The Savannah tribune. [volume] (Savannah [Ga.]) 1876-1960, 1888-07-21
THE ART OF ROPE MAKING
AN INTER EsTINa INDUSTRY SEEN
IN OPERATION.
The Materials Used in the Manufac-
ture-The Process Examined
Ingenious Modern Machinery

Importance and there are few that bet
ter deserve the consideration of the in
telligent observer. Hardly any industry
can be carried on without the assistance
. of the rope maker, and he renders valua-
Bile aid in the plication of mechanical
forces.
The aim of the rope maker is to unite
the strength of great number of fibers.
One would think that this could be
dome in the completest manner by lay
ing the fibers parallel to each other and
fastening the bundle at two ends; but
this would be ineffective because the
tibers are short, not exceeding on an
average ten feet in length. tits necessary
therefore to confne them in such man
ner that the strength of the fiber shall
not be able to draw it out from the rest
of the bundle. This is done by twist
ing or turing them together, a process
which causes them mutually to compress
each other. But should this be thought
sufficient the rope would be very poor
indeed, for the tibers, being strained, are
more or less elestic, and when freed
would at once untwist. 1t is necessary
therefore to contrive the twist in such
way that the tendency TO twist in ore
part may act against the same tendency
in another and balance it. Moreover, all
twisting beyond that needed to prevent
the iibers from being drawn out without
breaking diminishes the strength of the
cordage. Thus it will be seen that the
arrangement of the tibers and the degree
of twisting had to be understood to a
nicely in the former hand process All
this has been avoided by modern ma
chinery, which can be easily run by girls,
and which does the work with combined
accuracy and rapidity hardly possible in
manual labor.
The three principal raw materials
used in the manufacture Of rope at the
works in Brooklyn, n. Y, visited by an
Eagle reporter, are manila hemp from
the Philippine Islands, which takes its
name from their chief city, Manila;
Mexican hemp, called sisal, and jute,
which is made from the inner bark of
two East Indian plants of that name.
The fbers of the first of these are about
three and half feet in length, those of
the last two from ten to fourteen feet.
Mexican hemp is the cheapest, being
worth about one half the price of manila
hemp. 1t makes very strong rope and
being used more extensively than the
Others we will follow it through the
different processes;
This hemp plant resembles in appear
ance the cactus and grows to the height
of about fourteen feet. Ripening toward
the end of August, it is pulled just as the
seed vessels turn brown. The seeds are
then threshed out and the stalks soaked
in water or spread upon damp ground
an order to strip them of the outer bark
or skin. They are then beaten with
wooden clubs till freed from all the
brittle parts and the tibers can be olsen
gagged with readiness. After the fibers
have been hacked, which is done by
drawing them repeatedly through a
machine filed with long steel spikes,
they are packed in bales and shipped
On reaching the works sisal having
harsh fiber is first sent down stairs to be
oiled. This relieves the machines through
which it afterward passes of much of the
work they would otherwise have to per-
form. The first process is called prepare
ton and is performed by two machines,
the spIeader and the drawer The
spreading machine consists of two end
less chains fitted with gilt bars and steel
teeth, which comb out and even the
|iibers and is only another method of
hacking on finer scale. The workman
Stands in front of this machine and feeds
1T with the sisal, taking particular care to
regulate the supply so that the silver, as
the sisal is called when the process is
completed, shall be of suitable size. If
fed too freely, the machine is apt to be-
come clogged, if too scantily, the tibers
are liable to break. Some of these
off bale of 210 pounds of hemp in nine
minutes, or in ten working hours over
sixty bales. From this the silver goes
Through another spreading machine, only
finer and smaller, which still further
lstraightens and evens out the fibers.
This operation finished, the next in
|order is drawing. The machine for this
lis similar to the first except that it has
but one endless chain and its teeth are
considerably finer. BY means of it the
work of Strengthening, evening, reducing
i'm volume and drawing out the silver still
goes on until it is suitable for spinning.
This ends the process of preparation,
which, to sum up, Is a method of max
ing as fine and pliable as possible the
coarse fibers OF the hemp plant.
We next pass to the spinning depart
ment on the top floor of the works,
where the silver is spun into yarn. On
entering the room, the first thing that
Strikes our attention is the curious ma
chine by which this process is done. 1t
Is fitted with selt-feeding motion
which increases in speed when rapidly
supplied with silver, and again dimin-