his education by spinning. Temperamentally he was 

 a great contrast to Arkwright, being a dreamer and 

 musician, and nothing of the man of affairs that 

 stood the inventor of the spinning-frame in such good 

 stead. 



For several years Crompton had been engaged in 

 spinning with a Hargreaves spinning-jenny in his 

 home, and the defects of this machine and also of Ark- 

 wright's frame were very patent to him. He therefore 

 set about inventing a new type of machime that should 

 combine the good qualities of both, and leave out the 

 poor ones. Naturally, his endeavors were conducted 

 secretly; for although he did not possess a business 

 turn of mind, he had lived too long among the Lanca- 

 shire spinners, and was too familiar with the treatment 

 accorded Kay, Hargreaves, and Arkwright, not to 

 know that his only safety lay in secrecy. It is said 

 that the various parts of his machine were kept hidden 

 in the walls and ceilings of his home when not in actual 

 use. 



The first intimation given the outside world that a 

 new process of spinning had been discovered was by 

 an exceedingly fine quality of cotton thread offered 

 for sale from the Hall-in-the-Wood, Crompton' s home 

 a quality of thread far superior to anything that could 

 be manufactured by jenny or frame. How such 

 thread was manufactured no one could guess, but 

 hundreds of persons determined to find out, either by 

 fair means or by foul. Visitors by scores came to the 

 Hall, some of them offering to buy, others attempting to 

 steal, the secret. Some even went so far as to bore 



VOL. ix.-j [ 33 ] 



