The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1907-03-19
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
How Cotton is Shipped, Bought and
Sould In Liverpool Eng
land. -.

Special Cor Herald and News.
Washington. ID. c., March 49,
According to Consular reports of the
United States Department of Com
meree and Labor members of the Cot
ton Association of Liverpool, Eng
land, buy and sell their clients every
bale Of cotton landed in Liverpool,
and it is said that cotton can not be
discharged from ships in that city
Unless it is to be disposed of through
a broker member of the association.
These men are known to the trade as
buying or selling brokers. Those
who confinc their business to the
former, buy only for spinners, while
the seller restricts his operations to
disposing of cotton for the importer
through buyin" broker. Some firms
act in both capacities in the same
transaction. thus drawing double
brokerage, but they are not looked
upon with favor. Both brokers are
paying the firm acting for him. Cot
ton is sold To The mills for each in
ten days less one-half per cent dis
count, any dispute being referred to
an arbitration committee appointed
by the association. BY this method
! litigation, with its attendant heavy
, charges, is avoided. For years the
question Of moisture in cotton was a
bone Of contention with the trade. 1t
is now ruled that if any bale contains
over ten per cent of moisture, the
cotton is understandable and may be
returned to the seller.
1t is not uncommon in Liverpool
| for different cottons which approach
each other quite nearly in length of
staple to be mixed together when All
advantage m price can be gained by
SO doing, or where color, strength, or
cozy characteristics are required in
yarns for special uses. Considering
all the differences in marked features
Of the cottons, as well as in their
Sellin" prices, it is obvious that the
Lancashire spinner has in Liverpool
an advantage over his American
competitor in the production Of the
many sorts of fabrics demanded by
fcrei9n consumers. This range of
material has also developed in the
English mill manager keen discrim-
ination between the possibilities Of
the several types. Hc is thus fire.
quently, by judicious selection and
careful mixing, enabled to effect ma
! terial savings in the cost Of his mix
ing over what it would be were he
confined in his operations to Ione
| growth.
Except where buying sea island,
Peeler, and other staple cottons the
merchant in the Southern states
when bargaining for uplands or Gulf
merely opens handful taken from
the bale and classes it by its color
and cleanliness. taking into account
also any evident damage done in gin
ming. Before similar cotton reaches
the English spinner it has undergone
much more careful examination and
rcvaluation on the basis of its real
spinning worth. Buyers in Liverpool
spend considerable time over each
sample they examine. Knowing the
denomination or variety they need,
the spinner next takes into account.
when arriving at its value to him, the
price asked, the effects Of ginning on
the physical condition of the lot
(this should teach American planters
the lesson that carefully ginncd staple
will bring better prices), such faults
as cut, mapped, curlcd. or twisted
fibers being looked for. Discoloration,
the quantities of leaf, broken seed,
and excessive moisture are also con-
sidered. Besides these, the length Of
staple of the shortest sorts is eXamin-
cd and the comparative strength, silk
mess, and elasticity Of the fiberS are
taken into consideration, not forget
ting the bearing that the quantity of
short, immature, imperfectly develop
ed and unripe fibers will have on the
amount of waste made in the mill, as
well as the effect the present of an
abnormal proportion Of such fibers
will have on the strength, elasticity,
sultant yarn.
and general weaving value of the re-
Liverpool grades of American cot