COTTON-SPINNING 



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other reasons, for the very sufficient ones that it required much more power than tho 

 ordinary throstle, and that it could not be stopped without causing ' snarls ' or twisted 

 tangles in tho yarn. The Montgomery throstle, introduced in 1832, was more success- 

 ful. In this machine the spindle does not revolve, but is stationary, the flyer revolving 



round it and winding the yarn upon the bobbins in the usual manner. It is said to 

 produce good yarn, and although it has been discarded in this country, it still holds 

 its ground in the United States. Perhaps the most remarkable, as well as one of the 

 most recent improvements in the throstle frame is that of Bernhardt's ' doffing-motion.' 

 The labour of ' doffing ' or taking off the bobbins when filled with yarn, as well as the 

 substituting of empty ones in their places, is usually accomplished by boys, who, not- 

 withstanding the agility with which they perform the operation, necessarily keep the 

 machine for a considerable time standing still. This loss of time, as well as the 

 labour of the ' doffers,' is abolished by Bernhardt's invention. For a full description 

 of this ingenious contrivance, we refer the reader to Mr. Evan Leigh's ' Science of 

 Modern Cotton Spinning' (Manchester, 1873). The same work contains also a very 

 full account of the ring throstle spinning frame, which in its various forms has taken 

 deep root in the United States, and is beginning to find appreciation even in English 

 mills, where there was formerly a strong prejudice against it. 



It may be as well here to explain what is meant by the ' counts ' or ' numbers of 

 yarn. It is obvious that in all the textile industries some plan of indicating the 

 varying thickness of the yarns is absolutely necessary. At present the methods em- 

 ployed are different in various countries, and, even in the same country, the systems 

 used in the principal textiles are not identical, cotton, linen, silk, and jute having as 

 a rule each a separate system. But all these methods are found to rest at bottom in 

 one of two principles : First, the adoption of a fixed length as a standard, the counts 

 being expressed by the weight of this fixed length in any given example. This plan 

 is rarely followed, except in the case of silk, in which therefore the higher the counts 

 the coarser is the thread. The other principle is founded upon a fixed unit of weight, 

 and determines the counts by the length required to reach that weight. On this plan 

 the numbering of all other kinds of yarns proceeds in nearly every country. In 

 cotton yarns the English system has the pound (Avoirdupois) for the unit of weight 

 and the ' hank ' of 840 yards for the unit of length, and the counts is determined by 

 the number of hanks which in any given case is needed to make up one pound in 

 weight. The French system adopts the half kilogramme (equal to 1 Ib. l oz.) as the 

 unit of weight and the hank of 1,000 metres (1,093 yards 22 inches) as the unit of 

 length. The English system is exclusively used in this country, in America, in India, 

 and in a portion of the Continent. The French system prevails in France, in Alsace, 

 and in some portions of Germany, Austria, and Italy. An effort, originating at the 

 Vienna Exhibition of 1873, has been made to secure a uniform method in the number- 

 ing of yarns. No definite agreement has yet been arrived at, but in France, and in 

 Alsace there is a strong desire that the French or ' metric ' system should be generally 

 adopted. The method of practically testing tho counts of yarn is this : A short 

 length of the sample to be tested is wound upon a carefully-adjusted measuring 

 apparatus called a ' wrap-reel,' and then weighed by means of small delicately ba- 

 lanced scales. The fineness is then easily determined by calculation or by reference 

 to a previously-compiled table of equivalents. 



Yarn spun upon tho throstle frame needs to bo made very strong in order that it 

 may resist the strain produced by the ' drag ' of the bobbin whilst being spun. On 

 this account the throstle can seldom be employed with advantage in spinning tho finer 

 and more delicate yarns. As a matter of fact, it is scarcely ever used in the produc- 



