Upon motion of Mr. CUMNOCK, the meeting voted to proceed to the discussion of the Slasher system of dressing yarn.

Mr. CUMNOCK said that he was urged about a year ago to put a Slasher into the Boott Mills. He doubted if the machine would work successfully, and certainly did not expect to do the dressing any cheaper; but he ordered a Slasher, and had been running one for about seven months. He was now running 560 looms on 80 x 80 goods, with yarn dressed by one Slasher. One advantage in weaving from the Slasher warps is, that there is not so much tension on the Slasher as on the old dresser. On the old dresser the yarn is strained so much that its elasticity is entirely destroyed. He had been disappointed both in the quality and quantity of the yarn dressed; we cannot get so many cuts on a beam, as with the old system of dressing. Since the introduction of the Slasher, the goods have been woven cheaper, the work runs better, a better quality of cloth is produced, and 10 per cent had been saved in the cost of dressing. He endorsed the Slasher system of dressing most heartily, and advised any one who had any doubt of its value to make a trial of it.

In reply to a question as to whether he found any greater wear of the harnesses in weaving Slasher goods, the speaker replied that he had not discovered any. He had heard a complaint of this kind made, and ascertained upon investigation that the yarn was being sized very hard, which was entirely unnecessary.

In regard to the amount of starch used in dressing, by the Slasher system, he said that in making up his starch account for six months, he found that he had made 1,600,000 pounds of cloth, and used 200 pounds of starch more than during the previous six months.

The cost of dressing the goods was 10 per cent less than it was before the adoption of the Slasher, but he had been obliged to run with the old warpers; with new warpers the saving in the cost of dressing would be about 60 per cent, or about two mills to the pound.

Mr. SMITH said that printers complained that goods made from the Slasher warps did not stretch as much as those made from the old dressing.

Mr. KILBURN, of Lonsdale, said that he had heard similar complaints.

Mr. SMITH said he had used some goods which were dressed upon the Slasher. Goods dressed upon the dresser gained about one yard in thirty or thirty-five, but those dressed upon the Slasher gained nothing.

Mr. KILBURN, of Lonsdale, said that Mr. CUMNOCK had stated that he did not get so many cuts on a beam as with the old dresser; this might be owing to soap and tallow forming ingredients of the starch.

Mr. SMITH said he had used both fermented and unfermented starch, and given both a thorough trial: his experience had been that unfermented starch was much the best.

Mr. KILBURN said that he had used both fermented and unfermented starch. After experimenting with both, his weavers asked for nothing better than the warps made with sweet starch.

Mr. CUMNOCK called the attention of the members to some paper-roving cans, made by PETER LAWSON, of Lowell.

The Committee appointed by the Chair at the annual meeting of the Association in April last, to take into consideration the resolution offered by Mr. WARD, with reference to the adoption of systematic plans, by manufacturers, for teaching operatives the several branches of the cotton manufacture, made the following Report:

REPORT OF COMMITTEE.

The importance of skilled reliable help cannot be over-estimated. Without it, indeed, manufacturing success is an impossibility; yet, as a general statement, there is an inadequate supply of such help. Thus at the present time, though Mills are not up to full production, there is nearly everywhere a scarcity of good weavers, nor is the deficiency confined to this class of operatives.

The cause of the dearth of skilled operatives is in part inherent in the general condition of the labor of the country.

The laborer finds ample fields for exertion with good compensation on almost all sides. In particular, the enormous ex

tent of fertile and cheap land yet unoccupied, invites the worker to its cultivation, to the neglect of mechanical employment; especially of those employments in which considerable apprenticeship is necessary for a thorough mastery of the art.

But it is due more directly and largely to the neglect, or downright refusal, of manufacturers to train raw hands to the acquirement of their craft. In some Mills an unskilled laborer will not be accepted on any terms. The managers of not a few Mills publicly declare that they will not employ other than skilled operatives. Whoever trains the raw hands- they will not. It is inevitable under such conditions, that skilled laborers should become scarce, and in fact, impossible to obtain in adequate numbers.

As the result of this state of affairs, the altogether discreditable practice of drawing off help from one another, has grown up. This is effected usually by the inducement of extra pay, far higher than is intended to be permanently given, but which is given for the time being, to tide-over the emergency.

The disadvantage of this is not merely to the Mill left short of hands, or in the disarrangement of its business. The greatest injury results from the general demoralization of the hands. The vicious habit of running from mill to mill is cultivated, to the injury of the steadiness and reliability of the workers. There is, moreover, in the practice, a breach of the comity and fair dealing which manufacturers owe one another. So long as it continues, no one can feel properly encouraged to teach his art to a green hand, whom he may lose as soon as trained.

We therefore recommend, first, that it be accepted as a settled part of the code amongst manufacturers, that the attempt to draw off hands from other Mills shall be regarded as unfair and reprehensible.

We recommend, secondly, that each manufacturer, or more definitely, each manufacturing agent or superintendent shall adopt it as an essential part of his policy to have constantly a number of hands in training, the number to be proportioned to his whole force of operatives, and to the average length of time for which the service of those operatives can be commanded.

We recommend, thirdly, that with a view to arrive at some general law or average, as to the number of fresh hands required

to be taken in training to make up inevitable losses of skilled hands, the Secretary of this Association be directed to collect statistics during the forthcoming year, showing for what length of time skilled operatives remain in service, and what proportion they now bear to the whole number of employees.

GEO. L. WARD,

WM. P. HAINES.

Mr. BURKE said that the report embodied some very important ideas, and until the matter has been brought to the attention of the members of the Association, and they had had time to look the matter over, he doubted whether it would be of much use to collect statistics.

On motion it was

Voted, That the Report be accepted, and the consideration thereof be deferred to the next meeting of the Association.

On motion of Mr. COBURN of Lewiston, it was

Voted, That the Board of Government of this Association be requested to take into consideration the services of the late Mr. WETHRELL to the manufacturing interest of the country, and, if deemed expedient, that they prepare resolutions recognizing the same, for publication with the proceedings of this meeting.

On motion it was

Voted, That the thanks of this Association be presented to Mr. DRAPER for the able and interesting manner in which he had illustrated the operation of the various Let-off motions under discussion.

Voted, That the thanks of the Association be tendered to the Messrs. CHICKERING for the use of their beautiful hall.

Voted, To adjourn.

LET-OFF MOTION FOR LOOMS,

BY GEORGE DRAPER, ESQ., HOPEDALE, MASS.

In submitting a paper on this subject, I hardly know where to begin or leave off. It would take volumes to describe all the different devices which have been tried and used more or less for this purpose. The first with which I am acquainted, was used on a hand loom. The yarn and cloth-beam were both fastened; the lay was suspended overhead; the weaver wove an inch or two of cloth, more or less, then stopped and wound it on the cloth-beam and then wove more, and so on. On the first Power looms with which I was acquainted, the yarn beam was held by friction, and the beat of the reed against the cloth started the yarn off the beam, when the slack was wound on the cloth roll, by what was called a Grasshopper Lever, to which was attached either a weight or spring. This plan is used extensively on Woolen looms to-day. I find it difficult to separate the Take-up and Let-off motions, they are so intimately connected in their operations. The Take-up motion above spoken of, is called intermittent, and is used in various forms. I know of no Cotton looms now running, constructed in this way. I shall therefore make no remarks upon their obvious imperfections. More than thirty years ago a class of Let-off motions was introduced, taking their action in part from what was termed the Flyter or spring reed. Stone's motion was of this sort, afterward Potter's. Both were used extensively, and at a later period, Kendrick's, some of which are now in use.

About the same time that Stone introduced his, the Feed motion, so called, was introduced in Lowell and various other places. This was modified and much improved by Pliny Lawton, then of Lowell, about 1844, and nearly all the Feed motion looms were altered. This class of looms all had a coarse worm, working into a worm-gear on the barrel of the beam. The shaft on which this worm was placed was held by friction,