TREATMENT OF RAGS 23

Great economy and efficiency may be introduced into the rag loft by the use
of a little care and thought, and by the provision of suitable and convenient
tables and appliances. In one case, the number of women employed was 80
for the sorting of about 52 tons of rags of various grades per week. By re-
organizing the rag loft and providing convenient tables and receptacles, the
number of women was reduced to 30, and the same amount of rags was passed
through and dealt with far more thoroughly. Of these 30 women, only 16
were actually employed on overhauling the rags.

When the rags have been sorted they are ready to be cut up into pieces of
convenient size for the boilers and breakers. Formerly the rags were all hand-
cut by the women, but nowadays this slow method has been superseded by

[Bertrams Ltd.
FIG. 4.—RAG WILLOW AND DUSTER, WITH PART OF COVER REMOVED TO SHOW WIRE-COVERED
DRUM AND SPIKES
the rag chopper. There are several types of machines in use, but they all
work on the same principle. The rags are fed into the machine along a
travelling band, and pass first between 'ripping5 wheels, which cut them up
lengthways into strips. They then pass between a heavy revolving knife and
a dead knife, and the strips are cut off into short square pieces. These machines
are very efficient and will cut up anything from fine muslin to stout canvas
with equal facility. After the rags leave the chopper they are carried to a willow,
where they are tossed about and opened up, and they then pass to a conical
rag duster.
The rag duster (Fig. 4) consists of a kind of hollow tapering cone made
of iron or wooden bars securely bolted to circular metal ends. The bars are
fitted with iroft spikes about 6 or 8 inches long, which project into the inside of
the cone, and serve to lift up the rags from the bottom as the cone revolves* *
and drop them down again on to the sides, which consist of coarse mesk wke