125 



SUBSTITUTES FOR COTTON AND NEW FIBRES. 



At a time when our principal staple manufacture is paralysed from a 

 lack of the raw material, a discovery which would tend in the slightest 

 degree to relieve this serious state of things would be a boon difficult to 

 over-estimate. The properties of cotton are so marked, and so different 

 from those of any other known fibrous material, that when it is stated 

 that a substitute has been found, that the material is produced to a 

 great extent in this country, and may be furnished to any greater extent 

 that might be required, at trifling expense, without interfering with 

 ordinary agricultural operations — and that in colour, fineness, strength, 

 and length of staple, it is equal to the finest Sea Island cotton — one is 

 inclined to believe that the wishes of some over sanguine inventor have 

 been expressed, and not that a reliable discovery has been made. The 

 announcement is so startling, that we may well be excused, pending 

 more exact information, for fearing that tins " wonderful discovery " may 

 share the fate of hundreds of others which, under the rigorous tests of 

 quality, amount of available supply, and cost of production, have failed 

 to realise the anticipations formed o£ them, or even to establish a claim 

 to commercial value. However this may be, there can be no doubt of 

 the good faith of those who have raised intense public interest by the 

 announcement of a discovery which, if realised, would seem, in the pre- 

 sent crisis, to be little less than providential. A legal firm in the City 

 of the highest respectability stated, in the first instance, that a client of 

 theirs had made a discovery by which the cotton manufacturers might 

 be supplied, without any delay, to an extent equivalent, at least, to a 

 million bales of cotton, with a raw material so closely resembling that 

 article that it might be spun and woven by the existing machinery ; that 

 the processes required in the preparation for the manufacturer were of 

 the most simple and inexpensive character ; and that he was prepared to 

 submit his plans to any nobleman or gentleman of scientific attainments 

 upon whose judgment the public might rely for an unbiassed report. 



The interest awakened by the announcement led to communications 

 being addressed to Messrs. Phillips and Son, of Abchurch lane-, the firm 

 in question, from manufacturers, cotton dealers, and others immediately 

 interested in the vital question of cotton supply. Eventually small 

 samples of the material were submitted to Mr. John Hardy Wrigley, of 

 Liverpool, a retired cotton-broker, who expressed the opinion that in 

 colour, length, and fineness it was all that could be desired. As to the 

 important quality of strength, he could only speak from the report of 

 the discoverer, who stated that it was as strong as, or stronger, than cot- 

 ton, and could be produced as low in price. Since then specimens have 

 been submitted to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, and to various 

 large firms in that city. Mr. Fleming, the secretary of the Chamber of 

 Commerce, was permitted to do that which Mr. Wrigley had not done — 

 to test in every possible way the strength of the fibre. As regards the 



