[Fig. 998.] is a front view of the reel; little more than one-half of it being shown. [Fig. 999.] is an end view. Here the steam-pulleys are omitted, for fear of obstructing the view of the more essential parts. A, A, are the two end framings, connected by mahogany stretchers, which form the table B, for receiving the bobbins C, C, which are sometimes weighted at top with a lump of lead, to prevent their tumbling. D is the reel, consisting of four long laths of wood, which are fixed upon iron frames, attached to an octagonal wooden shaft. The arm which sustains one of these laths is capable of being bent inwards, by loosening a tightening hook, so as to permit the hanks, when finished, to be taken off, as in every common reel.
The machine consists of two equal parts, coupled together at a, to facilitate the removal of the silk from either half of the reel; the attendant first lifting the one part, and then the other. E is the guide bar, which by a traverse motion causes the silk to be wound on in a cross direction. b and c are the wire guides, and d are little levers lying upon the cloth-covered guide bar E. The silk in its way from the block to the reel, passes under these levers, by which it is cleaned from loose fibres.
On the other end of the shaft of the reel, the spur wheel 1 is fixed, which derives motion from wheel 2, attached to the shaft of the steam-pulley F. Upon the same shaft there is a bevel wheel 3, which impels the wheel 4 upon the shaft e; to whose end a plate is attached, to which the crank f is screwed, in such a way as to give the proper length of traverse motion to the guide bar E, connected to that crank or eccentric stud by the jointed rod g. Upon the shaft of the steam-pulleys F, there is a worm or endless screw, to the left of f, [fig. 999.], which works in a wheel 5; attached to the short upright shaft h ([fig. 998.]). At the end of h, there is another worm, which works in a wheel 6; at whose circumference there is a stud i, which strikes once at every revolution against an arm attached to a bell, seen to the left of G; thus announcing to the reel-tenter that a measured length of silk has been wound upon her reel. e is a rod or handle, by which the fork l, with the strap, may be moved upon the fast or loose pulley, so as to set on or arrest the motion at pleasure.
Throwsters submit their silk to scouring and steaming processes. They soak the hanks, as imported, in lukewarm soap-water in a tub; but the bobbins of the twisted single silk from the spinning mill are enclosed within a wooden chest, and exposed to the opening action of steam for about ten minutes. They are then immersed in a cistern of warm water, from which they are transferred to the doubling frame.
The wages of the workpeople in the silk-throwing mills of Italy are about one half of their wages in Manchester; but this difference is much more than counterbalanced by the protecting duty of 2s. 10d. a pound upon thrown silk, and the superior machinery of our mills. In 1832, there was a power equal to 342 horses engaged in the silk-throwing mills of Manchester; and of about 100 in the mills of Derby. The power employed in the other silk mills of England and Scotland has not been recorded.
There is a peculiar kind of silk called marabout, containing generally three threads, made from the white Novi raw silk. From its whiteness, it takes the most lively and delicate colours without the discharge of its gum. After being made into tram by the single twist upon the spinning mill, it is reeled into hanks, and sent to the dyer without further preparation. After being dyed, the throwster re-winds and re-twists it upon the spinning mill, in order to give it the whipcord hardness which constitutes the peculiar feature of marabout. The cost of the raw Novi silk is 19s. 6d. a pound; of throwing it into tram, 2s. 6d.; of dyeing, 2s.; of re-winding and re-twisting, after it has been dyed, about 5s.; of waste, 2s., or 10 per cent.; the total of which sum is 31s.; being the price of one pound of marabout in 1832.
An Estimate of the Annual Quantities of Silk produced or exported from the several Countries in the World, exhibiting also the Countries to which exported.
| Countries whence exported. | Quantities. | Countries to which exported. | Quanti- ties. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy exports | 34,000 | bales | of | 225 | small lbs. | Bales. | ||||||
| France produces | 10,500 | - | 73 | 1⁄8 | kils., or | - | England | 28,000 | ||||
| India and Bengal export | 9,500 | 128 | 1⁄2 | Vienna lbs. | France | 22,000 | ||||||
| Persia | 7,500 | 162 | lbs. English | Prussia | 7,600 | |||||||
| China | 4,000 | Russia | 6,400 | |||||||||
| Asia Minor | 3,500 | Austria and Germany | 5,000 | |||||||||
| Levant, Turkey, and Archipelago export | 3,500 | Switzerland | 5,000 | |||||||||
| Spain | 1,500 | |||||||||||
| Total | 74,000 | bales. | Total | 74,000 | ||||||||