Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1900-01-04
TEXTILES IN THE PIEDMONT REGION.
Upper South Carolina tho Manufacturing
Center OF tho State.

tive of the Manufacturers Record
Col. James l.. Orr, President of the
Piedmont Mills, Of Piedmont, S. c.,
regarding the textile industry in
the South, said:
"Thc real beginning of cotton
manufacturing in the Piedmont sec
tion Of the Carolinas dates back to
1920, when William Bates, native
Of Massachusetts, and who learned
hns trade i'll the old Arkwright Mills,
near Providence, came to upper
South Carolina at the instance of
the Testers, and finally built Testers
Factory upon the site Of what is
now Pelham. The machinery for
this mill was bought in Philadelphia,
secondhand, Slipped to Charleston
by water and hauled from there by
wagons over 800 miles.
"Mlr. Bates was thoroughly prac-
tica! man, and his influence and
hand;work was felt in all the small
mills, about half dozen in number,
that during the next twenty years
were built aud had n more or less
successful existence, such as Bates
willie, which is named for him, Biv-
ingsvillc, Fingcrsvillc, Testers, Il
mill ut Greensboro and a few others.
"The progress OF these mills from
1880 was slow, and at the breaking
out of the civil war the Confederate
government took charge of all cot
ton mills and detailed officials to
run them, taking a large part of
their products for army purposes.
"rhc real beginning Of cotton
manufacturing as we have it now
commenced with the Piedmont
Mills, projected and successfully car
ricd ont by the late Col. II. u. Ham
NETT, q son-in,law Of Mr.. William
Bates. This mill was begun in 1878,
and began the manufacture of goods
in the spring of 1876. In a very
few years NSS2) this venture was
followed by the peIzcr Mills. These
pioneer mills soon demonstrated to a
very skeptical world that cotton
goods could be manufactured in
the South as cheap, if not cheaper,
than in any other section of the
United States. The Piedmont Mills
have grown from small plant of
5000 spindles to nearly 81 900 spin
dies; from a capital of 100000 to
$S00,000, which is far below the
value Of the property.
"Thc market value of the stock is
1S5, but very little changes hands,
being held for investment exclusively
Piedmont uses 81 900 bales Of >tton
annually, producing 100000 yards
of cloth, Of which 75 per cent is cx-
ported to China, Africa and South
America.
w'ollowiny the signal success of
these pioneer mills others were soon
erected, and i'll a few years South
Carolina assumed the lead of all
other Southern States, and has kept
it, standing to-day second only to
Massachusetts in number of spindlcs,
and second to none in high standard
Of equipment, dividends and bigh
class OF products.
"Whilc it was in all probability a
mere chance that Mr.. Bates began
his work in this section over three
quarters Of a century ago, it is Ger
tain that if he had been thoroughly
informed OF the varying advantages
OF the whole South as suited to the
manufacture OF cotton goods, he could
not have chosen u section whose eli
matte, geographical and physical con-
di,ions and surroundings were more
ideal than the Piedmont section.
$50 successful have been the ven
tnrrS in cotton manufacture here, a