The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-04-19
A STANDARD ON NATIONAL GREATNESS.
Comparative View Of American PrOduc-
ton and Manufacture.
FROM THE BALE TO THE SPINDLE.
The Facts Of the Present and Possibilities
OF the Future.


centennial Exhibition In Philadelphia none attracted
moro attention than fabrics OF the United
Statos In every respect tho exhibit was admirable
and complete and where all the fabrics were so good
was exceedingly difficult for the Judges, Of whom the
writer one, to discriminate among them Tor the
purpose OF making awards From Connecticut came
the yarn spun In the United States, No 400,
spun by tho wmantc Thread Company; from
Rhode Island the finest fabric ever in tho
country, satteon jean nadc by the Berkeley Mills,
which none but expert could distinguish from
nix the warp No. 100. the welt No. $50 and the
.hreads to the inch 96x35o
EXHIBIT on FOREIGN NATIONS
II was TO DO regretted that tho exhibit OF cotton
iabrcs from other countries was insufficient for fair
comparison. England was represented only by a few
specimens OF bleachcd and printed cotton goods OF
superior quality. Her great variety OF common fabrics
mado for export were not exhibited ut all.
France contributed only hne lawns and prints,
but specimens Of her most excellent goods
Tor service; Switzerland, Belgium, Hol-
land. Portugal. Italy ana Sweden few specimens
plain and printed goods. Among ali the cotton
goods from abroad none attracted attention for
excellence manufacture and coorng than those
from SPAN and Russia. Canada exhibited heavy, well
made goods japan curious hand made rugs, but China
OIL the palm for The wonderful depth OF color
parted To the hand-spun fabrics OF which the
clothing Of her people manly consists In tho art OF
dyeing cotton in tho piece have yet much TO learn
from China. But in solid, substantial and useia cotton
goods tho excellence OF the exhibit OF tho United States
attracted universal attention and II cannot be doubted
that tho Centennial Exhibition will mark In
this In many other branches OF our industry.
Tho commanding position OF the United States In re-
spcct TO the production OF cotton, has long been ad-
mittcd, but 1t seems probable that few even OF the
manufacturers themselves have been July aware Of
me strong position which tho cotton manu- lecturers
Of tho United States stand In relation to other
countries.
A HISTORY
Tho subject OF the production Of cotton opens 80
wide field TINT 1t Is hard to know where to begin
end. There Is other product that has had po-
tent and magn influence In the past upon the his
tory and institutions OF the land, and perhaps no other
on which its future material welfare may more de-
pend. Cotton belongs to this continent. When the
Spanards first entered Mexico the natives wcrc found
10 be clothed cotton, and the art OF weaving
and dyeng had been carried to high state OF percc
ton for that time among them Then as now the best
aud most prolific varieties Of tho cotton plant existed
there and the plant doubtless indigenous IN Mex
scarcely known important production, and not
until tho invention oil the gin by Ell Whitney IN
1892 did II become that Invention renewed the life
Of slavery. To-day the United States furnish
all the cotton used In their own Inn
It's and in Canada, and nearly three iourths
tho quantity consumed in their own limits and In
Europe combined. There are data by which the
quantity produced and consumed elsewhere can BIO de-
accurately, the production OF Asia and Africa
being unknown but the Inhabitants OF these two
tinents clothed cotton very large extent Of
their own production and manufacture.
MANUFACTURE.
In respect to the cotton manufacture the world may
be divided INTO two sections-nat which still adheres
10 the hand work. and which by lar the largest and
most populous section and that which complex
machinery worked by water or steam power IL Ii
common name the DIVISIONS "civllized" and sun
civil,zcd' but # there had boon previous
Tor hcsating to apply these terms the wonderful
hbiton from China aud japan at Philadelphia might
well teach us n lesson IN modesty
Among the machne-using nations II may, perhaps
be rightly claimed that United states take the lead
that asser. superiority in all, perhaps
any, special machines but that people adopt
chinery more quickly than others, and adapt It
greater variety OF purposes. The object Of this paper
Is mark the progress have made IN the culliva
ton 81 cotton and In the application Of machinery
its ulacturc, and forecast tho work may
have yet TO do.
COMPARATIVE IMPORTANCE OF FABRICS.
Among the three common abres--woo tax and cot
clothing OF the human race, cotton is the mpor
tant because is ready treatment by machinery
soon as IL is gathered because conversion into cloth
least costly. and because for clothing most
conducive to health respect the largest portion
Of the population OF the world. II Is non conductor
Of beat and Of electricity, while lax IS the reverse
10 easy TO spin because nature begins to in the
boil, and each nbrc Is like q twisted ribbon, little
thicker At the edges than IN tho middle; hence tho
brcs inter.ock and adhere each other their very
points The great inventions cotton spinning have
not been in tho twisting, which is a comparatively
simple matter whether comprised upon ono spindle
many bat In the extension Of tho strand both before
and after the twisting begins.
PROGRESSES or PREPARATION
The processes applied the in order to convert
the bale Of cotton into yarn Tor weaving three
knds-rst, TO clean and straighen tho nbrcs lay
them alongside each other IN thick and heavy
strand; second, to extond that strand with
. constant doubling OF or more ends
into In order TO get The strand even;
and third, 70 combine tho further extension and
doubling Of the strands with the twisting The ex-
Teme accuracy required ia tho working Of the ma.
chnery will be best appreciated from TACT that the
No. II yurn OF which the coarse standard Shooting
10 made, weighs sixty-bundredihs Of a gram to ono
yard. while tho yarn IN u common lawn Of which a
woman's dress is made, No. 10. Weighs twelve
huudredths OF grain. II follows that all the complex
machinery and the twelve Gfeen processes through
which the cotton must pass from the balo to the
spindle are worked within the limit OF about halt
grain IN the result the numbers named represent
ng substantially the whole cotton spinning OF the
rnued states. Tho number indicates the number OF
hanks OF $40 yards each In pound avoir.
dupois, 1000 Troy grains, the cotton spiuners'
tables being based Troy grains and avoirdupois
ounces pounds.
II consider our production OF cotton in the light
OF a rendered, then dad that IL nrst
In rank among the material services which We render
to humanity. In the cotton factories Of Europe and
tho United States there a little over oS OO0 900
spindics, worked by about 900, 900 men, women and
children. In the operation OF these spindes little