AN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION 



of which were finally appreciated, the inventor being 

 recognized as a great benefactor to mankind. 



But like most pioneer inventions in new fields, the 

 spinning-jenny was defective in many ways. Only 

 certain kinds of thread could be spun on it, and the 

 cotton rove, or film of cotton fibers from which the yarn 

 is spun, had to be carefully carded before it could be 

 used. But even with the greatest care it was impossi- 

 ble to spin yarn or threads strong enough to act as 

 warp, the thread as made by the spinning- jenny being 

 only suitable for weft. 



As most people are unfamiliar with the exact mean- 

 ing of the terms "warp" and "weft," it should be ex- 

 plained that in weaving, a certain number of threads 

 lying parallel and running longitudinally are first 

 fastened into the weaving-frame. The threads are 

 known as warp-threads. In the process of weaving 

 other threads are passed alternately over and under 

 these longitudinal threads, row after row, until the 

 cloth is completed. These transverse threads are 

 called the weft, and it is obvious that such threads 

 need not necessarily be so strong as the warp-threads. 

 It was only these weft threads and not the warp, that 

 could be spun upon Hargreaves' spinning-jenny. 



ARKWRIGHT INVENTS THE WATER-FRAME 



The machine that finally solved the problem of 

 making warp-thread was the creation of Richard 

 Arkwright, barber, hair-dyer, and man of inventive 

 genius, of Preston in Lancashire. Arkwright was 



