YORKSHIRE LETTER

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 55, 28 November 1917, Page 8

YORKSHIRE LETTER

COMBED WOOL PRICES AND STANDARDS (From Our Special Correspondents.) ' Bradford! September 27, n vl,w?" CStlon °- £ *** ls ono that A ia 00 f"' I,y J nB J a . fa J irI V Prominent Position in tho trado to-day. As o'erv indusfrv 0 w rSa l With tho . w ? 01 »«tl6 industry knows, topa are s mply combed wol, that is, wool that has heen caMully co, e rp/ Ud Bt r, 10 -f waUty, th n scoured, carded, and combed, a piocess Mat la absolutely necessary where the ?£"Vi W t B .I 1 - \ oTßt<i i yarns is concerned. «w3!' th , lß branol l ? f trade absorbs a larger weight of -wool than the woollen industry, because in the manutaoturo of big weights of sorges, coatmgo, and hosiery fabrics, combed wool is used. A short time ago tho authorities responsible for carrying out State control or tho wool trado fixed the price rf standard grades of tops, hoping fhoruby to supply the trade at the figures named below. There was wisdom in this in fact prices wero fixed which show a handsome profit on tho cost, of the wool in Australia and Now Zealand, but so long as growers got an acceptablo price, tho Depar,ment has a perfect richt to make the utmost out of its purchase, and so help to relieve British taxation. But that is not'the point we Bet out to emphasise. The price of tops was fixed some time ago, and the trado was advised, a fortnight since that there was every likelihood of values being further approqiated, the new scale of charges to come into operation on December 1. We give below current values for Government tops, the prices being made public in an official communication to tho Press some months ago, and as the information is valuable wo now Dass it on-.— Government Prices for Tops. Prioe. p r i cc Quality. d. Quality. d £'s 72 We 36 ™ s warp 70 46'e carded 34 ™, a 69 44's carded Si . %.* warp 69 : 50'b prepared 39 Ws 68 : 48's „ 36 60s super .... 66 ' 46's , 34 50's 64 44's „ . 32 58'b' '56 '.' 40's ■ „ - 31 . 56b ..-. 52 . 36's „ 30 50's 42 321s „ 29 Out of the above the question arises; What of the future? The statement has been made during the past few days that the Government is ! not adhering to the above prices, but ia oharging proportionately more for standard tops. That real-' ly is correct. We could name a topmaker of very good repute in Bradford who is turning out Buper 50's tops, for .which the Department is charging 3d. per lb. more than their standard fixed price, and this has considerably perturbed a few spinners. It seems that the officials in Axing the above price list had in mind a certain standard type of top, and the reader should know that there are bps and tops just as there is cream and croam. The grade decided upon l'as apparently been on the low side, hence spinners have repeatedly stated that they have had delivered them better iods than they ever bought in pre-war days. It now turns out that there has been a marked difference in the tops delivered, some being exceedingly good and others only average. There seems on the surface some justification for tho Department making a change and. deciding a top on its merits. The writer has purchased 64's from the Department at ss. Bd. and sb.' 9d., tho latter price bf ing due to the extra length of the article. At tho same time there should be a difference made in the grading of tho t..ps, and Instead of putting 50'b. all into r• e category at 3s. 6d. they might make an average, and a super 50's, with a difference of l\d. per lb. between them, Spinners would then know what they are buying. No Tops for America. Under present conditions no tops can be shipped to Hhe United States, althoufh there would soon be'a big business done if this were ; permitted. American mills are having to comb all their own tops, aad there ia not 'the slightest .chance of any export being' allowed from this side for a long timo to come. Noils for the States. Noils are well known to every mill man, being the short fibres thrown out by tho combing machino as the circle revolves, tho long fibres going into what are called tops, and the short fibres are the noils. A big business is done in noils, and there are just as many qualities aa there are tops. Noils are very largely used in the production of shirtings and flannels, as well as tho finest botany noils being used in the production of felt hats. Now the British Government still allows noils to be exported across the Atlantic under special licence, and this last week further noile licences have been granted. This is a proof that stocks are fairly considerable, though they are not large. The Department is' carrying tho biggest weight. From cable 5 i £? 9, pnccs for noila DOtn in Philadelphia and Boston are nothing near Ao high as they aro in Bradford. Export merchants here make the candid statement that there ia an all-round difterince ot 3a. per lb., and those representing American interests in Bradford say that the noils which are quoted to-day at 34(1.: to Mil., were bought two to three months ago at 31d. to 33d. The result is that although shipping houses have received these licences they are no't keen buyers, prefer™ft ? 0 a „ Wait devcl ?P"icn<s. Tho GovcmSh»m« S ry B L°™ lu -""""""icing its noil scheme, there being a .d fierenco on ccrtain essentials. The noil dealers in Bradft r ± want . t ° handlo all including hose required for tho execution of oE if?. » olol , hs \. ? h ? Department says "No" ?h n S ™?il endcd lha V or « to «w wauled for it ?i U -f ty ' manufacturers should lave f, Prmlego of going to the Department thit bt 'n 1 L ei ' c ar, T E . ood rpaa( "" for tn.it attitude. Tho result is that the markct even for noils is on tho slow so but prices are exceedingly still I? is K al n o say that. owing to such big weights if Bliirtings being, made for the mililorv th„ "5

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