The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-10-23

| lllutT TIC IulC VI luc .I'sICHl Cdii Pu'
science. letters and every kind of in
dustry Aourished in Spain, while the
rest of Europe remained in intellectual
darkness. In the reign of Abderaham
III at Cardoya, from 9l2 to 9G2, many
of the natural productions and arts OF
the East were introduced into Spain,
and cossypium. rice, sugar cane and
the silk worm became naturalizcd.
Cotton then hourishcd in the fertile
plains Of Valencia, where it grows
wild at the present day.
The cotton industry did not reach
Italy until the fourteenth century,
when the Yenctians engaged in it.
About the same time the Turks intro
duccd it into some of their provinces.
On account of the great animosity and
rcpugancc between the Christians OF
Europe and the Saraccns of Spain,
there was no intercourse between them,
and the arts and industries of the lat
ter did not spread to Christian Europe.
The extensive commercial relations Of
the Moors Of Andalusia were held
with Africa and the East, to the ex-
clusion of European countries; while
the trade of the Italian cities was
with Greece, and the seaport towns of
Syria and Phnnicia.
From Italy the cotton business pro-
gresscd slowly northward to Germany,
the Netherlands, to Antwerp, finally
reaching England in the seventeenth
century. In 1911 it was stated by
Lewis Roberts in the Treasury of
Traffic" that the Manchester Company
"buy cotton wool in London that
comes from Cyprus and Smyrna, and
a. home work the same and perfect it
into fustians. vcrmillions, dimities
and other stuffcs.
But here, in the language Of Mr.:
Baincs, ''it fingered like a tropical
plant in northern latitude, degencr-
ate and sickly,'' until l76O-SO, when,
aided by the brilliant inventions for
it's manipulation by Wyatt, Arkwright,
Highs, EIargreaves and Kay, the in
dustry suddenly shot forth with
more than native luxuriance, and soon
developed into enormous proper
tions.
OF all countries England was the
last to receive the ''King" in his
word-conquering march, and now, by
the application of modern science and
ingenuity, he holds greater sway in
her dominons, perhaps, than in all
the rest of the world together.
That unrivallcd cotton statistician,
Mr.. Thomas Ellison, of Liverpool,
through the medium of Latham. Alex
ander & Co.'S valuable work, Cotton
Movements and Fluctuations" states
that down to the close of the cigh-
tecnth century, Great Britain s i'm
port of cotton was almost entirely
from the Mediterranean, chiefly from
Smyrna. That the total amount re-
ceived into that Kingdom in 1871,
including shipments from Brazil, Per-
nambuco and the West Indies, was
only about l3 900 bales of 400 pounds
each. But that in 1872 she received
$500 bales from all sources. To
give an idea of the vast expansion of
this industry since that date the fol-
lowing figures from Latham, Alexan-
der & Co.'S handbook for 1895 are ap
pended:
The stock on hand in Great Britain
on January l was of American cotton
| ,O36, $50 bales Brazilian, Egyptian,
| West Indian, etc., East Indian cotton,
149, $40 bales-total /, 1885, $40 bales.
The total imports from the above
named sources for the years 1894, 1893,
and 1892 we're, respectively, 3, us. .O30,
3, 1S5, 200, 1865, $50 bales ! For the
British Isles alone.
1t isassertcd that early in the seven
tccnth century cotton as useful tex
tile plant was recommended for cult
vation in Virginia. From DR.. Bar
bees volume is "The Cotton
Question: the following is quoted
"In the United States cotton seed
were first planted as an experiment
in 1921. In the province of Carolina
the growth of this plant is noticed in
paper of the date 1866, preserved in
CAROLS Historical Collections of
South Carolina In 1876 cotton was
known as garden plant in latitudes
80 degrees north on the eastern shore
of Maryland, and about forty years
later it was grown in the county of
Cape May, New Jersey. 1t was, how
ever, very little cultivated except as
an interesting garden plant until after
the Revolutionary war. Yet it is
declared by Whitemarsh Seabrook, in
his valuable "Mcmoir on the Cotton
Plant" that it was grown by the Nir-
ginia colony at least one hundred and
thirty years before the Revolution.
DIR. Barbec mentions that in 174S
seven bags of cotton wool were export
ed from Charleston, S. c., and were
valued at 43 lis sd bag, and that in
1851 another small shipment from the
same port was made. Mr.. Ellison
says this cotton was most probably of
West India origin, and that the first
received import into Liverpool from
the American colonies took place in
ITO, consisting of three bales from
New York, four bags from Virginia
ana Marylanu, IuIcc paI lcio !loui
North Carolina, and four bags from
Georgia. "Eut," he adds, sit is not
unlikely that portion of these i'm
ports consisted of West Indian cotton
transhipped. In 1874 eight bags of
American cotton were shipped to Liv-
erpool in an American vessel. AS it
was not believed that so large guam
tity had been produced in the new
Republic so recently out Of the tolls
of desperate struggle for indepcn-
dence. it was hello by a custom house
official until proof could be obtained
of the truth of the claim.
Without attempting an adjustment
of the difference in bales and dates, |
will insert paragraph from the .Amcri-
can Magazine of History
Gas early as the beginning of the
present century, in his ship Sovereign,
of 220 tons, Capt. Robert Sheffield, of
Fairfield, Conn, took out 45O bales
of cotton from Charleston. $. e.,
touching at the port Of New ork, and
clearing for Liverpool, his cargo COW