The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-04-04

& i
sal that. but it is Il fact. 1t is the most
useful and most important product III the
the world and has the most influence on
its commerce. | was Illuminating about
this because of some letters OF inquiry
that from time to time l have received
concerning cotton. The last one from an
old friend. Colonel Saxon says he cannot
learn from the department at Washing
ton when cotton cloth was first imported
to this country.
And so [ will venture a few remarks
ON this subject in general, for it is full OF
remarkable facts and illustrates the kind
ness of providence to His creatures. FRO
vidence is always kind and whenever
we need anything He unlockS another
door of His treasury and says here 1t Is.
There is no doubt at all that the cotton
plant was created in the beginning,
and with a design for the use and bene-
fit of mankind when it should be needed.
Attention was attracted to it away back
i'm the centuries -Four hundred and
fifty years before the Christian era Her
odotus wrote about it as plant bearing
tleeces more delicate and beautiful than
those of sheep and of the Indians using it
India il was introduced into Greece and
Rome and Caesar used it for his army
Tents and covered the forum with it.
The cotton fabrics of the H2ndoo% nave
been cXcclled only by the most PERFECT
machinery of modern times. We read OF
a Hindoo princess who came into court
reception and the king said, Go home
90 home my child-you are not decehty
|,
covered she replied. Father /
have seven suits on but they were of
cotton muslin so thin and delicate that
the king could see through them. The
famous musl;ns Of Decca, i'll Calcutta,
were called webs of woven wind, and
when piece was laid upon the dew Gov
cred grass it was not disccrnlblc.
Ina CINE the wonder of these fabrics
when there was only Il loom that the
weaver carried about with him setting
it up under a tree and digging IA hole
in the ground for his feet to work the
treadle But the manufacture of cotton
for the common people was smothered
during all these centuries and only wool
and flax were used for clothing. The
ancient Egyptians used II to some eX-
tent. spinning it with the diStaff and
weaving it with the primitive looms. but
the plant was not cultivated. 1t was
Indigenous to that country and the fleece
was gathered from the wild stocks. 1t
was not until the tenth century that the
cultivation began and that was by the
Moors in Spain The Ncnctians engaged
in ii in the fourteenth century and the
English in the early part of the eigh-
teeth But its use was very limited, for
the seed wore N the way.
But now comes 20 evolution OF cotton:
the revolution that IN Il few years made
it king Nothing so wonderful has ever
transpired in commerce and manufac-
turc. There was IL conjunction of the
three things that were necessary to bring
about this revolution: The cotton gin
by Whitney i'll 1893; the spinning jenny
by Arkwirght in 1897 and the power
loom by Cartwright in 1889, all startled
the world about the same time and gave
an impulse to the growth and use and
manufacture of cotton that was pregnant
with great results. One of these results
was the fixing of salary as an institution
upon the southern States. Up 10 that
:imc it was not considered either safe
or profta BILE to encourage their lmporta-
ton from the Northern States. But of
course it took several years for these
inventions to becOmd generally intro
duced. My mother told me that as late
as 1918 she used to spend most Of the
winter evenings picking the seed from
the cotton by hand-with half dozen
or more of the family servants sitting in
a circle around the fire. She We'd with
them in trying to excel in the quantity
seeded. This was in Liberty county of
this State and the cotton was probably
the long staple variety.
Whitney became involved in intermin-
able law suits and his gin. which was for
only the short staple cotton, was not in
general use for many years after it was
Invented My father put up the first gin
in Gwinnett county in 1923. and seed cot
ton was hauled TO it from all the adjacent
country. Previous to the use of the gin
it was considered a fair days work to
seed enough to make a pound of lint.
But the gin with two attendants picked
400 pounds in a day. At that time the
eN-fashioned spinning wheel was in gem
eral use and Il days work for the
spinner was six cuts-a cut being 14O
rounds on the reel but the first spin
ming jenny with one attendant did
eighty times as much and did it better.
Later on it did 1000 times as much.
The saving in weaving by the power
loom was in similar proportion and
hein.n it suddenly came about that ten
men could do the work of ten thousand
No wonder that Hargraves and Ark
wright We're driven from their homes by
the spiunerS and the spimsters. Excuse
me for telling the girls just here that
ii sriinster is the feminine for spinner
and used to mean marriageable girl
who alad made herself eligible and fittell
to he married by spinning and weaving
enough cloth for her own trousseau, and
shee,s and coverlets for the bed and table
cloths and napkins for the table. This
was the dowry she brought her husband
But these inventors went TO Noting
ham and put mp their mills and made Il
monopoly of the business. They and
their associates grew rich so fast that
they determined to exclude all man
Kind from acquiring u knowledge OF their
inventions. The doors were kept locked
and the operatives sworn to secrecy
\nN Im,rlnnI fria1 IA, yai tn lt1v tb.