The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-02-10
ROUND COTTOZ BALES.
Interesting Experiments: Which Seem to
Favor Them.

Very interesting experiments have
recently been made in st. Louis, de-
monstrating the advantages to be OBJ
tanned from packing cotton into bales
of cylindrical form. The test was
made at st. Louis, and the object was
| to note the effects of FIRE upon bales OF
this kind. The judges were from the
board of underwriters, and the follow.
ing from the st. Louis Republic. in
dicates that the system of packing
has many advantages over the old.
The Republic says:
"Cotton put up in round bales
won't burn to any great extent. This
fact was proven before the board of
underwriters Wednesday morning by
the American Cotton Company which
operates the round bale system. A
round bale was shown completely
covered, ends and all, with closely
woven cover, and with no cotton
whatever exposed. The "fash haz-
zard," one of the greatest risk in cot
ton, is thus removed by tha new
method of bailing. 1t was explained
that no cutting of the wrapping of
any sort was necessary or permitted,
as a guaranteed sample of the bale
was drawn in process of making and
properly identified.
As the objection had been raised
that the bale could not be sampled, it
was demonstrated perfectly that a
sample could be drawn from the
round the same as from any other
bales, simply by cutting it. Then
the ends were cut open and the char
acter of the winding fully shown.
The bale was then placed upon proper
supports, the bagging still further cut
and the cotton thrown back and ex-
posed, and wood piled under, around
and on top OF the bale, and coal oil
poured over all of it. 1t was then
FREQ. After twenty minutes the fire
died down and The bale was rolled
out, and it was found that beneath
the outer lawyers the cotton was un-
touched, and that it could not pene.
trate the ends of the bale, simply
charring the exposed ends slightly.
It was again set fire to, but the blaze
quickly died out.
Meanwhile another bale of similar
character was shown, with an iron
rod run through it and properly sup.
ported, and this was upwound clear
down to the core, rolling of like a
coll of paper in a modern printing
press, delivering the cotton in a
smooth, regular "bat," ready for the
machinery. There was no hitch in
the unrolling. Then the fire bale was
returned to, and to show that
water would not penetrate it, as well
as to put out any little remnants of
fire that might be left, water was
poured upon the bale. Then,.. with
the unrolling of one single turn it
was shown that under the first layer
the cotton was perfectly dry and not
damaged in any manner. The bale
was then recovered, weighed, and it was
found that it had lost II per cent.
The large number of prominent men,
railroaders, bankers, insurance men,
etc., who were present, expressed
themselves as satisfied with the sue.
cess of the test. From this it seems
that the round bale has much the
best OF it, but OF course there are 9TH
er points to be considered. For ex-
ample, the packing of cotton In this
manner requires a change in machin.
cry. Can it be packed at as little cost;
can it be compressed as effectively,
and can it be stored in the hold OF
ship or in freight cars with as much
economy of space and handling2 All
of these features must be weighed be-
fore the new bale can become the
standard.