The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1897-09-28
"A NEW FEATURE FOR CLEMSON
The Suggestion is Made by Practi.
cal Manufacturcrto Make Textile
department in the Farmers Col

iNSc
The following communication ha
been sent to the board of trustees @
Clemson College, and it was considere,
at the recent meeting. Mr.. ID. A
IOmpklns is practical mach mist an,
cotton manufacturer, and is one of tn,
chief factors in the development O
this industry in and around Charlotte
while be has aided to u large extent il
promoting the manufacturing interest
OF South Carolina. He is native o
Edgetioid County, aud naturally feel!
an abiding interest in the success ant
prosperity OF his native State, espeCi
| ally In Whatever meaCs will best ad
vance the training and education OF
young men for future usefulness.
The trustees Of Clemson were great
| ~ Impressed with the argument of MIR
| Tompkins in behalf Of his propos ttion
and committee was appointed to look
intO the feasibility and advisability o.
establishing a branch for textile teach,
ing at Clemson College. The commit.
man and NJ l.. Donaldson, and their
report will be awaited with interest
Every citizen Of South Carolina is
interested in the movement, and nc
one sh )uld fail 20 read the letter Q : Mr..
Tompkins, which is as follows:
CHARLOTTE, N. c., Aug. 24 1897.
To the hCn. II. w. Simpson, Chair
man, and the Board Of Trustees, Glenn.
son College, S. G.
Gentlemen: Pursuant to your re-
quest made when | discussed before
your board the subject of Il textile de.
partmcnt at Clemson College, | submit
the following suggestions.
| conceive Clemson College TO have
been established in difference to the
wishes of the people Of the State to
have school where the youth Of the
State could, in getting an ordinary
college education, do it in way that
would qualify them to find an easier
entrance into some profitable occupa-
tion than it was found could be done
from the ordinary literary institutions.
The education and training given at
such an institution ought to be Of "A
kind tina. Is calculated TO be most use
full to the graduate and also OF the
greatest advantage to the other people
Of the State, aud OF the State at large.
For the accomplishm mynt OF these ad-
vantagCs, IT seems apparent that the
courses OF study and training should
relate to those pursuits into which
students could at once enter in the
State.
Two industries which have developed
moro rapidly and more extensively
perhaps than any other in the State
are the manufacture OF COZ ION oil and
the manufacture Of cotton. The youth
Of the State have found eml Oymcnt TO
worry great extent in oil mills &pd cot
ton mills. What they know Oi these
subjects has been necessarily picked
up by the rule OF thumb method. Both
these industries furnish the most un-
limited opportunities for the work OF
every graduate Of Clemson inside the
State. In cotton oil, besides the pro-
cess Of manufacture, there are great
pOssibliti in refining, in making
soap, in the production OF feed stuifs
by mixing the hulls and meal, in max
ing fertilizers and in other ways.
With better know ledge OF the sub.
jcct, many collateral industries might
be established. Glycerinc, candles,
fancy soaps, table oils and many other
articles OF great commercial value are
already made from cotton oil in other
sections OF this country, and with Il
proper exposition OF the knowledge
relating TO these subjects, all these
products might be made in South
Carolina, furnishing lucrative employ
mont to the young men Of the State
and keeping in the State resource
which comes from product of the
State.
In the manufacture Of cotton, the
field is probably still greater and the
Importance OF extending, among the
youth Of the State, knowledge Of the
textile art, could hardly be properly
estimated. Up to the present time
the product of the factories of your
State has been chiefly plain white
cloth. Simple as the manufacture Of
this cloth is, it has been necessary to
employ many men from other sections
Of the country to conduct these opera
tions in South Carolina, while in many
cases the young graduates OF your
State institutions, being untaught and
unskilled In the textile art, have been
compelled to go North or West to fir d
employment in lines where their edu-
cation and Craining in your schools is
more applicable. II is notable also,
that those young men who want TO go
into some line Of textile manufacture
do not consider any Southern school,
but go North either to Il school or into
the shops, or in some engineers Office.
Some people think at the develop
ment OF cotton manufacture in the
South in the line of toarse white goods
has nearly reached its profitable limit
the youth OF the present generation
should be educated to extend ii into
other lines. The tendency will natur,
ally be towards finer goods and towards
colored dress goods, which is a field OF
ihtinite variety.
Your State was foremost in the de
velopmcnt OF cotton production. Or
plans that were formulated and exc
cuted first in South Carolina, the cot
| ton area a Of the South is furnishing the
J great bulk OF the cotton supply Of the
world. This was all original work
| No other people had done such work
There were no methods to copy. Does
it seem proper that in the manufacture
of cotton, the people OF the Stat,
should content themselves with dupli
eating tho simplest processes OF cottor
manufacture in other sections and b,
further content to carry on these pro
cesses largely under the direction o
men brought from other sections
when great many OF the youth o
your State are seeking profitable EN-
ployment, in some cases leaving tn
State to find 1T?
This subject Of textile schools ha
received the most careful thought an,
attention In Europe. Some years ag
it was noted in England that some o
the continental countries notably Ger
many and Switzerland, were makin
an increasing progress in capturing
English trade. Even in England, edu
Gated young Germans were being en-
ployed as superintendents OF dye work