[Illustration: 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.”
[Illustration: 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 growth of 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 the floor, 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 a _bing_ or _bunker_, 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 a _willow_. 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 through a 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, or _batted_, 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.
[Illustration: Opening the Cotton.]
The coarser qualities are passed at once from the willow to the
_scutching_ or _blowing machine_, which does the work of batting, only in
a more violent manner, and is therefore not 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 a
_drawing 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 rollers arranged in what are called
_heads_, 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.
[Illustration: 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
called _roving_.
[Illustration: Cotton Bobbins. Buffaloes with Bobbins. Roving.]
The bobbin-and-fly frame is an exceedingly complicated machine, 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 the _fly_ or _flyer_. 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 the rollers, 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.
[Illustration: Throstle. Flyer.]
The _throstle machine_ is 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. The yarn is equally distributed on
the bobbin by a slow up-and-down movement of the platform.
[Illustration: 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 the _mule_ the 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 and more 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 has _completed_ a
_stretch_, 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 properly twisted.
In spinning the finer yarns, the carriage sometimes makes what is called
a _second 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 or _built_ in a conical form, which is called a _cop_. These
cops are used for placing in the _shuttle_ in weaving, and form the weft
or short cross threads of the cloth.
[Illustration: 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 to apply 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 as _bobbin-net-lace_-thread,
stocking-thread, sewing-thread, &c.
[Illustration: Gassing.]
In fine spinning, the yarn, when doubled, is for some purposes _singed_
or _gassed_, 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
cotton is 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.
[Illustration: 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 called _warping_.
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
the _warping-frame_ is 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 for _drawing_ or 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, called
_treadles_, 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
two _treadles_, by which one of the two heddles is depressed, thereby
forming a kind of opening called the _shed_. Into this shed, at the
second movement, he throws the shuttle, containing the weft-thread, with
sufficient force to drive it across the whole web. Then at the third
movement he grasps the _batten_, 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 the
_fly-shuttle_, in which a string and handle are so placed that the weaver
can work the shuttle both ways with one hand.
[Illustration: 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’s _power-loom_
in 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.
[Illustration: Power Loom.]
Taking a piece of calico as the representative of plain fabrics
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.
[Illustration: Spinning by hand.]