Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-06

| the Yankee school teacher laid the solid
| foundation for the permanent prosperity
| of the south. and it was patriotic act
In Whitney's time the plantation included
about 200 acres and was owned by John
PhiniZy. quite a celebrated character, who
realized what Whitney was doing and
gave him the opportunity to develop his
ideas. The farm was inherited by John
Phinizy, jr.. who was born the same
year that the cotton gin was invented
and lived to the advanced age of ninety
four He died in 1889. He retained his
mental faculties unimpaired till the last
and short time before his death APP
peared before the committee of educa-
| ton and labor of the United States Sem
ate concerning southern industries. He
| told the committee that he was born
| In Oglethorpe county In 1893. when there
were more Indians than whites in that
part of the country, and that both races
were very friendly.
Whitney's Invention.
Mr. Phinizy told the committee that
there was far more tobacco than cotton
made in Georgia at the time of the in
| vention of the gin. For cotton was
practically worthless" he said because
Of the seed which had to be picked out by
hand or pushed out by rollers. The
nelghbors were in the habit of gathering
at each others plantations to get out the
seed but 1t was slow work. 1 owned the
place where Eli Whitney made his first
experiments with his invention. He built
q dam across small stream and ran the
first gin by water. The dam is standing
to this day and the water of the stream
still turns gin, but it is a great improve
ment upon the first one
In those days planters used what was
known as "churka,' a clumsy arrange
ment which had been known in India and
Egypt and other regions where cotton is
grown from remote antiquity. 1t consist
ed of two rollers revolving in contrary
directions, which caused the lint to pass
one way and the seed another. 1t was
slow and tedious process and did not
cleanse the fiber thoroughly. Whitneys
attention was called to the ineflciency of
the process while he was living in Angus
ia, acting as tutor in the family of Mrs.
Miller, a sister of Gen. Green, of revo-
lutionary fame. She was woman of
social prominence and wealth. and
through her he continually met the plan
tation arstocracy of northern Georgia
and heard them discuss the difficulties
they experienced In separating the seed
from the fiber of their cotton.
Whitney was native of Massachusetts,
born in 1853. He graduated at Yale with
the class Of 1902 and had rare literary
talent as well as mechanical ingenuity.
He invented several other valuable de-
vices, including a gun. He made expert
ments with his gin. as have said, on Mr..
Phinizy's farm on Rocky Creek. four
miles from the courthouse of Augusta.
and set 1t up in an old frame building on
the banks Of the creek The building fell
down In 1900. and there is nothing on the
| farm now in the way of relics of his time.
| The only reminder is the name of the
| ELI Whitney Country Club. which has
been adopted by Mr.. Doughty and his as
/! sociates.
! Upon the walls of the courthouse is a
| large bronze tablet with a medallion por-
trait and an inscription reading as fol-
| lows:
/ Eli whitney.
+! For the Invention OF the
| American Cotton Gin,
| Contribution to the Resources
\ Of Civilization and to the
Il Material Welfare Of the
Il United States.
/ Erected by the
New England Cotton Manufacturers Association.
4 1902
| Shame of the South.
/ 1t would read great deal better II the
| last three lines were left off, or II another
| tablet were erected by the cotton planters
| or the cotton manufacturers of the south
ern states. They have never recognized
| their obligations to Eli Whitney in any
way. They have never erected any monu-
| ment to his honor or paid any tribute to
| his memory. On the contrary he was
/ cheated out of nearly all the benefits of
/ his invention by the very men who profit
4 ed from 1t.
IN 1aoi t"o years Deioie ire 6ii wa
successfully operated. the total exports of
Il cotton from the United States were 379
bales; the next year the exports were 3S2
bales In 1910 they were $4,000 bales.
When Whitney died in 1925 the exports
/ had increased to 100000 bales, and in
1907 they were s, 7Os, 400 bales: and j, was
his invention that made this possible
1t was his invention that made cotton
planting profitable. and the crop last
year was 11.261.l63 bales worth more
than 5000, 100000. or course. it is not rea-
sonable to assume that the planters OF
the south would have gone on indefinitely
using the clumsy. Old-fashioned churka.
Some ingenious person would have ap'
reared to simplify and improve the pro-
cess in time But Ell Whitney. the
Yankee school teacher. was that man.
There must also be some allowance
made for the planters of his day who
! refused to pay him royalties. Human
| nature was just the same then as 1t Is
nou and avery indenendent American