The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-01-22
COTTON SPINNING ON THE PLANTATION,

CVfION 6flNNlNG ON THE PLANTATION.
LETTER FROM MR.. HENRY, THE INVENTOR
MOBILE, Dec. 80, 1856.
Editor Columbus Enquirer:
Lam happy to perceive such a spontanc.
Gus interest i'll my invention as your editorial
evinces, and that Of many others who
have kindly noticed it, and your concluding
paragraph is as profoundly correct, as it is
enlightened "if it succeeds, it will
do moro for the Suutl, than all of the po.
li,ical theories and commercial spccuations
of the day, and will at once strengthen our
institutions, and greatly enhance the pros
perity of our already favored section"
Let us examine its chances Of success
You observe how confidently l speak of
the performance Of my invention. 1t may
be work Of some difficulty to convince
others of its practicaLiity, but it is not i'm
possible, and let NE illustrate it to you,
that through you others may comprehend
it, and hence let me beg your patient ob-
scrvation of my remarks.
You know the gin gins cotton at the
plantation, and the fleecy lint is thrown into
lint.room. You know at the cotton fac.
tories cotton is received in tie bales and is
there spun into yarns, rs well us woven.
If you will step down to one of your
cotton factories. you will see that the bale
Of cotton is there first run through willow
or picker 10 open and discntanSle it, and
from the liut-room into which the picker
casts it, the cotton is brought out and
weighed to the apron Of lap machine (a
sprcader and beater, as it is caled) The
cotton passes through this machine aud
comes out at the other end in a sheet, and
is rolled by the machine around a cylinder,
and in this state the cotton is called n lap.
This lap is fitted to Il place i'll front Of
cardcr, and when lap for each card in the
factory is thus placed, the carders placed i'll
rows are put i'll operation.
From each car.ier the silver is taken hy
, railway 10 Il drawing head placed ut the
end Of the row, and all the s!ivcrs are here
doubled and passed through this drawing
head ;:.to can before it. Aud ut this
drawing head the process Of spinning truly
bcgins-(back of this lcing technically
called the Preparation, AS here the
c!onca,on Of the ftcrs has co.nmcmccd.-
The cans, which accumulate ut these draw
ing heads, arc taken aud placed before other
drawing heads, and the slivcrs from GER
tain number Of cans arg EafsSS!a sSaH ,HEsGhnph} sh h},t
into another can in front. From these cans
the now Strengthened and attcnuated sliscrs
pass to the spcc'ler and become moving,
from thence to the spinning frames. where
the yarn is finished, from thence to the
reels, aud then it is balc,l. You observe
shaft passes through, the Factory, which
is moved by water or steam powc, in Cot
ton Factories, aud to this Shaft, each Of
these machi"cs are gearcd by bands, 60
wien it is desired, either or all Of the ma
chimes are put into operation by :l,is Shaft.
Here you have presented the disconncc-
ted operations of the Gin at the playtation,
and the spinning machinery at the Fac
tory.
Suppose you take an ordinary Gin 10
your market-housc, there bring from one
of your Cotton Factories a lap machine Tor
speeder and bcatcr) half dozen carding
machines will, Mier railway and drawing
heads, drawing frame, and cans, spccdcr
fra,ne, and three spinning frames, and ar
ranging them factory fashion. the Gin in
front, gear them all to shaft, Ito run some
ten OF twelve feet from the ground through,
the markct-housc,) arrange horse power or
steam engine, if you please, to work the !
shaft
The first question which arises is, is there
ny;inore difficulty to gear that gin to this
shaft, to cause it to act here. where and
while the other machinery is desired to
operate, any more than there is to cause
the others to opcrate9 Certainly not.
Suppose you put seed cotton into the
gin, and set it i'll motion; from the flue in
the back of the gin, the heccy fibres will
be thrown to the other end Of the market
house.
Here is where come in, and instead of
letting. this feecy cotton he thrown to the
end OF your market-house: take the apron
from your lap machine, bring this machine
snug up to tho aue Of the gin, and by
peculiar iIa arrangement throw the cotton into
tlis lap machine; and the lap machine Le.
same sIiaft, as soon a. /
~ satsss t'iis Zap machine 7 .et'i.