OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2997, 23 August 1911, Page 16

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(From Ouh Special Cobeespondent.) BRADFORD, July 7. FRENCH WOOL TRADE AND VEGETABLE FIBRE. Judging from th© latest news from Roubaix the vexed question of vegetable fibre in wool is not yet dead, for to-morrow there is to be an international congress to consider once again, th© best way of getting rid of the difficulties created by wool getting contaminated with vegetable fibre. Th© congress has been called by the Union des Filateurs Francais (Spinners' Association), and will be attended by delegates from England, Germany, Belgium, Italy, and France. The Chamber of Commerce in Bradford, where originated the agitation, and which body has done much to keep it alive, will be represented by Mr J. E. Fawcett, Mr Henry Ayrton and Mr Thosi. Whitoley. The Bradford morning paper contains a summary of a report which has been issued by the association convening the congress, which shows that th© French spinners and manufacturers are fully aliv© to the magnitude of the evil, and to the necessity of providing effective remedies. I Several parties, says the report, are inculi pated, actively and passively, and it is in \ combining all who are interested in th© i manufacture of wool that we shall be best ! able to make ourselves heard by those who are -responsible for the evil or hav© failed to take steps to prevent it. We have ins view the grower, the carrier, and th© comber. With regard to the grower, w© must carry on a campaign to induce him ; to abandon th© tying of fleeces. ■ This is ' especially necessary in South America, for j the practice is almost confined to that j country. The tying of fleeces is by no | means indispensable; but if the Argentine ! grower persists the practice, let him at ! Least give up *the use of thick, shaggy | ropes, which inevitably leave a great part ;. of their fibres in the wool. Fin©, .strong, ■ or, better still, paper twine, has all th© advantages of the old method, without any ; of its inconveniences. Nevertheless we are I of opinion that the use of string can and i ought to be superseded altogether. | CONDEMNATION OF JUTE PACKS. | The report goes on to consider the quess tion of suitable packs. It demands the i proscription of the present jute packs and j the substitution either of packs made enj tirely of paper or of canvas, with a paper i lining. With regard to damage done ; during transport, it is recommended that ;. hooks should be used as little as possible, i in order to avoid the tearing of the pack I and the introduction of vegetable fibres | into the wool by. that means. The passages of the report which relate- ' to the treatment of wool during and after | the process of combing are of special ini terest, insomuch as they deal with a, phase i of the difficulty which has been but little • touched on here. We pass over the reference to the culpability of topmakers I (negociants en peignes), who from motives • of false economy instruct the comber to I put their wool through "as_ it is."_ The • allusion is to a state of things which has > ! no parallel in Bradford. There is, how- " ever, a useful warning against the danger j of paying for th© removal of string at > piece-work rates. "The workman paid at eo much the 100 kilos for the fleeces. untied only looks at the .gross result, and in ' order not to lose precious time will leave in th© interior of the fleece an end of twine or a knot which, when torn up in the eardI ing machine, will contaminate a whole i combing." PACKING OF TOPS. It is on the question of the packing of tops that th© report raises new matter. | After pointing out that tops, like raw wool, ! are packed in jute canvas, th© report goes ] on to say that it is true that the balls ' ar© enclosed in, a paper wrapping, but either because th© paper is not strong t enough or the canvas is not of sufficiently ; good quality, it. is a regular experience on unpacking a bag of tops to find them j deprived of their protection and in direct I contact with jute. It is necessary, there-. I fore, to seek for an improvement both in I the paper and the canvas. ■ In transit no \ paper will.withstand the rough handling to ! which a bag of tops is ordinarily subjected. : When th© balls ar© wrapped up in paper > to. certain amount of air is necessarily ini eluded, and as soon as the bag is dropped i from a cart or . a truck the compression 1 of the air will inevitably burst the paper. This difficulty could be got over by piercing holes in th© paper to let th© air escape, and two sheets of paper should be used so that the wool shall not come in contact with the canvas through the holes. Finally, ! it is essential that the bales should be pressed, as is don© in Germany, the air I being expelled gradually in the press. The < result will be a hard and compact bale, | the papers in which . will be capable of ■ standing rough usage without damage. By ' this means also it would be possible to produce a bale manageable by the ' jugs at the corners, and npt needing to be handled with hooks. WHERE DOES THE GROWER COME IN? ~, We have read over the above with considerable interest, and after following the ! subject very closely ever since it was t, broached, we have come to the conclusion ; that it is indeed little use fox the Vege- ( table Fibre Committee to meet and urge " upon growers the importance of paper-lined : packs unless buyers and users are prepared I to do something tangible themselves. That •the evil exists goes without saying, and it I would be a pleasure for all concerned if it ■ could be finally abolished. Various views ( ar© expressed respecting an improvement, j and we endorse the opinion that there has been an abatement of the evil. It is, however, far from being cured, and never will be until there is a universal adoption of the corrugated paper-lined packs. In j many cases the advice given 12 months ago to use these has been adopted in Aus- ! tralia and South Africa, and occasionally i by New Zealand pastoralists, but with many large growers affirming that they will not incur the extra expense necessary in purchasing paper-lined packs clearly shows what is the attitude of the majority of pastoralists in Australia as well as th© Cape and South America. At this side we hav© [ repeatedly urged the Vegetable Fibr© j Committee to look at the matter squarely, and see if they cannot adopt means whereby the buyer can pay half of th© extra expense incurred by obtaining these superior tares. We certainly think growers have manifested a very good spirit by stating .that they are quite prepared to meet the trade, and even an allowance of 6d per pack would induce many pastoralists to adopt the paper-lined tare. So 'ong as

the trade-refuses to do that, we axe certain that the evil will continue, and the sooner the Vegetable Fibre Committee recognises that point and takes steps to bring it "about, the sooner will the evil be abolished. THE SHOW OF WOOL AT THE ROUBAIX EXHIBITION. The writer has not visited the Roubaix Exhibition, but has heard from that centre that the show of Australasian and River Plate wools is very creditable. The exhibition is being largely visited, and nothing but words of approval are heard of the splendid show. Neither Australasian nor Argentine wools ncc<i any introduction to a Roubaix public, but visitors are pouring into that city from every quarter of Europe; consequently the wools are being brought before the attention of a large number of people, and meriting the advertisement which they well deserve. It may mean expense to the various States interested, but in the long run both directly and indirectly it cannot but impress the importance as well as the usefulness of Australian and South Amercian wools upon a large clientele. In all cases they appear to be an eye-opener to those who are not familiar with a sight- such as is seen at any woolselling centre in Australia or London. It seems to us as if the agricultural authorities of both Australia and-the River Plate have carried out a very happy idea, and we trust it will'bring renewed prosperity to the principal products of both countries — namely, the"'growing and exporting of raw wool. The world is undoubtedly demanding a larger supply, and although to day things look like suffering a slight set-back, yet it is but a temporary phase of the market. BUSINESS IN BRADFORD AT A STANDSTILL. At the time of writing there is no definite announcement that the wool-combers' strike is settled, although at any moment we expect to hear news to that effect. The lepresentatives of the masters and the men met for the firet time last Tuesday, the conference lasting five hours, after which it was decided to adjourn, and at the present hour they are again in conclave, trying to come to terms which will be satis'actory to both parties. It has taken a long time to bring things " even to this stage, and it could have been reached three weeks eueo if a policy of common sense had only obtained. We blame neither party, but three weeks of standing machinery has played havoc with the whole industry, besides bringing many thousands of innocent women and children almost to starvation. Another fortnight, and Bradford would be in a state of revolution, but we believe that wise counsels will. prevail to prevent same. So far as actual trade is concerned, we might as well lay the pen down and say that there is "nowt doing." That is actually the case, and will remain so for a few weeks longer. Even when the wool combs get going, spinners in the majority of cases will simply take in tops bought some time ago, nobody regarding the present as an opportune time to fix up new contracts. The past week's business has consisted of users picking up a few spot lots of tops, the fundamental principle of the transaction being immediate delivery. Spinners have done their best for six weeks past to make provision r or the worst, but we have not heard of a single spindle having to stand, notwithstanding the three weeks' strike of the woolcombers.