DRAPER, one who deals in cloth or textiles generally. The Fr. _drap_, cloth, from which _drapier_ and Eng. "draper" are derived, is of obscure origin. It is possible that the Low Lat. _drappus_ or _trappus_ (the last form giving the Eng. "trappings") may be connected with words such as "drub," Ger. _treffen_, beat; the original sense would be fulled cloth. "Drab," dull, pale, brown, is also connected, its first meaning being a cloth of a natural undyed colour. The Drapers' Company is one of the great livery companies of the city of London. The fraternity is of very early origin. Henry Fitz-Alwyn (d. 1212?), the first mayor of London, is said to have been a draper. The first charter was granted in 1364. The Drapers' Gild was one of the numerous subdivisions of the clothing trade, and appeared to have been confined to the retailing of woollen cloths, the linen-drapers forming in the 15th century a separate fraternity, which disappeared or was merged in the greater company. It is usual for drapers to combine the sale of "drapery," i.e. of textiles generally, with that of millinery, hosiery, &c. In _Wills_ v. _Adams_ (reported in _The Times_, London, Nov. 20, 1908), the term "drapery" in a restrictive covenant was held not to include all goods that a draper might sell, such as furs or fur-lined goods. DRAUGHT (from the common Teutonic word "to draw"; cf. Ger. _Tracht_, load; the pronunciation led to the variant form "draft," now confined to certain specific meanings), the act or action of drawing, extending, pulling, &c. It is thus applied to animals used for drawing vehicles or loads, "draught oxen," &c., to the quantity of fish taken by one "drag" of a net, to a quantity of liquid taken or "drawn in" to the mouth, and to a current of air in a chimney, a room or other confined space. In furnaces the "draught" is "natural" when not increased artificially, or "forced" when increased by mechanical methods (see BOILER). The water a ship "draws," or her "draught," is the depth to which she sinks in the water as measured from her keel. The word was formerly used of a "move" in chess or similar games, and is thus, in the plural, the general English name of the game known also as "checkers" (see DRAUGHTS). The spelling "draft" is generally employed in the following usages. It is a common term for a written order "drawn on" a banker or other holder of funds for the payment of money to a third person; thus a cheque (q.v.) is a draft. A special form of draft is a "banker's draft," an instruction by one bank to another bank, or to a branch of the bank making the instruction, to pay a sum of money to the order of a certain specified person. Other meanings of "draft" are an outline, plan or sketch, or a preliminary drawing up of an instrument, measure, document, &c., which, after alteration and amendment, will be embodied in a final or formal shape; an allowance made by merchants or importers to those