COTTON MANUFACTURE. 87 
horizontal lever wv’. The latter extends the whole length of the machine, 
and carries a fork, which shifts the driving-band from the fast to the loose 
pulley, and thus the machine isstopped: By pushing this rod the attendant 
is enabled to stop the machine at whichever end he may happen to be. 
4. CoMPLETION OF THE Rovinas. 
After the cotton has passed through one or two bobbin-and-fly frames, or 
through the tube frame, the rovings are handed over to the mule or throstle, 
and spun into yarn. In the finer qualities of yarn the roving is subjected 
to a process called stretching, in order still further to attenuate it; this is 
done upon the bobbin-and-fly frame. The machine heretofore employed for 
this purpose is called a stretching-frame, and differs but little from a mule- 
jenny. Its operation is briefly as follows: The bobbins filled by the fore- 
going operations are placed in the frame, and the ends passed through the 
back drawing rollers, and thence to the front ones, from which they pass out 
in a lengthened and fine-drawn state, proportional to the amount of drawing 
which they receive. The rovings thus attenuated are severally attached to 
the spindles of the carriage ; the machine is set in motion; the rovings pass 
from the front rollers, and the carriage recedes from the stationary part of 
the machine with a velocity equal to that with which the roving is given 
out by the drawing rollers. Thus the roving is kept extended between the 
spindles and the forward drawing rollers. Whilst the carriage is drawn 
back, the rovings are twisted by the rotation of the spindles, and when it 
has receded about 54 inches it stops, together with the drawing rollers. 
The twist is produced without the help of the flyer (of the fly-frame), by the 
rovings being coiled diagonally up to the point of the spindle, where, from 
the inclined position of the latter towards the rollers, one end of the roving 
remains during the revolution of the spindle, and thus receives its twist. 
The carriage and spindles stop together; it then becomes the business of 
the attendant to wind up the 54 inches, which she accomplishes by depress- 
ing the faller wire with her left hand, so as to bring the rovings at right 
angles with their respective spindles. At this juncture she turns the 
‘spindles by means of a crank with her right hand, whilst she pushes the 
carriage back to the drawing rollers with a velocity corresponding to that 
with which she winds up the roving. As the carriage approaches the 
drawing rollers she raises slowly the faller wire, during the last turn of 
the spindles ; and then the rovings, in consequence of the relative position 
of the spindles and rollers, coil themselves again to the point of the spindle, 
‘and the twisting commences again with another length of roving. 
The roving is wound in an oval form upon the spindle, and when the cop 
is sufficiently large it is taken off, skewered, and placed in the creel of the 
spinning machine. 
The product of the stretching frame is a very soft and delicate roving, 
and must be handled with great care. 
Besides the mule frame, the throstle frame is also used in the preparation 
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