Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Industry News * Textiles: America's first industry This year the U.S. textile industry celebrates its bicentenial, paying tribute to a long record of economic and social contributions to this country. Members of Congress have introduc ed a resolution to recognize the bicentennial, calling on the president to encourage U.S. citizens to take note of the textile industry’s past and present accomplishments. In 1790, the United States was a young nation, still struggling to become an established country. But that was soon to change with the birth of the U.S. textile industry and manufacturing, arming the country with a strong ec- nomic base that has endured ever since. An English textile mechanic named Samuel Slater had a great influence on the beginning of industrial progress in the United States. He arrived in America 200 years ago this year, hav ing been trained in the steps of Richard Arkwright. Arkwright was responsible in 1771 for the first production of all cotton fabric in England. Competition in textiles at the time was so intense that skilled workers in the industry were not allowed to leave England. But Slater left anyway, only after learning the details of textile machinery and methods for spinning cotton into yarn for weaving. Moses Brown, owner and manager of several manufacturing trading enter prises, hired Slater in hopes of making success of mechanized yarn produc tion. Slater started his operations on the Blackstone River in Rhode Island, building the first U.S. spinning factory, winch earned him the title of the father of American manufacturing. Slater was not the only one in the United States who was experimenting with textile machinery and production. Before he left England, small mills in this country were using hand-operated jenny technology. But with the help of skilled workers in the Pawtucket Falls, R.I., area, Slater built and operated water-powered textile machinery, which greatly enhanced production. In December 1740, a work force of nine began spinning cotton with Slater’s machinery. Three years later, the Slater Mill was built and became the first English-type cotton-spinning mill on this continent. A series of inventions helped to ad vance the U.S. textile manufacturing industry even further. In 1793, Eli Whitney perfected the cotton gin, which cleaned as much cotton each day as it had taken 50 people to do in the past. Francis C. Lowell of Boston visited England in 1811 and observed the power-loom industry. Two years later in Massachusetts, he began manufac turing cotton goods by power looms for the first time in America. His mill became the first in which all operations—from cotton bale to finish ed cloth—were not only mechanized but carried out under one roof. Textile manufacturing had become a large-scale industry. Cotton good companies began to spring up in this country. Ring spinn ing, the first great American invention in the textile industry, was perfected in 1828 by James Thorpe. Textile mills in northern New England attracted young women, who worked a few years while staying in boarding houses and saving their wages. Women workers in Lowell, Mass., became famous for publishing a book of poetry and literature in 1840. In 1846 Isaac Singer designed a sew ing machine more sophisticated than earlier models. His machine, when mass produced, led to the textile in dustry’s biggest offspring, the apparel industry. By 1847 more people in the United States worked in textile plants than any other industry. The first synthetic dye entered the picture in 1856, when it was accidental ly discovered in a solution of coal tar. Before that time, fabric dyes had been obtained from such sources as shellfish, insects, plants and wood. To day, more than 1,500 dyes are produc ed in the United States. In the mid-19th century, cylinder printing with power machines was in troduced, along with the manufactur ing of coarser ginghams and some bleaching, dyeing and finishing. By the 1870s, textile manufacturing began to become established in the South and continued to gain strength there. The first rayon plant opened in the United States in 1910, signaling the beginning of the development of man made fibers. The textile industry grew and developed rapidly because of this new resource. A variety of new products in the tex tile industry has been invented in this century, including nylon in 1931, acrylic in 1950 and polyester, today’s most widely used synthetic fiber, in 1953. Air-jet spinning, a much faster method than ring spinning, was in troduced in 1981. The U.S. textile industry has come a long way since Slater’s time. Today more than 700,000 people work in the in dustry, which has been rated the most productive and efficient in the world. This high-tech, modern manufacturing segment is largely automated and computer-driven with a wide range of state-of-the-art equipment. U.S. Textile Industry pledges to adopt "zero" solid waste as industry goal The national trade association of the U.S. textile industry has pledged to reduce drastically the amount of solid waste produced by the industry through recycling and developing new waste disposal technologies. The Board of Directors of the American Textile Manufacturers In stitute (ATMI) also passed resolutions endorsing congressional efforts to revoke the most favored nation (MFN) status of China because of human rights concerns and recognizing the bicentennial of the U.S. textile industry this year. The Board of Directors of the American Textile Manufacturers In stitute (ATMI) unanimously passed a resolution urging companies to adopt a “zero waste” goal and to work toward the “virtual elimination” of the prac tice of using landfills for disposal of paper and plastic products. The industry shares the nation’s con cern over the mounting solid waste disposal dilemma. Textile manufac turers, therefore, should work to reduce their share of nonhazardous waste disposal of landfills, according to ATMI. ATMI’s board, meeting one day before the organizaton’s 41st annual meeting, has called on all segments of the textle industry complex to “work together to design solutions to our solid waste disposal problems, particularly with respect to plastic waste. The resolution encourages U.S. tex tile companies and employees to escalate efforts to protect the environ ment through recycling. Regarding China’s MFN status, AT MI said “it has been widely reported that there exists a significant amount of worker exploitation and human rights abuses in China.” China, the number-one supplier of textiles and ap parel to the United States, provides 13.5 percent of all such imports, which com pete directly with U.S. products and cost American jobs. “Be it resolved that ATMI...believes China should not be rewarded for its ac tions with continuation of MFN status, which entitles it to enormous shares of the U.S. market at the expense of the American textile industry and American workers,” the resolution said. ATMI “endorse(s) congressional ef forts to revoke MFN status to China, and to restrict or prohibit the importa tion of Chinese goods produced with forced labor.” In a salute to 200 years of U.S. textile manufacturing, ATMI’s Board urges “American textile com panies and employees, business and civic leaders, and the general public to observe the bicentennial with ap propriate ceremonies and activities throughout the year.” The resolution also calls on Congress to adopt H.R. 518, which would recognize 1990 as the textile industry’s bicentennial and declare Oct. 13-20 as “American Textile Industry Bicenten nial Week.” “For 200 years, the textile industry has contributed greatly to America’s economy, social system and political developmnt,” said ATMI President Ed ward P. Schrum. “Today the textile complex employs more than two million Americans and has evolved in to a modern, state-of-the-art industry. The bicentennial gives us a chance to reflect on the industry’s past and for ward to a strong future.” ATMI, textile museums and com panies are planning a variety of ac tivities this year to commemorate the bicentennial. In 1790, an immigrant mechanic named Samuel Slater arrived in the United States from England. He began producing cotton yarn via water- powered machinery in Pawtucket, R.I. Slater’s success led to the establish ment of the textile factory system, which launched the U.S. industrial revolution. ATMI, the national trade association of the U.S. textile industry, provides in ternational trade, government rela tions, economic information, com munications services and product in formation in support of the industry. Bulk Rate U.S. Postage PAID Clinton, S.C. Permit No. 59 MS PEGGY GILMER 205 GORDON ST CLINTON, SC 29325 page 12 - Cloth Maker