The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1897-04-27
SOUTHERN MILLS.
Fall Kivor Manufacturers Opinion on tho
Outlook In that Section

hllpurn, 'hncoln ~ 20, having ro-
covered from Il serious illness with
which ho was afflicted immediately
after his return from. trip through
tho South, was asked today by ~
Horald rcl ortor his views Of the dan
gers Of Southern competition to tho
Fall River and other Now England
mills. Inasmuch as he has had
special qualifications for Judging Of
the growth of tho industry in tho
South, his opinions will no doubt
prove of great interest at this time.
MIR. lincoln said that ho went
South in the latter part of February
with the foreman Of his works, and a
part owner in them, Andrew Lus-
comb, partly for health and partly
for pleasure, but mostly for business
purposes. The firm has customers
in the south who are using tho ma
chinery, and tho mon wore offered
unusual opportunities for observing
tho conditions for cotton manufactu-
ing there. Their visit was confined
to the Piedmont district of North and
South Carolina, whore most of tho
cotton mills aro located
Mr.. Lincoln was asked how tho
mills Of tho South compared with
those Of tho North, and he answcrcd:
"lt is difficult to compare tho mills
Of tho north rs class with those of
the south as n class, as special con-
ditions favor individual concerns
there just rs they favor thom in many
instances hero"
''Tako tho average mill" suggest
cd tho reporter.
"Well, it's difficult to compare the
average mill South with tho average
North with the data we hay" 1t hand.
In the first place wo must determine
what the average mill in either place
IS and that is not an easy matter. I
don't 'tsuppose any thrco mill men IN
town would agree with you if you
picked out the average mill as you
call it. However, it is an easy matter
to compare tho bost and newest mills
in the two sections, and it seems to
mo that this is the best for deter
mining tho possibilities of the busi-
ness undor tho different conditions of
the two localities
"Lot nc say right here, that We
met largo number of South orn
manufacturers, and rs class they
wore rs anxious ovor tho business
situation rs our own manufacturers
and am satisfied that tho Southern
mills as whole have not been moro
prosperous during tho past season
than our own mills.
"Tho Piedmont section of tho
South possesses climate favorable
for cotton manufacturing and also
for largo supply of intelligent help,
and their rate of wages is greatly be-
low tho Northern rate"
"How great is tho difforcnco?"
"On an average, taking into con-
sideration tho fact that moro hands
arc employed to do tho samo work
in the mills between which I mado
a comparison, / could not make tho
difference over 224 per cont. For
instance, many manufacturers, pay
Is cents por loom per day of II
hours"
"1ow about tho size and cost of
the mills, Mr.. Lincoln ?"
"Woll, the majority of tho mills
arc small, not over 10000 spindlcs
each. Tho lator and larger mills
compare favorably with our newer
mills, and asa rulo they cost as
much per spindle. Ono of the lead
ing Southern mill construction cngi
neers, rs rule calculates on spend
ing from SIT to $50 por spindle to
build and equip mills of loss than
10000 spindles. Ono Of tho newest
and bost mills of $4,000 spindlcs
cost $l4.25 por spindle, which is
about the same cost as ono of our
latest mills, and tho latter was
equipped with as many combors as
cards, which adds fully 81 per spin
die to tho cost"
"Did you compare tho cost Of pro-
duction in tho Southern mills with
cost in the Northern mills to tho OK.
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