Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is enclosed in _underscores_.
Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook.
[Illustration: (Cover)]
The
Story of Rope
The History and the
Modern Development
of Rope-Making.
_Compiled and Published by_
Plymouth Cordage Company
NORTH PLYMOUTH, MASS.
WELLAND, ONTARIO
1916
Copyright 1916, by Plymouth Cordage Company 663-11-15-5-28500
FOREWORD
The matter contained in this book originally appeared, in substantially
the same form, as a series of articles in our monthly publication
“Plymouth Products.” The story aimed to make better known an industry
previously little understood and thereby to advance the cause of good
rope.
First and last this “Story of Rope” has had many interested and
responsive readers. Encouraged by the large numbers of requests for it
which continually come to us, we are now led to publish it anew and
with the hope that in its present improved form it will still further
fulfill its original purpose.
PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY
CONTENTS
PART I
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER PAGE
I Ancient, Mediæval and Tribal Rope-Making 11
II Rope-Making in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Early
Nineteenth Centuries 19
PART II
RAW MATERIALS
I Manila Fiber 27
II Sisal Fiber 35
III The Hemps--American, Russian, Italian. Other Fibers 43
IV Pine Tar. 49
PART III
PRESENT DAY MANUFACTURING PROCESSES METHODS AND EQUIPMENT AS
SEEN IN THE WORLD’S LARGEST CORDAGE FACTORY
I Buying, Grading and Storing of Fiber 55
II Preparation of Fiber for Spinning--Formation of “Sliver” 63
III Spinning of Rope Yarn and Binder Twine 71
IV Tarring of Rope Yarns and of Small Ropes 77
V Forming and Laying of Ropes and Cables--Ropewalk Method 79
VI Forming and Laying of Ropes and Cables--Factory Method,
Two-Machine System 85
VII Forming and Laying of Ropes--Factory Method, Single-Machine
System 91
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Ancient Egyptian rope 12
Nootka whaling lines 13
Ancient Egyptian rope-making methods 14
Use of rope in ancient Egyptian kitchen 14
Specimens of ancient Egyptian cordage 15
Detail of sculptured rope from Triumphal Arch at Orange 17
Attic sailing ship, sixth century B.C. 17
Mayflower in Plymouth harbor 18
Office of Plymouth Cordage Company 20
Bourne Spooner, founder of Plymouth Cordage Company 21
First advertisement of Plymouth Cordage Company 21
Old-time method of hackling cordage fiber 22
Spinning rope yarn by hand with old-time spinning wheel 23
Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth 24
Hank of Manila fiber 28
Philippine hemp cart 29
Filipino cleaning Manila fiber 30
Filipinos preparing Manila fiber for market 31
Examining Manila fiber at dock 32
Suburb of Manila--Manila fiber plant growing 33
Philippine street scene 34
Gathering leaves of Sisal fiber plant 36
Loading Sisal fiber leaves on plantation car 37
Scenes at cleaner house on Sisal fiber plantation 38
Bale of Sisal fiber 39
Machine separating Sisal fiber from leaves 40
Sisal fiber drying 41
Sisal fiber steamer at Plymouth Cordage Company’s pier 42
American hemp stacked in fields 44
Preparing American hemp for market 45
New Zealand flax plant 46
Hemp growing by the water 47
Uncle Ben, hemp breaker 48
Pine tar manufacturing methods 50
Pine tar handling at naval stores yard 52
Examining and re-grading Manila fiber at cordage factory 56
Track and warehouse facilities, Plymouth Cordage Company 57
Stacking Manila fiber in warehouse 58
Trucking Manila fiber into warehouse 59
Sisal fiber being transferred from warehouse to mill 60
No. 2 tar house, Plymouth Cordage Company 61
No. 3 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company 62
Preparation room, No. 3 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company 64
Lubricating oil mixing room, Plymouth Cordage Company 65
Formation of sliver on first breaker 66
Reducing size of sliver on preparation machines 67
Draw frame machines 68
Plymouth Cordage Company factory in early days and today 70
Spinning machine of early nineteenth century 72
Modern spinning machine 73
Spinning room, No. 1 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company 74
Spinning room, No. 3 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company 75
Tar storage and handling equipment, Plymouth Cordage Company 76
Tarring of rope yarns 78
Ropewalk manufacturing processes 80
Interior of ropewalk, Plymouth Cordage Company 82
Sixteen-inch towline with eye-splice 83
Lathyarn and tie rope machines, Plymouth Cordage Company 84
Rope-making machinery, Plymouth Cordage Company 87
Removing reel from forming machine 89
Compound laying-machine, four-strand type 90
Shipping platform, Plymouth Cordage Company 92
Part I
THE ROPEWALK
In that building, long and low,
With its windows all a-row,
Like the port-holes of a hulk,
Human spiders spin and spin,
Backward down their threads so thin
Dropping, each a hempen bulk.
At the end, an open door;
Squares of sunshine on the floor
Light the long and dusky lane;
And the whirring of a wheel,
Dull and drowsy, makes me feel
All its spokes are in my brain.
As the spinners to the end
Downward go and reascend,
Gleam the long threads in the sun;
While within this brain of mine
Cobwebs brighter and more fine
By the busy wheel are spun.
Two fair maidens in a swing,
Like white doves upon the wing,
First before my vision pass;
Laughing, as their gentle hands
Closely clasp the twisted strands,
At their shadow on the grass.
Then a booth of mountebanks,
With its smell of tan and planks,
And a girl poised high in air
On a cord, in spangled dress,
With a faded loveliness,
And a weary look of care.
Then a homestead among farms,
And a woman with bare arms
Drawing water from a well;
As the bucket mounts apace,
With it mounts her own fair face,
As at some magician’s spell.
Then an old man in a tower,
Ringing loud the noontide hour,
While the rope coils round and round
Like a serpent at his feet,
And again, in swift retreat,
Nearly lifts him from the ground.
Then within a prison-yard,
Faces fixed, and stern, and hard,
Laughter and indecent mirth;
Ah! it is the gallows-tree!
Breath of Christian charity,
Blow, and sweep it from the earth!
Then a schoolboy, with his kite
Gleaming in a sky of light,
And an eager, upward look;
Steeds pursued through lane and field;
Fowlers with their snares concealed;
And an angler by a brook.
Ships rejoicing in the breeze,
Wrecks that float o’er unknown seas,
Anchors dragged through faithless sand;
Sea-fog drifting overhead,
And, with lessening line and lead,
Sailors feeling for the land.
All these scenes do I behold,
These, and many left untold,
In that building long and low;
While the wheel goes round and round,
With a drowsy, dreamy sound,
And the spinners backward go.
--LONGFELLOW.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
ANCIENT, MEDIÆVAL AND TRIBAL ROPE-MAKING
How many people have ever given a thought to the question of where
rope comes from and how it is made, or realize what a variety of uses
it is put to, and how dependent we are upon it in many of the everyday
affairs of life? But let us suppose for a moment that the world were
suddenly deprived of its supply of this very commonplace material,
and of its smaller relatives, cords and twine. We should then begin
to realize the importance of a seemingly unimportant thing, and to
appreciate the difficulty in getting along without it.
Longfellow, in his poem “The Ropewalk,” which we have printed, shows
that he recognized the scope of the usefulness of rope, and appreciated
the romance and pathos connected with the use of a seemingly prosaic
article; for in his brief catalogue of the uses of rope which passed in
pictured procession through his mind, as he stood in the ropewalk and
came under the influence of the drowsy hum and whir of the spinners’
wheels, he succeeded in covering a good share of the changing phases
in the drama of human life: childhood in its swing, happy, without a
care; the life of the sailor, which, with its heroism, its romance, its
courageous meeting of danger or disaster, has always been the subject
of verse and story; the pathetic picture of the faded beauty on the
tight rope; and the tragic scene of the criminal dying upon the gallows.
[Illustration: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ROPE]
“All these and many left untold,” the poet says, and when we once begin
to let our thoughts run we find uses almost innumerable, on sea and
land, to which our rope is put. Then, if we allow ourselves to come
more and more under the drowsy spell of the wheels, we wonder how long
all these things have been going on, and when, where and how the first
rope was made and used.
A little investigation shows us that the use of rope is older than
history itself. Back beyond the time of any authentic record of events,
beyond even the range of tradition, the first rope-makers did their
work.
In his very earliest days man must have had something to serve for
cords or lines,--strips of hide or of bark, pliant reeds and rushes,
withes of tough woods, fibrous roots, hair of animals,--then, as the
need arose for longer, larger and stronger lines, it was met, as human
ingenuity developed, by twisting a number of some of these elements
together and forming a rope or cord. Just who was the prehistoric
genius that first performed this operation, or in what part of the
world he lived, we have no means of knowing.
Certain it is, according to the best authority, that not only were the
ancient civilized nations accomplished rope-makers, but savage tribes
in all parts of the world, for unknown thousands of years, have been
able to make ropes and cords from a great variety of materials, and the
beauty of their workmanship in many cases is little short of marvelous.
The North American Indians, for instance, are known to have made
cordage not only from well-known fiber plants, as cotton, yucca and
agave, but from such plants as the dogbane and nettle; from the inner
bark of trees, slippery elm, willow, linden; from the fibrous roots
of the spruce and pine; and from the hair, skins or sinews of various
animals.
[Illustration: NOOTKA WHALING LINES]
The native Peruvians were good rope-makers, using a substance known as
“totora,” as well as many other materials. The Island tribes of the
South Seas, expert in making rope, are favored with some very good
materials for its manufacture, obtained from the leaves of various
palms and plantains, from the fiber of the cocoanut, etc.
[Illustration]
As, at the present day, the shipping and fishing industries are among
the principal users of cordage, so it has been among all tribes and
nations from earliest times. The people who lived on islands or
the shores of large bodies of water, and who thus naturally became
fishermen, have been the larger users of ropes and lines, and we find
they always have been capable of producing a wide variety of fishing
lines and nets of excellent construction, capable of capturing all
sorts of fish, from the smallest brook trout to the huge sturgeon or
halibut.
[Illustration: SCENE IN AN EGYPTIAN KITCHEN SHOWING USE OF A LARGE ROPE
TO SUPPORT A SORT OF HANGING SHELF]
Even the whale has been successfully hunted by some adventurous tribes,
and we show a picture of lines made by the Nootka Indians of Vancouver
Island,[A] which are used by them in harpooning whales. The smaller
rope is made from sinews of the whale, served or wound with small cord.
It is very pliable and exceedingly strong. The harpoon is fastened to
this line, which, in turn, is fastened to the larger rope and that to
the boat. The large rope shown is made from spruce roots and is about
two inches in diameter.
[A] The photograph shown on page 13 was taken expressly for
us through the courtesy of the officials of the Peabody
Museum, Cambridge, Mass., to whom we are also indebted
for our information concerning the use of rope among the
various primitive tribes.
[Illustration: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELICS
BRIDLE OF HEMP ROPE COVERED WITH WOVEN COTTON--HALTER OF BRAIDED
LEATHER BASKET WITH ROPE HANDLES--PALM FIBER ROPE]
Ancient civilized peoples had their ropes and cordage, made from
such materials as were available in their respective countries. The
Egyptians are said to have made rope from leather thongs, and our
illustration on page 14 will be found interesting in this connection.
This is from a sculpture taken from a tomb in Thebes of the time of the
Pharaoh of the Exodus.
While this scene is said by the best authority to represent the
preparation of leather cords for use in lacing sandals, it has been
supposed by some to be a representation of rope-making. In any event,
the process is undoubtedly the same as that used in making rope.
The scene is depicted with the true Egyptian faculty for showing
details, making words almost unnecessary to an understanding of their
pictorial records. We see the raw material in the shape of the hide,
and also two well-made coils of the finished product. One of the
workmen is cutting a strand from a hide by revolving it and cutting as
it turns. Anyone who has not tried it will be surprised to see what a
good, even string can be cut from a piece of leather in this way.
[Illustration: DETAIL OF BAS-RELIEF FROM TRIUMPHAL ARCH AT ORANGE]
Another man is arranging and paying out the thongs to a third, who
is evidently walking backward in time-honored fashion, twisting as
he goes. The thongs are evidently tied to a sort of swivel which is
fastened to the man’s body in such a way that it enables him to keep a
strain upon the strand without interfering with the twisting, in which
process the weight shown upon the swivel is probably of some assistance.
The Egyptians also made rope from papyrus and from palm fiber. The
specimen shown in our illustration[B] is from the latter material, and
was made probably not less than 3,500 years ago, having been taken
from an ancient tomb. It has always been a puzzling question how the
Egyptians were able to move and put in place the massive stones
used in some of their structures, but it is certain that rope must
have been an indispensable part of their equipment. Indeed, some of
the sculptures illustrate the free use of rope in moving heavy stone
carvings. It is known that rope was made in China at a very remote
period.
[B] See page 15. Photograph from the original specimens taken
expressly for us through the courtesy of the Boston Museum
of Fine Arts.
It is of course certain that when men began to propel boats by means
of sails, some sort of rope must have been at hand for rigging such
vessels. The early history of the building of sailing ships seems to be
lost in obscurity, but many of the ancients were good sailors, there
seeming to be some difference of opinion as to who were the pioneers in
undertaking long voyages. We show an illustration of an Attic sailing
ship of the sixth century B.C. The drawing was made from the painting
on a drinking cup in the collection of the British Museum. We also give
a picture illustrating a detail of the bas-relief from the triumphal
arch at Orange erected about A.D. 41. This shows an anchor and a coil
of rope, evidently a halyard for a good-sized sail, rove through a
pulley. In these and numerous other cases we have records of the use of
rope among the Greeks and Romans, as well as similar ones from other
nations, handed down to us through their sculptures and paintings.
[Illustration: ATTIC SAILING SHIP, SIXTH CENTURY B.C.]
The historians also occasionally mention the use of rope in connection
with some great undertaking. Herodotus tells us that Xerxes, during
his invasion of Greece, B.C. 480, crossed his army over the Hellespont
upon two bridges of boats, which were held together, and the plank
roadway supported, by enormous cables stretched from shore to shore,
a distance of seven-eighths of a mile. It is said that these ropes,
of which there were six to each bridge, were twenty-eight inches in
circumference, two of each set being made of flax and four of papyrus.
It is stated that the famous galley, the _Syracusia_, built for Hiero
under the supervision of Archimedes, was furnished with hempen rope
from Rhodes.
[Illustration: MAYFLOWER IN PLYMOUTH HARBOR]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER II
ROPE-MAKING IN THE SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH
CENTURIES
Coming down to more recent times we find that rope-making had been
going on for centuries with probably very little change, up to the time
of the introduction of machinery and the establishment of the factory
system. It had been carried on as a domestic industry, or a trade
handed down from father to son, and naturally was of most importance in
the principal seaport towns where vessels were built or fitted out.
This was the state of the business at the time of the settlement of
America, and it was not long before the rope-maker began to be needed
as a citizen of the new Colonies. This need was felt in Boston with
the first efforts at shipbuilding there, and was also suggested by
the great demand for fishing lines, the cod-fisheries being of great
importance upon the Massachusetts coast.
[Illustration: OFFICE OF PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY]
It is recorded that rope was made in Boston as early as 1641 or 1642.
John Harrison, a rope-maker of Salisbury, England, came to this country
at the request of a number of citizens of Boston, and set up his
business in that village. He seems to have had a monopoly of the local
trade for a good many years, under the paternal protection of the town
authorities, for John Heyman, to whom permission to make rope in Boston
was given in 1662, was the next year ordered to give up the work and
depart from the town, it being found that this competition interfered
with Harrison’s business to such an extent as to make it difficult for
him to properly support his family of eleven persons.
[Illustration: BOURNE SPOONER]
However, upon the death of Harrison this monopoly came to an end, and
ropewalks began to multiply in Boston as well as in other parts of the
country. In 1794 there were fourteen large ropewalks in Boston, the
business having steadily increased with the development of the new
country. The importance of this industry is shown by the report that in
the federal procession in Boston in 1788, the rope-makers outnumbered
any other class of mechanics.
In 1810 there were 173 ropewalks in the United States, scattered over
the country from Maine to Kentucky.
In 1824 the infant Plymouth Cordage Company entered upon the scene and
gradually but surely became an important factor in the trade, until
today it stands at the head.
In the first half of the last century Manila hemp began to take its
place as a cordage fiber. According to official records, 27,820 bales
were imported to the United States in 1843. This figure looks small
when compared with a recent high figure of approximately 830,000 bales
in a single year. The first record of the importation of Sisal is in
1860, when the United States received 1,393 bales. This has increased
to 1,000,000 bales.
[Illustration:
PATENT AND COMMON-LAID
_CORDAGE_,
Manufactured by Water-Power.
The _Plymouth Cordage Company_ hereby
give notice, that they have on hand _One
Hundred Tons, Clean St. Petersburg Hemp_,
of superior quality, which they are ready
to manufacture into _Cordage_ of any size
or description to suit purchasers. Their
_machinery_ and _water privilege_ is equal
to any in the Country--and their _Cordage_
shall in every respect be equal to their
advantages. All orders for _Cordage_, in
any quantities shall receive immediate
attention, at the Ropewalks, from
_BOURNE SPOONER_.
_Plymouth, March 12, 1825._ tf46
N. B. A number of good Spinners would find
employment as above.
PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY’S FIRST ADVERTISEMENT
]
The large consumption of Sisal during recent years has been caused by
the production of binder twine, which has now become an important part
of the cordage business. This company first made binder twine in 1882.
In 1899 it completed its No. 2 Mill, devoted entirely to this product,
and by the completion of the Welland (Ontario) factory in 1906 was
enabled to supply its large Canadian trade from that point. The Sheaf
of Wheat trademark and the name “Plymouth” on binder twine are now
known the world over and, as in the case of the Ship brand on rope, are
always recognized as standing for quality.
[Illustration: OLD-TIME METHOD OF HACKLING]
In the early days to which we have referred, all the yarn for
rope-making was spun by hand in the time-honored way. We are able to
represent to our readers, by the photographs shown, this now almost
lost art. The material shown in the pictures is American hemp, which,
because the earlier machines were not adapted to working this softer
fiber, continued to be spun by hand long after Manila was spun chiefly
on machines.
The hemp was first hackled, as is also shown by our photograph, the
hackle or “hechel” being simply a board having long, sharp steel teeth
set into it. This combed out the tow or short, matted fiber, leaving
the clean, straight hemp. This “strike” of hemp the spinner wrapped
about his waist, bringing the ends around his back and tucking them
into his belt, thus keeping the material in place without knot or
twist, and allowing the fibers to pay out freely.
The workman in our picture is Johnny Moores, an old-time expert
hand-spinner, who could walk off backward from the wheel with his wad
of hemp, spinning with each hand a thread as fine and even as could
be asked for. In the photograph, in order to show the process more
clearly, one large yarn is being spun.
The large wheel, usually turned by a boy, is used to convey power to
the “whirls” or small spindles carrying hooks upon which the fiber
is fastened. These whirls, revolving, give the twist to the yarn as
the spinner deftly pays out the fiber, regulating it with skillful
fingers to preserve the uniformity and proper size of the yarn. As he
goes backward down the long walk through the “squares of sunlight on
the floor” he throws the trailing yarns over the “stakes” placed at
intervals along the walk for the purpose.
The spinning “grounds” were usually arranged with wheels at either end,
so that spinners, reaching the farther end, could go back to their
starting point spinning another set of yarns.
[Illustration: HAND SPINNING]
Then, in the case of small ropes, the strands could be made by
attaching two or more yarns to the “whirl” and twisting them together,
reversing the motion to give the strands a twist opposite to that given
the yarns. These strands were twisted together, again reversing the
motion, making a rope. Thus it will be seen that, reduced to its lowest
terms, rope-making consists simply of a series of twisting processes.
The twisting of the yarns into the strand is known as “forming” or
putting in the “foreturn.” The final process is “laying,” “closing”
or putting in the “afterturn.” Horse power was used in old times for
forming and laying rope which was too large to be made by hand.
[Illustration: PILGRIM HALL, PLYMOUTH]
Part II
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
MANILA FIBER
In any manufacturing enterprise the question of raw materials is one
of the highest importance. No manufacturer can become extensively
successful without an intimate knowledge of the material entering into
his product. He must be an expert judge of its quality to be able to
determine for himself the exact value of what is offered him and its
adaptability for his particular purposes; he must be closely in touch
with all the markets; he must know all the conditions surrounding the
production and marketing of the material; he must be fully posted as to
all causes, natural and speculative, affecting the supply or the demand.
To be most valuable, this knowledge must not only cover matters
affecting the present, but must forecast the future with the greatest
possible degree of certainty. Such foresight is particularly valuable
in the cordage business, where material must be provided for many
months before it is used. This factor has always been conspicuous in
the management of the Plymouth Cordage Company, and has contributed not
a little to its continued and increasing growth and prosperity.
[Illustration: HANK OF MANILA 12 FEET LONG]
For the rope-maker the raw material _par excellence_ is the so-called
“Manila hemp.” Strictly speaking this is not a hemp at all, being a
fiber obtained from the wild banana plant of the Philippine Islands.
The botanists tell us to call this plant _Musa Textilis_, but the
Filipino, who ought to know, calls both the plant and its fiber “Abacá.”
The Philippines have a monopoly of this very important plant, as it
has never been successfully cultivated elsewhere. So it will be seen
at the start that the user of Manila hemp is dependent entirely upon
our foreign possessions in the far East for his supply. Like most
monopolists, the Filipino is not particularly susceptible to the wishes
of his customers, and the procuring of hemp produced and prepared in
the way to make it most valuable for rope-making is attended with some
difficulty.
The Abacá is cultivated by setting out shoots of the plant after a
suitable tract of land has been cleared. When the field has had proper
cultivation for a period of two or three years some of the plants will
be ready to cut. They will then be tree-like in shape, and from fifteen
to twenty-five feet in height. The stalk, some fifteen feet long, and
a foot or more in diameter, is composed of the separate leaf stems
growing compactly together in overlapping layers.
The fiber is contained in the outer bark of these leaf stems, their
inner portions being of a soft, pulpy nature. After the stalk is cut
the native peels off strips of this fibrous bark, and after stripping
the outer layer of stems, scrapes off its remaining pulp and proceeds
to strip the next inner layer. This process is kept up through all the
successive layers. The fiber from the inner layers of stems is finer
and whiter than that from the outside.
[Illustration: PHILIPPINE HEMP CART]
The fibrous strips are then cleaned by drawing them under a knife
hinged over a block of wood. This scraping frees the fibers from the
surrounding pulp. The quality of the hemp depends very much upon the
thoroughness with which this cleaning is done. By using a smooth-edged
knife and putting considerable pressure upon it during the operation,
a fiber is secured of high strength and good color. However, this
means strenuous work on the part of the operator, and our brown
fellow-citizen, like many of his white brethren, is averse to tiring
his back; consequently the bulk of the fiber put upon the market is
cleaned under knives with rough edges and loosely held against the
material. This makes the workman’s task easier and enables him to turn
out a larger product, but of an inferior quality. Hence one of the
worries of the manufacturer of high-grade cordage.
[Illustration: “STRENUOUS WORK”]
This, briefly, is the way Manila hemp is extracted from its parent
stalk. A fortune awaits anyone who will perfect machinery capable of
superseding these antiquated hand methods.
After scraping, the fiber is hung over bamboo poles to dry. When
thoroughly dried, it is tied up in hanks and carried to market. In
the warehouse of the exporter the fiber is sorted and graded and then
packed in bales of 275 pounds. In this form it eventually reaches the
cordage factory.
With this description, let us sum up some of the elements entering into
the quality of various parcels of hemp, which will be of interest as
showing the task imposed upon the manufacturer in selecting the quality
of fiber necessary to furnish rope of the required standard. It must be
strongly impressed upon the mind that the fact that a certain rope may
be honestly called “Manila” is no proof of its strength, durability or
general value.
[Illustration: COLLECTING THE STALKS
STRIPPING AND SCRAPING
DRYING--TYING IN HANKS
FILIPINOS PREPARING MANILA FIBER]
In the first place, there are some fourteen varieties of the _Musa
Textilis_, presenting a like range in the quality of fiber produced.
Then each process of gathering and preparation presents opportunities
for deterioration: the plant must be cut at just the right time, and
if, after cutting, the stalk is allowed to remain too long before it is
stripped, the fiber is injured. We have already seen that quality is
largely dependent upon the character of the knife used in cleaning and
the care given to this operation. Likewise, for best results, the fiber
must have proper care while drying.
As all these operations are in the hands of people not noted for
industry or carefulness, it will be easily understood that the
resulting output contains but a small percentage of really first-class
material.
To get an idea of the wide range in quality of Manila hemp, we have
but to refer to any broker’s list of offerings, which will show prices
varying from six to thirteen cents, or in similar proportion.
[Illustration: EXAMINING MANILA FIBER AT DOCK]
For a number of years past prices of Manila hemp have ruled much higher
than previously.
This great increase in price has placed the rope manufacturer in a
difficult position. He must either use a poorer grade of material in
his goods or must raise his prices to a point which, to his customers,
may seem excessive.
The reluctance on the part of manufacturers to accept the latter
alternative has led to the use of low-grade Manila, and to mixing
Manila with inferior fibers (Sisal, New Zealand, etc.), to a greater
extent than at any other period in the history of the industry.
The Plymouth Cordage Company, however, has steadily held the opposing
position, and has continually been on the alert to secure the grade of
hemp necessary to maintain its long-established standard of quality.
Not a particle of any other fiber has entered into our Manila rope.
This is because of our knowledge that a high-grade rope can be
produced, with the proper facilities, to sell at a price relatively
lower than one made from cheaper materials. This, of course, because
the advantages of lightness, strength and durability more than
outweigh the difference in price per pound. This is true from a
strictly dollars-and-cents standpoint, to say nothing of the greater
satisfaction in using the better article.
[Illustration: “SUBURB OF MANILA”
ABACÁ GROWING]
The making of cheap Manila (or so-called Manila) rope has been carried
to such an extent that recently signs of a reaction have been apparent.
Writers in trade journals are protesting against the lengths to which
the cheapening of rope is being carried; buyers are learning that
quality and economy are close companions in the rope trade; and so the
correctness of our position is being more fully demonstrated every day.
[Illustration: PHILIPPINE STREET SCENE]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER II
SISAL FIBER
The American cordage manufacturer is an importer; very little of the
fiber entering into his product is grown at home. We have already
seen how the principal cordage fiber--Manila--is brought from the
Philippines. Fiber is also imported from Russia, from Italy, and from
New Zealand, but we wish to speak now of the material which, next
to Manila, is most used in hard-fiber cordage--Sisal--and which is
secured from one of our nearer neighbors. This fiber is obtained from
the leaves of a cactus-like plant belonging to the _Agave_ family.
While varieties of this plant grow in many parts of the world, it is
cultivated most extensively in Mexico, the state of Yucatan being the
chief center of production and Merida the capital of the state the
principal market. Several railroads connect Merida with its seaport,
Progreso, whence the fiber for export is shipped.
As Sisal more than any other fiber is used as a substitute for, or
competitor of, Manila, we may make a brief comparison of the two.
The length of Manila fiber is usually from six to ten feet, while that
of Sisal is only from two to four feet. The tensile strength of Sisal
is not more than three-fourths that of Manila.
[Illustration: FIELD OF SISAL PLANTS
CUTTING LEAVES
TRIMMING OFF THORNS]
The color of Sisal is quite attractive, being a yellowish white, with
sometimes a slight greenish tinge. Some fine lots of the fiber are
very nearly white, but it all lacks the gloss and brilliancy which are
characteristic of good quality Manila.
Manila is noted for its smoothness and pliability, which make it an
ideal fiber for rope-making. Sisal, on the other hand, is without
this flexibility, and is much more stiff and harsh. This accounts for
the presence of the unpleasant “splinters” in a Sisal rope, and their
appearance in so-called Manila rope is an indication of the use of
Sisal as an adulterant. Sisal is also more easily injured by exposure
to moisture and varying atmospheric conditions than Manila.
[Illustration: LOADING LEAVES ON CAR]
While some of these qualities work against the use of Sisal in rope for
general purposes where the question of durability is a factor, or even
when softness and ease of handling are considered, this fiber is not
without uses which it admirably serves. When a rope or yarn is wanted
for tying purposes, where it is used as a band and then discarded,
Sisal can be used to advantage, as it is of sufficient strength and can
be spun with a fair degree of smoothness. It may be readily treated
with tar, which is an advantage when the material upon which it is used
is to be stored out of doors.
[Illustration: LEAVES READY FOR CLEANING
ELEVATOR TAKING LEAVES UP TO MACHINE]
Sisal is largely used by this company for making Lathyarn and tie ropes
of various kinds used for bundling laths, shingles, lumber, kindling
wood, cooperage stock, hides, leather, nursery stock, for tying grain
and cement sacks, for baling cloth in textile mills and for similar
purposes almost innumerable.
But the greatest use we make of this fiber and the use which has
done much to place Sisal in its high position in the fiber family,
and has helped to make the Mexican state of Yucatan wealthy in a
comparatively few years, is in the making of binder twine. The advent
and development of the self-binding reaper have opened a veritable gold
mine for the Mexican Sisal growers, and a large proportion of the more
than 300,000,000 pounds of Sisal annually imported to this country
eventually finds its way to the wheat fields, not only of our own great
West, but of all the world’s grain-raising countries.
A fiber so largely used can hardly help being a factor in the
markets, and some account of its production should be of interest.
This story we shall tell briefly, and largely by the use of pictures.
These illustrations, to which we draw particular attention, are from
photographic negatives in our possession which were taken in Yucatan
expressly for us.
[Illustration: BALES WEIGH ABOUT 370 POUNDS]
The Sisal or _heniquen_ plant of Yucatan has been used for its fiber
for many centuries, but, as we have stated, the present enormous
development of the industry dates back but comparatively few years,
during which time great progress has been made in putting it upon a
highly practical basis as regards both the cultivation of the plant and
the preparation of the fiber. Labor-saving machinery is used in place
of the old hand methods for extracting the fiber; indeed, the business
is now so thoroughly up to date that reports are frequently circulated
of the organization or contemplated organization of a “Sisal trust.”
Apparently, however, the right “Napoleon of Finance” has not yet come
to the fore to accomplish this.
The cultivation of the _heniquen_ is now carried on principally upon
large farms or plantations known as _haciendas_, many of which have
made their owners enormously wealthy. In starting a field of plants
the suckers or _hijos_ are set out in rows, and cultivation is carried
on once or twice a year to keep down the weeds. The appearance of the
fields of Sisal and of the growing and matured plants may be seen from
our illustrations. When the plant has been growing about five years
some of the long, sword-like leaves will be ready to cut, those around
the base of the plant maturing first. The time for cutting is indicated
by the leaves assuming a nearly horizontal position instead of the more
upright one of the younger leaves, at which stage the fiber is at its
best. Then the natives, with their _corbas_ go through the fields and
cut off the matured leaves, trim the sharp thorns from the sides and
ends, and tie up the leaves in bundles of fifty, ready to be carried to
the cleaning mill.
The plant continues to yield a supply of leaves for a period of from
ten to twenty years. The end of its usefulness is marked by the
appearance of the flower stalk or “pole,” and the plant soon dies.
[Illustration: CLEANED FIBER COMING OUT OF CLEANING MACHINE]
Most of the large _haciendas_ are supplied with portable tracks, and
small cars carry the bundles of freshly cut leaves from the fields to
the cleaner house, where the pulp is scraped from the fiber by the
powerful cleaning machinery.
[Illustration: SISAL DRYING]
As will be seen in the photographs, the bundles of leaves are taken up
on an elevator and along a carrier, which feeds them into the machine.
The grip chains of the carrier hold the leaves, while the scraping
wheels clean the pulp from the fiber, first one end of the leaves being
cleaned and then, as they are carried farther along, the second wheel
cleans the other end. This leaves the bundles of the fiber still in the
grip of the carrier, which takes it out of the machine as shown in the
picture. It is then carefully hung in the sun to dry. When thoroughly
dry the fiber is taken to the press and made into bales weighing about
370 pounds each.
We have already mentioned the fact that Manila rope is frequently
adulterated with cheaper and inferior fibers, and so Sisal in its turn
has its inferior imitators, the most common of which is known as Istle,
a fiber which also grows in Mexico as well as in other parts of the
world. A recent government publication, speaking of the use of Istle in
cordage, states, “this fiber has been regarded heretofore as suitable
only for use in the _manufacture of brushes_.”
[Illustration:
1. WAITING FOR THE PILOT
2. APPROACHING PLYMOUTH CORDAGE CO. PIER
3. COATED WITH ICE FROM THE STORM
4. LYING ALONGSIDE PIER
5. FIRST BALES COMING FROM HOLD
6. UNLOADING INTO WAREHOUSE
SISAL STEAMER FROM YUCATAN ARRIVING AND DISCHARGING AT PLYMOUTH CORDAGE
COMPANY’S PIER]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER III
THE HEMPS--AMERICAN, RUSSIAN, ITALIAN. OTHER FIBERS
While the fibers we have already discussed--Manila and Sisal--comprise
by far the greater part of the raw material of cordage, we wish to
mention in this chapter a fiber which, while now of comparatively
slight importance, has the interesting feature of being a home
product, and the cultivation of which at one time formed an industry
of considerable magnitude in this country. This is the American or
Kentucky hemp.
Most of the cordage fibers are commonly known as hemp, but strictly
speaking this name applies only to the fiber of the hemp plant
(_Cannabis sativa_), of which the American hemp is an example. This
hemp plant, while a native of Asia, has for many years been grown in
the different countries of Europe as well as in America. Its fiber in
commerce takes the name of the country from which it comes, as Russian
hemp, Italian hemp, etc.
The character of the plant and of its fiber varies considerably,
depending upon the conditions of climate and soil in the various
sections where it is produced. The fiber is also more or less affected
by the varying methods of preparation used in different places. The
Italian hemp, particularly, is finer, lighter colored and stronger than
American or Russian, and commands a higher price in the market.
Hemp differs from Manila and Sisal by being what is known as a bast
fiber, being obtained from the bark of the plant, which necessitates
altogether different methods of treatment in extracting the fiber.
The pictures below and opposite, which are from photographs secured
through the courtesy of Messrs. T. P. Curry & Son, Danville, Ky., give
an interesting glimpse of the Kentucky hemp industry. The plants are
cut and spread out to dry, after which they are gathered together in
bundles and carefully stacked. Later the stacks are opened and the hemp
again spread out for exposure to the action of the dew, frost and sun
during the retting process which rots the gums holding the filaments
together. The inner, woody part of the stem also becomes dry and
brittle by this treatment so that it breaks and falls away during the
“breaking” which follows. This process of breaking leaves the fibrous
strips or bands in such shape that they can be readily hackled, thus
cleaning out any remaining fragments of wood, short fibers and dirt,
leaving the long, smooth fiber ready to be bunched together and pressed
into bales.
[Illustration: AMERICAN HEMP STACKED IN FIELDS]
[Illustration: CUTTING THE HEMP--BREAKING--HACKLING--BALING]
[Illustration: NEW ZEALAND FLAX]
American hemp differs from Manila by being much softer and of a dark
gray color, and is sometimes known as black hemp. Like the Russian and
Italian varieties, it is used by cordage manufacturers principally for
making various tarred goods, such as ratline, marline, houseline and
other products. Before the Manila fiber was so largely used in this
country for rope-making, the Kentucky hemp business was of considerable
importance, but it has of late years declined very greatly and is now
of interest chiefly as representing that class of industries which have
been robbed of their former importance by changing conditions. Years
ago the American hemp went into the rigging of many a famous vessel,
both merchantman and man-of-war, and was a source of pride to its
patriotic producers and users. But the substitution of steam vessels
for sail and the use of other fibers and of wire for rigging have
taken away the great field of usefulness once open to this home product.
Besides the hemps---American, Russian and Italian--another cordage
fiber used to some extent in this country is known as New Zealand hemp
or flax, taking its name from the country where it is produced. This
is not strictly a hemp, although so called like many other fibers. It
is obtained from the leaves of a plant belonging to the lily family,
the cultivation of which forms an important New Zealand industry. The
extracting of the fiber is done by special machinery and, contrary to
the former practice, much attention is now given to properly grading
and packing the product, these matters being subject to government
inspection.
[Illustration: HEMP GROWING BY THE WATER]
New Zealand hemp in general appearance resembles Manila more closely
than does any other cordage fiber, and, although it is far inferior
in strength and other practical qualities, it is sometimes used as an
adulterant in making the cheaper grades of so-called Manila rope. Its
presence in a rope sold for Manila is sometimes difficult to detect,
which emphasizes the necessity of care on the part of the buyer in
getting positive assurance of the purity of the goods offered him.
The only other cordage fibers of much consequence are the so-called
African and Java hemps--the first named a product of German East Africa
and of British East Africa, the Java hemp a product of the island of
the same name.
[Illustration: UNCLE BEN, HEMP BREAKER]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV
PINE TAR
Who does not know of the tarred rigging which once meant so much to the
rope-maker? Its very odor seemed to cling to the pages of seafaring
books. Its use naturally declined with the development of steam power,
yet how few people, perhaps, realize that tarred goods for quite
different purposes form an important though incidental branch of the
rope business today! Lathyarn--to mention but one class--is consumed
annually by the lumber industry in quantities that would surprise many
persons. Today’s buyers, furthermore, need goods of high quality just
as did the old-time sea captains, and in the manufacture of such goods
the tar itself is an important factor.
Pine tar--the kind best suited for cordage--comes from various members
of the pine-tree family, and is secured by a distillation process. The
principal producing sections are northern Europe and the south-eastern
United States--the yellow, long leaf or Georgia pine, which ranks
first in this country for tar-making, growing in a territory about one
hundred and twenty-five miles wide along the coast from North Carolina
to Texas.
[Illustration: HOW PINE TAR IS MADE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC STATES
1. BUILDING THE KILN
2. STARTING FIRE
3. RAKING BACK COALS
4. TAR COMING FROM KILN
5. DIPPING AND BARRELING
6. WORKING AROUND KILN
7. AFTER HARD DAY AND NIGHT
8. TAR-MAKERS AT HOME
9. BURNING COMPLETED
]
Of the two methods for extracting the tar--the old kiln and the modern
retort processes--the second yields the greater supply, largely because
of the more systematic manner in which the industry is carried on. As
yet, however, no way has been perfected for obtaining by this newer
method a tar that measures up to Plymouth Cordage Company standards,
and for this reason we have continued to use the kiln-made article only.
Tar-kiln burning is conducted so far out in the country and in such
a desultory fashion that few people have the opportunity to become
acquainted with the process. A brief description may, therefore, be of
interest. Only dead wood is used, as the green tree does not yield the
quality or quantity of tar necessary to make the work profitable. Among
the tar-makers the material is known as fat lightwood, possibly from
the fact that it ignites easily and burns rapidly. In weight and color
it is anything but a light wood.
The wood is cut into convenient lengths and then laid up, with the
ground as a floor, to form a pile about twenty-five feet long by five
high and tapering in width from eight to five feet. The soil, if soft
or sandy, is first covered with clay to lessen the loss of tar, and the
pile is usually built on a slope so that the liquid will flow toward
the pipe which serves as an outlet.
The kiln is completed by covering the wood with “pine straw” and sand.
This prevents air currents and keeps the fire, which is on the back
end, from drawing through and consuming the wood without producing tar.
Moreover, while the kiln is burning--a period of two weeks or more for
a twenty-five cord pile--it must be watched day and night so that straw
and sand blown off by the gases within may be replaced at once.
As the tar comes from the kiln it is caught in a hole dug beneath the
outlet and is dipped up and poured into barrels--the average yield
being one barrel to the cord. The tar is then hauled by cart to water
or railroad, thence to be transported to the various naval stores yards.
For the foregoing description and the accompanying illustrations of
tar manufacture we are indebted to the American Naval Stores Company.
The pictures showing kiln operations are very unusual and were secured
only after several trips. The others were taken at the Company’s yards
at Wilmington, North Carolina, where the tar is carefully inspected,
strained and then re-barreled for shipment to our two factories.
[Illustration: TAR HANDLING AT NAVAL STORES YARD
1. INSPECTING
2. STRAINING
3. LOADING FOR SHIPMENT
4. TAR YARD FROM RIVER
]
Part III
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
BUYING, GRADING AND STORING OF FIBER
In Part II we described the various fibers from which rope is made
and pointed out the importance of expert knowledge and foresight in
the buying of these raw materials. Purchasing power and the resources
for grading and using each bale of fiber with strict regard to its
particular fitness for his products are also of special value to the
rope manufacturer.
We have already shown that Manila fiber or hemp, as it is commonly
called, is the principal and for most purposes the best cordage
material. Including the numerous commercial grades and the brands of
individual packers, the market designations or marks of Manila hemp
run into the hundreds and cover a wide range in the four important
qualities of strength, texture, length and color. A single mark may,
furthermore, vary greatly in one quality or another from time to time,
so that the market designation alone is not a safe sign of the fiber’s
fitness for a certain purpose.
Because of these facts the only way a manufacturer can be sure of
sufficient fiber of the character required to insure uniform quality
in each of his products is by examining and re-grading, according
to his own standards, the hemp delivered to him and by combining
selections of different marks in the right proportions to give the
desired results. To do this successfully requires a thorough knowledge
of fibers, large stocks always available and special storage facilities.
[Illustration: EXAMINING AND RE-GRADING MANILA FIBER]
The steadily increasing demand for our products and our large scale
of production warrant our buying yearly more Manila hemp than any
other single manufacturer--more than many combined. Our purchases are
governed, furthermore, by the knowledge gained through more than ninety
years’ experience with the fiber markets and rope-making. These facts
explain why we are able to secure the choicest marks so consistently
and in such quantity.
We have also erected warehouses capable of holding large quantities
of fiber for months at a time so that we can store such as is not
necessary for our immediate wants. This helps us to take full
advantage of specially favorable offerings in the fiber markets. In
addition, we maintain a system of fiber examination and classification
by our own experts together with warehouse records that insure each
bale being put to the particular use its quality fits it for.
[Illustration: TRACK AND WAREHOUSE FACILITIES, PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY]
The important question of quality is determined when the hemp first
reaches us. The carloads of Manila from Boston, New York, Seattle and
other ports are brought directly alongside our warehouses and after the
hemp has all been transferred to the platforms every mark is carefully
gone over. Bales are opened, the hanks laid out flat, the fiber
minutely examined and each mark given our own grading. This examination
is conducted purely from the manufacturing standpoint and is entirely
in addition to the one made on the dock. The expert ability to judge
fiber and the constant care required can be imagined from the fact
that single shipments frequently contain as many as seventy-five marks.
[Illustration: STACKING MANILA FIBER WITH PORTABLE, COMPRESSED-AIR
ENGINE]
The weighing and storing of the fiber follow next, and the latter is
a task of considerable magnitude, for our warehouses contain a floor
space of over 370,000 square feet and each mark must be so placed that
it will be readily accessible as needed. When the bales are put on the
scales and an entry made of the weight--always close to 275 pounds on
Manila--a record is also set down for each bale which identifies it by
mark, shipment and location in warehouse, according to the section,
bay and hoist selected for it. The hemp is then built up into orderly
piles with the aid of a portable compressed-air engine, each mark being
placed by itself.
[Illustration: TRUCKING MANILA FIBER INTO FACTORY WAREHOUSE]
By means of this warehouse system and the separate record showing
the proper use for every mark in each shipment, the qualities and
quantities of fiber needed by any mill for the regular day’s work
or for a particular job can be gotten out at a moment’s notice and
with very small chance of error. As an additional safeguard, however,
against accidental use of the wrong lot of fiber, we maintain a
checking system which would reveal at once any mistake in delivery from
warehouse to mill.
The careful methods we have just described are indicative of the
watchfulness maintained with each of the many fibers we use, although
in none of them is there as great range of quality as in Manila, nor is
purchasing power so important a factor.
A recent and interesting development in connection with our Sisal
importations is the direct steamship service now in effect between
Yucatan and North Plymouth, and because of which cargoes of this fiber
can now be brought directly alongside our own pier, unloaded by our own
employees and trucked at once into our own warehouse.
[Illustration: SISAL FIBER BEING TRANSFERRED FROM WAREHOUSE TO MILL]
Every user of rope naturally expects that under equal conditions he
will receive the same service from one rope that he does from another
of the same kind and size made by the same manufacturer. The Plymouth
Cordage Company aims to have each of its products give that sort
of service; first, by possessing the best materials, facilities and
workmen obtainable; second, by utilizing each of these factors to the
best advantage.
This policy, so well illustrated in our buying and selecting of fiber,
finds its expression in every phase and department of our business, and
herein lies one of the vital reasons why Plymouth Rope has always been
so popular and is becoming increasingly so among discriminating rope
buyers.
Speedy transfer of the fiber from warehouse to mill is made by an
industrial railroad operated by compressed air, which carries the bales
directly into the various opening rooms.
[Illustration: NO. 2 TAR HOUSE, PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY]
[Illustration: REAR VIEW NO. 3 MILL, PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY]
[Illustration]