on, the diameter of the spindle whorl, the size and speed of the spindle and the load. Atmospheric conditions within the spinning room also affect the life of the band. Bands made of roving do not last as long as those made of yarn, but they are preferred on account of the stretch before breaking, in the case of the roving band, being considerably less; as a consequence, in a spinning room where roving bands are used, better yarn will be produced. Practical experience has shown that one modern automatic banding machine will furnish sufficient roving bands for an equipment of 40,000 to 50,000 cotton-spinning spindles, producing medium or print-cloth yarns under ordinary conditions. The average cotton spinning mill using round bands generally produces them within its own plant; some small spinning plants, however, may purchase round bands from other mills. Where several small mills in the same locality are under one management, it is customary for all the bands required to be made at one of the plants. Some large spinning plants equipped with the tape band drive also weave their own tape banding, using their own yarns for the purpose; to that end they are equipped with one or more narrow-ware looms specially designed for the purpose. But the mills using woven-tape banding generally purchase it through supply houses or directly from the manufacturers. Another type of round-spindle banding, used largely in worsted spinning, is made of two strands of yarn, twisted and doubled and counter twisted, but with a doubling of the ends of the strands back into the stock, the bands being completed at a uniform length and with each end terminating in a loop. A separate band is required for each spindle, and in banding the spindle the ends of the band are brought together and connected with a suitable coupling-wire link. A round type of spindle banding, recently developed by a domestic manufacturer, consists of a braided cord, spotted in the process of braiding at certain points according to the length required. In applying this band, it is led around the drum and the spindle whorl, the ends brought together, and the strands of one end, passing through the loop at the other, are drawn up by tension until the spots coincide; the ends are then tied and the surplus stock cut away. A braided band of this type is said to run with less slip and stretch, but its cost is greater than that of the ordinary band, and it has not been introduced commercially. Tape spindle banding is manufactured in various widths, from three-eighths inch to 2 inches, and the thickness, weight, and texture vary according to the use required. It is woven both single and ply, the single weave being generally of herringbone twill. Round bands may be made of grey cotton yarn, but are now generally made of hard-twisted cotton roving. Tape banding is generally woven of grey cotton yarns. Experiments have been made with bands of pure flax, treated to prevent stretch and shrinkage during use, but while these may show extra strength it is very doubtful if they would prove economical in actual use. Production and consumption of spindle banding are not recorded. EXPORTS Statistics of exports are not available. 1 IMPORTS Imports of spindle banding are not recorded separately. Table 18 shows combined figures for imports of wicking, spindle banding, and lining for bicycle tires, from August 28, 1889, to October 3, 1913, inclusive, together with total figures for imports of wicking and spindle banding, from October 4, 1913, to December, 31, 1924, inclusive. The annual average of the above totals is very small, and that of the spindle banding, alone, is less. Imports consist mostly of small lots of special round banding for use in English worstedspinning machinery installed in some few domestic worsted spinning plants. Small lots of tape-woven banding are also imported for the same purpose. Imports are generally from England. TABLE 18.-Lamp, stove, and candle wicking, woven, braided, or twisted, and spindle banding, of cotton (or other vegetable fiber)—Imports for consumption— Revenue, 1895–1924 1 Includes "lining for bicycle tires" in years under act of 1894. From Aug. 28, 1894, to June 30, 1895, inclusive. Imports not recorded prior to act of 1894. • From July 1 to July 24, 1897, inclusive. From July 25, 1897, to June 30, 1898, inclusive. 7 From July 1 to Dec. 31, 1918. 8 Plus 7 cents a pound if containing cotton having a staple of 1% inches or more, under emergency tariff act of May 27, 1921. From Jan. 1 to Sept. 21, 1922, inclusive. 10 Includes 12,142 pounds, valued at $6,232, dutiable at 25 per cent ad valorem and 5 pounds, valued at $2, dutiable at 25 per cent ad valorem and 7 cents a pound. i1 10,251 days, equivalent to 28.08 years. 11 From Sept. 22, to Dec. 31, inclusive. 18 Preliminary figures. COMPETITIVE CONDITIONS The ordinary round spindle banding used by domestic cotton mills can be made by them more cheaply than it can be purchased; further, banding of this type produced by domestic manufacturers for the trade has no competition from imports, owing to the comparatively low prices prevailing as the result of competition within the home market. This applies also to the special round banding with looped ends, except in a few instances where domestic worsted-spinning plants, equipped with English spinning machinery, arbitrarily insist on the use of the imported English banding, even at a greater landed price than that of the comparable domestic article. For the same reason small lots of tape-woven bands are occasionally imported. Domestic bands are made of a better grade of cotton than that contained in the imported article. TARIFF HISTORY Spindle banding was not mentioned in the tariff acts prior to 1894. Imports of spindle banding, made of cotton or other vegetable fiber, were made dutiable at 45 per cent ad valorem in the act of 1894, paragraph 263; at 10 cents per pound and 15 per cent ad valorem in the acts of 1897, paragraph 320, and 1909, paragraph 330; and at 25 per cent ad valorem in the act of 1913, paragraph 262. Paragraph 913 of the act of 1922 provides for imports of "spindle banding, made of cotton or other vegetable fiber," with the compound duty of 10 cents per pound and 122 per cent ad valorem. FOREIGN PRODUCTION Spindle banding is necessarily produced in connection with spinning in all countries where yarns are manufactured, but there are no statistics available as to foreign production. Spindle banding forms an unimportant item in the small-wares group. As stated, most mills produce their ordinary bands as needed and can purchase the necessary types of tape banding in the domestic market to advantage. Because of the nature of the article, the same conditions seem likely to hold good in each country where the spinning industry is carried on. PRICE DATA There are no published price quotations on spindle banding. Any price named will depend upon the price of cotton at a given time, the type of band, its construction, and the quantity under consideration. A large domestic manufacturer states that the price is regulated by the competition among domestic dealers and manufacturers and is on a basis that allows very little profit, this condition resulting in prices. underselling landed imports. A statement of this manufacturer, dated February 28, 1923, gives data, on the pound basis, as follows: Average selling price of tape and round band__ Average cost of yarns.. Average expenses- Average cost, including yarn.. Average profit per pound.... Cents 65. 8 36. 7 28.0 64. 7 1. 1 About the 1st of February, 1923, this manufacturer imported some round endless banding from England for a special customer, for use in English worsted-spinning machinery. The English price was 2s. 6d. (58.4 cents) per pound, which, including the duty, totaled 75.7 cents per pound, exclusive of freight and insurance. Some five-eighthsinch tape banding was also imported, which cost, retail price, in England, as a small special lot, 3s. 6d. per pound; this, together with the duty, amounted to $1.02 cents per pound, not including freight and insurance. This manufacturer maintains that domestic bands are underselling the English bands by from 30 to 40 per cent. WAGE AND COST DATA Spindle banding not being separately classified, no information is available as to domestic wages and costs, nor is information available as to foreign wages and costs. Labor cost is a small item in the case of round banding, while in the case of tape-woven banding the combined items of labor cost and overhead expense may amount to 40 per cent of the total cost. COURT AND TREASURY DECISIONS Cord, one-quarter of an inch in diameter, composed of numerous strands of cotton yarn, hard-twisted and doubled, and designed for use in textile machinery for transmitting power, was held to be dutiable under paragraph 263 as "cords" or "spindle banding" at 45 per cent ad valorem and not as an unenumerated manufacture of cotton at 35 per cent under paragraph 264. (G. A. 4070, T. D. 18873 of 1898.) Such cord was likewise classified under the act of 1897. (G. A. 6462, T. D. 27664 of 1906.) The provision in paragraph 330 of the act of 1909 for "banding for machinery" was held to be more specific than the provision for tapes not specially provided for and the provisions for webbings. (Abstract 33196, Nairn Linoleum Co. v. United States, 3 Ct. Cust. Appeals, 394, of 1913; see G. A. 7492, T. D. 33731 of 1913.) VI. LAMP, STOVE, AND CANDLE WICKING GENERAL INFORMATION DESCRIPTION AND USES Wicking, used in the manufacture of candles, and wicks, used in lamps and stoves, are so familiar that any description of them or mention of their uses appears unnecessary. Candle wicking is usually produced by twisting, cabling, or braiding yarns or threads. One type is composed of a wire of fuse-metal alloy, braided around with cotton threads; the threads of yarn afford the necessary capillary capacity, and the fusible wire serves to hold the wick upright at the tip when burning, the wire melting at the end as the wick is consumed. Wicks of this kind are used in candles for ritualistic purposes. Lamp or stove wicking is generally a woven narrow fabric, and of a type for use in flat burners. It is generally woven flat, on the double or ply cloth principle, with a binder warp. A loose twisted warp yarn is used, with the object of obtaining a cross-section of maximum area and capillary capacity, producing a broad-surfaced flame. Flat wicks are made in widths from three-eighths of an inch up. Another type of wick, used in tubular burners of lamps and stoves, is of a structure resembling hose. One large wick of this kind is woven as a continuous tube from the upper end down to about the middle of its length; through a change in the shedding of the warps in the loom, the lower half is woven as a double-width fabric, with an open slit extending from the bottom half way up. The object of this construction is to afford easy adjustment of the wick to the special burner, and at the same time preserve the requirements demanded of a wick. Another type of wick is round, and consists of a soft core of yarn or roving incased in braiding. Woven and braided wicks are made in all necessary sizes and in different designs. Some are branded by means of colored threads in the warp. Some are made entirely of dyed yarns, generally red, for special requirements. The round braided wick, with soft core, may be used in alcohol lamps, railroad torches, etc. The object sought in the manufacture of wicking is high capillary quality, in order to transfer the oil or other liquid from the reservoir to the upper end. Some wickings are used in the shafting bearings of the capillary type of hanger boxes, the wick extending from the inside of the hanger box down through a hole in the lower half into the oil reservoir underneath. The object of the wicking is to transfer the lubricating oil, as required, from the reservoir to the surface of the revolving shaft. During the World War one large manufacturer of narrow wares and wickings made lots of special wicking in continuous lengths for use in one of the Government's largest shipbuilding yards as a substitute for caulking between the plates of the hulls. THE DOMESTIC INDUSTRY History.—The history of wicking would naturally parallel that of candles, lamps, and stoves. Wicking is generally made in small wares plants, and its production may amount to only a small proportion of the plant's total output. |