“TALE OF A SHIRT”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 793, 14 October 1929, Page 10

“TALE OF A SHIRT”

BIG INDUSTRY IN NEW ZEALAND ADDRESS TO ROTARY CLUB How many people know there are t., factories in New Zealand producia--150.000 dozen shirts a year? This interesting information on the operations of one of the Dominion's most important industries was giv to the Auckland Rotary club 1,” Rotarian 1. Ambler at luncheon todav Rotarian-President S. lleid preside' Tracing the development of shir making, Rotariau Ambler said thaprior to 1535 all these garments made either by a mans wife or a seamstress. The first factory was established j., Ireland in 1535 by a young man named Rogers, the shirts being all made un by hand. v The first sewing machine was em ployed a few years later, tut the turned out was so unsatisfactory that retailers advertised their wares a, being hand-made. The idea of making collars separate from the shirt was conceived by » Troy, U.S.A., woman, and from that beginning, the town had built up titbiggest collar-making production ij the world. COTTON MOST POPULAR The most popular shirting was cotton, silk being next in popularpv' Mercerised cotton derived its nanie from the invention of a young chemist named Mercer, by which it was possible to beat the yarn with causticsoda, which gave the threadi a round shape causing it to reflect the light better.

The unusual method of manufacture in New Zealand was for one girl to piece together all parts, but in tin factory he controlled, the process was split up into 2tJ different parts. The girls were provided with special math ines, and. in short, the skill required was taken from the worker and given to the machine. The cutting was done by ait electric knife, eight miles of material hemused in a week, it being possible to cut through 2SO thicknesses of cloth The splitting up of work in this way entailed greater supervision and over head expenses, and production had to be speeded up as a result. Buttonholing and sewing on buttons w as don» by machinery. One girl could sew- on 3,000 buttons a day. After experiencing both systems, he considered that piece-work was bene ficial. Under this system production had been increased 25 per cent, in his factory, and the girls were able to earn good wages, up to £4 weekly. In conclusion, Rotarian Ambler ex pressed the opinion that, if there was one industry to which the slogan "Bur New Zealand Goods" should apply, it was the manufacture of shirts.