New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-05
SELECTIONS FROM THE MAIL
ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON GIN.
Eli WHIINLl IND TIL W
HIS SON REFUTEs The ASSERTION THAI A"1
WIDOW OF GENERAL GREENE WAS
THE INVENTOR.

HIS SON REFUTES The ASeh"AiS-'
WIDOW OF GENERAL GREENE WAS
THE INVENTOR
To tho Editor OF The Tribune .,o,.
Sir: | notice In your paper OF TO-DAY III '"v ,a
,oodcd % The American SYSTEM" referring 10 tle ~
,aton of the centennial Of the system OF gFahuns
r,,ents by the United States Government tna' ~
asb,nc,on repolter telcgraphs that II Is maih'an
tbat Whitney's great invention OF the cotton s' W.
cine, was the Invention OF the WIDOW Oh "0"s ,,s
Greene OF Revolutionary memory No'hns oo-..
ha more absurd u is not surprising that some ieuo.
W horla nrevaiI az to the origin OF an invenuon
ode nearly 100 years ago. The facts arc these Ell
whitney the sole inventor Of tho cotton g'n' We
spending the winter Of 1893 In the Family Va
Greene on her plantation, Mulberry Grove e"o
miles from Savannah, Ga. On one OCCASION 0no
number of officers who had served IN the Army liz
General Greene meet at her house 10 oine'
were southern planters and in the course VI o a.
~ ~ tho +ahI. were lamenting the desttuuon Oh 'ne
sonth. saving that and indigo were 'no ,ho
crops-that tho negroes ate up INC oori' aiu ga +
| nrlce of indigo was low that us cui'u.e w
nav prt 70 some machine could be devised tor ciea"
ing upland cotton from us seed, 'n'S 49, S.ua,.h,o
nrove their condition and make slave iaoor
Tn. bost.s. Mira Greene referred them 10 her sou,s
eIord wb,tnev who was present, saying that 10 ooui
MAX, such A. machine, that he could hVeh' "'' .,
in the mechanical llne-which MT. "muieS n'01 ..
dlsclaimed but this incident nr't cshen us -,
| ton 10 this great want and It's Importance - =
] II. had recnntly graduated at Yale College III.
| - - strAr ,ow However, he resolved 10 oe
vot. bmsclt for time to this invention, anu III oo"
| s.one,cs went to Savannah, searching the "a'o"D
| thero 10 find some cotton In the sceo, WIN" ~ -.
never seen. At length he found smaii qu~ , and
devoted the rest Of the winter TO ms INV , u..
nroducod the cotton gin the same tnaV 10 ~ ,.rt.d
TODAY. virtually unmproved upon nc no. .v,,nd.r
~. hr.ast Of tho machine, with It's too'leu y =.
thinking ne
a.. len when on the cylinder OF sawtecth' ano. ~
h.d hccn separated from the seed. "to. nth
Who was watching the progress OF the NV md
Great interest, playtuly took up me the CYLINDER
snS began to brush it probably n not whitney,
remotest idea of revolving Srp hrsR and applied it.
But the brush does not cons It's seed This
gin. nor separate fn the history of the invention:
Simply 1 az his invention lies in the fact w.
SO perfected when invented t as features 1t has
use ,gor S IS 900 900 to the people Oh IS dnan
States 1t has made the s9un ode England rich and
cay any Tho commerce Of the world ,.,,v svseu
Mr. Whitney also invented inc rrts arc mad unit
81 e first introduced it to the IN 1897
United States in the manala' nsnUfactnre Of arms
sors watches sewing machines ana abIs inventor
some Intelligent persons PEI. mpoFtance as it has done
eqaas te .pSthng else to make the an Other
Of the United states snPs PERI ont ~ 10 patent for this
| nt
system Having had such Dsa anT other Invention
GIN p1.e II has been worth millions Of doaTS cicorS
United States. lie had sixy, n SSs favor on ono
6eorG nc he could get no 70 swear as cn on
vas suca a, tbe conrhouse the wheels of eott I
operation could c4S be G SaG corga gave
sR decision that settled the matter ma fSr f1 IS p
Inc cam bna Who are too Ignorant OF the facts 10 s
ao opinion and too lazy to sa nyS tsmon T can
ody be obtained the CONTRARY o LORI Cor tSs adj
said "%h Ia rSsa. the inventor Of the cottonsn
yancc nraed and more in promoting the power anu
nrocress OF tie United STATES ,,a . martyr N his
The inyentor OF the cottOn-gn died MARTY y; liz
Invention owing to his exposure IN PUT uTG com nj
If an extremely painful cn, act. than ta txT Ro Wears
Di'oe, ,i he obtained for his patent IN other SUt
he spent in Georgia in lawsuits s Ws I rom his
ire, tion would be among the poorest IL Anlerlca'
son OF the inventor OF tho cotton'gih'
JNew-Haven, April o, 1891