The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-04-21

and produce, before we reach the factory.
The sail, the mine, commerce and manu-
features, all find employment to supply
The Clark Thread Company works. and
when they stop the cotton may bloom
and fall unplucked, the ceal miner may
starveo On abedo black diamonds, the sails
on the rivers be spread to. the breeze no
more, ahd the lathes in q hundred shops
be left to rust in silence. The manufac-
ture of Clark's 80. n. T" Spool cotton
embraces the islands of the sea and pen
etrates the bowels of the earth, utilizing
the treasures of wealth IN every hand,
enrichine and blessing mankind at every
step, from theahemb of aghs TO the spin
dies at Newark. We will now examine
into the immediate sources of The power
which drives the endless machinery OF
this vast hive Of industry, with its sixty
miles of betting and about seventy miles
of steam pipe for heating purposes.
WE ENTER THE ENGINE HOUSE,
| itself large ehough for an ordinary fac
tory. Here is a mighty production of
human brain and Drawn. In the presence
Of this monster, with its majestic tread.
one feels his own insignificance and irail-
ty. This vast piece Of machinery, NOV
ing silently, save the sharp click Of the
improved steam cut-ofts, is equal in pow
er to the combined draft OF six hundred
horses, and is two engines in one, usually
termed a double engine The Hy-wheel,
travelling at the rate Of forty,eight revo-
buttons per minute and Carrying three
huge belts on its s~.trIace, each two feet
wide, is s~eventyfeight feet in, circum-
ferente, twenty-five feet in diameter,
and weighs thirty tons or sixty thousand
pounds. Tie shaft is fourteen inches in
thickness, hedouble cylindersar are twenty
six inches in diameter, with condensers,
and a stroke offive feet. They were built
w Cor5fiss, in 1874. Oneof the three belts
on the hy-wheel is one hundred and fifty
feetin length. Buteyen this double mon
stEr could not run the works. it has a
Big twin brother, and together they travel
every day for ten hours on their endless
Journey, and never get tired. They are
wonders of power and elegant workman
ship, worthy of a visit from any one who
wants to see the
BIGGEST PAIR OF TWINS
in New Jersey. They are supplied with
SJSdIil lIDEIl ulIIC l1IIIAAIllSS NttDA%aS 49,
and four large upright boilers, CorIlss,
plan. They consume twenty-five tons OF
coal pei day, which will give some idea Of
the amount of steam necessary TO drlVet The
immense establishment. Besides these
, there are three ordinary sized engines
2 made by Watts, Campbell Il Co. of New
? ark, in different parts OF the works, max
/ ing seven in all, a grand total of nearly
fourteen hundred horse power. 1il'
e Young mountain of coal, which looE
| enough to last the whole city a year,
t rebuilt by two hundred and fifty ton boa
t loads. at brief intervals.
MANUFACTURING II THREAD.
The cotton is brought in bales to tn
, mixing rooms, when it is examined AM
d placed in bins, according to the differen
II grades, ready for the scutching machines
o which open and beat the material, clean
ing If from the dirt and sand it contain
is in the bale. After going through tn
scut6hing machine, it comes out IN tn
a shape Of a roll, like wallpaper, compare
Is lively soft, white and clean. 1t is, how
IT ever. really in a very rough state, con
D, pared with the fneness and perfectio
that is to be reached. Several of thes
a s~cutching machines are running contlnl
70 ally, and their sound is like the roar OF
y lightning express train, as it whlrls pa
x the platform where you stand, The fir
If scutcher is fed with the bale cotton fro
e ahepper which letsi through into knlv'
e. set in large rollers, which revolve wit
a tremendous force and lightning spec
ne picking the cotton into small pieces, al
De passing it bg3suction of air, on to 9th
n, rollers between which It goes and com
7d out in the shape of a web or clap,
OF large rolls. Four of these rolls are the
OF placed upon a machine like the first al
run together through the same process
PICKING AND BEATING AND CLEANING
ut when itcomes in the same sha
h as before, rolled to exactly the thickne
in which it is desired to make the "sllve
by from which the thread yarn is to be spu
he What a "sliver" is will be learnedtu rtL
lie on. The machine is SO delicately set tn
mt it regulates the thickness Of the web
mt Ian to within half an ounce, in a wet
ar five feet, weighing only tWelveto elghte
It'll ounces. After being put through TIL
lal scutching machines in this way and co
out ing out with eight thicknesse3 of web
The Ia1p similar to that produced by the fl
lily process, it is ready for the cardlng n
J of chine, This department is filled W
Isle Carding Machines, Drawing Frames,L
to pers, and Combing Machines, a pert
of labyrinth of betting, pulleys n mach
Der ery, the noise of which is like the roa
many waters mingled with tx ciattel
a thousand wheels. Ono 0f'SS-1e la
rolls of web or lapthat came from the
scutching machine is placed on a card
h is machine, which takes and runs it
Of BETWEEN THE TEETH
awn of a large and small cylinder for the
en- nose of drawing out the entangled I'll
heir and laying them parallel Or IN the s;
rick lire of direction and also to remove
ma small peIlicleso or notes which mayhavt
one caped tbeactiono of the set mach
,out After being treated in this way, q co
lind er or doffer takes the web from the 81
four cylinder, which is now a delicate ga'
the and it is gathered UP and passed thro
poel a small hole, say half an inch IN slze,a
Cot which il is coiled in q revolving can.
,uth whole process is one OF wonderful de
| is CIV. the material being so finely Wol
e is that q breath of air would break 1t.
the card contains ninety thousand SO
| to teeth to a foot, or a total of four mi
nest onehundreda and eighty-sjx thousand
sea the carding machine is a little joker
pur- rorks ike some old man, raising
y at wire-coyered flats from the teeth OF
tton carder. which it cleans, and throws
,ead, the particles of dirt and coarse &C
hese left on them. Six OF the
IS of TIN CANS CALLED CARD sLIvERf
in which the roll is wound are now t
to another machine called a Ora
hnn- - y - nm tnnether into one s'sli,