The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1874-02-26

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From the augusta Chronicle and Sentinel.
The Augusta Factory-The Recent Improve
ments-A Magnificent Institution. =
There are few people in our city, perhaps
who are aware of the extent of the improve
ments which have been recently made at the
I Augusta Factory. The work in fact is equiva
lent to the erection of new factory, and ha:
added not little to the manufacturing inter
ests of the city.
Yesterday we paid visit to the institution
and through the kindness of Mr. F. Cogin, the
Superintendent, was enabled to view all the
details of the new as we'll as of the old portion
of the Factory.
The two sections of the Factory, as it was
under the old arrangement, have been joined
by the new portion. The entire Factory has
thus been thrown into one building, five hun
dred feet in length. The new building which
effects the juncture is ninety feet wide, sixty
feet long, and FIVE stories high. Each story oi
the Factory is single room, five hundred feet
from end to end. The effect to person stand
ing in the centre of this immense apartment is
imposing. On either side stretches two hun.
dred and twenty feet of space filled with ma.
chinery, driving away at lightning speed. The
new portion is as yet empty, but the machinery
has nearly all arrived, and will be put in place
in short time.
In front the new building juts out some dis
lance from the old, and is hanked by two
square towers, each of which is one hundred
viously stated, is FIVE stories high. The first
two stories are devoted to weaving, the third to
carding, the fourth to spinning and the fifth to
dressing, spooling, warping and winding. There
are now 5M looms-16, 900 spindles-in opera
ton. When all the new portion is filled there
will be $50 looms-27, 900 spindles-nearly
double the present capacity. About 100000
brick have been used in the construction of the
new buildings, and the entire cost of the work
will foot up nearly, if not quite, $3.50, ,000 There
are now $50 operatives engaged; when the new
looms are put in operation there will be large
! addition made to this number. The entire
force then will be 900.
In the rear of the main factory there will be
q building consisting of basement and two
stories above, 130 feet long and 70 feet wide.
The larger portion of this building has already
been constructed. Sixteen hundred thousand
brick have been used in this alone. The foun-
dation is very heavy. Each brick is laid in
cement, and the piers are as strong as they can
be made. The walls of the building are of
/. more than usual thickness. This is necessary,
we understand, in order to support the i'm
mense weight of the machinery that it will
contain The basement is the wheel room the
first story above, the picking room; and the
second story, the carding room. In the base
ment two new Boyden turbine wheels have
been placed in position, and two more will be
put up as soon as the water requisite to run
them can be obtained, which will be in very
short time. These wheels are of the latest I'M
proved pattern, and are two hundred horse
power EACH The four Wheels with the attend
ing apparatus, cost 1000. An iron tube,
fifty-three feet long and eight feet three inches
in diameter, leads from each wheel to the canal.
Through these tubes the water is introduced to
the wheels These four wheels will run the
entire establishment, furnishing altogether
eight hundred horse power. Above the
wheels, in the next story, are large iron cast.
ings, upon which the principal betting will
run. One hundred and seventy full size sides
of Philadelphia leather are required to make
the three belts to run upon these castings alone
The three will cost $500. The shaft upon
which the castings revolve is of solid wrought
iron.
The machine shops are at present on the
first floor of the main factory, but these will be
removed in few days to the side building on
the east These shops are very complete, and
turn out some splendid work. We saw in the
Office of the Superintendent handsome black
walnut desk made in one Of them, which could
not be surpassed in design and finish anywhere
at the North.
The cupola which surmounts the Factory is
one hundred feet high. 1t contains the bell Of
the establishment. From this cupola splen-
did view of the city and surrounding country
is had. The vane over the cupola was made in
the Factory shops. 1t was at first intended to
have it made at the North, but none of the de-
signs received being satisfactory, the Superin..
tendent finally concluded to have it executed
at the Factory. 1t is certainly model piece
of work. The material is brass and the design
most appropriate, being shuttle, weaver's reed
and gear, elaborately constructed into one piece
of work. Augusta is certainly not behind hand
in the matter of vane making.
In the dressing room, in the fifth story,
new dressing machine, just received from
Manchester, England, is being experimental
with. It bids fair, we understand, to supercede
all other methods for dressing the yarn. The
principal merits claimed for it are that it dries
the yarn quicker and more completely and
does not fatten it, but leaves it round and soft,
a great desideratum. The old machines have
had a tendency to fatten the yarn. Another
machine for the same purpose, also from Man
chester, is at work near that first referred to-
While in the new the yarn revolves on rollers
over small tubes filled with hot air, in the old
it is carried around huge cylinders, also filled
with hot air. The pumps for supplying the
starch or dressing to the yarn as it passes
through the machines are near by, as is also
large vat filled with boiling starch.
Eight thousand spindles more will be placed
in position in the Factory in about three
months, making twenty -four THOUSAND t in all LIN in
operation at the end Of that time There viii vi
then remain three thousand TO complete the
entire number, or full capacity Of the Factory.
A large portion of the new machinery has al
ready arrived.
Great credit is due to President Jackson and
Superintendent Cogin for the energy with
which they have pushed forward the work of
improvement.