El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-03-08


it usually escapes serious con-
sideration, yet it is surprising how
much it takes to supply the needs OF
mankind. AT one factory alone over
1900 different kinds of thread are made.
the daily output being 1900 odd miles
This is an average of over 1000 miles an
hour, or 20 miles a minute Nor is that
all Ten thousand dozen spools are
used daily. The aggregate engine force
amounts to 10000 horse power and re-
quires 400 tons of coal daily. This
power drives over 10000 spindles The
number of employees is about 10000.
The factory itself covers 100 acres OIL
ground.
Conducted on Large ScnIe.
The manufacture Of cotton thread
as well as linen, is confined almost en-
tirely to large factories, as the process
in both cases is such an elaborate and
expensive one as to preclude the posi-
bility of its being profitable business
when conducted on a small scale
AT one time it was declared that the
moisture of Great Britain, and of Scot
land, especially, was essential to the
proper making Of thread. and that it
could not be made in this country on
that account However. Yankee shrewd-
ness surmounted that obstacle. steam
serving not only to furnish the neces-
sary moisture but heat as well. the lat
ter being another important factor.
One of the most interesting features
of thread manufacture is the number
Ing The heavier cotton thread is
called number one, and of this size $40
yards are needed to make pound This
size forms the basis of all the number
ing Fifty cotton is so times as fine
and therefore requires so times $40
yards to weigh pound.
III IS the same way with the larger
numbers, and as the most popular
grades are from so TO so IL readily can
be imagined how long distance would
be covered by pound The highest
number in general use is 100, although
Tor unusually fine work 200 is some
times used. As far as is known the
finest ever made was 700. so fine in
fact that it was of no value as sewing
cotton a pound of this number would
cover 4770 miles.
SpoOls Used in SOS.
me process of manufacturing the
thread alone is not the end of the
work Spools have TO be made on which
TO wind the cotton, and then stiekers
are placed on both ends. Cotton was or
sold in hanks. and afterward
wound into balls as worsted is today.
wishing to be accommodating a Scotch
manufacturer in the early SOS wound
the thread on a spool for his custom
ers- For this service he charged a half |
penny, TO be refunded when the empty |
spool was returned Today the manu- |
iacture OF spoois requires about $4,000 |
tons of wood. which is converted into |!
about 250,O00,O00 spools The wood at |
first came from Scotland. but its for |
eStS becoming greatly decreased the I
supply now comes from northern Europe |
and North America
The cheapness of cotton as compared /
with linen thread has always been an |
important item In favor of the former.
BY recent discovery. however. linen
mas oeen put on an almost even footing
with cotton.
The process of removing the woody
particles from the fiber has heretofore
been long and tedious one. In olden
times 1t took 80 weeks between the time
of pulling the flax and the delivery /
of the goods-even today 1T takes IL
weeks where the old process IS used
m Europe. By the new process II Is
possible to convert the raw flax into
pure white linen fiber, ready for spin
hing, in one day. BY this method linen
IAN be sold as cheaply as cotton. and
with much larger profit 10 the manu-
,acturer and dealer.
Linen and SILK Thread.
Cotton thread manufacture Is closely
connected with the making Of linen
hread so far as its history is concerned
The beginning Of linen thread. in Scot
and at least, is traced to Christian
shaw. who in the early 7O's conceived
he idea of making sewing thread out
# linen.
The necessary apparatus was broueh+
rom Holland The attempt proved sue
eessful, and the product. known as
Sargarran thread. obtained a wide no.
orfety- Cotton thread being made nv
land at that time was unable to com
'ete with the linen, but in 1868 the in
ustry was revolutionized by invention
ND since then has been in the lead
SILK thread has a large consumption