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The advantages of this new system of heating over any other in use are many. It can be used wherever incandescent lights are in use. There is no smoke, no combustion; no gaseous by-products are thrown off; it creates neither dust nor odor; requires neither fuel, reservoir, or special apparatus. It does not consume oxygen from the air and, spread out flat on the floor, one of the thermopile rugs, for instance, furnishes a mild, steady and permanent source of heat, evenly distributed over a very large surface. The feet of persons occupying a room heated in this way will always be warm and their heads cool.

For bedroom use the thermopile fabrics are made up into bed comforts, chair backs, foot warmers and even nightgowns.

The system is said not to be especially expensive when it is considered that it instantly transforms into heat all the electricity it receives and that the instant the electric current is shut off the cost of operation entirely ceases.

The electric carpets are made so as to give from 85 to 95 degrees of heat above the surrounding atmosphere, while coverlets and other articles for use in bed rooms give but 70 to 80 degrees. They can be made for any desired temperature, but those stated have been found to be the most generally desirable. For medical use, coverings for the backs of chairs, shawls and bandages of any desired shape are woven from the electro-thermic

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HEATING PLATE FOR DISHES.

ELECTRIC HEATING BANDAGES.

threads and have been found to be very efficacious in cases of rheumatism and other diseases in which a steady application of heat is prescribed.

The mean consumption of electricity for the electric fabrics is as follows, degrees Fahrenheit above the surrounding temperature being given in dry calm air and by square meter of the fabric:

Oriental Gobelin moquette carpets in offices and private rooms give 45° Fahrenheit per 1-10th kilowatt or 4-10ths kilowatt for 85° to 95° F. The double thick

fabrics, such as carpets, incubators and filters, give heat of 50° F. per 1-10th kilowatt or 3-10ths kilowatt for 75° to 85° when bare, and when covered 60° F. per 1-10th kilowatt or 2-10ths kilowatt for 75° to 85°. The simple, light fabrics, such as coverlets and compresses, when bare, give heat 50° F. per 1-10th kilowatt or 2-10ths kilowatt for 65° to 75° F, and, when covered, 70° F. per 1-10th kilowatt or 1-10th kilowatt for 65° to 75°.

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Making My Lady's Ribbons

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By De Witt B. Lucas

N these days of high pressure work and large achievement in every line of industry, it would be interesting to know how many shoppers give a single second's thought to the many processes through which an article of wear or a piece of goods must go before it at last finds a temporary resting place on the shelves and counters of the retail shopkeeper. Take the ribbon, for example.

Just how the weaving of ribbons originated is not recorded. Like all other great industries of to-day, it probably first had a beginning in very humble, unpretentious environment, and steadily grew in magnitude with the other departments of the textile industry.

Philadelphia is a great textile center, and it was not a difficult matter to find a

modern ribbon mill in that city in which the complete evolution of the ribbon from the raw material to the finished article could be intelligently followed.

This particular mill produces fortytwo thousand yards of ribbon a day-or more than twenty-five miles. It would be interesting to go on and figure out the weekly, monthly and yearly output of this one mill, and those mathematically inclined are at liberty to do so.

In order to achieve this enormous production, nothing has been lost sight of. The windows are constructed so as to throw no shadows upon the work. Even the very air itself is filtered and washed free from all impurities, and the temperature is kept absolutely stationary all the year round. Electricity is the power used to operate the looms and other machines, each loom being driven by an in

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the manufacture of ribbons. "Laying warp" it is called. The spools are placed upon large racks or frames, each spool setting loosely upon a pin around which it revolves, the thread or "end" as it is now known, passes through one slit in a fine comb-like gauge together with from eighty to seven hundred other ends, according to the width the ribbon is to be. The proper assembling of these ends by means of the above mentioned gauge, forms the warp, which is passed smoothly around the periphery of the large wheel shown in the picture. This wheel slowly revolves and collects the warp. It is then ready to be placed in the loom. Before proceeding to a description of the looms it is necessary to dwell for a

"QUILLING" OR "DOUBLING."

moment upon the third step, namely,the winding of "quills" for the shuttles. This operation is known to the ribbon weaver as "quilling" or "doubling. This process is somewhat similar to winding the silk upon the spools, except that the thread is wound from the spools upon the small bobbins or quills, that, contained in the shuttles are destined to play between the warp-threads.

The ribbon loom itself is a marvel of mechanical ingenuity and simplified construction. The principle of ribbonweaving, is exactly the same as in the weaving of broad silk, piece goods or carpets, only it is reproduced in multiple. Instead of weaving one ribbon at a time, as is the case with the piece goods

One of the many operations in the weaving of silk ribbon.

or carpet loom, the ribbon loom weaves simultaneously from thirty-six to seventy pieces of ribbon, according to the width, of course.

The two looms shown in the illustration are twenty feet in length, and were weaving thirty-six ribbons. each, of varying widths and colors at one time. It will not be difficult to discern the small, handle - like shuttles, each one containing its "quill" wound with filling. These shuttles move in unison back and forth between the warp-threads.

The "harness" of ti loom on the right can be plainly seen. Each one of the warp-ends passes through an eyelet in the center of the harness and is thus controlled individually, being raised or lowered automatically by the operation of the loom. The woven ribbon is automatically wound around a revolving beam, each ribbon being provided

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with a guide or drum with high thin flanges so constructed that each piece of ribbon may be readily pulled out for inspection by the weaver or the foreman. Each loom has a capacity of from fifteen to twenty yards of ribbon per day,—that is, of course, for each individual piece being woven in the loom.

After a warp is nearly exhausted, a new one takes the place of the old. The ends of the old warp are twisted to the ends of the new warp in opposite directions, and the operation of the loom gradually draws the new warp through the harness, and thus the weaving is continued, becoming practically endless in its application.

After a piece of ribbon is woven, it must be inspected for imperfections and

finished in various ways, principally by ironing to secure crispness and luster. After this it is ready for the blocking machines, where the ribbons are wound in ten-yard lengths from large creels upon the small cardboard drums or bolts that are so familiar to every one who has ever purchased or handled a piece of ribbon.

There yet remains to cover the ends of the bolt with the manufacturer's label and mark thereon the style, color and number of the ribbon, when it is ready to be boxed and shipped to the jobber, who, in turn, sells it to the retailer, from whom my lady obtains this indispensable material for her bows, and other millinery embellishments. So slight a thing as a ribbon requires much labor.

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