OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3332, 23 January 1918, Page 14

OUR YORKSHIRE LETTER.

(Fbom Oub Special Cobuksfondsjtt-) BRADFORD 1 , November 8. STANDARD CLOTHS. The subject of standard cloths is well to the fore to day, and a good deal has been made of it in the Yorkshire [ucss far more than it actually deserves. Really it is the latest “baby” of the Labour some of the members belonging to that section of the Board of Control conceiving tho idea that clothes are now so dear that it is absolutely essential for the Government to start 'making standard cloths tor the million. There is much difference ot opinion regarding the advantages to bo gained by such a movement—in tact, not until the Board of Control actually decides to produce the cloth can a great deal be said. No doubt there still remains a portion of the inhabitants of Great Britain who are struggling in poverty; but wages have almost doubled, and so far as tho North of England is concerned it is very doubtful if standard cloths will be supported by the working classes. Of course, the idea is born of tho departnient having made arrangements for producing standard officers’ cloths, and it remains to be seen how these will go down with the men for whom they have been designed. I ixed conversion costs have been arrived at by the department, and prices rule the same all through this country, bemg iixed to cover every operation from the raw mate rial to the suit sold by _ the tailor. No doubt, in some of the high-class .shops m England, officers have been fleeced, and it may interest readers to know that 13oz to 14oz woollen whipcords j f retailed at 12s 6d per yard by and clothiers, but for heavier wh peords IStloz to 19Aoz in weight, the retail price is 18s 3d, Bedford cords 11b pet■ yard narrow width, and cavalry twills 1-s narrow width, 15oz to 16oz yard It is rather interesting to know that tho wool for these officers’ cloths is being handed out by tho department at less money than where 7 wanted for making ordinary soldiers military fabrics, and why this should be is beyond the comprehension of the rank and file However, tho fact remains that with tho price of officers’ cloths now being fixed, there should he no insurmountable difficulty in enabling manufacturers to produce standard cloths for the million. A SAMPLE FABRIC MADE. I am in a position to state that, a standard cloth has been made, it being anice tweed of a quiet order Several shades have been made to the pattern, and I am able to sav that it is 56m wide, 20oz to 21oz to the yard, and the manufacturers’ nr ice is 6s per yard. i am divulging no secret in giving these details, it heimr common property m manufacturing circles throughout the West Riding _ and elsewhere. The price, per yard mcbcates at once that the cloth is not a worsted but is solid woollen. Let.no reader run away with the idea that it. is made from all pure virgin wool— nothing of the sorb It is woollen, both warp and. weft, and at the price contains a fair sprinkling of noils, along with a certain percentage of pure wool and waste. Considering the price the cloth is good; but, as already stated, the success of tho fabric is very much doubted in woollen circles. It. will never go down with the British public for a multitude .to ho dressed in the same fabric, although there are thousands o£ men and -women to bo scon dressed in a blue serge; and nothing looks smarter. The only way to make standard cloths a success is to produce a variety, and there should be no difficulty in doing this I have not as vet seen a fabric, but feel certain it will be the ordinary four-end twill which is so largely employed m Dewsbury and the honvy woollen district as well as in the Colne Valley (Huddersfield). where the chean tweeds arc mostly madrv Be it said to the credit of the Cloth Office of the the Director of Wool Textile Production is very anxious to keep prices for wool well in hand, and to provide a g-ood serviceable fabric suitable for the populace. LARGER USE OF WOOL SUBSTITUTES. It, is a fact that increasing use is being made' of the by-products of the trade., both in the production of military fabrics as well as in the civilian trade.. The present state of supplies demands this, and there is absolutely no need on tho part of anyone to refuse to use such useful manufacturing materials as laps, noils, garnetted wastes, mungo. and cotton. If these are used in conjunction with a reasonable percentage of virgin wool some excellent fabrics can easily be made. In fact, a large manufacturer, who for months has been making big quantities weekly of drab sci-n-e for Tnmrn’es’ tunics. said this week to "the writer that, with the use of these excellent by-products, the test strength of his nieces was fully as good as 12 months ago.’ when a larger percentage of virgin wool was being used. English crossbred wools arc being very largely used bv woollen manufacturers, particularlv English skin wools, and those, if blended with a reasonable proportion of New Zealand crossbreds, produces fabrics that will mill readily and give every satisfaction. The fact that nothing can now he exported even to British colonics except under license shows dearly enough the entire position of the department in their determination to preserve supplies for home use

—a policy which no one can object to. All shipments have been stopped now for a month to both the Netherlands and_ Scandinavia, and what is. now • wanted is the arrival of big weights of colonial merinos and crossbreds.

HOURS OF MERINO COMBING. Up to last Monday merino combing machinery throughout the West Riding has been standing all clay on Monday and during Monday night; but a new order has been published this week granting permission to run combing frames a full working week, which means day and night from Monday morning to Saturday noon. The condition is made that .there shall bo no Increased output, which means that less machinery must be run; but full working hours aro to be allowed. This may seem strange to those at a distance; but it is the decision arrived at by a conference between the masters, men's representatives, and the department, and it is generally agreed 'that it will serve all interests bettor to run day and night, as hitherto, but to allow a certain percentage of the machinery to stand. We have heard lately a rather persistent cry of shortage in tops; and this is an actual fact. Whether the department is limiting wool being combed or there is an actual shortage of raw material is a question upon which nothing authoritative is known; but this last three weeks the* top section of the department has kept a very firm hand supplies, and for civilian purposes nothing has been allowed .to go out. Some fine botany spinners, who have been running their Eilants almost entirely on civilian work, ave been frankly told this week that if they do not put their frames on to Government work all supplies of tops will be stopped. That certainly is the "hard word," as they say in Yorkshire; and those spinners turning out such fine counts as 2-60's, for which 'they have been able to make as high as 10s 6d per lb, feel to-day . that they are in the soup. If there is any ' department of the trade which could_ have been controlled to advantage it is spinning margins, there being hero outrageous differences between the price' of the top and the yarn. One has only to give an instance to show how this obtains. Next December 1 the Government price of warp 64's will be 6s 2d per lb. From this top a 2-48's yarn can easily be spun, and this week one of the biggest Bradford spinners quoted a manufacturer 8s 8d per lb for the yarn, and another 9s ''d- Even at the former price the spinning margin is excellent, and distinctly above anything ever known in pre-war times. The writer knows for a fact that for 2-4f>'s a spinner was bid last week 9s 3d if he would guarantee reasonable delivery. Such margins are, indeed, outrageous.