Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-10-27
Enormous Quantities Needed to Sat-
isfy the Demand.
BULK is OF NATIVE PRODUCTION
Visit to Mill That Employs Thou
sands of Hands.
CHANCE FOR AMERICANS
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star
SHANGHAI Saptar,bo, II. 1oOr

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
SHANGHAI. September H. 1900.
The biggest cotton factory of the Chinese
empire is here at Shanghai. 1t belongs to
Ii Hung Chang, Sheng, the director of rail-
ways, and other wealthy Cinnamon. 1t has
capital Of 2,0OOOO0 taels, and it is a mill
which would be enormous in the United
States. Its buildings cover sixty acres; it
employs 5000 workmen, and it is now turn
ing out 1000 pieces of cloth and 10000
pounds of cotton yarn every twenty -four
hours. The factory runs day and night. 1t
has two shifts of workmen, each of which
puts in eleven hours and a half so that
it is busy twenty-three hours out of every
twenty-four. The mill has 80 looms and
10000 spindles. and its machinery is as
ton factory of Massachusetts. This factory
is run entirely on Chinese capital 1t is
fed on cotton grown in China and its en-
ployes. men and women, are with one or
two exceptions, Chinese.
This mill is the first of China's great cot
ton factories. 1t is not the only one by any
means. There are eight others here at
Shanghai. There is ione at, Soochow. one at
Hang Chow and two, at Wuchang. 500 miles
up the Yangtse. There is another at Hong
Kong and as soon as this war is over 9TH
ers will start up In different parts of
the empire. The Japanese have bought
some ground here for a factory. the Ger
mans own some of the factories already
running and the probability is that both
foreigners and Chinese will now enter the
race to supply the Chinese millions with cot
ton goods manufactured on their own soil.
At present there are in central China
more than .37s,oOO spindles running and
over g32o.oOO projected. gg--- 80 ID. ~.
- built by an American.
This great mill Of Sheng and Ii Hung
Chang was built by an American. Ii and
Sheng planned it seventeen years ago. but
it long time before they could get
the machinery made and the mill into OPP
Grafton. 1t was found that the short-sta-
pie cotton world not work with the ordi-
nary American machinery, and it had to
be adapted especially to it. This was done
by Mr.. w. Danforth, a Massachusetts man,
who came out here at the instance of the
company and was sent back to the United
States to test the matter. Mr.. Danforth Is
still the technical foreign adviser of the
mill, although he has nothing to do with
its direction. this being in the hands of
Shengs brother.
1t was with Mr. Danforth that I went
over the mill. He tells me he is the only
American connected with it and that in all
the eight cotton mills of Shanghai not more
thar dozen foreigners are employed. al
though they use something like $4,000
hands. Sheng and Lii Hung Chang have
another mill in which there is but one for
egner two other Chinese mills use for
eigners as consulting engineers only and in
the factories run by foreign capital there
are. as a rule, not more than three or four
foreign workmen
Chinese Factory Girls.
1t has been found that the Chinese
the equals of any people of the world as
factory hands. Mr.. Danforth tells me that
they learn quickly to handle machinery and
that many could take their places in our
mills and hold their own. The foremen I'M
derstand how to control the hands and the
work is thoroughly organized. About three
fourths of the employees are women and
children went through room after room
filled with girls weaving and spinning.
Some of the women had brought their
babies with them. One I remember had
laid her almond-eyed little one In a basket
between her knees as she worked The
baby was quiet and its cheeks broke out
into dimples as 1 tickled 1t.
The factory girls work from = to q with
a half hour at noon for luncheon. They
ride to the mill on wheelbarrows, half
dozen sitting on the same barrow; leaning
back to back against the wheel which
comes up through the center OF the We
hicle.
1 asked as to their wages and was told
that the average % cents In silver or
IA cents in our money day. The poorest
do not get more than cents day, while
very skillful workmen and work women
make as much as $25 gold a month. Such
is just little over one cent an hour, ana
many OF these girls do not earn even half a
cent per hour. The night shift Is just the
same as the day shift, the work women
changing off with each other and working
alternately all night or ALI day for week
at time. sIus 81
At the close Of that war with Japan, when
a number of the new mills were DulIt,
wages rose. There Vas strike or two and
the average went up to an amount mere
considered e1ormousSor Scom II 10 ~ cents
have fallen 10 their present level, but they
will probably rise again with the new mills
to be built when theswar closes.
In the shops.
The interior Of one Of these big spinning
mills is a curiosity.-The factory is built of
dark gray brick, with enormous rooms run
ming around courts--The buildings are of
two stories well lighted with many win
dows. Each room has hundreds of modern
weaving machines. at each of which are
two or more of these Chinese girls, some
with big feet and Home fith little ones
The little-footed nixidenS# hobble about,
swayng this way ana that, as they arrange
the thread. Some of them sit ON benches
and turn the reels by pressing their little
feet up and down on the pedals. l am told
that the women with small feet cannot do
much work as those with the big ones.
They have to sit down oftener, and the big
footed women complain that they are not
footed sisters. ~.
The cotton is ginned here in different ma !
chimes than in America A great deal of it
is ginned before it comes to the factory in
rude hand wringers In the factory small
steel japanese gins are employed. These
are about o 1e-fourth the size OF our modern
machines, but they will not do one-eighth
as much work. They are run by steam and
are handled by men and boys
After the cottonsis ginned 1t is packed
away into enormous bags, each about
twice as big as the biggest bed tick, and
holding l32 pounds of cotton. The bales
are not pressed down. Is with us. The bags