COTTON MANUFACTURER.

CARDING.

The extremely valuable substance, called Cotton, which is now raised in such abundance as to furnish the cheapest and most extensively-used clothing, is produced in the seed vessels of the cotton plant, of which there are many varieties; some are herbaceous annual plants, growing from eighteen to twenty-four inches high; others, shrubs about the size of our currant bushes, and of from two to ten years’ duration; whilst a third kind attain the growth of small trees, with a height of from twelve to twenty feet.

The leaves of the cotton plant are of a bright dark green colour, deeply divided into five lobes; the flowers are large and showy, of a bright sulphur or lemon colour, and closely resemble in appearance and botanical structure those of the single hollyhock; each flower is succeeded by a triangular three-celled seed vessel, which attains the size of a small walnut, and when ripe bursts open from the swelling of the cotton contained in the three cells; the seeds, which are rather larger than those of grapes, are inclosed in the cotton wool, which adheres very firmly to them. One variety of cotton, cultivated in China, and some parts of America, has a yellow tint; this tint it preserves when woven into the fabric called “nankeen.”

Cotton Plant. Bale of Cotton.

The cotton plant is largely cultivated in India, China, United States, West Indies, on the shores of the Mediterranean, and, in short, in almost all the warmer parts of the world; it flourishes readily in soils too poor for the growthof grain, and other crops, and succeeds perfectly well in dry seasons.

The cotton, when perfectly ripe, is gathered by women and children, the seeds and wool being picked out of the pod; it is dried in the sun, and is then ready for the removal of the seeds. In India this operation is performed by means of two parallel rollers, which are fixed in a frame at a small distance apart, so that when they are turned round the cotton is drawn through whilst the seeds, which from their size are unable to pass, are torn off and separated. With this simple machine a man can separate the seeds from about fifty pounds of cotton in a day.

In America a still more rapid process is adopted: the cotton is placed in a box, one side of which is formed of stout parallel wires, placed about one-eighth of an inch apart; by the side of this box is a roller, carrying a number of circular saws with curved teeth, which project through the wires into the box. On the roller being made to revolve, the teeth of the saws drag the cotton through the wires, the seeds remaining behind; after being thus separated, the cotton is powerfully compressed into bags, and is ready for transport to this and other manufacturing countries.

The cotton is seldom unpacked until it arrives at the mill, the purchases being all managed by samples. When it is unpacked, the first thing to be done is the sorting, and in this much care and skill are required; for the different bags furnish different qualities of cotton, and it is necessary to produce yarn of uniform quality at the cheapest rate.

In order, therefore, to equalize the different qualities, the contents of all the bags are mixed together in the following manner. A space being cleared and marked out on thefloor, the cotton contained in the first bag is scattered over this space, so as exactly to cover it; the contents of the second bag are in like manner spread over the first, and the cotton in all the other bags is disposed in a similar manner; men and boys tread down the heap, which is called abingorbunker, until at length it rises up in shape and dimensions very much like a haystack. Whenever a supply of cotton is taken from the bing it is torn down with a rake from top to bottom, by which means it is evident the contents of the different bags are collected together in a mass of uniform quality and colour. In mixing different qualities of cotton it is usual to bring together such only as have a similar length of staple. A portion of the waste cotton of the mill is also mixed in the bing, for making the lower qualities of yarn. For higher numbers, as well as for warps, a finer quality of cotton must be selected; and thus it will be seen that the formation of a bing is an important operation, the quality of the goods produced depending upon it.

In this state the cotton contains sand, dirt, and other impurities, and the fibres are matted together by the pressure they were subjected to in packing. To open the fibres and get rid of the sand, &c. the cotton is put into a machine called awillow. This consists of a box or case, containing a conical wooden beam, studded over with iron spikes; this beam is made to turn round five or six hundred times a minute. The cotton, as it is torn down from the bing, is put in at one end of the machine, where it is caught by the spikes, tossed about with great violence, and gradually driven forward to the other end. The sand and other impurities fall out of the machine through an open grating at the bottom; the dust and lighter matter pass off througha series of wire openings, and the cleaned cotton is sent down a shoot into the room below.

If the cotton is of fine quality it is beaten, orbatted, with hazel or holly twigs. For this purpose, it is spread on a frame, the upper part of which is made of cords and is quite elastic. A woman, with a rod about three or four feet long in each hand, beats the cotton with great violence, and so entirely separates the fibre. Any loose impurities which remain fall out between the cords; seeds and fragments of seed-pods, which adhere to the cotton somewhat firmly, are picked out by hand. By this method the cotton is thoroughly opened, and made quite clean, without injuring the staple.

Opening the Cotton.

The coarser qualities are passed at once from the willow to thescutchingorblowing machine, which does the work of batting, only in a more violent manner, and is thereforenot adapted for fine qualities; but in coarser spinning is in general use, to prepare the cotton for the carding engine.

The cotton, which is still in a confused and tangled state, has now to be carded, upon the regularity and perfection of which process depends much of the success of spinning, and also the durability and beauty of the stuff to be woven. A cotton card is a sort of brush, containing wires instead of bristles. The cards are made of bands or fillets of leather, or are formed of alternate layers of cotton, linen, and india-rubber pierced with numerous holes, in which are fixed bent pieces of iron wire, called dents or teeth.

The fibres of the cotton are not yet sufficiently level to be twisted into yarn; and it often happens that the teeth of the card lay hold of a fibre by the middle and thus double it together, in which state it is unfit for spinning.

The cardings are therefore doubled and drawn out by a machine called adrawing frame, the principle of which depends upon different pairs of rollers revolving with different degrees of rapidity. If, however, the riband, as it leaves the carding-engine, were simply extended in length by drawing it out, it would be liable to tear across, or to be of a different thickness at different parts of its length. To prevent the tearing and to equalize the thickness, a number of cardings are joined together and drawn out to a length equal to the sum of the length of all the separate cardings.

The effect produced is the same as taking a piece of cotton wool between the finger and thumb and drawing it out many times, laying the drawn filaments over each other, before each drawing. If the cotton be then examined it will be found that all the fibres are parallel and of equal length. This effect is accomplished very perfectly in the drawing frame, which consists of a number of rollersarranged in what are calledheads, each head consisting of three pairs of rollers, of which the second pair moves with greater speed than the first, and the third moves quicker than the second.

Drawing. Thread Frame.

By the process of doubling and drawing, the cotton is formed into a loose porous cord, the fibres of which are arranged side by side. This cord is still too thick for yarn, but it cannot be reduced in size by drawing merely, for if this were attempted it would break; a slight twist is therefore given, which by condensing the fibres allows the drawing to proceed. This is the commencement of the spinning process (which is, in fact, little more than a combination of drawing and twisting) and is calledroving.

Cotton Bobbins. Buffaloes with Bobbins. Roving.

The bobbin-and-fly frame is an exceedingly complicatedmachine, although the objects to be accomplished by it are sufficiently simple; namely, to give the roving a slight twist, and then to wind it on the bobbin. The first is easily done by the revolutions of the spindle; the second is more difficult. It is scarcely necessary to explain that the bobbins now under notice differ in no way from the reels in common use, except in being of very large size. The spindle which holds the bobbin is a round steel rod,driven by a small cog-wheel, fastened on the lower part of the spindle. The bobbin is slid upon the spindle, and the small bed or platform on which it rests is made to revolve by another series of small wheels. The spindle has two arms, called theflyorflyer. This fly is fixed on the top of the spindle in such a way that it can be taken off in an instant, for the purpose of putting on or taking off the bobbin. One arm of the fly is hollow, the other solid, and all this serves to balance the machinery. One machine contains from thirty to a hundred and twenty spindles, which, for economy of space, are placed in two rows, each spindle in the back row standing opposite the space left between two spindles of the front row. The action of the machine is this:—The sliver having been drawn by therollers, is twisted by the rapid revolutions of the spindle into a soft cord or roving; this enters a hole in the top of the spindle, and passes down the hollow arm of the fly; it is then twisted round a steel finger, which winds it on the bobbin with a certain pressure.

Throstle. Flyer.

Thethrostle machineis usually made double, a row of bobbins, spindles, &c. occupying each side of the frame. The bobbins filled with rovings from the bobbin-and-fly frame, are mounted at the upper part of the frame in two ranges. The roving from each bobbin passes through three pairs of drawing rollers, where it is stretched out to the requisite fineness. On quitting the last pair of rollers, each thread is guided by a little ring or a notch of smooth glass, let into the frame, towards the spindles, which revolve with great rapidity, producing by the motion of their flyers through the air a low musical hum, which is supposed to have given the name of throstle to this machine. The roving, which may now be called yarn, passing through an eyelet formed at the end of one of the arms of the flyer, proceeds at once to other bobbins.

The yarn is wound upon the bobbins by a curious contrivance. The bobbin fits very loosely upon the spindle, and rests on its end upon a kind of platform. The bobbin is not connected with the spindle, except by the thread of yarn, which has to be wound; therefore, as soon as the flyer is set spinning, the thread drags the bobbin after it, and makes it follow the motion of the spindle and fly; but the weight of the bobbin, and its friction on the platform, which is promoted by covering the end with coarse cloth, causes it to hang back, and thus the double purpose is served, of keeping the thread stretched and winding it on the bobbin much more slowly than the flyer revolves. Theyarn is equally distributed on the bobbin by a slow up-and-down movement of the platform.

Mule.

These effects are the same as were produced by the bobbin and fly-frame, but in the throstle they are attained by simpler means. In the former machine a distinct movement caused the bobbin to revolve quicker than the spindle. In the throstle the bobbin is made to revolve by the pull of the yarn, which is now sufficiently strong for the purpose; but the roving in the bobbin-and-fly frame would not bear the strain. The throstle is not often employed for very fine spinning, because fine yarn would not bear the drag of the bobbin; but in mule-spinning the yarn is wound at once upon the spindles without any strain. In themulethe rolling is first drawn by the usual system of rollers, and then stretched by a moveable carriage. The effect of first drawing and then stretching is to make the yarn finer andmore uniform, as will be explained presently. The spinning mule is the most interesting and impressive spectacle in a large cotton mill—on account of its vast extent, the great quantity of work performed by it, and the wonderful complication and ingenuity of its parts.

The spinning-mule consists of two principal portions: the first, which is fixed, contains the bobbins of rovings and the drawing rollers; the second is a sort of carriage, moving upon an iron railroad, and capable of being drawn out to a distance of about five feet from the fixed frame. This carriage carries the spindles, the number of which is half that of the bobbins of rovings. Motion is given to the spindles by means of vertical drums, round which are passed slender cords, communicating with the spindles. There is one drum to every twenty-four spindles.

The carriage being run up to the point from which it starts in spinning, the spindles are near to the roller-beam; the rollers now begin to turn, and to give out yarn, which is immediately twisted by the revolution of the spindles; the carriage then moves away from the roller-beam, somewhat quicker than the threads are delivered, so that they receive a certain amount of stretching, which gives value to this machine. The beneficial effect is produced in this way,—when the thread leaves the rollers, it is thicker in some parts than in others, and those thicker parts not being so much twisted as the thinner ones are softer, and yield to the stretching power of the mule, so that the twist is equalised throughout, and the yarn becomes more uniform. When the carriage hascompletedastretch, or is drawn out from about fifty-four to sixty-four inches from the roller-beam, the drawing rollers cease to give out yarn, but the spindles continue to whirl until the threads are properlytwisted. In spinning the finer yarns, the carriage sometimes makes what is called asecond stretch, during which the spindles are made to revolve much more rapidly than before. The drawing, stretching, and twisting, of a length of thread being thus completed, the mule disengages itself from the parts of the machinery by which it has hitherto been driven, and the spinner then pushes the carriage with his knee back to the roller-beam, turning at the same time with his right hand a fly wheel, which gives motion to the spindles. At the same time a copping wire, as it is called, is pressed upon the threads by the spinners’ left hand, and they are thus made to traverse the whole length of the spindle, upon which they are then wound orbuiltin a conical form, which is called acop. These cops are used for placing in theshuttlein weaving, and form the weft or short cross threads of the cloth.

Machinery for moving Shuttle. Shuttle for Power Loom.

The yarn is now disposed of in various ways, according to the use for which it is intended; but it is often found convenient to make it up into hanks. When the yarn is completed it is usually sent to the doubling and twisting mill, for the purpose of being converted into what is now properly called thread. Although we are accustomed toapply the word thread to a thin narrow line of any fibrous material, the manufacturer limits the term to that compound cord produced by doubling or twisting two or more single lines. The single line he calls yarn, two or more single lines, laid parallel and twisted together, he calls thread; and of this there are many varieties, such asbobbin-net-lace-thread, stocking-thread, sewing-thread, &c.

Gassing.

In fine spinning, the yarn, when doubled, is for some purposessingedorgassed, in order to get rid of the loose fibres, and to make it more level and compact. The process of singeing yarn strikes a stranger as being more remarkable than anything else in the mill. In a long room in the upper part of the mill, or in a shed attached to it, are several tables, lighted up with a large number of jets of flame, about twelve inches apart, producing a singular but pleasing effect. Above each flame is a little hood or chimney. On entering this room the smell of burnt cottonis immediately perceived, and on approaching the table, one is surprised to see a fine delicate thread crossing each flame in two or three directions, and apparently at rest; but on following the course of this thread, it is found to proceed from one bobbin, which is rapidly spinning round, and to pass through the flame to another bobbin, which is also in rapid motion. It is then seen that the thread is also moving at a rapid rate, by which means alone does it escape being consumed. The thread is led over pulleys, so as to pass two or three times through the flame, which singes off the loose fibres, converting them into a reddish powder or dust, which, if blown about and inhaled, would do great injury to the lungs; this is why the gassing-room is in a remote or retired part of the building, to prevent the air being disturbed by the bustle of the heavier parts.

Warping Machines.

When cotton is intended to be woven into a fabric, such as calico, &c. the first operation consists in laying the requisite number of threads together to form the width of the cloth; this is calledwarping. Supposing there to be 1,000 threads in the width of a piece of cloth, then the yarn, wound on the bobbins as it leaves the hands of the spinner, must be so unwound and laid out as to form 1,000 lengths, constituting, when laid parallel, the warp of the intended cloth. The ancient method was to draw out the warp from the bobbins at full length on an open field (and this is still practised in India and China), but thewarping-frameis now employed, in which the threads are arranged, by means of a frame turning on an upright centre. When the warp is arranged round this machine, the warper takes it off and winds it on a stick into a ball, preparatory to the process of beaming or winding it on the beam of the loom. The threads in this latter process are wound as evenly as possible on the beam; a separator, ravel, or comb being used to lay them parallel, and to spread them out to about the intended width of the cloth. Arrangements are then made fordrawingor attaching the warp-threads individually to certain mechanism of the loom. In this process all the threads are attached to stays fixed to two frames, calledtreadles, in such a manner that all the alternate threads (1st, 3d, 5th,) can be drawn up or down by one heddle, and all the rest (2d, 4th, 6th, &c.) by the other.

There are three movements attending every thread of weft which the weaver throws across the warp. In the first place he presses down one of the twotreadles, by which one of the two heddles is depressed, thereby forming a kind of opening called theshed. Into this shed, at the second movement, he throws the shuttle, containing theweft-thread, with sufficient force to drive it across the whole web. Then at the third movement he grasps thebatten, which is a kind of frame, carrying at its lower edge a comb-like piece, having as many teeth as there are threads in the warp, and with this he drives up the thread of weft close to those previously thrown. One thread of weft is thus completed, and the weaver proceeds to throw another in a similar way, but in a reverse order, that is, by depressing the left treadle instead of the right, and by throwing the shuttle from left to right, instead of from right to left. In the commonest mode of weaving the shuttle is thrown by both hands alternately; but, about a century ago, John Kay invented thefly-shuttle, in which a string and handle are so placed that the weaver can work the shuttle both ways with one hand.

Weaving by hand.

In 1678 M. de Gennes invented a rude kind of weaving-machine,intended to increase the power of the common loom; and other looms were invented, which were to be worked by a winch, by water power, or by some contrivance more expeditious than common hand-weaving; but a greater step in advance was made by the invention of Dr. Cartwright’spower-loomin 1785. One cause which delayed the adoption of power-looms was the necessity for stopping the machine frequently, in order to dress the warp with paste or size as it unrolled from the beam, which operation required a person to be employed for each loom, so that there was no saving of expense. But the successive inventions of Radcliffe, Horrocks, Marsland, Roberts, and others, have since brought the dressing-machine and the power-loom to a high state of efficiency.

Power Loom.

Taking a piece of calico as the representative of plainfabrics generally, the mode of proceeding in power-loom factories may be shortly sketched as follows. The warping-frame is so arranged as to be worked by steam-power, and to bring the yarns into a parallel layer, which is transferred to the dressing-machine. This latter is a large piece of mechanism, in which the threads dip into paste on their way to the warp-beam: undergoing a process of brushing after the dipping. After this dressing the drawing and mounting for the loom are attended to. When the warp is properly arranged in the loom, steam-power does all the rest; it forms the shed or division of the warp into two parts, it throws the shuttle, it drives up the weft with the batten, it unwinds the warp from the warp-roller, and winds the woven material on the cloth-roller.

Spinning by hand.

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