The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-04-09

| staple variety
Whitney became involved in in
terminable law suits and his gin
which was for only the short staple
cotton, was not in general use fol
many years after it was invented
My father put up the first gin in
Gwinnctt county in 1928, and seed cot
ton was hauled To it from all the ad
jacent country. Previous to the uSC
Of the gin it was considered a fail
days work to seed enough to make a
pound Of lint. But the gin with tive
attendants picked 400 pounds in day
AT that time the old-fashloned spin
ming wheel was in general use and ;
days work for the spinner was six cut.
IA cut being 40 rounds on the reel
but the first spinning jenny with ont
attendant did eighty times as mucl
ana did it better. Later on it die
1000 times as much. The saving il
weaving by the power loom was il
similar proportion and hence it sud
denly came about that ten men coulC
do the work Of ten thousand. N
wonder that Ilargrayes and Ark
wright were driven from their homes
by the spinncrs and spinsters. EX
cusc me for telling the girls just hert
that spnster is the feminine fol
spinner and used to mean a marriage
able girl who had made herself eligi
bic and titrcn to be married by spin
ming and weaving enough cloth fol
her own trOusseau, and sheets anC
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 up their mills and made
a monopoly Of the business. They
and their associates grew rich SO fast
that they determined to exclude all
mankind from acquiring knowledge
Of their inventions. The doors were
kept locked and the operatives sworn
to secrecy. New England tried in
vain to buy the right aud could not
compete with English yarns.
But deliverance was not far off
Samuel and John Slater, who ha(
worked for Arkwright in England
for seven years, saw large money on
this side The water They came and
brought with them full knowledge
Of all three OF the inventions and how
to use them and how to build fac.
tory. or course, they met with a
warm reception, and in 1906 they
erected IA mill and planted town and
named it Sltatcrville. They soon
made a fortune. When John died he
left his millions to his son and when
John, Jr., got ready to die he be.
queathed a million to DR.. lIaygood in
trust for the education Of the negroes
Of the South. 1t was a gift lit 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 w0ve
them, and the cloth was called home.
spun, 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. 1t was not so beau
tiful as silk nor 50 strong as flax nor
so warm as wool, and hence for years
it was woven only into the common
fabrics for the common people. The
calicos that were imported from Cali
cut in Turdey were spun with dis
taft and woven in the Old-fashiened
hand loom. The nankecn cloth that
came from Nankin in China was
made by a similar process. | rcmcm-
Der that my father, who was a mer-
chant, bought some of that nankcen
when | was lad and my mother made
Inc pair Of pants and Il round jacket
out Of it, and | was proud and yellow.
1t was not until the 40's when the
finer fabrics, such as muslins and
lawns, were made Of cotton. In 1874.
a machine was invented Of 50 delicate
a nature that u single pound of cot
ton was spun to Il length of l,l0C
miles, and in 1851 some cloth Of eX
quiSitc tlnencsS was woven expressly
for a dress for the Queen of England
and was exhibited at the CrySta
Palace Fair in London in that year
But it is still asserted that no ma
chinery has ever surpassed the hant
work Of the Hindus, and that Monte
yuma presented Cortez with robes O.
cotton interviewer with feather worl
that rivaled the delicacy Of the fines
painting.
But Notwithstanding the inventions
Of the spinning jenny and the powc
loom, our country people continued
for years to spin and to weave thei
own cloth, and the female slaves wcr
made to do so by their masters. Tn
spinning wheel was the first to sur
render, and the factory yarn, or "spul
truck" as IL was called, came int
general use along in the 40's. In
few years more the homemade loon
had to 60, and since the war the whee
and the loom have ceased their musi
in the homes Of our people.
1t was not until after the close O
the war Of 1872 that even the North
ern people bought any cloth frou
England. Until about 1916 Edglan
had none to sell Or export, but fr0l