Textile Merchandise
The many varieties of woven cloths are described in the articles already mentioned in the manufacture of cotton, linen, wool, and silk, and in articles on special fabrics.Hosiery(Vol. 13, p. 788) covers the textiles that are produced by knitting or looping, and gives an account, with illustrations, of the machinery employed.Net(Vol. 19, p. 412) covers the textiles of which the mesh is knotted.
Lace(Vol. 16, p. 37), by Alan Cole, contains some of the most beautiful full-page plates and other illustrations to be found in the Britannica, and is a very full treatise on the history and the present state of the lacemaking art.
Flannel(Vol. 10, p. 480) describes the true flannels made from wool, andFlannelette(Vol. 10, p. 481) the cotton imitations and the new fire-resisting fabrics of this class.Drill(Vol. 8, p. 580) covers both the cotton and linen tissues sold under this name.Crepe(Vol. 7, p. 379) mentions the curious fact that the Chinese and Japanese makers of soft crepe guard their secret processes, which are still unknown to western manufacturers, so carefully that the different stages of their production are carried on in towns far distant from one another.
Carpet(Vol. 5, p. 392) contains full-page plates of rare specimens and describes pile carpets, flat-surfaced carpets and the printed carpetings.
Tapestry(Vol. 26, p. 403) deals with another luxurious branch of the textile industry, and is illustrated with photographs of the finest specimens and with pictures showing the methods of weaving.Brocade(Vol. 4, p. 620) describes and illustrates this stately class of fabrics.Embroidery(Vol. 9, p. 309) with six full-page plates andShawl(Vol. 24, p. 814) deal with other art textiles.
Tartan(Vol. 26, p. 431) describes the colours and patterns of all Scottishclan tartans.Damask(Vol. 7, p. 785) discusses this fine class of fabrics, the weaving of which is the subject of a special section (Vol. 28, p. 454) of the articleWeaving. The enormous consumption of coarse bags for the packing of raw cotton and of sugar gives importance to the articlesBagging(Vol. 3, p. 200) andSacking and Sack Manufacture(Vol. 23, p. 975).Canvas(Vol. 5, p. 223) discusses sail cloth and artists’ canvas, andTarpaulin(Vol. 26, p. 430) deals with waterproof covers.
The Seventy Articles on Special Fabrics
It is unnecessary to describe one by one the seventy articles on other fabrics and tissues, ranging through the alphabet from Alpaca to Velveteen; but they are all included in the list at the end of this chapter, and all are fully described in the Britannica.Costume(Vol. 7, p. 224) is a long and important article, with a full page plate and many other illustrations. The section on dress in general is by T. A. Joyce, of the British Museum staff, that on ancient costumes by H. S. Jones, director of the British School at Rome, and that on modern costume by Oswald Barron, editor ofThe Ancestor. The account of underclothing is of especial interest, as most books on costume altogether neglect this branch of the subject. Another section of this article is on national and official costumes by W. Alison Phillips, principal assistant editor of the Britannica. The study of ceremonial robes is carried into further detail by the articleRobe(Vol. 23, p. 408), with its five richly colored plates, in one of which the judicial robes of the U. S. Supreme Court Justices are shown. Liturgical vestments are dealt with inVestments(Vol. 28, p. 27) and in a series of articles such asDalmatic(Vol. 7, p. 776) andAlb(Vol. 1, p. 497).
Inventors of Textile Machinery and Great Textile Merchants
Among the biographies which are of interest in connection with textiles are those ofArkwright, Richard(Vol. 2, p. 556), the barber who invented the spinning frame;Cartwright, Edmund, (Vol. 5, p. 425), inventor of the power loom;Crompton, Samuel(Vol. 7, p. 486), inventor of the spinning mule;Salt, Titus(Vol. 23, p. 87), who created the alpaca industry;Strutt, Jedediah(Vol. 25, p. 1044), who did much to perfect the manufacture of cotton; and ofWhitney, Eli(Vol. 28, p. 611), who went from Yale to Savannah to secure a position as school teacher and then, being disappointed, turned his attention to a device for separating the cotton fibre from the seeds and refuse, and invented the gin which has “profoundly influenced American industrial economic and social history.” Another name of a great American inventor who individually rendered great services to the textile industry is that ofHowe, Elias(Vol. 13, p. 835), who invented the sewing machine. You will also be interested in the lives of successful merchants such asCanynges, William(Vol. 5, p. 223), the great 15th Century cloth manufacturer who became a clergyman after making a large fortune;Mackintosh, Charles(Vol. 17, p. 250), who introduced lightweight waterproof garments;Wanamaker, John(Vol. 28, p. 302), who began life as an errand boy in a book store;Field, Marshall(Vol. 10, p. 322), who when Chicago was a comparatively unimportant city founded there what has become the finest dry goods store in the world;Stewart, A. T.(Vol. 25, p. 912), who after studying for the ministry in Dublin, immigrated to New York and gradually built up the largest retail store in the city;Pease, Edward(Vol. 21, p. 31), founder of a famous Quaker family of textile manufacturers in England; andClaflin, H. B.(Vol. 6, p. 418), who came from Worcester, Mass., to New York where he for years controlled “the greatest mercantile business in the world.”If you turn to the ArticleWorcester(Vol. 28, p. 823) you will note the associations of the locality with Elias Howe, Eli Whitney, Samuel Crompton, already mentioned, L. J. Knowles, another inventor who helped to perfect the power loom, and Erastus Bigelow, who invented the carpet-weaving machine (Vol. 6, p. 530) and was one of the incorporators of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Other lives of successful textile makers and dealers are those ofRylands, John(Vol. 23, p. 950), founder of the largest cotton mills in Lancashire;Dexter, Timothy(Vol. 8, p. 141), the eccentric New England merchant of the 18th Century who beat his wife for not weeping heartily enough at the rehearsal of his funeral;Horrocks, John(Vol. 13, p. 712), the great English cotton manufacturer who was far ahead of his time and died of brain fever produced by overwork in 1804;Worth, C. F.(Vol. 28, p. 834), the famous Paris dressmaker who began life as a London draper’s apprentice;Whitely, William(Vol. 28, p. 605), “the Universal Provider,” of London; andTata, J. N.(Vol. 26, p. 448), the great Parsee textile manufacturer.
CHAPTER VIFOR MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS OF MACHINERY
A Change in Public Opinion
An appreciation of the science of mechanical engineering is so indispensable to the manufacture and sale of machinery that the reader of this Guide might simply have been referred to the chapterFor Engineersas covering the industry, if it were not that the Britannica contains (as the list at the end of this chapter shows) a great number of articles dealing with individual machines. The amount of space which the new Britannica devotes to mechanical subjects, and the great number of expert contributors whose collaboration was enlisted in this connection, are significant from more than one point of view. All other general encyclopaedias, including earlier editions of the Britannica itself, seem to have been influenced by the old-fashioned fetish of “pure” scholarship and “pure” science, treating theory as a subject of study much more dignified than the application of knowledge to the practical affairs of life. Until recent days the great universities of such important manufacturing countries as England, Germany and France were almost exclusively devoted to the teaching of philosophy, history, Greek and Latin, mathematics and pure or natural science. The older universities of the United States, too, were for a long time reluctant to recognize the growing importance of technical education, and the necessity, apart from technical education, of giving the general student some knowledge of mechanics. And it is a significant fact that the Britannica, the first encyclopaedia that has ever been published by a university, should be, although it comes from one of the oldest of all universities, the first to give full recognition to the importance of this department of knowledge.
Men in the machinery trade will welcome this change of attitude in the Britannica, not because they crave a public acknowledgment of the great share of the world’s work that they are doing, but because public ignorance of mechanical subjects results in the abuse of machines and in unreasonable complaints against manufacturers when improperly used machinery fails to do its work. A curious illustration of the general disregard of the subject is supplied by the fact—as true of the United States as of England, Germany or France—that representative government is, in practice, chiefly government by lawyers, and that in this age of machinery it is the exception to find in the cabinet which directs the affairs of any country, a single member who has any knowledge of mechanics. The same ignorance is conspicuous in newspaper offices. Even the most dignified dailies seem unable to deal with any news that has to do with machinery without making ridiculous blunders.
Influence of Automobiles
Fortunately, the automobile is beginning to stimulate interest in practical mechanics, for no one can attempt to drive his own car, or even to obtain proper service from his chauffeur and from garage workmen, without realizing that he failed, at school, to learn some of the most useful of lessons. Before long theauthorities responsible for our public schools may realize that it is absolute barbarism to neglect mechanical teaching as they do; and the new Britannica is already doing good service in stimulating public interest in the subject.
An examination of the articles mentioned in detail in the following summary, and a glance at the long list of articles at the end of the chapter, will show the comprehensiveness with which the Britannica treats all types of machinery. The materials employed are, logically, the first subjects upon which information will be desired.
Iron and Steel(Vol. 14, p. 801), by Professor H. M. Howe of Columbia University, is a mine of information about the properties and uses of the different varieties of the indispensable metal of which 50,000,000 tons per annum are employed. In the manufacture of electrical apparatusCopper(Vol. 7, p. 102) is largely employed, and for this reason alone the article has great value for the manufacturer. Almost as important isAlloys(Vol. 1, p. 704). Its chief author, Sir William Chandler Roberts-Austen, is the greatest living authority on alloys, and it is full of interesting facts about new admixtures.
The processes ofAnnealing, Hardening and Temperingare described in J. G. Horner’s article under that title (Vol. 2, p. 70). This authority explains clearly the difference between hardening and tempering and gives valuable advice as to the most efficient methods of hardening.Founding(Vol. 10, p. 743), also by J. G. Horner, is fully illustrated, and the question of the highest economies of machine moulding are among the practical matters considered.Forging(Vol. 10, p. 663), with 19 illustrations, discusses fullering, swaging, upsetting, bending, welding, pinching, cutting-off, and die-forging. There is also a separate article,Welding(Vol. 28), in which the section onElectric Weldingis written by Elihu Thomson, who invented the process. A table of energy used in electric welding is added. See alsoBrazing and Soldering(Vol. 4, p. 463).
Manufacturing Methods
The designer of machinery will find much practical information inDrawing,Drawing Office Work(Vol. 8, p. 556), andSun-Copying(Vol. 26, p. 93). It is a remarkable fact that prints identical in scale with the originals are now made up to a length of 22 feet.
Bearings(Vol. 3, p. 578), illustrated, is written by Professor Dalby of the South Kensington Central Technical College. The articleTool(Vol. 27, p. 14), by J. G. Horner, is 33 pages in length and has 79 illustrations. The whole subject is completely covered. In the section onMachine Toolsare discussed turning lathes, reciprocating machines, machines with drill and bore holes, milling machines, machines for cutting the teeth of gear wheels, grinding machinery, sawing machines, shearing and punching machines, hammers and presses, portable tools, appliances, wood-working machines, and measurement. In regard to the last subject great advances have lately been made. A thousandth of an inch is now considered a coarse dimension in the machine shop, where gauges within one five-thousandth of an inch are often used. This article is an invaluable manual for the machine-shop, and supplies many hints which should be given to workmen, for, to use the author’s words, “a clumsy workman is as much out of place in a modern machine-shop as he would be in a watch-factory.” Another article useful to the mechanic isScrew(Vol. 24, p. 477), with 10 illustrations, by J. G. Horner, with a section on theErrors of Screws, by the late Henry A. Rowland, the American physicist, whose skill, shown in the construction of dividing engines of extraordinary precision and delicacy, made him famous the world over. See alsoGraduation(Vol. 12, p. 312).
Engines and Motors
The articles on the prime-movers are an important and noteworthy part of the new Britannica. Professor Ewing, of Cambridge University, contributesAir Engine(Vol. 1, p. 443) andSteam Engine(Vol. 25, p. 818), both fully illustrated. The latter has a most interesting preliminary historical account of engines from the aeolipile of Hero of Alexandria (about 130 B.C.) to the steam-turbine, the most modern type of all. The newest forms of internal combustion motors,Oil Engine(Vol. 20, p. 35) andGas Engine(Vol. 11, p. 495), are described by Dugald Clerk, inventor of the Clerk cycle gas engine, and the articles are fully illustrated. UnderHydraulics(Vol. 14, p. 91) will be found complete information as to the construction of water-pressure engines, water-wheels, turbines, and also pumps. The article is written by Professor W. C. Unwin, and has been universally declared to be the best treatise on the subject that has yet appeared. There is a separate illustrated articleWater-Motors(Vol. 28, p. 382), by Professor Beare of Edinburgh University. See alsoWindmill(Vol. 28, p. 710).
Designers and constructors of electrical machinery will be greatly interested in C. C. Hawkins’ illustrated articleDynamo(Vol. 8, p. 764), which explains fully how the dynamo is constructed and gives its history from Faraday’s discovery of the principle in 1831. Dr. Louis Bell, of the General Electric Co., writes onMotors, Electric(Vol. 18, p. 910).
Machinery for Special Purposes
In hundreds of articles on manufacturing and manufactured products there are excellent descriptions of the machinery employed.Cotton-Spinning Machinery(Vol. 7, p. 301), by Professor Fox, of Manchester University, gives details, with illustrations, of the modern systems of spinning, all founded on the inventions of Paul, Arkwright, Hargreaves and Crompton, while an historical account of primitive machines as well as much practical information, will be found underSpinning(Vol. 25, p. 685).Weavinghas a sectionWeaving Machinery(Vol. 28, p. 443). An account of the special machinery and appliances used in the manufacture of woollens is included in Professor Barker’s illustrated articleWool, Worsted and Woollen Manufactures(Vol. 28, p. 805). InHosiery(Vol. 13, p. 788) we learn about framework knitting and warp-knitting machines. It is recorded that up to the middle of the 19th century only a flat web could be knitted, and that a circular knitting machine of American origin is the type of machine on which is produced the seamless hosiery of to-day. This was introduced by J. W. Lamb in 1863.Rope and Rope Making(Vol. 23, p. 713), by Thomas Woodhouse, of the Dundee Technical College, is richly illustrated with pictures of the most modern type of machinery for the manufacture of fibre and wire ropes. The various machines and apparatus for sugar making are carefully described inSugar,Sugar Manufacture(Vol. 26, p. 35). For milling machinery seeFlour and Flour Manufacture(Vol. 10, p. 548), by George F. Zimmer, author ofMechanical Handling of Material. The latest designs in agricultural machines, with illustrations, as well as a history of their development, will be found underPlough and Ploughing(Vol. 21, p. 850),Sowing(Vol. 25, p. 523),Harrow(Vol. 13, p. 27),Reaping(Vol. 22, p. 944),Thrashing(Vol. 26, p. 887), etc. It is a matter of interest that the first successful reaping-machine was invented by a Scotch clergyman in 1826. For machinery used in the modern dairy seeDairy and Dairy Products(Vol. 7, p. 750). The germ of the sewing machine dates back to 1755, and the whole story of its development is told inSewing Machines(Vol. 24, p. 744).|A Vast Encyclopaedia of Machinery|The descriptions of machinery of various kinds are continuedunder such headings asBrewing,Brewing Operations(Vol. 4, p. 506), illustrated;Bellows and Blowing Machines(Vol. 3, p. 705), illustrated;Pin(Vol. 21, p. 615);Needle(Vol. 19, p. 338);Typography,Modern Practical Typography(Vol. 27, p. 542), illustrated;Printing(Vol. 22, p. 350), illustrated;Bookbinding,Modern Methods(Vol. 4, p. 218), illustrated;Textile Printing(Vol. 26, p. 694);Alkali Manufacture(Vol. 1, p. 674), illustrated;Refrigerating and Ice Making(Vol. 23, p. 30);Silk,Silk Manufacture(Vol. 25, p. 102);Lace,Machine-made Lace(Vol. 16, p. 44), illustrated;Carpet,Modern Machinery(Vol. 5, p. 396);Leather(Vol. 16, p. 330), illustrated;Bicycle(Vol. 3, p. 913), illustrated;Typewriter(Vol. 27, p. 501), illustrated;Dredge and Dredging(Vol. 8, p. 562), illustrated; andPaper,Paper Manufacture(Vol. 20, p. 727), illustrated.
Biographies of many inventors, designers and builders of machines are included in the list of articles at the end of the chapterFor Engineersin this Guide, and are therefore omitted in the following alphabetical summary.
CHAPTER VIIFOR MERCHANTS AND MANUFACTURERS OF METALS, HARDWARE, GLASS AND CHINA
Elisée Reclus, the great French student of the origins of civilization, says, in the Britannica articleFire(Vol. 10, p. 399), that “human culture may be said to have begun with fire, of which the uses increased in the same ratio as culture itself.” The industries grouped in the present chapter all depend upon the curiously diverse effects of heat; the softening and tempering of metals, the hardening of clay and the changes by which sand becomes glass. It is for the reader himself to decide whether he wishes to begin his course of reading by a study of the articleHeat(Vol. 13, p. 135), and the allied articles to which it refers, and thus to understand how temperature plays its dominant part in the most useful of manufacturing processes.
Knowledge in “Layers”
It is, indeed, one of the most attractive features of the Britannica that it presents knowledge inlayers. In text-books, the theoretical and practical aspects of an industry are so interwoven that you cannot separate them. But in the Britannica, if you desire only to examine the finished products of any branch of industry, as you might see them and hear them described at an exhibition or in a manufacturer’s sample room, you can turn to articles and sections of articles in which critical comment and elaborate illustrations put clearly before you the varieties of, for example, plated ware, china or glass. Proceeding to the next “layer,” you find technical information about the manufacture of these and all other goods; you have been permitted to pass from the sample room into the factory, which is not usually so easy of access. And in the scientific articles you arrive at the very substratum and foundation of knowledge; you have what the experts in the factory could not give you if they would: the clear teaching that only the great masters of science can supply.
The manufacturer, of course, absolutelyneedsto know all that can be learned about the origin of his materials and the principles upon which his processes are based. But the dealer, in his turn, will be a shrewder buyer, a more convincing salesman and a better manager of the salesmen under him, if he knows the whole history of his wares, of the ingredients that enter into their composition and of their manufacture. Factory experience is hardly more universal among wholesale men, most of whom begin as clerks, than among retailers, and it is impossible for a business man who has got his foot fairly on the ladder to drop his work and go through an apprenticeship or take a thorough course at a technical college. If, however, he will for a few months devote his spare time to the studies he can pursue, unaided, in the Britannica, the insight he obtainswill give a new value to all the knowledge he picks up in the course of his business.
Physics and Chemistry
Some of the Authorities
The departments of physics and physical chemistry are of course those in which the Britannica’s scientific contents especially interest those to whom this chapter is addressed, and the authority of the Britannica in those departments of knowledge is shown by a very striking fact. You may remember that Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish chemist, who made a fortune by the invention and manufacture of dynamite, devoted $9,000,000 to the establishment of the annual Nobel prizes, to be awarded, irrespective of nationality, for eminence in scientific research and in the cause of peace. In physics and chemistry,Britannica contributors have won, in eleven years, seven of these prizes, these winners being: in 1901, Prof. J. H. van’t Hoff, of the University of Berlin; in 1902, Prof. Lorentz, of the University of Leiden; in 1904, Lord Rayleigh, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge; in 1906, Sir J. J. Thomson, of the University of Cambridge; in 1909, Prof. Ostwald, of the University of Leipzig; in 1911, Prof. Van der Waals, of the University of Amsterdam. In other words, you find that the scientific committee who award the Nobel prizes select for these unique distinctions the same men whom the editor of the Britannica selected as contributors. Now apply another test, in connection with the subject matter of this chapter. What is, by general consent, the most exquisitely finished product of any of the industries under discussion in the present section? To this question there can be but one answer: Optical glass. Where is the best glass made? At the Zeiss Works in Jena, Germany. Very well, Dr. Otto Henker and Dr. Eppenstein, both of the scientific staff of the Zeiss Works, wrote the optical articles in the Britannica which deal with the lens and with aberration in lenses. You should therefore remember, in reading the Britannica, that whether you are only going as far as the uppermost layer of knowledge, or reaching down to the very foundations of science, the men whose articles you are reading command the respect that you can pay to them by giving your very closest attention. Do not imagine that because the book contains forty-four million words, it is made to be skimmed; every article in it is condensed; and you cannot derive the fullest benefit from your reading unless you feel, as you would feel if you were fortunate enough to be brought into personal contact with any of these great men, that you have a privilege of which you must make the most.
Metals
Other chapters of this Guide also deal in detail with the scientific side of the industries mentioned here; and in examining the groups of industrial articles, those dealing with metals claim first consideration. The articleMetal(Vol. 18, p. 198) is devoted to classification only, and would not occupy more than ten pages of this Guide. It contains information as to the physical properties of the metals, including a table in which the specific gravity of each of 42 metals is stated, a table of comparative ductility under the hammer, for rolling and for wire drawing, a table of elasticities, and other tables showing the ratio of expansion under heat, the melting and boiling points, and the relative thermic and electric conductivity. A section is devoted to the action of chemical agents upon the simple metals.
Metallurgy(Vol. 18, p. 203), andElectrometallurgy(Vol. 9, p. 232), by W. G. McMillan, lecturer on metallurgy at Mason College, Birmingham, deal with all the methods of smelting ores. Your next reading should be the great articleIron and Steel(Vol. 14, p. 801), by Prof. H. M. Howe, of Columbia University,containing as much matter as would fill 110 pages of this Guide. At the beginning of this article Prof. Howe disposes of the much discussed question as to the true distinction between iron and steel, as to which there has been great confusion. Before 1860, the word “steel” was never applied to a metal that could not be hardened by tempering. But when the invention of the Bessemer and open-hearth processes introduced a new class of iron, “which lacked the essential property of steel, the hardening power, yet differed from the existing forms of wrought iron in freedom from slag,” the men interested in the new product did not like to call it “wrought iron,” which is what it really is, because that name would confuse it with a lower-priced grade of metal. They ought to have coined a new word for it, but they appropriated the name of steel—so that to-day “steel” means either true steel or the low-carbon, slagless variety of malleable iron. The article is divided into 133 sections, so that to analyze its contents would swamp this chapter of the Guide, but the reader will find in it the clearest and most authoritative account of the industry which has yet been published.
Among articles on the commercial metals areCopper(Vol. 7, p. 102),Lead(Vol. 16, p. 314),Tin(Vol. 26, p. 995),Zinc(Vol. 28, p. 981),Aluminium(Vol. 1, p. 767),Nickel(Vol. 19, p. 658),Antimony(Vol. 2, p. 127), and, on the precious metals,Gold(Vol. 12, p. 192),Silver(Vol. 25, p. 112), andPlatinum(Vol. 21, p. 805).
The articleAlloys, of which Sir W. C. Roberts-Austen, long chemist of the London Mint, is the chief contributor, with its photomicrographic illustrations, contains not only an account of the alloys already generally used in the metal industries, but also practical information as to the experiments which have been made recently with some of the newly discovered rare earths. In the articleMetallography(Vol. 18, p. 202), by the same specialist, the microscopic examination and photography of metals and alloys is described.
Among articles on the metallic compounds areBrass(Vol. 4, p. 433), in which “Dutch metal,” “Mannheim gold,” “similor” and “pinchbeck” are described;Bronze(Vol. 4, p. 639), which deals with steel bronze, phosphor bronze, and other combinations;Fusible Metal(Vol. 11, p. 369) is an important compound.Pewter(Vol. 21, p. 338), by Malcolm Bell, author ofPewter Plate, etc., is of historical interest, and of value to the dealer or collector, while he who wishes to distinguish between the older and the more modern electroplated ware is referred to the articleSheffield Plate(Vol. 24, p. 824), also by Malcolm Bell.Electroplating(Vol. 9, p. 237) describes the art that put an end to the Sheffield plate industry. Other methods of coating metals are given underGalvanized Iron(Vol. 11, p. 428),Tin Plate and Terne Plate(Vol. 26, p. 1000), andGilding(Vol. 12, p. 13). The art of making gold-leaf is described inGoldbeating(Vol. 12, p. 202).
In regard to manufacturing processes there are the separate articles:Forging(Vol. 10, p. 663), with 19 illustrations;Founding(Vol. 10, p. 743), with 11 illustrations;Annealing, Hardening and Tempering(Vol. 2, p. 70), andBrazing and Soldering(Vol. 4, p. 463). These four articles are by J. G. Horner. And seeWelding(Vol. 28, p. 500), also by Mr. Horner, with a section onElectro-Welding, by Elihu Thomson, inventor of the process of electric welding and expert for the General Electric Co. The articleTool(Vol. 27, p. 14), another of Mr. Horner’s valuable contributions, has 79 illustrations and possesses special interest for the manufacturer of metal-ware as well as the dealer in hardware.