Coming to the present times, it need only be remarked that as carpets are articles of general consumption in all civilized countries, their manufacture is very widely spread. In this country, Kidderminster stands at the head of the districts where the industry is carried on ; Wilton, Worcester, Rochdale, Halifax, Dewsbury, Durham, and several towns in Scotland, also participate in the trade. The Continent receives a large portion of its supply from the looms of England, though factories exist in some countries there in which high-class fabrics are produced. Of late years, a great development has taken place in the carpet manufacture of America, stimulated by the prohibitive tariff that has been applied to foreign productions. Philadelphia is the centre of the American carpet industry.
Carpets are made of various materials, either unmixed or in different combinations, according to the structure or effect required. A comrnon carpet is produced in jute by the employrnent of dyed yarns, the effect being obtained by arranging the colours in stripes parallel with the length, a checked effect resulting from crossing these with various coloured wet'ts (transverse threads). The " Kidderminster " or " Scotch" carpet, as it is indifferently called, is a figured fabric, generally having a worsted warp and a woollen weft, tbough in low qualities the latter is sometimes of cotton. In tapestries, Brussels, and similar fabrics, the warp is of linen or cotton, and the tilling or weft forming the back of cotton or jute, whilst the pile is invariably of worsted.
Until within a comparatively recent period, carpets were woven in hand-looms, but the growing demand and the progress of invention has led to the introduction and extensive adoption of power kerns in this as in all the other textile industries. The different varieties of carpet, however, require different kinds of loon). Fig. 1472 is a representation of one of the best looms for the production of Scotch or Kidderminster carpets. As a great portion of the effect is obtained from the employ ment of coloured wefts, the loom is fitted with revolving shuttle-boxes, which permit of the employment of as many as 16 shuttles, each containing weft of a different shade or colour. Another important feature iu it is the possession of a double-beat lay, produced by the action of a cam, and which enables a clear shed for the passage of the shuttle to be secured, and, the weft being driven closely home, a firm texture is obtained. An improved arrangement for taking up and retaining the fabric as it is produced is introduced, ensuring uniformity of texture. There is very little in this machine in the way of specialities beyond what has been described in preceding articles on the different branches of the textile industries, except the few adaptations needed to render it better suited for its particular purpose. One feature, however, which has not hitherto been described, and which is a chief purpose of its introduction, is the jacquard attachment, a most important adjunct to the loom in nearly all the textile trades.
Figured fabrics have been produced in the loom fur ages past, but these required great skill on the part of the weaver to fabricate, and were consequently rare and custly, until the invention of mechanical aids to the weaver. These aids gradually increased in number, and were of various degrees of merit. The most important, and the one in general use until about 1820, was the draw loom, which required the weaver to have an assistant, called a " draw-boy." The boy was after wards partially superseded by the invention and adoption of a machine called a " draw-boy machine." These plans were in common use some time after the invention of the jacquard, but the great superiority of the latter when its merits become known, quickly secured its adoption. It is simply a development of the draw-loom.
The jacquard machine was introduced into England about 1820, and after that time was soon extensively adopted. Numerous improvements have since been made by different persons, and it has been brought to a high degree of perfection. It was first applied to the hand-loom, and after sorne time to the power-loom. Its capacity was greatly extended by the inventioa of the system of making compound harness, and also " split" harness, by two weavers of Bethnal Green.
A brief description of the illustration will suffice for present purposes. The mechanism contained in the frame on the top of the loom, and which con4itutes the jacquard, consists of a prismatic roller called the " cylinder," which revolves on its axis. Inside the frame near this is a
perforated board, called the " needle-board," containing a considerable number of " needles," usually 200, 400, 600, or 900, and from these numbers the jacquard is named. It is not often that in the power-loom this number exceeds 400. These needles extend horizontally across the frame, one end protruding about in. through the holes in the needle-board in the direction of the cylinder, whilst the other terminates in a box on the opposite side of the frame, called the ‘• spring box," because each needle at this extremity is fitted with a fine spiral spring, the whole of which are contained in this box. In tbe centre of the length of these needles, a loop or eyelet is formed, through which wires are vertically passed having hooks at both extremities, the lower ones being attached to the descending cords called the harness, which again are connected with the leashes containing the mails or eyelets in their centre, through which the warp threads horizontally pass. The tops of these wires are bent to form an acute-angled hook, almost like the barb of a fish-hook Above these hooks, is a frame composed of several bars, called the " griffe," which is made to ascend and doscend alternately, the bars fitting into the angle of the hooks. The "cards " are strips of cardboard about in. thick, closely perforated with round holes to receive the ends of the horizontal needles. These cards are laced together so as to form an endless web, and the web is placed over the cylinder. At each extremity of the card is a larger hole, into which fixed pins.on the cylinder enter, and by which they are carried round. The loom haying been provided with warp, and the proper connections established between the different parts, it is ready to commence work. The cards are perforated to produce the desig-n required, and according to this the pattern is woven. With the commencement of weaving, the card cylinder begins to revolve, bringing_ up the cards on the inside of tbe jacquard-frame. The cylinder being carried iu a " lay " or batten, oscillates a sufficient distance to allow space for it to be drawn or pulled round by a pawl or lever, by which it is moved. Every movement is the fourth part of a revolution, and brings up a fresh card upon the cylinder, at the same time delivering the most advanced upon it. The cards are so adjusted that each lies evenly on the flat surfaces of the cylinder, and by the oscillation of the batten is brought " square on " against the needle-board. The ends of the needles, projecting about in. through the board towards the cylinder, enter the perforations of the cards if these happen to be opposite their extremities, and are thus undisturbed, and keep their hooks upright. The griffe having simultaneously descended, its bars catch hold of these hooks, and in rising it draws them upward, and through the harness and the leashes containing the mails lifts the warp threads, opening a " shed " or passage for the shuttle. As only a portion' of the threads are required to be raised at once, tbe others are prevented rising by the following means: When the cards are pressed against the needle-board, those needles which do not come opposite a perforation or hole in the card are pressed back and carry with them their vertical hooks, which are thus pushed out of range of contact with the bars of the griffe. Owing. to this they are not drawn up when the griffe ascends. The threads thus left down are usually, though not always, lifted by the succeeding card. It will thus be obvious that there is scarcely any limit to the capacity of the jacquard to produce variety of design, as any single thread of the warp can be raised when required. In the ordinary jacquard, oue card is required for every transverse thread or pick of weft contained in the figure or design of the cloth. When these have all passed over the cylinder, the pattern is completed, and a repetition commences. Sometimes these designs are very elaborate, and take many thousands of cards, instances having occurred in the silk and linen trades wherein they have exceeded 30,000. Many ingenious appliances have been invented to diminish the number needed in such cases, but to detail all these is not necessary ; a description of one of the mast recent improvements will suffice.