SEA ISLAND COTTON INDUSTRY. 7 
Manufacturers reported that the style for women's dress goods had 
changed from soft, smooth, lustrous cloths, composed of fine yarns 
and of high counts per inch of both warp and woof, to coarser, rougher 
effects \\'ith fewer tln^eads per inch in tlie woven fabric. On account 
of the change of style in women's wear, shirt-waist and petticoat 
makei-s had been almost driven out of business and no longer re- 
mained important factors as consumers of fine goods. 
Such changes in style are of course reflected in the kind of cotton 
purchased and, as might be expected, the cheapest quality that will 
answer the purpose is generally bought. The result has been a 
gradual scaling down in the length of staple being used in the fine 
goods trade.. The longest and finest cottons have felt the effect of 
this tendency most keenly and, compared with former standards of 
price, have been sold at the greatest sacrifice. 
Closely associated mth style is the insistent demand of those who 
place orders with mills for cloth that the price must be at the lowest 
possible quotation. In the sale of many lines of goods manufacturers 
reported that the price is the sole consideration, and the mill quot- 
ing the lowest price receives the contract regardless of the quahty of 
its goods. As competition had been keen, mills were forced to accept 
these low-priced orders and had then striven to cheapen their prod- 
uct in order to make a hving profit. The chief means of cheapening 
the cost of manufacture are the use of either cheaper raw stock or 
coarser yax'ns, or both of these ways combined. In many instances 
both of these I'emedies have been apphed in the recent past, resulting 
in a coarser, rougher, and more porous style of goods. In a way 
this cheapening of the cost of production resulted in or helped toward 
the change of styles, as pre^dously noted, as the arbiters of style are 
dependent upon goods they find at hand in sufficient quantities to 
give a ready supply of cloths for their requirements. 
Another factor to be reckoned with in the cheapening of the cost 
of production is improved cotton-mill machinery. With the improve- 
ments of recent years, especially since the introduction of combers 
that can successfully comb even Upland cottons, manufacturers can 
use shorter staples in their product and still have it look sufficiently 
attractive to be accepted by the average purchaser. The large use 
of the shorter staples, especially of 1^ and 1 J inch cottons, for comb- 
ing has correspondingly lessened the demand for the longer varieties, 
1^-inch and longer, and has been partly responsible for the lower 
prices at which the extra staple cottons have sold. 
TIRE CLOTHS AN IMPORTANT EXAMPLE. 
In the manufacture of automobile tire cloths the tendency to reduce 
the cost of production has been especially noticeable. Only a few 
years ago the best grades of Sea Mand cotton were considered none 
too good for the purpose. Prices and quality were maintained, and 
