The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-05-29

spinning jenny with one attendant did
eighty times as much and did it bet
ter. Later on. it did 1900 times as
much. The saving in weaving by the
power loom was in similar proportion
and hence it suddenly came about
that ten men could do the work
of ten thousand. No wonder
that Hargraves and Arkwright
were driven from their homes by the
spinners and the spinsters. ESclse
me for telling the girls Just here that
o spinster is the feminine for spinner
and used to mean mar7iageablo
right and could not compete with Eng
lish yarns.
But deliverance was not far OH.
Samuel and.J John Slater, who had
worked for Arkwright in England for
seven years, saw large money on this
side Of the water. They came aud
brought with them full knowledge
of all three of the inventions and how
to use them and how to build a factory.
OF course they met with warm re-
ception, and in 1906. they erected
mill and planted town and named it
Statewide. They soon made a fortune.
When John died he left his millions to
his son and when John, Jr., got ready
to die he bequeathed million to7our
DR.. Haygood in trust for the education
of the negroes of the south. 1t was
gift fit to be made, for the fathers and
mothers of these negroes grew the cot
ton that made the Skaters rich. The
Skaters not only spun their yarns, but
wove them, and the cloth was called
homespun, because it was woven at
home and not brought from England.
But, although cotton was now king
commercially, it was ranked socially
by other fabrics. It was not SO
beautiful as silk nor so strong as fax
nor so warm as wool, and hence for
years it was woven only into the COM
mon fabrics for the common people.
The calicos that were imported from
Calicut in Turkey were spun with
distaf and woven in the old-fashioned
hand loom. The nankeen cloth. that
came from Nankin in China was made
by similar process. / remember
tina. my father, who was merchant,
bought some of that nankcen when /
was lad and my mother made me
pair of pants and a round Jacket out Of
it and was proud and yellow. 1t was
not until the 40's when the finer fab
RIGS, such as muslins and lawns, were
made of cotton. In 1912 machine
was invented of so delicate nature
that single pound Of cotton was spuns
to q length of LOO miles, and in 1851
some clOrn OF exquisite f1neness was
woven expressly for dress for the
queen of England and was exhibited
ct the Crystal palace fair in London
in that year. But it is still asserted
that no machinery has ever surpassed
the hand work of the Hindus and that
Montezuma presented Cortez with
robes of cotton interviewer with feather
work that riyaled the delicacy of the
finest painting.
But notwithstanding Che Inventions
of the spinning jenny, and the power
loom, our country people continued
for years to spin and to weave their
own cloth, and tAe female slaves were
made to do SO by their masters. The
spinning wheel was the first to surren-
der, and the factory yarn, or "spun
truck as it was called, came into
general use along in the 40's. In
few years more the homemade loom
had to go, and since the war the wheel
and the loom have ceased their music
in the homes of our people.
1t vassnot until after the close of
the war Of 1912 that even the northern
people bought anycloth from England.
Until about 1916 England had name to
sell or export, but from that time untif
1924 its expectation increased very rap-4
idly and almost paralyzed our New
England mills. But in that year and
in 1928 and 1882 congress placed a
duty of % per cent ad valorem on all
English cotton goods, and this pro-
lection greatly revived our own manu-
features. This tariff was reduced in
Il846 and the outside world given .
fairer chance to compete.
But cotton is still king-king in the
southern fields and in the factories and
in the carrying trade of thesocean and
| in Liverpool and other great markets
of the world. Whether we make large
crops or small ones, it is still the
greatest factor in the worlds comfort
and prosperity. Long live the king!
--BIr Arr, in Atlanta Constitution.