Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-25
IN A ROPEW ak.
MANIFOLD IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESS IN HALF A CENTURY.
Twelve Kinds Of Hemp Used In Rope
Making and 100 sizes al Rope
Made Healthy Girls aud
Soi-y Machines.
New York sun

New York sun
Rope making is not what il used TO be
Nowadays glrl at spinning ma,+llne
can do more work than eight men could
do in the old fashioned way. and where
one man could comb one bale of hemp one
. machine can now comb st ventN live bales
The product of the largest ropcwalk in
/ the niIed States is $50 tons of rope and
twine u week a. compared with sixteen
tons when It was built. nifty sin years az"
This ropewalk Is in lushwiCk, and in
the half century ii has made the fortunes
Of live men BushwiCk was fifty wears
ago small Long island ham
let To day lis boundaries are merged
into the eastern district Of
Brooklyn. Not many Years ago grove
surrounded the ropcwalk To day it is
surrounded BY dwelling houses Fifty
i've wears ago four horses furnished the
motive power To da, n 80 horse power
engine is taxed to do the work, The
long. weather beaten structure |. 10G feet
in length. has had the same appearance
for forty years or more of all the men
! who have worked in the rOPswalk, one
man has lived TO see fathers AT / sODs pass
away and TO teach grandsC ns how to
make rope lie is John Stewart, the su
perintendcut. genial and an active Old
>EenIleman. now 81 years OF age.
Tweve kinds of hemp are used IL rope
making Russian hemp being the best.
The hanks are bound into bales that can
be readily handled Separating the hanks
is the first process in rope making Men
/ do it, The hanks are unbound and tossed
one side where men stand ready 10 pich
them up and oil them. The oiling ma
chimes are large revolving drums of wood
/ that absorb and hold the oil kept in the
trUughS below. They are enclosed in
. wooden boxes, each with hole
about as large rs half an ordinary
window Taking hank, an oiler
/ spreads il out and dashcs it through
Il hole and against the oily surface OF the
drum 1t rlings and is drawn upward
but before the end is reached the man
/ draws it back and repeats the motion
until the iibrr has been oiled. From the
! oiling machines the hemp goes t" the
combing machines of different sizes and
capacities Rive comhiug> are necessary.
The Combing machines are very ingenious
and room after room i filled with them
Endless hands with cross rows of long,
fine teeth seize the nbrr> and carry ihem
along until other teeth Oh band moving
faster comb through them and StrHightcu
and draw them After the ,cmbng the
tihcrs become rOping. and endless yellow
streams OF il TOW from upper stories TO
s;orie> bclow for the spinning machines
Women and girls operate The spinning
machines
The noisy rattle of the machines is
hardly hcarahlc BY n newcomer, but the
girls talk and laugh, and aS "A rule they
are healthy and strong The spinning
machines are rs interesting a. the comb
ing machines. and the work is much
cleaner The streams OF r0ping come
down through the spOutS, and are guided
by girls into sheet iron barrels that can be
wheeled TO the spinning machines Each
stream flows faster than sevJ al ma
chimes can spin il when everything Is in
good working order, and piles of rOping
stand ready for use. Roping after going
through the spinning machines becomes
spun warn. The cOmhing. Strengthening
and spinning used 10 he done by hand.
Il have spun by hand many ton it,
said the superintendent
One room i called the waste room and
10 it goes the waste from all the rooms
The waste is combed and blown until the
good fbres are saved aud spun into yarn
for 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
iehS'h OF H'he ~ III >'ert' ne uhhSS
from rire is Strikingly appar eut. but fire
has never seriously damaged any part Of
the building Many machines are used in
spinning and slling harvest twine. which
is extensively used in the west Hundred
ton orders for it are frequently filled
The machines for balliug harvest twine
are rot so interesting as the machines
for spinning and bGlling small
c"rdage ath0ngh the former are
run oy gHs Inc lsltet machihes are
squatiy anu NOISY ahG can De conpared
10 rs many extremely hNeiy ouil uoSs US
ing all thelr legs ana nouns al
the same ume 'he OF Inc ma
Ghihes ha9 10 Oe stopper IN ofueT Ina'
l'S ilechshi9ul hliSht Oe SHOWN hth
qu'e' its ingenious ARA" Henleh'S Cah oe
hPPfe la!eu' out "heh III uhn''oh Is 'he
"Ot>l thlhS III 'he "Orld 10 1901 WIN, u
viii 'eat OH an arm or ieg rs quiCh ~
WINK
In low addition Is the lar shop, where
spun yarn for tarred rope goes through
process as old as the hills. Those who
like the smell OF tar can get II here the
year round in all It's purity. Through
long troughS nearly nlled with hot tar the
yarn Is drawn until II Is thoroughly sat
Urated TN coming out II passes through
ueeZerS. and anN excess of tar IS pressed
out Then II passes through the air for
considerable distance to dry. and nnatly
is wound on bobbins. Tar protects cord
age from in ury by exposure and i'm
weake,s II Nenv efforts boye haan
mad. 10 find a substitute and there i a
patent process which. it is asserted ren
ders rope waterproof. adds TO its dura.
biity by preventing mildew or decay in
creases lis strength. and keeps it pIiable
in the coolest weather
From the tar shnp the way led TO the
extreme lower end of the rope wax and
the machinery for making large ropes, or
cables very little change has been there
in there in the halt century The
machinery is crude but substantial. the
stancheons. beams and braces being of