Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1892-04-28
MAKING PRINT CLOTHS.
NEW COTTON MILL ON THE WiNOO-
SKI RIVER.
A Weil-Appoipted Building Takes tho
Place of the One Burned Last Year
Now Cloth Is Made-Large AnnuaI Pay
Roll

RDll.
AT 11i30 O'Clock on the morning Of Feb.
"a, 1891, fire broke out on tine upper floor
Of the fve-story brick building between Mill
street and the Winooski river, in which was
carried on the picking, carding and spinning
departments OF the Burlington cotton mills.
The intiam mable nature of the contents with
the oil-soeked floors made IL impossible to
savo the building aud in short
tine 1t was a mass OF ruins When the
insurance had been adjusted a meeting OF
the stockholders was he d and it was decided
to rebuild the mill on a more modern plan,
and at the same time increase its producing
capacity 20 per cent. Early in April as
the weather became sufficiently settled, the
work OF clearing up the ruins was begun.
This was tedious task. The intense heat
of the fire had rendered the ma.
chine-y well-nigh soid mass of
tangled iron, immense girders being twisted
like wire The ground finally cleared
and then the WORK of rebuilding was be-
gun. As the walls went up they reyen ed
brick building, 100 by 275 feet in size, three
stories in height at the west end
two stories at the east end Solid
rock cuts off the east end of the ground floor
and furnishes the foundation for the east
end OF the second story proper. a one
story ''picker bouse" 81 by 75 feet in sze,
is attached to the east end of the main
building. On the river side are two wheel
houses, 48 by 6S feet and % by 81 feet in
size, and on the south side are three two
story store house- Two, AS by Is feet and
A. 10y W feet in ze, are used for the storage
of cotton end one, 81 by n feet, for gen
eral purposes.
Entering the main building on the west
and ,.i4r
Is the office, 16 feet square. The
entire first floor, with tn. exception
OF the office ROOM Is given up to frame spin.
nng, spoohng and wsrpng. On tins floor
with surface Of 100 by IA feet are 80
frames with 69I6 spindles 8 spoolers of l20
spindies each Of IL warpers The 21 800
square ieet OF surface on the second four
are taken up with frames for ring or warp
spinnlpg, rowing frames and slu bbers There
are 56 flames for spinning with 1880 spin
dies, making a total of IL 6j6 on the two
floors. Next come 20 fine aud interme-
diate rowing framss four uLbers two sets
OF drawing frames and | ! sets OF cards, six
In each set. door leads into the picker
room. with two breaking, three intermediot te
and three finishing picker' The third story,
ct the same sze as the second, is entirely
gwen up to mule spinning There are IL
pairs OF mules, each mule having 12O spin
dlss, or a total OF Is, $40. This number.
added to the IA, 656 for warp spinning. max
the total producing capacity of tue mill 30
436 splndles, as compared with about "a, 900
Ia the old MILL
THE PINE STREET MILL.
Work In the weaving department at the
flno street mill was necessarily stopped
soon after the spinning mIi was burned
Yarn could be, and was for a time, bought
eso" here, but when the supply of warps on
hand was exhausted the mill was shut down
lnis gave the company an opportunity t,
make some extensive repairs ana alterations
and the opportunity was Improvei The
engine AMI boilers we're rebuilt, two large
copper cylinder slashers, using exhaust
steam, took the place OF two not air sash
ers; over hundred looms were added.
maNins the total number sol; and the en-
tire mlaI was renovated aud the interior re
painted and fitted, as is the mill on the
river, with automatic sprinklers which de-
iuse the building with water when a GER
tain temperature is reached, the point being
30 high that nothing but tire will effect 1t.
PRoCrss OF MANUFACTURES.
10 person not familiar with it, a
brief account of the process of the
manufacture Of the raw co ton into
print cloth may Le OF interest. The cotton
reaches Ninooski from the Southern plunta-
tions in bnles weighing about 800 pounds.
The hoops and sacsing are removed and the
cotton is thrown into the breaking picker
which feeds itsof. IL goes through three
processes to the cards, through two pro
cesses to the drawing frames, then to the Stub
hers, through the intermediate to the finish
Ing frames. 1t then becomes rowing, ready
to be made into warp or filing Tue warp
Is made by frame spinning and the filling b,
by mule spinning. The warp goes from the
frames 10 the spoilers and then to the war
pere, where it Is put on TO section beams
end taken to the Pioe street mill The fill
ing or yarn is taken there as it comes from
tne mules. 1t is steamed to prevent kink-
InG ana Is th9n ready Tor the shuttle Five
OF the section beams are put on to the
slashers, which dress tue yarn Tor the looms,
tue threads from the five section beams run
Ming through the sizing and Steam on to one
loom beam, and making Il sufficient mum Der
Of threads for one warp or web ~ incbe.
wide when woven. A weaver runs on nm
average SIX looms, each ioom turning out
daily piece of cloth about 30 wards IN
length. Inc cloth made IN tins city has in
the warp 6O u reads aud in the filing So
threads 10 the inch. When the $40 Ioom.
ore all running the produc ion will be sbout
1900 pieces per wssk, or 20, 900 yards per
day, he cloth Is usually sold in carload
lots of 5000 pieces, (75 bales of 40 piece.
each and goes to the print works in variou.
parts OF the country.
The spinning mill was started up in a
small way, one machine at a time, about
SIX weeks ago and now all the machinery,
with the exception of one or two pairs OF
mules, is running. The weaving mill was
started about three weeks ago and about
haIt the looms are running. Each day
brings in few additional weavers Most
OF the help in the two mills live here and at
Winooski, AMI are not the rowing class
usually found In cotton mills in the south
orr part OF New Eng and Ten hours con
stitute days work and the employees are
paid fortnightly. When both mills are run
ming 10 their full capacity, fully 325 people
will be employed and the payroll will
amount to $50, 600 or 500, 0OO annually.
To he Governor of Arizona