New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-12-27
SOUTHERN COTTON MILLS.
,,,,r DEVELOPMENT AND POSSIBILITIES
OF A VAST INDUSTRY.
,,onrL MILL VILLAGE OF THE soUTH-CosT
AND EFFICIENCY OF IABOR-soUTIi
cARoLlNAs UNDEvELoPED


AND EFFICIENCY OF LABoR-soUTH
cARoLiNNs UNpEvELopED
wATEs-PowER
snca $. c.. Dec 26 SpeciaD.-Nothing is more
'.,scant OF the change which the South has
ss,,snced than the large and varied manufacturing
r,.-as,s which are being established there; and
rhaps the most important OF all is the cotton
i,,,ns and weaving industry. The Cotton States
70 No longer merely the States in which cotton is
".,sas. they are yearly increasing extent also
,rufacturers OF the staple. In natural advan-
ICES for that work in completeness of plant and
10 proysion for the comfort OF the operatives
nA South has to show not few establishments
.,,ch can fairly rival similar mills and mill viii
,sges in New-England. One of these typical South
avn mill villages Is that of the Courtenay Manu-
..,rrinr Company. four miles from here. at New
80 $ c. where little over two years ago was
,hroken forest This company is controlled
,rely by Charleston men and operated with
CHARLESTON capital Its president and treasurer,
WILLIAM A. ccurteray, well known in the drygoods
5,s,rct OF New-York City. was Mayor of Charles
"a, for Cht years his period OF service including
,hs trying time of the earthquake which wrough:
such havoc In that city; and he was also in bus-
r.ss there for many years. The directors are all
,sn of weight In the financial world. one of them
francis j. Peizcr is the largest single ml-owner
N South Carolina r. q. Rhett and W. b. Smith
usvy-cod represent the estate of W. r. Smith
.ho was a Charleston millionaire. and Edwin L.
Frost the remaining director. is member OF
the large cotton house OF Frost & Co.. Charleston
WHAT IT COST TO ERECT THE BUILDINGS
Mr. Cour;enay. in discussing to-day the establish
,rr Of his mill and the cost. SAID:
THE site OF the mill and village May l.
1895 covered with forest trees-oak. chestnut pine
and maple--and a space had first 10 be cleared
Cor their erection. The company owns 500 acres of
land on both sides Of the Little River FOR n dis
lance of miles; the supply of lumber was
pra cticay unlimited. and whatever was needed IN
ne construction of the cottages and as beams or
flooring for the mill and offices was sawed at the
ne 81 boring sawmills and delivered here at 81 a
thousand. The clay the spot furnished material
for excellent brick, which manufactured here
and used in the mill. The bricks were made at
cos, of 81 - thousand, and the cost of laying them
in the walls was 50 50 a thousand more. The ex-
tensive stone-work In the river-the dam, tne
hutresses and the other parts-!s all granite which
- blasted of the ground at almost the very
s,ot where 4; was be used to store up the water
thus i nothing for securing or transporting H.
All the unskiled labor was done by cclored men,
who received from 70 cents to 81 day.
This model village. as 1t stands to-day, consists
of series Of nearly sixty cottages, in four rows;
With plenty Of ground around each house, and the
mile and-a half track which joins the Southern
Railway at Courtenay's Junction running through
the middle of the place; the general store the mar
kst and .ce-house the office building tho FIVE cot
ton warehouses. built according to the standard
Insurance requirements. with high brick partitions
between every pair of compartments. and the mill.
This big structure is $50 feet long, and four stores
or sxty-fve feet high, with tower ninety feet in
height In Il are 1850 spindles and $40 looms. All
the cotton used in this mill, $500 bales year, is
raised within a radius or twenty miles. the farm
ers bringing their own bales in their own wagons
and selling their product directly TO the mill 1t is
Z
upland cotton raised
FROM RAW BALE TO SHEETlNGS.
Entering the mill, one sees men opening the bales
sui feeding the cotton TO the picking machine.
which blows it In flakes up sort OF inclined
wooden hume to the cariing room. Standing neN'
70 the picker is ingenious little machine 10
WI IN a small boy feeds the waste and which saves
enough every day 10 pay good interest on its cost
In the carding room the doubling process begins
Cotton spinning Is essentially a process Of contn-
4al doubling and drawing out. ana the tnreaas
which 20 10 make up the product Of loom in the
Courtenay mill have been doubled 5000 times be
fore reaching the loom; this is believed to 0.n De
Southern mill In the earans room AL the n, lTas n
ad leaves are RE- emoyea IRON Mhe ehe in torn by the
operation Of other MECHANISM Is pTeseS i1 Tbere
are twenty-eghi carding machines. Another
machine presses twelve OF these ropes or strands
nto one then four of the tweve-strand ropes are
united. the process being twice repeated win
resulting strands The fibre is pretty tb wea t by
ber'" which twists it, and after that through
long series of rowing bobbins ;.o n,,,sn and tho
The neat and br.gnt-faced young women ana tne
iegent looking men seem not 10 MIND the morse
fad naa so ah n work With
parenty little inferior to that OF tfiose Operatives
The contents Of the rowing bobbins are spun into
yarn the threads being doubled several times and
finally off into big spoo.s when are adIa no
ing together az an angle of about forty-hve de- |
grees, and the threads being run thence into the
cateiy adjusted that the breaking of single |
thread viii stop i ALMOST inssny iron snve Iae
processes unit soon there arg mere r9 co .nan ,SeU O
inrollsd rom the beam passes through water
mixed with cornstarch. which gives IL the neces.
nj coming out dried and rolled on another cylin-
Ter. IS ready for the LOOM
IN THE BIG LOOM ROOM.
In the great loom room upstairs are $40 machines
rith their harness frames working alternately up
nd down In the warp OF the CLOTH ana me ihisheo
roduce gliding out in an unbroken how. In an
Their room the final touches given-the sewing
y machinery of the sheets from the several looms
nd the running of the continuous sheet through
machine combining shear and brush, cleaning II
( all imperfect!ons; then through ca!endering
Machine which gives the cloth a smooth nnsh
cams ripped apart and The separate ,engtMsd
bout l2o yards each, are foded ana r aItef"a var,
ictrs The process and then the goods are ready to
z shipped the bieachery, II sheetngs mp3e
-i,b three harnesses" IN which case they are
wills. destined for use as coat,in'ng Inc s owih
aylng tape selvage, which prevents tearing by the
entering mac hnc in the dye-house 80 -, -. |
The mill is itted up throughout with the latest
improved machinery. and In that 1t has no smaii
ivantaPc over ulany competitors in New EnGianu;
herr are Of course automatic sprinklers and
He'd ire buckets IA every room, for the miii-inan
reads fire above everything else. DOWNSTAIRS Is
n SDlght Edison dynamo. which supplies the
lll The offices and the store; and close to TINS
com is the repair shop which is fitted up with al
orts Of supplies, as Newry is far from any large
entire Of trade Then there are improved syso
Ems Of heating or cooling the mill, an apparatus
applying hot air in winter and cold air IN SUM
icI and OF moistening the air in the loorl ROOM
iat.r being thrown out fine spray by the aero
nor SYSTEM
HOW THE POWER is SUPPLIED.
AMar honnsIalrs the power Is located mere,