The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-03-31

wisdom, pDW0r and mercy OF the great
Creator, which in all things is but.a part
nflthis dffvii1ss Ssseice: 8 HoweSer, be this
asait may IS mo part of my plan in
writing these crude sketches of the early
histaEE Gs0sgia7> -'s''-''-
In 1890 Robert Peel, of England. CON-
afenced in-a small way The manufacture.
{ Of cdttcns goods III sdpply of eaton.
was very limited, and chiefly from the
British West Indieas IS s4heiprice Of cot
ton Ras then 30 high that now it would
bs ospsidessS 8 ssotSi tsatS q. 3D. Mis q Is '.soss g
fr6mH6e @sd: f6e inTfod dnction of the
Sng 'aSR tsss 81 shs
green seedDr shditt stapia 6i53ft6n, ssaahd a
means had been invested for ginning0f
taking out the seed Of The long stapled
cotton, known as thesroller GIN This
was;a slow process and, ineaeetgal for the
Of the short stapled or upland cotton, as
it wac then t9tneds EThas sd0nsaquence
was there rHas very little cultivated for
market. SmaM ehesswere planted by
thefalMsrsIjust enough fos ehplhe con-,
s6tHHtt6hs Wien this Was TO be- used, tie
sesds were picked out with the fingers.
TnetHatA some old eHongh tosremember
hoNs this was effected in every family
remember It well: In the long winter
evenings the children, Ehib=sqA bthckd
seed scnttong gifoM which the seeds swere to
sbetake These epn swere spread out
before tile -fFs in the loom of the house
where Were assembled the family sna ID
Yery large portion of the community
this the only room in the house.
This.was done to heat the cotton, as the:
seeak ,Xhen tho cotton Was Sfarm, more
read artail from the ii fft..--As slim
nlantto active and quick work, reward
of s biscuit Or a lump of sugar was
promised and the largest biscuit or lump
ofsng1f was for him or her who first
complated the task, and the cotton thus
prepared with the fleece grown on the
farm constituted the fiber from which the
entirssTiment of the family was fabri-
The commencement Of the manufac-
tlrs cottop in England, and its very.
sremnnerative price stimulated its growth
in, the South, and the separating or
cleaasiag.thetslinb from the seed III a
more rapid and efectual manner than by
the4and be6dme adesidera.um.
In HsS il Yong nEs@a Dc from gf fNsH' IS; Eng a
vate family b6tshaMng been. Delayed In
coming beyond the. stipulated atimea for
bis arrival, hBepiaee Had been filled BY
another. AT thattipe there was residing
some tHe)ve miles abcvs, ,SaYapnah q;
gentleman bya the name of Miller. he
was from New. England, and had married
the widow Of General Nathaniel Greene,
of revolutionary fame. and ayas,in poss
session e9 9thS M1Iberiy Glove phnfas
ton, which had been donated by the
State Of Georgia to General Greene in
reward for his revolutionary service.
MIR. Miller-chanced to meet this youth
in Savannah, being a countryman and
without employment, he invited him to
the hospitalities of shis hone. II was
whilst here, and nightly witnessing the
picking of the seeds from the cotton by q
numerous flock. Of juvenile darkies seated
around the fire, and as they idled and
nodded at"tbstr evidence of
fatigue and want Of sleep, his sympathies
were asakensd<for these childFeHs and
exlfsssissAtsns anxious, tbata sonie
othnsr maars Ssrs<this purpose could be
invented, that should secure them from
this untimeIy and fatiguing labor. In
this wish he was joined by Mrs. Miller,
who was at the time preparing some
small rods to BIZ used in holding the wicks
of tallow candles, better Enown astallow
dips, in tho primitive days of the State.
With the end of one of these she bent
into a sort. of hook the point end and
taking up af handful of seed cotton she
pulled with it .ther lint from the seed.
This action suggested to the mind of
Whitney, who was the youth sojourning
at the house, Die idea of the cotton gin.
will tell ths story as Whitney him.
self told it to me and the late Hopkins
Halssy, Of this State, at This own house
in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1920. =
He said: "I saw at once that cylinder
armed with teeth similar to those in cot
ton cards. aud made To- rsvolye, would
effectualiy do theaWork of separation be-.
tween, ,ljutsand seed. Invent. to bed and
thought all night such machine was a
desideratum, and I felt / Itcould make it,
and felt, too, if I succeeded my fortune
was made EEarlysthe next day Lwent to
work, ara sfos many aays Worked dill:
gently, & bla patton Was Mrs NE Her, who
with woman's hopefulness and woman's
faith, visited me daily, encouraging mo
and making suggestions. Finally COM
pleted model machine with six cylin.
ders, all armed with small wire hooks.
These were placed upon wooden shaft
side by side,r and eoe0ne. was attached a
crank handfe, BY which motion could bo
given; to these were toothed circular
blocks. This was putiptoa rough frame,
its wooden journals resting in two half
circnhr holes or notches in the frame.
Just as I had progressed this far Mrs.
Miller came in and examined it. She
turned it some half q dozen times; then
calling I'd, her house-maid to bring her a
handful of seed cotton, (which she held
in her hand to ttIe;teeth of the machine,
whilst / turned the shaft, and In few
revolutions the teeth were full of lint
cation She looked into my face, and l
shall never. forget that look. o! she
was.a. glorious woman. She exclaimed !:
Perfect this and your fortune is made.
She explained its defects, saying; You
must devise some means BY which the
lint can be taken from the cards. as she