The sun., 1899-04-23
COTTON BALES, NEW STYLE.
THE CYLINDRICAL COMPRESSOR AND
ITS ECONOMIES.

Nontenu InnI n heNOluUOn SOmlnk
in tho Shipment of Cotton-Tho Merits
of the Now System of Baling tho Staple.
When that veteran money maker. John E.
Searles. retired as an officer OF the American
Sugar Refining Company and became Presi-
don't OF the American Cotton Company. whose
business is the pushing into use OF one OF tho
new forms OF cotton bales. there could be no
doubt In any shrswd persons mind that there
were chances OF millions in It," At the pres
ent time the whole cotton belt OF the United
States is intensely stirred up over the war
fare between the square-bale and round. bale
/ advocates. and II tho round bale men can win
out over the conservatism. prejudice and In
vested interests OF the square bale men there
are probably millions enough In sight for
them TO satisfy the avaricious
In the cotton district and among cotton fac
tors brokers and mill men the arguments Of
the round-bale and SQUARE bale men are well
known for the warfare has been going on for two
| or three years. but outside OF those directly
interested little or nothing is known OF IT,
Yet 1t is a matter OF sush importance. in a
country where cotton is one OF the great sta
pies OF production. that It directly concerns
every citizen.
The standard cotton bale OF the world-the
square bale-is to-day Iust what 1t has been
| for generations. From the day when Whitney
invented the cotton gin and thus made cotton
profitable crop 10 raise in the South, the
fluffy product OF the boil. relieved Of it's seeds.
| has been put up In the one kind of package for
| transportation. During this long time there
have been improvements made lin cotton
presses. in congresses. In ties and bagRng.
| but the making Of the bale remains the same.
| From the gins the lint is carried to big
| square box with plunRer in IL. where IL is
squeezed down into a square form. and this is
covered with q jute casing and the bale held
In shape with half dozen iron ties.
These bales are perhaps six feet long and
| four feet tall and each one weighs 500 pounds.
These are tho bales with which almost every
one is familiar. In this form. however. 1t is al
| together too bulky to be shipped profitably 10
! Europe or for very long railroad hauls. and go
at such shipping places there have been es-
| tabllshed secondary presses, called COM
presses. which take the plantation bale and
squeeze 1t down to one third its cubic dlmen-
sions and to a corresponding degree of den
sity. These bales are then forced into the
holds Of ships by jackscrews to get as many
as possible into tho space II these bales
were always produced Of the same dimensions
there would perhaps be less argument in favor
of anew bale. upon the special ground OF snip.
ping convenience. but this is lot the case
| Thev frequently vary nearly foot in
height and a full foot in length. and 1t ls not
length to make the bale stow snugly. The
cotton thus cut Off is more or less damage
This. however, is but n small par. OF the disad
vantage OF the old bale and the need OF some
better way to handle cotton has been recog-
nized by experts for years.
A. b. Shepperson. the statistican OF the Cot
ton Exchange. says In his Cotton Facts:
The old style OF American cotton bale is put
UP in such an unscieutfc manner as to make
its transportation. its storage. its marine and
fire insurance dearer for the same weight and
value OF cotton than any other cotton OF COM
merce. From the defective methods Of bainG
there Is greater loss in weight In transporta-
ton and from theft. greater damage By wet.
dirt. dust FIRE. &c. and greater loss to the
mills from the practically useless bagging and
ties and the freight on them than on any other
kind of cotton. The bagRing on u baie weighs
twelve to fourteen pounds and the ties about
ten pounds. so that on every bale OF cotton
transportation has 10 be paid on about twenty
three pounds OF useless bagging and ties.
1T Is the universe custom to have the
planters square bales compressed bv power
ful compressors. before shipment by ocean
steamers or to any considerable distance by
railroad. The cost OF compressing is about 80
cents a bale. But this Is not all. for the clip
ping OF the ties in order to shorten them, tho
removal OF the side pieces of the bagginR.
Wnlcn are no longer nceueu IOT tn6 SnulIcr
bale. and the loss Of cotton In handling at the
compress causes n loss IN weight at the com
psss averaEpT n four wo" r9Hnd a ess Al ,n q
previous charges. To this would usually have
10 be added :5 cents a tale to cover storage
until the cotton is ready for shipment and
drayaRe to and from the COMPRESS"
Here at one stage alone OF the moving Of the
cotton crop TO the great worlds markets is a
tax of about 81 Il bale. which II is declared is
entirely d2ne away viii with 10y the never iT d PT2-
900 to i2.0OO.O00 bales each year has in it
enough to attract the attention Of both the in
ventor aud the money maker But there are
enough other ways for saving IL is authorta-
lively declared. that make II POSSIBLE that at
least So can ne saved in the M @ marketiog Of every
WI" viii msfs sSsr it T Eo!sbs to divide between @ the
the cotton on it, way to Tho. mills.
This thirty.odd millions OF dollars year is
tor tor and the money eN maker @ to the:introduction
OF new and better system; and today there
IN ibeS ss eaoh 70 T Ss
aiiead OF the old one and each declared by its
advocates to be superior TO the other;
both for superiority over The old system and
declare that each OF the Lew systems has
: ferences which are so marked that they do not
comrare. but must each he considered suner-
are alike only that by both round bales of n
high degree OF density are produced right at
Gs rnns fs he Se Who sr
OF shipment ana TRANSFORMATION and even into
the mills where the cotton is broken out Of the
bales.
} The older OF these processes and the one
which Is most advanced in use is that oi the
American Cotton Company. The foundation
. OF this system was laid by IL man named Bes-
sonette. The peculiaritv OF the bale is that it
Is made of a compressed lap or hat' nR of the
cotton. rolled up in," q solid cylindrical form,
Just as one would roll up CARPET or long
strip Of paper. In this form eacn layer forms
q binding for the layers beneath it and the
! bale. no matter how densey the cottun is
compressed. stays in form without any bind
Ing or ties and merely requires bageing to be
: ready for shipment. The other new bale Is
also cylin lrical in form and Is produced by
what is called the Lowry Er )cess. which dit
fers AS much in the methods and machines
used from that OF the American Cotton Com.
, pany as do the bales in their construction and
qualities. The Lowry hale is built up from
end to end OF LAYERS of cotton. nut in spiray
and 1t has a small hole left in the centre OF the
, ba.e like that In II thread cotton spool. Al
though this bale will stay 10 shape for q time
after il leaves the machine il has to be bound
endwise to keen IL from GRADUALLY exrandinG
only 1f wire and three in number. They are