MATCHES IN WOOL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13596, 16 May 1908, Page 3

MATCHES IN WOOL.

! rOMI'LAIXT l-'UOM KN'JSLAXIi. Ai tin; meeting ot the committee of the Canterbury A. ami 1\ Association on Wednesday an object lesson in connect inn with the "presence of foreign matter in wool was furnished to those present. This was in the ishajh- of a. sample, of wooi wbii'i had been manufactured but. contained a number of wax wxta . which had evidently been .-truck by those engaged in dealing with the wool. The following letter fr.iin Messrs Hal gttrv and ('«.'> London branch lo their local branch was read :-" We have a very .serious complaint, from a customer regarding a lot of wool purchased in July s.-ries. 1907. The complaint is set out as follows :—* This lot is dyed in the wool, otherwise it- JiiighJi have caused incalculable damage in the manufactured cloth. The enclosed i« evidently the remains of Mime smokers who have, oeen scouring ih<« wool and. after lighting meir pipes tlhTe. thrown the vestas amongst the wool. Our customer threatens us with a seriotib claim for sorting these out of the wool. Anyone who has a knowledge of manufacturing knows what- an amount of injury this might have caused in the manufactured cloth. It is not the tirsl complaint we- have had to mane of this same thing, and wo think steps should be taken to put a. stop to it. Will you please see that -this is done. Tf a claim is made against, us Ave will have to ask brokers to make it good to us. We are sending you a small sample of foreign matter complained of. and would ask you to bring the matter before the grower more in the way of preventing similar occurrences in futnre than with a view of meeting a claim, as even if such were formulated we do not think it could be enforced after this lapse of time. No doubt the foreign matter (which appears to be the remains of wax matches) got in bv accident, and. as the lot- contained locks, may have been swept or picked up with the wool off the drying floor, but such actions are apt. to cause great -trouble and expense to tlte manufacturer, and are usually impossible to discover until the wool "is worked up, frequently many months after the date of purchase." The President said this was a most important matter as affecting a stable industrv.

Mr ftugonin thought it would be best to bring the complaint, mentioned in the letter before the Shearers' Union. Hie Farm Labourers' Union, and other Unions, and request that they would take means to prevent the causes of complaint in future.

Mr Reed called attention to the fact that there was no mention in the letter that the bale from which the sample hail been taken was from iNew Zealand. The President said that though the letter did not say go, he presumed that the fact of the* matter being brought under the notice of the Association showed that it was New Zealand wool in which the foreign matter had been found. Dr. Levinge moved:—"That the letter from Dalgety nnd Co. and the sample b? forwarded "to the Sheepowners' Union, with a request, that they would take steps to deal with the matter."