GENERAL INFORMATION.

WOOL CLOTHS.

Description and uses.-The term "wool cloths signifies woven fabrics destined for men's suits, trousers, overcoats, etc., and for women's cloaks. Cloths are ordinarily heavier than dress goods (par. 290), are firmer, of greater strength, and without the draping quality. Wool cloths are of two general classes (1) woolens, woven of carded yarns, and (2) worsteds, woven of combed yarns (par. 287). The weave structure in woolen cloth is usually more or less concealed by a nap or protrusion of fiber ends, and the colors thereby somewhat softened and intermerged. In worsted cloth the weave structure and colors are more sharply defined, and the surface is smoother and firmer. Only new wools of long or medium lengths can be utilized in making worsteds; in making woolens, not only short fibers, but shoddy and waste also are utilized. Typical woolens are broadcloths, cassimeres, tweeds, and meltons; typical worsteds are serges, unfinished worsteds, and fancy trouserings.

Production.-Separate statistics for wool cloths are unobtainable, the Census including them with dress goods. In 1914 production under this classification amounted to 455,079,326 square yards, valued at $238,342,226, made up of 175.895,450 square yards of woolens, valued at $81,001,092, and 279,183,876 square yards of worsteds, valued at $157,341,134. The tendency for decades has been to a larger proportion of worsteds in the cloth and dress goods output, but from 1909 to 1914 woolen production increased slightly, while worsted declined, chiefly in cotton warp and worsted filled goods; the combined production of worsteds and woolens also showed a slight decrease. During the war, on account of the great Army demand for woolens, there was an abnormally large production.

There were 799 manufacturers of woolen and worsted fabrics (including blankets, flannels, etc., as well as cloths and dress goods), with a capital of $389,652,578, and 164,233 employees. In the woolen industry alone there were 501 manufacturers, a capital of $107,871,742, and 51,315 employees; in the worsted, 298 establishments, a capital of $281,780,836, and 112,918 employees.

Imports (including cloths of hair of the Angora goat, the alpaca, and other like animals) from 1910 to 1913 averaged 4,742,081 pounds, valued at $5,164,287. In the first half of 1914 imports were 1,984,689 pounds, valued at $2,298,765. Thereafter cloths made of the hair of the Angora goat, etc., are given separately. With such fabrics omitted, imports of wool cloths for the second half of 1914 were 9,474,620 pounds, valued at $9,725.041; for the calendar year 1914 they amounted to 16,439,655 pounds, valued at $16,107,505. Then came a decline to only 2,655,738 pounds, valued at $4,535,487 in 1918. For 1910-1913 imports of cloths and dress goods averaged about 4 per cent of domestic production; for the calendar year 1914 they were approximately 11.2 per cent (imports of mohair, etc., included). The increase in 1914 was largest for narrow goods (under 54 inches) and mixed goods.

Imports under the older tariffs, and to a considerable extent under the present tariff, generally have been of fine goods, fancy weaves, and specialties-cloths, largely for the best custom tailors, such as

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Scotch and Irish tweeds, superior faced goods, etc. Some imports of shoddy cloths appeared in 1914, but were checked by the war without their acceptability to American consumers being ascertained. The ready-to-wear trade has never utilized imported cloths to any great extent.

In prewar years from 50 to 60 per cent of the importations came from the United Kingdom and 25 to 33.3 per cent from Germany and Belgium. During the war almost the entire import, except a small increase from Canada in 1918, came from the British Isles.

Exports.-Until 1918 separate figures for wool woven fabrics are unobtainable, and then cloths and dress goods are shown together. Under the designation "wool manufactures, all other" (including carpets and rugs, blankets, etc., as well as cloths and dress goods), exports before 1914 were usually under $1,000,000, decreasing after 1909. In 1914 they amounted to $1,668,199; in 1916 they reached $33,331,873, declining to $13,435,946 in 1918, of which $7,009,554 were for cloths and dress goods. The principal recipients were Canada, Cuba, Argentine, Brazil, Chile, and Norway.

KNIT GOODS, N. S. P. F.

Description and uses.-Some of the more important items are jersey cloth and stockinette, astrakhan, and similar fabrics. Besides these a variety of miscellaneous knitted products are used for upholstery, etc.

Imports were 13,666 pounds, valued at $14,923 in 1914, and 3,753 pounds, valued at $11,564 in 1918.

FELTS NOT WOVEN.

Description and uses.-In its simplest form "unwoven felt" is a layer of wool, the component fibers being pressed and tangled into unity. It is the hygroscopic nature of the fibers, their curliness and flexibility, and the serrated character of their surfaces which permit this fabrication through moisture, heat, and pressure. Felts are used for jackets for steam boilers, linings, carpets, and upholstery; and the better grades for piano covers, hats, etc.

Production in 1914 of felt goods, exclusive of felt hats, endless belts, and hair felting, was valued at $9,075,158.

Imports were 88,864 pounds, valued at $105,624 in 1914, and 96,897 pounds, valued at $189,013 in 1918.

WOOL MANUFACTURES, N. S. P. F.

This part of the present paragraph is the catch-all clause for manufactures of the wool schedule.

Production figures for all the articles are unobtainable. In 1914 the value of carriage robes and cloths was $1,676,778; of upholstery goods and sundries, $2,042,029; of endless belts, mostly paper maker's felts, $4,164,186.

Imports. The average value per year for 1910-1913 was $339,634; while 1914 totaled $771,521, the yearly average for 1915-1918 was only $358,646.

CLOTHS OF CATTLE OR HORSE HAIR.

Description and uses.--Cattle and horse hair are materials for making carpets, automobile robes, horse blankets, imitation fur, and cheap felt used for a variety of purposes. Usually a vegetable fiber or wool is the component material of chief value; but (except haircloth, s. p. f., par. 353) where cattle or horse hair is the component of chief value of any cloth, as in the case of cheap hair felt, it is dutiable hereunder.

Production in 1914 of cattle-hair felt was 1,350,436 square yards, valued at $635,041, more than double the output in 1904.

Imports for the second half of the fiscal year 1914 were 339,857 pounds, valued at $87,366; in 1918, 3,861 pounds, valued at $7,429.

PILE FABRICS AND MANUFACTURES THEREOF.

Description and uses.-Wool plushes, velvets, and other pile fabrics compose a minor branch of wool manufacture. They are used chiefly for upholstery and as imitation fur, but the pile is not as satisfactory as that of corresponding products made wholly or chiefly from mohair and similar fibers. They are in the main produced on a machine which weaves simultaneously two fabrics with interlacing threads, and subsequently cuts between the two fabrics, leaving the cut threads upstanding to form the pile. (For terry method, see par. 264.)

Imports of pile fabrics in the second half of 1914 were 32,868 pounds, valued at $35,921; manufactures of pile fabrics amounted to $12,919. In 1918 the imports of fabrics were 701 pounds, valued at $1,537, and manufactures thereof, $17,598.

HOSIERY.

Description and uses.-The three classes of wool hosiery are covered by this paragraph. By "stockings, etc., made on knitting machine or frame" is meant the cheaper kind made by sewing together "blanks" cut out of long, tubular, knitted webs made on large circular knitting machines. By "stockings, etc., * * fashioned,

etc.," is meant full-fashioned hosiery, made by stitching together the edges of "blanks" specially knitted on a flat knitting machine, or a succession of flat knitting machines, called "full-fashioned" because on the successive machines stitches are dropped or added to conform the stocking to the shape desired. Seamless" hosiery is usually completed on a circular knitting machine, except for a short seam at the toe. Full-fashioned hosiery is the more elastic and better fitting, but the seamless is cheaper.

Production of all-wool hosiery declined from 2,393,659 dozen pairs, valued at $5,607,486 in 1904, to 1,985,833 dozen pairs, valued at $3,875,486 in 1914; while the output of wool-mixed, or merino hosiery, increased from 2,357,292 dozen pairs, valued at $3,396,842, to 3,059,294 dozen pairs, valued at $4,798,949.

Imports of wool hosiery in the second half of the fiscal year 1914 were 28,827 dozen pairs, valued at $63,310; in 1918, 418,644 dozen pairs, valued at $2,149,060. The large increase for 1918 was due to Army demands; the bulk came from Canada. The 1914 and 1918 imports were classified as follows:

Description.-Gloves and mittens are made on knitting machines which are now so perfected that little hand labor is required.

Imports in the second half of the fiscal year 1914 were 26,126 dozen pairs, valued at $40,342; for the calendar year 1914, 165,243 dozen pairs, valued at $245,930. In 1918 imports reached 204,554 dozen pairs, valued at $1,492,352. For the last half of the fiscal year 1914 and for the fiscal year 1918 imports were:

Description and uses.-This cloth is employed in expressing oil and for pressing purposes in the chocolate, stearic acid, and mustard industries.

Imports in 1914 (Jan. 1 to June 30) were 14,232 pounds, valued at $5,984; in 1918, none.

INTERPRETATION AND COMMENTS.

Cattle-hair cloth containing a small percentage of mohair is dutiable at the rate of 25 per cent ad valorem under this paragraph. (T. D. 34624, of 1914.) Cattle-hair cloth teaseled composed of cattle hair and cotton with a plush effect produced on the surface by teaseling, is dutiable as cloth made of cattle hair under this paragraph, the fabric not coming within the definition of pile fabrics. (Abstract 38294, of 1915.) Woven felt of cattle hair and jute, consisting of woven jute fabrics with a cattle-hair facing and backing, the felt being placed on the jute while in a dampened condition, is likewise classified. (T. D. 34614, of 1914.) Cattle-hair robes consisting of two pieces of cattle-hair cloth sewn together and trimmed with braid is dutiable either directly or by similitude or under the mixed-material clause as cloths in chief value of cattle hair or horsehair under this paragraph. (G. A. 7974,› T. D. 36743, of 1916.) Cattle-hair felt, a felted fabric in chief value: of cattle hair, used for undercarpeting, is also dutiable as cloths in chief value of cattle hair under this paragraph and not under the provision of the same paragraph for "felts not woven

wholly or in chief value of wool." (G. A. 7944, T. D. 36587, of 1916.) Horsehair hats were held dutiable by similitude as articles of artificial horsehair under paragraph 405 of the act of 1909. (3 Ct. Cust. Appls., 87, of 1912.) "Patent felt jackets," a felt used by paper makers on paper machines to cover or bind parts of the machinery, were held dutiable as "felts not woven " under paragraph 382 of the act of 1909, the term including other felts besides felt wearing apparel. (Abstract 35266, T. D. 34321, of 1914, citing 2 Ct. Cust. Appls., 389, of 1912.)

Hair press cloth, in chief value of camel's hair, was held dutiable as press cloth composed of camel's hair under this paragraph. (Abstract 38425, of 1915.) Camel's-hair press-cloth mats are dutiable as manufactures of wool under this paragraph; and combination goat'shair and camel's-hair mats as a nonenumerated manufactured article under paragraph 385 when goat hair is the element of chief value. (T. D. 34285, of 1914.)

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Certain powder pads or puffs were held dutiable as articles composed in chief value of wool pile fabrics under this paragraph. (Abstract 38348, of 1915.) Mantling curls," consisting of cloth with a woolly or curly effect produced through shrinking the cloth after it is knitted, are not dutiable as wool pile fabrics under this paragraph, but as wool cloths or knit fabrics under the same paragraph or dress goods under paragraph 290. (Abstract 40775, of 1917.) Pulp felt manufactured from wool for use on pulp rollers in the manufacture of paper, after being discarded, assessed as manufactures of wool under this paragraph, was held not to be wool waste within the meaning of paragraph 651. (G. A. 8262, T. D. 38052, of 1919.) An appeal is pending from this decision.

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Cloth of mohair and wool invoiced as sateen or "standard," with the warp yarn of wool and the weft yarn of mohair and wool, and the wool in the two yarns being more valuable than the mohair, is dutiable under this paragraph as cloth in chief value of wool and not under paragraph 308 as cloth in chief value of the hair of the Angora goat. (7 Ct. Cust. Appls., 332, of 1916.)

Green-baize wool cloth, 36, 45, 54, and 72 inches wide and about 30 yards long, claimed to be dutiable as bockings, was held dutiable as wool cloth under this paragraph, the testimony being insufficient to establish a commercial definition of the term bockings in paragraph 301. (Abstract 39843, of 1916.)

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Textile fabric, the distinguishing feature of which is a fine, unbroken surface, ornamented in the making with figures and designs in colored threads or yarns, is tapestry and is dutiable as cloths or manufactures of wool under this paragraph and not as embroidery under paragraph 358. (7 Ct. Cust. Appls., 463, of 1917.) Wool cloth teaseled is also dutiable as wool cloth. (Abstract 40293, of 1916.)

Knitted wool leggings, found to be dealt in in the trade as footless golf hose, were held properly classified under the hosiery provision of this paragraph. (Abstract 43007, of 1919.) The court can not take judicial notice that exhibits of wool half hose are not "selvedged, fashioned, narrowed, or shaped wholly or in part by knitting machines or frames, or knit by hand," or "commercially known as seamless," and in the absence of other evidence the collector's classification of them as such under this paragraph was sustained, overruling the claim that they were dutiable as knit woolen half hose under the same paragraph. (9 Ct. Cust. Appls., T. D. 37977, of 1919.)