Chapter V: Part 5

The bobbin-and-fly frame is an exceedingly complicated machine, although the objects to be accomplished by it are sufficiently simple; namely, to give the roving a slight twist, and then to wind it on the bobbin. The first is easily done by the revolutions of the spindle; the second is more difficult. It is scarcely necessary to explain that the bobbins now under notice differ in no way from the reels in common use, except in being of very large size. The spindle which holds the bobbin is a round steel rod, driven by a small cog-wheel, fastened on the lower part of the spindle. The bobbin is slid upon the spindle, and the small bed or platform on which it rests is made to revolve by another series of small wheels. The spindle has two arms, called the _fly_ or _flyer_. This fly is fixed on the top of the spindle in such a way that it can be taken off in an instant, for the purpose of putting on or taking off the bobbin. One arm of the fly is hollow, the other solid, and all this serves to balance the machinery. One machine contains from thirty to a hundred and twenty spindles, which, for economy of space, are placed in two rows, each spindle in the back row standing opposite the space left between two spindles of the front row. The action of the machine is this:—The sliver having been drawn by the rollers, is twisted by the rapid revolutions of the spindle into a soft cord or roving; this enters a hole in the top of the spindle, and passes down the hollow arm of the fly; it is then twisted round a steel finger, which winds it on the bobbin with a certain pressure.

The _throstle machine_ is usually made double, a row of bobbins, spindles, &c. occupying each side of the frame. The bobbins filled with rovings from the bobbin-and-fly frame, are mounted at the upper part of the frame in two ranges. The roving from each bobbin passes through three pairs of drawing rollers, where it is stretched out to the requisite fineness. On quitting the last pair of rollers, each thread is guided by a little ring or a notch of smooth glass, let into the frame, towards the spindles, which revolve with great rapidity, producing by the motion of their flyers through the air a low musical hum, which is supposed to have given the name of throstle to this machine. The roving, which may now be called yarn, passing through an eyelet formed at the end of one of the arms of the flyer, proceeds at once to other bobbins.

The yarn is wound upon the bobbins by a curious contrivance. The bobbin fits very loosely upon the spindle, and rests on its end upon a kind of platform. The bobbin is not connected with the spindle, except by the thread of yarn, which has to be wound; therefore, as soon as the flyer is set spinning, the thread drags the bobbin after it, and makes it follow the motion of the spindle and fly; but the weight of the bobbin, and its friction on the platform, which is promoted by covering the end with coarse cloth, causes it to hang back, and thus the double purpose is served, of keeping the thread stretched and winding it on the bobbin much more slowly than the flyer revolves. The yarn is equally distributed on the bobbin by a slow up-and-down movement of the platform.

These effects are the same as were produced by the bobbin and fly-frame, but in the throstle they are attained by simpler means. In the former machine a distinct movement caused the bobbin to revolve quicker than the spindle. In the throstle the bobbin is made to revolve by the pull of the yarn, which is now sufficiently strong for the purpose; but the roving in the bobbin-and-fly frame would not bear the strain. The throstle is not often employed for very fine spinning, because fine yarn would not bear the drag of the bobbin; but in mule-spinning the yarn is wound at once upon the spindles without any strain. In the _mule_ the rolling is first drawn by the usual system of rollers, and then stretched by a moveable carriage. The effect of first drawing and then stretching is to make the yarn finer and more uniform, as will be explained presently. The spinning mule is the most interesting and impressive spectacle in a large cotton mill—on account of its vast extent, the great quantity of work performed by it, and the wonderful complication and ingenuity of its parts.

The spinning-mule consists of two principal portions: the first, which is fixed, contains the bobbins of rovings and the drawing rollers; the second is a sort of carriage, moving upon an iron railroad, and capable of being drawn out to a distance of about five feet from the fixed frame. This carriage carries the spindles, the number of which is half that of the bobbins of rovings. Motion is given to the spindles by means of vertical drums, round which are passed slender cords, communicating with the spindles. There is one drum to every twenty-four spindles.

The carriage being run up to the point from which it starts in spinning, the spindles are near to the roller-beam; the rollers now begin to turn, and to give out yarn, which is immediately twisted by the revolution of the spindles; the carriage then moves away from the roller-beam, somewhat quicker than the threads are delivered, so that they receive a certain amount of stretching, which gives value to this machine. The beneficial effect is produced in this way,—when the thread leaves the rollers, it is thicker in some parts than in others, and those thicker parts not being so much twisted as the thinner ones are softer, and yield to the stretching power of the mule, so that the twist is equalised throughout, and the yarn becomes more uniform. When the carriage has _completed_ a _stretch_, or is drawn out from about fifty-four to sixty-four inches from the roller-beam, the drawing rollers cease to give out yarn, but the spindles continue to whirl until the threads are properly twisted. In spinning the finer yarns, the carriage sometimes makes what is called a _second stretch_, during which the spindles are made to revolve much more rapidly than before. The drawing, stretching, and twisting, of a length of thread being thus completed, the mule disengages itself from the parts of the machinery by which it has hitherto been driven, and the spinner then pushes the carriage with his knee back to the roller-beam, turning at the same time with his right hand a fly wheel, which gives motion to the spindles. At the same time a copping wire, as it is called, is pressed upon the threads by the spinners’ left hand, and they are thus made to traverse the whole length of the spindle, upon which they are then wound or _built_ in a conical form, which is called a _cop_. These cops are used for placing in the _shuttle_ in weaving, and form the weft or short cross threads of the cloth.

The yarn is now disposed of in various ways, according to the use for which it is intended; but it is often found convenient to make it up into hanks. When the yarn is completed it is usually sent to the doubling and twisting mill, for the purpose of being converted into what is now properly called thread. Although we are accustomed to apply the word thread to a thin narrow line of any fibrous material, the manufacturer limits the term to that compound cord produced by doubling or twisting two or more single lines. The single line he calls yarn, two or more single lines, laid parallel and twisted together, he calls thread; and of this there are many varieties, such as _bobbin-net-lace_-thread, stocking-thread, sewing-thread, &c.

In fine spinning, the yarn, when doubled, is for some purposes _singed_ or _gassed_, in order to get rid of the loose fibres, and to make it more level and compact. The process of singeing yarn strikes a stranger as being more remarkable than anything else in the mill. In a long room in the upper part of the mill, or in a shed attached to it, are several tables, lighted up with a large number of jets of flame, about twelve inches apart, producing a singular but pleasing effect. Above each flame is a little hood or chimney. On entering this room the smell of burnt cotton is immediately perceived, and on approaching the table, one is surprised to see a fine delicate thread crossing each flame in two or three directions, and apparently at rest; but on following the course of this thread, it is found to proceed from one bobbin, which is rapidly spinning round, and to pass through the flame to another bobbin, which is also in rapid motion. It is then seen that the thread is also moving at a rapid rate, by which means alone does it escape being consumed. The thread is led over pulleys, so as to pass two or three times through the flame, which singes off the loose fibres, converting them into a reddish powder or dust, which, if blown about and inhaled, would do great injury to the lungs; this is why the gassing-room is in a remote or retired part of the building, to prevent the air being disturbed by the bustle of the heavier parts.

When cotton is intended to be woven into a fabric, such as calico, &c. the first operation consists in laying the requisite number of threads together to form the width of the cloth; this is called _warping_. Supposing there to be 1,000 threads in the width of a piece of cloth, then the yarn, wound on the bobbins as it leaves the hands of the spinner, must be so unwound and laid out as to form 1,000 lengths, constituting, when laid parallel, the warp of the intended cloth. The ancient method was to draw out the warp from the bobbins at full length on an open field (and this is still practised in India and China), but the _warping-frame_ is now employed, in which the threads are arranged, by means of a frame turning on an upright centre. When the warp is arranged round this machine, the warper takes it off and winds it on a stick into a ball, preparatory to the process of beaming or winding it on the beam of the loom. The threads in this latter process are wound as evenly as possible on the beam; a separator, ravel, or comb being used to lay them parallel, and to spread them out to about the intended width of the cloth. Arrangements are then made for _drawing_ or attaching the warp-threads individually to certain mechanism of the loom. In this process all the threads are attached to stays fixed to two frames, called _treadles_, in such a manner that all the alternate threads (1st, 3d, 5th,) can be drawn up or down by one heddle, and all the rest (2d, 4th, 6th, &c.) by the other.

There are three movements attending every thread of weft which the weaver throws across the warp. In the first place he presses down one of the two _treadles_, by which one of the two heddles is depressed, thereby forming a kind of opening called the _shed_. Into this shed, at the second movement, he throws the shuttle, containing the weft-thread, with sufficient force to drive it across the whole web. Then at the third movement he grasps the _batten_, which is a kind of frame, carrying at its lower edge a comb-like piece, having as many teeth as there are threads in the warp, and with this he drives up the thread of weft close to those previously thrown. One thread of weft is thus completed, and the weaver proceeds to throw another in a similar way, but in a reverse order, that is, by depressing the left treadle instead of the right, and by throwing the shuttle from left to right, instead of from right to left. In the commonest mode of weaving the shuttle is thrown by both hands alternately; but, about a century ago, John Kay invented the _fly-shuttle_, in which a string and handle are so placed that the weaver can work the shuttle both ways with one hand.

In 1678 M. de Gennes invented a rude kind of weaving-machine, intended to increase the power of the common loom; and other looms were invented, which were to be worked by a winch, by water power, or by some contrivance more expeditious than common hand-weaving; but a greater step in advance was made by the invention of Dr. Cartwright’s _power-loom_ in 1785. One cause which delayed the adoption of power-looms was the necessity for stopping the machine frequently, in order to dress the warp with paste or size as it unrolled from the beam, which operation required a person to be employed for each loom, so that there was no saving of expense. But the successive inventions of Radcliffe, Horrocks, Marsland, Roberts, and others, have since brought the dressing-machine and the power-loom to a high state of efficiency.

Taking a piece of calico as the representative of plain fabrics generally, the mode of proceeding in power-loom factories may be shortly sketched as follows. The warping-frame is so arranged as to be worked by steam-power, and to bring the yarns into a parallel layer, which is transferred to the dressing-machine. This latter is a large piece of mechanism, in which the threads dip into paste on their way to the warp-beam: undergoing a process of brushing after the dipping. After this dressing the drawing and mounting for the loom are attended to. When the warp is properly arranged in the loom, steam-power does all the rest; it forms the shed or division of the warp into two parts, it throws the shuttle, it drives up the weft with the batten, it unwinds the warp from the warp-roller, and winds the woven material on the cloth-roller.

THE TAILOR.

It would perhaps be too much to say that the more civilized a nation becomes, the greater is the attention bestowed upon dress; since it has happened that in countries not very far removed from barbarism, vast importance has been given to external display, and robes and trappings have been used to cover the savagery which had only just learned to delight in the pomp and magnificence of costly ornaments. It is certain, however, that in all civilized nations dress is more than mere clothing, and has a significance beyond the mere utility of protecting the body from cold or heat, and adding to our physical comfort. It is an old saying that some people may be clothed, but that they are never dressed; and the meaning of this is, that dress is frequently an expression of character, and will even make known the disposition of the wearer. In the same way a change of _fashion_ is often an indication of an alteration in the manners and way of living of a whole nation.

It is the business of the Tailor, then, not only to make garments, but to study the prevailing fashion, and, indeed, to advise what alterations or slight differences in the cut and colour of clothes will be best suited to different people, since on the way in which our clothes are made our personal appearance will very greatly depend, and personal appearance is of no little importance, since there are few people who are not strongly influenced by it.

The trade of the Tailor is one of which very little can be said in the way of explanation, since it mainly consists in cutting out cloth to the shapes necessary to be applied to each other in order to make the various garments; and as this cannot be described without numerous _diagrams_, and even with them could not easily be understood, we must be satisfied to quote the instructions of a practical Tailor on the subject of sewing.[3]

[3] From the Industrial Library.

And, first as to the different sorts of stitches, which are:—the basting-stitch, the back and fore-stitch, the back-stitch, the side-stitch, and the fore-stitch; also the back pricking-stitch, the fore pricking-stitch, the serging-stitch, the cross-stitch, and the button-hole-stitch; besides which there is a distinct kind of stitch for hemming, filling, stotting, rantering, fine-drawing, prick-drawing, over-casting, and also for making what are called covered buttons.

The basting-stitch is a long and slight stitch, intended to be merely temporary, or to fasten together some of the inner and concealed parts of the garment. It is commonly used to keep the work in its proper position while being sewed.

The back and fore-stitch is made, as the name implies, by the union of back stitching and fore stitching; in this stitch the needle is first put through the cloth, and turned up in as short a space as is possible, so as to make a neat and strong stitch when completed; it is then put through the cloth again in the same place as at first, and again turned up, taking care that it passes through the cloth as nearly as possible within the same space as before. This being done, the first back-stitch is completed. The second stitch is made by passing the needle forward upon the surface of the cloth, but without taking hold of it, over a space equal to the length of the first stitch; the needle is again put through the cloth, turned up, and brought back to the place where it was last put through, so as to form another back-stitch; which is followed by another putting of the needle forward, or, in plainer terms, another fore-stitch, and so on in the same order, until the seam is finished. This kind of stitch is used for sewing linings, pockets, flannel garments, and other thin fabrics. There is no need to say much respecting the back-stitch, as this may be understood from what is said above respecting the first stitch in back and fore-stitching. This stitch is used for seams where strength is required; it is also used for ornament instead of the side-stitch, but in this case it must be very neatly and regularly made.

The side-stitch is used for the edges of garments, to keep them from rolling over, or from being drawn out of shape. It is always intended for ornament as well as use, and requires a very quick eye and a careful hand to do it well. In this stitch the needle is put through the cloth a little above or below the place from which it came out in the former stitch, but it must be at a very little distance from this place, or the sewing-silk will be visible on the surface of the cloth, which is a great blemish, and yet it must be far enough away from where it came out to prevent its breaking through, in which case the stitch is lost both as to use and ornament. Care must also be taken that the stitches are at regular distances from each other, and that the whole of them are placed at the same distance from the edge of the cloth. In the fore-stitch, as has been already hinted, the needle, when drawn out from the seam, is always put forward, so that an equal quantity of thread, or a stitch of the same length, is visible on each side of the cloth.

Serge-stitching is done by passing the needle through the cloth from the under to the upper piece, throwing the thread over the edges of the cloth, so as to keep them closely together. It is also used to join selvages together, as also to prevent taking up more space for seams than can be spared, when the pieces are barely large enough for the required purpose. It is not, however, much used by tailors, except when no great degree of strength is required.

The cross-stitch is formed by two parallel rows of stitches, so placed as that the stitch in the upper row is opposite to the vacant space in the lower one, the thread passing from one stitch to the other in diagonal lines. It is used for keeping open the seams of such garments as require washing, and also for securing the edges from ravelling out in such fabrics as are too loosely made to allow of their edges being fastened down by the filling-stitch.

In the button-hole-stitch the needle is first put through the cloth from the inner to the outer surface, and before it is drawn out the twist is passed round the point of the needle, and kept in that position till the needle be drawn out to the full length of the twist; this forms a kind of loop, called by Tailors the “purl,” at the top or edge of the opening, and when regularly made is both ornamental and useful. To increase the strength of this stitch, and also to aid in making it true or exact, a “bar” is formed on each side of the opening before the hole is begun to be worked. This “bar,” as it is called, is made by passing the needle from one end of the opening to the other (twice or three times), so that there is a layer, if it may be so called, of twist stretching along its whole length (and on each side) upon which the whole is worked, the workman taking care to keep the “bar” as near to the edge of the opening as possible, without allowing it to come over, in which case the button-hole would be neither strong nor neat.

The filling stitch is similar to that used in hemming; the chief difference being in the direction given to the needle. In hemming, its point is directed outwards, or _from_ the workman, but in filling it is directed inwards, or towards him, and in each should be a little, but only a little, slanted, in order to give the sewing a neat appearance. This stitch is used for sewing on facings, and when made with neatness, and without showing itself much on the outer side of the cloth, is considered to be ornamental, as well as useful.

Stotting (pronounced stoating) is the stitch used for joining pieces of cloth so neatly that the join shall be but little visible, and yet so strongly as to prevent the pieces from being easily parted. In this kind of seam the pieces of cloth are not laid the one upon the other, as in back-stitching, but are placed side by side, the edges being carefully fitted, so as to prevent any irregularity or roughness in the work. They are then sewn together by passing the needle half through the thickness of the cloth. Care must be taken to keep the stitches as near to each edge of the cloth as can be done without incurring the danger of its breaking through. The needle is put in on the nearest edge of the two, and must not be slanted in the direction given to it, but put as straight forward as possible. The stitch should be drawn close enough home to prevent the silk thread from showing itself on the right side of the cloth, but yet not so close as to draw the edges into a ridge. If the join be as neatly made as it may be, it will, when properly pressed, be barely perceptible. This stitch is used for joining the pieces of cloth of which facings, collar-linings, and other fillings-up of the inner sides of garments, are made, and also in other cases to prevent the taking up too much of the cloth by making a back-stitched seam.

Rantering, like stotting, is intended to conceal a join in the cloth. Here, however, it is requisite to make a strong as well as a neat joining; and therefore a seam is first sewn with a fore-stitch, and then the rantering-stitch is worked upon or over this seam. It should be worked with a very fine silk thread, or with twist that has had one of the strands taken out. The needle should be both long and slender, and must be passed forwards and backwards over the seam, so as to catch hold of its two sides, and draw them closely together. But in doing this care must be taken not to take a deep hold of the cloth: the nap or wool is all that should be taken hold of, and this must be done with a light hand, while the stitches must be placed close to each other, so that the seam may be well covered with wool; when this is done, the seam has to be “rubbed up,” that is to say, it must be held between the fore-finger and thumb of each hand, these being placed upon the fore-stitching, and its two edges brought as closely together as possible. The rantering must then be slightly carded or scratched backwards and forwards with the point of a needle, in order to bring the wool out again where it has been drawn in with the stitch; the seam is then ready for pressing, and, if this operation be properly performed, will be as much concealed as may be necessary; while it will be much stronger than if it had been merely back-stitched.

In fine-drawing, the stitch is formed in the same manner as in rantering, but there is a difference in the way of placing the pieces that are to be joined, _i.e._ if they be separate pieces, for this stitch is mostly used to close up places that have been accidentally cut, or torn; the two edges of the place requiring to be fine-drawn are first trimmed by cutting away the loose threads or ends of the cloth which may be upon them; they are then placed and kept in as level or flat a position as is possible, either with the fingers, or by fastening them to a piece of stiff paper. The needle should be both very small and long, and the thread used, whether it be of silk or twist, should be very slender. Greater care is here necessary than in rantering, to avoid taking a deep hold of the cloth; the needle should be passed forwards and backwards, over the opening, and the thread should be drawn no closer or tighter than is quite needful in order to hide it in the wool. The stitches must be placed as near to each other as is possible, so as to prevent the edges of the cloth from being visible between them; if it be needful to make a strong as well as a neat joining, the fine-drawing should be repeated on the under side of the cloth, but here it will not be needful to put the stitches so close together. When the fine-drawing is done it must be pressed, but with as light a hand and in as short a time as is practicable, otherwise the sewing, however neatly done, will be visible, and so far as it is so, the design of the fine-drawing stitch will not be answered.

The stitch called prick-drawing is now but seldom used, yet it may be proper to notice it briefly. When this stitch is intended to be employed, the edges of the cloth are first stotted together, after which the needle is passed backwards and forwards in diagonal lines, under the stotting, so as to make the join more strong and durable than it can be made by merely stotting the pieces together.

This stitch is used where the cloth is very thick, or hard and unyielding, and, consequently, where the stotting-stitch would quickly give way without this support. It is also better than a back-stitch seam for cloths of this description, inasmuch as it can be made to lie more flat, and thus to be more neat in its appearance, than a common seam.

Overcasting is used merely to secure the edges of thin and loose fabrics from “ravelling out.” In using it, the edges of the cloth, whether it be woollen, linen, or cotton, are first trimmed clear of the loose threads; the needle is then passed through the cloth in a forward direction, at about the distance of one-eighth part of an inch from the edge of the cloth, and when drawn out it is carried (from the left to the right, and not, as in other stitches, from the right to the left) about a quarter of an inch; it is then again put through, and on being drawn out it is made to pass over the thread leading from the preceding stitch, so as to form a kind of loop on the edge; which loop secures the edge from becoming too much frayed, or ravelled.

All the tools that the apprentice or even the journeyman requires may be bought for a few shillings. A yard of linen for a _lap-cloth_; two pairs of _scissors_, one pair moderately large, for common use, and the other small, for button-holes; a _thimble_; a small piece of _bees-wax_; and threepennyworth of _needles_, are all that he will have occasion to buy so long as he is not a master, or a journeyman working at home, when he must procure a _sleeve-board_ and an _iron_. The more expensive part of even these few implements, viz. the scissors, will, with tolerable care, last for a number of years with only the trifling expense of being occasionally sharpened by the cutler.

All the implements used by the Tailor are so well known as to need no particular description; the _sleeve-board_ is used to place in the sleeve of a coat while the seams are pressed with the heated _iron_ or the _goose_. In the _measure book_ the dimensions are written when measurement of a customer is made, and the _French chalk_ marks the direction in which the cloth is cut to the pattern of the various shapes, which are afterwards sewn together to make complete garments.

THE TANNER.

Leather is a substance universally used amongst civilized and very generally amongst barbarous nations; it is made from the skins of animals, which are tanned, or prepared with some substance, having the power of converting the perishable skin, that decays readily when wet or moist, into a lasting and comparatively imperishable leather.

The preparation of skins by tanning or other similar processes has been practised from the earliest times; and although it has engaged the attention of several scientific men, and has been the subject of many curious experiments, it has received less alteration from recent improvements in chemical science than many other manufacturing processes. Several plans, which have been suggested with a view to expediting the process, which on the old system is a very tedious one, have been found to injure the quality of the leather, and have therefore been wholly or partially abandoned; and others, which appear to be more successful, are as yet adopted by a few manufacturers only.

The larger and heavier skins operated upon by the Tanner, as those of bulls, buffaloes, oxen, and cows, are technically distinguished as _hides_, while the name _skins_ is applied to those of smaller animals, as calves, sheep, and goats. The process necessary to convert hides into the thick hard leather used for the soles of boots and shoes, and for similar purposes will first be noticed. The hides are brought to the Tanner either in a fresh state, when from animals recently slaughtered, or, when imported from other countries, dried or salted, and sometimes both, for the sake of preserving them from decomposition. In the former case the horns are removed, and the hide is scraped to cleanse it from any small portions of flesh or fatty matter that may adhere to the inner skin; but in the latter it is necessary to soften the hides, and bring them as nearly as possible to the fresh state, by steeping them in water, and repeated rubbing or beating. After this the hair is removed, sometimes by steeping the hides for several days in a solution of lime and water, which has the effect of loosening the hair and epidermis, or outer skin; and sometimes by suspending them in a close chamber called a smoke-house, heated a little above the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere by means of a smouldering fire, in which case the epidermis is loosened by a very slight putrefaction. In either case, when the hair and epidermis, or cuticle, are sufficiently loosened, they are removed by scraping with a curved knife, the hide being laid upon a convex bench or _beam_.

The hides are prepared for the actual tanning, or immersion in a solution of bark, by steeping them for a few days in a pit containing a sour solution of rye or barley flour, or in a very weak menstruum, consisting of one part of sulphuric acid mixed with from five hundred to a thousand parts of water. By this process, which is called “raising,” the pores of the hides are distended and rendered more susceptible of the action of the tan.

Oak-bark is the substance most commonly used to supply the astringent principle, and it is crushed or ground to powder in a _bark-mill_. In the old method of tanning, which is not yet entirely abandoned, the hides and powdered bark were laid in alternate layers in the _tan pit_, which was then filled with water to the brim. After some months the pit was emptied, and refilled with fresh bark and water; and this process was repeated whenever the strength of the bark was exhausted. In this way, the time required for impregnating the hides varied, according to their thickness and other circumstances, from one to four years. The process has been greatly expedited by the improvement, introduced in consequence of the experiments of M. Seguin, a French chemist, of tanning with concentrated solutions of bark, formed by passing water through a mass of powdered bark, until, by successive filtrations, it is completely deprived of its soluble tanning principle.

The variations of practice among different Tanners extend to the substance used as an astringent, as well as to the manner of applying it. Ground oak-bark, which was formerly the only material in common use, and is still the most general, produces good leather of a light fawn colour. Valonia, of which considerable quantities are imported for the use of Tanners, produces leather of great solidity and weight, the colour of which is inclined to grey, and which is more impervious to water than that made with oak-bark. Valonia consists of the acorns of the _Quercus Ægilops_, and is brought from the Levant and the Morea. Catechu, or terra japonica, the extract of the _Acacia Catechu_, produces leather of a dark reddish fawn colour, which is light, spongy, and very pervious to water.

When the process is complete, the hides are hung up in a shed and allowed to dry slowly; and while they are drying they are compressed by beating, or rubbing, or by passing them between rollers, to give them firmness and density. A yellow deposit is now found upon the surface of the leather, to which the name of “bloom” or “pitching” is technically given.

We have hitherto alluded chiefly to the preparation of the thick hides used for sole leather, among which several varieties may be found, each distinguished by a different technical name, by which its thickness, quality, or mode of preparation is known; but the thinnest and weakest hides, as well as the skins of calves and other animals, are also prepared for use as upper leathers, in which case it is necessary to reduce their thickness by _shaving_ or _paring_ them down upon the flesh or inner side, before they are subjected to the action of the tanning infusions. Such hides or skins also require, after leaving the hands of the Tanner, to be rubbed, softened, and dressed by the currier, in order to bring them to the necessary degree of flexibility and smoothness. The currier also has recourse to shaving or paring with a peculiarly formed _knife_, to bring the skin to the requisite tenuity; and it is his office to blacken the surface, which, for common shoe leather, is done on the flesh side, although for some purposes leather is blackened on the outer or grain side. Horse-hides, which are comparatively weak and thin, are sometimes dressed in the latter way, under the name of Cordovan hides, from the circumstance of such leather having been formerly made at Cordova, in Spain. Calf-skins supply the quality of leather most generally preferred for the upper part of boots and shoes.

Of the thin skins prepared for ornamental purposes, many are tanned with a substance called _sumach_, prepared from a plant of the same name. The tanning is performed by sewing up each skin into the form of a bag, with the grain or hair side outwards, and nearly filling it with a strong solution of _sumach_ in water. The bag is then fully distended by blowing into it, and the aperture is tied up; after which it is thrown into a large shallow vessel filled with hot water containing a little sumach. The distended bags float in this vessel, and are occasionally moved about with a wooden instrument until the solution which they contain has thoroughly penetrated their substance. Owing to the thinness of the skins and the heat to which they are exposed, this operation is performed in a few hours. The process is expedited by taking the bags out of the solution, and piling them upon a perforated bench or rack at the side of the tub, so that their own weight may force the confined liquid through the pores.

When the tanning is completed, the bags are opened to remove the sediment of the sumach; the skins are washed, rubbed on a board, and dried; after which they are ready for dyeing and finishing with a ridged instrument, which imparts to the surface that peculiar grain by which morocco leather is distinguished. An inferior kind of leather, known as “imitation morocco,” is prepared in a similar manner from sheepskins.

“Tawing” is the name applied to the process by which the skins of lambs and kids are converted into soft leather by the action of alum. Of this kind of leather gloves are usually made.

The _jet_ and _plungers_ used for immersing the hides in the tan, the _tongs_ and _hook_ for removing them, and the other implements, are easily understood as applied to the various processes here mentioned.

THE SHOEMAKER.

The trade of the Shoemaker naturally follows that of the tanner, since leather is the material principally employed in making coverings for the feet; the tough hides of animals being used for the same purpose in countries where the art of tanning is either unknown or not practised. Scarcely any handicraft employment engages the attention of so many persons in this country as boot and shoe making. From the fashionable bootmaker to the poor cobbler, who crouches in a stall under a house in some narrow street, is a wide interval, and this interval is filled up by numerous grades. At Northampton boots and shoes are made on a very large scale for the London markets; they include chiefly the cheap varieties, but at some of the recent exhibitions of manufactures the Northampton bootmakers have exhibited specimens of workmanship which are considered to be quite equal to those of London or Paris. At Edenbridge, in Kent, and at other places, the strong coarse “hob-nailed” shoes are made, which are so much worn by waggoners and others.

The London makers import from Paris very large quantities of boot fronts, which, when combined with other parts of English manufacture, constitute many of the “French boots” which now glisten in the windows. Notwithstanding the large number of persons employed in these avocations in England, and the abundant supply of leather, there is still a considerable import of boots and shoes from abroad, chiefly France.

In the old statutes a Shoemaker is called a cordwainer, apparently a corruption of the French _cordonnier_, which means a worker of Cordova leather. The companies of Shoemakers in our ancient towns were incorporated under this name; and where some of these companies now exist, they are known by the same name. As a legal term, cordwainer is still used.

The trade, as now followed in London and other principal places, is subdivided into about twenty branches. The following may be set down as the chief: the shoeman, or maker of the sole part of the shoe; the bootman, or maker of the sole part of the boot; and the boot closer, or joiner together of the leg, vamp, &c. The labour of these is especially directed to what is called the men’s line; whilst others make the ladies’ shoes or boots. There are many women, too, who get a livelihood by closing the shoe, while others again follow the various sorts of binding.

The mechanical processes, after marking and cutting out the leather, consist chiefly in various kinds of strong needlework, such as the lasting or tacking of the upper leather to the in-sole, the sewing in of the welt, the stitching to this welt of the out or top sole, the building and sewing down of the heel, and the sewing or closing of boot legs. The boot closer is the most skilful of the persons employed, and receives the highest wages.

The materials with which the Shoemaker works are generally called the _grindery_,—they are so called at least through England and Scotland, though in Dublin it is called _finding_.

“The cause of this technicality,” says Mr. James Devlin, in his most interesting description of the trade of the Shoemaker in the Industrial Library, “is now, I believe, scarcely known to any one in the trade. The relation to whom I was apprenticed, a man of a very active and inquisitive turn of mind, told me its history, which it may be worth while here to relate.

“Formerly, before hemp, flax, wax, hairs, or any description of tools, were sold, as now, in shops set apart to this particular business, the shoemaker, not using the peculiar sort of stone rubber or the emery composition which he now uses to sharpen his knives upon, was in the habit occasionally of taking his knives to be ground (as the French shoemaker does at the present day) to some of the common knife-grinders of the neighbourhood. The knife-grinder having thus the Shoemaker for a regular customer, began in time to add to his usual business that of selling hemp, &c.; hence his little shop being termed the _grindery_, every thing he sold became known under this name, and is still continued.”

The tools of the Shoemaker are in their collective form denominated his _kit_. Anciently, and in the old songs of the trade, they were called “St. Hugh’s bones,” from a now almost forgotten, though somewhat pleasant tradition. In Stow, and in Randle Holme’s “Academie of Armorie,” 1688, we find this term; as, also, in the still older romance of “Crispin and Crispianus;” and in two plays, “The Shoemaker is a Gentleman,” and the “Shoemaker’s Holiday,” of the beginning of the seventeenth century.

The kit of the Shoemaker is, however, no longer now, as formerly, made up of “bones”—saint or infidel, human or brute,—but principally of good and kindly steel; purchased ready-made at the _grinder’s_, or the grindery establishments before spoken of, and kept afterwards (in this country, at least, and in America) in repair and proper order by the ingenuity and care of the workman himself; though in France, and generally on the continent, much of this is done by another person, to whom such occupation is the sole means of livelihood.

Under the general term _kit_ is comprehended the _pincers_, _nippers_, _hammer_, the various descriptions of _awls_, of _setting irons_, and many other articles.

It has often been a matter for great surprise that the Shoemaker should sit in such a cramped and unhealthy position at his work, crouched over his _clamps_ as he holds the leather in them between his knees while engaged in sewing, or over the block, which he holds fast to his thigh with the _stirrup_ that passes underneath his foot.

Many inventions and improvements have been made for enabling the Shoemaker to stand during a great part of his time, and some of these seem well adapted to supersede the old position, but at present they have been only partially adopted.

The Shoemaker’s thread being tipped with bristles, no needle is required for sewing; but the thread itself is passed through the hole made with the _awl_. Quickly goes in the awl, and as quickly is out again, but not before the hair from the fingers of the left hand has found the passage, without being at all directed by the sight, but literally in the dark; and hence the term _blind stabbing_, the right hand hair immediately following in the opposite course, the closed thumb and fore-finger of either hand nipping at the moment the hairs from these different directions, and drawing the same as instantly out, at once completing the stitch.

A proficient closer, or closer’s boy—for here, in general, the boy is even more expert than the man—will in the space of half an hour stab the four side rows and the two back rows of the counter of a boot, each inch of stitching taking about twenty stitches, and the entire work averaging about fifteen inches, three hundred stitches being thus put in in thirty minutes, or fifty every five minutes, each stitch requiring in itself six distinct operations—the skill of sight or distance, the putting in of the awl, and again its withdrawal, the putting in the left-hand hair, and again of the right, and lastly, the careful though rapid drawing, or rather twitching, out of the thread itself.

The closer needs little kit: a slip of board to _fit_ or prepare the work upon; a pair of _clamps_; a _block_; a _knife_; about three _awls_, two differently-sized closing awls, and one stabbing awl; two _seam-sets_, or it may be three—one for the stabbed sides; a _stirrup_; a case of _needles_ (short blunts), and a _thimble_.

The lining in all shoes, at least, but those of the very strongest kind, is entirely the work of the woman, being done with the needle, and elegantly it often is done. After the lining, the _upper_ has to be _set_; a matter soon effected; the flat-seam-set, or, if stabbed, the stabbing-side-set, being heated at a candle (though this is not necessary, and might from the danger of the practice be well dispensed with) and a little dissolved gum being rubbed on the seam, the set is immediately to be somewhat forcibly and briskly pressed along the line of stitching, which thus takes an almost instant polish, and being also hardened, the upper becomes ready for shop; that is, to be sent to the _maker_, or shoeman, to finish by putting in the welt, soles, and other parts of the shoe; the “stitching” being effected with a square awl.

The number of tools used by the Boot and Shoemaker who combines all the branches of the trade is very great, although few of them are remarkably expensive, except some of the patent metal or hardwood _lasts_, on which the shoes or boots are placed. The _lapstone_ on which the leather is hammered after being damped; and the various kinds of _irons_ used for rubbing, paring, or shaping the soles and other parts of the shoe, are the principal implements, beside the _awls_, _knives_, _hammers_, and _rasp_.

The _glazing iron_ is used for burnishing the heel of the boot or shoe; the _paste horn_ for containing the paste used in the inside lining of the shoe or boot; the _irons_ for setting up the leather beside the stitching, and the _Jim-crow_, which is a small toothed wheel running in a handle for the same purpose. The _long stick_ is used for “sleeking,” or smoothing and softening the upper part of the boot or shoe, after it has been made and placed on the block, in order to take out any wrinkles that may remain.

It would be impossible to give any clear description of all the operations of the trade of the Shoemaker in the space devoted here to this particular business, and even were it attempted, no very clear idea could be conveyed of the various portions of his work; since, like the tailor, he has first to cut out the leather to the proper shape for making the various parts, which have afterwards to be put together. Indeed, beyond mentioning the uses of the various tools, most of which are simple enough, little can be said to explain the operation of the Shoemaker that would not require actual inspection of the different processes; although many of them may be understood by looking at a shoe, after having observed the accompanying pictures and having read what has been said about the tools employed.

THE SADDLER AND HARNESS MAKER.

The manufacture of saddles and harness for horses is one requiring very considerable skill and no little patience, since on the ability of the Saddler depends not only the health and comfort of the horse, but the safety of the rider. The beauty and finish of the harness and its appurtenances are so essential to the proper appearance presented by the whole equipage, that a very great deal of attention is now given even to the smallest details, such as buckles, mounts and ornamental sewing on straps and traces.

The operations in the trade of the Saddler are so similar to those of the shoemaker, as far as the stitching and cutting of leather are concerned, that they require very little description. The most difficult part of his business is the skilful making of saddles. To fit the pigskin over the iron shape, and skilfully to arrange the padding, is often a very troublesome task, where a horse requires some peculiarity of make before he can be well fitted; and to ensure a perfect smoothness and finish a skilful use of the _hand iron_ and the _spokeshave_ is necessary. Similar care has to be taken in forming the collars to which the harness is attached; and indeed no part of the Saddler’s work can be carelessly performed without serious risk either to the horse or its owner.

As a great part of the Saddlers’ work consists of sewing, he uses the _clamps_ to hold the leather between his knees, in the same way as they are used by the shoemaker; but although he employs the _sewing awl_ for drilling holes, or, at all events, the _pricking iron_, the sewing is done with _needles_ and strongly waxed _thread_. The various kinds of _knives_ are used for cutting and paring the leather; the _cutting gauge_ and _compasses_ for regulating the cutting, the _hammer_ for driving the small nails used in the work, and the _mallet_ for striking the _pricking iron_ or _punches_. The _punch_ is used for making the holes in the straps to receive the tongue of the buckle, and is therefore a hollow tube with a sharp cutting edge, so that it will cut out a little round piece of the leather. The _dead punch_ is made solid, and is not intended for cutting. The leather, when it has to be cut with the punch, is placed on the _lead piece_, a small square block of lead, which being soft allows a slight yielding of the leather, and at the same time does not blunt the edge of the punch when it has passed through the hole.

The _seat awl_ and _packing awl_ are used in the padding and making of saddles and collars; the _nail claw_ for removing nails by which the leather has been fastened down.

The various kinds of _creases_ are for the purpose of making channels in the leather along the edges which have to be sewn, so that the stitches are sunk below the surface, and the thread will not so easily wear out. The _edging iron_ is for a similar purpose. In common saddlery some of the comparatively unimportant straps, or the smaller gear, are not sewn at the edges, and indeed do not require it, although a great deal of the Saddler’s sewing is for ornamental purposes. In order to make the whole look uniform, however, these straps are not left plain, but are creased at the edges, and the channels thus made are marked with the _pricking iron_, to give them the appearance of having been stitched. The Saddler is better off than the shoemaker, inasmuch as he generally sits to work at a bench, and need not occupy such a constrained and unhealthy position.

Some account has already been given of the preparation of leather, but it will be desirable here to mention other sorts, some of which particularly belong to the business of harness making.