Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-06-25
EGYPTIAN COTTON.
The Immense Quantities Raised and
Pressed in the Land of the Nile.

Il ne llnnAtnSc UudHtitlce Asdlscu anu
Pressed in the Land of the Nile.
Alexandria Correspondence Philadelphia Press
The immense quantity of cotton seed
which was formerly used as fuel for the
irrigating steam pumps, is now shipped
to Europe, especially to Hull, on the east
coast of England, where the oil is eX-
tracted and the residue sold as food for
cattle; the oil is refined and made so clear
and pure that it is used for almost every
purpose, even supers eding the olive oil of
France and Italy. Large quantities are
brought to this country, as the Arabs use
it as a standard article of diet, probably
for the reason that they seldom eat meat.
and lard is prohibited by their religion, in
addition that almost all the Greeks and
Italians use cotton seed oil for cooking
purposes. and there are in Egypt of these
natiOnalities about 10000.
From having no market value, a few
years since, the seed has been steadily in
creasing in price until, to-day, it is quoted
at 81 per ardeb, or about eighty cents a
Dushel. The large cotton houses have
their agents scattered all over the coun-
try, and at least half of the crop is bought
and paid for before it is planted; the CON-
petition of the different firms is as active
as political campaign in a close district,
and were it not for the Bourse Exchange
which fixes the maximum price, one sea-
son would ruin the whole lot.
The Cotton BOurse, in this city, is one
of our handsomest buildings. 1t occupies
a whole square, and not only contains the
public "bull ringr but private office Tor
each member. There are also restaurants
where they manage 90 get away with al
most as much ''cOld tea' as do our law
makers in the basement of the capitol at
Washington. When the cotton arrives,
whether by boat or railway, 1t is at once
transferred to the immense chounahs
(pressing establishments which might
truthfully be called one Of the seven Won
ders of the world. Here the country
bales are opened, and the different quail
tiles sorted by Arab women and chill
dren. 1t is then put through the 'sclean-
ers," all dust and dirt removed, and then
pressed into bales measuring twenty Gu
bic feet half tom and weighing seven
cantars about 700 pounds each.
requested Mr.. r. Dawson, the en-
gineer superintendent or manager Of
one of the largest chOunahs, to give me
some facts concerning their work, and
quote briefly from his reply; II have had
the pleasure of conducting several cotton
men from your country through our estab-
lishment, and they were amazed at the
power and speed with which we We're
working, and, when informed that we
averaged, with each press, fOrty-tiye bales
of seven cantars per hour, from sunrise to
sunset, told me that they would never have
believed it without having seen and timed
it.
A gentleman who had been in the cot
ton pressing business in India for many
years, when informed that we could make
sixty bales from loose cotton in an hour,
laughed and said that we were certainly
mistaken, and meant sixteen, as they
never made more than twelve in his coun-
try; but we soon proved to him that we
could make sixty-two, and did it while he
stood by; but in that country, on account
of the exceeding high freight, they press
their cotton with five tons pressure to the
square inch, whilst we use but two.
When | arrived in this country, thirteen
years since, we could only make about
twenty bales an hour, but the machinery
and presses have constantly been im-
proved until we have about reached per-
lection, as / don't see how the cotton
could be handled with any more rapidity.
We have four double, direct-acting
presses, but generally use only three,
keeping one as spare in case of acct
dents. They cost $3J, 900 each, and are
made of the greatest strength and finest
material, for breakage in the midst of
the season would cause a loss Of time,
money and customers, as we must send
TO England for duplicate of any piece
that may be broken. Our engines, boilers
and hydraulic pumps are also the best
that can be made. We turn out 100, 900
bales during the season of about six
months, and use 1900 tons of hoops and
20 tons of fasteners. We have 600 en-
plOyes, consisting Of men, women and
children, most of whom are Arabs, who
are paid from ten cents to one dollar per
day, according to their age and SKILL"
There are no presses in the world equal
to those of Egypt, although they are not
patented. One Of their special peculiari-
ties is a revolving box, with four COM
partments, which gives the advantage
that, whilst the press is working in one,
two others are being filled, and there is
consequently never any delay. An engi-
neer named Ashcroft, who came out here
in 1854, was the first to apply this princi-
pie to cotton pressing, and he obtained his
idea in rather a curious manners For
years and years the dies, or presses, in the
English mint had revolving boxes which
carried the money under the stamp, but
no one had ever thought of utilizing the
design or idea for any other purpose, until
a man in the Cardiff coal district took out
a patent on a machine fol COMPRISING
coal dust with other materials in the
manufacture of patent fuel, and he used
a revolving box. Ashcroft saw this ma.
chine. heard the story, and the result was
our present wonderful press.
Egypt exports wheat, beans and barley,
which are winter crops, and are harvested
during the months of March and April.
Flax is now only produced in small guam
titles. and is all used at home for the
manufacture of Irvine, ropes and oordage.
Indigo, sesame and some other things.
formerly the staples of the country, have
almost died out, as their cultivation was
not nearly so successful as that Of cotton,
and not nearly so lucrative.
One policeman fined SO for being drunk
while in uniform; another over in Jersey
City hitting manis leg when he fired at
a steer on the rampage; still third lock-
ing up a woman as drunk who was mere
Iy insensible from a husbands beating,
These are recent unpleasant New York
and vicinity experiences from "guar-
dians" OF the peace.
Why suffer from dyspepsia, indigestion,
want Of appetite, loss of strength, lack
Of energy, malaria, intermittent feyers,
etc., Browns Iron Bitters never fail to
cure these diseases. They act like charm
on the digestive oFgaHs, removing all dys-
pepiic symptoms. such as belching heart
burn. biIiousness, etc. Remember it is
the only iron preparation that viii not
hfaqkon the teeth or give headache. Ask