The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-05-07

now required in the operation of the pres
| emit square gin box plants. At the same
time he can turn out a bale In practically
| perfect form for the American or European
consumer. for which there is a ready sale
| at higher price. The farmer is no longer
| obliged either to part with his property at
] the gin or return to his farm with a half
| made package. The cotton need no longer
go by one railroad haul to the compress.
| there to be unloaded. compressed. reloaded,
reshipped or placed in the yard under the
control of the cotton Spectator; but in
stead of this plan. the grower can, at ths
! nearest gin, procure perfect package and
there sell it. ship to his cotton factory or
| hold 1t as his best interest dictates. When
| he is ready to dispose of the cotton, he has
for shipment from his own station or
| steamboat landing package in acceptable
| form to be sent to any market in the
world.
The most marvellous feature of the Lowry
press is its wonderful simplicity. The en-
tire machinery does not take up space of
more than 10x6 feet and is IA feet high.
The lint is fed in at the top and is packed
somewhat like a spiral spring, leaving
hollow cave in the center
When the bale is removed from the press
1t is held against expansion by four gal
yanized iron tie wires, about the size of
telegraph wires. These are the only ties
necessary to hold the bale in the shape
above described. The ties are passed
through the hollow core in the center of
the bale and fastened round each end. AS
In these bales there is no tendency to lat
eral expansion, the ties are necessary only
to Withstand the tendency to expansion in
length.
The covering for the Lowry bale consists
of cotton bag with pickering strings at
either end, which are drawn together when
the bag is placed over the bale. Each bag
has the trademark of the company, the
number and weight of the bale, and ref
erence to the district in which the bale is
packed. This clearly Identifies every
Lowry bale. The weight of the bagging
and ties on a 250-pound Lowry bale is only
about 21a pounds.
The tare on each bale on account of the
bagging and ties is therefore reduced to
l per cent as against the arbitrary tare
of per cent. adopted by the Liverpool ex-
change, and this in itself means a very
important saving to the shipper. which
should bring to the producer a better price
for his product. The cost of the ties and
covering for each bale will not exceed q
cents.
The increased density and dryness of the
Lowry bale, and circulation of air through
the greatly diminish the chances of
combustion in the cotton, and for this rea-
son and because of the convenient form
and style of covering of the bale, much
lower insurance rates have been secured on
cotton so baled, while the marking. which
is clear and simple, can only be destroyed
or removed Intentionally, from malice or
otherwise, and thus chances for claims
on the farmer on account of bales lost,
of bales of inferior grade substituted in
transit. are reduced to a minimum.
The Lowry bale will not absorb water,
as the present uncompressed bale does;
consequently, the weight will hold at the
mill and the farmer will receive his price
for every pound of cotton shipped, without
reductions. As to its absorption of water,
the Lowry bales have been fully tested
with these results. One of them was sunk
In the Taunton river for a period of seven
ty-two hours. During the first twenty-four
hours the cotton and the covering took up
seven pounds of water; during the second
twenty-four hours it took up four pounds
more; during the third twenty-four 1t TOOK
up three pounds more, making fourteen
pounds in all. The bale was then set out in
the open air and during the first twenty
four hours ten pounds of water evaporated,
thus showing that little or no water pene-
trated below the surface of the bale. The
fiber of the cotton is not injured or dam
aged by the compression of the Lowry
press and reports from microscopic exam-
nations have shown that the fiber of the
cotton in the Lowry bale reaches the mill
in better condition than in that pressed
by the steam congresses.
The Lowry press has a capacity of from
1850 to 1000 pounds of cotton per hour; or,
in other words, each machine will relieve
and compress cotton as fast as it is dis
charged by three to four 70-saw gins, or,
differently stated, each machine will turn
out from sixty to eighty bales of $50 pounds
each per day of ten hours.
The power required to operate the press
is from eight to ten-horse power; while
that required by the steam compress is
about 450-horse power. The Lowry press is
much simpler in operation than the pres
ent square gin-box plant and less likely
to get out of order, and requires less labor
to operate. No higher degree of skill in
operation is required than in the operation
of the present gin boxes.