Evening star., 1923-10-05
KING TUT FACTOR
!. IN Mill CLOSING
Craze for Silk and Cotton
Crepes Has Cut Down De-
mand for Ginghans.
BY J. c. RoYLE.

Cpecial Dispatch to The Star. 5>
NEW YORK. October Sit may
seem a far cry from the opening OF
King Tutankhamen's tomb in Egypt
last winter to the closing down OF
some of New Engiand's greatest
textile mills, but some experts
see in it a close connection with
the shutdown of the. Amoskeag
cotton plants for an indefinite
period. This action was due primal
rily to lack of demand for .ginghams
and fianneIs In the goods market and
1.-THE fact that the company has a
large supply of those goods on hand.
But the publicity following the
Egyptian discoveries OF Lord Car
naryon gave rise to a craze for cloths
OF Egyptian pattern, many OF which
were manufactured out of silk or
cotton crepe. The popularity Of
ginghams. SO marked during and
after the war. has wsned. according
war days that the Amoskeag COM
pany rolled up the largest profits in
its history.
Stereh0usex Too Full.
The company wound up it's fiscal year
last June with three months supply of
goods on hand. The annual vacation
period In July was extended from one
TO two weeks and in August the cotton
mills OF the company went on a four
day-a-week working schedule. But de-
spite this radical curtaflment Of output.
the stocks of finished goods continued
heavy and the close down was the only
alternative under the policy of the COM
'pany, which is opposed to the carrying
OF large stocks of finished products
In addition to the change in styles In
xha - al
manufactured by, the Amoskeag mills is
attributed by many to the price policy
'the company set in the trade when it
opened its line of ginghams two weeks
ago. At that time lower prices were re-
garded as inevitable but Amoskeag an
nounced the same prices as those estab-
lIshed last fall. During the year the
company had advanced wages 1915 per
cent and raw cotton has risen from 81
TO over SS cents a pound and the COM
pany reit It necessary to maintain prices
This, however. simply added to COM
phcatlons giving trouble in the trade.
Competition Not Cause.
Reports that the Amoskeag closing
was due to competition from southern
mills Is secuted in New England, al
though the growth of mills in the
SOUTH where water power is avail
able. labor is cheap and mills close
to the raw material supply, undoubt-
edly has checked a certain expansion
which otherwise would have occurred
In the northern communities. The
btew England textile men have
portant mills In the south and have
begun construction. of new mills there
TO be operated under the same finan-
cial control as those in New England
Within the last month Lockwood,
Greene & Co. have announced
the merger of five important plants
in South Carolina. The Pacific Mills
the largest in New England. have
s2,0oo,oOo plant in Spartanburg and
now operate four mills at Columbia
southern cotton manufacturers do
not attach any broad general signifi-
.t esnSe 10 the Amoskeag shut down. al
fough 1t Is freely admitted that the
industry has not had smooth sailing
Tor the past few months. Mills in the
south are emerging from recent in
activity and mill men are looking for
~aro Wlth more confidence than in
some time. :
Southern Mill Buyers Cautious.
They feel that at the bottom of
the whole situation is the raw cotton
market and the unusual fiuctua tions
or the past week, brought on by the
government reports within an hour
cf each other. Southern mills are
more bullfsh on cotton prices than
are those OF other sections and are
not expecting very much cheaper cot
ton. Yet they are buying cautiously
as their requirements demand and not
booking iargs orders to be manufac-
bought. There has been aagood de-
mand for southern goods and jobbers-
as the southern mills have their
stock better in hand than those OF
force temporary curtailment be-
cause of lack of power this fall, but
there is no indication in the south |
operation of the plants Few cotton;
growers, dealers or brokers' believe
the present crop will reach IL ,00O,- !
600 bales, despite the government
estimates. r