The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-11-16

Albany, Ga, Nov. 3.--There ls
absolutely not the shadow Of doubt
that the cotton picking machine which
had just been invented by Mr.. George
A. Lowry is success.
The machine picks cotton in the
fields, and it does it in manner that
many who were skeptical about the
success of cotton picker never ez-
pected TO see. 1t is not an automatic
machine :that picks cotton without
the direction Of the human intellect,
but it is machins that reduces the
labor by three-fourths.
The announcement that the machi3e
upon which Mr.. Lowry has been at
work in the fields around Albany for
three months past had been perfected,
and that it's was success has attract
ed to Albany large number of capi-
talists and cotton men from the East
end South. These men have watched
the wonderful work Of the picker but
a few hours, and, without one single
exception, have then declared it to
be practical cotton picker, machine
that will solve the labor question Of
the South.
When Mr.. LowEy was seen at his
room at the New Albany last night he
was naturally feeling very much elated
over his latest and perhaps greatest
invention. He was able to say that
success had crowned the work Of
months, and that he had added anoth-
er great labor. and expense saver to
the southern farmer.
Mr.. Lowry stated that the idea of
inventing cotton picking machine
had been suggested to him by Mr.. j.
E. O'Shaughnessy, Of Boston, who
came into his Office last year and said
to him:
Lowry, why don't you work on
cotton picking machine? That is
what the South most needs now"
"Why," replied Mr.. Lowry, "the
thing is impossible. There are too
many feasible things here in my shops
to work on for me to waste my time
on an impossible machine. You might
as we'll tell he to invent machine
that will pick cherry tree, taking off
the ripe cherries and leaving the
green ones. But I'll tell you what l
will do. I'll 60 right to work on q
machine that will reduce the labor
necessary to gather the cotton CROP"
"If you can reduce it by half you
will accomplish great thing" was
O'Shaughnessy's reply.
Although Mr.. Lowry, the inventor
of the Lowry round bale cotton press,
had never seen cotton plant growing,
he at once began work on the machine
which he has just brought to perfec-
tion. "f COURSE" said Mr.. Lowry,
81 had seen pictures of cotton fields
and had seen some plants that had
been shipped north. I had been told
that cotton picker reached down and
took boil and put it into. his sack
and then reached down and picked
another and 80 on. I reckoned that
the hand travelled ten feet in picking
every boil and I figured on perfectipg
machine that would work from boil
to boil and save this unnecessary
energy. But had I known the true
conditions I would never have under
taken to perfect such O machine. 8
when the cotton season was ap.
proachipg We had machine built in
Boston that;Rs were willing to begin
che we.ske:HH ss.s shs a5;d I'D with. Thinking
that the eieotton would open sooner The
furthee South We went, ve selected
San Antonio. Tex, near the Mexican
line, and took our machine there.
We so0n found that there was NOT
going to be much cotton around there
ea account Of the bolls 'weevil. Then
we saw the announcement in the
papers that the FIRST bale Of Georgia
cotton had been marketed in albany.
We were anxious 20 get the machine
to working in the field sol shipped it
here by express in order to save delay.
When I reached Albany it was rain.
ingsand it raincd for three weeks, so
chat we were unable to take the ms-
chine ont. I might have shipped it
by freight and saved some hundred or
SO dollars express charges.
s'When We put the msshine in the
Geld and gave it actual tes.s, I soon
found that my ideas of how cotton
grew and how il was picked had been
entirely wrong. There wers many