HATS.
Various fabrics which are technically known as felt, and which possess in greater or less degree the qualities of this material, are manufactured for use in different industries. In these coarser grades of felt cove's hair is often an important ingredient. The felted sheathing used as a non conducting covering for retaining the heat of steam boilers is a substance intermediate between felt and paper. It is made from woolen refuse and other cheap materials reduced to pulp, beaten and dried. Lining and roofing felts are used in the construction of buildings, and act as non conductors of heat, and sometimes of moisture and sound. They usually consist of an agglutina tion of animal fibres mixed with tar or asphalt.
The asbestos lining and roofing felt is made of pure asbestos, saturated with asphalt, the body fibre in ecrtain brands containing no organic matter. The process of manufacture is similar to that employed in making paper. Paper
maker's felt is not a true felt at all, but a coarse, loosely woven material which has been neither teazled nor spun. No detailed information re garding the manufacture of felt appears to be available in printed form, and such references as can he found are scanty and, for the most part, written long ago. This is attributed to the closeness with which the processes of manufac ture are guarded.
Sor.tris•ics. According to the Twelfth Census of the United States, there were in the country 3i; establishments devoted to the ma onfaeture of felt goods, including au invested capital of $9,125.276, and producing goods valued at $6,461, 691. The principal products were felt cloths, boot and shoe linings, upholstery felts, trim mings and lining felts, felt skirts, and endless belts for paper manufacture.