GREAT INDUSTRIES.
In the first rank of great indus tries stand the textile industries, which really include cotton, wool, worsted, flax, hemp and jute, and also a certain number of secondary industries, each one of which consists of two principal branches: spinning and weaving. To avoid mistakes we shall examine them sepa rately.
The cotton industry consists of spinning mills containing 6,200,000 spindles and power looms. Spinning-mills are confined to three centres: Normandy, where they are in the vicinity of Rouen; Nord, where the centres of Lille and Roubaix stand out prominently; and Vosges, including the department of the same name, Meurthe-et-Moselle and the Territoire de Belfort. Weaving, on the other hand, is much more extended and can he divided according to specialties into 15 districts: (1) Amiens, ribbed velvets; (2) Conde sur Noireau, striped cotton; (3) Le Ferte Mace, coutiis of various designs; (4) Flers in Orne, stripes and ox fords; (5) Evreux, corsets and bed linen; (6) Mayenne, specially for what is called Laval; (7) le Nord flannels, bedquilts and sateens; (8) Normandy, shirtings and long-cloth; (9) Paris, napkins and Turkish toweling; '(10) Roanne, blue cotton goods; (11) Tarare, mns lins and hand embroideries; (12) Thizy, cre tonnes and peruviennes; (13) Saint Quentin, mousselines and gauzes for furnishing; (14) Vosges, cotton-cloth and satinet; and (15) Troyes, cotton hosiery.
The wool industry uses 1,600 heckling machines of different styles; 2,000,000' spindles in combing mills; 390,000 spindles in the spin ning mills of carding, and 55,000 power-looms. A certain number of these looms are used by turns for cotton and for wool. The wool carding mills are most important and form a separate industry. They are situated in Roubaix and in Rheims, and the shoddy mills are in Elbeuf and Vienne. The spinning mills are at Roubaix, Fourmies, Rheims, Vienne and Belfort. As for weaving mills they have 15 different centres: (1) Amiens, noted for serges called du Barry; (2) Saint Quentin and Bohain, cashmeres and light novelties; (3) Beauvais, tapestries; (4) Tours, 'blankets ; (5) Elbeuf, cloth; (6) Fourmies, colored and mixed weaves; (7) Lisieux, printcloth; (8) Louviers, novelty goods; (9) Mazamet, curried fustians and military cloth; (10) Paris, double milled goods and sateen for uniforms; (11) Rheims, merinos; (12) Roubaix and Tourco ing, novelties for dresses; (13) Sedan, cloth for clothing; (14) Vienne, novelties for ready made suits; (15) Vosges, articles for footwear. The value of imports and exports of woolens were just before the European War: Imports (yarn and cloth) : 59,000,000 francs; exports (yarn and cloth), 322,000,000 francs.
The silk industry consists of 13,000 bassines for separating the thread from the cocoons; 35,000 power-looms for weaving, and 35,000 hand-looms. The silk mills are situated in Cevennes and Gard silk is made both by machine and by hand in Rh6ne and the neigh boring departments, and the principal centre for selling is at Lyons; for ribbons, the chief centre is Saint Etienne; and for galoons, laces for shoes, etc., and braids, Saint Cbamond and Izieux. A new industry (artificial silk) was first made in 1889 by Chardonnet, its chief centre being• Besancon. The value of imports and exports of silks were just before the European War: Imports (tissues), 49,386,000 francs ($9,877.200)- ex its (tissues), 385,774) 000 francs Flax and hemp,. together with jute, contain, in all their factones, 500,000 spindles; and in weaving, 22,000 and 20,000 hand looms. The flax mills are chiefly situated in Nord; the manufacture of thread called 'lsec" (dry) is in many respects like that called mouille° (wet). Sewing thread of flax is also made in the same section of the country. As for woven goods, strictly speaking, their manufacture is divided into a certain number of groups, that can be classed as follows: (1) the factories of the ,Nord, the chief centres of which are Armentieres, Lille , and Bailleul, where smooth goods, colored or white, are made in every width; Dunkirk, Beauval and Flixecourt manufacture jute goods, and several places in Somme, awnings and damasks i (2) Normandy is celebrated for shirtings, pillow cases and table covers; (3) Brittany and Anjou for handkerchiefs, canvas, etc.; (4) Vosges for table and bedroom linen; (5) South fdr coarse cloth. We miY add that in all these sections °ramie* silk is manufactered.
' It is estimated that the textile industries, properly speaking, employ 851,000 workmen in France, furnishing occupation to 1,093,000 workers on suits and other garments. They also feed as many cotton as silk mills, more than 2,000 tulle looms are working in Caudry, Calais, Saint Pierre and Lyons. This is the official account of the hosiery business in flax and in wool in Somme, Nord and Vosges; in cotton in Roanne and Troyes; and in silk in Henault, Gard and Hautes-Pyrenies. Hand made lace forms one of the most artistic in , dustries of Puy, Bailleul, Bayeux, Mirecourt, etc. Besides these there are em broidery factories in successful operation in Saint Quentin, Angers, Tarare and Nancy, and of passementeries in Lyons, Nimes and Paris.
The following table gives the number of persons employed in the various industries: Persons