The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-30
SAvANNAH'S COTTON MILL. !
100000 INVESTED IN 1T AND 1T HAS
PAID RIGHT ALONG.

"seS rs NOttOn manufacturing
Center-Maj. warfeId's Experience
in the Cotton Mil business.
That Savannah has a 100000 cotton mill
Is we'll known. TAat this mill has been a
dividend Garner is equally well known. and
that it has passed through the great COM
mercial depression not alone intact and
financially sound. but that il has been a
money Garner even during this to many
INDUSTRIAL enterprises so fateful a period
speaks for the capable management of the
mill and minds that have governed its
operations. Savannah itself is entitled
to some portion Of the successful opera
tion Of the Savannah mill. Its success has
demonstrated beyond doubt, that for the
production Of certain goods, sa-
vannahs cotton market, savannah's
labor and Savannah's great shipping facil-
tiles resulting from the combination Of a
large seaport and equally important rail-
way center are unequalled.
Savannah is a large cotton market and
offers many and so varied advantages to
an expert cotton buyer requiring a certain
class of cotton, which no inland or smaller
market could begin to offer.
The Savannah cotton mill spins excu-
sively knitting yarns. and its cotton buyer
has absolutely to keep two requirements
steadily in view, namely. strength OF staple
and cheapness. All other qualities Of the
cotton employed are imma terial as far as
their use in the mill is concerned. While
the mill does produce some white yarns,
the bulk of the knitting yarns
is partly or wholly dyed, so
that stained cotton, cotton slightly dam
aged by fire. as well as cotton discolored
by water, are all available as long as
/ the strength of the staple is intact.
A large market like Savannah offers
! continually lines of stained cotton that
| can be had at less than the quotations OF
/ the same grade not stained. The cotton
| pickeries handle about 1000 bales of cot
ton year They are also a profitable
source Of supply for this class of cotton
mills.
A knitting yarn mill requires, briefly
stated, maximum amount of cotton 70
the number of spindles operated while
1 on the other hand it requires a minimum
amount of power and labor.
Maj. L. NJ. Warfield, treasurer and man.
ager OF the Savannah cotton mills. saws
/ of cotton mill labor and the power availa
bic in Savannah:
Il find cotton mill labor in Savannah
abundant, efficient and easily managed.
/ the prices at which sucA labor can be had
are about the same as is paid by any other
southern cotton mills. AS far as labor is
/ concerned Savannah is just as good a point
for cotton spinning as there Is in the south.
| as regards power 1t Is merely question
4 OF fuel and we get a very good coal for
/ S2.I5 per ton. The power may cost a little
/ more here than at points nearer the coal
fields or where cheap water power is avail
| able but such slight additional cost is
! greatly outweighed by the advantages that
Savannah offers as a cotton market
and by the superior shipping facilities
that large seaport and railway center
always offer in cheap freights for the fin
| ished product"
Maj. Warfeld was asked how the oppo-
site extreme of cotton mill would pay.
Il suppose you mean the spinning of the
finest numbers of yarns from best quality
/ OF cotton and the operation of the cores
| ponding hours. As matter of fact the sue
| cessful operation of the Savannah cotton
| null, has only demonstrated that this class
! OF yarns, knitting yarns can be SUCCESS
/ fully manufactured here; and | can only
answer the inquiry by giving my indivldual
opinion. The finer the yarn the more fully
important
comes the question of labor and power
| exactly where the line of profit for finer
| grades of spinning and weaving ought to
/ be drawn, cannot be strictly defined In
my opinion, all grades of spinning could
be done as profitably here as anywhere in
/ the United States. The manufacture of
| the finest fabrics can only be successfully
| carried on where a natural humidity Of the
/ air exist. This we have in Savannah. so
that even the finest spinning and weaving
! mas no obstacle"
| What do you think of the talk about
| the mills to the cotton?'
There Is little doubt in the minds of men
who have given this subject any thought.
| ana VINO are capable of judging from
purely technical or business point of Wow
| that the mills must eventually ga
to the cotton. Conditions have so changed.
! competition has become so sharp and
margins for profits so small that mills To-
/ Gated far from the raw material and sub
| Ject to many extraordinary expenses can
not stand the competition. and will have to
move or go out of business. New machin-
| cry and all the modern Improvement. gives
most of the southern mills great adyant-
4 ages, as the majority are new and eduipped
| with the latest improved appliances. The
! next decade will witness great revol,l-
/ ton in cotton manufacturing in this coun-
| try and the south will become headouar-
| ters for all grades of cotton goods. sa
| vannah offers great advantages for the
cotton mill industry and should in
time eqaul Fall River as cotton mill CEN
/ ter If capitalists who contemplate build
! ing mills in the south, will investigate the
many and varied advantages offered here
l think they would not be long in deciding
where to locate, and Savannah would nee
! essarily become their first choice.
I'VE employ" said Maj. warfield "in
exact numbers 107 hands. Our pay roll
varies slightly from time to time. but $50.
! 600 are paid out annually in the aggregate
/ for wages and salaries. We have earned
more than per cent. on an average on the
| invested capital ever since we have been
| running, even during the worst period Of
the panic of 'sS, and in the subsequent de-
/ preston, the mills earned more than ex-
! penses.'