Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-07-07
IN A ROPEW ak.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESS IN HALF 4 CENTURY.
Twelve Kinds Of Hemp Used in Rope
Making aud 100 Sizes OF Rope
Mnde-Healthy Girls and
Noisy Machines.

Noisy Machines.
New York sun
Rope making is not whai it used to be.
NowadaN > "A g.rl at a spinning marhIue
can do more work than eight men could
do in the odd fashioned way. and where
one man could comb one ba.r of hemp one
machine can nov comb seventy hive bales.
The product Of the largest TOpewalk in
the | nifcd States Is lju tons Ui rope and
twInr week. a. compared with sixteen
tons when It was built, nifty sin Years ago
This rOpewaik is in ! ushwick, and in
the half century it has made the fortunes
of five men Ru>hwICk WIS nifty years
ugo "a small Long island ham
let To day its boundaries are merged
into the eastern district OF
BROOKLYN. Not many years ago grove
surruundcd the Topcv ak. To day il Is
surrounded hr dwelling houses Fifty
five years ago four horses furnished the
motive power To day j.U-hurse power
engine is taxed 70 do the work. The
iong. weather beat III structure |. 90 feet
In length. has had the same appearance
for furtv years or more. If all the men
who have worked in the roPcwa.k. one
man has lived to see fathers and sons pass
away and TO teach grandsons how to
make rure lie Is JOhn stewart. the su
p,rintrudcnt. "a genial and An active Old
gentleman. now ~ Years Of a-c.
Twcve kinds Of hemp arc used in rope
making hussian hemp being the best
The hanks are bound into bales that can
be rcadia handled. Separating the hanks
is the nr,t process in rope making Men
do it, The hanks are unbound aud tossed
one side " here men stand ready 10 pic
them up and oil them The oiling ma
chimes are large. revolving drums Of wood
that absorb and hold the oil kept in the
troughs below. They are enclosed in
wooden boxes. each with hole
about as Ia ge as half an ordinary
window. Taking Lank. an oiler
spreads il out and dashrs it through
= hole and against the oily surface Of the
drum. 1t clIngs aud is drawn upward
but before the end is reached the man
draws it back and repeats the motion
until the i.brr la, been oiled. From the
oiIing machines the hemp goes TO the
combing machines Of different sizes and
Capacitics. tive combings are necessary.
Tie cumbing machines are very ingenious
and room after room is filed with them
Endless bands with cross rows of long.
tine teeth seize the tbers and carry them
along until other teeth ON band moving
faster comb through them and straighten
and draw them After the COmhing the
tIhrrs become roping. and ead' less yellow
streams of it low from upper stories TO
stories below for the spinning machines
Women and girls operate the spinning
machines
The noisy rattle Of the machines is
hardly hcarublc BY new conner. but the
girl- Ialk and laugh. and. as a rule. the
are healthy and strong The spinning
machines are as interesting As the comb
ing machines, and the work is much
q, amer. The streams Of rOping come
down through tie SpoutS. and are guided
ly girls into sheet iron barrels that can be
Wheeled TO The spinning machines. Zach
stream flows faster than several ma
chiue> can spin it when everything is in
good working order. and piles Of roping
stand ready for use Roping after going
through the spinning machines becomes
,pun yarn The com ing. STRENGTHENING
and spinning used to he done by hand.
Il have spun by hand many a ton it, "
said the superintendent
ne room Is called the waste room and
90 it gOcs the waste from all the rooms.
The waste is combed and blown until the
good fbrcs are saved and spun into yarn
lor twins The dust in the room is as
thick as a fog in the dog days and how
any one can work and live there for any
length of time is a my Sterv. The danger
from hre is strikingly appqr but fire
has never seriously damaged any part Of
the building Many machines are used in
spinning and alling harvest twine which
is extensively used in the west Hundred
ton orders for it are frequently tilled
The machines for balliug harvest twine
2r not so interesting as the machines
tor spinning and baling small
curdagc although the former are
run 10y girls The latter machines are
suuattN and noisy. and can be compared
10 as many extremely lively bull dogs us
Ing all their legs and mouths al
the same time One of The ma
chimes had TO be stoppe in order that
its mechanism might be shown When
quiet is irCuniOus arrangements can be
npprc lated hut when in motion il is the
worst thing in the world to fool with II
will tear off an arm or a leg as quick as a
wink
In low addition is the tar shop. where
spun yarn for tarred rope goes through a
process as old as the hills Those who
like the smell OF tar can get it here the
wear round in all its purity Through
long troughs nearly filled with hot tar the
yarn is drawn until il is thoroughly sat
uratcL On coming out it passes through
uccZcr>, and any excess of tar is pressed
out Then it passes through the air for q
considerable distance to dry, and finally
is wound on bobbins Tar protects cord
age from in ury by exposure and i'm.
III, rson, but makes it more rigid and
wcakeus it Many efforts have been
made TO find a substitute, and there l. a
patent process which. it is asserted. ren
ders rope waterproof adds 10 its dura-
bilty by preventing mildew or decay in
crease, its strength. and keeps it pltablc
in the coolest weather
Irom the tar shop the way led to the
extreme low cr end of the rope wax and
the WacLiIcry for making large ropes, OF
ca les \ cry little change has been there
in there in the hay century. The
machinery is crude, but substantial, the
stuuchcons beams and braces being Of
roughly hcwn wood. Some Of the work
men are old and weather beaten, and seem
TO lclonE to the machinery.
About 100 81 e of rope are made. run
ming from one sixteenth Of an inch &c
twenty four inches in diameter The
length of lar ropes is generally 100,
feet and the largest rope made nowaday,
is fifteen to eighteen inches and no large
roye is made except TO order ordage ot
all 81 IS was in the storerOom awaiting
shipment, and the biz cables were coiled
and Snrcad as neat a thread on a spool
Superintendent Stewart pointed out its
ucrfcctiunS with as much admiration as ht
must have had for his first coil