Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-01-22
COTTON SPINNING ON THE PLANTATIoy-LEr.

MOblLEl ACS W ACJO - u Ltt0F COLUMBUS In
quireT:-I an happy to perceive such spoutale
Gus interest in my invention IS your editorial evIn-
ces and that Of many Others who have kindly
noticed II, and your concluding paragraph is as
profoundly correct, as il is enighens1-that "if it
succeeds, it will do for the South than sll of
the political theories and commercial speculations
OF the day, and will at once strengthen our insti-
tutons, and greatly enhance the prosperity of our
already favored section"
Lstus examine its chances of success. You OBJ
serve how confidently speak of the performance
OF my invention. It may be work of some diff
Guilty to convince Others of its prsOtbiity but it
is not impossible, and let me illustrate it to you,
that through you others may comprehend it, and
hence let me beg your patient observation of my
remarks
You know the gin gins cotton at the plantation,
and the feecy lint is thrown into the lint ROOM
You know at the cotton factories cotton is received
in the bales and IS there spun into yarns, as well
as woven.
If you will step down to one of your cotton fac
tories you will there see that the bale of cotton is
there first run through a willow or picker to open
aud disentsngle it, sud from the lint room into
which the picker casts it, the cotton is brought out
and weighed to the apron of lap machine "a
spresder and beaten, as it is eslled) The cotton
passes through this machine and comes out at the
| other end In a sheet and is rolled by the msohine
Il
called alap. This lap is fitted to place in front
| Of a carder, and when lap for each card in the
factory is thus placed, the carders placed in rews
are put IN operation.
From each csrder the silver Is taken By railway
| to drawing head placed at the end of the row,
and all the slivers are here doubled and passed
| through this drawing head into can before it
! And at this draW-hesd the process of spinning
! truly begins (6ack Of this being technically cali
ed the preparation ")-ss here the elongation
OF the flores has commenced. The cans, which
| accumulate at these drawing heads are taken and
placed before other drAwlnghesd5, and the sIlVe rs
from q certain number of cans, are passed through
q head; there they are doubled again aud fail into
another can in front. From these cans the now
Strengthened and attenuated sVers pass the spec
der and become moving, from thence to tie spin
ming frames, where the yarn is finished from thence
to the reels, and then it is baled You observe q
shaft passes through the Factory, which is moved
by water or steam power in Cotton Factories, and
to this shaft each Of these machines are geared by
bands so whenit is desired, either or all the ma
chimes are put into operation by this shalt
Here you have presented the disconnected oper-
atoms OF the Gin at the plantation and the spin
ming machinery at the Factory.
Suppose you take an ordinary Gin to your mar
ket-hOuse there bring from Ons Of your Cotton
Factories a lap machine Cor speeder and beateG
half dozen Oarding machines with their railway
and drawing heads, drawing frame, and cans, q
speeder frame, and three spinning frames sRd ar.
ranging them factory fashion, the Gin in front
gear them all to a shaft, Ito some ten or twelve
feet from the ground through the market house, }
arrange horse power or steam engine, il you please
to work the shaft
The first question which arises is, is there any
more difficulty to gear that gin to this shaft, tc
cause it to act here where and while the other ma
Chinery is desired to operate, any more than there
ia to cause the others to operate? Certainly not.
Suppose you put seed cotton into the gin, anC
set it IN motion; from the hue in the back Of the
gin, the aeecy flores will be thrown to the Othel
end of the market, house.
Here is where l come in, and Instead of letting
this heecy cotton be thrown to the end o: your
market house, l take the apron from your lap ma
chine, bring the machine snug up to the fac ofthC
gin, and by peculiar arrangement throw the cot
ton into this lap machine; and the lap machine be
ing gesred to the same shaft as soon as the cottor
enters this lap machine, set it IN motion and thC
cotton passes through IT. and as the lap accumu
lates place them to the csrders, and then al goe
on as the cotton factory by my process.
} The working Of my combination and arrange
! ment OF my machinery, and its results l assure
you are as positive as the laws of mechanics, O
laws Of positive science. 1t IS not a theory O
! speculation, and | am not dreaming; and The plan
ter who does not, or will not understand it. s in
DREAM as it were tancyiDg it too good to be true
will but awaken to tie reality. For | have en-
quirie5 from tie largest cotton planters IL ali Of th
I cotton States already, respecting it, many offer
2 to buy States and counties, aud feel ike fsaer
, | man with we tried hook and line, and a smart
, sized fish on 1t. He can aford 70 lett play awhile
IS he knows bis fish Is safe.
! Its my desire 10 get tho machinery arrsngej {
suit the smaller planters, agr elbyliO the hope o.
{ express, and one way another; We viii 60 lg,
thiuk. l. was the smaller Planters you Lad il
your mind when you wrote the paragraph that u
planter would invest his mon y IN mscbinery s
expensive, without satisfying himself OF its p.ecti
= Csblliy, Certainly they Ill lot, ana | thiuk
= know too much of my own aid huual rG,u~e I
suppose tLey would.
No mechanic will doubt but hi cotton can b.
conducted from the Gin to the lsp, aad if tus. .
conceded, the prsCicabtY OF my invention is slsC
Then, if machinery costing So 600 or less, srrang
ed 10 connection with the Gin, aud run by 6
mul,s, will gin and spin 100 bales of 500 pound
Of cotton between lst Sept and Ist March inlt
/ yarn aud this machinery TO be attended by :
operatives from to 10 years old, one u to IA, snt
three Old womsn or men Of crippled will AIS We ,
and this machinery and these operatives (for 7t
cannot call them hsnds) in this time, six IL ynlh9
will produce rs much rs the % or 30 hRuds, th,
plantation, II or Is mules, oVeFseer and planter
all together did in twslve months, It seems to me
LulS SHOWS economy ana prJQL IDS IS equivalent
to another plantation, negroes stock and overseer
without the trouble OF it. Yarns, it must be bornt
in mind, averages in value over twice the cost o
cotton
Now, if my invention consisted 10 process by
which each planter doubled his crop of cotton snC
should raise it suddenly nom 900 900 to 5000,
900 bales, with the lights before me, should no
regard that az q valuable one az it would be toC
great yield for the day. But my invention viii
repress the ProdutOn Of the raw material, rather
than otherwise, l think, as planters will be better
enabled to divrt some of their force to the cult
walton and raising Of greater quantity of article
Of living aud comfort hardly thiuk that spinning
up the cotton will abstract bona fde hand from
the cotton crop.
AS have answered some of my friends, whose
crops are much over the figure l have illustrated
(of 100 bale planters) and you have some large
planters in your section, will state that planter
r making 300 bales of cotton, by spinning the veal
round, can by a steam engine, and the machinery
he wants. spin 75O pounds day, for about $80OO
and require only about the same hands enumerated
for the 100 bale man. OF course, 800 bale men
800 600 to 1000 bale men will not delay long, on
that exhibit, to put their spindes in operation.
am arranging to establish agencies, and 50 or.
ganzs IS to disseminate my invention as rapidly
possible, and do not ask it for myself, but fol-
the planter, and for the thousands of interests
commercially aud politically, which viii result
from it. that all parties interested in Southern Pro-
gress will do, ssy, and write abcu: it whatever
they think may aid and encourage and develop it;
and am, sir most truly, your O0edent friend
GEO. G. HENRY.