The Beaufort tribune and Port Royal commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1877-1879, April 05, 1877, Image 4
EVKK HINK A TKAMP.
II ?.v lie (irnviiatrd Iturk to Baxter Street
?A rroblem Solved.
Two wealthy gentlemen of this city,
says the New* York World, have lately
b 'en making an experiment upon a very
v.le body and have worthily solved a
very interesting, if not important prob
lem. What would become of a tramp if
he were taken from his wanderings and
excellently well provided for? was a
question they discussed one evening, and
b<> niiny more or less curious thoughts
cam" to the surface that they concluded 1
to try the experiment just for a lurk.
They found the man they were in search
of and then employed a detective to
watch him. All being arranged, the
tramp, who was apparently about thirty
years of age and very seedy, was drugged
one night by a detective, placed in a carriage
and driven to a hotel, the proprietor
of which, after some demur, had ,
agret d to enter into the plan. The tramp
was shaved and trimmed as to his hair,
bathed and placed in bed in one of the
mo3t luxurious rooms in the house; his
old clothes were taken away and a brand
new and elegant suit was substituted for
them. Everything was there, from the
line silk hat and boots to the watch and
chain, the cane and the silk umbrella.
In the breastpocket of the coat was put
a wallet containing $250 in notes of large
and small denominations. The tramp's
name as lie had given it when he was
first treated by the detective to a drink?
it may have been his, and it may not,
but at all events he would recognize it?
was written in the hotel register, and the !
day clerk was put *4 fly "to the whole
matter, and instructed to address him
courteously in the morning when he
should oomo down stairs, to ask after his
health, and to depart so far from the ordinary
grandeur of the hotel clerk as to
be even deferential in his deportment to
the guest. The tramp was then left to
himself, and woke not, it may be 6up-;
jK>sed, till the late morning, for he did
not come down till afternoon. What his
thoughts were on waking, in a condition
analogous to that which set poor Abou
Hassan crazy and made him believe himself
the commander of the faithful, must,
of course, be matter of conjecture.
He entered the office in gorgeous array
but with a bewildered look, and would
have bolted into the street without dejay I
had he not been addressed by name by
the clerk, who most courteously gave
him the compliments of the day, and
- - 1 1 1. _ 1 1 A...
HNKfii n ut; u?a ivuy uirBtsi^f w mnc uu
two gentlemen who h:ul culled to sec him
an hour before, but hearing that he had
not vet come from his room, merely left
their cards, saying that they would return
at seven o'clock. To the clerk's
surprise the whilomc tramp took the
cards, examined them, and told the clerk
in very good English, though with the:
tramp's characteristic husky voice, that
prosaiug business rendered it necessary
for him to leave immediately for
Chicago. He was sorry, but would be
/ Obliged to leave a note for his friends,
which he thereupon wrote with a fluent
pen, sealed it, and directed the clerk to
give it to either gentleman who might
call for ih Upon being opened, it was
found to be merely a collection of words
put together haphazard, but nil correctly
spelled and written in a beautiful hand,
tt was evident that the tramp they had
undertaken to examine was at least fairly
well educated.
Followed by the detective, the nouveau
richc went down Broadway as far Tenth ;
street, looking furtively to the light and ;
left occasionally, and, turning at Tenth,
crossed over to the east side, and so onward
down Avenue A, till he came to a
low restaurant, into which, notwithstanding
his fine appearance and the deference
which he must have known it would win
for him, he slouched and shuffled in the
true ,ramp manner. Addressing the
baitender, he began with: "Wouldn't
you please give a poo"?but there ho
c night himself in time, and asked for a
"little trin." When he had poured the
glass full to the brim, turning his back to
* the bar as lie did so and enveloping the 1
tumbler completely with his hdtid, he
swallowed the whole at a draught, turned
to the lunch of ragged sausage, and grab-:
bing a handful of it was about to leave the
place, when he was reminded that he had
not paid. Then he felt in all his pockets
and said that he hadu't a cent about him,
but finally made shift to get at a one doll ir
bill, and having received the charge, ho J
v.dked out, and at the corner stood for a
long time in a b^own study, muttering to
himself. Tlieri lie drew out the pocketbpok
and empth d it, putting- the roll? f
.bills into* his trousers pocket. With the
wallet in his hand, he walked on till lie
came to an ash barrel, into which he
dropped it and then hastened away.
iixmf every fourth block he stopped
at some restaurant, drinking and taking
a bite at each, but his liquor seemed as
yet to have no effect on ldm. Toward
evening, however, he became?not, indeed,
"top-heavy, but generally dissolved
and soaked. Appeariug to see the necessity
of getting undercover, lie entered
a hotel in the Bowery?for thus far oil
his journey had he come?boozilv registered
Ips name, and then was shown to
liis room.' He did not go to bed, but
snoozed in his chair all night. In the
morning he went at once to drinking the
worst gin he coTild get, and presently
entered a pawnbroker's shop, where lie
put up his watch and overcoat ; so out
again,and in a second-hand clothing st ire
lie bought the cheapest of all possible
cheap suits, rolled his good clothes into
a bundle, pawned them at another shop,
an l so, fully at ease, he went on his
way.
The story told by the detective of his
subsequent career speaks of liow the (
tramp ended up in Baxter street, and
was robbed while dead drunk. It was
noticeable that at about that time the detective
wore a swell watch and chain, and
came out brightly with a diamond cluster,
for which h# long hail yearned. As
for the two extravagant truth seekers,
they had their expense for their pains.
????
The Red Sea.
It is rumored that the Red sea is losing
the rinldy hue wliich obtained for it its
popular name. This may be owing to
climatic or chemical reasons, for, as is
well known, the red color is given by the
presence in places of myriads of a minute
and all but microscopic plant, belonging
to the seaweed order. Many spots in
the open ocean are similarly discolored,
and over wide regions the same fact is
true of the Antarctic ocean. Still more
recently it has been dis overed that the
dark green discoloration of some portio ;s
of the Arctic ocean was due, not to the
presence or absence of ice, as was ouee
believed, but to the abundance of one of
those minute species of plants. Still
more curious was the fact brought out
that the " whale's food," also minute animals,
lived on this microscopic vegetable,
and were not found m localities
where the dark green discoloration wr.s
not observed.
?
Tue play bill which President Lincoln
is said to have held in his hand the
he was shot in the private box of Fori:'s
T neater, Washington, was sold theoth r
day for $4.19, J ' i
I
Bennett and Ilauiblin.
The manner in which the elder James
Gordon Bennett treated occurrences may
be judged from his encounter with Tom
Hamblin, manager of the Bowery, then
(1836) the fashionable theater of the
city. The manager and his wife had
separated, causing much scandal and
public discussion; the Herald siding
with the wife. When the Bowery was '
burned a complimentary benefit was
tendered Hamblin, but Bennett opposed
it strongly in his paper, and consequently
the house, on the evening of the benefit,
was pitiably small. Soon after, at n
dinner party of the actor's friends, it was
decided, while the diners were flushed
with wine, to go to the editor's office and ;
chastise him. Hamblin, large and muscular,
in company with three or four
others, entered the Herald furtively by j
a rear entrance, and fell vroleutly and
unexpectedly upon the journalist writing
at his desk. Things were disordered
generally, and Bennett would have been f
seriously hurt but for the interference of
the police. As usual, the paper printed
a detailed, though not very accurate, description
of the battle, at the close of
which, Bennett said, Hamblin had pick- ,
ed up a silver half dollar lying 011 the
counter, and decamped. "Now we
don't care a cent," continued he, "about
Hamblin'8 foolish attempt to do us
physical harm; but we do care fifty cents 1
about the half dollar he has stolen."
Bennett, speaking of the matter long
after, said the half dollar story- turned i
the public mind from the main fact.
People ceased to think of the assault,
"? f " i 1 ? -Al TT 1.1*..
ana leu 10 wonaenng wuemer mum urn
had or had not carried off tlie half dollar.
The journalist unquestionably understood
human nature, at least human nature
of the average sort.
.1 1
An Army of Water Rats.
Dr. Van Der Hork, the German traveler
to the Arctic circle, says : On one .,
occasion we had a curious adventure.
While crossing a lacustrine part of the ,
river called Kjonlmejaure, in the early ,
{)art of the night, we were sudden- ,
y surrounded by swarms of lemming j
(Myode8 torquatus), an animal like the j
mountain, rat. They swam around the i
boa; and attempted to clamber into it, so <
that it was with the greatest difficulty i
that wc could keep the fierce little crea- '
tures from boarding us by beating about :
with the oars, at which they would set
up sharp, shrill screams similar to those 1
of the nmskrat. After some time we 1
succeeded in passing them. These little (
animals come unexpectedly down from
the mountains?no one knowing exactly
whence?and appear in millions, swarming
over the whole country, eating up al- '
most even-thing that comes in their way. J
Neither rivers nor lakes seem to deter
them, both of which they swim with j
ease, usually keeping on their destructive ,
path until reaching the open sea, which ,
they vainly endeavor to cross, never (
swtjrving from the direction once taken ,
until they sink exhausted beneath the ,
waves. Thus perish countless numbers. Thoy
commit great ravages, and are as ,
dreaded in the North as the locusts are
in Egypt. Years, however, elapse between
their reappearance, or until they i
suddenly descend from their rocky re- |
treats. rThe Lapps tell us they rain from '
the sky, many of them stating that they ]
have actually seen them fall.
Farmers and Merchants. ;1
| i
The dull times of the last few years <
have discouraged many farmers and in- <
duced them to seek other employment, i
Farming, as a rule, is a slow way of 1
making money, but it is much more cer- :
tain than mercantile business. Of 1,112 1
bankrupts in Massachusetts last year 1
only fourteen were farmers, and in New '
York, of- 2,550 bankrupts but forty-six
were farmers, though farmers constitute
fully half the population. According to
the report of the New Hampshire board
of agriculture there are in that State
over two thousand deserted farms, so .
completely worn out and impoverished (
that no one can be found to work them
f ar the crop. The immediate gains in ,
m ?rcantile pursuits seem large in com
parisou with those of fanning, but when
we consider the risk all who buy and sell
must continually take it would seem the
d ctate of wise forethought to stick to ;
t le farm.
How Tliey Learned.
The right pleasant manner in which
the Hon. Abram S. Hewitt and his
brother fought their way early in life is
thus* told in the Philadelphia Times:
Mr. Hewitt and liis brother worked
their way through college together in an
original and highly fraternal manner.
The brother had an occupation in which
hs could earn enough to support them
both, so it was agreed, as both were equally
thirsting for knowledge, that the brother
should stick to his business, and that
Abram should enter Columbia College
and impart to him every evening all he
had learned during the day. They kept i
up this system with incredible industry
and were both graduated at the same
time. j
The Markets.
HXW TOBK.
Beef Cattle?Native 10 ft 10
Texas and Cherokee.. 09 ft 10
Milch Cows 65 00 @60 IK)
Hogs?Lire J 06 ft 06
Dressed 07!iift 07^
Sheep 06>?ft 07
'Lambe 06 'ift 0*
Cotton?Middling 12Xft 12#
1'lour?Western?Good to Cboioe... 7 05 ft 8 26
State?Good to Choice 6 00 ft 6 05
Wheat?Red Western 4 1 45 ft 1 45
No. 2 Milwaukee 1 42 ft 1 42 .
ltye?Staie 83 ft P0
Barley?State 62 ft 76
Isarley Malt 1 CO ft 1 00
Oats?Mixed Western. 38 ft 53
Orn?Mixed Western St&ft 55
Hay, per cwt 65 ft 70
Straw, per cwt 70 ft 80
Hops..: 76'e?16 @17 ... 75's 0 @ 10 .
Pork?Mess 14 60 <814 76
l.a nl?CI ty 8te*m 11V <3 11V
Fish-Mackerel, No. 1, new *18 00 @13 Oft
" No. 2, new 9 P0 @ $> 50
Dry Cod, per ewt <75 id 5 25
Herring, Scaled, per box 1* @ IS
drclemn?Crude 10^^10^ Rffined, 1"> ,
tool?California Fleece 23 <8 ?0
Texas " v4 (8 ;:8
. Australian " 38 @ 41
Butter?State 23 <8 24
Western?Choice 0 <8 22
Western?Good to Frirae.. 1? <8 7
Western?Firkins 12 (8 16
Cheese?State Factory 13 <8 15
State Skimmed 05 (8 07
Western 1ft <8 15
Eggs?State and Pennsylvania 1C @ 16%
BCFFALO.
Flour 7 00 <8l"' 10
Wheat?No. 1 Milwaukee 1 60 <8 1 6ft
Corn?Mixed 6ft <8 61
Oats 87 (4 37
Hje 90 @ 91
Barley f5 $ *3
Barley Malt 1 00 0 1 10 !
PHILADELPHIA.
Beef Catt'.e?Extra 06},'<8 Cfl\
Sheep (4%@ 0\*tf
Hogs?Dressed 08)?<8 C*9%
Flour?Pennsylvania Extra 5 37 <8 6 Ht
Wheat-Red Western 1 40 @1 45
Rye .. 76 @ K?
Corn?Yellow 64%<4 65 i
Mixed 5 %(* i' %
Oa'e?Mixed 37 @ <0
Petroleum?Oru I3>^<813>tf Refined, In
watxbtow*, mass.
Beef Cattle?Poor to Ghoioe 5 75 (8 8 60
Sheep 2 60 @6 CO
Lambs....,, 2 60 @6 60, >
CLARK'S "OIT." SPOOL COTTON
How, and Where it is Made?The
Clark Thread Company?Largest
Works in the New WorldAcres
of Snlendid Buildings?Forests
of Wonderful
Machinery.
- J?
The Process of Manufacture,
Down in the Cotton Fields-The
Employees' Societies - The 1
Clark Hose Company ? A
Grand Relief SocietyEmployees'
Centen- %
nial Excursion?
The Renowned
Eureka Club
and Thistle ,
Band.
.MANY INTERESTING PARTICULARS.
i
[From the Esse* County Prew. Newark, N. J.]
At the foot of Clark street, in the Eighth
ward of the city of Newark, on the banks
of tlve Passaic, occupying several acres of
ground, upon which are buildings, the rlooring
of which measures nearly eight acres,
are situated the largest thread works in the
New AVorld, employing about fifteen hundred
hands and paying out every two weeks
from sixteen to twenty thousand dollars in
wages, to l>e distributed by the employees
among different classes and occupations in
the city, and from fifteen to twenty thousand
per month to other parties here, who,
in various ways, are connected with this
vast establishment. Although having the
largest pay roll of any employers in New
Jersey, and contributing more to the welfare
and prosperity of the city than all its
financial institutions combined, we hear
less in the newspapers of this world of
wealth makers than of some second-class j
money lending shop on Broad street. It
would be useless for any one to attempt to
trace to their source all the varied industries
which have entered into the production
of Clark's "O.N.T." Spooi Cotton, which
is sold by even' merchant dealing in dry
ijoods, fancy goods, hosiery, notions, etc., in i
the United States, and contains two hun- ,
J red yards of that indispensable article, j
strong, smooth and beautiful. It is made '
up of
NEARLY FORTY-TWO MILLION DOUBLINGS, j
and yet is so fine as to lie hardly visible a
few inches from the naked eye. * The ini- J
roense capital invested in The Clark Thread (
Company's Works and the vast volume ol I
business, amounting to several millions per
annum, extending to every part of the
United States, is one of the principal
jourcesof Newark's prosperity. What it is j
mid lite blessings which How from it, are
not realized by one in a thousand of the
people who dwell within the sound of their '
tower bell. Notwithstanding the large
amount of money which the establishment
was to pour into the hands of every merchant
and trader in the city, as events have j
shown, the first thing which the City Fathers
:lid when these works were being erected '
was to tax the bricks and material not yet
shaped into buildings. It was on a par J
with the intelligence and appreciaton of the
REAL 30UKCB* OF WEALTH,
usually exhibited by the average politician,
ilad it been some trust company or curb- ;
stone broker that asked exemption, it wguld
probably have been granted. Some idea of
the value of thes^ works to the community
may l>e had by an illustration of a thing
whielr might really happen at any time.
The Clark Thread Company employ as
stated, about fifteen hundred persons, pay- j
ing out to them sixteen to twenty thousand
Jollars every two weeks. These hundreds ,
i?f hands pay out that money to the.
butcher, the baker, the grocer, the clothier, .
the dry goods merchant, and all who have ,
anything to sell get a part of it in some i
way, cither directly or indirectly. From
their hands it goes to pay debts, meet j
obligations and till the channel*} of trade
with the circulating medium called money,
and which is to business what blood is to
1%/v luimoit ovatoni crivincr if 1 i fp_ anima
luc uuu.au ft ft
Lion and power. Suppose to-nrght those
works were
DESTROYED BY FIRE.
They are fully insured. The Ciark Thread
Company receive their insurance in cash j
from their underwriters. They say to them- '
selves: "Business is dull, sales are uncer- j
tain, profits are small, the future is tin- !
known, and our taxes are heavy. The vast
business requires close attention ami j
persistent energy. AVe will not take this j
money ar.d rebuild the works, but adopt i
the plan pursued by most moneyed nieD,
viz: go to Washington, buy government
bonds, bring them home, put them in a tin
box, pay no taxes, and sit down to take
our ease, eat, drink and be merry, with no
thought of cape, supported in luxury without
risk by the interest on our bonds, paid ;
by taxation of the producing classes." Can j
any man calculate the wide spread ruin
which would follow such a calamity and !
course of action by The Clark Thread
Company? It would be incalculable. All
those people who earned money to purchase
what they wanted to buy, would be added
to the list of paupers who to-day clamor for
work or bread. Misery, want,
STARVATION AND CRIME
would be the fruit of such a course. But
this is exactly what has been done throughout
the couutry, and explains why one in
twelve in Newark arc to-day supported bv
the oi'v. The productive capital of the
country, which employed our now idle millions,
has l>ecn put into government bonds,
and appalling destitution and want are on
every hand, and increasing at a fearful rate.
I?al>or is the source of all wealth and prosperity,
and there is no loss equal to that
which follows enforced idleness of the producing
classes. There is no music so full
of joy and pence and good will to men as
the song ot labor and the music of machinery.
Better far that all other songs he
hushed and every note be stilled, rather
than those, and to them we now introduce
the reader.
ON THE DOCK
of the Clark Thread Company, which is
five hundred feet long, is a mountain of two
or three thousand tons of coal, drawn out
of boats at the wharf by a donkey engine,
and the hales ot cotton nnn wicir way irom
the same wharf to the brick house, for the
storage of that precious material, one!
pound of which will make one hundred
miles of thread, containing about forty-two
million doublings. The mind cannot grasp t
the numerical fact. But four grades of
cotton are ordinarily used in the manufacture
of Clark's " O.N.T." Spool Cotton, and
known as "Sea Island Cotton." This i
comes principally from South Carolina and
is grown on the small islands along the !
coast. Considerable is raised on the penin- !
aulas and around the hays and inlets, but it
is not equal to that of the sea islands, which
is the finest in the world. The first bag of
this sea island cotton of the crop of 1876
was purchased by the Clark Thread Company
at fifty cents per pound. The island
cotton is not used in the manufacture of
thread, being too ihort in the fiber. On
these sea islands were the richest planters of
the South in
THE OLD SLAVE DAYS,
many of them having as high as six hundred
slaves, and compared with whom the
feudal lords of England were children in
luxury, hospitalitv, and elegance. But today
ail is changecf. Those vast estates are
cut up into small plantations, many of
them owned by the negroes, who now call
no man master. They bring in their season's
product, sometimes on a mqle and
again in large quantifier. Brokers on the
ground or at the landings, buy and pay the
negroes for their cotton, often dividing the
uionev according to the labor performed in
raising the crop. Some lease the lands of
the former owners, but the old state of
things is "dun clar* gone." This trade and
trallic, it may be fairly exacted, frill in a
few year* largely increase the wealth and
intelligence of the race in these localities.
THE SKA ISLAND COTTON
brings treble the price of inland. An acre
will produce in the neighborhood of three
hundred and fifty founds of seed cotton,
which when ginned weighs about scventytive
pouncU, or one to five. The negroes
without doubt will eventually grow all the
cotton, as not one in five of the Northern
men have thus far succeeded in their attempts.
Let the reader remember that we
hawe not looked at a singlepieceof machinery
yet, and then calculate the numU-r of
people and the amount of wealth, these
works employ and produce, before we reach
TUa a.?!1 llO tn I no PAD 111) Ofno
IIIV iauivi * . JL lie OJII, fcilt- itnaiV) vviaauiva vv
and manufactures, all find employment to
supply the Clark Thread Company's
works, and when they slop the cotton may
bloom and fall umducked, the coal miner
may starve on a bed of black diamonds,
the sails on the rivers be spread to the
breeze no more, and the lathes in a hundred
shops be left to rust in silence. The manufacture
of Clark's " (). N. T." Spool Cotton
embraces the islands of the sea and penetrates
the bowels of the earth, utilizing the
treasures of wealth on every hand, enriching
and blessing mankind at every step,
from the womb of ages to the spindles of
Newark. We will now examine into the
immediate sources of the power which
drives the endless machinery of this vast
hive of industry, with its sixty miles of
belting and about seventy miles of steam
pipe for heating purposes.
WE ENTER TIIE ENGINE HOUSE,
itself large enough for an ordinary factor}-.
Here is a mighty production of human
brain and brawn. In the presence of this
monster, with its majestic tread, one feels
his own insignificance and frailty. This
vast piece of machinery, moving silently,
save the sharp click of the improved steam
cut-offs, is equal in power to the combined
draft of six hundred horses, and is two en- .
gines in one, usually termed a double engine,
The fly-wheel traveling at the rate
of forty-eight revolutions per minute and j
carrying three huge belts on its surface,
each two feet wide, is seventy-eight feet in
circumference, twentv-five feet in diameter |
and weighs thirty tons or sixty thousand
pounds. The shaft is fourteen inches in
thickness, the double cylinders are twenty-!
six inches in diameter, with condensers, and
a stroke of five feet. They were built by
Corliss, in 1874. One of the three belts on
the fly-wheel is one hundred and fifty feet .
in length. But even this double monster
could not run the works. It has a big twin
brother, and together they travel every day
for ten hours on their endless .journey, and
never get tired. They are wonders of power
and elegant workmanship, worthy of a visit
from any one who wants to see the
" BIGGEST PAIR OF TWINS
in New Jersey. They are supplied with
steam from nine immense tubular boilers
and four large upright lanlers,Corliss' plan.
They consume twenty-five tons of coal per
day, which will give some idea of the
amount of steam necessary to drive the immense
establishment. Ilesides these there
are three ordinary sized engines, made.bv
Watts, Camp.l>ell & Co., of Newark, in different
parts of the work, making seven in
all, a grand total of nearly fourteen hundred
horse power. The young mountain of coal,
which looks enough to last the whole city a
year, is rebuilt by two hundred and fifty
ton boat loads at brief intervals.
MANUFACTURING THE THREAD.
The cotton is brought in bales to the mixing
rooms, when it is examined and placed
in bins, according to the different grades,
ready for the scutching machines, which
o)>en and beat the material, cleaning it from
the dirt and sand it contains in the bale.
After going through the scutching machine,
it comes out in the shape of a roll, like wall
5>aper, comparatively soft, white and clean,
t is, however, really in a very rougli state,
compared with the fineness and perfection
that is to l>e reached. Several of these
scutching machines are running continually
and their sound is like the roar of a lightning
express train, as it whirls past the
platform where you stand. The first scutcher
is fed with the bale cotton from a hopper
which lets it through into knives set in
iarge rollers, which revolve with tremendous
force and lightning speed, picking the cotton
into small pieces, ai.d passing it by suction
of air, on to other rollers, between which it
goes aud comes out iu the shape of a web or
"lap "in large rolls. Four of thee rolls
are then placed upon a machine like the first
and run together through the same process
of
PICKING AN1> BEATING AND CLEANING,
when it comes out again in the same shape
as before, rolled to exactly the thickness
which it is desired to make the "sliver"
from which the thread yarn is to be spun.
What a "sliver" is will be learned further
on. The machine is so delicately set that it
regulates the thickness of the web or lap to
within half au ounce, in a web of five feet,
weighing only twelve to eighteen ounces.
After l>eing put through tiiree scutching
machines in thin way and coming out with
eight thicknesses of the web or lap similar
to that produced by the lirst process, it is
ready for the carding machines. This department
is tilled with Carding Machines,
Drawing Frames, Tappers and Combing
Machines, a perfect labyrinth of belting,
pulleys and machinery, the noise of which
is like the roar of many waters mingled
with the clatter of a thousand wheels. One
of the large rolls of web or lap that came
from the is at scutching machine is placed
on a carding machine which takes and
runs it.
BETWEEN THE TEETH
of a large and small cylinder for the purpose
of drawing out the entangled fibers
and laying them parallel or in the same line
of direction and also to remove the small
I>ollicles or motes which may have csc?j?ed
the action of the scutching machine. After
being treated in this way, a comber or
doffer takes the web from the small cylinder,
which is now a delicate guaze; and it
is gathered up and passed through a small
hole, say half an inch in ^ize, after which
it is coiled in a revolving can. The whole
process is one of wonderful delicacy, the
material being so finely worked that a
breath of air would break it. This card
contains ninety thousand square teeth to a
foot, or a total of four million one hundred
and eighty-six thousand. On the carding,
machines is a little joker that works like
some old man, raising the wire covered flats
from the teeth of the carder, which itclcans,
* ?' ?? ? rtnxtisUu ni flirt unrl
<11111 mruws UII UlC I'tmaivo v* ?? ??
coarse cotton left on them. Six of the
TIN CANS CALLED CARD SLIVERS,
in which the roll is wound are now taken
to another machine called a Drawing
Frame and run together into one "sliver."
These six are so light that when they are
passed together through a hole and made
one, they fall into another sliver and are
then no larger than one of the six from
which it was made, although they have not
yet been twisted at all. fourteen of these
cans full of slivers are placed at the " Lapper
" and run between two rollers, making a
new web nine inches wide and half an inch
' thick, which gomes out like the original
roll from the scutching machine that takes
the cotton from the bales, only that now it
is soft and delicate as is possible to conceive,
weighing only one hundred and forty-five
grains to the yard, nine inches wide. Jt
now goes in rolls to a wonderful little machine,
& French invention, first introduced
in this country by The Clark Thread Company.
It is a refined carding machine, the
product of which is as much superior in
fineness to the large cardeis just described
i a* the most elegant sHk goods are to
TIIE COARSEST COTTON CLOTII.
It in called the French comhing machine
and is onlv used by the best thread makers,
as it is very expensive and while it make*
: the thread superior in quality, it adds
twenty j?er cent, to the cost of manufacture.
Six of the rolls of webbing are now passed
together through the combing machine between
two rollers, and combed by innumer,
able steel teeth to the fineness of gossamer
and the thinness of a spider's web. It
1 passes on, is gathered into one soft round
"sliver" again, goes through rollers once
more, when it is coiled into cans as before,
with a lose of twenty per cent, on the nia,
lerial which composed the web when it was
put on the French machine. It is & tex'
ture so fine and soft that one cannot but
wonder how it bears it* own weight. Alter
the last process, six of the slivers are again
put through the drawing frame making one
sliver no larger than any of the six from
which it is drawn. The six oi these last
are put through the same process reducing
thuin in size six times, and adding that to
the length. This is repeated lluee times,
and each time they are coiled into cans.
The last sliver is the same size and weight
! as when the process began, although doubled
four hundred and thirty-five thousand, four
( hundred and fifty-six times. The last cans
are now taken to
THE FIRST SLURRING FRAME,
from which cans they are passed through
rollers, then twisted to about the size of a
| lead pencil, and wound on bobbins, all by
; the same machine. From this they go to
the second slabbing frame, where one hundred
and two spindles on each machine are
i winding yarn from two hundred and four
' bobbins, which came from the first slubber,
two threads being wound upon one spool.
? . ? in* li
The next or iniermeaiaie siuooing macnine
winds upon one hundred and seventy-six
spools, from three hundred" and fifty-two
bobbins, which came from.the second slubber.
The next and last is called the roving
machine, and fills two hundred and forty
spools, which came from four hundred and
eighty bobbins, from the intermediate slubhing
machine. By this repetition of ?hu) ling
and twisting the yarn is fast becoming
strong and hard. We now follow the ram
called " roving" to the self-acting " mule,"
which makes eight hundred and loity
threads v>f yarn from sixteen hnndred anil
eighty bobbins. The wonderful machine,
two of w"hich arc operated by one man.
draws out the yarn and twists it from six- j
teen hundred and eighty spools, when i
comes away, and ?n its return winds it on j
eight hundred cops (spools) making thej
last number of thread yarn. We now com j
to
Tliv Tit HEAD MILL,
which is a distinct and independent department.
The cotton yarn comes here, and i
first goes to the cop winding machines,
where it is run^from the cops, through delicate
balances, over soft felt ground, u|K)n 1
bobbins, two threads together upon one.
From the cop winding department, the bobbins
go to the slinging department, where
the two threads that were run together on
the spool, in the cop winding department,
are twisted or spun in one thread. The
thread, as it is unwound, runs through
water, and rapidly over glass guides, and
the bobbin which receives it revolves five
thousand times per minute twisting hundreds
of threads on each machine. After being
twisted two threads together, making one
hard thread, three of the latter are again
i run together on a bobbin, the same as in
; the first cop winding department. Three of
these are now twisted together, making six
strans, and
THE PROCESS OF TWISTING THEM
is exactly the same as the one last described.
It is known as the finishing twist[
ing department. When the thread comes
i from the finishing twisting department, it is
inspected with the greatest care, by skillful
persons, and put through several tests before
passing the reeling department, to l>e
wound in skeins for the bleach house. The
machines in this department are very curious,
and daily turn out vast quantities of
i thread, which is packed, and given a
: through ticket to the bleach and dye houses.
They measure off the thread into skeins of
an exact length and size, and when they
have reeled 08 just the right amount of yarn,
always stop, and unlike some kind of varn!
ers, they never forget to tell the same story
without variations. Again after coming
from the reels,
TIIE THREAD IS CAREFULLY INSPECTED,
| the work employing several girls, who take
all the rough and imperfect thread from th *
hanks. After this second inspection, we
find it next in the bleach house. The bleach
and dye houses are among the most interesting
departments of this vast establishment,
although not the most agreeable.
The progress in washing machinery, that is
here exhibited, would make our grandmothers
think that the milleuium had
come. The baby washer, as we call it, of
; this concern, is rather a large child, whose
I place and uses will appear later. Alter the
I thread in sent from the inspection department
to the bleach and dye houses, it is unpacked,
counted and put into large tanks,
immense loads at a time, and boiled by
steam for several hours, which takes out the
dirt and
CLF.AX8 IT PERFECTLY.
It is ffien put through washings oft, and
preparations wonderful and curious. Th
water u*ed, wfe judge, would have increased
the flood just about enough to have lifted
; Noah's ark from the snag on Mount Ararat.
| Some of the wash tubs are of stone, and all
are on a scale equal in magnitude to any of
Col. Seller's schemes for making millions.
The loads of thread are pui in and taken
, out of boilers, rinsers, washers, dryers and
half a dozen other processes by machinery.
Then after all this, it goes right back to
those huge steam boilers, and the same
thing is done over again. The dry room is
heated by seven thousand five hundred
feet of steam pipe, and can be rcgulited to
any desired temperature. After leaving
the reeling department, the thread that is to
}>T rnlnrrd i?oes to the dve house and that
which is to remain white, to the bleach
house. In the dye house is the patent dyeing
machine, used only to dye black. It
di.es the work far better than by hand and
is equal to the labor of more than a dozen
men.
ALL COLORS OF THREAD
are made, and the quantities of soaps, dye
stuffs, and other material of the kind used,
are immense. Eighty thousand gallons of
water are consumed daily in the bleach
house alone, and one of the Artesian wells
i of The Clark Thread Company has a capacity
of one hundred and fifty thousand gallons
per day. This is a remarkable well,
sixteen feet deep and eight feet in diameter,
of which l'rofessor Maynard, the New York
chemist, said it produced the purest water
h > ever saw. It makes a man thiroty to look
at it, and is absolutely free from any particles
of matter, by chemical test. The thread
is blued on a big scale, which gives .that
1 J-f J I al
handsome tint ro greatly aamiren uy me
Indies. Then it is committed to the tender
in rcies of the baby washer, which are cruel,
and goes throngh it ten times. The baby is
built like an ordinary washing machine,
but each of the rollers weighs a thousand
pounds, and as the thread pastes through
, the water into the washer
THEY HOP AND JUMP
j and pound with antics queer, but it does
the business thoroughly. This was formerly
done by the old fashioned pounder and barrel
which our grandmothers used to set us
at when we were boys, before going to school
in the morning. Then it is drawn through
the rin?er, which is a simple and novel ma1
chine continually supplied with pure Artesian
well water. The thread passes over a
roller into the water, comes*up again over
another roller, then down into the water,
and up and down, and out and in, and out
and up over the reels into great boxes on
wheels, from which it is put into a large
i water extractor, a perforated hollow cylin
I der revolving several thousand times per
1 " I [
minute, and then it is trnnsj>orted to the ,
drying room, in this way five hundred
heads can l>e rinsed in four minatea which
used to take an hour and a half. After the
thread ha* come out of the drying rootn,
COLORED OH COLORED
i it goes to the warerooras, where it is counted
and put in package* to be giwn out pivpar- !
atory to being wound upon spools for the
market. The thread having reached this j
stage of perfection, has become very valu-1
able and is looked after with the greatest
care. Tickets direct it to its different departments
and denote its size, quality, etc. 1
The inspection and testing of thread is one
of the most im|K>rtant features in its pro- j
duction, and it would surprise the lady who j
sews day after day with Clark's "O.N.T." |
Spool Cotton, to know by what patient and i
constant care the perfect smoothness and
regularity of the thread was secured. Jt is
now taken to the hank winding department
and wound upon large bobbins, when it is
ready for the last wind upon the spools,
from which it is taken by the consumers for
its thousand uses of necessity and utilitv,
' ? .? I __l ?L!..I,J __*J
irom tying me rag on me dot s wnuueu anu j
bloody linger, to the delicate embroidery of
i' the wedding garment.
THE SPOOLING DEPARTMENT.
The spooling room is a busy place, where
sjioolfi ot' thread of all sizes and colors by
i tens of thousands are wound every day, two
hundred yards on a spool. The self-acting
spooling machine is a marvelous piece of
mechanism. The spools arc placed in an
iron gutter by the oj?erntor, when the ma1
chine picks them up, puts them on a shaft
eight at a time, winds the thread upon them
at the rate of three thousand revolutions per
minute, cuts a little slot in the edge of the
spool, catches the thread in it, nips i* off,
1 drops the spools full of thread into boxes
' below, picks up eight more empty spools,
; places, winds and drops them as before, and
i never makes a mistake. The machine,
\tliiclu.i used in thin country onlv by The
i Ll'ii K Tlilead Company, Was exhibited by
tliem at the Centennial, and with their
magnificent case of goods, was one of the
? ? a **?. .? nr lliA manv wnn/l o ? *
keeping in repair the vast quantity in use
| in the various departments of the works.
The cabinet factory turns out about two
hundred cabinets per day. The bobbins,
etc., used in the mill are made here. In
fact about all the Clark Thread Company
go outside for is the raw material. They
manufacture all they use, except a few of
the more intricate or patented machines.
THE CLARK HOSE COMPAXY.
One of the best organized and equipped
fire companies in the city of Newark is the
j "Clark Hose Company," organized May j
loth, 1869. There are twenty members
employees of the factory, brave, aetive men
trained by fiequent practice to their duty,
and proud of their company and outfit.
Their equipment is as follows: Two hoae
carriages with wrenches, bars and axes,
carrying seven hundred and fifty feet of
hose on reels and tws pipes with extra nozzles.
They also command nine hundred
feet of hose with pipes and nozzles in twenty-one
different stations, in and around the
factory, one Cameron fire pump, one Worthington,
one Watts & Campbell, and one
Blake pump, one hundred and seventy-eight
filled buckets in their proper places throughout
the works, sixteen hand pumps, sprinklers
in all the room of the cotton mill, the
packing house, the machine and the carpenter
shop and the drying rooms. There are
also sprinklers in the two top floors of the
thread mill and in the warehouse, and there
are thirty-five fire plugs or hydrants on the
premises. Regular meetings are held on the
second Monday in each month, and practice
is had every two weeks. Examination of
all valves, hydrants, pumps and other i
^ICrtV QbVi UV^IV/IIP nuiui ^ vuv n vnuvi"
of the exhibition. J mm the spooling department,
me spooled thread ia taken to
THE WABEROOM,
where the btauti'ul little label containing
the name, number, etc., t.f th thread, is put
on by girK The quickest o. them will put
l-t'v Is on the end-* of .line or ten thousand in
a day, all of wmcn have to be moistened by
the tougue, placed on the spool, and then
struck with the hand to paste it. Some of
these girls work abont as quick aslightning.
After ticketing, the spools of thread are put
into boxes of one doxen each. They are
then ready for packing. About twenty-five
thousand feet of lumber per month is cut at
the mills, in Michigan, to the various
lengths required, and ail that is aone here
' is to put the boxes together. A private wire
runs from the works in Newark to the New
York office, and the line is kept busy in
sending orders and transmitting messages of
the company. In the short time we were
there several large orders came in from different
parts of the country, and among them
| were some from Maine, Texas, California,
Wisconsin, Oregon, etc. 1 he Clark Thread
Company sends out annually vast quantities
of show cards, calendars, etc., some of which
are magnificent specimens of the lithographic
and printer's art.
IS THIS A FAIIt COUKT?
The number of feet of draft which one
pound of cotton undergoes is one trillion,
seven hundred and seventy-two billion,
"three hundred and twenty million, six hutii
drod and thirty-five thousand, six hundred
feet, or stated in figures, 1,772,320,635,000, *
distance of 335,477,5521 miles. The following
demonstrates the apparently iu'
credible statement: The web of cotton
i from which this immense length of thread
is drawn is forty inches wide. It goes to
the carder, where it is drawn to 4x120,
| equal to 4S0 feet. Then the drawing frame
increases it to 480x0, equal to 2,880; the
lapper 2.8SOx2f, equal to 6,480; the comber
i draws it out to 6,480x26, equal to 168,480;
then it goes to the head drawing frame,
t where 168,480x0 equal to 1,010,880.
THE SECOND DRAWING FRAME
multiplies the last length by six again
making 1,010,880x6 equal to 6,065,2SO,
which repeated on the third drawing frame
makes a'length of 6,065,280x6 equal tn 36,!
301 6g0 fm.i \n* rumen the first sluhbirit?
I frame where 36,391,680x5 is equal to 181,!
058,4(H); the second ? lubber 181,908,400x4$
equal to 818,812,800; the intermediate kIuIh
bcr 181,958,400x6 equal to 4,612,876,800;
tlio finishing thread winding machine
make* the total length of th* thread 4,912,876,S0x6
equal to 29,477,260,800. Now it
( goes on the bobbins to the " mill" where 29,477,260,800x9}
gives us 272,664,662,400 feet.
We then multiply the last number of feet
which states the total length of one pound
of cotton drawn inte thread, by the length
of the original web, which is six and a half
feet, and have the total as stated before
272.664,662,400x61 feet making a grand
total of 1,772,320,635,600 f?et. The cotton,
when finished as yarn, has been doubled six
million, nine hflndred a sixty-seven thou-;
sand, two hundred and ninety-six times
(6,967,296), in passing through the different
processes. When the yarn is made into six
cord tinished thread, the above number of'
doublings h^ve been multiplied by six, j
making a total of 41,803,762 doutdings.
Now divide the totaljdraft, 1,772,327,632,600,'
by the total doublings, and if the work is
correct, we Rhall have the total number of I
feet of yarn in a pound of cotton, jrhich is 1
254,337 feet. But there has been 20 per
cent, loss in the manufacture, which must be 1
added, making a total of 305 254 feet of yarn
for a pound ot cotton, or 120 hanks of 840
yaids each, enough to reach from New York
to Trenton, a distance of sixty miles.
MACHINE AND CABINET SHOPS, BOX FAC- j
TORT AND PRINTING HOUSE.
The Clark Thread Company do all their
printing and lithographing at the works
here. Four printing presses are kept running
all the time, and in the lithograph department
one steam press and six or eight
hand lithograph pressesare continually employed.
In l>oth departments the practice
of the "art preservative" is in the highest
style. (Irders for the paper box department
[ in the one item of straw board are given as
! high as eighty to one hundred tons at a time.
! In the machine shop a large number of men
omnlnvwl in niairinu npw marhinerv and i
equipments takes place on the first of each
month, and a minute report of the exact condition,
position and effectiveness of the fire
service is made to The CUrk Thread Company.
THE CLARK THREAD COMTANV RELIEF
SOCIETY.
One of the best tnd most beneficial organizations
which constitutes a part of the
system and care of the Clark Thread Company
for their employees, is the Kelief Society.
It was organ zed January 22d, 1870,
for the imrDoee of providing a fund for the
relief of those who might, bj accident or
sickness, be incapaci tated from sustaining
themselves. All the employee* of the company
must be members of the socieiv, and
each receives assistance when needed, from
the fund according to the amonnt paid in #
which must be at lea?t one cent per week'
but no one ia permitted to pay in in imoun t
which would draw, in case of aickneaB, mor?
than half their average weekly wage*.
Every cent paid in draws severity-five cento
per week. The Clark Ihnead (Jomphny
contributes five dollars i>er week to the fund
without cessation, but all otbeia fcev& their
contributions when the unexpended balan ce
in the trea ury reaches fifteen hundred dollars.
When the fund is reduced to seven
hundred dollars, payments aroi renewed.
The payments into- the treasury average
about nine months in the year. We hope
that this humane and systematic organization
may find many imitators among the
manufacturers of Newark and throughout
the country, who read this article., .'The
company pays interest at sevei^, per cent,
on the money in the treasury, besides their
five dollars per week into the fund. Since
its organization onC thousand three hundred
and ninety-seven member* have been relieved,
and twenty-four deaths ;h>v&.foccurred
in the society. The. reason,that4he
receipts for 1874 and lc>76 are less''than
usual is because th-: fund had retiebed the
maximum of $1,500, and payments were
stopped. The following very interesting
table shows the amount received and. paid
out from 1870 to 187G inclusive:
. ;i ir. ?. i v?v?>
rear*. Receipt). I'aymattU
187 0 .....t 1,742.34 N '$f,&4.28
187 1 2,247.95 .'3,#10.82
1872 2,114.42 1,704.88
1873. 2,381.57 '; ,>;T4i21
187 4 .*....* 856.60 1,595.59
187 5 1,641.01 , I. '$d>24.75
" 77.04
1876..... 953.81 "/ 1,751.94
Total $12,923.34 tl 1,936.52
Balance in treasury Jan. 1,1877, $986.82.
HOW CLARK'8 "o. N. T." SPOOL COTTON
ORIGINATED.
Until within a few year*, the great difficulty
to he overcome in the introductiooof
sewing machines, was the objections made
by manufacturers and operators to the then
popular threads. These complaints were
so loud and well founded that the sale of
sewing machines was greatly impeded on
account of the impossibility of obtaining a
thread adapted to their use. Mr..George A.
Clark, appreciating the difficulty, introduced
into the American market the'nrtw
famous Clark's "O. N. T." Spool Cotton, all
numbers being Six Cord, from 8.tolO0, which
met the demand, did away yrith alt ceir^plaints,
and long smce established its refutation
as the best thread in nee for sewing
machines or hand sewing. To Mr. George
A. Clark brlongs the credit of being the
ffrst to supply thoee fine qualities of Six
Cord Spool Cotton with which bis name is
associated. The thread is used and recommended
by agents of Singer, Wheeler &
Wilson, Grover A Baker, Domestic, Howe,
Florence, Weed, Wilson, Blees, Remington,
Secor, Home, Lathrop and other sewing machine
companies. Tbe superior quality of
Clark's "O.N. T." Spool Cotton soon secured
for it an immense sale, but with the
great popularity o< the goods came also
counterfeits which made it uecessary for
the manufacturers to adopt a trademark,
for their own and the public's protection,
and now upon every genuine spool of their
thread is the following:
This trademark is lamiliar to every merchant
in the Uniud States, and all who
have ever tried the gen nine Clark's"O.N.T."
Spool Cotton, continue to. use it.
EMPLOYEES AT THE CENTENNIAL.
A noticeable featureof The Clark Thread
Company has always been their thoughtful
and considerate attention to the welfare
and pleasure of their employees. The Centennial
Exhibition afforded an opportunity
for its practical illustration which should
not pass unnoticed in this article. Desiring
to give all their operatives an opporthnity
to witness the great Exhibition at Philadelphia
of what the nation had accomplish
ed during the first hundred years of its existence
in industry and art, the company
planned and carried to complete suooess a
monster excursion to Philadelphia, which
embraced their fifteen hundred employees,
with invited guests, members of the press,
and the Mayor and Common Council of the
City of Newark. Some idea of its extent
may be guined when it is known that fortyfive
railroad coaches were employed for ^
th?-ir accommodation, and the cost for
transportation, admission, entertainment,
etc., exceeded six thousand dollars. But
this large sum is small compared with the
unalloyed pleasure which was afforded the
grand army of industrious people who find
I employment at The Clark Thread Com;
pany Works in Newark. The Common
Council passed and caused to l>e beautifully
engrossed and presented to the Company,
a series of resolutions from whicn for '
lack of space we copy only the following
extract:
Rrtritfl, That we witnessed with great satisfaction
the kindueee and attention shown by 1 he offc-re
of this Company to their fifteen hnudred working
people- and the evident good feeling ibat exists
between them; recoeiuziiig that when labor and
capital tbus harmonize, prosperity mu?t en-ne.
Rtmlttd, That he location of th? Clakk Tunic ad
Company in our city, with their immense works,
and their army of operatives, has proved a vast
benefit, and that I ewark is and should be, justly
proud of her manu'actnrers on which* lier growth
and prosperity must ^per depend, and that this
municipality should foster and encourage by every
proper means their e?t&bli?hmcnt and success,
lb-solution of thanks to the Company were also
passed by the employees.
THE EUBEKA BOAT CLUB AND THISTLE
BAND. ; '
The now famous ctew, wlimh came sq
near winning the prize against Wf world at
the Centennial International Regatta last
August, is from The Clark Thread Company's
Works p.-iucipally. It has a list of
thirty-five active and about forty honorary
members. It is the champion crew of the
Passaic, and has beaten the celelwatcd
Atlantic crew of New York. They won
the first heat on Monday August 28th,
1876, at Philadelphia, betRmg the Dublin
and Argonauta crews On the second day
they were beaten by the celebrated Beavcrwycks,
of Albany, oy only six seconds, the
Beaytrwycks winning the" championship of
the world on the last dav, the Newark bovs
nf Th- riwrlr T nrou/4 pAmnonv Anntincr vorv
close to the championship of the world. ,
t The Thistle Band, one of the best in the
State, is organized from the employees ?f
the company and plays for all the many excursions
and festival* of the employees, besides
answering outside calls when made.
They accompanied the Eurekas to Philadelphia,
and also the grand excursion of
the employees to the Centennial last year,
and always play at. the regattas in which
the Eurek as take part.
THE TOW TORE HOUSE.
At No. 400 Broadway, corner of Walker
street^ New York is the splendid marble
building of George A. Clark A Brother, the
selling agents of The Clark Thread Company.
The entire five stories of their magnificent
place are fitted up with every facility
possible for the prompt transaction of
their immense business.
It requires a great deal of poetry to
gild the p:ll of poverty, and then it will
pass current only in theory; the reality
la a dull failure.
I H. r.?. u. a- II