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25
The following is a description of the factory and the process of
manufacture:—
The building comprises a ground floor and a first floor. The
whole of the machinery is on the ground floor. The flocks are
manufactured from woollen rags; these are brought from the
various marine stores in the district, and consist chiefly of filthy
worn-out woollen clothing, much of it saturated with the exhalations
of human beings, and alive with vermin. The process of
manufacture is as follows:— The rags, taken out of the bales just
as they are brought in, are fed by hand into a machine called a
"Devil," where a wooden cylinder, covered with small spikes and
revolving at great speed, rapidly tears up the material into its
component fibres; as fast as it is broken up it is transferred by
means of an endless band to the interior of another cylinder, also
in rapid revolution, through which a current of air is drawn by
means of a powerful fan. After being well winnowed and tossed
about in this cylinder the flocks are discharged through an
opening at the side, and are ready for use. They are sold to the
manufacturers of cheap furniture and bedding.
About 25 per cent, of the devilled rags consists of dust and
fluffs; the fau extracts this from the flocks, and drives it along a
sheet-iron tube into what is called a dust room; this is a chamber
in four parts, three of these are underground, and one is at the
floor level. Their dimensions are as follows:—
13 x 6 x 5 = 390 cubic feet.
13 x 6 x 5 = 390
7 x 5 x 3 = 105
81 x 7 x 5 = 298
Total capacity, 1183 cubic feet.
The heavier portion of the dust is deposited in these chambers,
but the finest is discharged through two tubes leading from the
top of the fourth division of the dust room. One of these tubes
delivers into the ashpit of the boiler furnace, but the other is taken
into a smaller chamber on the floor above. The dimensions of
this are about 7 X 5 x 6 = 210 cubic feet. The exhaust steam