The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-10-05
HIsToRY or CoryoE.

HIE1 SLA y S(Sl - n ~
OF the earliest history of cotton we
know but very little -Four hundred
wears before Christ Herodotus wrote :
'"rhere is a plant in India which pro
duccs wool finer and better than that
OF sheep, and the natives make their
clothes OF it" THIS was cotton, of
course; in fact, !hcre is no question
about il, for Alexander soon after
brought it into Persia, Arabia and
Egypt. SO, You see, we have positive
proof that cotton was grown and used
for the same purpose as Row used,
about .wentv-three hundred years ago.
Eighteen hundred years ago calico
was being manufactured from cotton,
go history tells US. Possibly it was
not called calico the historians DO not
post us on that point-they merely
mention it as Il "cloth constructed of
wool that grew or plants, and elLbcl-
lishcd in rude fashion With fantastic
representation Of fowers.'
Most writer's mention cotton as na~
tive to india. Columbus found cotton
in Hayti, and COrtez found cotton
cloth Of fine and firm texture" in
common use among the original Mex
leans ali Of which naturally leads to
the conclusion shat cotton was as
much n native of the New World as
the Old.
About the wear 400 the manufdc-
ture Of cotton cloth began i'll Europe
At first it was decidedly an up hill
business, being bitterly prosecuted a:
every hand. For two hundred years
the weayers were forced to conduct
their operations IN secret. 1t was
woven mixed with wool, on hand
loom, ill slow and tedious manner.
The persecution was based upon the
grounds that cloth was to he made of
either wool or hair and that, as this
vegetable fibre was neither wool nor
hair, its introduction was simply an
adulteration and hence fraud
The first cotton grown in what is
now known as the United States, was
introduced into Georgia from Barba-
does, about the middle of the seven
teenth century; utits cultivation did
not become general until over hun
dred years after.
In 1870, a Mr.. Wyatt, OF England,
worked the first cotton made into cloth
or thread by machinery. In lT4l the
English people were fairly interesting
themselves in the matter, and q report
published in 1T4I shows the imports
of raw cotton for that year to have
amounted to 10000 pounds. The
first cotton spinning mill was erected
at Birmingham, in England, in HAP.
In 1851, Arkwright, afterwards
knighted,) } obtained the first patent for
spinning machinery. 1t spun but a
single thread, but in 1867 James Har-
grove invented and patented new
machine that spun eight threads instead
of one.
In 1775 the power loom was invent
ed In tue same year it was discovered
that chlorine could be employed in
bleaching cotton. In 1890 the cults
vation Of Sea Island cotton began in
the United States In the same year
was erected at Pawtucket, Rhode Is
land, the first American cotton mill.
In 1892, the first cotton gin was in
vented, in Georgia, by Eli Whitney.
Up 70 that time the seed had Detn
separated from the lint by hand pick
ing.
The first power loom working cotton
i'll the United States was started at
Waltham, Mass, in 1905. From that
day on to the present there has been
in this country, with brief Interrupt
tion during the late war, steady i'll
crease in both production and manu-
facture. The production has been
confined to the South, of course, while
the manufacture has, up to late years.
been mainly confined to the North. q
change in the labor system OF the
Southern States is now bidding fair Ia
work q change i'll our people, causing
them to turn their attention more tC
manufacturing anil machinery This
fact, associated with the advantages
FOR manufacturing presented by oul
section. wiil in a few years to come
most likely, make us emphatically tho
Cotton States In other words, If
will carry the manufacture Of cotton
almost exclusively 20 the region where
the cotton is prodnced-IHe South.