15j 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[February i, 1907. 



GROWTH OF THE COTTON INTEREST. 



'T'HE cotton good:; industry in the United States, by all ac- 

 ^ counts, was never before so prosperous as at this time. 

 The year 1906 showed a large increase in the number of 

 mills, besides extensions of many old mills. The total number 

 of new spindles is estimated at between 1,500,000 and 1,750,000. 

 The growth of the cotton goods industry in the United States 

 for a quarter of a century past is indicated by the following fig- 

 ures from the census reports : 



Year. Capitaf invested. Value of products. 



In 1880 $219,504,794 $210,950,383 



In iSgo 354.020.843 267.981,724 



In 1900 467.240.157 339.200.320 



In 1905 613,1 10,655 45o.4f>7-704 



The exports of American raw cotton continue to increase, as 

 shown by the following treasury department figures for three fiscal 

 years : 



Year. Bales exported. Value. 



In 1903-04 6.009.194 $370,811,246 



In 1904-05 8,3.^7.964 .379.965.014 



In 1905-06 7,050,856 401.005.911 



The exports of manufactures of cotton amounted in value as 

 follows: $22,403,713 in 1903-04, $49,666,080 in 1904-05, and $52,- 

 944,033 in 1905-06. 



* * * 



Cotton manufacturing under the factory system originated in 

 Lancashire, England, which district to-day occupies in the cot- 

 ton spinning and manufacturing trade of the world relatively the 

 same position as is held by the "cotton belt" of the United States 

 in the production of the raw material. This gigantic industry is 

 concentrated within an extreme radius of thirty miles of the city 

 of Manchester. Notwithstanding the growth of the cotton indus- 

 try in other parts of the world, and in spite of opposition, the 

 Lancashire district seems determined to retain its position of 

 leadership, .^t the beginning of T906 there were working in the 

 district 48,322,684 cotton spindles, of which 2.430,367 had been 

 put in during twelve months, and there were under construction 

 or projected 90 new spinning mills, intended to contain 8,026.356 

 spindles. It is predicted that by the end of the current year Eng- 

 land will have close to 60,000,000 spindles. Every branch of the 

 British cotton trade has been very profitable of late, and this has 

 led to unprecedented activity in cotton mill building. The ad- 

 vantages of specialization are apparent in the English cotton 

 industry, in the economical production of goods to a degree not 

 excelled perhaps in any other industry. The British home market 

 is an important one, but her exports of manufactured cottons are 

 enormous. For instance, £10,197,222 to China and Hongkong in 

 7905. over £21.000,000 to India, and £2,000,000 or more each to 

 the United States, Turkey, Egypt. Dutch East Indies, and Ar- 

 gentina. The total imports of all kinds of cotton piece goods from 

 Great Britain for three calendar years footed up : 



Square yards 

 Value 



1903. 1904. 1905. 



5.157.310.600 5.591.819,700 6.198,199,900 

 £55,267,273 £64.078,237 £70,817,032 



There were manufactured in the cotton mills of India in 

 1905-06 about 562,900.000 yardsof goods of all kinds, and the pro- 

 duction of hand looms in the homes of natives is estimated to be 

 more than double this amount. There were imported 1,297,612,- 

 999 yards of cotton cloth of all kinds. 

 * * * 



The cotton goods industry in Japan, while not large as com- 

 pared with that of some other countries, is very profitable and is 

 constantly growing. During the war with Russia the larger part 

 of the cotton goods required for the army was made by native 

 mills, and this gave an impetus to the industry the effect of which 



is shown in its continued growth. During the first half of 1906 

 the cotton mills of Japan used 209,574,662 pounds of raw cot- 

 ton, of which the greater quantity was supplied by India, and 

 the remainder by China and the United States in the order 

 named. The number of spindles in operation was lately reported 

 at 1,371,730. There are 49 companies manufacturing cotton goods, 

 and this is the most important single industry in the empire. 



* * * 



Texth.e goods, mainly cotton, form the most valuable item 

 in the import trade of South and Central America taken as a 

 whole, with the exception of manufactures of iron and steel. The 

 chief imports of cottons generally are of English and German 

 origin, the former showing a marked tendency to decrease in 

 recent years. The opinion i-? generally prevalent among South 

 .'\merican importers that the United States is not getting as large 

 a share of this trade as the excellence of .\merican goods would 

 warrant, owing to the lack of efforts of our manufacturers to 



cultivate this trade. 



* * * 



The London financial Times publishes the following state- 

 ment : It is officially stated in Alexandria that the Egyptian cot- 

 ton crop is likely to be much larger than last year, the estimates 

 being 6,500.000 to 6.750,000 cantars (cantar, 124.7 pounds"). The 

 growth last season was a little below 6.000.000 cantars. The 

 .\merican crop is not unlikely to be not far off the record output 

 of last year — namely, 13,250,000 bales. Then East Indian cotton 

 will be in larger supply, and the crops in South .America are 

 likely to be greater than in 1905-6. 



* * + 



The chart herewith illustratin \ the range of cotton prices 

 during the year 1906 is reproduced from the New- York Times, 

 through the courtesy of its editor : 



WATERPROOFING PROCESSES. 



VY/HILE excellent results have been attained in the water- 

 " proofing of silk fabrics, a certain difticulty has been ex- 

 perienced in rendering the goods actually water repellant. In 

 other words, while the fabric may be made impervious to water, 

 an inconvenient amount of water too often adheres to the outer 

 surface in case a waterproof silk garment is exposed to the rain. 

 A patented process for overcoming this condition is controlled 

 and operated by the Silk Textile Waterproofing Co., Inc., Nos. 

 153-155 Lafayette street. New York. The company not only 

 waterproof silks, and velvets as well, but they also treat by their 

 process a large quantity of fabrics already proofed in the ordinary 

 manner, and sent them by the trade for a finishing treatment. 

 The registered trade mark of the company referred to consists of 



the word "Freeospot." 



* * * 



A method or process of treating fabrics to render them water- 

 proof, patented by Waldo Spaulding, of East Pepperell. Massa- 

 chusetts, consists in first forming a solution of 10 parts casein, 

 80 parts water, and 6.4 parts borax by weight. The fabric is 

 saturated with this emulsion, then subjected to the action of 

 formaldehyde, and dried. The fabric is next hydrated, and then 

 finally dried. 



