The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-03-25
SDinners aud Wcayers.

The writer presented himself at the
Office of one of the Lowell mills and
requested the privilege of inspecting the
processes of manufacturing cotton goods.
The permission was finally given, the
only condition being that the mill should
not be named.
"To begin with the first process" said
the agent, who kindly accompanied the
writer through the mill, "we will take in
the picking room. The picker is, as you
see, something like hay cutter, only
instead of cutting the cotton it simply
beats it by means of knives set in
cylinder which revolves. The object is
to open the matted Jumps of cotton and
clean the fbers."
This was the "opener picker" Each
machine was tended by a man, generally
a French Canadian, whose duty is to
break up the cotton, which comes in
firmly packed bales, and throw pieces of
convenient size upon the endless apron
leading into the machine. On all sides
were great bales of cotton not yet opened,
and snowdrift of opened cotton lay on
the floor near each of the machines.
Upon the other side of the machine is
fan arrangement and long shute, by
means of which the loosened cotton is
blown over wire scream, through which
most of the sand and other foreign sub.
stances fall, until the light fakes come
to the "fnisher picker" The cotton
comes out of the 6nisher picker in a
flmy sheet of uniform thickness, and is
wound upon roller. The picker beater
makes from 1900 to 1000 revolutions
per minute in performing its work, and
the fan rather more.
From the inisher picker the "laps" or
rolls of partially cleaned cotton are taken
to the "breaker card" This consists Of
brush of wire teeth upon cylinder
three feet in diameter, revolving at the
rate of 125 times per minute, and coming
almost in contact with another system of
similar cards. The object of the card is
to still further clean the cotton, and to
"comb out" the fiber and remove any
knots or Jumps which may have remained
in it. After passing around on the large
cylinder of the machine the 6bers are
taken in fine fleece by the teeth Of a
smaller cylinder called "doffer," and
from the dofer this fleece is taken by
the "dofer comb" and formed by means
of tin funnel into an endless ribbon.
After going through the breaker card
the law of cotton is taken to the "6nish.
er card" which finishes the process of
cleansing. The cotton comes out in a
light and Aeecy ribbon as before, and
these ribbons from many cards are united
at the railway head" BY means of the
drawing frame" and the "inisher draw
ing frame" number are united and at
the-same time drawn out at greater length,
by that means securing great uniformity
in the ribbon of cotton. Following the
drawing frames comes tho "speeders,
coarse and fine, by means of which, sue.
cessively, this process of drawing out at
greater length is continued.
Two machines for spinning are en-
ployed-the "ring frame" and the
"mule." The ring frame is from twenty
to thirty feet long, and contains from
100 to 275 spindles, according to circum-
stances and the nature of the work re-
quired. The spindles are placed at the
sides, and the bobbins, from which the
rowing is drawn, are placed upon rack
above. The spindles make each from
5000 to 5000 revolutions per minute.
Samuel Crompton, an Euglishman
was the inventor of the mule. His in
vention consists in a railway movement
by which the rowing, or incipient thread
is alternately spun and wound upon the
spindle. AS the mule runs out the rowing
is drawn out and twisted into thread, and
then as it runs back the continued revo
luton of the spindles winds up the
thread. Each mule originally carried
only about twenty-five spindles, but nov
they are sometimes built 10 carry ovel
1000, and are still operated by a single
spinner. Each spindle makes from a.,
500 to $500 revolutions per minute.
"It's as good as walking MATCH ;
said mule spinner, who happened to bt
idle for moment "You watch thai
man running that mule for a while, ane
see how he will walk. The mule run:
out FIVE feet seven inches, and is abou
100 feet long. 1t makes about FIVE trips
in and out every minute; and he has tc
follow it pretty much all the time
With all his walking, up and down and
back and forth, for ten hours a day, il
amounts to about twenty five miles.
The yarn which is spun on the mule;
is wound on the "cops," and is ready fol-
the shuttles of the looms. The yarr
spun on the ring frames, which is usel
for the warp, has number of processes
yet to pass through. First it is taken te
the "spooling" room, where by means o
machinery the yarn is transferred from
several bobbins to one spool. The spool:
are then taken to the "warper," a ma
chine suggestive of stage driver hold
ing the reins over the backs of q couple
of hundred horses at once. The frames
are arranged in wings to contain from
$50 to 400 spools, and the yarn from the
spool passes through comb and over
roller, through another comb and then is
wound up OH the "warper bean." The
warper has sort ofautomatic conscience
The drum revolves at the rate of thirty
or forty times minute, but if anything
goes wrong, as if a thread breaks, it i'm
mediately stops. and nothing can start il