View report page

19
iron room on the ground floor, the intense heat evolved by the burners
raises the temperature of this room by radiation; from this room the
weaving room just overhead is heated by conduction and convection.
Particularly in the iron room and less so in the weaving room there is
a peculiar aroma arising from the incandescent mantles. The walls
are due for cleansing in February. It is noteworthy that the girls in the
iron room wear blue tinted glasses to protect their eyes from the glare
of the incandescent mantles. This is important. I remember years
ago it was alleged that men engaged in the glass-blowing trade were
suspected as suffering unduly from cataract owing to the glare. The
number of female employees is 77.
Bag, Sack and Tarpaulin Makers.
The building consists of three floors built in two sections with
communicating bridges between. On the ground floor are loading
rooms where lorries come with raw material and take away the finished
article. On this floor there is the employees' cloakroom and also the
messroom; nearly all the employees live close at hand. The female
sanitary accommodation consists of six pedestal w.c.'s in separate
enclosures which are well ventilated by means of louvres and gratings
in the wall; for ablution purposes there are two square enamelled iron
sinks with soap and towels. Drinking water is specially provided from
the main. The raw material, received on the ground floor, arrives
from Dundee (two-thirds) and from India (one-third). This is known
as "Hessian," and the Indian material is of coarser make or fibre.
When the bales of this material arrive they are as hard to the touch as
stone or iron. They are taken on to the first floor and are separated
out with a metal rod or bar. When a considerable length of this, say
eight yards, has been unrolled, it is lifted on to a long table. A young
woman pulls the end to a measured line on the table and a second
young woman cuts through the length required opposite another table
mark, with the aid of a long knife worked by a lever. The same
process is repeated again and again, the same lengths being cut for a
particular type or size of bag which is to be made. The bags to be
made are of different sizes according to the purpose for which they are
designed. Some, for example, are for retailers of coal; in this case
the finished bag is brushed over with a tarry solution before being sold.
Other sized bags are made for the following purposes ;—(a) Cement,