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KNITTING or weaving
fishing-nets is one of the oldest branches of the textile manufactures of
Scotland. Many centuries ago the dwellers on the shores of Caledonia knew
how to twist the fibres of flax and hemp into traps for fish ; and for many
years past the manufacture of nets, lines, and other engines for capturing
the finny tribes, has been an important branch of industry in the towns and
villages adjoining the sea. It became customary for the wives and families
of the fishermen to spin and weave the nets required for their mutual
support. The domestic spinning apparatus has now, however, been almost
entirely discarded in that connection, though hand-knitting continues to be
practised in certain parts. In Caithness-shire, for instance, some twine is
still sold to be worked into netsby women in their own homes. A dozen years
ago thousands of nets were made by hand in that county, and in the villages
on the south side of the Moray Firth, the price paid being from 7s. 6d. to
10s. each. Such was the cheapness of labour in the north that, though it
requires five weeks' close application in order to produce one net, there
were always more willing hands than could find employment in that way, and a
real hardship was experienced by many when machines began to compete with
hand-labour. It is probable that in a few years net-making by hand will be
entirely abolished, for the machine-made nets are much superior to the
others. The material used is also undergoing a complete change. That
"there's nothing like hemp for nets," was a maxim with the fishing
fraternity from the earliest times, but within the past five or six years
the virtues of cotton have come to be understood and appreciated, and now
hemp is rapidly going out of fashion. It has been discovered that, while a
hemp net gradually loses its strength and becomes almost useless in five or
six years, a cotton net remains unimpaired for nine or ten years—so that a
cotton net, while quite as cheap as a hemp one, is twice as durable. Another
advantage is that a cotton net can be made much finer and lighter than one
of hemp. On the west coast, and on the south side of the Moray Firth, some
flax nets are employed ; but as they are considered inferior to cotton, they
are not likely to remain long in use. When hemp comes to be totally dis=
carded, hand-labour in the making of nets will cease ; for it has been found
impossible to produce cotton nets by hand either so cheaply or so
satisfactorily as by the machines.
The ease with which
hand-labour could be obtained in the coast villages, and the practice of
fishermen having their nets made chiefly by their own families, were
circumstances which tended to prevent mechanicians from considering the
practicability of constructing a machine that would supersede netting by
hand. The supply of nets had always been equal to the demand, and there was
little prospect that fishermen—who, by the way, are notoriously conservative
in matters professional—would patronise any contrivance which was destined
to supersede the home employment of their families. Such were the
circumstances under which the inventor of the net-loom set himself to work
out an idea which he had entertained from boyhood. The history of the
net-loom and its inventor has not previously been written, and what follows
is the result of personal inquiries made in various quarters.
Towards the close of last
century a young man named James Paterson followed the trade of a cooper at
Musselburgh, and, being by it connected with fishing, he became conversant
with the making and use of nets. As he watched the nimble movements of the
net-workers, the idea struck him that it might be possible to devise a
machine that would relieve the women from the tedious task of net-making.
Not considering himself capable of putting the idea into practice, he did
not mention it to any one. Some time afterwards he joined the army, and in
the capacity of Deputy-Assistant-Commissary-General served in Egypt, the
Peninsula, and at Waterloo. lie used to relate how through all the trials of
war the idea of working nets by machinery haunted him, and he devoted many
spare hours to thinking over the matter. After Waterloo Mr Paterson left the
military service, and, having acquired some means, resolved to devote
himself to the invention of a net-loom. It would appear that he went first
to Queensferry, but before he had completed the machine removed to his
native place, Musselburgh. With the aid of an ingenious mechanic, who was
sworn to secrecy, and after many months of anxious labour and many failures,
Mr Paterson saw the machine take promising shape, and at length things were
so far advanced that a trial was to be made. Worn out by anxiety and galled
by many unsuccessful experiments, Mr Paterson was disposed to regard this
trial as a decisive one. He thought he had exhausted his inventive powers,
and felt inclined, if the machine did not then succeed, to abandon the idea
he had cherished so long. The critical moment arrived, the last lever and
spring had been adjusted, and all was ready. With nervous touch the inventor
and his assistant moved the machine. Its action was easy, and all the parts
appeared to work in harmony to the desired end. After a few moments,
however, the machine came to a stand, and no available power could move it.
It was carefully examined in every part, but no cause for the sudden and
complete stoppage could be found. Some hours had been spent in trying to
discover what was wrong, when Mr Paterson lost his temper, flung the key of
the workshop to the mechanic, said he might ' make a kirk or a mill" of the
concern, and then went home. The man was no less distressed than his master,
yet he was not disposed to abandon the invention. He went to a smith who had
been doing some work for Mr Paterson, and, accompanied by the smith,
returned about midnight to have another look at the machine. The smith was
quite puzzled by the apparatus, and held out no hope that he would be able
to make it work; but as he peered with wonder through the ranges of needles,
&c., his eye lighted on a bolt which appeared to be loose. He called the
mechanic's attention to the fact, the bolt was adjusted, and a fresh attempt
was made to start the machine. The loose bolt had been the cause of the
stoppage, and the machine worked beautifully when the bolt was put right.
After getting the smith to take a vow of secrecy, the mechanic sent him
home, and, notwithstanding the unseasonable hour, rushed into Mr Paterson's
house to announce the fact that he had got the machine to work. He met with
an indifferent reception, for the news appeared too good to be true. .Tr
Paterson got up, however, and went to the workshop, where he had the
pleasure of seeing that the idea which he had nursed for so many years was
not an impracticable thing after all. There was the machine turning off row
after row of meshes at a rate which would leave a dozen hand-workers far
behind. Mr Paterson patented his invention, and established a net factory in
Bridge Street, Mussel-burgh, about the year 1820. In order to preserve a
secret that had cost so much anxiety, labour, and money, steps were taken to
prevent the workpeople from carrying away descriptions or sketches of the
machine.
It was at first difficult to
find a market for the machine-made nets, and many years passed before they
found much favour with fishermen. In 1839 Mr Paterson had eighteen looms at
work, and these, together with the spinning-machines, gave employment to
upwards of fifty persons. About seven years before that date a Mr Robertson
from Sunderland went to Musselburgh, and started in opposition to Mr
Paterson. It was alleged that Mr Robertson made his machines from drawings
which were obtained surreptitiously from some of Mr Paterson's workpeople;
and Mr Robertson, in order to avoid an action for infringing the inventor's
patent rights, sold off and left the country. The greatest difficulty that
Mr Paterson had experienced in working out his invention was the formation
of a knot which would not slip. The knot put on by hand is peculiar, and Mr
Paterson did not succeed in making one similar to it, though the knot he
made was firm enough. About thirty years ago a mode of forming the hand-knot
on the machine was discovered by Mr John Low, manager of Mr Paterson's
factory, and was adopted in all the machines subsequently made.
The principal manufacturers
of nets in Scotland are Messrs J. & W. Stuart, Musselburgh, who in 1849
acquired Mr Paterson's factory and the patent rights to his invention. In
their hands the business has grown steadily; and though there are a number
of rival manufacturers, Messrs Stuart have been able to maintain the
foremost place. Their new factory is one of the finest in the country.
Finding that the building in Bridge Street, Musselburgh—which may be called
the nursery of the trade—was, notwithstanding several additions, too small
and otherwise inconvenient, the firm determined to erect a new factory. They
selected a site on the right bank of the Esk, adjoining the railway station,
and about fifteen years ago completed the first section of a new factory. It
afforded accommodation for 100 looms, with hemp-preparing and
spinning-machinery, to the extent of 3500 spindles. During 1867 they made
extensions which more than doubled the size of the place. About ten years
ago, when cotton began to be used as a substitute for hemp in making nets,
Messrs Stuart turned their original factory into a cotton-spinning mill; but
as the change of material advanced, the productive power of the cotton
machinery was not equal to requirements, and the principal portion of the
recent additions to the establishment on the Esk is a fine cotton mill
containing 20,000 spindles. The buildings altogether form an oblong square,
and cover a space of four acres. One end of the square is occupied by the
cotton mill, which is an elegant and imposing structure, consisting of four
lofty storeys. The front of the cotton mill is of a highly ornate character,
the lower part being rusticated, and the upper decorated with pilasters and
finely sculptured emblematic figures. On either side of the square, and at
the end opposite the cotton mill, are the hemp, spinning and weaving
departments, stores, mechanics' workshops, &c. The inside of the square is
occupied by a tastefully laid out ornamental garden, in one end of which
stands a detached building containing the counting-room and private offices.
The factory is connected by a branch line with the North British Railway.
Cotton-spinning has already
been described, and a few sentences on the preparation of hemp will suffice.
In tracing the hemp through the various processes of manufacture, the
visitor must follow it from the spacious stores to the softening-room, where
it is fed through sets of grooved rollers, which make the fibres more
pliable, and so facilitate subsequent operations. The heckling comes next in
order, but neither in that nor in the subsequent operations of drawing,
roving, and spinning is there anything different from what has been
described as pertaining to the manufacture of flax and cotton. The machinery
used is of the most perfect description, and the fineness and evenness of
the yarn produced is wonderful when the coarseness of the hemp fibre is
taken into account. In twisting two or more folds or "plies" of yarn
together to make twine, the yarn is made to pass through water. The water
lays all the loose fibres, so that they get twisted into the body of the
twine, thus at once increasing its strength and improving its appearance.
After the twisting is completed, the twine, while still wet, is run through
a rubbing-machine, which makes it perfectly smooth. The Musselburgh hemp
twine has long held a high place in the favour of the fishermen; and though
in recent years cotton has become more popular than hemp, Messrs Stuart have
never had their hemp-spinning machinery idle. The twine is reeled off the
bobbins of the twisting-frames into hanks. The hanks are stretched in
frames, and placed in a hot-air chamber, where they are thoroughly dried in
a few minutes. The twine intended for sale is made up into bundles of 28 lb.
each, and that which is to be made into nets on the premises is wound upon
large spools or bobbins. The machinery is driven by two handsome engines of
100 horse power each.
The weaving shed is an
extensive place. It contains 200 looms, with space for 100 more, which are
being put in. The shed is lofty, well lighted, and well ventilated. Each
loom requires the space of three or four common power-looms. Though called a
loom, the apparatus has no resemblance to the ordinary weaving-machine,
being more like the knitting-frame--indeed, some portions of the two are
identical in shape and name. The part which forms the mesh consists of an
arrangement of hooks, needles, and sinkers, one of each being required in
the making of every knot. In a loom capable of working a net 400 meshes in
depth, there are consequently 1200 moveable parts directly employed in the
formation of each row. The looms are from six to eight feet in width, and
about six feet in height. The hooks and needles are ranged horizontally at a
height of three feet above the floor. The mechanism by which they are put
into operation is of a peculiar and complicated kind. Indeed, it is obvious
that the machine, however well it may accomplish its work at the slow rate
at which it is worked, is not yet perfect, the clumsy looking system of
weights, springs, and levers, and the singular movements which the
operatives have to make in order to bring them into play, are decidedly
primitive, and a long way behind the automatic spinning-machinery situated
in another part of the establishment.
Messrs Stuart have made and
patented various improvements on the original loom, but there is still scope
for the exercise of mechanical skill in the way of effecting further
amendments. It is at least possible to adapt the machine to be moved by
steam or water power. The mode of working the loom may be briefly described.
The operative moves a lever which draws the last completed row of meshes off
the sinkers, and transfers them to the hooks. Another lever is moved, and
the meshes are caught by the needles. The effect of these changes, and the
movement of other parts of the machine, is to twist the lower part of each
mesh into a loose knot. The foot of the operative touches another lever, and
a steel wire is thrust across the machine through all the knots. There is a
hook at the end of this wire—or shuttle, as it is called—into which the end
of a piece of twine is fixed. The wire is then withdrawn, and as it goes
takes the twine along with it. Now the sinkers play their part. They consist
of thin slips of brass having a hook or notch formed on the upper end, and
are situated between the needles. When the twine has been drawn across
through the loops of the meshes, the sinkers are released in succession, and
as they descend each draws down the cross thread into a loop, sufficient
toform two sides of a mesh, the other two being formed by the same parts of
the previous row. One or two movements more remove the knots off the
needles, and draw them firmly, thus completing the operation. In forming
each row of meshes, the worker has to press upon half a dozen levers in
succession, and pass from one end of the machine to the other. The
occupation is consequently an unusually active one. As'the work proceeds,
the net is wound upon a self-acting cylinder which forms the upper part of
the machine. There is an index attached to the cylinder which records the
progress of the work. When a sufficient length of netting has been made, it
is unwound from the cylinder, and taken to the "guarding-room," where
several rows of stout twine are worked on what is to be the upper side of
the net. That is called the "guarding," and its purpose is to withstand the
friction of the " back-rope." It has not been found possible as yet to put
on the guarding in the loom, and, accordingly, girls are employed to work it
by hand. The net is next carefully examined, and any defect made good. It is
then neatly folded up, and in that condition goes into the market, the
subsequent operations necessary to fit it for use being performed by the
fishermen.
In addition to their famous
herring-nets, Messrs Stuart make nets for the salmon, mackerel, pilchard,
and sprat fishing. The pilchard-nets are made of stout hemp twine, while the
sprat-nets are composed of fine cotton thread. There is as great diversity
in the varieties of the herring-nets. Many of the Dutch fishermen retain
their old faith in heavy gearing, and have their nets made of three-ply hemp
twine; others, taking a hint from the Scotch fishermen, are beginning to use
light nets. The fishermen on some parts of the Scotch coast are now using
cotton nets, which look like gossamer webs beside the Dutch "three-ply." An
index of the different notions prevailing as to what a net should be is
afforded by the fact that Messrs Stuart make for herring-fishing some cotton
nets sixty yards in length, and 300 meshes in depth, which weigh only 121b.;
and others of the same size which weigh 60 lb. The hemp-twine used is either
two or three ply; while the cotton twine ranges from three to thirty ply.
Messrs Stuart have shown their nets and twine at all the recent exhibitions,
and received medals and honours at London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam,
Boulogne, &c.
In their cotton mills and net
factories, the firm employ about 800 persons, a large proportion of whom are
women and girls. Nearly all are paid by piece. The average wages of men in
the spinning department is 21s. a-week; of women, 7s. 6d. to 8s; and in the
weaving department men make 20s., and women 10s. to 18s. Many of the workers
live at a distance from the factory, and it was customary with them to carry
a supply of provisions for the day when they went to work in the morning.
Considering that such a mode of food-taking was neither healthful nor
pleasant, Messrs Stuart provided a dining-hall, kitchen, and cook; and now
the workpeople can have a freshly cooked hot breakfast and dinner for an
almost nominal payment. A breakfast of porridge and milk costs 1d.; of tea
and bread, 2d. Dinner of soup and bread costs lid., the same with meat 2d.
additional.
During the past ten years
net-making, as a branch of manufacture, has increased rapidly. In Scotland
there are thirteen or fourteen firms engaged in it. Nearly 600 looms are in
use, and in making twine and nets upwards of 2000 persons are employed. The
hemp and flax twine used is made in Scotland, but all the cotton, except
what is made by Messrs Stuart, is brought from Manchester. Singular as it
may appear, it is a fact that net-making by machinery was only recently
introduced into Wick, the metropolis of the herring fishery. Though the
greater portion of the nets used in that quarter were machine made, and
though labour during ten months of the year is cheaper than in almost any
other part of Scotland, no one had sufficient enterprise to embark in the
manufacture until about two years since, when Mr George Manson gave the
thing a trial, and was at once eminently successful. The trade has also been
begun recently in Elgin, Large, and Buckie. Messrs N. & N. Lockhart,
Kirkcaldy, are next in extent to Messrs Stuart. They have been engaged in
making twine and nets since 1854, and three years ago built a fine new
factory in which they have sixty-four net-looms, and a large quantity of
spinning-machinery for twine and yarns. |
