The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-10-02
BY MRS. SARAH WOOLMAN

At a recent meeting of the Wayne
County H-Dorical Society held at
Fountain City Mrs. Sarah Woolman
read the following paper, entitled,
1.-THE Use of the Spinning Wheel:'
Solomon in his description of a
virtuous woman Prov. 81 :13, says She
seeketh wool and flax and worketh
willingly with her hands. And in V.
10. She layeth her hands to the
spindle and her hands hold the dis
taft: also 35 of Exodus % 90 we are
told that: GAN the women that were
wise headed did spin with their
hands and bought that which they
had spun of blue and purple and of
scarlet and fine linen, and all the
women whose heart stirred them up
in wisdom spun goats hair All
this for the tabernacle. SO We see it
was the wise women of old who were
the spinners.
The first thing We want is M
thing to spin. We will take the wool
and flax and leave the goats hair for
Jewish A child of our day
might ask where do We get wool and
flax: Wool grows on the backs of
sheep and is cut off by a process call
ed ~"shearing.' Sometimes the sheep
are taken to a stream of water plung-
ed into a deep hole and the wool is
thoroughly washed by men and boys
who hold the poor animals fast till
they think it is sufficiently clean.
Then the sheep are driven to a celan
pasture or lot where they can lie in
the sunshine till the wool is dry again
Sometimes it was washed in tubs af-
ter shearing. Now the women took
it in hand and often the neighbor
women were invited to a "picking.'
and at the set time fifteen or twen-
ty would assemble when with deft fin
gers and busy tongues the burs and
sticktights were made to fly, till all
were ready for a "good SUPPER
which was the necessary finale of
such occasions. Later the wool was
cleaned of burs, etc, at the carding
mill, where it was taken to be made
into rolls. When the rolls were
brought from the "carding machine
we want a "big wheel'' and we first
lay a bunch of rolls on the "'bench"
and taking one roll fixing it on the
end of the spindle turn the wheel
slightly to twist the roll just enough
so it can be drawn out to a fneness
to suit. The spinner holding the roll
in the left hand runs the wheel with
her right hand. When the roll is
thus drawn out she drops it on the
floor, steps forward and turns the
wheel with a strong and more rapid
whirl and stepping backward until
her hand reaches the roll she had drop
ped. stands till the yarn is twisted
sufficiently. She stops the wheel with
right hand, gives it a slight back
ward turn to loosen the thread from
the end of the spindle. then turning
it gently as before winds the thread
on the back end of the spindle. Next
she takes another roll. fastens it to
the end of the one she had partly
spun and repeats the process already
described. The spinner holds in her
right hand a "wheel finger with
which she turns the wheel. When
the spindle is full the yarn is wound
off on a reel-120 rounds made a
"cut'-and the reel was made to
snap when the Tooth round was made
so one could always know when she
days work.
Flax is a vegetable product. 1t was
sown in a field like wheat or oats. The
process of preparing it will begin at
the wheel. The flax wheel is a very
different affair from the one we have
just been using. There is first the
bench in the wheel which is turned.
The wheel about two feet in diameter
has a groove all around it for a band
to run in. The band also reaches to
a much smaller wheel or whir / be-
lieve it was called. This and several
grooves so hat the band could be
run in either one as suited best. This
was fastened on a spindle on which
was also fastened "'fyers'' made of
pieces of wood shaped in a semicirele
in which were fastened a row Of little
wire hooks for the thread to run on
while it was being twisted. The flax
was carefully wound on a distaf.