Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-09-03
GOVERNMENT OWNED FACTORY
Uncle Sam to Make Some Expert
ments in Spinning.

next few months. That Is the lates
thing to be undertaken by the govern
ment to reduce the high cost Of living
1t is an altogether new and unique
| plan and is the first time in the his
tory of the world that any nation ha
taken up the actual manufacture o
| wearing apparel. Because Of the In
creasing cost Of the necessities Of lif'
land clothing ranks next to food a!
one Of the principal necessities Ii
the intention of Uncle Sam through
the department Of agriculture, to fine
way to reduce the cost Of clothing
for his people, and this unusual mean!
was decided upon as being perhap!
the best way to handle such a Difficult
problem.
There are many things in which the
| United States leads the world, bu
head and shoulders above them all /:
the lead taken by the government ir
making extensive and costly expert.
ments that could not be done by pri.
yate concerns, with q view to trying
to better the condition Of its citizens
England probably ranks next to the
United States in it's efforts to amelior.
ate social conditions, with Germany
and France following closely after
But none Of those nations has gone sc
far in industrial experiments as our
own Uncle Samuel.
In this unique factory at Washing
ton there will be installed the latest
and most up-to- date machinery now
in use. A new six-story building. now
nearly completed, will be the home OF
the new factory. In this building will
be placed everything that may be
needed, from gins to looms. Cotton
experts will experiment with the high
est speed at which the gin may be run
without spelling the quality Of the cot
ton turned out. There will be ma
chimes for spinning yarn and some for
weaving it, so as to determine the ex-
act quality of goods certain cotton
will produce, and special machines
designed for testing the strength and
spinning qualities of the various
grades Of cotton.
On the face Of 1t this unusual ex-
pertinent Of Uncle Sam may not ap-
pear of much value to the average cit
izen. But just stop and think a bit.
Cotton enters into the manufacture of
nearly everything worn today, from
the socks and stockings Of your feet
to the hat on your head. Practically
every bit of clothing made has some
cotton in it. From this may be judg-
ed the great value that experiments
Of this kind may have for the average
person. Clothing Is ordinarily figured
at 20 per cent of the expenses of the
ordinary man, woman and child. Rent
may be figured at 25 per cent, while
food and other household expenses
will take up the remaining So per cent.
All of this work is along the same
general line as the community cotton
growing that the agricultural depart
ment is now introducing throughout
the south. In this work each commu-
nifty must pledge itself to grow GER
tain kind Of cotton and no other, so
that the strength. Of the seed will re-
main true to type and will not be con-
taminated by accidental hybridizing
with a different sort Of cotton grown
in the same locality. Many states
throughout the south have enthusias-
tically adopted this plan Of growing
a single type Of cotton, and there are
other interesting experiments Of the
same kind being carried out in other
parts of the southern states. The prin-
cipal object in these experiments is to
improve the quality by growing the
best type Of cotton and preventing this
type from being contaminated by mix
ing with inferior grades.
Necessity for Scientific Grading.
Cotton is the greatest money crop
the world produces" said DR.. Gallo
way, chief of the bureau Of plant in
dustry, under whose supervision the
new scheme will be worked out. This
very fact has led the people to become
more or less Indifferent and careless In
the matter of placing it on the market.
With an increasing demand all over
the world for cotton goods, the prob
lem of securing a sufficient amount Of
raw material is becoming more and
more a vital one. If America Is to
maintain the lead in the production Of
cotton and in supplying the worlds
markets with the raw material, she
must take immediate steps to put the
grading and marketing Of the product
on a basis differing materially from
that at present in vogue.
1.-The department Of agriculture Is
now beginning work on some Of the
principal questions connected with
cotton growing, handling, grading and
marketing, so that we may secure uni
formity and also be able to help the
farmer himself, who produces this i'm
portant crop. to realize more upon his
labor, and in this way help the ulti-
mate consumer.
Cotton grading up to the present
time has not been reduced to anything
like a scientific basis. 1t is largely a
matter Of human judgment, and hu-
man judgment is, of course, liable to
err. One of the first things we shall
do will be to get at the intrinsic value
Of cotton according to grades. This
can be done only through careful, sci
entific study of the cotton fiber itself,
by spinning the fiber into various
kinds of cotton yarns and thoroughly
testing the product. In this way defi-
mite conclusions may be reached, bas-
ed on actual facts, and not on merely
human judgment"
DR.. n. A. Cobb is the scientist who
will have direct charge Of the new
cotton factory. He has had many
years experience in the handling of
cotton. Only short time ago he sue
ceeded in establishing standard grades
of cotton for the United States, some
thing never done before by any other
nation. Many mineral products have
been standardized, but this is the first