ntial jobbing business, though generally less so in
cottons than in other classes of fabrics. The jobber will buy finished
products from those mills which sell goods in that state, and will also
buy large amounts of gray goods. These he will sell principally to retail
distributors, but his transactions, in addition, will extend into a
multitude of channels, and, he will deal with small garment manufacturers
and makers of all kinds of wares, and will also sell considerable
quantities to the larger cutters when they are unable, for one reason or
another, to buy direct from the mills or from the converters. There are
also numerous small jobbing concerns which buy substantial quantities
from the larger jobbers as occasion may require.

One of the greatest avenues of outlet is through a class of dealers known
as converters, and there are converters operating in every kind of fabric
from cotton to silk. In the last forty or fifty years, this business has
developed into immense proportions, and the converter performs a real and
important service in the trade. He is intimately acquainted with the
needs of his customers, and possesses a fair knowledge of the kinds of
goods put out by the various mills and the different constructions in
which they are sold, and is well acquainted with all of the market
dyeing, finishing, bleaching, and printing concerns, having also a fair
understanding of the various treatments accorded to the goods. He buys
his goods in the gray from the mills, and sends them to the finishers,
printers, etc., to be treated, according to his instructions. By a
careful studying of the fabric constructions, and of the subsequent
treatments, he is able to create fabrics of a suitable and marketable
character, which are in some respects different from those offered by any
of his competitors, and which are brought out with an exact knowledge of
the requirements of the trade to which he is catering. He is able to make
a profit, and generally a very substantial one, by handling the goods in
this way.

Considerable capital is required by the converter, as goods bought in the
gray have to be paid for on practically a cash basis, and he may have to
carry them for a time before they are finally marketed. The converter
sells to the cutting-up houses, to jobbers, and to retailers, or, in
fact, to whatever trade he seeks. Large and profitable businesses have
thus been built up. Many converters have adopted their own distincti