FROM SHEEP'S BACK TO BLANKET IN A DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13235, 21 July 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

FROM SHEEP'S BACK TO BLANKET IN A DAY.

FAMOUS COAT RECORD BEATEN. At sunrise- some »l«fy sheep were ;mjsin«i in ,1 field t& Witney* mm Oxford," 1 it .■ night to* Duke of Marlborough rfspf, muter" as, all-wool blanket', made from theft fSavj-j": ■it the Witney- imlb. of Messrs. (.'barks Early-'and Co. .'.blanket.msiiHladnms, teHi» :, | pletely finished while the afternoon w»s *<►£.. young, ; even to an'embroidered , ducal ■ cost&if >■ net said the initial "M." ■'.' '-<?j£fc The feat was inspired "by rise cms of tit* {anions ''Throckmorton Coat,", which held a record that has Mood from 1811 until., this one- In that year, .on .June 25, Iw., sheep were sheared, and their wool «»» converted into cloth, ..from.which• ■» coal was made between sunrise md susset, xjt John Throckmorton .wore the coat at- dirui*: '. that same evening, just, as the Dviku of Marl hoi sleep* under his blanket in' • this case.

■' The "following is an account of this re« ; - cent, achievement : —" At a-quaricr to frmr, a minute before /sunrise, four shearers JVeJ ' forty sheep. At fourteen minutes to four the word "Go" was given. The victims jjf were 'barbercd' in'record time, only th« best parts of the -.fierce being cut, and in jus*}, five minutes In* first fleeces It.**i \jctu . ;', weighed and were passed into tin: 'simmer,' which got rid of the worst of theitn'/urities and allowed them to pour out of th« other end in a beautiful foamy, waterfall, ' < "Two minutes later they went into th& 'Willey' machine, out of which they were blown by a cyclonic fun in a. very creditable • imitation of a snowstorm. The dis- » ; !*S integration of the fleeces proceeded at %, gallop. A 'scribbler, with its wire teeth, tore them to down and sent them out at t!;,« other end ur-a kind of loosely-spun yarn, * '" which was wound upon spindles. Hoys, excited by the sport, dashed off, with to the spinning-mule, where.shrieking bobbins jerked, stretched, and twisted the yarn into strong thread for th r warp. Threo : ; hundred strong other mule-spindles' vcift .;;,"/' doing the same kind office for the warp, > forming it into a softer thread! with more elasticity. "''"SSI

bewxldkki.w PROCESSES. "Then a dozen bewildering technicalities: • took place simultaneously. ' The wurpwenl on to the beam for the loom, and, at \mi f in the weaving ' factory the great _ frames \ were prepared, ami the shuttle with the '.' 'woof began to dart to and fro. - The i blanket, which seemed more like a, coarse canvas textile, begain to evolve Itself under:;■ l| the'skilled lingers of the girl experts, t "We are looking upon "our finished ? blanket as un equivalent to the cloth of the famous. Throckmorton Coat, though we nut a, blanket through many more ■:■ processes. h The cloth took eleven hours to make, ami . , we shall have our work cut out to reduce ; Jl that time." So said Mr, James Early, who V; followed the fortunes of the Marlborough ' * .blanket from the small hours of the morning. Weaving was complete at eleven n,m.

" It was an unappetising-looking, damp, palo sepia mass that went to the 'teaser.' ";■.■ Under its scarifying influence, however, th<i limp fabric suddenly sprang into life, and ; became. a, read, unmistakable blanket. \\<jj The sharp '.spines raised a white, 'fleecy >■ map into which the finger wink for a-quartcr of all inch. , Out hiihe sun it was ' racked.' stretched on tenter-hooks, and at- twenty minutes past two it was pronounced to he dry. ;" y: . . ~'.'..; >',; ■" "' Wo have done it,* said * gleeful 'hand,' as ho raced away to the 'whinping* department with the blanket in his arms. In exactly 2m. 25». more the whipping Tiiirn (dyed blue and manufactured ? from the same sheep) was machined round the- blanket, which was then lit for use at twenty-two minutes past two p.m. " "It had taken exactly ten hours and ' twenty.seven minutes to manufacture from S| the moment the first shearer wrestled with . ; his first sheep, and the famed Throckmorton > cloth was beujten but not disgraced by the.; ;j narrow - margin of •th two minutes.,, , , , : "Mcmbeni of tlho Early family, whichV, r has •■* been blanket-making in Witney foi . '- over 200 years, conveyed the blanket to the-' Duke :of Marlborough at Blenheim at' half-past five, and, doubtless after the Ditch- ';( ess bad seen that it had! been laired,' hi* grace used it that night, according id fair promise." -