Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1915-01-08
TEXAS SHOULD HAVE
MORE COTTON MILLS
by j. Il. BAGLEY.
Professor OF Textile Engineering at
the A. e. NJ. College.

the A. & NJ. College.
Concluded From Yesterday
This 5,OOO-splndle mill running on
goods weighing eight ounces to the
yard would consume approximately
$500 bales OF cotton per year, and
would require about 100 operatives
A mill Of this size equipped with all
the most improved labor-saying ma.
chlnery would have a decided adyan-
tage over most Of the older mills. There
Is no reason why such a plant under
proper management should not be
eminently successful In most any
town Of the State. II Is an erroneous
idea that all factories must be located
In cities. Very few Of the cotton mill
operatives come from the city In any
section Of the South. They come
largely from the tenant farming class,
and In Texas particularly they nearly
all come from this class and from
other mills east OF the Mississippi.
There II Is not necessary to go 10 the
city to establish a mill. In fact, It
Is better not TO 20 to the larger cities,
but rather to the wide-awake towns
Of from $500 10000 inhabitants.
Let us consider a few Of the adyan.
tages a town Of this size would de
rive from a mill Of say ten thousand
splndles. as this is about the size OF
the average Texas mill. In the first
place there Is an investment OF $780,
900 from which the town would de.
rive considerable taxes II would fur
nish employment for about 200 hands.
who would earn on an average OF
Sl.2j per day, or $4,000 per month.
Practically all Of this money and quite
BIT more is spent right in the town
where the mill is located. The fact
must not be overlooked that this
money is coming in during all months
OF the year. and not simply for two
or three months. as Is the case OF the
revenue derived from the sale OF the
raw cotton. Il goes without saying
that real estate Is worth more In a
town with a few live factories than
It is in one OF its less progressive
neighbors. Another important point
to consider Is when Northern capital
lists are seeking suitable locations for
manufacturing sites they almost in
yariably select some town where the
people have been progressive enough
TO have already done something along
this line for themselves.
This lO.OOO.spindle mill would con.
sumo approximately 5000 bales of cot
ton per year, from which the farmers
would receive from one-eighth to one
fourth Of cent per pound more than
they would II they shipped II away.
The mills can well AFFORD to pay this
extra premium right at home to in
sure it's delivery TO them; otherwise
II they let II be shipped away to Hous'
ton. Galveston or some other distant
point. and then have to pay the
freight back on il, they are the losers.
II would be hard to find any inter.
est In a town that would not be bene-
fitted directly or indirectly by an in
dus;ry Of this kind. The merchants
the doctors, the school teachers, real
estate dealers and the truck farmers
all reap a share Of the prosperity
which attends the establishment OF
the cotton factory.
II seems with so many people bene'
flied It would not be hard TO raise
enough capital to start at least one
mill in any one of 100 towns that
might be mentioned In the first place
as already shown, they are good pay
ing investments, when properly or
ganlzed, and in the second place they
are such a help to the businesses al
ready established.
To build 5,OOO-spindle mill, as be
fore stated. $4,000 would be needed
II some three or four good business
men could take care of $4,000 worth
of the stock It would not be such a
great big undertaking to find 800
others who would take 5000 worth
apiece. or course there would be
some of these 500 who would take
only one share or 800, while likely
there would be some who would take
sevral shares. It would be less dill
cult to raise this If It could be paid
In on the installment plan, say one
tenth of II each month. That could
be very easily arranged as 1t would
take about one year from the time
the company was organized before