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N. E. COTTON MANUFACTURERS' ASSOCIATION.

BOSTON, July 1, 1867.

DEAR SIR:-The stated Semi-annual Meeting of the Association will be held at the rooms of the Association, No. 53 Washington Street, Boston, on Wednesday, July 17, at 10 o'clock, A. M.

The Board of Government have appointed Committees from among the members, upon the following subjects, whose Reports will be presented for discussion:

1st. The Application of the Evener to the Lapper. 2d. An Improvement upon the Loose Boss Roller. 3d. The Let-off motion for Looms.

They have also invited several gentlemen, members of the Association, to give some account of recent observations upon Cotton Machinery and Modes of Manufacture in Europe, and have the pleasure of anticipating a compliance with their request.

The following Amendment to the 8th Article of the By-Laws, proposed by WM. A. BURKE, Esq., at the annual meeting in January, is now pending, and will be in order for action at the coming meeting, viz.: To insert the word "Treasurer" before the words "Agent or Superintendent."

If adopted, the first clause of this Article would read thus :

ARTICLE 8. Any person of good moral character, who now is or hereafter may be Treasurer, Agent or Superintendent of any Cotton Mill in New England, may become a member of this Association, upon his signing the By-Laws and paying an admission fee of Ten Dollars, and an annual assessment not exceeding Ten Dollars.

The Board congratulate the members of the Association upon its constantly increasing numbers, and the general interest in, and large attendance upon, its meetings.

They cordially renew the invitation heretofore extended, to all those eligible to membership, to unite with the Association, and to avail themselves of the pleasure of the coming meeting.

By order of the Board of Government,

AMBROSE EASTMAN, Secretary.

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BOSTON, Wednesday, July 17, 1867.

Pursuant to the foregoing notice, the stated semi-annual meeting of the Association was this day held at their rooms, No. 53 Washington Street.

About fifty members were present.

The President in the Chair.

The proceedings of the annual meeting, and also the proceedings of the meeting of the Board of Government, held June 5th, 1867, were read by the Secretary, and the record of same accepted. The following gentlemen, whose names were proposed for membership, were then elected members of the Association by unanimous vote:

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Voted, That the Amendment to the 8th Article of the By-Laws, proposed at the annual meeting in January, and recited in the Notice for the present meeting, be adopted.

The President being obliged to be absent from the meeting, the chair was assumed by the 1st Vice-President, Mr. LOCKWOOD. No further items of business occurring, Mr. BURKE was called upon to present his Report upon "The Application of the Evener

to the Lapper," that subject having been assigned to him by the Board.

His Paper appears in full in the present publication. It was received with marked attention, and excited a considerable discussion; participated in by Messrs. KILBURN, of Salem, DAVIS, of Holyoke, JOHNSTON, of Cohoes, N. Y., BORDEN, of Fall River, PALFREY, of Lowell, and by the Chair, who suggested that the members of the Association institute careful experiments at their respective mills, with a view to comparison of results at a future meeting; the experiments being noted with reference to quantity, quality, and rapidity of performance.

Mr. DANIEL HUSSEY, of Nashua, N. H., the Committee to whom was assigned the topic of an "Improvement upon the Loose Boss Roller," then presented his Report, which will be found in the following pages. His statements were illustrated by a complete Working Model of the Rolls, with the Improvement claimed.

An interesting and protracted discussion followed the reading of this Paper, in which remarks and statements were made by Messrs. SAUNDERS, of Nashua, N. H., WHEELOCK, of Norton, KIL BURN, of Salem, JOHNSTON, of Cohoes, N. Y., BORDEN, of Fall River, DRAPER, of Hopedale, BLAKE, of Chicopee, DAVIS, of Holyoke, HIGGINS, of Manchester, England, and the Chair.

The subject of the "Let-off Motion for Looms" had been assigned to Mr. D. M. AYER, of Lewiston, Maine, who was unable to be present. This topic was therefore postponed.

The President resuming the Chair,—

Mr. LOCKWOOD then proceeded, in compliance with the appointment of the Board, and the request of the Association expressed by vote at the annual meeting, to address them upon the subject of Machinery, and Modes of Cotton Manufacturing, as observed during his visit to England, in 1866. An abstract of his remarks will be found in the following pages.

Several gentlemen commented upon the topics introduced by the speaker; among them, Mr. SAUNDERS, of Nashua, N. H., Mr.

HIGGINS, of Manchester, Eng., and Mr. JOHNSTON, of Cohoes, N. Y.,-who stated that in his own mill four of the Leigh Cards were introduced last year; that, up to a period four months since, he regarded them as a failure; but that the improvements lately applied to them make them now, in his opinion, a success. He added that the Licker-in he considered to add 25 per cent. to the capacity of the machine.

At the conclusion of these discussions, upon motion of Mr. PAINE, of Fall River,—

Voted, That the thanks of the Association be tendered to Messrs. BURKE and HUSSEY for their valuable communications, and that they be requested to furnish copies of the same for publication. Also to Mr. LOCKWOOD, for the relation of his valuable experience while among the manufacturers of England.

Voted, To adjourn sine die.

THE APPLICATION OF THE EVENER OR FEED REGULA

TOR TO THE LAPPER.

BY WILLIAM A. BURKE, Esq., OF LOWELL, MASS.

Mr. President and Gentlemen:

The government of this association has requested me to present a Report, at this meeting, on the "Application of the Evener to the Lapper"; and having recently had an opportunity of making some trials and observations on the subject, I have prepared the following brief paper for your consideration.

Taking the cotton as the Opening Machine leaves it, in a loose and fleecy condition; spreading it on the Feed Apron of the Lapper; passing it through that machine, and delivering it in a continuous sheet; and winding, say fifty or sixty yards, on a Roll at the lap end of the Lapper, we have what is called a Lap, ready to be placed to the carding machine, or to be again passed through a second Lapper for a more thorough cleaning from its impurities; and after this second beating, then to go to the Carding machine.

It is very evident that this sheet of cotton, or Lap, should be made as even in thickness, and as uniform in weight for its length, as is practicable, when we consider that it is the first step in the process by which the cotton receives its length and grist; and any imperfections in its evenness here will be felt in the future operations, and must be remedied before it is finished into yarn.

Supposing the Lap weighs eight ounces to one yard in length, then if No. 30 yarn is to be made, this one yard becomes 12,600 yards long. It is true, by often repeated doublings in the subsequent operations, we are able to remedy any minor defects in the Lap; yet we are all aware that Laps not uniform in thickness or weight cause much trouble and annoyance to the carder in the

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