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PROCEEDINGS.

PURSUANT to the foregoing notice, the stated annual meeting of the New England Cotton Manufacturers' Association was held at the Institute of Technology at ten o'clock, A.M. More than one hundred members were present.

The President, Mr. A. D. LOCKWOOD, occupied the chair. The reports of the Secretary and Treasurer were read, and, on motion, accepted and placed on file.

The PRESIDENT. The next business in order, this being the annual meeting, is the election of officers for the ensuing year. Will you pursue the usual course of appointing a nominating committee? If there is no objection to that, I will take it as the sense of the meeting, that such is your pleasure. How shall this committee be raised?

VOICES. By the Chair.

The PRESIDENT. If no objection is made, the Chair will appoint a nominating committee consisting of five: Richard Garsed, Richard B. Borden, Benjamin Greene, Franklin Nourse, A. D. Barker. The committee will please retire, and bring in the nominations as early as possible.

The following gentlemen, upon nomination, were elected members of the Association: Messrs. John B. Straw, Lewiston, Me.; William Hayes, Auburn, Me.; David W. Cowen, Lewiston, Me.; Albert W. Flack, Cornwall, Ont.; J. W. Cumnock, Chicopee, Mass.; Haven C. Perham, Lowell, Mass.; Alfred Clark, Lowell, Mass.; Joseph H. Kendrick, Providence, R.I.; William Ames, Providence, R.I.; A. A. Barker, Three Rivers, Mass.

The following gentlemen, having retired from the business of cotton-manufacturing, upon request, were granted leave to withdraw from membership: Messrs. A. B. Burleson, S. A Knight, John P. Slade, D. M. Ayer, William E. Sharples.

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Mr. Garsed, from the Committee on Nominations, submitted the following report: For President, A. D. LOCKWOOD, Providence, R.I.; for Vice-Presidents, A. G. CUMNOCK, Lowell, Mass.; CHARLES NOURSE, Woonsocket, R.I.; for Directors, JOHN KILBURN, Lowell, Mass.; CYRUS I. BARKER, Lewiston, Me.; HERVEY KENT, Exeter, N.H.; D. J. JOHNSTON, Cohoes, N.Y.; WALTER PAINE, 3d, Fall River, Mass.; CHARLES L. LOVERING, Taunton, Mass.

On motion of Mr. Atkinson (no objection being made), Mr. Garsed was authorized to cast the vote, in behalf of the Association, for the officers for the ensuing year, and the gentlemen named by the nominating committee were declared elected.

The PRESIDENT. That completes the business of organization, the hearing of the Reports, and the choice of officers for the ensuing year. Before taking up the business in order, as per the printed circular sent to the various members, I would call the attention of the Association to that part of the Secretary's Report pertaining to the sale or distribution of the annual and semi-annual Reports of the Association. This matter was discussed somewhat in the Board of Government, and it was thought best to refer it to the Association, for them to consider whether these Reports should be sold at the bookstores, or whether they should be confined to the members, and such friends as they might desire to furnish with copies. That is the question now before the meeting. I would be glad to have an expression of opinion from the members.

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Mr. KENT. The good book tells us that we are to “love our neighbors as ourselves;" but in this case we are going beyond the requirement of that good book, and are doing better by our neighbors than we do by ourselves. seemed to me a little unjust to those who become members, and pay five dollars a year for these publications, to sell them for fifty cents apiece, or a dollar a year. The amount received is very trifling; I think the sales last year amounted only to some twenty dollars, and the influence would be to restrict the number of members. If those living at a distance can get the whole of the proceedings for a dollar a year, there is not any very strong inducement for them to become members at an expense of five dollars a year. I move that the distribution be confined to members, and such friends as they may desire to send copies to.

The PRESIDENT. The motion is, that our Reports be not placed in the bookstores for sale. Will gentlemen express their

views on that motion?

Mr. GARSED. From the amount of money we received into the treasury for those books, it seems to me of very little consequence whether we sell them or not; and I think gentlemen here will agree with me, that, if they are worth any thing, they are worth a great deal more than fifty cents. You gentlemen here may not take my view of the matter. It does not cost you a great deal to come to Boston, but it costs some of the members a great deal besides their assessments. If I could get all the proceedings of this meeting in Philadelphia for fifty cents, it is not likely that I would come all the way to Boston to hear them. Therefore, I am entirely opposed to the whole matter, and I trust there will be a decided expression of opinion about it, so that we shall not have to recur to the question again. If we have any surplus, as we seem to have at times, let the members have a certain number for distribution, and reserve the balance to be distributed as occasion may require.

The PRESIDENT. I may say, for the information of such members as may not understand it, that, as the editions are exhausted, the Secretary has been in the habit of reprinting, so that the members, from time to time, especially new members who come in, are enabled to get the Reports from the commencement. Occasionally, in order to do this, he has to take some one number of the Reports, and have it reprinted.

Gentlemen, are you ready for the question on the motion of Mr. Kent, namely, that the sale of these Reports at the bookstores be discontinued? As many as are in favor of the motion will signify it by saying "Ay."

The motion was carried unanimously.

Mr. CUMNOCK. I move that the Secretary be requested to call the next meeting at the time appointed by the Government, at ten o'clock in the morning, and that we take a recess from one o'clock until two, and adjourn the afternoon session at four. I have a special reason for making this motion.

After the discussion of the oil-question at our last meeting, my friend Mr. Atkinson invited me into the next building to see a short spinning-frame that he had arranged to test the running qualities of different oils, and, at the same time, ascertain the power required to drive the frame. I was greatly

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Not that I have had any sign of that, but it has imposed upon me a burden and a load, and I felt that I had started a difficult question, and I could not see my way out.

The PRESIDENT. The business named in the notice for this meeting is an address by Professor Ordway, in continuation of his address delivered here six months ago, on the question of lighting and lubricating oils. While we are waiting for Professor Ordway, if any member of the Association has any thoughts to give us in regard to the subject under consideration, we shall be glad to hear them.

Mr. GARSED. I would like to ask if any member present can tell us what the result of the New York Legislature was upon the tare-question. They had a bill before them to fix a tare on cotton: I have lost sight of it, and I thought likely there might be some New York members here who could tell me whether that bill passed or failed.

The PRESIDENT. I do not know whether there are any members from New York here; but Mr. B. F. Nourse is posted upon every thing appertaining to cotton, and, if he can answer the question of Mr. Garsed, I have no doubt the Association would be very glad to hear from him.

Mr. NOURSE. I have no positive information as to the legislation in New York, except that it was proposed. I had some correspondence on the subject. My impression is, that it did not pass to legislative enactment. I do not know any thing in regard to the present position of the matter.

Professor ORDWAY. It is desired that a further report should be made, in addition to what I have already given in October last; but, so far as the data are concerned, we have accumulated very few. We have continued in the examination of oils, obtaining rather empirical than scientific results. We have increased the number examined, and our work has sifted itself down mainly to the determination of the evaporation of oils, and the flashing-point. There is not a constant ratio between these two, and what we depend most on, for determining the value of any particular oil for lubrication, is the evaporation in twelve hours at 140° Fahrenheit. Of course, these numbers are purely arbitary: any other time would do; but it is necessary to have a uniform time, for the sake of comparison. I regret to say that my own attention has been so much occupied with my regular duties, that I have not been able to give the personal atten

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