Washington telegraph., 1848-06-14
HISTORY OF COTTON.

The climates so necessary to the growth
and dovelopement of the Cotton plant,
forbds the cultivation Of wool while the
latter product ilonrshes in the colder re.
gions where cotton will not grow. The
Two products are admirably suited for the
clothing OF the inhabitants in the regions
in which they respectively flourish.
The early Egyptians do not appearto
have known the value of Cotton. although
it is known to have existed in Egypt $50
years before Christ The mummy clothes
are all ma e OF linen, llerodolos is the
first Greek writer who speaks Of cotton,
and this IN reference to lndia The 10.
mans received the cotton manufactures
from India. From this country cotton
was introduced into Upper aud Lower
Egypt The Moors OF Spain introduced
1t into Europe.
In the iinencss and deliracy ofthe man.
uiaelurc oteottou the natives of India had
the supremacy for many centuries. Ihese
are to be attributed to the lineuess oflhrir
climate and the delcaey ol thor SENSE Of
touch. Many stories are told oi the Won.
deful texture ot their cIoihas, uud amoug
them the following.
=. Persian Ambassador j, sui to have
carrlad hume TO ~ master ennoa-Hui,
winch on beng broken was ionnd 10 con.
tain piece OF cotton ol some thirty yards
IN length. and light as gossamer On
one occasion an Emperor demonstrated
with his daughter upon the indelicaey OF
hefappeamncc she being clothed in the
IIindoo cotton She replied TINT the
robe was wrapped nine times round her
body The tales nil 90 to prove that the
llindoos were periecI masters otthc man.
uiaeiurcs Of cotton.
The art Of manufacture was held IN
high esteem, and cotton weaving stood at
the head Of the mechanic arts The wo.
men were all cotton spinners, aud the
weaving was done in the open air
Cotton was introduced into China in
the 9th century, and IN the l0lh century
into Spain In the 18th century a com.
pany was incorporated at Barcelona for
the manufacture OF cotton. butil was only
of a coarse kind called iuslian. In the
10Th century il was introduced into Eng.
land by a refuge. The Aztrcs orancient
Mexicans were acquainted with the man.
uiaeturc OF cotton.
The progress ia the manufacture OF cot.
ton wa, very slow after It's Introduction
mtn England. Tho thread va, so coarse
that il could only be used iof hlling, the
warp being OF linen. The article manu-.
iactured was called calico, taking tins
name from Calcutta IN the East Indies
Previous lo the wear l569, no mills existed
IN England, aud the manufacture was
carried ON by hand power alone. Soon
nser the invpnliluo AEkwrIghl, the most
rapid progress was made, and the manu-.
iacture largely increased. In lsi6 the
capital invested In England in the cotton
manufacture amounted TO one hundred
millions pounds sterling To build and
stock a mil IN Great Britain requires only
about iwo.thirds OF the sum necessary IN
this country.
The lecturer next proceeded to gave
some particulars OF the life of Arkwrght,
from which It appears he was born IN the
year 1882, IN the county Of Lancashire,
aud was brought up to the trade OF a
barber About the year 1860 hc quilted
his trade and travelled about the country
as a dealer in hair. lie came in contact
with the cotton spinncrs, saw the dltIicul.
ties under which they laborcd, aud set him
self 10 work to invent = cotton spinning
machine. With assistance from a friend
he went to work and completed his
machine IN the year 1863 The first mill
In which It was used was built in the
year 1910, in Nottingham, and was moved
by horse power Richard Arkwrights
machine greatly improved the quality Of
the thread, and linen warp was no longer
Necessary. This distinguished man was
prosecuted in his lile-tlme by cnvlous
persons-in 1855 he was made High
Sheriff of the county hnighthood by
George the third, and died the richest man
III England in 1872.
It was not until the year 1901 that
power looms were made to work success.
fully. Now there are IN England iiO,-
900 power looms, turning out nine hun
dred million yards OF cloths; but hand
loom weaving is not extinct-li Is esil-
mated that there are 22i 900 hand loom
wcavcrs in Great Britain In 100 the
consumption OF cotton in England was
only 100000 pounds; now II amounts to
6OO, 100000 pounds, two.thlrds OF which
is produced in our own country.
Manchester and the country around 1t
for 20 miles, are the chief seats Of the
coNon manufacture and the motive power
Of the mills OF steam. Out OF nearly one
hundred mills visited by the lecturer
while in Great Britain, only one was
moved by water power and that was at
Lanark, in Scotland The mills appeared
to be very judclously managed; the
operatives were neat and cleanIy IN person,
and their houses tidy and comfortable.