St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1897-05-08

lions. Inc OOOfS were kepG lOckGU GIsu
the operatives sworn to secrecy. New
England tried in vain to buy the right
and could not compete with English
yarns.
But deliverance was not far off. Sam
uel and John Slater, who had worked
for Arkwright in England for seven
years. saw large money on this side
of the water. They came and brought
with them full knowledgeof all three
of the inventions, and how to use them
and how to build factory. Of course
they met with warm reception, and In
1906 they erected a mill and plant
ed town and named it Slaters-
vile. They soon made fortune.
When John died he left his mil
lions to his son, and when John Jr. got
ready to die he bequeathed a million to
our DR.. Haygood in trust for the edu-
cation of the negroes of the south. 1t
was q gift fit to be made, for the fathers
and mothers OF these negroes grew the
cotton that made the Skaters rich. The
Skaters not only spun their yarns, but
wove them, and the cloth was called
honespun, 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 beau
tiful as silk nor so strong as flax nor so
warm as wool, and hence for years il
was woven only into the common fab
rics for the common people. The calicoes
that were imported from Calicut in Tur-
key were spun with the distaf and
woven with the o1d-fashioned hand
loom. The nankeen cloth that came
from Nanlkin in China was made by
father, who was q merchant, bought
some of that nankeen when I was
lad, and my mother made me a pair of
pants and round jacket out of it, and
| was proud and yellow. 1t was not
until the 40's when the finer fabrica.
such as musins and lawns, were made
of cotton. In 1912 machine was in,
vented of SO delicate a nature that .
single pound of cotton was spun to
length of / 100 miles. and in 1851 some
cloth of exquisite fneness was woven
expressly for dress for the queen of
England, and was exhibited at 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 Hindoos, and that Montezu-
ma presented Cortez with robes Of cot
ton interviewer with feather work that
riyaled the delicacy of the finest paint
ing.
But notwithstanding the inventions
of the spinning jenny and the power
loom, our country people continued for
years to spin and to weave their own
cloth, and the female slaves were made
to do SO by their masters. The spin
ming wheel was the first to surrender,
and the factory yarn, or 'sspun truck"
as it was called, came into general use
along in the 4o'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.
It was not until after the close of the
war of 1912 that even the northern peo-
pie bought amy cloth from England.
Until about 1916 England had none to
sell or export, but from that time until
1924 its expectation increased very rap
idly and almost paralyzed our New
England mills. But in that year and in
1925 and 1882 congress placed duty
of 25 per cent. ad valorem on all Eng
lish cotton goods, and this protection
greatly revived our own manufactures.
This tariff was reduced in 1s46 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 the ocean and
in Liverpool and other great markets
of the world. Whether we make large
crops or small ones, it is still the great
est factor in the worlds comfort and
prosperity. Long live the king.-Bill
Arp, in Atlanta Constitution.