The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-06-29
AN REPORT.

Mass. He travelled and observed in the
south, and returning among his people
reported results to the Cotton Manu-
facturers' Club. What he saw was in
.structive to him and surprising doubt-
less, and what he said no doubt awak-
ened the attention Of the men engaged
with him in manufacturing cotton
Hear this candid and intelligent OBJ
server:
EfWhile the northern manufacturer
has been arguing and specializing as to
what his southern competitor would be
able to accomplish, and while many
people felt no fear of any danger that
the south would be able to compete,
much to my establishment I find from
a personal inspection during the last
ten days among some Of the mills OF
the south that they have successfully
solved the problem Of cotton manufac-
turing, and are 10Y making, and have
been making for some time, fabrics
and yarns equal to our New England
mills, and for less cost"
He is a wise man who learns by ex-
perience and has eyes to see when he
travels. Some northern men nave
aforetime been in the south and learn
ed nothing as to what really existed
They were positively blinded by their
prejudices. But not so with Mr.. San
ford. He states a fact when he says
southern mills sell goods at a. profit
that New England mills cannot man.
nfacture without loss" He is too truth
full n fair as we'll as intelligent to
tell his hearers that all this great work
done in the south is the inspiration of
northern genius and the output Of New
England capital. He would have lied
if he had said so, and ne knew it. He
says it is the southerners themselves
who have done this. 1t is the men of
the south, mind you, who ''have Sue
cessfully solved the problem OF cotton
manufacturing" 1t was done by south
ern born and southern bred men. The
Tradesman, in considering the report
of President Sanford, says this:
moreover, he found, in Virginia and
the CarOlinas, mills that made fabrics
and yarns equal to the best all River
product. This Mr.. Sanford says, is a
hard fact for the New England spin
ner to face, but it has to be confront
ed. on certain fabrics he continues.
they (the southern %spinners) are mas
fers of the situation He proceeds to
eulOgize the skill, economy and fore
sight Of southern manufacturers The
mills recently built he says, and now
under construction by our leading mill
architects. located in the Piedmont
belt, are the equal of anything in New
England. both in design, construction
and equipment Of machinery, nothing
overlooked to make them complete
They have also reduced the cost Of
building Of $50 per spindle formerly
down to $15 and SIG, including tene-
ments for help. Owing to being able
to run day and night, they are also
%equipping mills with half of the ma
chinery for carding and spinning de-
p~artments-say, for running 1000 looms
operating their carding and spinning
day and night, thus supplying the
looms for the days run. This enables
them to get the production of a 10000
spindle mill, and having to buy equip
ment for only 20, 900 spindles in carding
and spinning rooms
A man can still have some confidence
in his race when he finds a Sanford to
tell the truth plainly and without
blinking. There is a class Of newspa-
pers in the north that have bullied and
clustered so long as to the south, and
have been so prone to assume superb
GRITTY, that they fail completely to as
certain facts, and as a consequence
remain stupidity ignorant or are derib-
crate falsifiers when truth is at stake.
The New England manufacturers are
very rich and successful, but they do
not know it all" Mr.. Sanford tells
them that southern mills can make
dividends, while their northern COM
p~etitors are selling goods at cost" A
very serious statement, and wen cal
culated to stir the New England mind.
The cotton fields are in the South. The
advantages are nearly all on the side
Of the South. But it took the Edward
Atkinsons twenty years to find it out
when Southern mill men n editors
were contending for the truth Of it.
The points that arrest attention
building, the price of coal, the
great water supply, the lower wages in
the south. The wages are given at
from % to so per cent lower. We be
lieve the wages in the south are too
tow-lOwer than they should be. MIR.
Sanford. an expert remember, after
balancing all the many economic ele-
ments, says that in a modern mill, with
a stock capitalization of $12O, 900. and
10, 900 spindles running on print cloth,
the saving in cotton, labor, and power
will amount to over SIS, 900 a year in
the operation of the southern mill;
while allowing literally for the saving
sD interest on borrowed money in fho
north, where the percentage is general
ly lower, a balance of some Sis, 600
still remains in favor of the southern
mill.
Nearly all women have good hair,
Though MANY are graz. and few are