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The Jute Trade of Dundee
Jute Spinning and Weaving in Dundee 1900
From the old Dundee Year Books of the 19th Century
Jute and flax spinning and weaving may be regarded as the staple industries of Dundee, and the former is carried on far more extensively here than in any other part of the kingdom. There is an element of romance in the story of the first introduction of jute as a fibre suitable for weaving. The plants Corchorm capsularia and G. olitorius, from which it is obtained, grow plentifully in all parts of India, and towards the close of last century the East India Company caused inquiry to be made as to whether it was capable of being used as a substitute for hemp, but the report received by them was unfavourable.
In 1824 a few bales of jute were sent to Mr Anderson, a Dundee linen-manufacturer, who made numerous experiments with it, but could not produce any yarn from it of finer quality than was suitable for coarse bagging. About the same time Mr Neish, of Dundee, obtained a small quantity of the fibre from India, and endeavoured to induce the linen weavers in the district to spin it, but no one would attempt the task. The idea was abandoned for a time, but when Mr Neish ‘had another consignment of it in 1832, he once more sought to make something out of it. After repeated applications Messrs Balfour & Meldrum, spinners, Dundee, consented to give the fibre a fair trial, and the result was encouraging. Their first attempts were made by mixing the jute with flax and tow, but in 1835 they had so far gained confidence in the new material that they were able to spin yarn of pure jute. So rapidly did its value increase that within four years its price was doubled, and thus the foundations were laid for the erection of an industry that has now reached gigantic proportions. The nature of jute and its capabilities are thus described by Mr Warden: — “It is one of the most easily dyed fabrics known, and the colours it takes on are bright and beautiful. The common dyes are quickly applied, but they are very fugitive, and when exposed to the sun’s rays soon become faint ana dull. By the common process the colouring matter strikes little more than the outside of the fibre, and, as it were, paints it; and this mode of dyeing requires little material and is done at small cost. The fibres of jute do not sub-divide so minutely as those of flax, and they are of a hard, dry nature, and to a considerable extent impervious to moisture. It therefore requires a more complex process to make the colouring materials thoroughly penetrate the fibres so as to make the dye lasting. This can, however, be accomplished, and the better class of goods made of dyed jute undergo this process, which makes the colours both brighter and faster. It is hardly possible to make every colour perfectly fast, although some of them are as durable as those upon other materials. Jute is very readily brought to a rich cream colour either in the fibre, in yarn, or in cloth. It is, however, very difficult to bring it to a full white without injuring the strength of the fibre. . . The sightly nature of jute, the regular, even thread which by improved machinery is formed of it, and the smooth, tidy, and clean appearance of jute cloth, are all pleasing to the eye, and therefore attractive. These qualities, combined with its cheapness, have served to recommend it to consumers, and bring it into general use. Now, instead of being used stealthily by spinners, as of old, it is the only material spun in a large proportion of the factories, and to a greater or less extent is used in every establishment in town.” The difficulties in the way of bleaching and dyeing jute here referred to nave been largely overcome by recent improvements in these processes.
The method adopted in the preparation of jute for the spinning-mill differs somewhat from that employed in the manufacture of linen. The raw material is brought to this country in bales weighing about 400 lbs. each, and so extensive is the demand for jute that some of the largest sailing ships afloat are employed in this trade. These bales are stored in great quantities at the jute works and withdrawn as required. The first operation in manufacturing the fibre is “batching.” One of the great obstacles which the early workers in jute had to contend with was the hard and dry nature of the fibre, which prevented it from being either spun or weaved satisfactorily. To overcome this difficulty old machines were altered, and new ones devised, but without effect, until the idea occurred that the jute might be made more pliable by being moistened with oil. This method was tried and found successful to a degree beyond expectation. The oil is applied in a special apartment called the batching- room, in which the jute is spread in layers, each layer receiving an abundant sprinkling of oil and water. In that condition the material is allowed to lie a certain time, according to the season and temperature. The fibres of jute are from five to eight feet in length, and in order to bring them to a spinning condition they used to be cut; but as a square end was not favourable to complete heckling nor correct spinning, the fibres are now torn asunder by being fastened by the ends to iron bars placed on either side of a wheel having a number of stout spikes on its rim. After a handful of jute is fastened to the bars, the latter are thrown forward, the spikes strike the jute in the centre, the fibres are dissevered, and a fine pointed end appears on each side. After the heckling process is completed, the jute is treated much in the same way as lint or flax.
The works of Messrs Cox Brothers at Lochee, called the Camperdown Jute Works, may be taken as a typical example of a jute factory. The whole of these premises cover an area of 28 acres, and some idea of their extent and arrangement may be obtained by an examination of the bird’s-eye view of them given. The factory is built in a most substantial manner of blocks of hewn squared freestone, quarried on the property and in the immediate neighbourhood; and it may be mentioned as a striking feature in the public works in Dundee that very little brick is used in building. Forfarshire is a sandstone county, and it is really more economical to use this material in erections such as this than to bring bricks to Dundee from the day-fields of Fife or the Lothians. The arrangement of the Camperdown Works is so skilfully contrived that the various processes regularly succeed each other without the least obstruction, loss of time, or unnecessary labour. Every precaution is taken against fire, and the ventilating and other sanitary appliances are of the most scientific and modem description. As the works are placed beside the Dundee and Newtyle Railway—one of the oldest railway lines in the kingdom, now wrought by the Caledonian Railway Company—all the material for the carrying on of the business is readily delivered by a branch siding that joins the line at Lochee. The bales of jute fibre are placed on trucks as they are taken from the huge jute ships in the docks and are transported through Dock Street by a street railway and put on the line at the West Station. These trucks proceed with their cargo to Lochee and are not unloaded until they reach their destination at Camperdown Works. The coals are tipped from the railway waggons beside the furnaces, which are connected with the thirty-eight two-flued boilers that supply steam as the motive power, and this steam is distributed by mains thickly coated with non-conducting material, passing along under the street and avenue to the engines, which are in separate parts of the works, giving an aggregate of over 4000 indicated horsepower. The consumption of fuel, even with all modern improvements is 90 tons per day, and all this expenditure of force demands the guidance and co-operation of an army of 5000 employees. Although smoke is consumed as far as possible, the residue and noxious gases are carried off by a highly ornamental chimney stalk 300 feet high and 35 feet wide at the base, built of red and white brick and stone, which cost £6000, and which forms a conspicuous landmark from a neat distance. By the gradual addition of various departments, the firm is now in a position to spin the jute into yarn for other manufacturers, to weave every kind of jute fabric, and to put forth the finished cloth, calendered and ready for the market. The spinning-mills contain over 20,000 spindles, and the Weaving sheds 1000 power-looms capable of making (cloth ranging in width from 30 inches to 120 inches. Over 120,000 bales of jute of 400 lbs. each, are. annually used, this being about an eighth part of the consumption of this material in Dundee and district, and about one-fourteenth of the total imported into Great Britain, much of which finds its way to the Continent. Some notion of the vast increase of the jute trade within the last 50 years may_ be formed by a comparison of the quantities imported to Dundee. In 1838, after serious efforts to make jute available had proved so far successful, the whole quantity imported was 1136 tons. Last year (1889) the total number of vessels in this trade that arrived at the harbour was 81, with an aggregate tonnage of 149,896 tons, and this fleet landed 1,205,730 bales of jute, equal to nearly 215,309 tons. A large proportion of the jute manufactured at Camperdown Works is put forth as yarn; but besides this product the weaving-sheds make annually from 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 yards of cloth of various kinds. Even a partial enumeration of the woven products of jute manufactured at Camperdown Works will show how largely this once despised material is now used. There is the ordinary packsheet, called Hessian, utilised not only for packing but also in the manufacturing of upholstery goods, sacking, bagging, tarpaulins for waggons and rick covers, shop twines, cords, ropes, harvesting and trussing twines, sacks for potatoes, grain, flour, and hops, biscuit and salt bags, sugar bags, cement bags, horse-blanketing, camp-stool cloth, woolpacks for the colonies, mattress cloth, bed ticks, embroidery cloth, and under-carpeting, mattings, hearthrugs, stair carpets, crumb-cloths, table covers, bedcovers, towels, tailors’ padding, tan-canvas for school bags, trunk covers, and countless other requisites of commerce and domestic life. Messrs Cox Brothers have attained a high reputation for the quality of their yarns, and many of the finest spinning machines which they use have been made by themselves at the works and patented by members of the firm. The making of finished bags and sacks is managed by the overhead, hand-stitch machines invented by James Laing, a Dundee mechanic, and the sewing machine room is itself one of the marvels of modern ingenuity. Within the works there are well-equipped foundries, and workshops for engineers, mechanics, carpenters, joiners, plumbers, gasfitters, tinsmiths, painters, and glaziers. The greater portion of the buildings was erected by a resident staff of masons, who are constantly employed either making additions, reconstructions, or repairs upon the structures. There is a large dining-hall within the building for the use of the workers, and a building has been specially erected as a school for half-timers, where 500 young people receive free education under Government inspection. To ensure a steady supply of jute to keep this vast concern in operation, the raw material is collected in India by agents of the firm, packed at Calcutta by their own hydraulic presses, and brought to this country by a fleet of vessels in which the firm has a large proprietary interest.
A gigantic business such as this could not have Men built up as it has been within 50 years save by the exercise of rare commercial talents, combined with uncommon industry and foresight; and the history of the Cox family may be taken as a fair example of that of several of the leading merchant princes of Dundee. James Cock or Cox, the great-grandfather of the principal members of the firm, was a linen manufacturer in a small way at Lochee in the early part of the eighteenth century and died in 1741. His eldest son, David Cock, continued the concern till his death in 1793, when it came into the hands of his younger brother James, who was a man of great enterprise, and one of the founders of the Dundee Banking Company. The latter resigned the business to his son, James Cock, in 1810, and by him the manufacturing of linen was prosecuted for some time with success. He gave up the business in 1827 and lived in retirement till 1848. His eldest son, the late James Cox, succeeded to the business when only twenty years of age, and as experiments in the manufacture of jute were then being made, he early saw the prospective advantage to be derived from its introduction, and by dint of perseverance ultimately made its use practicable. In 1841—exactly a century after the death of the first James Cock—he assumed his three brothers, William, Thomas, and George, as partners, and founded the firm of Cox Brothers, a firm which has now attained a world-wide celebrity. Power-looms were introduced to the factory in 1845, and the works have since been extended until they have reached their present colossal magnitude. The name of the Camperdown Linen Works was early bestowed upon the concern in compliment to the Earl of Camperdown, whose estate is in the vicinity. James Cox entered the Town Council in 1868 and was chosen Provost in 1S72. He took a deep interest in the erection of the first railway bridge across the Tay, and his firm subscribed £10,000 towards that undertaking. His death took place on 1st December 1885, when he had reached the 75th year of his age. The other three brothers— William Cox of Snaigow and Foggeyley, Thomas H. Cox of Strathmartine, Maulesden, and Duncarse, and George Addison Cox of Invertrossachs and Beech wood—are still members of the firm. Like other Dundee merchants, the members of the Cox family have been generous to their fellow-citizens. Mr Thomas H. Cox gave a Jubilee donation of £12,000 towards the equipment and endowment of a Chair of Anatomy in University College; and the firm has just presented, at considerable cost, a recreation park at Lochee for the use of the inhabitants.
The other great jute-spinning and weaving firms in Dundee need not here be specifically described, as their growth and extension are similar in character and rapidity to those of Camperdown Works. Messrs Gilroy, Sons, & Co., Limited, have developed a large business in the course of a comparatively brief space of time. This concern is now transformed into a Limited Liability Co., their principal works being in Lochee Road. Messrs J. & A. D. Grimond, Bow Bridge and Maxwelltown Works, were amongst the first to devote attention to the production of jute carpets and curtains, and in this department, they have long held a leading place. Their business was founded about 30 years ago, and in 1885 they made large additions to their weaving factories, chiefly for the purpose of developing the manufacture of jute goods of finer quality. Bow Bridge Works occupy a large space of ground, having frontages to Dens Road and Caldrum Street. The firm now known as Kinmond, Luke, & Co. was founded in 1855, their factories being Pleasance Works, Lochee Road, and Ericht Works, Blairgowrie. The spinning-mills in Scouringburn that formerly belonged to Messrs Ritchie & Simpson were acquired by Mr Charles Lyell in June 1887, and were then named Queen Victoria Works, as a memorial of the Jubilee of Her Majesty. Messrs Thomas Bell & Sons, Dundee, Limited, were the first to introduce looms for the manufacture of the wide jute cloth required for the making of floorcloth and linoleum. Messrs Malcolm, Ogilvie, & Co., have extensive spinning and weaving factories at Dens Road; and Messrs John Sharp & Sons are the proprietors of the large concerns known as Miln Street, Bower, and Edward Street Mills Messrs James Paterson & Co., Lawside Works, have made a specialty of jute carpetings; and Messrs James Scott & Sons, Mid Wynd, have a very extensive business connection both at home and abroad for finished jute fabrics. Messrs Thomson, Shepherd, & Co., Seafield Works, were the first in the jute carpet trade ; and amongst the important firms engaged in spinning and weaving the firms of Messrs Harry Walker & Sons, Caldrum Works; Henry Smith & Co., Polepark; F. S. Sande- man, Manhattan Works; Alexander Henderson, Dudhope Works; John Henderson & Sons, Lindsay Street; A. & J. Adie; Gibson, Robertson, & Co., Craigie Works; Baxter Brothers & Co., Dens Works; and D. W. Wybrants, North Dudhope Works, are well known. The works of Messrs J. Smieton & Son are at Carnoustie, and though smaller in extent than some of those named they are regarded as a model of what a weaving factory ought to be. These are the leading firms in an industry that has sprung into existence and reached maturity within a very short period, whereby a very large proportion of the inhabitants of Dundee obtain a livelihood. It would be difficult to estimate the amount of capital sunk in this business, but it is easy to see even from this brief sketch that the financial operations of these firms must be enormous. The following is an approximate estimate: — Plant, buildings, and machinery, £6,000,000; wages paid annually, £1,500,000; outlay on stock of raw material, finished goods, stores, depreciation, superintendence, &c., say £3,750,000, giving a total of £11,250,000 employed in the jute trade alone.
LINEN-WEAVING.
Dundee has been fitly styled “the metropolis of the linen trade.” The date at which the manufacture of linen cloth was begun in Dundee is not known, but it can claim a very respectable antiquity. Hector Boece, the prince of historical romancers, who was born in Dundee in 1465, quaintly alludes to his birthplace as “the toun quhair we wer born, quhair mony virtewus and lauborious pepill are in, making of claith.” At the time of tne Union of England and Scotland it is recorded that 1,500,000 yards of linen were made annually in Dundee, though this statement is open to doubt. There can be no question, however, that a hundred years ago (1789) the quantity of coarse linen made for sale and stamped amounted to 3,181,990 yards,
valued at £80,587. If to this be added 700,000 yards of sailcloth, valued at £32,000, it will be seen that this branch of the weaving trade was an extensive one long before power-looms were introduced. All the yarn used up till the beginning of this century was spun by hand in the country districts and was limited in quantity and uncertain In quality. Hie first attempt at flax-spinning by machinery in Dundee was made by Messrs Fairweather & Mar, about 1793, in their mill at Chapelshade, the motive power being a steam-engine of 10 horse-power. This was followed by the erection of other four spinning-mills, but these were unsuccessful as commercial speculations. In 1822 a vast change had taken place in this industry, as there were then 17 flax-spinning mills in operation in Dundee, with an aggregate of 178 horse-power in the steam-engines employed, giving occupation to about 2000 persons. During the next 25 years a great increase took place m the number of spinning-mills, as in 1847 there were 36 mills in operation, with a motive power equal to 1242 horses, while the number of spindles was 71,670.
The power-loom for weaving linen did not at first meet with success in Dundee. The earliest power-loom factory was that erected by Messrs W. Baxter & Sons at their Upper Dens Works in 1836. Mr William Baxter of Balgavies, the founder of this firm, belonged to a family that had been connected with the weaver trade in Dundee from the beginning of the eighteenth century. His first venture was a flax-spinning mill at Glamis, in the working of which he was associated with his four sons. Their success induced them to establish spinning-mills in Dundee, and to add weaving by power-looms In 1846, and thus to form the nucleus of the gigantic concern which is known throughout the world by the denomination of Baxter Brothers & Co. Their first mill on Dens Burn was soon supplemented by another near it. When the power- loom department was added the firm had two steam engines of 30 horse-power each, and 256 looms, with accommodation for nearly double that number, together with a calendering shop with a 10 horse-power engine. Hie present condition of the works is in marked contrast to their state in 1845. The ground now occupied by, Messrs Baxter Brothers So Co. extends to 21 acres, and the buildings have a superficial area of floor space of more than 12 acres, the greater part of which is covered with machinery of the finest description. When the first power- loom factory was started it was calculated It gave employment to 300 persons. Twenty years afterwards it was estimated that the number of persons employed by Messrs Baxter was about 4500, whilst it was stated in 1867 that the total number of persons directly engaged in the various branches of the linen and jute manufacture in Dundee could not be much short of 55,000. No accurate statistics of the operatives in this trade have been published lately, but it may safely be assumed in the jute trade the workers employed in these manufactures will be nearly 70,000 in number. Taking the leading firms engaged in this industry together with Messrs Baxter Brothers and adding the value of the bleach-works, calenders and other factories necessary for the production of finished linen goods it is calculated that the capital involved in this industry alone amounts to close upon £2,000,000. But for the diversion of much of the energy to the production of jute fabrics that would otherwise have been devoted to linen manufacture this sum would be very much greater. It is calculated that jute spinning and weaving in Dundee alone require a capital of over £11,000,000, and when the subsidiary occupations—bleaching, Ac.—are included it is safe to set down the capital involved in the production of textile fabrics of this description at not less than £14,000,000.
DYEING AND BLEACHING.
The colouring of spun fibre and woven fabrics is one of the most ancient of the arts. Civilisation in its earliest history affords indications of the existence of those who devoted their attention to the producing of different hues and colours in order to satisfy the natural desire of the eye for beauty or to mark clan relationships and racial distinctions. The Scottish dyers have long been famed for their skill, and in the times when colours were produced on wool, silk, and cotton by secret processes in the exclusive possession of a few artificers the headquarters of this industry were to be found in the West of Scotland. All this is now changed, however, as machinery has done away with the manual skill required by the dyers of former times, and the invention of the coal-tar colouring compounds has led to a revolution in the trade. Although dyer's colours are now
provided for him by the colour-maker in contrast with the older method whereby he had to form the colour in the fibre itself in the process of dyeing, still his duties are as important as formerly. Much skill and experience are required to select the best and most economical method of applying those colouring materials properly suited to the fabric which he is treating from the great range of colours that are now at his disposal. The dyer trade in Dundee was formed by the combination of the Waulker Craft and the Litster Craft, both of which had an independent existence in the. fifteenth century. It was not, however, an extensive business in the burgh until a comparatively recent date, and its present prosperity is largely due to the immense impetus given to it by the introduction of jute as a textile fabric. The material, from its physiological structure, and in consequence of the tannin it contains, naturally attracts colouring matter more readily than any other known fibre, and after the original grey of the jute has been removed by bleaching, it will take on dyes which for brightness, fulness, and appearance vie with those of silk and wool. When Jute is properly dyed and finished, the fibre shows a beautiful silky lustre that greatly enhances the appearance of coloured goods manufactured from it. The dyed jute yarns are mostly used in the manufacture of jute carpetings and mattings, and also for the backing of woollen carpets and rugs. The finer yarns are now utilised for fancy woven fabrics, such as curtains, tapestries, tablecovers, Ac., and the increasing demand for these goods is no doubt due to the great skill and taste displayed in the colouring and designing of them. During the last few years the printing of jute carpeting has been largely introduced, and this allows the manufacturer to produce a beautiful design in varied colours, where formerly he was confined to the use of very monotonous stripes and figures. In Dundee there are about a dozen dyeing and printing works, employing nearly 400 persons. The principal firm engaged in the dyeing, bleaching, ana printing of jute yarns and piece goods is that of Messrs Francis Stevenson A Sons, Lawside Dyeworks. This business was founded by Mr Francis Stevenson a considerable time ago, and new works were erected in 1884, with plant and machinery of the most modem character. Whilst the business of this firm is confined to dyeing for manufacturing purposes, the firm of Messrs Stevenson Brothers, The Dundee Dyeworks, Hilltown, and 88 Tottenham Court Road, London, is devoted to what may be termed the domestic trade that Is, the dyeing of silks, satins, and velvets, upholstery furnishings, damask curtains, and articles of dress. The latter business was established in 1877 by two sons of Mr Francis Stevenson, and has been recently extended to provide accommodation for new departments added to their works.
The bleaching of yarn has long been an important industry in this locality, though, like other kindred occupations, it has developed amazingly since the introduction of jute. The only freshwater stream of any importance in the neighbourhood of Dundee is the Dighty, and for several miles of its course it is studded with numerous bleaching works, which, though beyond the city boundaries, are still inseparably connected with the trade of Dundee. One of the largest concerns of this kind is that of Messrs Cargill & Co., who have bleachfields at Mid Mill, Fontainbleau, and Parkhead. Mr Cargill, the founder of this firm, has had over 50 years’ practical experience of the trade, and it has attained its present importance and extent during his connection with it. In 1852 his firm acquired the premises of the Dundee Bleach- works Company, and these have been extended until they now cover an area of 30 acres. Messrs Cargill & Co. have also a spinning mill at Blebo Works, near Cupar Fife. Many of the larger firms of jute spinners have now bleachfields of their own and have made this adjunct of their industry a separate department. The principal bleachfields on the river Dighty are those of Messrs John Carmichael, Baldovan; Hoodie & Co., Balmuirfield; W. Black, Harestane; Boase & Co., Claverhouse; Cargill & Co., Mid Mill; and McIntyre Brothers, Ballunie.
CALENDERING.
"The process of calendering is subsidiary to that of weaving but is not the less necessary for the purpose of preparing cloth for the market. After the linen and jute fabrics have left the looms, they are “cropped” to remove all superfluous fibres, and are then passed through a heavy mangle, which imparts a glossy appearance to them. If the pieces are not to be made into bags or sacking, they are measured by a very ingenious machine, and are lapped and made ready for shipment, but if they are intended to be used for the making of bags the webs pass through a machine called the “cutter,” which cuts the lengths to the required sizes. In baling the goods, the hydraulic press is used and goods for exportation are thus greatly reduced in bulk so as to occupy less room on shipboard. In the golden days of the jute trade calendering was a distinct industry outside of the weaving trade, as independent firms finished the goods made in the factories and prepared them for shipment. In this respect, however, a change has gradually taken place in consequence of the competition in the jute trade, the result being that most of the large manufacturers have erected calenders of their own, so as to save the commission of the middlemen. The public calenders are therefore on the decline. As an indication of this change it may be stated that, while 100 of the new and powerful hydraulic mangles required in this business were turned out in the Dundee foundries last year, not one of them has been fitted up in a public calender. The men and boys now employed in the public calenders do not exceed 1000 persons, exclusive of those employed in this department by weaving firms.
HACKLEMAKING.
Very much of the success which has attended the spinning of jute may be attributed to the ingenious system of hackling devised by Mr George Worrall, Blinshall Street. One of the chief difficulties in the preparation of the jute fibre was its separation and subdivision so as to make it possible to spin the fibre into yarn. Flax has to undergo the same process of separation, but as the fibre is much softer and more amenable to treatment, the machinery used does not require the same strength as was found necessary for jute. The machinery suitable for flax was at first used for the jute, but it was soon found that the new fibre put such a severe strain upon the carding cloth used that the expense involved through deterioration seemed likely to add greatly to the cost of production. The practice was to cover the cylinders with leather into which iron pins were inserted, and when these pins were broken there was no method of replacing them save by stripping the cylinders and clothing them afresh—a work which entailed the delay of several days, besides much expense. In December 1852 a meeting of mill managers and card-cloth makers was held with the view of ascertaining whether a stronger card-cloth could not be introduced, as it wasfound that the leather filleting with iron pins could not withstand such a heavy fibre as jute. No reasonable escape from this difficulty was then suggested, but, as Mr Worrall was then in business as a hacklemaker in Dundee, the subject was brought immediately under his notice. After much careful thought he came to the conclusion that hardwood lags of staves might be substituted for leather and that by putting straight tempered steel pins in the staves a much cheaper and stronger covering could be made. On consultation with his partner, Mr Hallam, he proposed to make cylinders covered in this fashion for experiment, but Mr Hallam regarded the proposal unfavourable. After the dissolution of the partnership Mr Worral had the business in his own hands and he then carried out the necessary experiments to test the value of his invention. On 2nd November 1853 the first wooden breaker cylinder cover ever made was put in operation and soon proved the utility of the device. In a very short time the old system of carding was abandoned and the wood covered cylinders were used with great success by al engaged in the jute trade. The great advantage of this system is not only its strength and cheapness as compared with the leather carding, but also its economy in time as well as money. In former times hen the leather card clothing gave way days elapsed before it could be renewed, but under the present arrangement the staves can be taken out, the worn pins removed and new ones substituted within a couple of hours. One of the machines in Mr Worrall’s works removes the worn-out pins from the staves at the rate of from 10,000 to 30,000 an hour, and the speed with which the pins can be refitted is quite remarkable. Mr Worrall did not patent his invention, but generously placed it at the service of the manufacturers, and his public spirit in this respect has been highly appreciated and duly acknowledged by all engaged in the jute spinning trade. It has now been universally adopted and there are several firms engaged in the hacklemaking trade in Dundee, whose production of hackle-pins for the home and foreign trade amounts to several million pounds per week, the wire for which is all drawn in the city.