have here the same cotton followed right along through ten or twelve different processes. In the first place, here is the raw cotton (it does not say what cotton it is), as taken from the bale. (Plate No. 1.) Mr. MAXFIELD. The one you are now exhibiting is Charleston cotton. Dr. BOLLES. The next one is marked "Opener." (Plate No. 2.) I am asked to inquire of Mr. Maxfield what kind of opener it was that was used. Mr. MAXFIELD. Whitehead & Atherton's. Dr. BOLLES. Here is the raw cotton from the bale again. In the centre you see a very nicely twisted fibre. I follow this with the "opener" again, and then rapidly follow that with another, which is marked "Finisher Picker." (Plate No. 3.) Mr. PAINE. You notice that where the machinery does not twist it at all, here each fibre has the appearance of having its own twist. Does it have it more than that in the original? Dr. BOLLES. No, sir; it is less, if anything. I should say that up to this stage in the manufacture there is no artificial twist. If each fibre seems to have taken a particular twist, it is only because each fibre seems to have taken its own. It has not twisted itself any more than is natural. The raw cotton is now called for. I wish you would scrutinize these specimens with all the care that your experienced eyes can take, because it is to you that we must look for the explanation of all these phenomena. If you are satisfied with looking at this illustration, we will pass on to the next slide, which is marked "Breaker Card." (Plate No. 4.) I am very careful to give these exact marks, because they were made by the agent himself, at the Nashua Mills. You will notice that in none of these have you seen broken fibres. We have the end of the fibre at the point which I now indicate in the image before you, in one instance. It is not a ragged end or a torn end, at all. It is a natural end. On the left you see a ragged end of the fibre, probably as it was broken in tearing from the seed. Here, at another place, is a fine point of one of these fibres, where the tip is perfect. At the point in the image which I now indicate, you will see a perfect knot in a cotton fibre. Here, in another part of the image, is a fibre which is very rich in twist. This other vertical fibre has less twist, and so has this other one. A MEMBER. Have you straightened these fibres on the glass, or are they as they just came from the machine? Dr. BOLLES. They are drawn out as carefully as they can be with the fingers. Mr. ATKINSON. Has there been any effort to straighten them with the fingers at all? Dr. BOLLES. No, sir. My plan has been not to disturb in the slightest degree the fibres as they were at that particular stage of the process. Mr. ATKINSON. Thus far they show very little difference, so far as their being mixed up is concerned. Dr. BOLLES. We will now take up the next preparation, which is marked "Finisher Card." (Plate No. 5.) Mr. —. Do you always find the twist in the same direction, or the same fibre twisted both ways? Dr. BOLLES. It follows one direction, sir. A MEMBER. I would like to ask the gentleman from Nashua whether this is the grist as it came from the doffers, or as it came from the rolls? Mr. MAXFIEld. As it came from the doffers, sir. Dr. BOLLES. The next of this series is cotton from the drawing-frame. (Plate No. 6.) There, as the image is thrown upon the screens, you see that the fibres are evidently more parallel, although there are a number of fibres that lie across. Mr. MAXFIELD, The first drawing is from the railway head. Dr. BOLLES. The next illustration is cotton from the "Coarse Speeder," No. 7 of the series. Cotton from the "Intermediate Speeder" is the 8th, and cotton from the "Fine Speeder" is the 9th. Will Mr. Bicknell now begin at the end of these fibres, and draw them over the field, as the gentlemen wish to see the length of the fibres in that way? The one now before you is marked "Drawing-frame." A MEMBER. That is not very definite. Dr. BOLLES. Mr. Maxfield will answer any questions about the machinery. I know nothing myself of the arrangement of that mill. |