fabric, while the schiffli bobbin yarn is used at the back, where it serves to bind the tube yarn in place. The main counts of schiffli tube yarn imported were 58/2, 46/2, 40/2, 38/2, and 36/2, whereas the schiffli bobbin yarn was mainly 58/2 and 60/2, with some 78/2 and a small amount of other counts. Imports of schiffli yarns were for the most part in the gray. The skein yarn was mainly for use on hand embroidery machines and was usually between 50s and 100s n 3, 4, or 5 ply; most of this yarn was either bleached or dyed. A ew leading embroidery manufacturers import direct, but the trade in this line is largely handled by yarn agents.

Of 123,122 pounds of Swiss yarn imported for weaving mixed-silk goods, 106,387 pounds consisted of 16/1; the remainder was made up of 19/1, 20/1, 24/1, and 30/1. These yarns were mainly gray combed; a small portion was carded and a small amount bleached. These yarns were shipped direct from the Swiss spinners to the American silk mills.

IMPORTS OF COTTON YARN FROM FRANCE.

Imports of cotton yarn from France are normally very small, the record being 265,978 pounds imported in 1910, but France ranks as a source of supply after the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. The French officially prohibited exports of cotton yarn after August, 20, 1915, so there were practically none permitted to be exported after that date.

Of 33,134 pounds of cotton yarn imported from France in 1914, so far as shown by available invoices, 12,754 pounds were for use in the silk trade, 11,581 pounds were crêpe yarns, 7,613 pounds were for velvets, 1,072 pounds for harness twine, and 114 pounds for embroidery. Of the total, 26,258 pounds were in the single, 5,804 pounds were 2-ply, 356 pounds were 6-ply, and 716 pounds 9-ply, the last two plies being harness twine. The coarsest yarn was 8/1 crêpe and the finest was 160/9 harness twine; most of the imports were between 20s and 38s. Of the total, 11,330 pounds were carded, mainly dyed, and 21,804 pounds were combed, chiefly gray yarns.

The yarns imported in greatest quantity from France in 1914 were 7,462 pounds of 20/1, and 5,169 pounds of 30/2; these counts were followed by 48/1, 30/1, 24/1, 36/1, and 38/1.

Most of the yarns for use in the silk trade were single counts between 20s and 60s, combed and dyed black. The crêpe yarns were mainly 30/2, 48/1, and 48/2, usually combed and part gassed. The small import of harness twine consisted of 40/6, 130/9, 140/9, and 160/9.

French invoices often give both French and English counts, such as "2/40/48 crêpe coton 2 tors gauche teinte," which shows that the yarn was 40/2 French, the equivalent of 48/2 English, counts.

Owing to the fact that the French use two systems of yarn numbering, the French and the English, they are accustomed, in their domestic, as well as their foreign trade to use both nomenclatures to avoid any uncertainty as to the yarn size intended.

The small yarn shipments from France originated at Lyon, Bellegarde-Valserine, and Lille.

EXPORTING AND IMPORTING CENTERS.

Tables 16 and 16a show the places of origin of cotton yarn imports and correlate these to the customs districts where the yarn was entered. TABLE 16.-Cotton yarn imported for consumption, 1914 (in pounds).

TABLE 16.-Cotton yarn imported for consumption, 1914 (in pounds)—Continued.

TABLE 16a.-Cotton yarn imported for consumption, 1918 (in pounds).

These data, compiled direct from invoices, enable one to locate the export centers more precisely than is possible by any study of the Annual Declared Export Returns made by American consuls as the consular records show only that so much yarn was listed on the invoices certified to at each consulate and do not reveal the precise place of production or of export. There is a margin of inaccuracy even in taking invoice data, as a yarn merchant or shipper at an export center, such as Manchester, may receive the yarn from a mill at another point, have it processed or put up and record the shipping point as the place of origin. However, the invoice records are the most accurate available, and in most instances they disclose the real place of origin. Yarn assembled for shipment from a place in which

there is an American consulate would probably show the shipping point as the place of origin, but most shipments are made direct from the mill where spun, doubled, or finished, and the point of manufacture would usually be shown on the invoice no matter where certified.

The tables show that Manchester is always the predominating influence in the American import trade in cotton yarns; supplying in 1914 about half, and in 1918 about three-fourths, of the total. Nottingham is the next largest source. Both of these cities are manufacturing centers, noted for the spinning and doubling of fine counts. so that their exports of cotton yarns, unlike their exports of cloth, lace, and other manufactures of cotton, for the most part originate locally.

Export points, other than Manchester and Nottingham, vary from year to year in relative importance but normally include the following: Bradford, Barmen, St. Gall, Crefeld, Bolton, Macclesfield, Liverpool, Oldham, Baar, Ziegelbrucke, Stockport, Mansfield, Glasgow, Rorschach, Neuzingen, Elberfeld, Middleton, Plauen, Suchteln, Lyon, Bollington, Whitworth, and Dewsbury.

Manchester ships varying amounts of almost every type of cotton. yarn, but the export of lace-curtain yarn is more than double that of any other. In 1914 Manchester exported to the United States, besides lace-curtain yarns, yarns for manufacture into hosiery, Levers lace, cotton cloth, mixed silks, hatbands, thread, velvet, harness twine, ribbon, and voile. In 1918 its exports included, besides lace-curtain yarns, yarns for sueded gloves, electrical winding, Levers lace, hosiery, mixed silks, velvets, hat bands, thread, voile, cotton cloth, embroidery, harness twine, and ribbons, respectively.

Nottingham in 1914 shipped mainly Levers lace and hosiery yarns, with small amounts of lace-curtain, hatband, and woven-label yarns; in 1918 it shipped mainly Levers lace, lace-curtain, and voile yarns, with small amounts of woven-label, cotton weaving, hatband, and hosiery yarns.

Bradford ships cotton yarn for weaving with mohair and with wool, also in normal times yarns for hosiery, mixed silks, velvets, and cotton goods. In 1914 Barmen shipped mainly Turkey-red yarn for towels, and polished yarns, with a small amount of embroidery yarns; St. Gall shipped embroidery yarns exclusively; Crefeld shipped mainly dyed hosiery yarns, with some yarns for mixed silks and for cotton weaving. Baar and Ziegelbrucke shipped yarns for mixed silks; Rorschach, Neuzingen, and Plauen shipped embroidery yarns; Suchteln shipped velvet yarns; Lyon shipped a little crêpe and velvet yarn; Elberfeld shipped blue-black hatband yarns.

Bolton in 1914 shipped in the main yarns for mixed silks and for curtains, also some voile and hosiery yarns; in 1918 yarns from that center were for voile and curtains, and the electrical and glove industries in the order named. Macclesfield ships yarns for lace, velvet and mixed silks. Liverpool shipped embroidery yarns in 1914 but does not appear in 1918 invoices. Oldham shipped lace and knitting yarns in 1914, and in 1918 only cotton weaving yarns. Stockport shipped lace yarns in 1914; its shipments in 1918 were mainly yarns for mixed silks and for hatbands. Mansfield ships lace and lacecurtain yarns. Glasgow shipped a small amount of Turkey-red yarn in 1914, mainly for embroidery with a little for towels; in 1918 the main item was Turkey-red yarn for towels, and there was some polished yarn. Middleton ships polished yarn, the 1918 imports included a small quantity of electrical yarn. Bollington shipped lace yarn in 1914 and yarn for mixed silks in 1918. Whitworth in 1918 shipped embroidery yarns. Dewsbury, famous as a shoddy center, shipped lace-curtain yarn.

Of the importing districts, New York receives about three-fourths of the total imports of cotton yarn. Philadelphia ranks second. Other importing districts vary from year to year as to relative importance; in 1918 Chicago ranked third, Rhode Island (Providence) fourth, Connecticut (Bridgeport and Hartford) fifth, and Massachusetts (Boston) sixth.

THE HANDLING OF THE IMPORT TRADE IN COTTON YARN.

Firms engaged in the European-American cotton yarn trade, either as exporters or importers, were fewer by a considerable number in 1918 than in 1914. The total volume of trade decreased, but the dropping out of so many firms raised the average amount handled by each firm. The number of invoices was much reduced though considerably larger amounts were covered by each invoice. The reduction was probably due to the less frequent sailings in war time, the decrease in number of buyers, and the fewer varieties of yarn required.

The following tabulation is indicative of the size of the business done by individual firms; there are included all exporters and importers who handled as much as 100,000 pounds in either 1914 or 1918. Both exporters from Europe and importers into the United States are listed according to the weight of yarn handled. The 1914 rank is used on the 1918 figures in order to show how the trade of various firms increased or decreased.