The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1890-12-04
THREAD AND SPOOL,
Unravellng Few Of tho Subjects Many Med
chanlSal Mysteries.

THREAD AND SPOOL.
Unravellng Few Of tho Subjects Many Med
chanl.al Mysteries.
Few people ever stop to think of the
twisting and turning and the various
processes that cotton fibre goes
through after it is taken from the pod
before it is wound on spool ready for
use. 10 actually follow it on it's
course would be long and tedious
task, but in the National Museum at
Washington the whole story is told in
one of the cases given up to an exc
hibition Of textile fabrics.
First it shows specimen of cotton
In the pod, just as it was picked, with
out having the seeds removed. Next
is shown a specimen of the same cot
ton after it has been ginned and the
seeds have been removed. The Sea-
Island cotton is used for thread on.
account of the length of the fibre. Al
sample of the sacking in which the
cotton is baled is also shown. Then
the cotton is supposed to have been
baled and shipped to the thread fac
tory.
Here the first thing that is done
with the cotton is to subject 1t to the
''picker' process, by which the cotton
from several bales is mixed to secure
uniformity. During the picker pro-
cess much waste, in the form of DUST
dirt and 6bres, is separated from the
good fbres by the picker
Next the "picked'' cotton is wound
on machine, in sheets or laps into
roll The next process illustrated
by practical exhibit is the carding14
by which the sheets of cotton are
combee or run out into long parallel
fibres.s
The cotton is next seen drawn
through a trumpet-shaped opening
which condenses it into a single strand
or ''silver." Then eight such silver4'
are run together into one; six of the
strands thus produced are drawn into
one and again six of the strands from
the last drawing are combined into
one.
Then comes the fast ''roving" pro-
cess. which consists of winding the
strand on Il bobbin. Two strands are
twisted and again wound on a bobbin-
After number of other twistings
and winding, during which the strand
is gradually reduced in size until it bea
gins to assume thread-like appear4
ance. two strands of this fine "roving''
are run together and twisted, under
considerable tension, on a bobbin that
makes 1000 revolutions minute.
Two of the cords thus produced are;
then wound together on a spool and
then twisted from that to another
spool. The two-cord thread thus pro-
duced is transferred thence to another
spool and then three threads of two
cords each are twisted together, form
ing a six-cord thread. One who has
followed the process sees the cotton
gradually transformed from wide
band, or sheet OF loose cotton, to a
compact thread that will pass through
the eye Of a needle.
The slx-cord thread is at last taken
from bobbin and reeled into skein,
from which it is bleached or dyed
Then it is wound back from the skein
upon big spool, from which it is sup
piled to little white birch spools, upon
which it is wound in regular courses,
and is then ready for the market.
The machine that regulates the last
winding measures the number OF
yards wound on each SPOOL The
spools are made of various sizes, the
average spool containing 200 yards
of thread.
The labels that decorate the ends OF
the spools when they are sold are last
put on. They are cut and pasted on
by machinery with great rapidity.