Clara - Goodbody Jute Works

About five miles northwest of Tullamore, on the Athlone branch of the Great Southern and Western Railway, lies the prosperous and progressive town of Clara, with a population of one thousand souls, and a quarter of a mile outside Clara are the factory and village of Clashawan, the property of the celebrated jute spinning and weaving firm of Messrs. J. & L.F. Goodbody. The village consists of about one hundred and twenty cottages, built in small regular streets or blocks at either end of the factory.

These dwellings are almost all of uniform size and plan, neat, tidy and commodious, sufficiently large and in all respects quite suitable for the families of the mill operatives by whom they are occupied. Built by the proprietors of the jute works for the accommodation of their employees, the houses are their exclusive property, and are let by them, to the factory hands, at a moderate rent which is deducted every pay day from the wages.

The sanitary arrangements of the village appear to be of the most perfect kind, each row of cottages being provided with closets and well-drained yards of ample size. The number of houses having been lately found inadequate to the annually increasing demands of the factory, sixteen new residences are now in course of construction, twelve of which will be in concrete. It is also in contemplation to extend the houses along the road the entire distance from Clashawan to Clara, and thus connect the two places.

Though similar, the village of Clashawan is in many respects similar to the manufacturing of Bessbrook, near Newry, erected beside their flax spinning mills, also for the accommodation of their employees, by the Bessbrook Spinning Company. Bessbrook has long been known as a model town of which its proprietors may be justly proud, but, thanks to the laudable solicitude and watchfulness of the Messrs. Goodbody, we can safely state that in point of morality (one of the chief grounds on which Bessbrook's claim to distinction is founded), Clashawan is in no way inferior, for the Messrs. Goodbody employ no-one whose character is not strictly unapproachable, and the slightest impropriety on the part of any operative is punished with the instant expulsion of the offender from the factory.

Such busy hives of industry are unfortunately so rare in the midland and southern counties of Ireland that a traveller visiting Clashawan for the first time would be led to imagine himself on the banks of the Bonn rather in the valley of the Brosna, and this train of thought suggests the query, 'Why are such manufactories so scarce in this part of Ireland as compared with the northern province?' The answer, we regret to say, will have to be sought for not so directly in want of capital as in our want of enterprise in this portion of the country. An unpalatable fact this may be, but that it is a solid truth will hardly be denied by any candid, fair-minded man. And is it not wiser to look stubborn realities fairly in the face, and by reflecting on them soberly and honestly, to rectify the errors of the past, to substitute energy and determination for weakness and vacillation, rather than childishly continue deceiving ourselves with the pleasing delusion that the absence of manufacturing industry is due to other causes than the want of that vigorous self-reliance from which all successful enterprise proceeds. In the Clashawan jute factory and the extensive flour mills of the Messrs. Goodbody we have an excellent illustration of our meaning. In this part of Ireland it is but too common to hear men complain that we can do nothing towards promoting local manufactures and providing employment for our labouring population without government aid, thereby implying that we are deficient in that very quality of self-reliance to which the prosperity of Ulster may be traced. Now, let us examine into what the Messrs. Goodbody have done without government aid. Twenty years ago the ground on which the jute factory now stands was a desolate, unproductive swamp, in which the snipe alone found a refuge. In 1804 the Messrs.

Goodbody built these magnificent works. In 1873 they were enabled to enlarge and improve them, today the jute factory alone employs 600 hands, earning £14,000 a year in wages, and we may fairly assume it leaves a handsome margin of profit to the proprietors. We believe we are correct in stating that fifty years ago this family owned only a small flour mill at Clara, and today they are the proprietors of three immense establishments for the manufacture of flour, in which 24 pairs of stones are regularly working, and a meal mill at Coola, containing five pairs of stones-all four, with their surroundings and accompaniments, affording steady employment to 100 other persons, who draw close on £4,000 per year more in wages and salaries. And yet the Messrs. Goodbody never received or sought assistance from Government or any other source. Depending on their own brains and energy, self-reliance, that noble characteristic of sterling manhood, is the grand secret of their success and to it may be attributed the prosperity of the large district now enriched by their manufactories.

We shall consider our object fully attained if, in the course of these articles, we can establish the fact that what is wanted, in order to develop the resource of the country, and provide sustaining employment for our now inoperative labour, is, not external assistance, so much as trustful reliance on our own unaided abilities. A dozen such families as the Messrs. Goodbody in every county in Ireland would soon afford a practical proof of the soundness of our argument.

We will now ask the reader to accompany us through the jute works at Clashawan, merely remarking at the outset, by way of explanation, that jute is an Oriental product; that it is a coarse fibre somewhat like hemp; that in India it grew to a height of from ten to fourteen feet; and that it is merely steeped and scutched, like flax, before being exported from its native country to Europe. We may also observe that Dundee is the great centre of the jute trade in these countries, and that there are only three or four of these factories in all Ireland.

This occurs to us to be the proper place also to mention that the factory buildings stand on both sides of the village street. On the left hand side as you enter from Clara, are the spinning, and on the opposite side the weaving works. The machinery on the spinning side is worked by a five-hundred horse power steam engine, with a driving wheel 22 feet in diameter, and that in the weaving department by a two-hundred horse power engine, and when necessary a water wheel. There are four eighty-horse boilers working at a pressure of 120lbs to the square inch. On each side there are two sets of engines, so that should an injury occur to one the other can be set to work immediately, thereby providing against any serious interruption of operations. The factory has also a very useful adjunct in the shape of a mechanics' shop, in which about 20 men are constantly employed, hence injured machinery can be repaired with the utmost possible despatch.

This, we understand, was the first factory in Ireland in which driving ropes, such as are now in use here, were substituted for gear wheels, on account of the facility with which they can be applied in case of accident, as compared with the more tedious and expensive operation of repairing cogs.

Clashawan being only about one hundred yards distant from Clara railway station, a private aiding is run from the latter for the accommodation of Messrs. Goodbody's traffic. Contiguous to the siding stands a coal store, capable of containing 600 tons. When the jute reaches the aiding in the railway wagons, the bales are run down on a gangway of rollers to the stores, which are sufficiently ample to hold 10,000 bales of 400lbs each. Another very large concrete store for raw material is now rapidly approaching completion. When taken out of the store the bales are first opened, and the loose material is conveyed on trucks to a machine called the 'softener', in which it is teased or softened, and saturated with oil and water as it passes through. The fibre next goes to the carding and drawing machinery, after which operation it is spun into 'rove' - a thick cord like thread. It is next transferred to the spinning frames, where it worked into a much thinner thread, called yarn. Thence it passes to the winding frames, on which the yarn is wound into bobbins. This is the entire process of spinning, but simple as it may seem from the brief description we give, it is by no means a light or insignificant operation; and in order to have a thorough appreciation of it one would require to examine the delicate and complicated machinery through which the fibre passes in every stage, and observe the skill, rapidity, and precision with which the spinners (chiefly young women) regulate the action of the machinery, and perform all those mysterious movements that so bewilder the uninitiated beholder.

A large quantity of the unwoven yarn is sold to weavers and rope makers in all parts of the United Kingdom, but by far the greater portion is woven here; and therefore we will next direct our attention to the weaving department on the other side of the street.

Across the road, on a tramway, the bobbins are conveyed in trucks to the weaving rooms. The first process the thread undergoes here is called 'starching', the yarn being taken off the bobbins, passed through starch, and then wound again in great quantities, on large metal beams. This latter operation is known as 'beaming' after which the thread is ready for the loom. Of course, as there are various qualities of jute-some coarse others fine-so are there several qualities of thread and consequently many descriptions of cloth woven-some fine, white, and close in fabric, others coarse, brown, and looser in texture. It is deeply interesting to watch the looms weaving the different qualities of cloth-bessiana and sackings - and observe how nicely the most intricate movements are simultaneously performed in opposite directions by the ingeniously devised machinery, the operator having little more to do than stand and watch the working of the loom, as it feeds itself with the thread of the loom, weaving with unerring accuracy and more than the precision of an intelligent being, until finally it turns out the completely woven web of beautiful fabrication. There are various kinds of looms in the factory, but two new looms of American invention struck us as being the most ingenious, yet simple and admirable of all. When woven, the cloth is passed through the cylinders, in which it is pressed and finished, ready for use. A large quantity of it is now made up in bales for sale, but a great proportion of the cloth is given out to be sowed into bags of different sizes and qualities, thus furnishing a good deal of employment for bumble housekeepers in Tullamore, Mullingar, Moate, Kilbeggan and other places. A large number of sacks are also made for the firm by the prisoners in the county gaols at Tullamore and Mullingar. Why are not the inmates of poorhouses, who are unfit for other employment, engaged at making these sacks?

The revenue derivable by Boards of Guardians from this source might be small, but it would help to reduce the poor-rates. Large quantities of sacks are also made at the works, and the purchaser can have his name or the title of the firm or establishment for which they are intended, printed on them here, the factory being provided with metal types for the purpose and a steam printing press, worked on the same principle, and in every respect pretty similar to the machines in regular printing office. The cloth and sacks are pressed into hard, compact bales in a hydraulic machine, and, by means of a hydraulic lever, which a child can work, the largest and heaviest bales are lifted out of the press and carried to the truck at the door for transmission to another building at the railway, capable of containing 400 tons and used for the storage of the manufactured goods ready for delivery to purchasers.

An idea may be gained of the amount of work performed at this factory when we state that 2,000 tons of jute are manufactured here annually. The Messrs. Goodbody have also a rope walk about 60 yards long, at the factory, where ropes of every size are made to order.

The buildings are provided with a steam pump for the protection of the premises against fire, while through all the yards fire valves are disposed at suitable points, supplied from an elevated tank, capable of holding 4,000 gallons of water and as water seeks its own level, the pressure is such that when in case of fire, hydrants, with hose attached, are inserted into these valves, the water is forced to the tops of the highest buildings in the group.

Having now concluded our sketch of the jute spinning and weaving factory we will take leave to direct the attention of the reader to Messrs. Goodbody.

FLOUR MILLS AT CLARA

The three large flour mills at Clara stand on the banks of the Brosna, and all are worked by water power, while one is furnished as well with steam machinery, which can be used in case of a failure of the water power from any cause.

One water wheel alone is capable of grinding 900 barrels of wheat per week. From 20 to 24 pairs of stones are constantly working in these mills, and the system of grinding in operation combines the principles of stones and rollers. In addition to large quantities of Irish wheat produced in this and the neighbouring counties, the Messrs. Goodbody use a great deal of Australian and Californian wheat, which they purchase in Liverpool and Dublin. They have storage accommodation at the mills for no less than 35,000 barrels. We believe there is no part of Ireland to which the flour produced here does not find its way, and it is no flattery to state that it bears a high character everywhere.

At Coola, about four miles from Clara, the Messrs. Goodbody have a fourth mill for grinding oaten and Indian meal. Five pairs of stones are constantly working here.

As above stated, the flour mills, with their surroundings, employ about 100 persons who draw close on £4,000 a year in wages.

On inspecting the mill premises we picked up a piece of information, which may be of use to merchants, farmers and others who keep a number of horses and cattle. The Messrs. Goodbody have here a large hay shed, with galvanised zinc roof, supported on a wall at rear and pillars on front. It is 100 feet long by 30 feet wide and capable of holding 150 tons. We were assured that this shed which may last for ages, was erected for a sum that would be absorbed in thatching in very few years and that the Messrs. Goodbody have effected a very considerable saving in hay since they adopted the shaffing system in regard to the fodder for horses and cattle.

Here too, are gas works, also the property of the Messrs. Goodbody, in which, about 250 tons of coal are consumed per annum and which not only light the flour mills and the Clashawan factory but also supply the householders and shopkeepers of Clara at a moderate price.

In the vicinity of the mills, and also on the picturesque banks of the Brosna, stand some of the private residences of different branches of the Goodbody family surrounded by rich gardens and charming pleasure grounds, the mansions themselves models of chaste and beautiful architecture in every feature bearing flattering testimony to the refined tastes of the occupiers. Here, indeed art, nature, and enterprise combine to produce a scene at once lovely and animated, and as the visitor lounges on rustic bench, beside those beautiful gravelled walks, running beneath rows of stately trees, whose overhanging branches stretch across the noble river and feasts big eyes on the fascinating landscape before him, the splash of the mill wheel and the hum of industry remind him that there is no room for idleness or poverty-the fruitful source of social disorder and political discontent-and reflecting on all that well directed enterprise has done for the people of this locality, he is forced to admit that the Messrs. Goodbody deserve well of their country.