Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-03-06


in skins or wool, travellers from III
rope, who had visited Asia, spoke CT it
as wonderful land, where the Wool
grew upon trees in .fleeces which eX-
Ceeded in beauty those of sheep. The
Greek historian, Herodotus, who lived
long before Christ, tells us about this;
and in 1922 A. D. an English traveller,
Sir John Vaudeville, wrote a marvel
Gus story about the cotton plant. He,
said that this lamb had flesh, bones
and blood, and stated that he had seen
and eaten it himself. About this time
there were many other stories told
concerning this wonderful vegetable
lamb of Tartary One was that it could
bend down the tall stems on which II
grew, so as to eat the grass round
about, and that when the grass was
all gone, it died. The wool on it's back
was said to be fine, and to be used by
the natives as clothing. We all know
now that these stories were not true,
but we can easily see how they
might have been believed by ignorant
people who we're shown the cotton
cloth, but who had never seen the
plants which produced it, nor any
cloth of similar character excepting
that made from sleeps wool.
For long time India was the chief
seat of the cotton-growing Industry.
The plants were probably carried from
there to Africa; for cotton was used
in Egypt long before Christ was born,
and an explorer who visited South AZ
RIGA, shortly after Vasca da Cana
made his voyage around the Cape Ct
Good Horn, found that the natives
there had cotton cloth. The ancient
Romans appreciated the value Of this
material. The great julius Caesa.'
used tents of cotton, and it is related
the Forum at Rome. We also know
that cotton was cultivated in Spain
more than one thousand years ago.
AS to our own continent, the cotton
plant seems to have always grown
here. When Columbus first landed ON
the Bahama Islands, the natives cane
out to his ships in canoes, bringing
cotton thread and yarn to trade; and
in Cuba he saw cotton hammocks in
general use. A little later fernando
Cortez, who subdued the Actecs in
Mexico, found them weaving and
wearing cottoi; and another Spanish
general, Pizarro, who conquered Peru
and got so much Of the precious met
ais that he was able to shoe his horse
with solid silver, discovered not only
that the natives there knew all about
cotton, but that their mummies,
which had been buried ages before,
were wrapped in such cloth.
AS soon as our own country began
to be settled, our forefathers expert
mented with cotton. In 1921 they plant
ed some near Jamestown. Virginia;
and they were SO successful with 1t
in Georgia that, at about the time
George Washington was first elected
president of the United States. bale
was sent from there to England When
the American cotton arrived in Liver
it was hard to make the customs Oil
GERS believed that it was not imported
from Asia.
Shortly after this it was found that
most of our Southern States were we'll
adapted to cotton growing. Little plan
tations were set out here and there,
and when the cotton gin was invent
ed raising cotton became profitable.
! One of the great troubles, however,
was the lack of men to work the plan
tations, and it was this that induced
the importation of negroes from At
RIGA to be used as slaves.
AS time went on our cotton crop
steadily increased In 1880 it amount
ed to five thousand bales, and in 1900
to more than two hundred Thousand
! bales. Since then it has grown to such
an extent that we now raise from
eleven to thirteen million bales in a
single year: and we are. producing
more than three-fourths of all tho cot
ton used by man. We are selling vast
quantities of raw cotton to Eurooe,
and some to South America and Asia;
and we are also making cotton goods
for export to all parts Of the world.
The amount of money we receive from
our cotton is SO great that we can
hardly comprehend 1t. In some years
| it is four or five times as great AS all
the gold and silver that are dug out OF
our mines in those years. If 1t were
distributed in five dollar gold pieces,
every man. woman and child in our
country could have one and there
, Joft