The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-12-09
THE SOUTHERN STAPLE.

/
American Cotton Manufactures OF tho
Future-Steau and Water Power Com
| pared.
ATLANTA, November II, 1880.
To the Editor Of the Mc,o York Herald :.
There are now some 100000 cotton
spindes operated in the Union. In the
year 1900, only nineteen years away.
lnerc will be 10000. 900 needed, becauSe
the increase Of population and of exnor.
tation Of American goode will demand
them. The population, as ascertained
by the recent census, is, in round mum.
bers. 100000. In 1870 it was
38, 1000, 900, an increase of 3li per cent
in ten years. Tho same rate of increase
for the next two decades will make it
8G,000,000. To sustain this estimate.
let me suggest that from 1890 to 1920,
and for each succeeding period Of thirty
years the "Compendium United States
Census" shows nn average increase of
l40 per cent. This ratio applied to the
IS, 900, 900 of 1870 gives us over sc, ,O0O,.
600 in 1900, thirty years later, hence we
may expect q population nearly double
tained. Even if this estimate of popu-
N"s'Oh 'o'ioJ shO iiiSiSuoSh tCuQCllCJ III
people toward manl actures win
compensate for the smaller number of
the population. Will not two pounds of
cotton goods be required from tho United
States mills in 1900 for one now produced ?
Ifthis is correct, 20, ,OOO, 600 of spindles
will be required. During the interval of
nineteen years most of the spindlcs now
In use will be worn out or otherwise
HpcfrOv Iof ktok =
must be replaced and 100000 more
must be supplicd-in all, 10000 900,
machincry-beIore the end of % this
century. Is this extravaganza 1 think
in 1870 r were operated m V'Iyv by ~ steam team
the other half by water power.
The Financial Chronicle reports the home
consumption last year at l 100000 bales,
averaging 4Sl pounds each. This is
equivalent to over 865,000,00O pounds.
If the ratio of 1870 has been maintained,
some 4S0,Ooo,000 pounds have been
manufactured by steam in 1870 and 1880
Is this economical ? 1t pays, certainly;
but does it pay as we'll as water powcr7
The requisite power for 1000 spindles
with looms has been variously estimated
ut fifteen. to twenty-five horse power.
All speeds have been accelerated since
the introduction Of the American ring
spindle, let US take lin nedia) the ratio
OF twenty horse power. For 20000,000
spindles with looms, this ratio demands
100000 horse power.
COUNTING THE COST.
The steam engines of the country will
average, suppose, consumption OF six
pounds of coal per horse power per hour,
or GO pounds per day of 10 houIs' work.
At this rate there will bo required
100000 pounds of coal daily, or $4,000
tons, to do the amount. of duty required
! suppose the average cost of coal will be
81, to cover prime cost, freight, drayage,
labor and storage. Here we have
charge for steam fuel alone of $4,000
per day, and for q working year Of 3l2
days of $15,000,O0O. Add to this the
wages of engineers, firemen and laborers
to handle the coal, the excess of repair,
cost of engines over that of turbines, the
excess Of oil required (s few giIs daily
are sufficient for a turb;rs of 100 horse
power making eighty revolutions per
minutel, the greater cost of engines, the.
unavoidable outlay for engine and boiler
houses aud stacks, and the somewhat
increased danger Of fire, and it seems
that 5 10 10000 is low estimate of the
annual CT: of steam power for 20,00o, 600
OF spindles with looms. What would
be the cost with water power2 The city
of Augusta, Ga.,. has built magnificent
canal, which furnishes now to 10000
horse power, with capacity of great
increase, at the annual charge of $3.50
per horse power, or II cents per horse
power per day. One hundred horse
power on this canal ill cost manufac-
turer $500 per annum. This splendid
climate, with cheap building materials,
abundant and cheap labor, teachable,
tractable, thankful fer employment and
utter unacquainted with "strikes" and
State taxation-threc tenths of one per
cent.-to be reduced rather than increas.
ed, for the State finances are in q most
satisfactory condition. Georgia has
hoeted fourper cent. bonds at par, q finan-
cial feat, l belize not paralleled by any
other State. Manufactures are firmly
established there and very remunerntive.
Stocks are far above par. At the water
rent fixed by the city of Augusta the
400, 900 horse power estimated would cost
$2,200,000 instead of $l5,000,O00 by
steam saving Of nearly $l3,000,G0O
annually, and Of $250,OOO,0OO in twenty
years. If these estimates are even ap.
proximately correct, there can be no
doubt of the greatly superior economy Of
water over steam.
RESOURCES OF THE SOUTH.
Water power abounds in North and
South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama,
and is to be found in other Southern
States. At Augrsta the supply can be
doubled whe.. heeded. AT Macon q
similar canal is practicable, which can
furnish an immense power. Near Co.
lumbia, S. c., is q magnificent power.
At Athens, Co., and its immediate
vicinity there are numerous falls of great
capacity. At Tallahassee, and at other
points in Alabama, the falls are very
fine Chattahoochee river. in this State.
falls 112 feet in n distance of IL miles,
with the successful manufacturing city of
Columbus at the lower end Of the falls.
Here are the celebrated Eagle & Phoenix
Mills, pride to the city, to the State
and to the Union. The river, rising far
away among the mountains of upper
Georgia affords many admirable sites
along its course. The Tallula, in Rabun
county, falls $50 feet in one mile at Tai
lula Falls, so we'll known for its pictur.
esque beauty and sublimity of its grand
chasm. Tho James river, in Virginia,
has great fall as its flows through that
famed valley where Pocahontas and
Capt. Smith wandered, before Hargreaves
invented the upright spindle to be driven
by steam or water power. Many Of your