YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2357, 13 January 1915, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

•« -t WHAT KHAKI CLOTHS ARE MADE , ... FROM.. • (Prom Our Bpeoial Correspondent.) Bradford, November 27, 1914. The daily round and common task is being followed with, much the Bame interest as it was a. week ago. All spinners and manufacturers are busy executing khaki orders, and this is likely to continue for many months to come. We find that the inquiry for raw material continues on a most encouraging scale, and although talk is persistent that still lower values will obtain for merinos, there is a fair amount of business doing both on present .and forward account. .The writer has made the remark many a time of late that 60 long as the piece end of Ithe trade is open, and the stuff is going out freely, so long will the. Taw material move forward 'encouragingly. It is when pieces begin to bank up-and therq is not enough demand for the material, that complaints become persistent, and we havp never known a time in the history of the trade when so few complaints have, been made by manufacturers about pieces not going out. Many firms whom .we could name have had their stockD of cloth entirely depleted, and most firms have fewer fully manufactured pieces to-day than, they have had for a great number of years. Anything of good weight and well made, . has been secured by'the Government contractors, and such useful i cloths as heavy meltons, whipcords, Derby tweeds, and heavy serges, and the like, have been taken so freely that stocks are entirely exhausted. This means a good thing for the future, even when the war terminates. There are very few mills indeed who are at present really catering for their regular Home trade customers, and in a few cases where part machinery, was being run for this purpose, the Governmeilb officials have more than gently hinted that they must give the War Office their entire out. put, because troops at the front and those in.training must at all costs be provided for and kept fit for action.

Khaki Cloths. This week the writer has had the privilege of inspecting khaki cloths which aro being made for the British, French, and Russian Governments, and they form a : fitting subject to be discussed in this letter. Some interesting particulars have beon published in tho United States re. garding the unlikelihood of wool prices :coming down mucfi below to-day's level, on'account of the tremendous wastage there is among the huge armies now confronting each other in Europe. According to one authority, prospective supplies of wool are going to be inadequate to meet dwnands if the war continues another year, it being acknowledged that the length of time a suit will .last on active service is. short of a month, it even being stated that- when soldiers are fighting in the trenches, crawling on their stomachs, and having to pass through what they are doing, their clothes, are done in under a fortnight. We are able to say, on the highest authority, that the War Office finds that supplies are lasting practically a month, although x there are exceptions. But that point does not concern ub a great deal to-day. What we are mostly interested in is the component parte which go to make up tho fabrics which the various troops are wearing If we take the khaki cloths made for British .soldiers, we., : find that regulars are being clothed in a very serviceable fabric. . This mostly consists of a worsted warp spun to a 2-2-I's, and woollen wefts spun from 12 to 13 skeins are most preferred. These make a cloth which cannot be beaten, for general excellence, being sound and exceedingly well fitted for the hard wear of the battle-field. Some very uncomplimentary remarks have appeared in a certain section of the British Press about fabrics being largely composed of shoddy, but we challenge any .party to produce a single suit that is not sound and exceedingly well made. It is quite true a few Home territorials have been clothed in garments that were rather poor, but when a new army of one million strong has to be clothed in the short space of three months, any Teasonablo man can see it is going to tax the output of British mills to provide sufficient khaki. , Therefore, one or two companies have been provided with rather inferior materials just as a "put on," and as fnsfc as looms can weave the stuff these territorials will be and are being clothed in khaki supplies of a very substantial charaoter. The great coats, which are weighing 33-33 ounces per yard, are a surprise to everybody, and they will certainly stand a strong winter's gale. If one carefully examines a khaki fabric, he finds at once an explanation for the present boom ■in crossbreds. A Bradford topmaker remarked this week that his experience, is that the trade is not calling for deep crossbreds of n 40's quality like they were earlier on, manufacturers finding that wools of U'b and 46's quality are doing better and producing a more acceptable yarn, the tendency this last month being to got on to trifle finer materials. From practical knowledge of the trade, we are able to say that ths regular khaki serge, as well as the great coats, are all being made out of wools from Mr tn sfi'« quality, and it is only officers' cloths that are being made from finer crossbreds. When these are woven and milled, they produce a sound firmset, solid fabric, and only fools could express dissatisfaction with them.

A good deal of speculation is at times indulged in as to the probable length of conflict, but no man knows how long it is going to continue. But.so long as tho struggle lasts, there will be' a huge demand for war materials, and there cannot be any cessation in the call for crossbred wools of all qualities for many months. We aro satisfied that a great deal is going to depend upon the length of the war as to when there will be any ease in crossbred values, in fact, some go the length of saying that there will be no falling'off for some time. What

adequate supply of crossbreds from New Zealand and South America, but unfortunately we cannot expect any material increase in the weight of crossbred wools for at least three months to come. Some have asked why merinos cannot be used in the production of war fabrics. They are being used in limited quantities, but we cannot *eo that they are as well fitted for producing khaki serge as medium crossbreds. Merinos produce a Tcry fine and smart-looking fabric, and are being worn by some officers, but the cloth is too soft for the hard wear of tho regulars. Merinos will find the most support at the hands of those mnking undergarments, and unless there is a pronounced shortage of. crossbreds. and the wool cannot be grown fast enough, we are not likely to see merinos largely used for producing khaki serge. French Military Fabrics. The requirements of the Frenoh Army -have been very much in evidence in the West Riding during th past month. Some huge orders ; have been given out, even during the past fortnight, and very well made and serviceable cloths they are. The fabrics now required are mostly of a bluo grey texture, and anyone clothed in them koks very smalrtl But there is this difference. The cloths made in Prance previous to the war were made entirely on the woollen principle, and differed somewhat in make-up from British khaki serge.. As already said, the Home-made fabiio is composed of a, worsted spun warp and a woollen weft, but the French blue grey serge is made both warp and weft from all woollen yarns. It is difficult to say which will stand the hardest wear, there being six of one and half a dozen of the other. But the point the writer wants to elucidate most is this, namely, that the Frenchmade fabric is largely composed of the shorter stapled wools. The fabric-we have been snowh is not made from merinos at all, though probably officers' cloths will be composed of fine merino wool. Still, even hero, crossbred predominates in the regular French Army serge, it only being the principle of manufacture where there is any difference compared with that worn by the British troops. In the aggregate, the result is the same, namely, a consumption of medium and fine crossbred material, and we find to-day several big firms are exceedingly busy producing fabrics for the French 6oldiers. Now that these fabrics are having to be made here in England, there is not sufficient woollen machinery available to make them entirely of woollen yarns, 'hence we find the v bulk of the French fabrics are being 'made from worsted yarns both warp and weft way of the piece. Here we have the explanation why crossbreds. are booming as they are, and they will do for a long :time to come. The fact is, any kind of well-made, sound fabric produced from orossbred wool is to-day a very saleable commodity, and the British, French, and Russian Governments will have to content themselves with accepting fabrics made on any principle so long as they serve' the purpose desired. It is a very satisfactory thing that the French Army is clothed in blue grey'uniforms, otherwise the stocks of khaki dyes would soon fall short. Being blue grey, khaki dyers who are exceedingly busy, and will Tw for many a month to come, escape the pressure - which might ,have come from French goods being wanted in khaki shade.