The President advocates and commends to our use the four-roll head of drawing, now in use in many of our large mills; others are using the five-roll head; and, so far as I know, the mills following this plan of drawing are nearly equally divided in their choice between the two heads. I have had considerable experience in working these heads, and know something of their history. It is nearly thirty years, if I mistake not, since the first frame on this plan was brought out. That of four rollers was the first. few years later appeared the five-roller head, and this latter was deemed a decided improvement over the former, as being capable of doing more work. A This scheme of drawing was evidently devised from deductions delusively drawn from exact science. The principle therefore became specious and imposing. Here, at least, was thought to be opened up a royal road to working cotton mathematically, so that working big slivers became at once fashionable. These frames, in the earlier years of their use, had all their top rolls leather-covered; and so enormous was the weight required to break the sliver between the spaces, that the best calf-skin covered rolls would barely suffice for ten days' use without being newly covered. Hence there were brought to the rescue at the back line, fluted top rolls, and more recently the same were added to the second line also. Now, in all the five pairs of rolls you have but one pair to hold your sliver; this, with the inevitably slow motion of the several back rolls as compared with the front line, demands nearly fourfold more weight applied, in order to break the sliver in the several places. You have heard the testimony of our friend, Mr. KILBURN, from Salem, as to the peculiar kind of fluting of the rolls required to hold the sliver effectually. He has told you correctly, and my own experience justifies his statement, that the fine square flute is the most effective to hold the staple. The President has made a suggestion which, I suppose, is intended as a measure of relief in heavy weighting, when he says, "Whatever be the size of the sliver, it should be so spread out upon the surface of the rollers as to be uniformly of as little thickness as can be managed; since it is evident that the more evenly and directly every separate fibre is held by the rollers, the better will be the drawing." This view plausible, mathematically considered; but, practically, would seem I am unable to see its propriety. It is no doubt in harmony with the principles on which this frame was originally constructed. The whole design is to reduce a heavy sliver by repeated drawings in one head, before its final delivery to the trumpet, by which the sliver is broken up in the several spaces of draft. In the light of my own experience and observation in working cotton, I have learned that, at every point where you draw a sliver, its character becomes so far changed as to require readjustment for the next operation, with a modified treatment from the previous one, if you would secure an even-drawn sliver. Hence, at every point of drawing, where you have no twist to draw from, there is a necessity of doubling your sliver in order to maintain the proper resistance to separate evenly while drawing. But the system we are considering has for its object the breaking up of the sliver in not less than four spaces in the larger head, and three in the smaller one. Drawing in all these spaces with such an amount of pressure in the bite of each line of rollers, the elasticity of the staple becomes so far vitiated as to separate unevenly in passing from one line to the other; so that, by the time it reaches the front line for their action, the kind of resistance needed at this point becomes neutralized, and your sliver in its delivery to the trumpet at the calender, has a broken, cloudy aspect, with feathery or ragged selvages. The My own experience is confirmed by the testimony of all the intelligent operators with whom I am conversant, viz., that by this system the chances to make uneven or cut drawing are multiplied beyond all comparison with the three-roll head. This is not all. The repeated opening of the sliver, with the action of the numerous rollers upon it, renders it highly susceptible to the changes of extremely damp and dry atmosphere, to which we are more or less exposed during the summer and early fall months. resources of the carder are often put to a severe test with this system of drawing on his hands, to keep his numbers to a given point. He cannot depend on the accurate running of his drawing from one day to another, in carrying the usual load intended for it. Our numbers on fine work are often thrown into such confusion as to seriously affect the work throughout the mill. I could point out to you many mills with this system of drawing, which are losing from five to ten per cent. of their twist by uneven yarn, thus literally "putting their money into a bag with holes." It is not long since I was in a large mill where they were spin 8 riginally co by repeated d umpet, by roc raft. servation i twist to dry s in the lage 1 these spa h line of as to separ that, by the kind of res your slive sa broker stimony of i ion of the to the d we are all months ere test mbers ng of his oad inte into such ne mill fdrawing by unere th holes." they was ning No. 32 warp yarn on ring frames. Attached to the head of each frame was a set of cones, giving motion to the rolls, with a shipping rod to the cone belt, by which to add or diminish twist, in order that they might overcome the difficulties of spinning their constantly varying numbers of uneven yarn. My experience in the use of this plan of drawing is, that, with much care and attention, I have succeeded very well in getting a passably good sliver, by making the draft as light as possible in the back rolls, and holding the staple in a compact mass, and making not less than threefourths of the draft by the front rolls, with a sliver not heavier than 120 grs. to the yard, working it singly under each boss, doubling four drawn slivers in one delivery. This is the best method I know by which to run these four or five roll heads. I am ready to concede that this plan of drawing is not so troublesome in working for a range of numbers from 14 to 20; and yet I prefer the three-roller head as best and most economical for any numbers from 10 to 100. Allow me to speak briefly of the advantages of this frame over that I have been considering. I have known it from my childhood, and worked it in my early manhood till maturer years. It is as simple in construction and management as my mother's spinning-wheel. To work this frame to good advantage and economy, the weight of the sliver should not exceed 100 grs. to the yard; it should be held by the back and middle line of rollers, between which there should be no draft sufficient to open the sliver. It should be held as compact under the rolls as possible, with a weight not exceeding four pounds pressure for each boss of the middle and back rollers, for working common middlings cotton. In the motion of these rolls, the middle one should be made to gain on the back, to the extent only of equally dividing the power between these two lines in holding the sliver. As thus arranged, you may draw the sliver with ease by a draft at the front, of three to one in the first head; second and third heads, four and four and a half, with a pressure upon the front roller not exceeding 16 pounds, or 8 pounds to each sliver. By this arrangement, the back and middle lines of rollers are placed with their journals in one movable stand; their relations as to distance being permanent, like that of the speeders or spinning frames. It must be readily seen that this arrangement works the cotton by another and widely different principle from that advocated by the President. Although it is much older than his, and older than any of us present, yet, if I am not mistaken in the signs of the times, our spinners, after beating about thirty years for contrivances to work large slivers of drawing, are now hurrying back to avail themselves of this simple principle. I have said that by this arrangement we draw the slivers with ease. This feature of itself furnishes the best guarantee for secaring an even-drawn sliver. The staple being held in a compact mass, is rendered elastic at and near the bite of the rollers, and by the proper amount of pressure applied, the fibres are made to yield evenly to the power of the front roll. That the front line of rollers is the only feasible point at which to draw the staple, must be manifest, not only from the fact that the sliver is to be preserved unbroken up to this point, but that the amount of speed in the front lines over those of the back, gives it a proportionally increased power to draw, with the same amount of pressure applied. Consider, if you please, the relative power of two belts of equal width and length, one of which has a surface speed of ten feet per second, the other of forty feet. The subtlety of the cotton fibre is such in its workings, we must not be held wholly amenable to exact science. In starting these machines with reference to a given number of yarn to be made, we determine by figures, with tolerable accuracy, the weight of sliver we want, and the respective drafts needed; but the adjustment of weight to the rollers, and of the desirable space between them for securing the best results, must be left to the taste and good judgment of an experienced operator. A man having an eye to good work, will quickly arrange his rolls to the proper space required for their easy working, by which he secures an evenly drawn sliver. With this point secured, he may safely run this frame at a speed of 400 turns on the front rollers, and it will run all day long, demanding as little care and attention as the drawing rolls in the slubber frames. There is no such necessity for slow motion in working this frame as exists in the other plan of drawing, and it will do much more and better work, at less cost of production. Allow me a few observations as to the objects to be obtained in doubling and drawing down the staple of cotton. The President says that every operation of drawing performed upon the sliver of cotton before it is twisted, tends in some degree to the injury of the fibre; and in meeting the objection that a weak sliver of drawing does not necessarily produce a weak thread, he says, "I must still remain of the opinion that the more of the natural curl or twist of the fibre there remains to it, when it passes through the front rollers of the spinning frame, the better and stronger will be the yarn produced." To what extent these opinions are shared by the members of this Association, I know not; but I must be permitted to say that, if to any considerable extent, the fact furnishes the best reasons I have yet seen for the formation and maintenance of this Association; for I cannot but hope that, by careful attention to the discussion of this subject by others, I may be led to abandon whatever erroneous views I have on this subject. I am free to confess that, in a long experience in working cotton, I have been led to adopt many theories which seemed plausible for the time, but which have been swept away by the swift march of time. It is now nearly forty years since the first experiment was made in this country to draw down twisted roving in the speeder, with a view to obtain a more perfect thread. As early as 1829 or '30, the few enterprising establishments that first embarked in what was considered fine work for high slaied goods, were in pressing need of a harness twine of a quality adapted to their work; which then had to be imported from abroad. A thread company in Pawtucket, on the border of Rhode Island, undertook and succeeded in making an article even better than the English twine. The success of this experiment was the dawn of better days for American spinning. A late scientific writer has said, "The true principles of science and art are always progressing." Thus we have learned, from the light of this experiment, that the theory of weakening our yarn by overworking the sliver has long since become a myth. From that day forward it has come to be well understood by our most intelligent spinners, that repeated doublings in drawings, for the sake of equalizing the sliver, are not the primary object, but have become secondary and incidental. The all-important point to be reached is the art of maintaining, at every point of drawing, such an equilibrium of resistance in the staple as to separate it evenly, leaving no fine places or gouts; and so elaborately to work it, as to divest the staple of every curl or twist. The more effectually the fibres become straightened, when presented to receive the final twist in the spinning frame or mule, the |