The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1885-05-08
From One Who Was There and Came
Away Instructed.


Almost 0ne-half of the main building
is devoted to machinery, besides an an
mex running toward the river. Cotton
machines of every character showed the
| various processes in the Manufacture OF
cotton. One little beauty of ginning
machine did such good work, sending
the cotton through and Smelling down
the clean black seeds, that il excited
wonder why larger and more cumber-
some machines should ever be bought.
| And they did not seem TO do their work
so well, either; Tor the seeds they clean
ed were still cnvcl0ped in an oily, cot
tony cover. But wonder changed into
| admiration at the human skill that meets
| all phases of nature. The little machine
| is for sea island cotton, only; and only
that variety has free seeds. In the up
land variety the cotton fibre starts in
the kernel of the seed, and grows
through the shell, and cannot be remov-
ed. And it requires larger and harsh
er machine 20 gin it. When the seeds
are crushed TO extract the oil the refuse
or oil cake is eagerly eaten by horses
and cattle, cotton and ali. After the
ginning, the cotton is compressed into
bales, ready for transportation. A mon
ster of compress was in operation
pressing four ordinary bales into the
dimensions of one. 1t was as high as a
twO-stOry house, made Of heavy beams
up and down, and across, and every
way. to sustain the force of two mighty
arms moving inside. They rose together
parting half way up, like things OF life,
going aside to rest II little before making
their weighty descent. Bands of iron
are quickly fastened about them, and
this bale moy es off to let more come and |
I. Il. >,
be four times as heavy as former |
ly, without any increase of bulk. At |
the mauufactOrv the cotton from |
the bales first passes through cyl |
inders with teeth, and then between |
cylinders without teeth, and on and on
from cylinder TO bobbin about score of
times, till il il fine enough to be used in
weaving, or to he made into thread. 1t
looks very strange to one unused To the
sight to see cotton pouring ont in con-
tinuous stream, folding itself over and
around, like molasscs pouring from II
jug. Divisions of some KIND paTt the
wide sheet of cotton early in the process
into smaller ones, and each separate
stream empties into II can, like large
creamery can. Each Of these white,
fluffy rolls represents strand of thread
When il became thread il was wound,
ana laDelcu, ana DOSeu anu gwen away. |
Beautiful cotton bales were offered for
sale all over the building, and each word
bolls spelled with ". In other places
il was seen in tumbled masses, as gath
cred from the bushes in the fall, and
used for decorating. is grown as far
north as southern Missouri, and even
from Kansas were some specimens
shown, but the Gulf states made the ex-
ceiling exhibit. The cotton plant is very
snowy, and the flowers are something
like single hollyhock. As they change
their color from day TO day, one plant
contains blossoms of several colors at
one tIme--as may be seen mt The FREE
Press Office this coming autumn, if thel
Minnesota frost is not too unkind,
The silk looms were nj work making