The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-04-30

mat "as picked was scattered over the
ground, for the fingers only could hold
certain quantity.
Hundreds. perhaps thousands, of men
OF inventive ability have devised cot
ton picking machines. Tens of thou
| sands Of men in the South have gone to
see exhibitions of mechanical cotton
ptckers. Failure has been 80 regular
that It is not unnatural that those who
Witnessed the trial OF the Campbell
picker OF 1888 shook their heads Or
smiled. The Campbell machine was
failure. There was no doubt about
| that. but 1t had in 1t the germ OF the
ioea out of which success was to be
achieved.
Mr.. Campbell went north disappolnt-
ed, but not dlspirited. One year later
he was back in Texas with new
tangled machine. This time he had
two cylinders instead of one. and they
stood upright They were intended to
pass on either side of the plants and
the bristle fingers, reaching out from
them, were expected to take hold OF the
cotton. In setting the cylinders up
right Mr.. Campbell had struck the right
principle. but he had made no pro
gresS in the matter OF the fingers They
caught the cotton fibre and drew out
the lint and seed all right, but as he
Tore they soon had more than they
could handle. got clogged, and, after
that. much of the cotton fell to the
ground And, as before the whirlng
ringers Injured the unopened hollis and
the plant proper.
once more Mr.. Campbell had to go
north chagrlned and decidedly poorer
| than he had left there. Once more he
set to work to construct n machine that
would overcome the obstacles he had
encountered. Next year he was back
hopeful II not sanguine. only to have
the same experience Year after year
he went south and had to return re-
pulsed It got almost to be joke TO
some people. 1t would not have been
SO bitter TO Campbell had 1t not been
that trivial things al times set him
back year. Machine shops are not
plentiful In the cotton belt. Sometimes,
when something went wrong with his
| machine or he might. by a slight al
teration. have worked out new idea.
he could do nothing, for there was no
place nearby where repairs or changes
could be made.
The mas shine had been made in the
North and had TO be sent back to the
North. It was nerve-recking to have
70 delay year on that account, but
there was greater hardship that had
to be met. Nearly every inventor en-
counters il. Machines cost money
lots of Il. Those that fail-and % per
cent. OF those turned ont for expert
mental purposes ldo-eo 10 the scrap
heap. Campbell. who had little more
than his earnings, exhausted his money
early. and each year had to struggle
TO get enough together to make such
improvements as he had in mind and
cover the cost OF the next trial. Each
year, as he found first this and then
That change necessary in his ma chIne.
a variety of alterations suggested
themselves to him. Some he was able
! TO introduce. Some he could not. be-
cause he lacked the money.
For a good many years he chung to
the wooden finger. with The bristlcs
He believed in 1t fully. having an idea
that the trouble was In its length or
| in the kind of bristle with which n
was coated. He tried various lengths
/ and various diameters OF the wooden
| fingers and various kinds Of bristIcs,
some of wire and some from the hog
1t was long time before he solved
this problem. and when he did he had
made a mighty stride. Instead Of the
wooden fingers he made steel one.
! instead of bristles. 1T had indented
teeth along one portion OF its length
Otherwise It was smooth. And Instead
j of having the steel fingers set solidly
III tHe uPT1Snl cylinders he had them
turn as we'll as the cylinders.
Tor more than decade Mr. Camp
| bell inquired on machine that would
| be drawn BY mules or oxen. lie en-
! dcavored to make II light but this was
difficult. Then there was another trou-
Die. II tile power came from the
wheels tho operation of the machine
depended on the gait at which the
| mules orloXen moved. When the driv-
| er dashed the animals they sprang for
ward and the machine worked fast.
| When they Jagged it slowed. IF they
! halted or the wheels struck II stopped.
| But ! was not possible TO make tho
| machine light enough TO have one mule
draw 1t and it's carriage. durable
machine was so heavy that 1t required
from four to six mules or oxen to draw
it through the fields If the land was
| soft. and when the mules or oxen got
| through trampling on the cotton there
was not enough of 1t left for the cot
ton picking machine to pick.
With tho incoming OF tho automobile
Mr. Campbell saw his hope He re-
! allied at once that tho gasoline engine
was the solution OF the power question.
and applied himself TO rigging IN a.
ne%-fangloG machine that bore some
| resemblance to an automobile. Its
first trial could not be classed as al.
together snccess. for despiscd mule.
had totbc requisitioned to help II out.
Year after year Mr. Campbcll str,,g-
gled along. overcoming; one obstacle on
/ 1t, 70, 4 - W.