St. Paul daily globe., 1892-01-22
THREAD AND sPoo1.
Unraveling a Few of the Subjects
Many Mysteries.

Few people ever stop to think of the
twisting and turning and the various
processes that cotton fiber goes through
after it is taken from the pod before it
Is wound on a spool ready Tor use. To
actually follow it on its course would be
long and tedious task, but in the ma
tional museum at Washington the whole
story Is told in one OF the cases given up
to an exhibition of textile fabrics, says
Golden Days.
First 1t shows specimen Of cotton in
the pod. Just as it is picked, without
having the seeds removed. Next is
shown specimen of the same cotton
after 1t has been ginned and the seeds
have been removed. The Sea Island
cotton Is used for thread on account OF
the length of the fiber. A sample of the
sacking i'll which the cotton is baled is
also shown. Then the cotton is sup
posed TO have been baled and shipped TO
the thread factory.
Here the first thing that is done with
the cotton is to subject il to the ''picker''
process. by which the cotton from sew
eral bales is mixed to secure uniformity.
during the picker process much waste.
IN the form of dust, dirt and fiberS. is
separated from the good fbers by the
picker.
Next the ''picked" cotton is wound on
machine, in sheets or laps. into roll.
ne next process illustrated by prac-
tical exhibit is the caTding, by which
the sheets OF cotton are combed or run
out into long parallel fibers.
1he cotton is next seen drawn through
a trumpet-shaped opening, which con-
deuSes In into single strand or .'sil-
yer. Then eight such silvers are
run together into one; six of the strands
thus produced are drawn into one and
again six of the strands from the last
drawings are combined into one.
1nen comes the fast 'roving" proc
ess, which consists of winding the
strand on bobbin. Two strands are
twisted and again wound or bobbin.
After number of other twistings and
winding, during which the strand is
gradually reduced in size until it begins
10 assume thread-like appearance,
two strands of this .'roving'' are run
together and twisted, under considera-
bic tension, on a bobbin that makes
1000 revolutions a minute.
Iwo or the cords thus produced are
then wound together on spool and
then twisted from that to another spool.
he two-cOrd thread thus produced is
transferred thence to another spool. and
then three threads of two cords each
are twisted together, forming a six
cord thread. One who has followed the
process sees the cotton gradually trans
formed from wide band, or sheet of
loose cotton, to compact thread that
Will pass through the eye OF needle.
The siX-cord thread is at last taken
from bobbin and reeled into a skein.
from which it is bleached or dyed.
Then 1t is wound back from the skein
upon big spool, from which it is sup
piled to little white birch bark spools.
upon which it is wound in regular
courses, and is then ready for the mar
ket.
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 spoos when they are sold are last
pnt-on. They are cut and pasted on by
machinery with great rapidity.