ARTIFICIAL SILK

Evening Star, Issue 20055, 21 December 1928, Page 9

ARTIFICIAL SILK

EFFECT OM COTTON FABRICS COMPARED . Some interesting observations on the •artificial silk- industry and. its relation tothe general cotton - industry * were , made 1 by Dr H. R. Pickard, Director of Research of the British Cotton Industry Research Association, at a Huncheoh ‘ given at the Midland Hotel, i Manchester , to mark the opening to the trade -of the ‘ Daily Despatch ’ artificial silk exhibition at the City Hall, Doansgate (states the ‘Manchester Guardian’). ■ ■ Dr. Pickard, who expressed his ap- ! preciation of the enterprise of the newspaper proprietprs who had organised the exhibition, in calling attention to the properties of artificial silk, said he thought every chemist in the world had been amazed at the progress which the chemical invention of artificial silk had achieved, but as one concerned with industrial research and the development and application of science to_ industry he thought the most astonishing thing about artificial silk was_ the success with which the mechanical achievements of the industry had enabled the variety of products to be put upon the market. In all research work a considerable time elapsed before the results obtained in the laboratory were felt in industry. The amount’ of Spade work that had to be done before the scientific discovery could become a commercial proposition was something very few people realised. Artificial silk, Dr Pickard went on, was to all intents and purposes but a modification of the Substance of which cotton was composed, and inasmuch as Lancashire was the home of the cotton industry—an industry, he -i.anmented, about which he was by no means pessimistic, for there must always be a cotton industry—it was abvious that in dealing with a substance that was a modified cotton substance the personnel and machinery of the cotton industry could be adapted to this new product more easily than the machinery ol the trade of a different type. He was speaking, he said, of the utilisation of artificial silk. He was not referring to production. Lancashire was concerned I more particularly with the utilisation 1 of artificial silk—-the making up of the fabric, the dyeing and other processes—- ; than with, production. The products of | the cotton industry—Cotton itself and I mercerised cotton —gradually seemed to approach, to the .qualities of artificial | silk. Mercerised cotton mignt -be fej garded as a link in the chain between cotton and artificial silk. A consideration which did not seem ■ to have struck many cotton people was that for years Lancashire had been striving to produce cotton goods of a higher finish. The modem finish of some cotton goods was very good, but few people in the industry seemed to realise that they had been striving more of less without knowing it to coyer the cotton hairs with a fine film which tp all intents and purposes was artificial silk. If that was accepted it would quite easily be seen that cotton finishers were possibly better prepared to meet the demands of the new fabrics. New materials brought forth a set of new problems. They had to deal with, textile material which had as its properties entirely new characteristics. And there was not one artificial silk; there were at. least two or three kinds, and there ivere many brands, tHe took it that the production of the various producers differed perhaps just slightly in their physical properties. The utilisation and selection of the right material i to provide fabrics of a specific lustre, with the required “ handle.” or with the “ feel” that would be appropriate for the purpose for which it was to he used—all these considerations demanded pew'arid varied methods and an insight into the properties which it was difficult at first to collect. Because this was.a new material,-, the research work required: to enable any specific- material to be -.produced had not yet been. carried out, to: any, great-. extent. New varieties appeared on the market, and new dyestuffs were legion, and their application possibly was, not easy. It had been ■ suggested, ■ Dr Pickard went on, that: the artificial silk indnsi try was likely to bring disaster to the ; cotton industry. Some people said I that," while others maintained that it would prove the salvation of the cotton industry. Ho- was reminded of a simi- , lar statement made years ago that the | gas'industry was going to be ruined by i electricity. The analogy was not quite , sound, but it was common knowledge j that the competition of electricity and the various uses to which electricity I had been put had induced researches | into new methods of producing and Utilising gas so that the, gas industry could almost- bo said to be as firmly established as it was when the competition began. It was quite possible, Dr Pickard thought, that the competition from artificial silk would lead to the introduction of_ better cotton goods. It might be so but irrespective of that there was a whole demand for fabrics composed of artificial silk and some other fabric. It seemed to him that in the utilisation of artificial silk in conjunction with other fabrics it would be possible for the manufacturers to produce such fabrics containing the best properties of artificial silk and whatever textile materials were used with it. He felt satisfied that there was a very great future for these new fabrics. The difficulty of dyeing these, artificial silk fabrics, he admitted, was a real one. There was the difficulty, for instance, of getting level dyeing. Although be spoke with reserve in the presence of experts, he thought it would be almost true to say that there were some yarns that wond take some dyes levelly most; of the time, and that there were hardly any "yarns that would take all the dyes levelly all the time. That was a consummation they might get some day, but when he reminded them that one did not know even yet what the constitution of cellulose itself was they would realise that their difficulties were extraordinarily great. In. conclusion, Dr Pickard referred to one consideration of a lighter character that might be put forward as a possible explanation of the fact that the, textile trades were .not as flourishing as one would like them to be. Women seemed to have reduced, both in area and in bulk, he., went on, the whole of their garments. It had been suggested the other day that if you gave a girl an inch she would make a dress of it. (Laughter.) He had also recently come across a reference which was more appropriately related to artificial silks. It was in the following terms:— Mary had a. little skirt, Diaphanous and airy, It never showed a speck of dirt. But, my word, it did show Mary. “ 1 recognise,” Dr Pickard concluded, “that chemists-and textile experts have. a very difficult ; task before them in dealing with this new material. Much success has been achieved. I think, personally, that we can look forward to very. great advances in many directions, %nd it is because of that that the British Cotton Industry Research Association has just completed, or is on the point of completing, a new department to deal with questions relating to the utilisation of artificial silk.”