The weekly North-Carolina standard. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 186?-1869, 1869-02-17
6 LIBERTY AND
OUR FACTORIES.
correspondence of the Standard
w. 8. Battle,s Cotton Factory.


make non-residents seek therefor, viii aid
short statement of the history and present
prosperity of the large manufacturing an
terests, located at the : Falls OF Tar River"
about one mile from the town of Rocky
Mount, in Edgccombe County.
l am reliably informed that the First Cot
ton Factory in North Carolina was projected
by Henry A. Donelson, the corner stone of
which was laid in 1916 at the above men
toned peint. The building was constructed
$50 the present owner informs mel in 1917,
under the Immediate direction of Donelson,
and underslse proprietorship os Joel Battle.
ESQ.,, Col Benjamin D. Battle, Henry A.
Donelson, and Peter Evans. The entire
structure was of rock-granite- which
the spot so abounds and three stories high
with a basement. Without data, no con-
cepton can be formed of the original cost
of the factory with all its appurtenances in
Guiding the machinery, but it must have
been enormous at that early date. 1t was
operated by Joel Battle aud his sons until
1S4S, when it passed into the hands Of
james S. and William S. Battle, who retitted
it with new and improved machinery. In
1853 William S. Battle became sole propri
etor gr .4- ,..5f-
The vleissitudes of war did rot permit
the venerable pile" to pass the .11e'y
ordeal unscathed," however. A detachment
of New York cavalry raided from New
Berne in 1868 and burned the factory and
grist mill with other buildings to the ground
of the first, only leaving blackened and
crumbling walls to mark the remains.
Mr. Battle, with a true spirit of enterprise
and q provdcnt eye, seeing that So magnif-
cent water power should not remain 'un-
attuned to the wants of man" commenced in
1866, and completed in 1867 a splendid
brick building ON the old slle The founda-
ton is of rock, and with the basement,
large and commodious room, is equal in
room to four stories, The basement is de-
voted to the looms, the first story to cartling,
the second to spinning, the third to the reels,
in which the dressing" is also effected.
The factory contains Mirty-eigat looms,
sirteen hundred spindles. and all necessary
adjuncts. The machinery is new and of the
most improved kind, put up to order by
the Rogers Locomotion and Machine Works
of Patterson, New jersey. In full operation
it has capacity to consume 700 pounds of
raw cotton per day, and the looms will turn
out about 1 200 yards of shirting and 500
pounds of cotton yarn. aalt
Fifty operatives find daily employment in
this institution and when it is remembered
that they arc exclusively native whites, with
a large preponderance of ffemales-principal-
ly between the ages of IL and 25-the heart
of the moralist will thank Mr. b. for ena-
bling so many poor girls to earn an honest
livelihood, and avoid the paths of crime to
which destitution so frequently drives Them
| This class of laborers is always abundant
and cheap, as they infinitely prefer working
| in numerous companionship in the shade,
for certain wages, to farming, exposed to
| the weather with remuneration more uncer-
tain.
The water power embraces the entire vol
ume of the water OF Tar river, which, at this
point, is ahout eighty yards wide, and aver
| ages SIX or seven feet in depth. There is a
natural fall, but the water is rendered avail
able by a substantial dam, constructed of
massive blocks of rock hewn out of the large
| rocks lining the river, which gives fall of
fourteen feet, and which, by raising the dam,
could easily be made twenty, giving a force
equal to several hundred horse power.
| This aquatic monster is not allowed to cx-
| pend itself on the cotton factory alone, but
| is made subservient to a large and perfectly
| appointed wheat and corn mill, running five
| pairs of stones, and completely fitted with
| every convenience of first class Touring
mill, and large circular saw mill. The
| cost of rebuilding the factory, mills, store
room, refitting with machinery, &c, couldn't
have cost, in 1867, less than sixty or seventy
thousand dollars. sssr ....... slT
The operatives live in neat white cottages,
sufficiently numerous to have the appear
ance of village, situated within conve-
nient distance to their labor t
With the multitudinous advantages offered
by this location, within mile of the Will
mington and Weldon Railroad and the ter
minus of the Tarboro' branch, which will
soon be completed to Williamson, on the
direct line of the railroad contemplated tc
run from Rocky Mount to Clarksville juno.
tion. in Warren county accessible to any
market in the United States; in the heart oi
the richest section of North Carolina, thus
! guaranteeing, at cheap rates, bountifu
supply OF the raw materiaI--water power
unsurpassed, climate salubrious, labor. fol
manufacturing purposes, cheap and plenti-
! full, it is somewhat astonishing that the eyes
of intelligent capitalists have not been
turned in this direction. The Spragues
might have made safer investment nearer
at home. .atae
Could some millionaire, seeking place tc
deposit advantageously his superabundant
cash, once look upon the fine growth of stu
pendous oaks, which overspreads a portion
of the village (called "The Falls,'O and
view the site. designed by nature and en-
dorsed by art, for a large manufacturing
town, he would settle down, he welcomed
by all good men, enrich himself and help US
to prosperity. laso i ~ tsi9raao
omitted to state that Mi. Donelson, after
building the factory at this point. proceeded
to Fayetteville and awoke the people tc
manufacturing enterprises in that locality
Issj saIs lll tl ENTERPRISE. :
Feb. 1st, 1869. ID a1. .I n <