Arizona republican., 1922-04-23

large buyers and exporters. All of
these gentlemen received US cour-
teously and seemed anxious to supply
us with all information desired. show
ing us the methods Of buying and
handling cotton from purchasing to
shipping.
We found the method of handling
spot cotton very different from any
thing we are familiar with in the
United States. All buying is done on
the ground floor Of one building, each
buyer maintaining a separate office
in the building for that purpose. This
office is divided into two parts by a
railing. the buyer standing in the rear
with the table for samples behind
him, close to an open window which
affords ample light The seller
brings samples from all bales he wish
es to sell in a sack or loose piece of
bagging. The buyer takes these sam
pies, placing them before him on the
table, and grades and staples each
bale to his own satisfaction. If the
cotton suits him he makes an offer
for 1t, which IL accepted, constitutes
a sale, provided the buyer who causes
the cotton to be sampled for his ac-
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fled that the original samples repre-
sent the true character or quality of
the cotton in the bales. We under
stand that there are practically no
| disputes on the accuracy of samples,
which is said to be a remarkable fact
IN country notoriously given to
haggling in its business dealings.
Blending and COMPRISING
After the cotton is purchased il is
assembled at the, owners warehouse
| in Alexandria. When the bales reach
Alexandria the country pressed bales
weigh $50 to 1000 pounds and are
much larger and more loosely packed
than bales in the United States,
which they resemble in having six
| ties to the bale and about the same
quantity Of lightweight burlap bag
ging. These bales are taken into a
large, open room, and stripped OF
| bagging and ties. Muddy or dirty
ends and even dusty sides are either
| picked off or put in good order by
| beating. The bales are then torn
| to pieces and placed by men in arm
| fuls on the floor in front of women
who are seated on the floor. These
women sort the cotton over. picking
| out ali trash or other foreign SUBJ
stances and Jumps or spots which
| appear too much discolored. Another
set of boys and men pick up this
sorted cotton, which has been thor
| oughly broken to pieces, and throw
| it on the floor in the middle Of the
room until pile has been formed,
which is made UP from a general
mixture of all the bales that are be-
| ing blended to make a certain mark
brand or grade. This pile is first
wet down with fine spray from a
hose pipe and is then bundled into
a burlap wrapper and allowed to
stand in a pile Of similar packages
over night. The next day these
packages, weighing about 100 pounds
! each are carried on the heads Of
Egyptian workers to the press room
and thrown into the press box, the
upper end of which is even with the
| floor, and trodden down by foot, six
men working in the box at the same
time to accomplish this part OF the
work.
When the press box has received
the required amount of cotton. said
! to average about 73S pounds net per
! bale, the human trampers who are
| said to be so expert that they can
| judge within pound or two of the
weight Of bale by the resistance
offered to their feet, give the signal
and get out of the press box. In
stead of two boxes to a revolving
press, as is customary in the United
| States. these presses have three
boxes, and the revolving part is
given one third Of turn. which
places the filled box directly over
the hydraulic press. and brings a new
box into position for filling. The
press Is a huge machine, fully three
stories high. It's normal working
capacity is about 40 bales per hour
and there are II presses. similar in
| design. in Egypt. The press operates
upward, as most ordinary gin presses
| do in the United States, and uses
steam pressure at first. which is
| automatically shifted to hydraulic