National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1882-02-18

and half per cent in the process of
drying"
Colonel Shaw further says; "From
Warrington 1 also learn that in numbers
of cases the bales give the appearance of
water having been thrown in during the
process ofpacking as the centre of the bale
is frequently found to be in layers of caked
cotton, very wet, and often highly dis
colored. In other instances whole bales
have had the feel of having been steamed
TO a considerable extent before packing.
In March last we made several tests for
damp, in all cases subjecting the cotton
TO temperature of 1909 till dry, and then
allowing the cotton to cool for one hour
in the open air. These tests showed the
following results: 1894 per cent. of water,
1914 per cent, 10 per cent, and IL per
cent respectively. In none of these tests
was the caked cotton dried. The cotton
tested was good middling Orleans"
The average shrinkage in weight in
this instance was 1884 per cent, and it
is easy to see that the loss ut the same rate
on several hundred bales would amount to
a considerable sum, one well worth looking
after. In reference to the remaining al
legation, Colonel Shaw says: Complaints
as to the adulteraton of American cotton
by the addition of dust and sand are not
only more general than the complaints
in regard to the mixing and damping of
cotton, but they are likewise of far more
serious character. There have been ex-
IRENE cases brought to my attention in
been of a shameful description. Whether
the adulteration consists of percentage
of sand or an equal percentage of damp,
the actual loss to the spinner is the same.
] have, therefore, endeavored to obtain
precise information on this subject"
He then goes on to say: ain quite
number of cases that have been brought
to my notice sand in quantities varying
from 20 to S0pounds has been found in
the middle of bales of cotton. The sand
was evidently wet when the bales were
pressed, because in some instances
the cotton about the sand was discolored
and caked."
Further on he remarks: "A spinner
in the Stockport district states that he
purchased a lot of 100 bales, one-quarter
of which were heavily laden with fine
red sand, varying from nine to twenty
six per cent. of their weight" Also: "a
Warrington firm of cotton-spinners in
form me that they have recently made
several tests to learn the amount of sand
in the cotton they were using, strictly
good and good ordinary Texas and Or
leans. The results varied from twelve
and half to twenty-five per cent, and
averaged seventeen and half per cent.
of sand, which, in their opinion, had
been willfully put into the cotton"
81 have in my Office" continues
Colonel Shaw, "quite a collection of
unique samples of articles found in bales
of American cotton. From the many cases
brought before me the following will give
good idea Of the complaints made about
the adulteration Of our cotton: In one
there are the fragments of toy pistol
broken into small pieces; in another, a
stone weighing five pounds and half;
in third, lot of cartridges in fourth,
a sample of clean white sand, taken from
a bale l saw opened, which contained
about forty pounds of the same, and in
fifth sample of leaked cotton weigh
ing many pounds-as hard as board
having been pressed when soaked in
water "The fragment of a pistol" he
observes, cit would seem, musth have been
put in the bale by accident, as the weight
was trihing; but. the damage which the
pieces Of iron might have caused to the
machinery would have been very serious,
with possibility of setting fire to the
mill. The sand and damp however, are
the important and common frauds which
are met with here"
In closing he says: " 1 transmit an Off
Cial record of cases wherein tests were
made to ascertain the amount of sand
and damp in several lots of cotton. This
is from a reliable source, and | submit
the same in the hope that the leading cot
ton interests in the United States will
promptly inaugurate such safeguards as
will efectually put stop to bad trade
practices"
The record referred TO shows one lot of
las bales purchased in the Liverpool
market in September, 1881, that lost,
when submitted to the usual tests at the
mill, twenty-five per cent, as against the
normal loss Of eleven per cent, on ac-
count of sand; another lot of 10 bales
lost, on account of sand, 1862 pounds
another lot of 5000 pounds, taken indif-
fercntly from the middle of ten or fifteen
bales out of each separate lot when re-
ceived at the mill, showed q loss of over
3l4 pounds by damp and sand. In an
other instance, bale weighing hundred
weight Is pounds contained 126 pounds
Of sand, and in another case, where the
bale weighed 9 hundredweight and ~
pounds, more than 2 hundredweight of
sand was found.
OF course these matters, and for the
reasons already given, require to be
remedied. To continue such practices rs
those complained of or permit them to be
continued will eventually ruin the repu-
tations abroad of all our cotton-growers
and dealers. If ii be true, as alleged, that
the adulteration of this great American
staple is much greater now than before
the waran explanation for the fact may
be found in the largely-increased num-
Der of small producers who ominexperi-
ence and carelessness in the handling of
cotton permit such condition of fittings to
arise, to which class, probably, may be
added very small one comprising those