To those familiar with the manufacturing districts the process of spinning is well known, but to the general reader who is not acquainted with those districts, a short account of the two different processes may not be uninteresting.

There

are two modes of spinning: one by a machine called the throstle, the other by the mule. During the early stages of cotton spinning, the cotton was carded and formed into slivers or rovings by hand cards. They were then placed on a wooden frame behind a row of spindles, fixed in a movable box, which travelled on wheels, and these again received motion from a wheel and band, and the rovings which passed from the board behind, and delivered by rollers to the spindles, were held fast, as the spinner drew the spindles from the rovings to the extent of the stretch; and thus by consecutive movements the rovings were stretched and twisted, and every time the travelling frame was pushed back to the rovings, the yarn previously spun was wound upon the spindles. This was the only method in use before the time of Arkwright, who introduced the cylindrical cards and the water frame, or, as it was subsequently called, the throstle, the noise of the numerous spindles imitating the notes of that bird. It was also designated the water frame, from the circumstance that it could not be worked by hand, but required the power of water to give it motion.

The next process is the throstle, which is on the same principle as the roving frame, but with this difference, that the spindles are smaller and more numerous, and range in rows of 150 or 200 on each side of the frame. It has also this peculiarity, that the bobbin which re-winds the yarn as it is spun is not regulated by the differential motion, but the thread, as it is drawn and twisted from the rollers, is wound on by friction as the frame in which the spindles are fixed rises and falls the length or depth of the bobbin. In this operation it is not necessary to wind the thread on to the bobbin slack, as there is no danger of the layers separating, and the friction given to the bobbin is therefore sufficient to fill it hard and tight.

The rovings are also carried to the mule, which is a totally different machine to the throstle; it has no movable frame or spindles with bobbins rising and falling; in fact, it is more

like the spinning jenny, with a travelling carriage which contains the spindles, and stretches out from the beam or stationary roller frame, after the manner of the jenny already described. It, however, combines part of the throstle as well as the jenny, and hence its name of the mule. The mule as left by Crompton possesses many advantages that do not belong to the water frame. It can spin yarn of any degree of softness, and of the finest quality; and since it was made self-acting, it forms its own cop on each spindle, and puts up the carriage, which on former occasions had to be done by hand. These are considerations of vast importance in spinning; and the mule has now attained such perfection that 1,000 spindles can be worked in one carriage with the same certainty and ease as one-third the number could formerly be worked by hand. There is another peculiar property in the mule, and that is the double twist in fine numbers which the yarn receives after the full extent of the stretch is made. When the spindle carriage arrives at this point the rollers become stationary, the motion of the spindles is increased, and the twist required is given according to the quality or purpose for which the yarn is intended. I believe the introduction of the double twist motion is due to the late Mr. John Kennedy, one of our earliest and most successful mule spinners.

Having thus traced the different processes from the bale of cotton to the yarn, our next duty will be to notice the operations of weaving from the yarn into cloth. In our endeavours to accomplish this it will be necessary to glance at the state of the manufacture as it existed previous to the introduction of the power-loom, and to show the advantages attained and the enormous increase which these inventions have produced.

From the earliest historical period, the hand-loom has been in use for the purpose of weaving. That of the Hindoos and all other nations have been of the same character, and until the improvement of the flying shuttle, introduced by Kay, we may consider the loom a primitive and unchangeable machine. It is upwards of thirty years since the power-loom was first introduced. After repeated attempts by Major Cartwright, Mr. Shorrocks, and others, to render it available and self

acting, it fell into other hands. These attempts were at first discouraging, but after repeated changes, suggestions, and improvements, it ultimately succeeded in producing a cloth more uniform in character and superior in quality to that of the hand-looms. The result of these improvements was a total change in the cotton manufacture. The hand-looms were thrown out of use, and the hand-loom weavers, who were unable to meet the new state of things, were thrown out of work, and suffered for many years the greatest and most distressing privations. By this transfer from hand to power weaving, the whole system of manufacture was changed, and the manufacture of yarn into cloth was no longer carried on in the domestic cottage, but became a part of the factory system. Large shed buildings were erected for that purpose, and the weavers, chiefly girls, were employed under regulations the same as those in the other parts of the mills.

Before yarn can be woven into cloth, four distinct processes have to be gone through—viz., warping, winding, beaming, and dressing to prepare the warp for the loom. The first of these, the warping, consists of a large vertical reel, on to which the yarn is wound from the bobbin in measured lengths, several of which, when put together, constitute the warp. It is then, for some qualities of cloth, sized or run through a cistern of liquid flour and water, at nearly the boiling temperature, and from this through rollers which squeeze out the surplus fluid, and leave the yarn saturated with the glutinous substance of flour and water, called size. In this state, when partially dried, it is transferred to the loom, where it is woven into cloth. The other process requires more careful manipulation, as the warps have to be formed by winding the yarn from the cop, if it be mule yarn, and from the bobbin if throstle, on to a roller called a beam, and in its passage it is run over a roller about twenty inches diameter, through the divisions of a reed formed of wire, to separate the threads and lay them parallel on to the roller beam.

This done, four or six of the first windings are united on the dressing machine KK, where they are again passed through reeds at each end, and finally wound upon a large bobbin or beam ready for the loom. In its passage from each end of the

machine, it must, however, be observed that it is well brushed or dressed with a pulp of prepared flour and water, which is laid upon the warp, as it passes from the rollers at each end to the beam at the top of the machine, ready for the loom.

The power-loom, although simple in its operations in the first instance, comprises at the present time many important improvements for the manufacture of twills and figure weaving. The revolving shuttle-box, and the changes in colour and form that may be effected, enable it in many cases to compete with the jacquard loom. Many of the beautiful fabrics of mixed goods are woven in this manner, and, judging from what has already been done, we may reasonably look forward to still greater improvements in the quality, as well as the quantity, of cloth produced.

It might have been desirable to have noticed the progressive increase of this important branch of industry; but when it is known that a sum exceeding 70,000,000l. sterling represents its annual value, we have said sufficient to impress the reader with a desire for its maintenance and cultivation.

We close the chapter on cotton mills with a list of the most approved speeds of the different machines, and a list of wheels, speeds, &c., as now in operation in the mill of the Oriental Cotton Spinning Company: