The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-12-11
THE YARN MILL.

modest little yarn mill at Westminster
S. c., we were led into making some
approximate comparisons of the amoun
of money that would be saved to thC
planters and 10 the South, if each neigh
borhoOd worked its cotton into yarns be
fore sending it TO market. In the very
nature of things, the figures we useC
could be only approximately correct
but they were based upon the results Of
the Westminster yarn factory, which are
undeniably correct. Thus, for instance
the yarns are spun from the seed cotton
This fact, which is a fact, annihilateS
the cost of cotton-gins, packing-scre
bag@ing and ties Annihilates, did
say? On the contrary, the cOst-the
expense of keeping the gins in order and
of employing labor to run them, the cost
of bagging and ties-ls in a moment
turned into ready cash, which the
farmer retains in his pocket. This is
the first and immediate result of the
new process. Let US, in this connection,
present some more figures that are at
least approximately correct. AT the
very lowest estimate, the services of one
hundred thousand gins are required TO
aid in preparing a crop of 100000
bales of cotton for market. We will
assume, therefore, that there are 1907
600 gin-houses in the South, and that
these gin-hOuses are worth 500
each. Some are worth more
and some less, but we Will
roughly estimate their worth at
$3.50, which makes the value of the
Southern gin-houses 100000. How
often does this property have TO be re-
newed? We can give no. figures here,
but it is sufficient to say that from the LIST
of September, 1874, to the LIST OF Sep
{ ember, 1875, the newspapers ofGeorgia
chronicled the burning of LAG gin-houses
The chronicle was kept by two papers,
The Columbus Enquirer and the Savan-
nah Meas, and the first made the num-
Der l46 and the latter l36--if we remem-
Der CORRECTLY Add TO this those that
we're never reported % the newspapers
and We haye, ia gin-houseS byrpedE III
Georgia in one year. From February,
1872. To september, 1873, according to
a tolerablv careful list kept by one of
he editors of the Savannah NelCS, there
were 157 gin-houses destroyed in Geor-
gia by fire. This is a terrible record
but every succeeding year has added. TO
the LIST, and scarcely day passes that
our exchanges 10 not chronicle the de-
struction of one or more gin-hOuses. 1t
must be obvious, therefore, that to any
estimate of the value of the 100000 GIN
houses in the South must be added the
cost of renewing them more frequently
han any other species of property, This
may becalled the risk, and amounts to
q considerable per cent. of the SI5,OoO,-
600, though how much we shall not I'M
d,srtake TO say. Another fact to be Ia
zen into consideration is that this prop
tr-ty is i'm use on an average only one
,ocnth OF the twelve-which is equiva-
snt to paving years interest on a sum
If money for the privilege of using itone
Month.
The thoughtful reader can make es-
Inmates fitted to his information. We
have merely given the cue; but any es-
innate must show a terrible array Of
figures to offset the profits of the cotton
crop, and the waste is worse than the
drain. just here the Westminster pro
cess steps in between the planter and
his gin houses, and by abOlishing the
after and rendering their renewal use
ess, puts seventy-ive millions in the
empty pockets of the South. But this IS
not all. At a low estimate it costs the
planter S1.50 to prepare his bale Of cot
ION for market after it is ginned-to
dress it in an appropriate suit of bag
ging and bind it with ties. Let us say,
chen, that the bagging and ties of a
crop Of 100000 bales costs the South
~ l L, e. IN
she present condition of things it Is a
cost that is absolute and inevitable, and
20 annillilate il is TO add the sum it rep
resents to the profits of the cotton crop.
This, according to the testimony OF eye
witnesses, is what the Westminster mill
does The cotton is taken from the
baskets as it comes from the field and
converted into marketable yarns, far
more valuable for al purposes of trade
and commerce than the cotton that has
been ginned, baled and compressed. Al
a rough estimate, 400 per cent. has been
added to the price it win fetch the farm
er: SO that with al the cost OF gin
houses out of the way, the vast cost OF
bagging and hes, the loss in samplng
and stealage, the cost of weighing and
storage, and the thousand and one
comniiss sions alinihnated, the farmer
has his cotton in the shape of yarns,
and. leaving out OF. SIGHT all the saving
IN the costs that are done away with, 1t
is worth 1G0 per cent. more than THE
cotton that is prepared for market IN
the old way. ,.....
We must confess that we are inclined
20 be enthusiastic in regard to this new
process. There can be no sort of mis-
take Us 10 what it aocomplishes, aud we
believe II is n solution OF a problem that
has long vexed the South In our opin-
son 1t revolutioEizes the prospects of this
section and opens up to us future .ot
zlnexampled prosperity. Are we too
sanguine? This depends. upon whether
the Westminster mill can accomplish
these results with which it has been
acredited,byytaose,YAo have SCENT, we
bave been tcfd that Some ptomhleiit
manufacturers, after looking at the ma
chinery of the, mll, have doubted the ac-
-uracy of the reports that led them
thitherT But they were, deceived by the
very gGaIity which gives the mill 1t:
Value-namely its simplicity. Used tC
nonderous machinery, they could no.
conceive how such simplicity could pro
slnce such wonderful results, but thel
we're convinced after witnessing th'
operations OF the mill.
Hewbeit- no one need make a mistak,
an this matter. The Westminster mil
and Others. OF the same kind are all easl
of access No one who has any though
of in9esting can. 90 astray or be misle'
l,v any thing that may be SAID by eB