Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1855-07-28
From the Buffalo Democracy.
THE DOOM OF THE COTTON HAND.

Up in Twenty-fourth street, New York city, is
now surely spinning out the solution of Cotton.
planting Slavery. Iron and steel machinery, and
chemical solvents are making of flax fibre a more
than rival for the Mississippi bcr which undcrlics
the Southern system Of labor, and on which rests
the politics of half this Union, and in whose behalf
the extreme resort to disruption of the Federal tie
and civil war is constantly menaced. The rivalry
between flax and cotton is established. Can there
be any doubt about the final issue of this competi-
ton? Must not the Cotton-IIand lose its value
and of consequence will not the planter clamor
ously insist upon the Constitutional duty of the
Union to buy his slaves at high prices and deport
them to Africa2
Five years ago, in Buffalo, gentleman engaged
in spinning cotton was led, by pcrusal of anti
Gle in Rees' Encyclopedia, to experiment upon fax
fibre with bleaching salts. These he deemed to
be nearly identical with solution mentioned by
Rees as employed by linen makers in Sweden to
whtcn the fiber before it was carded and spun
the ashes of kclp thrown into sea water. The
result was satisfactory. We have seen on reel
the fax cotton produced by him.
We now have before us thrcc samples from the
New York establishment. No is pearly white
coarse though SOFT and very glossy. 1t has only
been passed through the picker. In this state is
to be put into market No. 2 is to show the length
of the fiber. This is II inches long. No. 8 is the
same article cardod. This operation is not in
tended to be performed at the establishment. That
sample is white, soft, fine and strong and perfectly
clean. In this condition it can be spun, eithe
alone, or mixed with wool or with cotton. The
sample would seem to leave no doubt of the prac-
ticability Of the Flax Cotton Manufacture V >.
the process is new one, and the works at wf:ci
these samples were made were put up only to sys-
tematise the invention, and organize and perfect
the business.
The process of the manufacture, as it has been
described to us, is this Rough fax is cut into re-
qu;red lengths (say of the desired length of the
cotton tbre) bya machine similar to a common
straw cutter. Two or three tons of this chopped
stulr' is put into q steam reservoir and steamed
some three hours, till the fibre is cleaned of gum
my matter and separated in part from the wood
Tho mass is then dried A beating process after
wards separate the fbrous from tho ligneous por-
ton of the fax. The fbrous part is next stepped
for length Of time in solution of bleaching salts
for the purpose of bleaching it. The salts arc then
worked thoroughly out, and the fax cotton is ready
for bailing and market.
The process is q cheap one. We are informed
that the beautiful No article before u.s. costs but
two cents per pound. This appeares to us almost
incredible, but when we take into consideration
that flax is raised crop for the seed alone, and
that consequently the straw stock can be afford
cd at a mere nominal price, we are led to think
that flax cotton can be manufactured at price
vastly below the cost Of making" cotton in the
slave States. There we think it is conceded that
it cannot be raised for less than six cents to the
pound.