161 



COTTON MANUFACTURE. 



COTTON MANUFACTURE. 



282 



sively into use. No less than 500,000 pieces of muslin were made a 

 Bolton, Glasgow, and Paisley, in 1787, with yarn of British production 



[Arkwright's Original Spinning Frame.] 



Crompton did not secure to himself the benefit of his invention by 

 taking out a patent ; he carried on a spinning and weaving business on 

 a small scale at Bolton, and worked his mule-jenny with his own hands 

 in an attic. In a brief memoir of Crompton, Mr. Kennedy haa stated, 

 that about 1802 he, in conjunction with Mr. Lee, set on foot a sub- 

 scription which amounted to 500/. : and that with this fund Crompton 

 was enabled to increase his manufacturing establishment, and to set uj 

 several looms for fancy work in Bolton. In 1812 Crompton made a 

 survey of all the cotton manufacturing districts in the kingdom, and 

 ascertained that the number of spiiidles then at work upon his principle 

 amounted to between four and five millions. The kind friends already 

 named assisted him in making an application to parliament for some 

 reward ; and the great merit of his invention having been established 

 before a Committee of the House of Commons, he received a grant of 

 6000/., which wag paid to him in full without any deduction for fees or 

 charges. This money was employed by Crompton in putting his sons 

 into business; but they proved unsuccessful, and he wan reduced to 

 poverty. Mr. Kennedy again interfered in his behalf, and raised a 



I subscription, with the produce of which a life annuity of 63A 

 was purchased. .Crompton lived only two years to enjoy thin small 

 ]>].. \inion. The first mule-jennies consisted of not more than thirty 

 K|iiiulles each, but the number has been progressively increased, and 



now frequently contain from 600 to 1000 spindles each, or even a 

 still greater number. The next great improvement in the con- 

 struction of this machine was effected by Messrs. Sharp, Roberts ft Co., 

 machinists of Manchester. Their machines, which are called nit 

 mules, do not require the manual aid of a spinner, the only attendance 

 necessary being that of children, called piecers, who join such threads 

 as may be accidentally broken. Self-acting mules were contrived at 

 different times by Mr. William Strutt of Derby, Mr. Kelly of Lanark, 

 Mr. De Jongh of Warrington, and others ; but none of these were 

 brought successfully into use, owing, no doubt, in some measure, to 

 the inferior skill of the machine makers of those days. 



Another event which contributed to the rapid extension of the 

 cotton manufacture, was the successful attempt to weave by means of 

 machinery, made in 1785 by Dr. Cartwright, who secured the invention 

 by patent. In a commercial point of view Dr. Cartwright did not 

 draw any advantage from his power-loom; but in 1809 he obtained 

 from parliament a grant of 10,000/. as a reward for his ingenuity. 

 Mr. Monteith, of PoUokshaws, Glasgow, who fitted up 200 power-looms 

 in 1801, was the first person who brought them to profitable use. A 

 great obstacle to their success was presented by the necessity for the 

 frequent stopping of the machine in order to dress the warp. This 



Ity was removed in 1804 by the invention of a machine for 

 dressing the whole of the warp before it is placed in the loom, which 

 was made the subject of a patent by Mr. Radcliffe, the inventor. In 

 the use of this machine the warp in its progress to the weaving beam 

 is passed through a dressing of hot starch : it is then compressed 

 between rollers to free it from the superfluous quantity of starch taken 

 up ; and afterwards, in order to dry it, the warp is drawn over a 

 succession of cylinders heated by passing steam through them. By 

 this means the weaver is relieved from the necessity of stopping from 

 his weaving to dress the warp. 



The machines and apparatus of recent introduction, connected with 



lanufacture, almost countless as they are in number, are 



rather extensions and improvements of systems already known, than 



inventions partaking of the capital importance of those of Arkwright, 

 Hargreayes, Crompton, Cartwright, Radcliffe, and Roberts. Instead of 

 attempting the hopeless task of describing the various modern inven- 

 tions, we shall proceed at once to a description of the processes in their 

 ordinary routine. The cotton fibres have to be spun into yarn or 

 thread before they can be woven into calico, fustian, muslin, or other 

 textile material ; and this spinning is the most important part of the 

 whole operation. Nevertheless it can be effected, in a slow way, with 

 few and rude implements. Among all the ancient mechanical arts 

 there were few so simple as that of converting the downy filaments of 

 the cotton plant into a continuous thread according to the methods 

 generally used before the time of Hargreaves and Arkwright. The 

 same primitive methods are still employed in eastern countries. There 

 are, on the other hand, few processes for the performance of which the 

 inventive powers of man have since that period been more taxed, in 

 this country and during this age of invention, than for the cheap and 

 perfect production of cotton twist and yarn. The use of the spindle 

 and distaff was superseded in England by the spinning-wheel, in or 

 soon after the reign of Henry VIII. The next improvements in this 

 useful art were those of Hargreaves and Arkwright; which were 

 followed by the whole train of novelties just adverted to. 



One of the first processes in a cotton mill is that of mixing the 



ibres. Owing to the great variety generally found in the quality of 

 different bags of cotton, which would otherwise occasion a correspond- 

 ing difference in the quality of the yarn produced, the contents of 

 several bags are mixed together in a heap. This is done by spreading 

 out the contents of each bag in a horizontal layer of uniform thickness, 

 the contents of the several bags forming separate layers and resting 

 one upon the other, so that the number of layers corresponds to the 

 number of bags. In making this heap, which is called a bin;/ or buuki-r, 

 the several layers are trampled or pressed together somewhat in the 

 manner of building a hay-stack. The cotton of which the bing is 

 composed is then torn down by a rake from top to bottom. It is evi- 

 dent that in its progress a portion of each horizontal layer will be 

 brought away, and that thus, if the work be skilfully done, the con- 

 tents of the different bags must be collected together in a mass of 

 uniform quality. It is customary to mix in this manner different 

 descriptions of raw cotton for the production of various qualities of 

 yarn ; and some skill on the part of the manufacturer is called for in 

 order to produce a mass that will answer the intended purpose at the 

 least possible cost. The practice of different spinners varies much in 

 this respect, but it is considered proper as a general rule to mix to- 

 gether only such qualities as are similar in the length of their staple. 

 The waste cotton produced in the previous operations of the mill is 

 mixed in the bing in certain proportions for making the lower or 

 coarser qualities of yarn. For the higher or finer numbers, and for 

 twist which is used for warp, finer qualities of cotton are required 

 than for low numbers or for weft. It may here be mentioned that in 

 the technical language of the trade, ' high numbers,' meaning fine 

 irarns, denote a great number of hanks to the pound ; while ' low nurn- 

 l)ers,' meaning coarse yarns, denote a smaller number of hanks to the 

 pound. 



When the cotton has been mixed, the machine next employed is 

 i*nally tlio Snttkktg "/ W'Momng Machine. This is used to open the 



[Wlllowing Machine.] 



ocks of cotton and separate its fibres, while at the same time it sepa- 

 ates from it any sand or seeds which it may contain. This machine 



