92 COTTON IN EGYPT AND THE SUDAN. 



fore entitled to a reduction in the Fire Insurance premium of 30 per 

 cent. 



From these Shoonas the hydraulically-pressed bales that have 

 arrived from the interior are transferred to the pressing establish- 

 ments, hoisted up to the packing-room, opened, brushed at the 

 corners by women with brooms, and then torn asunder by men ; 

 foreign substances, such as old clothes, slippers, stones, &c., and 

 dirty cotton are often brought to light in the process of final revision 

 and classification, which are carried out under the supervision of a 

 European. The cotton, loosely torn asunder, is more or less sprayed 

 with water by a hand hose, and then thrown on sacking sheets, by 

 native workers, who all the time march up and dow r n in rows, sing- 

 ing and clapping their hands. The damped cotton, loosely bundled 

 together, lies in the canvas sheets generally for about 24 hours 

 before it comes to the final press. The whole of this procedure, the 

 opening of the hydraulically-pressed bales, the final classification, 

 and the completing of the lots, is called the " Farfara," and a set of 

 workmen prepare in this way from 6 o'clock in the morning until 

 8 o'clock at night about 300 hydraulic bales. If required, these 

 working hours are extended. 



The cotton which cannot be brushed off by brooms from the 

 corners of the hydraulic bales is picked off by hand, and cleaned in 

 a revolving wooden beater, called the " Machinette," and is then 

 carried on an endless cloth to the pressing-room. In this small 

 machine various lots of ordinary (not superior) qualities of cotton 

 are mixed up into an average quality. 



It happens that the cotton is found to be too wet at the time of 

 opening the hydraulic bales, and that a portion of it has already 

 suffered; such spoiled cotton is thrown on one side and sold later as 

 an inferior quality, after the whole of it has been dried for 24 hours 

 before further treatment. 



The compress is also made by Messrs. Nasmyth, Wilson, and 

 Co., Manchester; it costs ^10,000 inclusive of the steam engine 

 used in conjunction with it, and works exceedingly smoothly, and 

 without any noise, far better and quieter than the American monsters. 



In the Egyptian final press, which can press as many as 76 

 bales per hour, but on an average only 55 bales, the cotton is kicked 

 by men first into the open box press; this is then turned round under 

 the stamp. The cotton is here so tightly pressed, first by means of 

 steam pressure, which at the same time sets the piston in motion, 

 and secondly by hydraulic pressure of If to 2 tons per square inch, 

 that one metric ton is compressed into a space of 2 cbm. By this 

 method the Egyptian pressing, which still is slightly less dense 

 than the pressing effected in India, becomes more compact than in 

 America. Ships which can carry 10,000 to 12,000 bales of Egyptian 

 cotton are only able to transport 6,000 to 8,000 bales of American 

 cotton, although, reckoned according to weight, they cught to be 

 able to carry 14,000 bales. 



The daily wage of the native in the " Farfara " and press 

 amount to 8 P.T. ; the foreman singer receives 1 P.T. more. 



After being lowered into the dispatching-room the bales are sewn 

 together at the botton ends, weighed and marked. Packing and 

 marking of the bales of the Egyptian cotton are also far more care- 



