Birds and All Nature, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1900: Illustrated by Color PhotographyVarious
History
Birds and All Nature, Vol. 7, No. 1, January 1900: Illustrated by Color Photography
Various
Birds -- Periodicals; Natural history -- Periodicals
Parliament imposed a fine of $2,500 for sending American cotton
cloth to England, and another for exporting machinery to America.
Massachusetts at once gave a bonus of $2,500, and afterwards $10,000 to
encourage the introduction of cotton machinery. Francis Cabot Lowell
was an American inventor. He brought the business of weaving cotton
cloth to this country. There had been some small attempts before his
time, but he introduced it extensively and profitably. He established
a cotton factory in Massachusetts in 1810, and was very successful.
In that year he was in England, dealing with makers of cotton goods.
The idea occurred to him that it would be more profitable to make the
goods on his side of the water where the cotton was raised. He acted
promptly. Lowell, Massachusetts, is named after him, and stands as a
monument to his good judgment and inventive genius.
Three years after he had established the manufacture of cotton goods in
this country, he invented the famous power loom. That was a great step
in advance. It has done more for the industry than anything since the
days of Hargreaves and Arkwright. By the use of power these looms set
the spindles running at a remarkable rate of speed. Twenty years ago
the world wondered at the velocity of our spindles, 5,000 revolutions
in one minute. But it has kept on wondering ever since, and the speed
of spindles has constantly increased as if there could be no limit.
15,000 revolutions are now common.
In Great Britain there are 45,000,000 spindles running at a wondrous
rate, and 17,000,000 are running in America. With cheaper labor and
more extended experience, they are doing more of it across the water
than we. For our consumption we make all the coarse grades, but all the
fine cottons are imported. They get large quantities of cotton now in
India. Egypt also is a great cotton country, producing the best cotton
grown with the one exception of our famous sea island cotton. Her crop
is worth $48,000,000 annually. England has hunted the world over for
cotton and good cotton ground, and while we were engaged in war she was
increasing her endeavors in this direction with much earnestness.
If you will notice the contents of a boll of cotton you will be
surprised to find that the fiber is not the main thing there. The seed
is far heavier than the fiber, and it really occupies more space when
the two are crowded into their closest possible limits. You can press
the cotton down upon the seed till the whole is but little larger than
the seed.
The fiber clings to the seed with great firmness, and you find it
difficult to tear them from each other. There is no wonder it was such
a slow process to separate them in the good old days. The Yankee, Eli
Whitney, went to Georgia to teach school, but by the time he arrived
there the school was taken by another, and he was out of employment.
That was a happy misfortune for him and for the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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