The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1897-04-08
BILL ARP SAYS COTTON IS STILL KING.
HE TELLS HOW 1T WAS FIRST
SPUN.
His Mother Used to Pick Seed from
the Lint-The Advent Of tho CottOH
Gin, the Spinning Jenny and tho
Power Loom-A Revolution in
Commerce and Manufactures.

is the most useful and most lmpOrtan
product in the world and has the mos
influence on it's commerce. | was ru
minating about this because Of SOU,
letters OF inquiry that from tiU1o /!
time ! have received concerning COT
ton. The last one from an old frlenG
Colonel Saxon, says he cannot lcar1
frOm the department at Washington
when cotton CLOTH was first imported
to this country.
And so | will venture q few remarks
on this subject in general, for it is full
OF remarkable facts and illustrates the
kindness Of providence to His cre;I-
lures. Providence is always kind ana
whenHver we need anything Ho un.
says here it is.
There is no doubt at all that the cotton
plant was created "iu the beginning, "aud
with design for tho use and bent fit OF
mankind when it should be nee led. At
tcntlCn was attracted to it away back
in the centuries. Four hundred ana
fifty years before the Christian era.
lGrOdOtus wrote about it As Il plant
bearing tleeceS more delicate and beau
tiful than those Of sheep and uf TIC
Ini,ians using it for the manufactur.
of cloth. From India it was introduced
into Greece and Rome and Caesar used
it for his army tents and covered tn"
forum with 1t. The cotton fabrics Of
tho HlndOOS have been eXceled only
by thu most perfect machinery OF mod
crn times. We read OF q Hindoo prin-
cess VINO came INTO IL court RECEPTION
and the,n ing SAID, go home-go homo,
my c,Iu-SOu are nOb u"Ccntiy cover
ed "-and sne replied, Father, | have
seven suits on out tn y were vi cotton
muslin SO thin and delicate that the
fhpnl.D Hht
famous musins rf Decca, in Calcutta
were called "wt BIS Of woven wind, i"
and when a piece was laid upon II e
dcw-COvered grass it WAS not dlscerni-
bic.
Imagine the wonder Of the fabrics
when there was not a spindle, but the
diStaff and Oniy 81 loom that the weaver
carried about with him setting it up
under a tree and digging a hole in the
ground for his feet to work the trcadle.
But the manufacture Of cotton for the
common people was smothered during
all these centuries and only wool ana
flax we're used for clothing. The an
cient Egyptians used it TO some extent,
spinning it with tho distatf and weav-
ing it with the primitive looms, but
the plant was not cultivated. 1t was
indigenous to that country and Sthe
fl sece was gathered from the wild
stocks. 1t was not until the tenth
century that the cultivation began
and that was by tho Moors in Spain.
The Venetians engaged in it in the
fourteenth century and the English in
the early part of the eighteenth. But
its use was very limited, for the seed
were in the way.
But now comes the evolution of cot
ton the rcvout" that in Il few years
made it king. Nothing SO wonderful
has ever transpired in commerce ana
manufacture. There was u cuDjunc
tion of the three things that were
necessary to bring about this l.. volu-
tion: The cotton gin by Whitnc, in
1I93: he Stinn'nH jenny by Arkwrieht
in 1887, anu the power 10 IN by Cart
wright in lIS9, al startled the world
about the same ,ine and lave an ilr-
pulse to the gro" tn and use ana man
ufacture of cotton that Was pr"gnHnt
with great results. Onc OF Of these
results was Lhc liking o. slavery Is au
institution upon thr Souticin 2t.t,a.
Up to tba: timu i wu% not cons iucrcd
clthcr safe or profitable to encourage
their importation lrOu the NurLnrin
States. But Of cUulse. 1T took several
years for these inventions TO be-
come generally intr"ducvd. My moth
CS.tOid me that rs late al 1878 she usru
to spend most. f tlu winter evenings
picking the seed from the Gotten bs
hand-with half IL G,Z.n or moro Of
the family servants sitting in ~ cirr,t
around the fire. she vi''u Win item
in trying to tXc / IN thc quantity sc' u
ed. THIS VA in Libr, ty Cuunty e.
this State, ana tic cotton W.ta probably
the long staple variety.
Whitney became involved in inter
minaElc law suits and hls gin, whicI
was for only the short staple cotton,
was not in general usc for many y,u,.
after it was invrn'C cd. My father put
up the first gin in Gw'nhclt County !"
1923, and seed cUttUn WAS hnued t" it
from all the adjacent country. Pre-
vious TO the use Of the gin it was con
sidered q fair days work to seed
enough to mako 81 pound OF lint. Bu'
the gin with two attendants picked lOU
pounds in q day. At that time the
o!d-fashioned spinning wheel was in
general use and q days's work for the
spinner was six cuts-a cut being JAG
rounds on the reel, but the first spin
ming jenny with one attendant did
eighty times rs much and did it better
Later on it did 2, 900 times rs mucn.
The saving in weaving by the power
loom was in similar proportion and
hencc it suddenly came about that ter
mon could do the work OF ten thousand
mo WOiluci Gildo 1lSiS ce bhu ARK
wright worc driven from their homes
by tho spinnors and spinsters. Excuse
me for tolling tho girls just hero that
81 spinstcr is tho feminine for spinner
and used to mean - marriageabie gir
who had made horself eligible and
fitten to bo married by spinning ant
weaving enough cloth for her own
trousscau, ,aud sheets and cOverlet
for the bed and table cloths and nap
kins for tho table. This was tho dowr,
she brought her husband. But these
inventors went to Nottingham and pu
up their mills and made monopoly o
the business. They and their assOci
ates grew rich 80 fast that they deter
mined to exclude all mankind from &C
uuiring knowledge Of their inven
,I0ns. The doors were kept lockct