El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-07-13

cotton and wOrsted- 1T has more thar
$4,000 looms.
Listen with Their Eyes.
The cotton operatives OF the world
altogether number three or four mil
lions and large number OF them are
women. The great factory here en-
Ipl0ys 5000 hands, a greater number
than we have soldiers i'm any one of
our army divisions ln France. About
1000 OF these are women, and they re-
celFe hlgner wages perhaps, than any
other cotton workers on earth outside
Of this section Of the country.
I OF rhe whole force in the Amoskeae
I there are only few score Under 16
I years OF age, and the youngest -frIs
make IS or So a week.
! some years ago i visited the cotton
mills at Manchester, Eng. and the
managers told me they were paying
their factory women from "a TO SIS
per week The wages have probably
increased since the war. 1t seems to
me tn2t the women there do not com
pare in ability or efficiency with the
girls employed here at Manchester.
Here single girl viii manage sew
eral looms and the most complicated
machines are in the hands Of the
women Many Of the machines are
automatic and the noise Of the factory
is little In comparison with that Of
the old mills Of England AS I went
through the British factories il was a
wonder TO me how hundreds Of girls
could work together without being
able 10 gossip. I mentioned this TO my
guide. who replied;
Why, bless you, man, these girls
are the greatest takers on earth.
They are talking all the while we
were in the mill. but the noise is such
that they have learned TO listen with
the eyes and not with the ears They
have learned the lip language and
can tell what any one says by watch
ing the movements Of his lips"
Factory Girls Are Good Looking.
The factory girls Of Manchester, n.
H, are better looking and better
dressed than those OF Manchester.
Eng Here the girls have no special
costumes. The girls Of Manchester,
Eng wear calico dresses with short
sleeves and short skirt Below
the skirt show out their stockings
and clogs.
The clogs are a PECULIARLY TO that
class OF employment They have
leather uppers with sOles OF wood on
which bands OF iron are tackled This
makes great clatter as they move
about, reminding one Of the noise in
japanese railroad station. where she
passengers run over the platform in
their wooden shoes
Most Of the English factory girls
GlGl 4aAA AAAeaE lien AAlaA 10 L4AEAL per-
sonal appearance while at work. j
saw hundreds Of them who had their
hair in crlmping pins so tight that
the skins Of their foreheads were
stretched like that Of a tambouriue /
I was told that they kept their hair
IN crimping pins all week ana took I
Il out only on Sundays and holidays.
The Starter for a shirt.
But TO get back 70 the shirt OF the I.
soldier. If you would see the ma
terial Of which &c is made YOU must I
start at that part Of the factory where !
the huge cotton bales are opened up I
and torn into pieces Pick Up a hand ]
full Of the cotton wool and examine I
the 1ibers- Pull them apart and spread I
them out on your hand.
They look like white hairs. but they
are very much thinner. They are SO I
thin that 1000 Of them might be laid .
side by side and they would not cover /
an inch. IL takes millions to make I
one spool Of thread, and there are sew I
aral hundred millions in each soldiers |
shirt
II takes about 100.O00.000 ubers to I
make one pound Of raw cotton, an
amount which can be spun into q .
single thread 100 miles long.
Now If you VIII examine the Ebers /.
more closely you viii see that each /
has a little curl or twist TO it, and il /
you viii put il under a microscope
you VIII see that IL has on its out
sides many little scales overlapping
each other like the scales Of fish 1t /.
Is these scales which catch when the
ibers are woven and make them cling
tightly together
The curl or twist also aids to make
The fibers combine. and better fits
hem for spinning and weaving. II
you look at the end OF the fiber under
he microscope you viii see that It is
hollow.
This makes It take the dye better SO
hat it can be easily turned from the
snowy white TO the olive drab OF the
shirt OF the soldier
Where Fibera Are Dyed.
In this factory the fibers are dyed
before they are spun. The mills have
B great dye plant, where the white
int is put into steel tubs each so big
around that an OK could easily be
icalded within it When the tub has
been packed TO its utmost a lid is
-0rced on by great pressure and the