MANUFACTURE OF COTTON. 



the lower classes at home are considera- 

 bly encreased, from the cheap rate at 

 which they can procure most articles of 

 clothing 1 oF this kind. 



There is no mode of weaving peculiar 

 to cotton, so that on this head we must 

 refer to the article WEAVING for informa- 

 tion, as every cotton stuff is woven in a 

 Wi'.y resembling that of some other fabric, 

 unless we may except that called Mar- 

 seilles; though stuffs may be made of 

 linen or silk, or a mixture of linen and 

 woollen, in a similar manner to that in 

 which this is formed. 



The loom for weaving Marseilles is 

 somewhat similar to the diaper loom. A 

 good idea of the manner in which it is 

 prepared may be had, by conceiving 

 two webs woven one under the other in 

 the same loom, which are made to inter- 

 mingle at all the depressed lines, which 

 form the reticulations on the surface, in 

 imitation of the quilting performed by 

 hand. 



When the species of Marseilles, called 

 Marseilles quilting, is made, a third warp, 

 of softer materials than the two others 

 described, lies between them, and merely 

 serves as a sort of stuffing to the hollow 

 squares formed by them. 



Another sort of cotton stuff, solely ap- 

 propriated to quilts, should, in strictness, 

 be set down exclusively to the cotton 

 manufacture ; though there is nothing to 

 prevent its being made of other materials. 

 The weft of those quilts is of \ery coarse 

 and thick yarn, which is drawn out by a 

 small hook into little loops, as it is woven, 

 that are so arranged, as altogether to 

 form a regular pattern ; every third or 

 fourth shoot of the shuttle, the weaver 

 has to stop to form those loops from a 

 draft, which causes the w r eaving of those 

 quilts to take up more time than that of 

 any other stuff, except tapestry ; which 

 accounts for the greatness of the price at 

 which they are sold, in proportion to the 

 value of the materials of which they are 

 principally composed. 



Before concluding the head of weaving, 

 it will be proper to notice a considerable 

 improvement added to one of the princi- 

 pal implements for this operation, which 

 first originated in the cotton manufac- 

 ture ; which is a very simple apparatus 

 attached to the batton, by which the 

 shuttle is thrown through the warp with- 

 out requiring to be touched by the hand; 

 as it may be set in motion both ways by 

 the same hand, the weaver saves the time 

 that is lost in shifting hands in the com- 

 mon way of weaving; and from this 

 cause, added to other circumstances, is 



enabled to weave a considerable quantity 

 more in a day by the use of this contri- 

 vance ; and, which is in reality still more 

 material to him, by enabling him to sit 

 at his work in an erect posture, prevents 

 that frequent stooping forwards, and con- 

 sequent pressure on the chest, \vhich was 

 found to be so extremely unwholesome 

 in this business, that a very great propor- 

 tion of weavers died annually of com- 

 plaints on the lungs, originating from this 

 circumstance alone. 



The Fly Shuttle. The apparatus by 

 which this is effected is known by the ap- 

 pellation of the fly-shuttle, or flying 

 shuttle, (probably from the swiftness of 

 the motion of tJie shuttle, when it is 

 used). It consists of a little oblong 

 trough, attached to each side of the bat- 

 ton in front, so that the end of each shall 

 lie exactly opposite to the aperture form- 

 ed in the warp for passing the shuttle, 

 when the treadles are pressed down ; a 

 small cubic piece of wood, usually cover- 

 ed with hard leather, slides back and for- 

 wards in each trough, and is retained 

 within it by a thick wire, which runs 

 through its upper part, and proceeds 

 from the further end of the trough, which 

 has a button, or knob, on the end next 

 the web, that prevents the little wooden 

 cube from slipping off; from the move- 

 able cube in one trough, a cord proceeds 

 loosely over the web to that in the oppo- 

 site trough, and a turned handle is at- 

 tached to the middle of this cord, by 

 which the weaver puts the little cubes in 

 motion ; the shuttle is straight-sided, and 

 is sloped off to a point at both ends, 

 which are tipped with iron ; very light 

 and well-turned little wheels are let into 

 the substance of the shuttle at each end, 

 and project little more than the eighth of 

 an inch beyond its surface ; and on these 

 it runs along the lower rail of the batton, 

 over the lower threads of the warp when 

 it is thrown. When the weaver works 

 with this apparatus, he first presses back 

 one of the sliding cubes to the further 

 end of the trough in which it lies, and 

 lays the shuttle in the trough directly be- 

 tween it and the web, first fastening the 

 end of the yarn contained by the shuttle 

 properly to the web ; then pressing down 

 the treadle, he takes up the handle which 

 puts the sliding cubes in motion, and by 

 a gentle jerk of his hand pulls the cube, 

 which is behind the shuttle, towards the 

 web ; the quick motion of the sliding 

 cube is directly communicated to the 

 shuttle, and it flies rapidly through the 

 warp into the trough at the other side, 

 pressing back the contrained sliding cube 



