"NO NEW THING."

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18673, 23 April 1926, Page 12

"NO NEW THING."

♦ —. ARTIFICIAL WOOL. (FROM OUfl OWN COBB33FONDEKT.) LONDON, March 10. Speaking at the annual meeting of Messrs Courtaulds, Ltd., silk and artificial silk manufacturers, the chairman (Mr Samuel Courtauld) made reference to the new article known as artificial wool. "It is no new thing at all," he said, "and 'artificial wool' is a complete misnomer, for it has not got the characteristics of wool. It is simply a very common quality of non-continuous artificial silk fibre, which is delivered without receiving the final finishing processes which give it lustre, and in some cases it is given, a temporary extra 'dulling' as well. For years we have sold a fibre of this variety, upon which we are now paying an excise duty of 6d jer lb as 'artificial silk waste.' In our case, we deliver it with its full lustre, and in strength and regularity it equals our standard artificial silk fibre. To my mind, practically the only value of such a material lies in its silky appearance, which makes it suitable for blending into fancy yarns. In other respects, we consider it inferior to raw cotton, which ii also cheaper. We doubt whether this is ever likely to develop into an important business; should it do so, we should find no difficultv in largely expanding production at short notice.'-'