SHODDY  , in origin probably a factory

term and first applied to the waste thrown off or " shed " during the process of wool manufacture . It is now the name given to a special type of fabric made from remanufactured materials, i.e. materials which have already been spun into yarn and woven into cloth but have been torn up or " ground up "—as this operation is termed technically—into a fibrous mass, and respun and rewoven . The term " shoddy " is sometimes applied to all fabrics made of such remanufactured materials, of which there are many types, such as " mungos," " extracts," " flocks," &c., but strictly it should be confined to a cloth produced from fabrics originally made from English and the longer cross-bred wools . Mungo is produced from fabrics originally made from Botany and short fine wools; extract is the wool fibre obtained from goods origin-ally composed of wool and cotton from which the cotton has been " extracted " by sulphuric acid or some other agent; and flocks mostly come from milling, raising and cropping machines . There are some few other particular types of minor importance . The operations of converting rags, tailors' clippings, &c., into these remanufactured materials are as follows: dusting, to render the subsequent operations as healthy and agreeable as possible; seaming i.e. taking out every little bit of sewing thread (unless the rags are for extracting) in order that a good " spin " may result; sorting into the various qualities and colours; oiling, to cause the fibres to glide upon one another, and thus separate so far as possible without breakage; and finally grinding, i.e. tearing up into a fibrous mass which may be readily spun into threads . The last-named operation is usually spoken of as " grinding, " but really it is anything but grinding, being more of a teasing-out operation, the object being to preserve the length of the fibre so far as possible . The remanufactured materials are necessarily very short in fibre, so that it is usually necessary to mix, i.e . " blend," some better material with them to carry the bulk through the machines into the yarn . With this object in view, sometimes good wool or noils (the short from combing), but more often cotton, is employed . The yarns thus spun are in the majority of cases woven into pieces as weft yarns, the warps usually being cotton; but there are some exceptions, a really good mungo blend being readily woven as warp . Upon the whole the " cheap and nasty " idea usually associated with the term " shoddy," in reference to these remanufactured materials, is quite a mistake .

Some most excellent cloths are produced, and when

price is taken into consideration it must be conceded that the development of this industry has benefited the- working classes of Great Britain and other countries to a remarkable extent . Many are now well clothed, who, without the advent of the remanufactured materials, would have been clothed in rags .