Consuming industry. of the coarser and the fine yarns for the reason that there is a large import of fine yarns that are carded only. In the domestic spinning industry, yarns above 60s are rarely spun without combing. Yarns up to 78s that have been spun without combing are imported in large quantities and there is a small import of counts even finer, including some as fine as 140/2, that are carded only. In regard to color, the table above shows that the demand is chiefly for yarns in the gray or unbleached condition. The proportion of gray yarns ranged from 84.6 per cent in 1914 to 94.7 per cent in 1918. The import of dyed yarns amounted to 9.9 per cent of the total in 1914 and to only 2.8 per cent in 1918. The import of bleached yarns amounted to only 5.5 per cent of the total in 1914 and declined. to only 2.5 per cent in 1918. Tables 12 and 12a amplify the above data by showing in detail the amounts of carded or combed, of gray, bleached, or dyed yarns, imported for each consuming industry in 1914 and 1918. These details are of importance because they indicate the sections of American textile manufacturing which would be most affected by any changes in the differentials assessed on yarns combed or in the bleached or dyed states. TABLE 12.-Cotton yarn imported for consumption, 1914 (in pounds). Grand total.. 55,227 2, 9×9, 545171, 709 566, 1903, 727, 444 2,294, 844 174, 953 50, 1862, 519, 983 6,247, 427 288, 565 199, 029 50, 934 11,081 261, 044 549, 609 49, 286 135, 628 28, 960 Bleached. Dyed. Consuming industry. TABLE 12a.-Cotton yarn imported for consumption, 1918 (in pounds). Grand total.. 1,775, 378 31,388 112, 299 1,919,065 3, 177, 571 98, 226 37, 498 3,313,295), 232, 360 A study of these tables brings out, some interesting facts in regard to the nature of yarns imported for the different industries. For instance, the lace-curtain industry buys mainly carded yarns, whereas the lace industry requires mainly combed yarns. Turkey red yarn for towels and polished yarns are practically all carded, whereas the imports of glove and of electrical yarns are practically all combed as are also those for typewriter ribbons, voile, and mohair goods. In 1914 imports were chiefly gray carded whereas in 1918 they were gray combed. With the exception of polished yarns and those used in the towel and the woven label industries, gray yarns greatly predominated in the imports for each section of the textile industry. Dyed yarns are usually imported in coarse and medium carded counts. They are mainly of coarse Turkey red yarns for towel stripes and of medium count polished yarns in black, tan, or russet. In normal times there are also fair amounts of hosiery and embroidery yarns, and some imports for weaving silks, velvets, cotton cloths, and hatbands, and for name work on labels, that come in the dyed. state. Of the bleached yarns, the 1914 figures show almost equal amounts carded and combed; in 1918 combed yarns predominated. Imports of bleached yarns are normally of lace yarns, embroidery and knitting yarns, and polished yarns, with some for the ground work of woven labels, and some for silk, and silk-ribbon weaving. In 1918 the reduced imports of bleached yarns were mainly for lace and for woven labels; small amounts were used for other purposes. Dyed. The ordinary commission charges for bleaching and for dyeing cotton yarns in the United States in 1914 and in 1918 are reported by dyeing and finishing companies to have been as follows: The loss of weight in bleaching varies, but averages around 5 per cent—that is, a yarn spun exactly 100s in the gray would after bleaching become about 105s, and 120s gray would become 126s bleached. The effect of dyeing is usually to add weight to the goods, making the yarn count coarser; in some instances, however, the reverse happens. IMPORTS OF COTTON YARN ACCORDING TO FINISH. Examination of invoices covering 91.2 per cent of the cotton yarn. imported in 1914 and 92 per cent of that imported in 1918 indicates that over half of the yarns imported were processed. Only 40 per cent of those imported in 1914 and 424 per cent of those imported in 1918 were shipped without special finish. Aside from bleaching, dyeing, and printing, which may be differentiated as converting rather than finishing, there are four special finishing processes to which more or less of the imported yarns are subjected. These are gassing, mercerizing, preparing, and polishing. A yarn may be put through one, two, or three of these special finishing operations to adapt it for special work. In Tables 13 and 13a imports of cotton yarns for each consuming industry are listed according to the special finish or finishes to which they have been subjected. Summarizing these tables, the following figures illustrate the extent to which each process was used on the imports of 1914 and 1918: The above résumé is intended to show the pounds of yarn subjected to each process, irrespective of whether or not any other process was also employed-that is, a yarn that was gassed and prepared and mercerized would have its weight entered under each heading. Because of this duplication the above list can not be totaled as in the case of the more extended Tables 13 and 13a, which show figures for each combination separately. TABLE 13.-Finish of cotton yarns imported for consumption, 1914 (in pounds). Woven label. Typewriter ribbon. Polished-yarn wares.. Thread making.. Total. 943, 291 582, 689 637, 083 576, 548,780, 287, 5, 424 210, 119 8,048 2, 503, 938 6,247, 427 TABLE 13a. Finish of cotton yarns imported for consumption, 1918 (in pounds). Total.. 972, 307, 40, 557 270, 863 1,048, 051 631, 875 250 1,032 43,015 2, 224, 4105, 232, 360 Total. The gassing process is the most important one to which cotton yarn is subjected before import; in both 1914 and 1918 a little over 37 per cent, by weight, was listed as having been passed through the gas flame. Preparing is the next most important process; about 22 per cent of the yarns imported in 1914 and 32 per cent of those imported in 1918 were first flattened by being passed between the heavy rollers of a yarn-preparing machine. The imports of mercerized yarns constitute a smaller proportion of the total, partly because of the differential duty on such yarns and partly because mercerization is carried on as cheaply in the United States as abroad. In 1914 less than 20 per cent, and in 1918 less than 6 per cent of the totals were mercerized before import. About 3 per cent of the 1914 imports and less than 1 per cent of the 1918 imports were polished. Of the four finishing processes it may be noted that mercerizing is the only one specified in the tariff law and yet, curiously enough, it is the one that least needs protection for, as will be shown later, mercerization costs are no higher in this country than abroad. Gassing. The four yarn-finishing processes are all developments of the last century. Gassing was probably the first of the processes used, as a textile work published in 1835 referred to the gassing of fine yarns for the lace and hosiery industries. In the last two decades the gassing of yarns has become a very important branch of the British textile-finishing industry; its recent extension has been due largely to the development of mercerization and the discovery that the best luster is obtainable only by gassing as well as mercerizing. In the United States there are as yet comparatively few plants that do gassing, and much cotton yarn is imported primarily for the reason that it is gassed. More than a third of the imports of cotton yarn is normally required in the gassed condition. The object of gassing or singeing is the removal of the fuzz of loose projecting fibers found on all cotton yarns after ordinary spinning and doubling. The clearing away of this fuzz from the surface of the yarn greatly improves its appearance as the yarn shows up smoother, rounder, and brighter. An incidental but important result is that the yarn, by reason of the removal of the fuzz, weighs less per yard and is therefore raised to a higher count. Incidentally, also, gassing slightly increases the relative strength of the yarn and makes it slightly darker in shade. In gassing, the yarn is passed one or more times through the blue part of the flame from a Bunsen gas burner, the speed being regulated so that the projecting fibers are singed off without the yarn itself catching fire. Fine yarns are passed through a shorter length of flame and at a higher rate of speed than are coarse yarns. It is, however, not feasible to increase the speed in proportion to the yarn |