of each. The estimate of Mr. Alfred B. Shepperson of the world's crops in running bales for 1908-09 is 22,287,000 bales. This corre- sponds closely with the estimate of Comtelburo for the same period. The estimates in running bales include under " Brazil, etc." the local consumption in Brazil, India, and other countries, and China's rumored production. They are, therefore, greater than the first estimate above, but the difference is more apparent than real. 15 EGYPTIAN COTTON The entire importation of Egyptian Cotton into the United States, expressed in bales of 500 lbs. net wt. for the past ten seasons, ending August 31st, is as follows: 1908-1909 145,361 1907-1908 126,102 1906-1907 178,069 1905-1906 119,890 1904-1905 110,573 1903-1904 80,107 1902-1903 131,799 1901-1902 166,617 1900-1901 . . . . . 87,441 1899-1900 122,009 PERUVIAN COTTON The entire importation of Peruvian Cotton into the United States, expressed in bales of 500 lbs. net wt. for ten seasons, ending August 31st, is as follows: 1908-1909 12,811 1907-1908 5,296 1906-1907 8,900 1905-1906 6,337 1904-1905 9,748 1903-1904 7,462 1902-1903 9,744 1901-1902 10,398 1900-1901 9,612 1899-1900 8,196 SEA ISLAND COTTON The crops and movement of Sea Island Cotton, expressed in bales of 500 lbs. net wt. for the past ten seasons, ending August 31st, are as follows: Crop Foreign Exports Ameri- Season South Total CON- Florida Georgia Caro- Total Great Conti- Ex- SUMP- lina Britain nent ports TIONa 1908-09- 33,701 31,162 12,138 77,001 14,593 6,052 20,646 57,061 1907-08- 33,490 21,606 10,190 65,286 18,198 7,708 25,906 37,374 1906-07- 18,729 19,722 6,435 44,886 12,160 4,231 16,391 28,881 1905-06- 24,302 58,298 10,970 93,570 24,027 7,382 31,410 63,138 1904-05- 30,298 39,757 9,675 79,730 24,666 6,056 30,722 50,045 1903-04- 22,404 31,476 7,487 61,367 19,350 5,706 25,056 34,862 1902-03- 22,149 49,961 9,998 82,108 35,483 7,782 43,266 40,419 1901-02- 17,058 38,870 7,008 62,936 20,338 5,160 25,498 34,920 1900-01- 19,834 42,362 6,695 68,891 21,162 4,428 25,590 44,338 1899-00- 23,501 48,295 6,248 78,044 30,623 6,406 37,029 39,634 a The column of " American Consumption " in this table includes burnt in the United States. In this compilation, the Sea Island bales (400 lbs.), the Egyptian bales (750 lbs.), and the Peruvian bales (185 lbs.) have all been converted into bales of the net weight of 500 lbs. each. 16 THE PRINCIPAL COTTONS X HE different kinds of cotton in general commercial use in this country may be briefly mentioned. They are Upland Cotton, forming the great bulk of cotton grown in the United States ; Sea Island Cotton, from our southeastern coast ; Egyptian Cotton, from the valley of the Nile ; and Peruvian Cotton, from South America. Of the 13,800,000 bales of Upland Cotton produced last season, we retained for use in this country but 5,400,000 bales. Our consumption of Sea Island, Egyptian, and Peruvian Cotton is indicated in the opposite table. Sea Island Cotton, grown almost exclusively in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, is our finest cotton, having a silky staple from ly^ inches to 2^ inches in length. For yarns numbering over 120, and for the best cloths, Sea Island Cotton is indispensable. It commands a price from 50 to 100 per cent above that of Egyptian Cotton. Egyptian Cotton has a strong, lustrous staple i y^ inches to I ^ inches long. It is used for purposes for which Upland Cotton would not be suitable, and for which Sea Island Cotton is too expensive. It is used extensively for fine underwear and hosiery, much of it going into so-called " Balbriggan " goods. Peruvian Cotton, of the kind imported into this country, is of the " tree cotton " variety and has a rough, kinky staple. It resembles wool so closely that it is called " vege- table wool," and can be distinguished from wool only by microscopical examination. Peruvian Cotton is not used in cotton mills, but is manufactured in combination with wool into certain grades of woolen fabrics. 17 WILLIAM WHITMAN &> CO. SOLE SELLING AGENTS FOR Arlington Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts WORSTED DRESS GOODS, WORSTED TOPS, WORSTED YARNS, COMBED COTTON YARNS, MERCERIZED YARNS The Eddystone Manufacturing Company of Eddystone^ Pennsylvania SIMPSON-EDDYSTONE PRINTS, GOBELIN ART DRAPERIES, PRINTED COTTON FABRICS Manomet Mills of New Bedford, Massachusetts COMBED COTTON YARNS Nashawena Mills of New Bedford, Massachusetts PLAIN AND FANCY COTTON FABRICS, COTTON AND SILK MIX- TURES, CONTRACT SPECIALTIES Nonquitt Spinning Company of New Bedford, Massachusetts COMBED COTTON YARNS and for a number of smaller cotton cloth and cotton yarn mills. In addition, William Whitman ^ Company, as mer- chants, purchase outright and distribute the products of a large number of other cotton mills. INTRODUCTION W E hope that this Httle book may not only interest our customers and business associates, but may make them .even more familiar than they now are with the policy of management and the nature and scope of our business as a whole. The successful development of the business is due largely to the co-operation of our friends among buyers, consumers, and associates. If this little book will help to promote that spirit of co-operation and to spread its influence among new friends and associates, it will have served its purpose. The policy of the firm of William Whitman & Company has always been to avoid any duplication or conflict of the products of the diff^erent manu- facturing concerns which the firm serves as exclu- sive selling agent. The whole business has been organized and developed in accordance with this principle. The output of one mill is not brought into competition with that of another. The various manufacturing activities have been so co-ordinated that the products of the difi^erent mills represented, instead of duplicating, supplement each other all along the line. The result is that to-day the products marketed by the firm cover an unusually broad range, selling efficiency is promoted, as the selling of one product .19 INTRODUCTION naturally leads to the selling of another, and the mills gain because they are enabled to specialize on the particular products for which they are best adapted. The machinery of each mill is kept con- tinuously employed in the manufacture of those things which it can produce at the least cost and to the best advantage. The firm acts as sole selling agent for the Arlington Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts, The Eddystone Manufacturing Company of Eddystone, Pennsylvania, the Manomet Mills of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the Nonquitt Spinning Company and the Nashawena Mills of the same city, and also for a number of smaller cotton cloth and cotton yarn mills. The firm also acts as a dealer in cotton yarns, purchasing large quantities of yarn outright from the spinners and distributing them through the channels of the trade to a wide range of cus- tomers. The yarns so purchased and distributed supplement and are supplemented by the products of the above mills. The different ranges of product strengthen the general line that is handled and so strengthen each other. The mills represented and the firm co-operating with them give steady employment to more than fourteen thousand persons, whose combined efforts are constantly directed toward producing and dis- tributing materials that are indispensable for the clothing of the people. It is an inspiration to realize that in return for what he or she receives every one 20 INTRODUCTION of these wage earners is contributing toward the common good. The dignity of labor and the privi- lege of work should be appreciated by those who have at heart the general welfare of this country. The belief that labor is dignified and that to work is and should be a privilege is one of the greatest sources of our energy as a people. The dignity of labor and the privilege of work are the keynotes of our remarkable industry. The firm of William Whitman & Company markets a large quantity and a great variety of tex- tile fabrics. These fabrics are made from wool, cotton, and silk, and mixtures of these three prin- cipal raw materials. A maximum output of more than one hundred and sixty-five million running yards of cloth passes from the looms in the course of a single year — enough to form a strand from two to about five feet in width, winding three times around the world, with many thousand miles of cloth to spare. The raw wools, cottons, and silks required for this output of fabric are drawn from all the continents and embody almost all grades and varieties. These raw materials repre- sent great value when spun into yarns and further worked by patient intricate processes into all-wool cloths, superior worsted fabrics, silk-filled goods, printed fabrics, and the many costly cloths described in later chapters. The quantity of fabric woven each year is impres- sive, but it measures only a part of the business. 21 INTRODUCTION In addition to cloth the firm markets large quan- tities of worsted yarn, of cotton yarn, and of the semi-manufactured article known as "tops" — wool combed and fully prepared for the spinner. The output of yarns and tops, most of which are sold to other manufacturers of textiles, even exceeds the output of cloth in point of value. The yearly consumption of the wools and cottons converted into these diversified products is in excess of one hundred and seventy-five million pounds. The wool that is used in a year is equivalent to about one-sixth of the entire wool clip of the United States. The fleeces of thirty-three thousand sheep are consumed in the manufacturing operations of a single day. Forty-four mills of the capacity of the Arlington Mills alone could absorb the wool product of the entire world. The cotton used each year, in number of pounds, is even greater than the corre- sponding quantity of wool. The kinds of cotton and the grades of wool in this vast consumption will be mentioned in later chapters. The business of the firm is organized or arranged in five large departments : I. Dress Goods Department. \/ 1. Worsted Yarn Department. 3. Cotton Yarn Department. 4. Printed Goods Department. 5. Gray Goods Department. In order to conduct a business of such diversity and magnitude a harmonious and efficient organiza- 22 INTRODUCTION tion is indispensable. The organization in general, and some of its purposes, will be outlined in the subsequent discussion of the several departments or subdivisions of the business. In discussing the different departments the par- ticular products marketed by each department and the varied uses of those products will also be described. 23 ARLINGTON MILLS Incorporated in l86j, under the latvs of the Common- ivealth of Massachusetts Capital Stock, $8,000,000 Executive Offices . . . . 78 Chauncy St., Boston Mills . . Lawrence and Methuen, Massachusetts OFFICERS William Whitman . . . . . President Franklin W. Hobbs Treasurer DIRECTORS George E. Bullard Livingston Gushing William F. Draper Robert H. Gardiner James R. Hooper Franklin W. Hobbs George E. Kunhardt Charles W. Leonard Richard S. Russell George M. Whitin William Whitman Clerk of the Corporation C. Eaton Pierce Resident Agent William D. Hartshorne Lawrence, Massachusetts Transfer Agent The New England Trust Company 135 Devonshire Street, Boston, Massachusetts *f DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT ± HIS department of the firm of William Whitman & Company markets all the dress goods manufactured by the Arlington Mills. The Arlington Mills began the manufacture of worsted fabrics almost half a century ago. At that time the industry in America was con- ducted under severe difficulties — a high standard of perfection had already been attained by foreign manu- facturers, and the best worsted fabrics worn in this country were almost all imported from Europe. Not only were there few men in this country who were skilled in the various branches of worsted manufactur- ing, but there was also a distinct prejudice against American-made goods. Through persistent effort, however, and especially through obtaining the best designers, weavers, spinners, and dyers trained in the art, the Arlington Mills gradually brought the pro- ducts of their looms to compare favorably with the best products of Europe. This progressive course has been steadily continued. Machinery has been perfected and the highest skill and experience secured, until to-day the worsted dress fabrics for women's and children's garments made by the Arlington Mills are nowhere excelled in those particular lines they manufacture. In order to maintain and improve this standard of quality, and strengthen this prestige, the mills have a representative abroad who visits the great centres of fashion, and so keeps the home office informed as to the new creations of foreign designers and the trend 25 DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT of ideas among those whose profession it is to fix or follow fashion. This knowledge is supplemented by the efforts of a corps of competent designers in the mills and in the offices of William Whitman & Com- pany. The mills have agents also all over the world to select and purchase the special wools best adapted for each particular fabric. These agents attend all of the great wool sales in this country and in Europe, Australia, and South America. ■Nearly all of the varieties of combing wools grown in the world are used — Australian merino and cross- bred wools ; South American merino and cross-bred wools ; Cape merino wools ; merino and cross-bred wools grown in the United States and territories ; the lustrous wools of pure English blood; mohair from Asiatic Turkey, and alpaca from the Andes. Mohair, the hair of the Angora goat, supplied largely by Asiatic Turkey, is used in fine woven fabrics requiring a bril- liant lustre or sheen. Alpaca, the hair of the South American llama, which comes largely from the moun- tains of Peru, is made into black fabrics of light weight and is largely used for brilliantines and linings. At first dress fabrics were sold by the firm almost entirely to the large dry goods jobbing houses, by which they were distributed to retailers throughout the country. The fabrics were made in widths varying from 36 to 50 inches, and were sold by retailers over the counter to their customers. These materials were either made up at home or were taken by the purchaser to a tailor or dressmaker to be made into garments. A gradual change, however, has developed in the method of distribution. There has come a great de- mand for ready-to-wear garments, a demand that has increased wonderfully within the past tew years. The 26 ^ "Sk^ THE ANGORA GOAT (FROM WHICH MOHAIR IS OBTAINED) ASIA MINOR DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT manufacturers of ready-to-wear clothing buy their own fabrics, make up the garments from these fabrics, and sell them through the usual channels of trade. These manufacturers use a vast amount of worsted dress goods every year, and for this particular trade special fabrics have to be produced. These fabrics have to have a uniform width and to be of such a character that they can be handled in great quantities. The width most suit- able for this trade is the uniform width of 54 inches. In order to meet the demand of this particular trade, known as the manufacturing or cutting-up trade, the Arlington Mills have equipped themselves to produce dress fabrics of a special kind, put up in a special way, and adapted directly for the needs of the manufacturer of ready-to-wear garments. A special sub-department has been created by the firm of William Whitman & Company to distribute these fabrics most efficiently. The whole Dress Goods Department is now organ- ized to meet satisfactorily the demands of the jobbing trade and the manufacturers of ready-to-wear clothing. The greatest care and thought are given to the creation of styles, to the construction of cloths, and to the other requirements of each particular trade. The manufacturing trade is large and steadily grow- ing, as we have stated. It must be borne in mind, how- ever, that out of the wide variety of dress fabrics that are manufactured, only a portion are suitable for ready- made garments. The dressmaker, both domestic and professional, is still and will continue to be a very im- portant factor. The fabrics that are consumed by the dressmakers of the country are all distributed through the large dry goods jobbing houses. They are vast in quantity, and the great business of retailing fabrics over the counter is sure to continue as heretofore. 27 DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT The dress goods of the ArHngton Mills fall naturally into two distinct classes when regarded from the stand- point of fashion — Staples and Fancies. Staples are those fabrics which are made of the same construction year in and year out. They vary only in coloring, to meet the changes of fashion. The Staples in which the Arlington Mills specialize are Brilliantines, Sicilians, Mohairs, Imperial Serges, Storm Serges, Cheviots, Panamas, Batistes, Taffetas, Voiles, Nun's Veilings, Cashmeres, Shepherd Checks, etc. Fancies include all kinds of novelties. In one class of these novelties the different effects are produced through variation of weave, in another class princi- pally through variation of color, and in still another class through variations of color and weave, or through odd intermixtures of the materials going into their construction. The class in which effects are produced through the weave includes Berbers, Brocades, Broca- telles, Crispettes, Melroses, Hopsackings, etc. The class in which the effects are produced largely through coloring includes Stripes, Checks, Plaids, Melanges, Mixtures, etc. The third class includes fabrics so novel in their makeup that the names applied to them change from time to time and have no established significance. The names are as changeable as the fabrics themselves. In general. Fancies or Novelties comprise that great variety of fabrics in vogue for a time, but for which the demand for any particular style is transitory. They change from year to year, according to the dictates of fashion. It is necessary, therefore, to anticipate in a measure what particular styles or constructions will be popular in the trade during any given season. In this connection the representative of the mills who travels through the 28 DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT principal cities of Europe keeps the home office in- formed of what the fashions are abroad. Although to-day this country is growing more and more independ- ent of Europe as to style, nevertheless it is true that the dressmakers and tailors of Europe have a great deal of influence over fashions in this country. What the foreign dressmakers are doing, therefore, must be taken into consideration and weighed with other information in order properly to anticipate what the trade is likely to demand. From the manufacturer's standpoint — that is, from the standpoint of one who considers the method of con- struction and the materials that go into the different fabrics — the Arlington Mills dress goods may be clas- sified under three general heads : Piece-Dyed Fabrics, Cross-Dyed Fabrics, and Yarn-Dyed Fabrics. Piece-Dyed Fabrics are woven with the yarns (the separate threads that are wrought together to make the fabric) in their gray or natural state. They are then cleansed and dyed in the piece to such colors as are required. They are woven in plain weaves in a great variety of twills, stripes, and figures, all the way from a plain spot to an elaborate brocade. These fabrics may be made wholly of worsted yarns, or of worsted yarns in combination with cotton yarns, or of worsted yarns in combination with cotton yarns that have been put through the mercerizing process to look like silk, or of worsted yarns with silk yarns or wool yarns. The principal fabrics in this classification are : Imperial Serges, Storm Serges, Cheviots, Panamas, Veilings, Prunellas, Whipcords, Melroses, Poplins, Venetians, Coverts, Satins, Batistes, Taffetas, Voiles, Nun's Veil- ings, Canvases, Grenadines, Albatrosses, Crepes, Rainproof cloths. Cashmeres, Silk-Warp Henriettas, 29 DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT and, in fact, an endless variety of plain and fancy Suitings. Cross-Dyed Fabrics are woven with black or colored cotton warps — that is, the yarns or threads that run lengthwise in the fabrics — and wool or worsted filling — that is, the yarns or threads that run across the fabrics. After being woven, these fabrics are dyed in the piece. The cotton does not take the wool dye, but retains its original color. This class of work is more generally used in what are known as Mohair, Alpaca, and Lustre fabrics. This process is adopted instead of subjecting the goods to a cotton-dye bath after being woven, because in this way the natural brilliancy of the Lustre wool. Mohair, or Alpaca in the filling is not impaired. The cotton-dye bath is liable to destroy the lustre, and for this reason a part of the goods — that is, the cotton portion — is dyed before the weaving takes place. The principal cross-dyed fabrics are Bril- liantines. Alpacas, Mohairs, Florentines, Glaces, Cotton- Warp Taffetas, Batistes, Serges and Cashmeres, Crisp- ettes. Fancy Lenos, Fancy Waistings, and Rainproof cloths. They have the same variety of weaves and patterns as have piece-dyed goods. The Arlington Mills have made a specialty of cross-dyed fabrics, which form a large part of their product. Yarn-Dyed Fabrics are woven from dyed yarns or from yarns spun from dyed wool. This process is particularly applicable to Shepherd Checks, Mixtures, Melanges, Fancy Checks and Plaids, and Fancy Cloak- ings and Suitings. The box loom is used in the man- ufacture of these cloths more than in other cloths. The desired effects can be produced in all-wool fabrics, cotton-warp fabrics, or in fabrics made of a mixture of cotton and wool. The different effects, however, are 30 . i'H> THE ALPACA, PERU DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT obtained in this class of merchandise more through skilful variations of color and pattern than through changes in construction of the cloth. ^ Staple Fabrics and Fancies or Novelties all fall within the above classification. They are either yarn-dyed, piece-dyed, or cross-dyed. The Arlington Mills dress fabrics are now made in weights from 3 to 1 2 ounces a yard and in widths varying from 28 inches to ^6 inches. These fabrics are made to meet the requirements of the great masses of the people, and the fabrics are dis- tributed widely throughout the United States. Perhaps the most characteristic feature of this dress goods branch of the Arlington Mills business is the making of specialties for the trade on orders, which have here- tofore been made solely in Europe. This business has' recently grown to large proportions. Importers and' others are enabled to place orders for novelties in cloths, with the understanding that the same article, or any article so closely resembling it as to conflict with its sale,j shall not be made by the Arlington Mills for othei| houses. In this way the individuality of each firm, as to taste or design, can be reserved to its own use or advantage. Dress goods, strictly speaking, are made only for women and children. The Dress Goods Department, however, markets other fabrics of the Arlington Mills which are not strictly dress goods. The Arlington Mills are especially equipped to manufacture linings for men's coats and suits. For light-weight linings, for ordinary suits, cotton-warp or Alpaca or plain linings are used. In order to obtain the highest lustre these linings are made from dyed cotton warps, and filling made with Alpaca, Mohair, or highly lustrous wool. They are woven in plain weaves, and the very greatest ^ 31 DRESS GOODS DEPARTMENT care has to be taken in dyeing and finishing them to preserve their brilliant lustre. For the heavier linings a cotton-warp serge is used. These are manufactured from the same materials as the lighter linings, but the weave is made up of a variety of twills instead of being plain. Great quantities of these serges are used wherever a lining of some weight is required. Success in the manufacture of this fabric rests almost entirely with the finish. The Arlington Mills, however, are among the few in this country that are fitted to finish successfully this class of merchan- dise. Another class of linings is used to line over- coatings. These linings are made in a variety of checks and plaids, usually woven from dyed yarns, either all-wool or cotton warps, or a combination of worsted and cotton yarns. In addition to linings the Arlington Mills manufacture special cloths that are put by the purchasers through various patented processes and made into automobile tops, curtains, and seat coverings. The extensive use of the automobile has created a great demand for materials suitable for these purposes. It has also created a demand for cloths fitted for garments to be worn in motoring, such as dusters, cloakings, raincoats, etc. The Arlington Mills have been making a careful study of these particular cloths suitable for all purposes connected with the automobile, and are equipped to manufacture in large quantities all the varieties that are required. The automobile cloths and the linings, as well as the dress goods, are distributed by the Dress Goods Department through the usual channels of trade which we have described. 32 1-5 o ^^ Ph .« 3 -O O ►5 H -S -5 d pq o S a ~. .B 3 — ; o & § vo ^ &0 T3 r::; rt g 'a. § M C/5 tt) C rt ^ c w d C 1m > Cl- (iH !-§ § K en Pi o o s m o o WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT i HIS department handles the entire production of the Arlington Mills in worsted yarns and in what are known as "tops" — already described in a pre- ceding chapter as wool combed and prepared for spinning. In addition, the Arlington Mills have made a specialty of combing wool on commission for other mills, and this work is also handled through this department. In the manufacture of worsted yarns and tops, the Arlington Mills con- sume practically every kind of wool grown in the world that is suitable for clothing purposes, from the finest merino Australian wool for the highest class of goods to the lower grades of combing wool. The work of the Worsted Yarn Department may be classified under three heads : Worsted Yarns, Worsted Tops, and Commission Combing. Each of these divisions will be separately considered. First, as to Worsted Yarns, it may be said that the production of perfect worsted yarns is probably the most difficult form of textile manufacture. For many years prior to the Civil War it was assumed that because of climatic and other conditions the spinning of these yarns could not be conducted in the United States. In 1854 the English worsted manufacturers of Bradford presented to Congress, through the British Minister in Washington, a memorial urging the reduction of the then low ad valorem duty of 25 per cent on worsteds for 33 WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT the reason that they " do not come into competi- tion with American goods." What is more, the American Congress actually granted the petition of these foreign manufacturers and in 1857 reduced the duty to a point where American competition was believed to be impossible ! Yet there was at that time an impression in this country that the Ameri- can people had successfully established their inde- pendence of external authority in the Revolution of 1775-1783. Step by step, however, the successful manufacture of worsted yarns and fabrics has been developed in the United States, and one technical difficulty after another has been overcome by force of ingenuity and perseverance. The Arlington Mills, pioneers in this great work, are producing many million pounds of worsted yarns every year. An enormous quantity of these yarns is required by the weav- ing department of the mills for manufacturing the diverse, beautiful, and useful fabrics described in the preceding chapter. But over and above the con- sumption of the Arlington looms themselves another very great quantity of worsted yarn, produced by the Arlington spindles, is available for sale to other manufacturers. These yarns that are thus sold enter into almost every kind of worsted cloth. They are purchased not only by other mills manufactur- ing ladies' and children's dress goods, but also by the manufacturers of men's wear. They are utilized in the production of underwear, hosiery, sweaters, and braids. The yarns are spun in practically all qualities and degrees of fineness, and are delivered 34 WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT In the gray, in solid colors, in fancy mixtures, or in doubles and twists. The following list of worsted yarns that are produced for sale by the Arlington Mills to manufacturers who do not do their own spinning will serve to illustrate the broad range of choice offered to purchasers. ARLINGTON MILLS WORSTED YARN SPECIALTIES ENGLISH SYSTEM SPINNING Two OR More Ply Gray Warp and Filling. Delivered in Skeins, on Spools or Dresser Spools. Single Gray Warp and Filling. Delivered on Filling Bobbins, Quiller Bobbins, Paper Tubes, Cones, or Dresser Spools. Single Slub Dyed Colors and Mixtures Fancy, Black and Gray, Black and Bleached White Mixtures, and Jaspers. Delivered in same forms as Single Gray. Two OR More Ply Slub Dyed Colors and Mixtures Fancy, Black and Gray, and Black and Bleached Mixtures, Jaspers, Double,, and Twist. Delivered in same forms as Two Ply Gray yarns. Single Knitting Yarns Gray, Black and Gray, and Black and Bleached Mixtures, Astrachan, and Boucle. Delivered in the same form as Single Gray already enumerated. 35 WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT Two OR More Ply Knitting Yarns Same as above and in addition thereto Floss, Saxony, Spanish, and Germantown. Delivered in the Gray in Skeins. Single Turkey Mohair Gray, Flyer Spun. Delivered on Spinning Bobbins or Paper Tubes. Two OR More Ply Turkey Mohair Gray, Flyer Spun. Delivered in Skeins, on Spools and Dresser Spools. FRENCH SYSTEM SPINNING Single Gray, Jasper, Silver, Blue, and Light Fancy Mixtures. Delivered on Cops and Cones for Knitting. Gray Warp and Filling Yarns. Delivered on Cops, Cones, Spools, and Dresser Spools. Two OR More Ply Gray. Delivered in Skeins, on Spools, Quiller Bobbins, and Dresser Spools. / The Arlington Mills worsted yarns are used by manufacturers of all descriptions of men's wear goods, women's and children's dress goods, women's and children's underwear and hose, upholstery, plushes, sweaters, braids, and trimmings. The fancy colored yarns for men's wear goods spun by the Arlington Mills enjoy deservedly a reputation unsurpassed by those of any other American or European manufacturers. Yarns are delivered in skeins or on dresser spools, five-inch WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT spools, spinning bobbins, quiller bobbins, cones, tubes, beams, or in any other form required by the purchasers. Customers have the security of knowing that the yarns which they are buying are of standard grades, and that the wool used to pro- duce one quality of yarn is the same from one year to another. There is no need of continual sam- pling to test and verify the quality, and reorders are certain to bring yarns of the same even excellence. The Arlington yarns are spun from conditioned top, so that no excess of moisture is present, and the percentage of pure olive oil used is uniform and as low as is consistent with the best results. The immense volume of production of the Arlington Mills is of itself a guarantee of sustained perfection of quality, and this immense volume permits of larger and prompter deliveries when these are de- sired than small mills could possibly supply. A new worsted yarn mill in the Arlington group will increase by fifty per cent the already huge capacity of the establishment. Just as the Arlington Mills make not only all the worsted yarn required for their looms, but a very great amount of yarn for sale to other manufacturers, so they also make all the worsted tops required for their spindles, and have a quantity besides, which is marketed through the Worsted Yarn Depart- ment of William Whitman & Company. From the immense top mill of the Arlington Mills a vast product is distributed of these tops, that convenient and valuable form of semi-manufactured wool, well described as "the earliest stage in which wool can 37 WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT be traded in, as corn or cotton are traded in, with > any certainty of uniformity in the article." The Arlington Mills were the first in America to recognize in any large, bold way the importance of this particular form of specialization in wool manu- facture. This was as far back as 1894, when the industry in the United States was about to go temporarily upon a free wool basis and there was no certainty as to the amount of protection that would eventually be given to the manufacturer. It was in an exceedingly dark and troublous era, when courage was a rare quality, that the Arlington Mills began the evolution of the present great and prosperous production of tops, which has been brought now to a basis of scientific uniformity and precision unexcelled in the most ancient seats of textile industry in Europe. The achievements of the Arlington Mills in this direction are two-fold — first, in developing a superior process for the thorough and economical cleansing of the wool to be combed into tops, and second, in establishing the present sound, practical, equitable basis on which tops are sold in America. In both of these undertakings the Arlington Mills have been the unquestioned pioneers, and the advan- tages of these notable achievements are now made available to all their customers. All of the wool cornbed by the Arlington man- agement, either for the tops that are to be utilized for its own spinning purposes, or for the other tops that are to be sold to other manufacturers, or the wool of dealers or of other manufacturers sent 38 .^ WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT to the mills for combing on commission — all this wool secures the benefits of the famous naphtha solvent process of cleansing, by which the grease is removed from the wool without any necessity of washing with soap or chemicals. This is a patented process, owned and installed exclusively by the i/ Arlington Mills, the perfected result of many years of skilled and exhaustive testing and experiment. Under this process the raw, unwashed wool, full not only of grease but of dirt, is subjected in a thoroughly safe and effective way to the action of the naphtha solvent. This removes the true grease of the wool, leaving, however, the natural alkali of the wool, which forms a natural soap with a base of potash. Then the application of warm — not hot — water suffices to cleanse the wool of dirt and to pro- duce a fibre with all its impurities eliminated and its strength unimpaired, perfectly adapted for combing / and manufacturing. This wonderful process, which the Arlington\ Mills exclusively employ, makes it possible to secure an increased amount of clean wool from a given quantity of unwashed wool. The fibre comes out in better and stronger condition than from the old processes, the cost of commercial soaps and alkalies is dispensed with, and there is a further consid- erable gain in the saving of valuable by-products, which can be marketed. The wool cleansed under these improved conditions produces a superior quality of top and yarn, softer, easier to work, and more desirable in every way than the pro- ; duct of the crude, old-fashioned methods followed / 39 WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT even now by many manufacturers in America and Europe. Eternal vigilance is the price of successful, modern textile manufacturing. The Arlington Mills have led the way in another important new departure — the study and investigation of the hygroscopic quali- ties of wool, so indispensable to the fixing of a proper standard for the buying and seUing of tops. One peculiar characteristic of the wool fibre is that it is capable of absorbing a large quantity of water without a perceptible change of appearance. This moisture enters the minute spaces between the cells of the fibre and even permeates the substance of which these cells are composed. Wool exposed to damp air will absorb in a short time from lo to 20 per cent of additional moisture and, of course, increase in weight by that amount. Fifteen years ago Mr. William D. Hartshorne, then the superintendent of the worsted department and now the agent of the Arlington Mills, conducted some interesting and exact experiments of great scientific interest, which showed that the moisture in a skein of worsted yarn varied from a little over 7 per cent to 35 per cent of its entire weight in the course of a year, and, indeed, often from 15 to 20 per cent in twenty-four hours. Mr. Hartshorne, who is to-day recognized as the foremost authority in the United States on the hygroscopic properties of yarns and fabrics and on atmospheric conditions in textile manufacturing, conducted an elaborate series of calculations, most precisely carried out, and determined the substantial accuracy of the allowance 40 WORSTE'D YARN DEPARTMENT made by the Arlington Mills, and now accepted by other manufacturers, of 15 per cent for what is called " regain " from bone-dry in the sale of tops, a stand- ard that gives authority and permanency to an im- portant division of the textile trade. The Arlington Mills and Mr. Hartshorne in this undertaking have rendered a large and enduring service to the entire industry. Here is a signal example of the way in which, in our modern age, science is made to con- tribute to the evolution of business and the diffusion of prosperity. All of the great and advanced facilities of the Arlington Mills are placed at the disposal of wool dealers and manufacturers who send their wool to the mills for combing on commission. They are allowed all of the advantages of the naphtha sol- vent process, which yields to them a larger amount of top from a given amount of wool than can be procured by any other process — and not only a larger amount of top, but top in better condition for successful drawing and spinning. This commission combing has become a large and constantly increasing factor in the business of the Arlington Mills. Any combing wool, including the grades used in the manufacture of carpet yarns, may be shipped to the mills, where it will be sorted, cleansed by the patent solvent process, and carded and combed with the same scrupulous care and high efficiency and economy that characterize the prepa- ration of the Arlington wools. These facilities, possible only in a very great establishment, are offered to worsted spinners and dealers throughout 41 WORSTED YARN DEPARTMENT the country. When wool is combed on commission the resultant products,including top, noils, and wastes, are returned to the owner. Such a low charge is made for this work that it is often more economical for manufacturers to send their wool to be combed as they require it than to install their own combing machinery. It is usually estimated that of the total cost of a worsted spinning plant, at least three-fifths repre- sents the machinery requisite for the preliminary processes of preparing the wool for the spinning frame itself The spinner who regularly utilizes the advantages of a great central combing plant like that of the Arlington Mills saves the fixed charges upon a very large investment in machinery and the cost of a long holding of his raw materials. TRADE ^^^ MARK Ueg. U. S. Pat. Office ARLINGTON MILLS 42 THE WORLD'S COTTON MILLS {According to latest kno'wn. estimates^ Country Mills Spindles Looms Consumption Bales Hands Employed Gt. Britain 1909 1977 57,026,422 739,382 3,426,000 620,000 U. S. North 1908 1067 17,543,752 +340,682 2,371,200 tl97,137 U. S. South 1909 727 10,370,333 214,716 2,573,524 +121,000 Germany 1909 372 10,162,872 +230,200 1,979,958 375,000 Russia 1909 94 6,700,000 +154,577 1,495,000 350,000 ^ Poland 1909 43 1,249,497 *12,000 300,000 *35,000 Finland, etc. 1909 13 424,982 — 46,000 — France 1908 430 6,731,316 110,000 890,000 95,000 Austria 1908 139 4,412,072 +144,000 860,000 127,000 Hungary 1905 17 250,000 4,815 48,000 8,000 Switzerland 1909 68 1,491,531 19.594 117,000 19,000 Italy 1909 495 4,500,000 +120,000 700,000 132,000 Spain 1909 257 1,800,000 55,000 • 330,000 70,000 Portugal 1909 35 450,000 8,000 80,000 25,000 Belgium 1909 46 1,200,000 +24,000 160,000 15,000 Holland 1909 50 464,890 29,860 77,000 26,000 Sweden 1909 35 420,000 11,000 90,000 — Norway 1909 12 86,576 2,329 17,000 2,625 Denmark 1909 5 77,644 — . 25,000 1,000 Rumania 1899 — 40,000 — — — Turkey 1908 13 100,000 — 26,000 — Greece 1906 — 97,000 2,100 15,000 — Egypt 1908 2 36,000 506 3,000 600 Asia Minor 1909 5 130,000 — 25,000 — India 1908 241 5,756,020 67,920 1,991,500 221,915 China 1907 28 750,000 2,200 200,000 — Japan 1908 82 1,695,879 9,626 1,124,787 76,566 Indo-China 1905 4 64,000 — — — Philippines 1905 1 7,420 222 2,000 230 Brazil 1908 110 1,300,000 +26,928 375,000 — Argentina 1906 2 10,000 3,250 — — Peru 1904 7 — 1,355 — — Colombia 1908 1 6,116 104 800 160 Mexico 1908 142 693,842 23,507 160,000 33,131 Canada 1908 29 855,293 19,265 125,000 10,214 Total (estimated) 6,549 136,903,457 2,377,138 19,633,769 2,561,578 tine omplete * 1 'revious Retu rns Comtelburo L imitec , of Londo] 43 1, furnish ss this compilation. MANOMET MILLS Incorporated in igoj, under the laivs of the Commonivealth of Massachusetts Capital Stock, |2, 000,000 President's Office . . • . . 78 Chauncy St., Boston Treasurer s Office and Mills New Bedford, Massachusetts OFFICERS William Whitman President Arnold C. Gardner Treasurer directors William F. Draper Arnold C. Gardner Hendricks H. Whitman Charles W. Leonard George E. Kunhardt George M. Whitin William Whitman Clerk of the Corporation J. Earle Parker Resident Agent Jesse A. Knight - i, z -. COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT 1 HE varied products handled by the Cotton Yarn Department of William Whitman & Company fall naturally, on a basis alike of geography and character, into two classes — Northern Yarns and Southern Yarns. The total range of these cotton yarns is exceptionally broad, covering practically every kind, number, and quality of cotton yarn com- mercially used in the United States. In view of this wide range of products, the Cotton Yarn Department has been skilfully organized, so that the different yarns, though many in number, do not conflict with each other. The sound, underlying principle upon which the business of the firm has been established is here, as elsewhere, inflexibly adhered to. Each mill produces only a certain group of specialties for which it is particularly fitted. There is no duplica- tion of product, no competition and conflict of the output of one mill with the output of another. The different products supplement each other all along the line. In describing the different Northern Yarns and Southern Yarns, we will follow the natural order of the processes involved in their manufacture. The simplest forms of yarn will be mentioned first, yarns that require a little more skill and further processes in their manufacture will be mentioned next, and so on. Southern Yarns are the simplest in the point of 45 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT manufacture. These yarns are made principally of American cotton and for the most part are carded yarns. The carding process is an elemen- tary process required in all yarns. There is an infinite variety of uses for these carded yarns, which are cheaper than combed yarns. They are made not only into ordinary cotton cloth, but into carpets, rugs, hammocks, rope and twine, and window cords. They are utilized for the insulation of electrical cables and for the covering of fire hose. These carded yarns are used in enormous quantities, and to meet this broad and steady demand the firm does an extensive business in carded yarns from the Southern cotton mills. The yarn mills of the South, as a rule, are comparatively small in size, confining themselves usually to a few numbers, and sometimes to only one. William Whitman & Company market the entire, product of some of these mills, but in addition act as dealers, purchasing large quantities of yarn outright from the spinners and distributing them through the channels of their trade to a wide range of customers. It is the constant aim of the firm, in the handling of these Southern yarns, to deal only with the most skilful and responsible manufacturers, and only in such yarns as may be offered with the most implicit confidence. The Northern Yarns include the total products of the Manomet Mills and the Nonquitt Spinning Company of New Bedford, and of the cotton spin- ning mill of the Arlington Mills, which manufacture certain special combed yarns in addition to the other numerous textile products already mentioned. The 46 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT Northern Yarns are all combed yarns. They are put through the carding process like all other yarns, but are subjected also to a further process of combing, which straightens the fibres, removes the short cotton, and virtually eliminates the small particles of dirt and leaf always found, to a certain extent, in yarns that have been only carded. Combed yarns require the better grades of cotton and the greater lengths of staple. They embody the highest perfection of the spinner's art. In the manufacture of these yarns, atmospheric conditions, s.o important, as we have shown, in the handling and manufacture of wool, are a vital factor. In a sense, the natural moisture of the air of Lanca- shire made it world renowned for its cotton mills, just as the natural air of Yorkshire made it famous for its woolen and worsted factories. It is true that to-day modern processes have been so far perfected that it is possible to produce and maintain by artificial means almost any desired degree of moisture in the interior of a textile mill. There are localities, how- ever, that are peculiarly well adapted for certain branches of textile manufacture. The city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, is one of these. Its climatic and general conditions are as well adapted for fine cotton spinning and weaving as those of any other locality in this country. Through the Cotton Yarn Department, William Whitman & Company market all the combed yarn of the Manomet Mills and of the Nonquitt Spinning Company, located in New Bedford, on the Acushnet River. These modern mills are equipped 47 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT with every improvement for the manufacture of combed yarns from the better grades of American, Egyptian, and Sea Island cotton. The Manomet Mills produce in their No. i Mill the coarser counts, or yarns sizing from 8s to 20s, and in their No. 1 Mill the intermediate counts, or yarns sizing from 20s to 36 s. MANOMET MILLS COMBED YARN SPECIALTIES MULE SPUN Spun in numbers 8 to 26 Single : Delivered on Cops, Cones, and Skeins. Made especially for underwear and hosiery. Two qualities, designated BB and EM. FRAME SPUN spun in numbers 18 to j6 Single : Delivered on Cones, Tubes, Spools, and Section Beams, and in Skeins and Ball Warps. Two OR More Ply : Delivered in all of the above forms. Two OR More Ply Gassed : Delivered in all of the above forms. Frame Yarns are made in three qualities, desig- nated CC, DD, and EX. These Frame Spun Yarns are used in an immense variety of manufactures, some of which may be enumerated as follows : Silk Velvets and Plushes ; Cotton Velvets and Plushes ; Silk Fabrics ; Men's, Women's, and Children's Under- wear and Hosiery; Dress Goods; Cotton and Woolen Cloths, Upholstery ; Webbings, Laces, Embroideries, Braids, Electrical Work, Shoe Threads, Sewing Thread, etc., etc. 48 ^ i »■ a" s • =,' # r?.«i a <; .. :» mm SI ^ n ^ afj' COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT The Nonquitt Spinning Company confines itself to the finer qualities, sizing from 36s to lOOs, and its new mill will devote its great number of spindles to a range of finer numbers. NONQUITT SPINNING COMPANY'S SPECIALTIES FRAME SPUN COMBED COTTON YARNS Single, on Cones : For Knitters. » Single, in Skeins: For Knitters and Weavers. Single, on Spools : For Weavers, warp and weft. Single, on Section Beams : For Weavers. Single, in Ball Warps : For Weavers, warp and weft. Ply Yarn, on Cones : For Knitters. Ply Yarn, in Skeins : For Knitters, Weavers, and Thread Makers. Ply Yarn, on Spools : For Weavers, warp and weft. Ply Yarn, on Section Beams : For Weavers. Ply Yarn, in Ball Warps : For Weavers, warp and weft. Ply, Gassed on Cones : For Knitters and Weavers. Ply, Gassed in Skeins : For Knitters, Weavers, and Thread Makers. Ply, Gassed in Ball Warps : For Weavers, warp and weft. The above yarns are spun in all numbers from 26 to 100 in six different standard qualities, desig- nated as SA, A, AX, E, EE, SI There is, perhaps, a tendency toward finer goods, a tendency that grows with the development of higher and higher technical skill and more and more efficient labor in America. The factor of labor cost in these fine goods is relatively large and 49 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT for this the protective tariff affords a needed shield. It is the combed yarns of these famous mills that are employed in the manufacture of the higher grades of cloth, where strength and evenness of weave are indispensable. But these yarns are util- ized for other things than cloth. They are wrought into the better grades of underwear, into gloves and hosiery, into tapes, braids, lace curtains, and em- broideries. Great quantities of these combed yarns enter into the manufacture of the insulation of fine magnet and telephone wires. In combination with rubber they are used in elastic webbings and similar fabrics. In combination with silk they are used for velvet upholstery, umbrella coverings, linings, etc. One novel purpose which these combed yarns serve is in the manufacture of the mantles of the Wels- bach burner, and another is in the weaving of the stout tires of bicycles and automobiles. In fact, if one could trace in all its different lines the cotton fibre from the field to its final use, one would be amazed at its ramifications and would well believe it to be the most useful as well as the cheapest fibre known to man. We have considered the carded yarns of the South and the combed yarns of the North, which have been put through the carded and combing processes, and we may now consider a class of yarns which have been put through not only the carding and combing processes, but a still further process. The Arling- ton Mills, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, not only manufacture the finer grades of combed yarns made 50 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT from the long staple American, Egyptian, and Sea Island cotton, but manufacture also certain special yarns which will be mentioned. Combed yarns at the Arlington Mills are bleached or dyed into colors or mercerized to meet the requirements of a little different trade. These bleached, dyed, or mercerized yarns are used for mufflers, certain kinds of underwear, the finest hosiery, etc. Specialization has enabled each of the mills repre- sented by William Whitman & Company to fit itself with the particular machinery best adapted for skilled and successful work in its own line. Moreover, for each mill are carefully selected the grades and varieties of cotton most fitted for its par- ticular purpose. This specialization finally makes it possible to educate the operatives along certain definite lines. All these factors, combined with competent and progressive management, naturally secure the maximum volume of production, the most exact and efficient work, and the most uniform standard of excellence of product. We have mentioned the specialties of the Mano- met Mills of New Bedford, and of the Nonquitt Spinning Company of New Bedford. We will mention here certain specialties of the Arlington Mills. The art of mercerizing cotton yarn to give it a silky appearance has been established in this country but about twenty years. It is a compara- tively new art, in which the Arlington Mills have been pioneers. These mills were among the first in America, if not the very first, to mercerize yarns successfully on a large scale for the trade. To-day 51 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT they are perhaps the largest producers of mercerized yarns in the world. Their great capacity is now overtaxed, and for this reason the mercerizing plant of the Mills is being doubled in capacity. For a time in the earlier years the use of inferior grades of cotton brought mercerized products into disrepute in the trade. The inferior yarn and cotton caused the beautiful silky lustre which the mercerizing pro- cess gives to be merely temporary or unsatisfactory. From the outset the Arlington Mills acted on the principle that mercerized yarns and fabrics should be made only from the best grades of cotton, so selected and treated as to produce the highest silkiness and lustre. Time has proved beyond a doubt the cor- rectness of this principle. The Arlington Mills also bore the brunt of very important litigation that saved the mercerizing process for general use, instead of surrendering it as an exclusive privilege to a close monopoly. The story of this and of the mercerizing process we have embodied in a separate chapter. It would be impossible in a brief space to describe the diverse special yarns manufactured at the Arling- ton Mills. To suggest to the lay mind, however, the great variety, and to specify with some exactness for the trade the different yarns, we insert a list. To-day we are confronted with the highest general level of cotton prices since the Civil War. The temptation on the part of the spinner and on the part of the user is strong to employ cheap materials. But the Arlington Mills adhere and will continue to adhere to their previous policy of choosing the very highest grades of cotton for their mercerized yarns. 52 0//nCki u^A KvB^o ^':[^n:; ^o^q^rvvoio SO It) ^ ' CSj CNj Csl 1 "•#•* ■■ I' T ■■■ , ■AON , 1 ' < , , ki 1^ c 1 ' 1 > j^3i « 1 ' cn^ f~inr II ! ' ' ' 1 1^ 3M/tr 1 1 ■^ ^JiCI^ ' 1 1 ' ■ 1 , i/^a :::::+ :::::: ::: ;i::::: ' t ^ :! * ■■ 3 " « 1 1 00 — : I s ■^onj ::■; ::: :5;:: »^ -Tser + : > yrfJS- :::::: :::::::: :i ^ bny 1 r^ ySniy I punr M>Himl s , t j ..,; . • .. S KZLaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'^ii'.iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiia ■ ■ ^ KZ2aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii':<'::ik:^iiiinnnniii III III! 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(J- N f''^. <^ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 1 lUffi II ■ui,t> 1 llillllllllllll U'fftfi 1 li m • Rjy llilllilllll L^''^^'^ M 1111 //*"/■ 1 1 II 1 1 fUin^ 1 Hn 11 III 1 II ei£iiHfiiiiinimiHniiiiiiiiii;iii^iiiiiiiiiiiiiii Bi;2ZBaaiiiiiiaiiiaaiiaaaiiiiiaiiiar:iii.-:.iniiii^aniiiiiiii HCTEaaaiaiaiiaiiiiaiiaaiiiiiiaiiiz^iiir.iiiiiiiiiaaiaiiiiiaia K2X1 ■iiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiin.il> II ■iiiiiiiiniiiiiiii uzuniiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiniiiiiniiij.'c 4 rN4 «v* n: vT \o V^ 4- cvi fsj ^s^ COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT ARLINGTON MILLS COMBED COTTON YARN SPECIALTIES UNMERCERIZED YARNS Single : Bleached, delivered in skeins and on cones ; bleached in the skein. Ply : Bleached, delivered in skeins and on cones ; bleached in the skein. The above are made especially for very fine under- - wear and are unequalled. MERCERIZED YARNS Single : Delivered on cones. Ply : Delivered in warps and skeins and on cones. MERCERIZED AND BLEACHED YARNS Ply : Delivered in M^arps and skeins and on cones. GASSED AND MERCERIZED YARNS Ply : Delivered in warps and skeins and on cones. GASSED, MERCERIZED, AND BLEACHED YARNS Ply : Delivered in warps and skeins and on cones. MERCERIZED AND COLORED YARNS Ply : Delivered in warps and skeins and on cones. GASSED, MERCERIZED, AND COLORED YARNS Ply : Delivered in warps and skeins and on cones. These are made in four different qualities, desig- nated AM, XL, CE, XA, from Special Blends, Long Stapled American, Egyptian, and Sea Island Cotton. They are used in the manufacture of high grade woven fabrics — men's, women's, and children's underwear and hose ; also for thread, braids, trim- mings, laces, and embroideries. S3 COTTON YARN DEPARTMENT Arlington Mills Mercerized Yarns are used as substitutes for silk because of their brilliant lustre. With these bleached, colored, and mercerized yarns of the Arlington Mills, with the combed yarns of the Manomet Mills, ranging in number from 8s to 36s, with the fine combed yarns of the Nonquitt Spinning Company, ranging from 36s to IOCS, and even higher numbers, with the carded yarns of the South in all numbers in which carded yarns are made, the Cotton Yarn Department of William Whitman & Company is equipped to offer in quantity the yarns that are used for almost every manufacturing purpose throughout the United States. Furthermore, the firm is prepared to offer each special kind and quality of yarn as the product of a leading specialist in that yarn, and to offer all the various yarns in the different forms required by the different users. All of the mills are equipped to supply yarns in either the single or the twisted forms, and put up in any of the ways desired by the trade ; in skeins, cones, warps, spools, etc., made from all different grades of cotton. It is the supplementing of special yarns into one broad range that makes this possible. It is the policy of the firm in requiring each mill to make a product that does not conflict with, but is in addition to, the product of another mill that has brought the firm the ability to offer all yarns for all trades. 54 I— I o NONQ^UITT SPINNING COMPANY Incorporated in igo6, under the laivs of the Commonivealth of Massachusetts Capital Stock, ^2,400,000 President's Office . . . . 78 Chauncy St., Boston Treasurer's Office and Mills, New Bedford, Massachusetts OFFICERS William Whitman President Leonard C. Lapham Treasurer directors Arthur T. Bradlee Leonard C. Lapham Malcolm Campbell Charles W. Leonard William F. Draper Richard S. Russell George E. Kunhardt George M. Whitin William Whitman Clerk of the Corporation J. Earle Parker Resident Agent Andrew J. Currier THE EDDYSTONE MFG. CO. Incorporated in l8gj, under the laws of the Commonnuealth of Pennsyl-vania Capital Stock, |i, 000,000 Executive Offices . loii Pennsylvania Building Philadelphia, Penn. Works Eddystone, Penn. officers W. p. Simpson President E. K. Nelson Vice-President W. P. Simpson . . . * . . . Treasurer W. F. Keenan Secretary DIRECTORS W. P. Simpson W. F. Keenan E. K. Nelson S. B. Brown T. E. Frame ESTABLISHED 1842 PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT A HE Eddystone Manufacturing Company, suc- cessor to Wm. Simpson & Sons and the sole manufacturer of Simpson-Eddystone fabrics, markets its output through this department of the firm of William Whitman & Company. Three generations of Simpsons have made Simpson-Eddystone Prints, and three generations of consumers have used Simpson-Eddystone Prints. William Simpson, Sr., the founder of this busi- ness, began his career as a manufacturer in 1836 by block printing silk handkerchiefs. He started Calico printing in 1842. The art of Calico printing is " as old as the hills " and its history proves it to be of similar stability. The output and use of printed cottons has greatly increased from ancient to modern days, at times increasing by leaps and bounds, and the ratio of consumption of this useful fabric bids fair to grow in future among the nations of the earth. The following is a part of a graphic treatise that appeared in 1883 on the subject of Calico printing, compiled by Messrs. George Ripley and Charles A. Dana : CALICO PRINTING "The term calico (from Calicut on the Malabar Coast, whence it was first imported) is applied in England to white or unprinted cotton cloth, but in the United States to cotton cloth upon which colored patterns are impressed 57 PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT with the use of dyes, technically called prints. The effect produced by the printing process is like that of the colored designs brought out by the loom, but with much greater economy of time and labor. The origin of this art, like that of dyeing, is traced back to very remote antiquity, and in some form or other appears to have been practised by nations of little skill in other respects. The aborigines of northern America stain their garments of different colors, which is a rude method of calico printing ; while the natives of Mexico, at the time of its conquest by Cortes, produced garments of cotton adorned with figures in black, blue, red, yellow, and green colors. Pliny's account of the process practised by the ancient Egyptians is particularly interesting for showing the skill attained by them in the art, as also for describing with great conciseness the principle of the common operations : ' They take white cloths, and apply to them, not colors, but certain drugs which have the power of absorbing or drinking in color; and in the cloth so operated on there is not the smallest appearance of any dye or tincture. These cloths are then put into a caldron of some coloring matter, scalding hot, and after having remained a time are with- drawn, all stained and painted in various hues. This is indeed a wonderful process, seeing that there is in the said caldron only one kind of coloring material ; yet from it the cloth acquires this and that color, and the boiling liquor itself also changes according to the quality and nature of the dye-absorbing drugs which were at first laid on the white cloth, and these stains or colors are, moreover, so firmly fixed as to be incapable of removal by washing. If the scalding liquor were composed of various tinctures and colors, it would doubtless have confounded them all in one on the cloth ; but here one liquor gives a variety of colors according to the drugs previously applied. The colors of the cloths thus prepared are always more firm and durable than if the cloths were not dipped into the boiling caldron.' 58 PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT In the different countries of India the art is practised with various degrees of skill. In some the patterns are drawn with a pencil upon the fabric ; while in Mesopotamia, as stated by Mr. Buckingham, blocks are employed for pro- ducing an impression, as practised by the English block- printers. The Chinese have long used the same process. The large chintz counterpanes, called palampoors, of an ancient East India fabric, are prepared by placing on the cloth a pattern of wax and dyeing the parts not so protected. From India it appears the art was introduced at an early period into Europe ; but it never became of much impor- tance till some time in the 17th century, when Augsburg became celebrated for its printed cottons and linens. From this time the art spread into France, Germany, Switzerland, and Great Britain, being introduced into London about the year 1676. Here, being greatly restricted by the opposi- tion of the silk and woollen weavers, it made but slow progress. In 1720 the wearing of printed calico was prohibited by act of parliament, under a penalty of ^^5 for each offence on the part of the wearer and of £xo on that of the seller. In 1730 it was allowed to be printed, provided the warp was of linen and the weft only of cotton ; but even then it was subject to an onerous tax of 6d per square yard. In 1774 the restriction upon the manufacture was re- pealed ; but a tax of 3d per yard was continued, which was increased in 1806 to 3-i/2d, In 1 83 1 this duty was repealed; and the art, which had sustained itself under all the attempts to keep it down, now that it was relieved of the burden of paying an average of 50 per cent, on the goods produced for home consump- tion, suddenly received a great impetus, so that in place of 8,300,000 pieces of goods manufactured in 1830, the pro- duction was increased within 20 years to about 20,000,000. The character of the goods was greatly improved, as well as the processes and machinery ; while the cost of produc- tion was much reduced by the enormous quantities manu- 59 PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT factured. The process of printing had been by wooden blocks, each one of which of a few inches square was applied by hand, impressing a portion of the figure upon the surface in a single color, and another block subsequently applied in the same spot to fill in another portion of the figure in another color. This process was soon nearly superseded by immense machines constructed with the great- est ingenuity, capable of producing 15 or even 20 colors at once with the same precision as in the case of the simpler machines which printed only two or three colors at once, while at the same time 600 or 700 times as many pieces were produced per day as if they had been blocked sepa- rately with the same number of workmen employed. The art has been perfected by the highest chemical talent, as well as by the ingenuity of the mechanician and the taste of the artist. Artists or pattern designers are especially employed, whose constant occupation is to furnish new pat- terns ; from which the printer selects those he judges most likely to be popular. The French artists are admitted to produce finer designs than the English, while the latter nation claims a superiority in the mechanical departments of calico printing." During the twenty-six years elapsing since the above treatise appeared, giant strides have been made in the calico printing industry. Immense and costly printing establishments have been built and equipped in all civilized countries. To-day hundreds of thou- sands of men, women, and children are engaged in producing calico, and its consumers are numbered by millions. Engineers and inventors of renown have devoted their energies to the improvement of old and the creation of new machinery. The coloring and finishing of cotton fabrics has been completely revolutionized. 60 PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT l^he Eddystone Manufacturing Com- pany's constant experience and practice during sixty-seven years embraces the most remarkable period of progress and development in the entire history of calico printing. In age, experience, organization, per- fection of equipment and actual accomplishment it stands first in its chosen field in this country, and its staple and novelty lines have earned an honored and enviable reputation. Artists, chemists, and engineers have successfully striven to beautify and improve the Simpson- Eddystone products. Many dress goods designers capable of producing exquisite patterns especially adapted for Simpson-Eddystone fabrics form part of the regular organization. The complete revolu- tion in the source of textile coloring matter, whereby the old vegetable colors were replaced by the superior coal tar colors, has been of great value in Simpson- Eddystone fast color combinations. The Eddystone Manufacturing Company's laboratory has evolved improved processes and methods for treating and manipulating prints, and has trained specialists known as "Colorists" to com- bine and blend colors in a striking and effective manner. The development of the art of merceriz- ing (silk finishing cotton fabrics) has been adopted and applied to the finish of certain Simpson-Eddystone lines. Simpson-Eddystone quality to-day is the condensed result of sixty-seven years of invaluable cumulative experience of the Simpson family^ whose members for 6i PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT three successive generations have successfully devoted themselves to the task of improving the product bearing their name. In addition to the celebrated, long established, and well known staple lines of absolutely fast color prints, known as Simpson-Eddystone Solid Blacks^ Silver GraySy Black and Whites, and Shepherd Plaids, numerous other lines have been produced noted for their striking novelty, beauty of designs, brilliancy and fastness of color, fine fabric and finish. Among the meritorious lines of to-day bearing the Simpson-Eddystone ticket are the following : Silk Novelties embody the latest Parisian designs found only in the very finest class of goods. Velvettes are superior to the best known lines of outing flannels, being distinguished by brightness and fastness of coloring and clearness of white. The high grade Silkalines and Silk Finish Robes made by the Company enjoy an established position and an ever increasing demand, because of their real merit. They are characterized by their rich designs, harmonious color effects, fine texture, and lustrous finish. The unmistakable seal of public approval proves beyond question the sterling quality of Simpson- Eddystone fabrics. The great range and variety of these fabrics and the diversity of product of The Eddystone Manu- facturing Company is further illustrated by the additional lines of fabric mentioned in the follow- ing list. 62 PRINTED GOODS DEPARTMENT SIMPSON-EDDYSTONE MADEIRA LOTH 3A MADEAS PEEOALES L I N N S SIM SILK QUAKEE GEATS DAEK NOVELTIES ELTSIAN AET EOBES CAMEO BLACK & GEAYS MEEITO 4/4 PEEOALES EMPIEE SATINES INDIGO LIGHT BLUES L U M I N E OAEMINIOS SABELETTES SOAELETTA CLOTH FASTHAZELBEOWNS ALL INDIGO INDINES CEEDITA 4/4 PEEOALES The Eddystone Manufacturing Company pro- duces annually over 6o,ooo miles of staple and novelty lines, consisting of dress goods and draperies, each line requiring from eleven to twenty-seven dis- tinct processes to perfect, and each particular process demanding careful planning and execution to produce the famous Simpson-Eddystone quality. The name carries the ring of accompHshment and is a guarantee of high quality. "SIMPSON-EDDYSTONE" ON PRINTS IS LIKE STERLING ON SILVER (>3 NASHAWENA MILLS Incorporated in igog, under the laivs of the Commonivealth of Massachusetts Capital Stock, 12,500,000 President's Office . . . . 78 Chauncy St., Boston Treasurer's Office and Mills New Bedford, Massachusetts OFFICERS William Whitman President William B. Gardner . .- . . Treasurer directors George E. Bullard I. Tucker Burr William F. Draper Robert H. Gardiner William B. Gardner George E. Kunhardt Charles W. Leonard Richard S. Russell George M. Whitin Malcolm D. Whitman William Whitman Clerk of the Corporation J. Earle Parker Superintendent John L. Burton .'^i C/T~ w h-l ^-1 & § :5 < _H- § ^ tuO < m c^ r/1 ■^ < r/1 ^ -n GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT 1 HE term "gray goods" applies generally to fabrics which have not been bleached or dyed or subjected to any process after weaving. They are sold in the condition in which they come from the • looms. Certain gray goods, such as sheetings, drills, and ducks, are frequently retailed in their gray or natural state. The gray goods marketed by William Whitman & Company, however, include only those cloths that are manufactured especially for convert-' ers, who have them dyed, bleached, or printed before they reach the consumer. Of the different products marketed by the Gray Goods Department, the varied fabrics of the Nasha- wena Mills deserve first mention. They will be many and great in quantity, as this mill is the largest single cotton mill ever built at one time in the United States. Primarily the Nashawena Mills were incorporated to manufacture the highest grades of fine cotton fabrics, and to attain perfection as nearly as possible in that manufacture. With this end in view no effort has been spared to have the buildings of the best construction for the proper light, and the proper atmospheric conditions, and to have installed also the best weaving machinery, the best spinning machinery, and the best means of creating power and of transmitting it evenly through- out the mill. The result is that the plant of the 65 GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT Nashawena Mills stands to-day as a model mill of its kind, equipped with every improvement known to textile science. It is new from beginning to end. It will not be handicapped in any of its opera- tions by a single machine that is not absolutely up to date. In the varied processes of the manufacture of fine cotton fabrics, the spinning of the yarns woven into the fabrics is as important in attaining a high stand- ard of perfection as the process of weaving. The management of the Nashawena Mills has had a long experience in the art of spinning fine cotton yarns. Also the plant is in a splendid locality on the Acushnet River in the city of New Bedford, where the atmospheric conditions are as well adapted for fine cotton spinning and weaving as those of any other locality in this country. An ideal location, an ideal equipment, and a management with a long experience, not only in the art of weaving fine cotton fabrics, but in the art of spinning the yarns woven into those fabrics, are special advantages that should enable this large mill to take the lead. The fine cotton fabrics of the Nashawena Mills comprise almost every variety that is sold in the gray or natural state to the converter. These fabrics are made in widths from 27 to 45 inches from yarns spun from long-staple American, Sea Island, or Egyptian cotton. They are specially constructed for the finish that may be required and for the various special uses to which they may be put. 66 GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT The Plain or Staple goods include Lawns, India Linons, Sateens, and Twills where the construc- tions have been adopted by the converting trade as the most suitable for their purposes. In this class of goods perfection of fabric is of the utmost importance. The Fancy cotton goods include Venetians, Dimities, Fancy Checks and Stripes, Dobbies, Leno and Jacquard weaves, and all kinds of novelties. Special attention is given to mercerized fabrics, which are either mercerized after being woven or are woven from mercerized yarns. In these goods great care has to be taken in preparing the yarns so that the fabrics will retain permanently the attract- ive, lustrous, and silky appearance 'imparted by the mercerizing process. Another important class of fabrics manufactured by the Nashawena Mills includes silk-and-cotton goods. The industry of manufacturing these goods is in its infancy in the United States, but it gives promise of a healthy growth. During the past seven years the increased demand for silk and cotton goods has been a conspicuous feature of the development of the textile industries. These fabrics, often called silk-filled goods, are made from fine-spun yarns and filaments of silk. When finished they have the appearance of all-silk goods. They wear well and are reasonable in price. For many purposes they are as serviceable and acceptable as all-silk fabrics. As silk is such an important raw material in this 67 GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT branch of the business, some description of its production may be of interest. Silk is the product of the silkworm, which, at a certain stage of its existence, discharges two filaments in a semi-fluid condition from glands near its head. These filaments unite as they are discharged and form one thread, which hardens immediately on ex- posure to the atmosphere. The worm winds the thread around itself until it is entirely enveloped in what is called a cocoon, which contains on an average about a half mile of thread. Three weeks after the cocoon is finished the worm changes to a moth, forcing its way out of the cocoon by cutting or breaking some of the threads. To prevent this, every cocoon not intended for breeding purposes is placed in a steam heater to stifle the chrysalis. The filaments of silk are then in condition to be unwound from the cocoon and reeled into skeins. The skeins weigh from one to several ounces, and are packed in bundles called books, weighing from five to ten pounds. The books are then made up into bales, weighing from lOO to i6o pounds, the form in which raw silk is generally shipped for commercial use. Most silk is in a sense cultivated. The mulberry trees on which the silkworm feeds are scientifically grown and protected, and the silkworm is carefully nurtured. Most Canton, Japanese, and Italian silks are grown under these conditions. There is, how- ever, a considerable amount of wild silk used in the cotton and silk industry. This is known as Tussah, coming chiefly from China and having a highly 68 GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT lustrous aspect that adapts it particularly for use as filling for fine goods. Another silk is known as Doppionr. This is a heavy, rough silk. It hap- pens in certain instances that two silk worms weave their cocoons together. This causes the silk or fila- ments of the separate cocoons to adhere at certain points, and wherever this adhesion takes place a slub or rough spot in the thread is created. This makes the Doppioni silk very uneven, and it is used to give a rough effect in cotton and silk fabrics, resembling the well-known Pongee and Rajah textures. The chief sources of supply of the silks used in the cotton and silk industry are China, Japan, and Italy. In spite of many years of effort, the pro- duction of raw silk has never proved commercially successful in the United States, and practically all of the silk consumed here is imported from other countries. Therefore, the rate of progress of the silk manufacturing industry as a whole may be measured by the increase of the imports of silk, which have grown with astonishing rapidity from 1868 until the present time. The imports of raw silk for the year ending June 30, 1909, were 49 per cent greater than those for the preceding year, and the total shipments of Tussah silk from Shanghai during the year ending June 30, 1909, were nearly double those of the preceding year, and 50 per cent in excess of the yearly average from 1904 to 1907. .The so-called cotton and silk industry in this country has developed a further market for the silks of the world. 69 GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT The Nashawena Mills are equipped to manufac- ture every variety" of silk-filled goods, and will be an important factor in this new industry. All kinds of novelties and special designs will be made in these fabrics, just as they are made in the all-cotton goods already described. A very important feature of the Nashawena busi- ness is special contract work in all the various fabrics which we have mentioned. Special fabrics are made up in accordance with the patterns of customers and confined exclusively to those cus- tomers. Attention is devoted to designing fancy patterns and novelty weaves. Special samples are made up in accordance with the suggestions of purchasers, and designs of the cloth are reserved altogether for those purchasers. Skilled designers carry out the ideas of customers in the various fabrics, and the individuality of each customer as to taste or design with regard to any specialties is preserved as far as possible. In addition to the Nashawena fabrics the Gray Goods Department markets the entire production of the Calhoun Mills, of Calhoun Falls, South Carolina. These mills were planned to spin their own yarns from cotton grown principally in the sur- rounding country, and to weave these yarns into plain staple fabrics. It has been the aim of the management to specialize on one or two construc- tions, with the idea of perfecting their manufacture. The result is that the fabrics have proved to be of uniformly high standard, owing to the quality of the 70 GRAY GOODS DEPARTMENT yarn as well as the careful weaving. The demand for the Calhoun cloths has grown, and to meet that demand the capacity of the mills is now being increased. These gray cloths are sold to converters, who bleach, dye, or print them into many different finished fabrics. The finished fabrics in their differ- ent forms are used for almost every kind of light cotton article. 71 EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY 1 HE art of wool manufacturing, in its present varied and attractive aspects, is altogether a modern development in the United States. Up to the Civil War the industry had found only a scant and pre- carious foothold. Take, for example, such a fabric as bunting, used for dress goods as well as for flags, pennants, and signals — even as late as 1865 this material had scarcely been produced at all in America. As the late Dr. John L. Hayes, first Secretary of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, said in a speech in that year, 1865, at Philadelphia: "To our shame be it spoken, all our flags are grown, spun, woven, and dyed in England, and on the last Fourth of July the proud American ensigns, which floated over every national ship, post and fort, and every patriotic home, flaunted forth upon the breeze the industrial dependence of America on England." This was true not only of bunting, but of the lighter woolen fabrics in general — they were brought from Europe because it was believed that there was neither the machinery nor the technical skill to make them here. Dr. Hayes in this same address spoke of an association of patriotic ladies formed in Wash- ington in the gloomiest days of the war, who pledged themselves to wear nothing but American fabrics, and were surprised and mortified to discover the ex- tremely meagre range of suitable worsted dress goods of native production. 73 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY There has been a great, significant change since then, and it may be interesting to review briefly the evolution of the dress goods industry in America. Throughout the period from 1845 ^° i^S^, two favorite fabrics imported from France and enjoying a wide popularity in this country were mousseline delaines, 11 inches wide, and cashmeres 40 to 42 inches wide, made entirely of fine, soft wool — the delaines were produced in both solid and printed colors. Mindful of the demand for these French goods, Mr. William Courtis, an American partner in the commission house of Thornton, Firth & Company, of Bradford and Manchester, suggested to English manufacturers that they make a fabric to be known, Anglicized, as muslin delaine, in imi- tation of the French fabric, but having a cotton in- stead of worsted warp and a somewhat coarser grade of wool for the filling; in other words, a stronger, cheaper fabric, similar in general effect to the FrencU article, but capable of being sold at a much lower price. This fabric was made in different textures for different seasons, the lighter being called barege delaines, challies, Persian delaines, or Persian cloths. These English-made fabrics in their turn gained great popularity among the women of America, and the large sales brought large profit to the transat- lantic manufacturers. Naturally, American manufacturers, though their art was at that time rather feebly developed, began to ask why they could not gain some of this profit for themselves. The honor of being the pioneer in this important undertaking belongs to John Marland 74 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY of Ballardvale, Massachusetts, in whose mill were made the first delaines, printed or dyed, that were produced in America. The wool was combed by hand ; the cloth was printed first on blocks and then on the machines of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company at Lowell. But though an ambitious and progressive manufacturer, Mr. Marland was not a wealthy one, and there was a stubborn prejudice against American-made fabrics to overcome — a prejudice that even in these later and more en- lightened days has not entirely vanished. So the pioneer undertaking of Mr. Marland failed. But the effort was repeated by other manufacturing concerns with equal bravery and more abundant resources. The Amoskeag Manufacturing Company of Man- chester, New Hampshire, equipped a small mill at Hooksett with two hundred looms and began the production of delaines, which were printed at Green- wich, Rhode Island. Another and a larger estab- lishment for the manufacture of delaines — the Manchester Mills — was meanwhile founded by stockholders of the Amoskeag Company. At first only carded wool was used, but when the combing machines succeeded the hand process in England and France they were promptly introduced in Man- chester. The Hamilton Woolen Company of Southbridge, Massachusetts, which had been manu- facturing men's wear, transformed its factory into a dress goods mill for the making of delaines, and in 1853 the Pacific Mills at Lawrence, Massachu- setts, were organized for a similar purpose. ' IS EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY These American-made dress goods soon com- manded a wide market in this country. They were attractive and durable, and for many years proved to be the leading dress goods fabrics for the great majority of American purchasers. The first Morrill tariff act, produced not by the Civil War, but by the depression and distress and the loss of revenue following the disastrous " downward revision " of 1857, gave to American manufacturers a more ade- quate protection. This Morrill tariff, which was signed by President Buchanan on March 2, 1861, and was an avowed protective measure, designed to lessen the importation of foreign goods, levied a duty "on all delaines, cashmere delaines, muslin de- laines, barege delaines, composed wholly or in part of wool, and on all otheY goods of similar descrip- tion." Mr. William E. Webster, to whose long and intimate knowledge of the dress goods industry we are indebted for many of the facts set forth here, was then the United States appraiser of merchandise at the port of Boston. Though the phraseology of the new law was somewhat indefinite, Mr. Webster, as appraiser, construed it to include all goods made of the same materials and used for the same purposes as delaines, as goods of similar description to delaines. This fortunate interpretation, of such momentous consequence to American industry, was approved by the Secretary of the Treasury and sustained by the courts. This provision of law not only increased the Federal revenue at a most opportune time, but incidentally afforded protection and encour- agement to American manufacturers in an im- 76 ■ EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY portant art, which has now grown to splendid proportions. But this American success has been hard won. When the English manufacturers realized that they had lost the American market for the ordinary delaines, they turned their attention to stripes and plaids made from dyed yarns, and also to a piece- dyed twilled cloth made with a cotton warp and worsted filling and known as Coburg, a clever imita- tion of the French worsted cashmere. These goods competed severely with the American delaines, and our manufacturers were compelled to turn their attention to the newer fabrics or surrender the market to the foreigners. There were six exhibitors of American dress goods at the American Institute Exhibition of 1869, both the Pacific Mills and the Arlington Mills among them, and it is significant of the difficulties with which the industry was even then contending that of the other four exhibitors three subsequently failed. There were not only delaines, but serges, reps, pop- lins, and Coburgs in these exhibits, but not a piece of men's wear worsteds or white goods. No white goods had been made here prior to 1869, but the development of the white goods and men's wear worsted industry began simultaneously in the year following. About the year 1870 the Washington Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts, undertook the manufacture of all-wool plaids made of fine yarns in imitation of the French goods. Technically the experiment was a success ; the quality of the Ameri- can fabrics was admirable. But at that time the 77 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY mills could not compete with the French in the matter of cost. Now, however, the production of these fine, all-wool goods is firmly established in the United States, and American manufacturers, the Arlington Mills among them, have attained a very high standard of excellence. When knit fabrics superseded for underwear the twilled flannel, which had long been used for that purpose, woolen manufacturers turned their attention to plain woven flannel in plain colors, called ladies' cloths and tricots, and to stripes and plaids. These goods are still worn to a considerable extent, and the fine, light-weight broadcloth, used for ladies' wear, is produced here in' competition with the best foreign fabrics. It is the distinction of the Arlington Mills to have been the first to establish on a large scale in this country the manufacture of black alpacas, mohairs, and brilliantines, though at about the same time similar goods of fine quality were produced by the Farr Alpaca Company of Holyoke, Massachu- setts. Black alpaca of English manufacture had come into large use in the United States, following delaines. This alpaca was an eminently serviceable fabric, fit for almost all occasions. It soon acquired the widest popularity. Strong efforts were made to reproduce the English fabric in this country, but it was a perplexing task to recreate the color, the lustre, the finish, and all the distinctive English characteristics. English manufacturers insisted that the fabric never could be made here, and it had obtained such 78 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY a hold upon dealers and consumers that it was thought that there ^^as something in the climate, the soil, the sky, or the atmosphere which would prevent the reproduction of this particular cloth in the United States. Several mills attempted the . manufacture of alpaca on a small scale, but all were forced to abandon it as impracticable. In 1872 the Arlington Mills, which hitherto had been successfully employed on plain and plaided poplins, began to produce alpaca first of the lower grades, but finally of fourteen qualities. Even after the goods were satisfactorily manufactured, it was difficult to put them on the market. Merchants were accustomed to ordering their alpacas from England and were reluctant to believe that they could be produced anywhere else. There was a similar narrow prejudice among their customers. One of the first sales of the Arlington alpacas was to the late Eben D. Jordan, founder of the firm of Jordan, Marsh & Company, of Boston, who followed his experiment with large orders. Mr, Jordan was one of the ablest and most progressive merchants of his time. His breadth of view and the steady development of the American textile manufacture are both very interestingly re- flected in this statement by Mr. Jordan in the Boston Transcript of March 3, 1869: The firm has now been in business more than eighteen years. When they began, there were but one or two articles outside the plain cotton fabrics in their trade that were not obtained from abroad ; now but one-tenth of their entire stock yearly sold passes through the custom house, and that is composed of the highest range of goods not 79 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY sought for by the people at large. Mr. Jordan's experience, gathered from repeated visits to distant markets, leads him to confidently believe that ere long America will depend entirely upon her own industry to clothe the masses of her people, and eventually will command her share of the trade of the world. A large part of this prophecy has already been abundantly verified. America now out of her own industry does clothe the masses of her people. In the Centennial Exposition of 1876 at Philadelphia, the Arlington Mills presented an exhibit of its dress goods — the only such exhibit, with one exception, made by any American establishment. These goods won the outspoken admiration of foreign visitors and secured an award from the judges " for a very superior collection of black alpacas, brilliantines, figured mohairs, and Roubaix poplins, all first-class goods of their kind, very uniform in width, color, and finish, and being of recent introduction reflect great credit on the manufacturers." This victory was the result of a high and honorable ambition and of iron perseverance, a liberal expenditure of money in well-considered experiments, and the most precise technical skill. Yet scarcely had these splendid results been accomplished than fickle fashion began to abandon the lustrous, hard-finished fabrics for the modern dress goods described in a preceding chapter. Here again the Arlington management was quick to recognize and meet the change by the designing of new fabrics, the installation of new and expensive machinery, and the introduction of new but successful processes of manufacturing. 80 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY All these things, however, would not avail with- out adequate tariff protection, to cover the difference in wage cost between this country and Europe. The law of 1867 did not contemplate the classes of dress goods that had come into vogue, and did not give this adequate protection to the newer fabrics. American manufacturers, paying wages twice as high as those of Great Britain and three times as high as those of the Continent, found overwhelming odds against them, and for a long time made only slow and difficult progress. Thus, the importations of dress goods in the year 1880 amounted to over 68,000,000 yards, while the American production for the same period amounted to only 40,000,000 yards. Therefore , the American manufacturers appealed to the Tariff Commission of 1882 for new rates of duty that would be in reality protective. The chief spokesman for the American industry on this occasion was Mr. William Whitman, then Treasurer and now President of the Arlington Mills. The Tariff Commission, while recommending a reduction of rates on other wool manufactures, pro- posed to Congress a new clause covering all-wool merino dress goods in a way that promised to en- courage their production here. But Congress did not accept the suggestion and reduced the duty as fixed by the Commission to a figure that proved altogether inadequate. Under the tariff of 1883 our importations of dress goods increased steadily from a foreign valuation of 115,349,000 in 1884 to a foreign valuation of 119,793,253 in 1889. Again, 81 EVOLUTION OF DRESS GOODS INDUSTRY in the tariff revision of 1890, the American manu- facturers appeared before Congress and asked for adequate protection not only for all-wool but for the cotton warp dress goods that were increasing in importance. Mr. Whitman was this time also the champion of the American industry, and the increased protection which he sought was granted by the national lawmakers. The art of making dress goods is one of the most\ uncertain and hazardous of industries, and long-con- tinued success in this art is most difficult of attain- ment. Sometimes it will be plaided styles that are " all the rage " ; then stripes, then fancy weaves in small figures ; then brocades in large figures requir- ing Jacquard looms ; sometimes plain weaves, some- times narrow twills, and sometimes wider ones, called serges. Sometimes the demand is for lustrous goods ; sometimes for fabrics of a dead finish. So the im- perative kaleidoscope of fashion turns and turns, and the successful manufacturers of to-day must have the power not only to recognize but to anticipate these ever-changing demands upon their technical ingenuity and financial resources. Need there be wonder that many fail and few succeed ? 82 THE MERCERIZING PROCESS In a previous chapter we have referred to the extensive application' in the Arlington Mills of the process known as mercerizing. It has come to be a great and valuable factor in modern textile manu- facturing. The article of commerce that is known as " mercerized cotton " is a silk-like product resulting from the saturation of tightly stretched cotton yarns or cotton cloth with a solution of caustic soda, the yarn or cloth, while still tightly stretched, having the alkali washed out with water. The process is called "mercerizing" because in its chemical aspects it was originated by one John Mercer, an Englishman, who took out a British patent on October 24, 1850, for a method of sub- jecting vegetable fibres and fibrous materials, cotton, flax, etc., to the action of caustic soda, caustic potash, sulphuric acid, or chloride of zinc, and of washing the material with water or acidulated water. But Mercer did not realize the value of the mechanical expedient of having the yarn or cloth tightly stretched during these operations, nor did he dis- cover that only caustic soda and caustic potash are capable of producing the desired silky lustre, and that cotton and flax are the only vegetable fibres that admit of the successful application of this process. These vital details were left to be developed by Horace Arthur Lowe, an English chemist, whose 83 THE MERCERIZING PROCESS patent bore date of March 21, 1890. It is a pathetic fact that Lowe never received any advantage from his discovery. Like so many other originators of valuable processes or devices, he failed to enlist the co-operation of the energy and capital ot an enterprising manufacturer. He did not even receive encouragement enough to enable him to keep his patent alive in the United Kingdom, and he never even applied for a patent to secure his invention in the United States. Meanwhile the enlarged use and better under- standing of the long, fine fibres of Sea Island and Egyptian cotton, especially adapted to the mercer- izing process, and a reduction in the cost of caustic soda brought nearer the time when the processes of Mercer and Lowe could be made commercially successfully. On March 4, 1896, Richard Thomas and Emmanuel Prevost, proprietors of dye works in Crefeld, Germany, secured a German patent for what purported to be an improvement on John Mercer's original process by keeping the yarn or cloth under tension until after it had been washed. Beyond this purely mechanical advantage, Thomas and Prevost gave no indication that they regarded their patent as anything more than co-extensive with Mercer's, and they clearly declared that it was applicable to all vegetable fibres and could be prac- tised as successfully with sulphuric acid and chloride of zinc as with caustic alkali. When they sought a patent in Great Britain they were met on November 30, 1896, by opposition from Lowe and were de- feated, or rather were adjudged to be entitled to a 84 THE MERCERIZING PROCESS patent only on condition of omitting all reference to alkaline lye. Their British application was conse- quently abandoned, and the German Patent Office, on June 9, 1898, adjudged void their patent of March 4, 1896, on the ground of its anticipation by Lowe's patent. Thomas and Prevost, however, prepared to make a hard fight for what they regarded as their exclu- sive rights under patents granted to them on March 15, 1898, in the United States. The officials of our Patent Office had overlooked the Lowe patent, and this consequently had not been cited as a refer- ence in America. Thomas, Prevost, and their associates brought suit upon their American patents against three important manufacturing establish- ments, one of which was the Arlington Mills. Though the Arlington management was invited to join in the mercerizing monopoly under these patents, and was given an opportunity, with a few other concerns, to turn the mercerizing process to exclusive account, it determined to stand aloof from the monopoly and to fight its pretensions in the courts. The litigation was begun in the year 1900. The case of the defence was complex and difficult. It was necessary to prove that there was no merchant- able cotton which, when manufactured into yarn or cloth and then subjected to the process described in Lowe's patent, would fail to develop and manifest a silky lustre of such a character that the differences between the effects thus produced on different grades of cotton were merely differences of degree. 85 THE MERCERIZING PROCESS Counsel for the Arlington Mills and the other establishments interested were forced to conduct, a scientific investigation of the nature of silky lustre and a searching examination of the history of mercerization. But the courage of the Arlington management in standing out with a few other concerns against the aggressive monopoly was rewarded when, on August 7, 1906, Judge Francis C. Lowell, in the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Massachusetts, held that in view of Lowe's British patent the Thomas and Prevost patents were invalid. The complainants did not appeal from this judgment, but after some delay finally submitted to a dismissal of all their suits. In the uncertain years when the decision of the court was pending, the Arlington Mills bound themselves by formal contract to protect their cus- tomers against the arrogant claims of the monopoly. This step was rendered necessary by the fact that the concern which held by mesne assignments the professedly exclusive rights under the Thomas and Prevost patents in the United States, not content in instituting suits against the Arlington Mills and their associates, went to the extraordinary length of threatening to prosecute the purchasers of mercerized goods from the Arlington Mills and other com- panies. A circular containing this threat was widely issued to the trade. To this menace the Arlington Mills, on the advice of its counsel, replied that the patents were for processes and had nothing to do with products, and that it was only the manufacturer THE MERCERIZING PROCESS and not the purchaser who could be made liable for mercerizing under tension if the validity of the patents were maintained. Nevertheless, the monopoly proceeded in its efforts to frighten the possible purchasers of the mercerized goods, and the Arlington Mills met this undertaking by binding themselves in a formal con- tract to protect their customers against any liability. This proved acceptable in all but a few cases, and the monopoly failed to exercise any important, terrifying effect until its power was forever broken by the decision of the Federal Court. This de- cision, won after a long and arduous contest, has proved to be of very great economic significance, for the mercerizing process has now become estab- lished all over the United States, and the benefits of the process have accrued to all manufacturers who have desired to undertake it and to the public at large. 87 IMPROVED CONDITIONS IN MODERN MILLS /xLL of the manufacturing concerns represented by William Whitman & Company, whose work has been described in the preceding chapters, are dis- tinctively modern mills in all the characteristics of their equipment and construction. In the Arlington Mills, the Manomet Mills, the Nonquitt Spinning Company, the Nashawena Company, The Eddystone Manufacturing Company, and the others mentioned, the health and comfort of the operatives are very carefully considered, both because these precautions are the rightful due of the working people, and because an enlightened self-interest to-day demands health and comfort as essential to the highest indus- trial efficiency. The mills are all amply, but not excessively, heated when heat is necessary, and are ventilated with scientific thoroughness. The most improved processes of sanitation and hygiene are embodied everywhere. The Eddystone Manufac- turing Company has groups of model dwellings, and the environment of these dwellings and of the mills themselves is made as attractive as possible. The lot of the mill operatives in these modern structures is vastly superior to the condition of the same classes of workers a half century or even fewer years ago. Once textile operatives in this country worked thirteen hours a day, or seventy-eight hours IMPROVED CONDITIONS IN MODERN MILLS a week. These were hard, long days, spent often in poorly lighted, poorly ventilated buildings. All these things have been wonderfully changed for the better in recent years by regulation of law, in part, but still more by the voluntary efforts of liberal and far-seeing manufacturers. In Massachusetts the hours of labor for women and children in the mills have been gradually reduced until the limit is set at fifty-six hours a week, in a law which has just become effective. One interesting beneficent development of the textile industry, in which the Arlington Mills were the pioneers, was the weekly payment of operatives, a procedure now, and for a long time past, required by the laws of Massachusetts. Until the year 1877 the Arlington Mills, like other manufacturing con- cerns, had followed the practice of paying their em- ployees once a month, but Mr. Charles Wainwright, then and now the paymaster of the Arlington Mills, became impressed with the practical advantages that would result from a system of more frequent pay- ments, and he brought the subject to the atten- tion of the treasurer, urging that operatives who are paid only once a month are compelled to purchase their necessary supplies on credit, and are thereby tempted, and indeed often forced, to incur a large indebtedness. At first the experiment was adopted, on July i, 1877, of paying every two weeks. The system proved so satisfactory that at the end of 1877 a plan of weekly payments was substituted for it, and this has ever since been the practice of the Arlington Mills. This was the 89 IMPROVED CONDITIONS IN MODERN MILLS first corporation of any importance in Massachu- setts to adopt the progressive and helpful policy which eight years later was made compulsory on all manufacturing establishments in Massachusetts by the General Court. 90 INDEX PAGE Alpacas 7^ American Institute Exhibition 11 Amoskeag Manufacturing Company 75 Arlington Mills, care of employees 88 Arlington Mills, combed cotton yarn specialties .... 53 Arlington Mills, combed yarns 50 Arlington Mills, commission combing 41 Arlington Mills, early dress goods H Arlington Mills, fancy colored yarns 3^ Arlington Mills, naphtha solvent process 39 Arlington Mills, officers and directors 24 Arlington Mills, pioneers in mercerizing 51 Arlington Mills, pioneers in worsted fabrics 25 Arlington Mills, tops 37 Arlington Mills, victors in mercerizing litigation .... 86 Arlington Mills, worsted yarn specialties 35 Automobile cloths 3^ Boston Transcript, quoted 79 Bradford manufacturers, memorial of 33 Bradlee, Arthur T 11 Bunting 73 Calhoun Mills 7° Calico printing, historical sketch of 57 Calico printing in Great Britain 59 Calico printing in India ......•••.•• 59 Calico printing, Pliny's account of, in Egypt 58 Calicut, first source of calico 57 Centennial Exposition of 1876 ......... 80 Cloth, output of 21 Coburgs • ' • ' 11 Combed yarns, uses of 5° Combing wools 2° 91 INDEX PAGE Commission combing ^i Consumption of wool and cotton 22 Cotton and silk goods . 67 Cotton, combed yarns, uses of. * 5° Cotton, consumption of 22 Cotton, Egyptian 17 Cotton, Egyptian, importation of 16 Cotton mills. New Bedford group (map) 72 Cotton, Northern yarns a6 Cotton, Peruvian 17 Cotton, Peruvian, importation of 16 Cotton producing area of the United States ...... 14 Cotton production of world 15 Cotton, Sea Island 17 Cotton, Sea Island, crops and movement of 16 Cotton, Southern yarns ' 45 Cotton, Upland 17 Cotton Yarn Department ac Cottons, the principal 17 Courtis, William 74 Cross-dyed fabrics ?o Cutting-up trade 27 Delaines, mousselaine 74 Departments of business . 22 Dress Goods Department 25 Dress goods industry, evolution of American 73 Dress goods, in tariff 81 Dress goods, specialties for the trade 31 Dress goods. Staples and Fancies 28 Eddystone Manufacturing Company, model dwellings ... 88 Eddystone Manufacturing Company, officers and directors . 56 Eddystone Manufacturing Company, printed goods . . . 57 Egyptian cotton -17 Egyptian cotton, importation of 16 Employees, 14,000 in number 20 Evolution of American dress goods industry 73 Exposition, Centennial, of 1876 80 92 INDEX PAGE Fancies, dress goods . . . z8 Fancy colored yarns 36 Farr Alpaca Company 7^ Firm, members of, William Whitman & Company ... 11 Fitch, Louis H 1 1 Gray Goods Department . 65 Hamilton Manufacturing Company 75 Hamilton Woolen Company 75 Hartshorne, William D., researches in hygroscopic qualities of wool 40 Hayes, Dr. John L 73 Hours of labor in mills 88 Hygroscopic qualities of wool 40 Improved conditions in modern mills 88 Jordan, Eben D 79 Linings 31 Lowe, Horace Arthur, English chemist 83 Lowell, Judge Francis C, decision in mercerizing litigation . 86 Manchester Mills 75 Manomet Mills, care of employees 88 Manomet Mills, combed yarn specialties 48 Manomet Mills, officers and directors 44 Marland, John 74 Mercerizing litigation in America 85 Mercerizing litigation in England 84 Mercerizing, the process 83 Mercer, John, inventor 83 Modern mills, improved conditions 88 Morrill tariff 76 Mousselaine delaines 74 Naphtha solvent process 39 Nashawena Mills, care of employees 88 Nashawena Mills, fabrics 65 Nashawena Mills, officers and directors 64 93 INDEX PAGE Nashawena Mills, silk and cotton goods 67 Nashawena Mills, special contract work ....... 70 New Bedford, favorable conditions for textile manufacture . 47 New Bedford, group of mills (map) 72 Nonquitt Spinning Company, care of employees . . . . 88 Nonquitt Spinning Company, officers and directors . . . 55 Nonquitt Spinning Company, specialties 49 Northern yarns 46 Output of cloth 21 Pacific Mills • 75, i"] Peruvian cotton 17 Peruvian cotton, importation of . 16 Piece-dyed fabrics 29 Prevost, Emmanuel 84 Printed Goods Department . . . . . • . . . . . , 57 Ready-to-wear garments 26 Sea Island Cotton 16, 17 Selling agents, William Whitman & Company, for what mills 1 8 Silk and cotton goods 6'] Silk, description of 68 Simpson-Eddystone fabrics 62 Simpson, William, Sr. . . . . . 57 Southern yarns 45 Specialization 51 Staples, dress goods „ ' 28 Tariff, Morrill 76 Tariff of 1867 81 Tariff revision of i 890 82 Thomas, Richard 84 Tops defined 22 Tops; manufacture of 37 Tops, "regain" 41 Transcript, Boston, quoted 79 United States, cotton producing area of , . . . . . . 14 United States, wool production of. 12 Upland cotton 17 94 INDEX PAGE W^inwright, Charles 89 Washington Mills ']'] Webster, William E. . . . " 76 Weekly payments in mills 89 Whitman, Malcolm D 11 Whitman, William 11, 81 Whitman, William, Jr. . 11 Whitman, William, & Company, Cotton Yarn Department . 45 Whitman, William, & Company, Dress Goods Department . 25 Whitman, William, & Company, Gray Goods Department . 65 Whitman, William, & Company, members of firm ... 11 Whitman, William, & Company, mills for which sole selling agents 18 Whitman, William, & Company, New Bedford group of mills (map) 72 Whitman, William, & Company, organization of business . 22 Whitman, William, & Company, policy of firm . . . . 19 Whitman, William, & Company, Printed Goods Department 57 Whitman, William, & Company, Worsted Yarn Department 33 Wool, consumption of 22 Wool, hygroscopic qualities of 40 Wool production of the United States 12 Wool production of the world 13 Wools, combing .26 World, wool production of 13 World's cotton production 15 Worsted Yarn Department 33 Worsted yarn specialties 35 Worsted yarns 33 Yarn-dyed fabrics 30 9S '? One copy del. to Cat. Div. LIBRARY CONGRESS ,;iiis^-tf