The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1906-04-07
ENGLISH COTTON SPlNNERS
CRlTlClSE OUR METHODS
OF Handling Cotto1Dstineuished English Party Visited
Greenvi1e On Wednesday--Tourne the South
and Win Attead Important Cotton In
dustry Meetings While Here.

| Last "Wednesday the city was Wis
tied by distinguished body of cit
izens. representing the spinning ant
textile interests of England. The,
came here to study the textile inter
ests in this country, and are max
ing the trip in the private car of Mr.
M. " Richards, of the Southern Rail
road, who was also accompanied By
Mr.. w. L. Henderson of his depart.
| ment, with headquarters at Mobile.
The names of the gentlemen are
H. w McAlister, w. J. Orr, George
Morris, P. Gregg, Thos. D. Barlowe
and G. Leonard, all of Manchester
England. The party arrived in Bos-
ton on March II, and after their tour
Of the South will return to Boston
N time for the 8oth meeting of the
New England Manufacturers on April
IS and 26. They will also attend the
conference of growers and manufact-
urers of cotton in Washington on
fidt anu
The visitors proved themselves to
be distinguished English gentlemen.
and made d fine impression on our
citizenship.
President T H. Holmes. Of the
Business Leagae, and a number Of
oer prominent citizens, carried them
over our growing city and pointed
out to them different places OF. inter
est. In fact, every hospitality was
shown them by or big-hearted peo-
p}e. and before leaving they each ex-
pressed themselves as passing here
one Of the most enjoyable and profit
able days Of their trip.
Mr.. MoAlister spoke freely of some
9f the complaints the English manu-
iacturers have to make against the
American methods of handling cot
ION, although he insisted that his
views were merely those Of private
He said he had been here before
about twenty years ago-at which
time he had toured the South and
had made an investigation similar to
hat which the party are now making.
In that twenty years, he said, it was
natural to look for marked improve
ments in the methods of handling one
of the worlds greatest staples. the
growth of which is such an impor-
tant industry in the United States,
but the Improvement had been slight
viewed with other modern advances.
The English rnanufa. eurers are lib
eral buyers of the cotton; they are
its final consignees in its crude form;
therefore the additional expense re-
sultant from the unsatisfactory hand
ling falls upon them. 1t is money in
their pockets, therefore, if they can
thing toward starting a movement
in remedy. Mr.. McAlister said:
american cotton is bailed crudely
for the one thing. 1t comes out of
the press packed loosely, perhaps
with one end thin and the other thick
The result is that when you come to
put it in the hold of steamship it
will not pack compactly, taking up
much more space than is necessary
AS rough comparison, three bales
of Egyptian cotton of the same weight
of American cotton will fit into the
space needed for two bales of Amer
lean cotton. The ration may not be
that exactly, but it is near enough
for a comparison. Then the Egyp-
tian cotton is pressed so much more
that bale weighing about
$50 pounds is no larger than the
average American bale of 500 pounds
Furthermore, your American cot
ton frequently comes to US half spoil
ed, by having been left out where It
has become wet Your grower per-
haps has stored his crop in barn
which is not large enough to hold
the entire crop. That which he Is
unable to store is left out where II is
exposed to the elements. The result
is that when il reaches England nuch
Of It has to be picked over. sorted
over, the damaged and the good sep
arated
Another thing The canvas that
you use in packing the cotton is about
Ave times as heavy as that used for
Egyptian cotton. All of these things
ii one way or another mean larger
outlay than seems to us nee
cssary. There is the extra cost Of
of storage. of space taken
up in steamboats,. We in England
have cast about for an explanation of
the causes for this unsatisfactory state
of affairs, and we can only conclude
that the machinery in use here IS
crude, behind the times. To put in
lew machinery viii cost lot Of
money. but Il would not take long