440 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



more precarious; ttat id passing beyond the southern brink of Georgia, 

 the staple of the cotton became too coarse. He then said, that his infancy 

 had been spent in the house of a successful trader in cotton, his OTvn father, 

 who by the aid of a pariner who had been bred a cotton spinner, and had 

 been established by him in Charleston, had, in 1798, laid the foundation of 

 a fortune, large, for the time, by the purchase of sea island cotton, and ita 

 gale in Liverpool. 



Cotton being a subject of family interest, he had heard many anecdotes 

 in relation to cotton, among them the following, for the authenticity of 

 which he could only allege the probability of the story, but could quote no 

 authority. 



It was said, that a royalist planter of South Carolina, having left Charles- 

 ton with the British army, had settled at Nassau, New Providence. Of 

 this place, in recompense for his losses and as a reward for his services, he 

 had been named Governor. That he had sent thrice, to his daughter mar- 

 ried to a good whig and residing in Charleston, the seeds of the tree peren- 

 nial cotton of the West Indies. That these seeds, planted in a sheltered 

 situation and in an unusually long season, had produced plants, the seeds of 

 which had ripened before the plant was cut off by frost. That from the 

 latter seeds, distributed as for flowers to owners of land in more southern 

 districts, all the sea island cotton had sprung. 



Mr. Renwick finally stated, that in New Providence, and generally in 

 the cotton growing islands of the West Indies, the influence of the sea air 

 was felt, and that it was well known that cotton of long staple could not be 

 grown in the United States beyond the reach of the sea breeze ; that, in 

 proof, the Santee cotton was grown from the sea island seeds upon a hilly 

 region of South Carolina, that if its texture was finer than that of the up- 

 land cotton, its staple was much shorter than that of the sea island. 



After some general conversation, the Association adjourned to the 9tli 

 inst. 



American Institute, Polytechnic Association, ) 



Jan. ^th, 1859. \ 



Peter Cooper in the Chair, Henry Meigs, Secretary. 



The Secretary Mr. Meigs, read the following papers, and translations 



made by him, (viz:) 



CLOTH. 



I invite the attention of the Polytechnic to the specimens of our American 

 work at the beginning of our career as an Independent People — as well as 

 to those of other nations. We have in our Library a ^mall collection made 

 by the Reverend David T. Stoddard, of our county, a Missionary in Persia, 

 in 1845, who sent specimens from Oroomia, Persia, to Dr. D. Stebbins, one 

 of our able laborers in the cause of Domestic Manufactures. It will be seen 

 that broadcloths have been made here which are equal to the European, 

 and that it is usual for our tailors to dress us in American cloth with an 

 European name. We now dye aa well. Some years ago we made much of 



