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 LIBRARIAN. 
 
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PRACTICE 
 
 IN 
 
 COTTON-CARDING. 
 
 A Complete Manual for the Card 
 Room of the Cotton Mill. 
 
 With full detailed instructions respecting the opera- 
 tion and manipulation of Cotton-cards, with 
 instructions respecting the surmounting 
 of special difficulties and with all 
 necessary calculations. 
 
 By JOHN LINDSAY, 
 
 Carding-.Master. 
 
 Published by 
 THE TEXTILE RECORD, 
 425 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 
 1888. 
 
 Price 75 Cents, 
 
UNIFORM WITH THIS BOOK* 
 
 Textile Record Hand-book No. 1, Practice in Wool Carding, by Joseph 
 
 Brown, Price. 50 cents. 
 Textile Record Hand-book No. 2, Practice in Finishing Woolens and 
 
 Worsteds, by F. H. Greene. Price, 50 cents. 
 Textile Record Hand-book No. 3, Practice in Weaving and Loom 
 
 Fixing, by B. D. Nightingale, Price, 75 cents. 
 
 THE TEXTILE RECORD 
 
 is a first class monthly textile magazine, devoted wholly to the textile 
 manufacturing industry in all its branches. 
 
 The Textile Record contains in each number more original 
 matter than any other textile journal in the world. 
 
 The contents of this hand-book indicate the character of the material 
 in The Textile Record. Its contributors include the most expert 
 practical workers in America and Europe. 
 
 The Textile Record in each number is richly illustrated. 
 
 Subscription price, $3.00 a year. 
 
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 icals we have, bearing on mill subjects." Wallingford Mills, Del. Co., 
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 Co., " A useful and valuable paper for any mill manager." 
 
 Price, $3.00 a year. 
 
 COPYRIGHTED 1888. 
 BY CHARLES HEBER CLARK. 
 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 3 &BI<ARY 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Preliminary, 
 selecting the stock — mixing — some practical sug- 
 gestions — doubling on the lapper — opening 
 the cotton — notes on the preparation of 
 the fibre 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Carding Cotton, 
 general reflections on the subject — single card- 
 
 ing necessary conditions for doing it well — 
 
 double carding and its advantages — card- 
 clothing and its proper application . . . . 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Grinding the Cards, 
 preparing a card for the grinder — the best kinds 
 of grinders — covering grinders — important 
 hints and suggestions — putting the grinder 
 on the card — considerations to be carefully 
 observed — points about good grinding — the 
 
 care of top-flats — card setting 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 The Sliver. 
 
 importance of even-delivery draw boxes — obtain- 
 ing uniform weight — suggestions to that 
 end — remarks upon the coiler — a considera- 
 tion of the railway-head — its good qualities 
 
 and its objectionable features 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Various Kinds of Cards. 
 
 the different varieties of carding- engines — 
 back-feed and front- feed — the wellman strip- 
 per card — the revolving flat — the roller 
 
 CARD 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Carding Bleached and Colored Cotton, 
 causes of difficulties — the need of a moderate, 
 even temperature — moisture — the effects of 
 light — artificial light — the preservation of 
 color — making dyed cotton ready for the 
 cards — faulty dyeing — squeezing and extract- 
 ing — drying 
 
 3 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Carding for Combed Yarns. Page 
 
 SKILL REQUIRED FOR THIS PROCESS — GOOD MACHINERY 
 NEEDED— POINTS THAT MUST BE LOOKED AFTER — 
 THOROUGH CARDING CALLED FOR — USE OF THE 
 DRAWING-HEAD — COILERS 69 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Combing the Cotton Fibre, 
 the combing machine — fine yarns must be combed — 
 the nipper and comb system — capacity of the 
 comb — comber-waste — wear and repair — the 
 number of the needles — the sliver — cam-mo- 
 TIONS — DRAFT AND WEIGHT OF LAPS — RULES FOR 
 SETTING THE COMBS 78 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Doubling and Drawing the Sliver, 
 the question of how many doublings — imperfec- 
 tions in drawing — extra doublings not al- 
 ways best — improved drawings — importance 
 
 of can-filling ' 89 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Drawing and Twisting, 
 the slubber — weak parts in the sliver — reme- 
 dies for them — slubber- draft regulation and 
 roller-setting — the tension of the ends — 
 tampering with the let off — the use and 
 abuse of doublings — true rolls on speeders — 
 the compound-motion explained - duty per- 
 formed by the cones 99 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 Difficulties Practically Overcome. 
 
 the twist in roving good rules — the best method 
 
 of sizing sliver — sizing the fine drawing — 
 practical suggestions — hank-table — influence 
 of temperature on drawing — -a cause of 
 uneven numbers — how to take care of 
 the frames — the prevention of waste — a 
 
 receipt for good roller- varnish ii3 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Card room Calculations, 
 to find the draft of any machine — drag between 
 doffer and calender rolls — draft of rail- 
 way-head — other miscellaneous rules for 
 making calculations . ; 1 27 
 
 4 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 Selecting the Stock— Mixing— Some Practical Sugges- 
 tions — Doubling on the Lapper — Opening the Cotton 
 — Notes on the Preparation of the Fibre. 
 
 Selecting the Stock. — In dealing with the 
 difficulties to be met with in picking and carding 
 cotton, we must not let the selection of the stock 
 and the bearing it has on the strength and uni- 
 formity of the thread pass unheeded. No matter 
 how well the preparing department may be at- 
 tended to, ill-sorted cotton cannot be spun into 
 even, fair yarn. Coarse, harsh fibres and those 
 of the silky kind will not pick or card together. 
 They will not draw or twist together, any better 
 than will fibres of diffeient lengths. Both lead to 
 bad work, which can only be avoided by proper 
 classification. In this business good judgment is 
 gained only by close study of the structure, size, 
 and general formation of the fibres. The precise 
 adaptation of the cotton to the mixing, and there- 
 fore to the practical working, becomes a positive 
 necessity in all manufacturing establishments 
 which work upon progressive principles. Hence 
 comparisons made with regard to the spirality, 
 
 5 
 
oily matter and general characteristics of the 
 staple are very uncertain without microscopic 
 aid. Yet in the hands of an expert sampler, the 
 mature fibre may be detected from the imma- 
 ture, and a mixing prepared from which the 
 largest amount of profit can be obtained. 
 
 Mixing the Stock. — The indications of ma- 
 tured cotton, which can be discerned without 
 mechanical assistance, are creaminess of color, 
 spirality of structure, evenness and conformity, 
 and consistency and strength. It is always 
 understood that the mixing must be suitable to 
 the requirements of the counts, and the cotton 
 and waste so graded that the goods will be regu- 
 lar and saleable. Hence the inferior staple and 
 the waste must receive special attention, so that 
 too great a proportion of either may not be sorted 
 together, and the strength and elasticity of the 
 thread thereby at any time impaired. 
 
 The fly, strip and roving waste, as well as that 
 picked from the more advanced processes, should 
 be run through the opener and made into laps 
 so that it can be spread on the mixing with 
 greater regularity. The low bales must also 
 receive due attention, and have their proper 
 courses on the mixing, and the cotton must be 
 drawn from a perpendicular face. The manage- 
 ment of mixings has a decided effect on the 
 general producing powers of the machinery. 
 
 6 
 
Because in this country we use a better quality 
 of stock for the same number than is used else- 
 where, that should be no reason why there should 
 not be as much thoroughness as possible em- 
 ployed in the handling of it, and every practical 
 means taken to insure good work. 
 
 Superior preparation means the smallest pos- 
 sible quantity of waste. It keeps the produc- 
 tion to the maximum by sending all the fibres 
 forward, and takes care that little is returned to 
 be paid for over again. Besides, waste invariably 
 weakens the yarn, and it also generates nits. 
 
 Experience has taught that the custom of 
 opening the bales some time before mixing gives 
 the fibre a chance to absorb moisture and to 
 recover its natural body. When the stock is 
 allowed to release itself in this manner, it works 
 better, there is less waste returned, and it removes 
 the conditions which cause sticky laps. A 
 moderate degree of moisture in the air is very 
 necessary where the mixing stands. This is an 
 object of importance, inasmuch as it permits less 
 electricity in the preparing and the shell, leaf, 
 seed and sand are much more easily separated. 
 
 On account of the varying circumstances in 
 actual practice, it is impossible to offer here any 
 rules to be strictly followed in mixing. Our 
 intention is merely to throw such light as has 
 been developed by experience on the system of 
 
 7 
 
classifying the cotton to fit the requirements of 
 the different counts, leaving it to the judgment of 
 the practical manager if there is any room for 
 improvement in his present methods, or whether 
 there is such attention paid to the mixing of the 
 stock as will prevent irregular spinning. 
 
 Opening. — The work required from the 
 opener is such as to necessitate a considerable 
 degree of care. This machine takes the place of 
 the willow, now almost obsolete, and contends 
 with the material in its rude state. The lumps 
 fed on must not be very bulky, else the rollers 
 cannot compress them without rising out of gear 
 and breaking the continuity of the lap, thus caus- 
 ing such confusion as often results in breakages 
 and lengthy stops. The sand is very trouble- 
 some here, and is likely to choke the channels of 
 egress prepared for it. If these are not cleaned 
 often and well, the duties assigned to this ma- 
 chine will be left to others in which the facilities 
 for purifying are not sufficient, and the seeds and 
 motes are therefore carried forward. The burden 
 devolving on the cards is materially lightened 
 when the machines which open the fibre and 
 egest the -seeds and foreign matter are intelli- 
 gently handled. 
 
 An opener (unless there be a preparer attached) 
 ought to have but one beater. In this instance 
 the labor-saving idea has proceeded too far, to 
 
 S 
 
the detriment of the quality of the production. 
 This is the place above all others in which there 
 is ample accommodation, as well as opportunity, 
 to mix and remix the stock, and to make certain 
 preparation for round/ regular and uniformly 
 strong thread. This can be accomplished by 
 having machines with fewer beaters and more 
 lattice tables for doubling, a thing which ma- 
 chines with numerous beaters do not accomplish. 
 
 Doubling on the Lapper. — The most prac- 
 tical method of assimulating the fibres is found 
 to be by doubling on the lappers. The advan- 
 tages to be gained from this are much more 
 appreciated in practice in England than with us, 
 and this is one of the reasons why very poor cot- 
 ton is used for coarse counts there. Good work 
 one day and bad the next, from the same mixing, 
 warns us that we are not putting sufficient doub- 
 lings on the lapper to prevent the stock from 
 being alternately weak and strong. The carding- 
 engines may be in the best order and yet if the 
 material is not sufficiently doubled in the picker- 
 room some bad spinning cannot be avoided. 
 
 There are other occurrences with this machine 
 which if permitted, will cause variations in the 
 work. The grids and screes over which the 
 cotton passes should at all times be free from any 
 accumulation of sand or bunches of fibre. These 
 impede the flight of the cotton over the grids, 
 
 9 
 
and alter the direction so as to make heavy-sided 
 laps, and to cause poor carding where the bulk 
 is fed in. The screw cylinders must be kept 
 clear of bunches, to allow the draught of the fans 
 to act uniformly and to remove the short and 
 dead fibre. The beaters should be gauged so 
 that the seeds which fall under will equal in 
 quantity the full width of the feed. If not, these 
 seeds are passing through and will be seen stick- 
 ing in the doffers of the cards. Dirty grids, foul 
 screes, and choked fan-ways, will prevent the 
 short from being taken out at the proper place, 
 and the result will be dirty carding. 
 
 JO 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CARDING COTTON. 
 
 General Reflections on the Subject — Single Carding 
 — Necessary Conditions for Doing it Well — Double 
 Carding and its Advantages — Card Clothing and 
 its Proper Application. 
 
 The end to be aimed at. — The importance 
 attached to the manner in which the cotton is 
 treated on the cards, is shown by the efforts con- 
 stantly made to produce engines of greater capac- 
 ity and perfection of work. Practical spinners 
 agree that a good, round, clean thread cannot be 
 manufactured unless the carding is uniform in 
 staple and excellent in quality. To attain this 
 end is the aim of every intelligent and enterpris- 
 ing carder. Valuable assistance has been ren- 
 dered by developments in the other machinery, 
 but still it remains for the well-ground and well- 
 set card to clear the material, separate the fibres 
 and make the process of good spinning easy. 
 
 The carder of to-day has many advantages 
 over his predecessors and is therefore expected 
 to produce better results. His cards, his clothing, 
 and his apparatus for grinding, are all so much 
 
 ii 
 
superior in every respect to those of twenty years 
 ago that, with ordinary precaution and intelli- 
 gence, he cannot fail to obtain a better result 
 from a similar grade of cotton. Still, good en- 
 gines may be set up and well started, but through 
 bad management they may, in a short time, be 
 doing irregular and unsatisfactory work. On 
 the other hand t'he false economy of working the 
 clothing too long may be the source of much 
 mischief in that direction. Hence, if we desire 
 to know when a thing is wrong, the cause of it 
 going wrong, and the best and most expeditious 
 means to put it right, we must have expert men 
 in charge of the carding. 
 
 Points in Good Carding. — To deliver a 
 sliver thoroughly clean and perfectly straight- 
 ened, the wire points on the cylinder, the top 
 flats and the doffer should be quite adequate to 
 comb and separate every fibre. The cotton 
 ought to be handled with skill and intelligence, 
 and given to the engines in such a manner as 
 certainly to insure the above results. This de- 
 gree of perfection can be attained only by light 
 carding. On single carding from 45 to 55 grains 
 to the yard of sliver has been decided by expe- 
 rience to be a good standard for common top — 
 flat heads. Machines of greater capacity ought 
 to be taxed only in proportion. Good single 
 carding requires to have well-selected stock, 
 
 1 2 
 
clean, ripe and of a uniform length. By carding 
 single with a draft of from 50 or 55 to one, with 
 the above-mentioned stock, excellent results will 
 be attained for counts from 36s down. 
 
 Over-Carding and Over-Drafting. — It 
 
 must be remembered that single carding may be 
 over-done ; that is to say, the fibres may be 
 carded too much while in one position. Most 
 of the straightening and combing properties of a 
 carding engine are between the feed rolls and 
 the cylinder, and on single carding it is evident 
 the staple is combed but one way; that is, over 
 one end, while the other is being held by the 
 feed rolls. If this end is held too long, the re- 
 sult is over-carding at one end, enfeebling this 
 part of the fibre, and leaving it unfit to be drawn 
 out properly, or in a condition to unite closely. 
 
 This is the outcome of over-drafting, because 
 the greater the draft the slower revolve the feed 
 rolls, and therefore the more carding the ends of 
 the fibre next to the cylinder receive. Hence 
 the fibres are left to pass on, with (so to speak) 
 thick, stubby ends, and the other processes are 
 unable to unite them in anything like the glossy 
 condition which it is their natural tendency to 
 assume. Increasing the velocity of the cylinder 
 has the same effect, and adds to the waste 
 through centrifugal force. Lickers-in remedy 
 this to some extent by partially combing one end 
 
 J 3 
 
of the fibre and delivering the other end to the 
 cylinder. Lickers-in are effective in this manner 
 on single engines of large capacity, where soft, 
 short and clean cotton is used, and great product 
 is expected. Still, the process of straightening 
 and separating the fibre is not so complete as 
 when carded double without lickers-in. Hence 
 the necessity for well-selected stock for single 
 carding. 
 
 The Top-flat Card. — Attention is strongly 
 directed just now to the top-flat card which is 
 coming into general use. When operated dou- 
 ble it makes the best kind of work. It combs, 
 straightens, and softens the fibres, and removes 
 the impurities more perfectly than any other. 
 These qualities are very desirable for fine 
 " counts." On medium as well as fine yarns, 
 this card is also much liked, and even where 
 coarse numbers are required to be soft and even, 
 it is likely to be in the first rank. Extensive 
 improvements in almost every part of this engine 
 have been made from time to time. Still if we 
 except the stripping attachment, it does not differ 
 greatly from the engines of Greaves, Peel, Burly, 
 Marsden and Murray of two centuries ago. 
 From a foot and a half it has been gradually in- 
 creased to double that width, which is the recog- 
 nized standard. 
 
 Double-Carding. — Very good single card- 
 14 
 
ing, certainly, we have seen made for counts as 
 high as 40s, while on the other hand, we have 
 seen double-carded stock for the same numbers, 
 which was no more than fair. The reason for 
 this may not always be found in the machine, or 
 in its method of construction. It is in the pick- 
 ing machinery, or in the selecting of the cotton, 
 that the trouble is most likely to be found. The 
 drafts, speeds and quantity produced may ac- 
 count in some degree for the inferiority of the 
 work, and although these are in the line of the 
 skilled overseer, cannot, under the circumstances, 
 be touched. Indeed, it often happens, that the 
 quantity demanded per inch of carding surface 
 hinders to a great extent, the overseer in the ap- 
 plication of his skill ; the qualities commonly de- 
 sired in such a man being those of the pushing 
 kind. The small black nit, the broken, prongy 
 seed and leaf, which cannot be removed by the 
 lapper beaters and which are to be met with at 
 all points and are so obnoxious when exposed 
 in the cloth and yarn, cannot be taken out un- 
 less the fibre is double carded or combed ; that 
 is, reversed and operated on in both directions. 
 When carding double the drafts are always light, 
 and so arranged that no damage can be done to 
 the staple, either in the first or second process. 
 The doublings gained, but which are entirely 
 lost in single carding, are invaluable in moving 
 
 15 
 
and assimilating the fibre. The large extra dou- 
 bling of fibres, with the two combing processes 
 bringing to stock such a fine state of separation, 
 cannot possibly be equaled by single carding, 
 however slow or lightly delivered. 
 
 The effect of carding double is to make the 
 yarn and goods smooth and glossy, to give them 
 just such qualities as are desirable and profitable. 
 By changing the position of fibres they are really 
 strengthened, because the dirt is more thor- 
 oughly taken out, and the straightening action 
 is made more complete. The double combing 
 by the card wire gives gloss to the yarn and the 
 freedom from dirt gives strength ; for in such 
 condition the fibres lie more closely and evenly 
 together. 
 
 Clothing the Cards. — We will next consider 
 the clothing of the cylinders, a kind of work which 
 is not done on the card every year and therefore 
 ought to be executed with neatness, and at the same 
 time, with a view to permanency. A job of this 
 sort is not executed for show, but a neat and a 
 strong job is easy in the hands of a good work- 
 man. 
 
 In the first place, strike a line around the 
 cylinder for each end of the sheets. Be sure 
 that every sheet touches this line, and nothing 
 over. These lines can be best drawn by turning 
 the cylinder against a pencil held steadily on the 
 
 16 
 
string-piece. Parallel lines, by which to square the 
 sheets, are made perfectly exact, by having the 
 the straight-edge fixed firmly on the segments 
 in which the top-flat-pins are screwed, and by 
 moving the cylinder the required distance for 
 each line. From centre to centre of the plugs 
 (or the distance the tacks must be apart) should 
 be marked on a nice piece of w T ood no longer 
 than the cylinder. Stick tacks according to these 
 marks, and good, regular, workmanlike tacking- 
 on will be made sure. Be careful to lay the sheet 
 square on the line marked out for it, and at the 
 extreme ends drive a tack part way, then one in 
 the middle, and another in the quarter distance. 
 When the sheet is in this position take another 
 look to make sure that it stands square on the 
 lines. If so, stick and drive the tacks carefully 
 until the one side of the sheet is nailed on. 
 
 Stretching and Backing.. — We now come 
 to the most important part of the work, the 
 stretching and backing. It may be stated here 
 that a machine for clothing cards should be 
 strong and rigid, the teeth in the ratchet small in 
 pitch, well tempered and sharp, so that there will 
 be no " give " or let back to the stretch. The 
 same precaution is necessary with the dog by 
 which the cylinder is bound. Heavy paper cut 
 the exact size of the sheet, and pasted so that it 
 cannot move with the pull, is generally used for 
 
 17 
 
backing. Now draw the end of the sheet square 
 with the margin line, and tack to the same line 
 at the other end. Each time the pliers are shifted 
 great care must be taken that the ratchet is 
 moved the same distance, else the sheet will be 
 pulled laterally, which will cause trouble at the 
 finish by trimming the part drawn over the line. 
 The judgment of the practical operator is the 
 best rule that can be given for stretching the 
 sheets. Leather is not always alike, some parts 
 on the same sheet will stretch more than others. 
 
 In clothing the doffer, the margin at each end 
 must not project beyond that of the cylinder. A 
 good way is to divide the circumference of the 
 doffer in as many equal spaces as there are rows 
 of teeth in the fillet. Split these rows and tack 
 tightly and carefully. During the winding-on be 
 sure, whether it is done with a machine or by 
 hand, to have the same tension all the time. 
 
 The Usage of Card Clothing— An intelli- 
 gent conception of what is required of the card 
 clothing tends to preserve it and to keep the card- 
 ing good and uniform. Vulcanized rubber-faced 
 clothing is one of the best substitutes for all 
 purposes for which leather is used, and is 
 rapidly superceding it. When leather hardens 
 on account of exposure to water and oil, as in 
 wool carding, this clothing runs without injury. 
 It has also a valuable feature in the firm and 
 
 is 
 
elastic support it furnishes to the teeth. In 
 clothing with this foundation the holes contract 
 about the wire more closely than on leather, thus 
 securing an important factor towards durability. 
 Before putting on, it should be conditioned 
 somewhat like the natural rubber-faced clothing, 
 by keeping it for several days and nights in a 
 temperature a few degrees higher than where it 
 is to run. If this is attended to the cloth will, 
 on account of the decrease of temperature, 
 slightly tighten up after it is nailed on. Cylin- 
 ders on which natural rubber-clothing is used 
 should be free from paint, or any under-pinning 
 in which there is oil. Cotton cloth put on with 
 some harmless paste, such as is made from flour, 
 and given time to dry, has been known to give 
 good satisfaction. Day and night the temper- 
 ature in the room where rubber clothing is used 
 must be kept the same. When exposed to a low 
 temperature the teeth become so hard that the 
 carding is spoiled, while loose clothing and fillets 
 are found to be caused by a rise in the temper- 
 ature. 
 
 19 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 GRINDING THE CARDS. 
 
 Preparing a Card for the grinder — The Best Kinds of 
 Grinders — Covering Grinders — Important Hints and 
 Suggestions — Putting the Grinder on the Card — 
 Considerations to be Carefully Observed — Points 
 About Good Grinding — The Care of top-flats— 
 Card Setting. 
 
 The man who does the grinding. — The 
 
 trustworthiness of the man who is to do the 
 grinding of a card may be estimated from the 
 way in which, after stripping the cylinder, he 
 looks over and studies the card. His purpose 
 should be to find out how the wire, cloth and 
 fillets have stood the strain and the wear and tear 
 during the interval which has elapsed since the 
 last grinding and setting were done. Much in- 
 formation may be gained here, which is difficult 
 and troublesome to get at on any other occasion. 
 The engine with mountings and covers removed, 
 stripped clean and brushed free from fibre, after 
 having run its full quota of time, which may be 
 three, four, or even five weeks, offers a good 
 opportunity to a practical man to ascertain what 
 the card is doing and what it is likely to continue 
 
 20 
 
to do. It also gives him a chance to determine 
 whether anything is necessary to be done to it 
 before grinding again. A few minutes spent on 
 each card at this time will be found profitable, 
 and if the ascertained information be put into 
 practice, will tend to maintain its condition. 
 
 If the cylinder and doffer are both rubbed at 
 the same place it shows that the doffer has been 
 running too close. A rubbed cylinder and a 
 sharp doffer, point to the licker-in or feed rolls ; 
 the one or the other as the case may be. A 
 licker-in rubbed blunt, indicates the feed rolls ; 
 and if glazed but sharp, the cylinder. Loose 
 top-flat sheets will rub only the cylinder and are 
 always discovered when running the "flats." A tack 
 out of the top-flat, will rub a narrow ring around 
 the cylinder, while the same thing will happen 
 to the "doffer " when there is a tack out on the 
 cylinder cloth. Loose clothing will rub doffer 
 and flats alike. All of these must be looked to, 
 and remedied before the card is started up again. 
 
 If the licker-in is doing its duty, it ought to be 
 free from strip, and the hard tempered wire teeth 
 in good condition. If not, it is ready for the 
 grinder, because it is either rubbed or hooked, 
 and in no condition suitable for egesting filth. 
 This is of considerable importance when carding 
 with lickers-in ; so much so, that it is often found 
 to be necessary when at work, to lift the cover 
 
 21 
 
and see if the topside is clean. If it is not, 
 it is dropping good fibre, and producing nitty 
 carding. 
 
 The fillets. — Much harm may follow from 
 not giving special attention to the fillets at this 
 time. These always tighten, with the heft of 
 grinding, at the end where the winding- on be- 
 gins, and frequently tear or break. All fillets 
 ought to be looked over and made secure before 
 grinding. They should be drawn up neatly, and 
 all the ragged teeth removed from the edges. 
 Before the card is ready for the grinder, the wire 
 must be drawn up with the card knife in good 
 shape and all the jammed wire picked up, and 
 tubed into line. Each sheet of clothing must be 
 gone over in this way, and care taken to find out 
 if any slack or blistered parts have escaped no- 
 tice. If the picking up of the fallen teeth is 
 neglected, for any length of time, the standing 
 wires will get ground so much shorter that when 
 they are picked up, they will found to be what is 
 called " long teeth." 
 
 The Best Grinders. — The most popular way 
 of grinding is with a wheel about five or six 
 inches in diameter, having a five-inch face. This 
 grinder, when in what is termed good running 
 order, does capital work, but the time it takes to 
 do it in, is somewhat to its disadvantage. For 
 instance, in grinding a thirty-six inch cylinder 
 
 22 
 
with this wheel, one-seventh of the surface is all 
 that is touched at any time during the traverse. 
 Hence, although the card is well ground, the 
 time consumed by the work is something that 
 carders fret over. Still, if it can be afforded at all, 
 the superior sharpening accomplished by this 
 make of emery grinders fully warrants, and in 
 most cases repays, the loss of time. 
 
 The other kind of grinder most generally in 
 use is what is designated the roller grinder. It 
 is five inches in diameter and one inch anda-half 
 longer than the width of the cylinder. This 
 over-reach is allowed for the traverse. On ac- 
 count of the work done by this grinder being 
 continuous, and therefore at least six times 
 faster than the narrow wheel, it is often preferred. 
 In competent hands, excellent sharpening can be 
 executed with either sort; still the narrow wheel 
 is the favorite where the ruling desire is not to 
 save time. 
 
 Leather and wooden strickels, and other 
 appliances of the kind, are often used in emer- 
 gencies, but are never to be recommended, be- 
 cause they strain the wire and grind the card off 
 the true, the result of which is nitty carding at 
 certain points where otherwise the work is good. 
 
 Covering Grinders. — Our first duty is to 
 make sure that the tools with which the grind- 
 ing, setting, or clothing is done are in such order 
 
 ?3 
 
as will insure "well set-up" teeth and true cyl- 
 inders. The grinders should be properly cov- 
 ered, true-running and in good condition other- 
 wise. A faithful index of the manner in which 
 the cards are kept, is to be found in the thor- 
 oughness exhibited in caring for the tools. To 
 cover or relay a grinder so as to insure first-class 
 results, requires that careful attention should be 
 given to the emery, the lapping of the wheel and 
 the handling of the glue. The emery being 
 mostly dusty, ought to be washed in clean hot 
 water. In such case the old emery washed off 
 the wheels previously may be added, as the boil- 
 ing water will dissolve whatever glue or oily 
 matter may be still in it. The water ought to 
 be changed until it remains clear. Put the 
 emery away to dry in a clean, warm place. 
 
 Wind spinner's banding tightly and evenly 
 around the wheel. Be sure that both ends are 
 well secured. Soak over night the glue in vine- 
 gar instead of water. Prepare it very warm, and 
 with a good body put it on very evenly over the 
 wheel with a brush. Keep the wheel turning 
 all the time, and when all is ready hold the hot 
 emery high over the wheel and drop it on so 
 evenly and carefully that every part will be cov- 
 ered as it passes. Keep turning slowly until the 
 glue sets. In order to keep out moisture, or oil, 
 the grinders ought to be kept in a clean, warm ? 
 
 24 
 
covered in place. They should also be sponged 
 every week with turpentine, so that the full cut- 
 ting qualities of the emery may be secured. 
 
 Putting the Grinder on the Card.— There 
 are a few points essential to safe and successful 
 grinding, which it will be in order to call atten- 
 tion to here. It is well known that there are 
 whole cylinders of clothing rendered worthless 
 on account of accidents which happen when the 
 cards are being ground. To prevent these, more 
 than ordinary caution must be taken. In the first 
 place, let the doffer be drawn back from the 
 cylinder about one quarter of an inch. This is 
 for the purpose of allowing space sufficient to set 
 the doffer to the grinder and to be safe from 
 rubbing the cylinder, a circumstance which must 
 be prevented. That is to say, by drawing the 
 doffer back, we afford room for the wheel to be 
 set lower down, so that the peripheries of both 
 cylinders will come in contact with it, and the 
 cylinders will run clear of each other. 
 
 It is very important now to see to the "tighten- 
 ing-up " bolts and "adjusting screws" of the 
 " doffer/' for a good many accidents are the con- 
 sequence of these being neglected. If the adjust- 
 ing screws are forced to put the doffer back, 
 without the tightening-up bolts being loosened, 
 as they sometimes are, something is likely to be 
 strained or broken, which takes such a long time 
 
 25 
 
to repair that the operator will use his ingenuity 
 to make it " go " until a more convenient oppor- 
 tunity. These screws and bolts being intended 
 to hold the doffer in position, are needed most 
 when the said doffer is revolving at 500 or 600 
 revolutions, and ought, therefore, to be 
 carefully seen to, as should also be the bolts 
 with which the " grinder stands " are bound to the 
 card frame. If these do not fit exactly, the high 
 speed at which the wheel is driven will surely 
 shake them loose, and the result will be similar 
 to that of a badly fastened " doffer." 
 
 The belts by which the grinder is driven must 
 be very neatly lapped so that no tug or jerk 
 may be felt while running. It is of great utility 
 that these belts be of sufficient tension to main- 
 tain a regular speed, but not so tight as to shake 
 the stands and cause the wheel to bump against 
 the cylinder. Every card-grinder is well ac- 
 quainted with the effects which follow the 
 " grinder" getting out of place, and has spent 
 many weary hours in the endeavor to " set back " 
 the teeth so as to make decent work, but without 
 avail. The result in every case is shovel-edged 
 wire, such as is seen in the cuts on the succeeding 
 pages, of teeth spoiled by the grinder, and which 
 invariably produces nitty carding. 
 
 Good Grinding. — The sharpening power of 
 an emery grinder is its peripheric velocity added 
 
 26 
 
to that of the cylinder with which it comes in 
 contact. And the traverse is the difference be- 
 tween the revolutions of the shell and the screw. 
 These data are taken from a full length grinder; 
 but the power of a wheel, according to the same 
 rule, would be as much less as its width would 
 divide into the width of the cylinder. This theory 
 is certaintly not correct ; if so, a five-inch face 
 emery wheel would take seven hours to grind a 
 36 inch card, which the roller grinder would do 
 in one hour. Long experience has proved that 
 a good wheel will do at least half as much work 
 as a good roller grinder. It will make sharper 
 and more perfect points on the wire, and save 
 time, by making it necessary to brush less to get 
 rid of the hook. (See cut on succeeding pages: 
 well-ground teeth unbrushed). 
 
 But it matters not (as both patterns of grinders 
 will do good work) which we are operating on. 
 The science of the one is the science of the other. 
 Let the wheel be level, brought to the distance 
 of a thick gauge at both ends of the cylinder, 
 and the set-screws on the back of the slides made 
 pretty tight. Follow up with the doffer to the 
 same gauge, run the wheel across a time or two, 
 to make sure that all is clear. Put on the belts, 
 and start the engine up slowly. 
 
 A small quantity of oil will be necessary, but 
 not enough to spatter on the clothing. Set 
 
 27 
 
lightly to the cylinder first, and bring the doffer 
 to bear afterwards. After running a couple of 
 hours, stop the card and ascertain how the 
 grinder is acting on the parts which have been 
 blunted through rubbing. If the glaze on the 
 wire is not being sharpened, the wheel may be 
 set a little closer. But it will not do to be setting 
 up the wheel to the wire often, for the best card- 
 ing edge, and the most free from hook, is that 
 on which the grinder cuts itself almost clear. 
 
 There may be some parts of the blistered 
 clothing recently drawn up which have been 
 made hollow by rubbing against the feed-rolls, 
 top-flats, and doffer ; or, if we are operating on a 
 roller card, against the licker-in, rollers, and 
 clearers ; but it is not necessary to keep the 
 grinder running until these are ground out. This 
 would incur too much wear of clothing for such 
 small results, unless it should happen that the 
 sheets are all redrawn. Then it is incumbent 
 that they be as well ground as when the card is 
 newly clothed. 
 
 The traverse or lateral movement of the wheel 
 prevents a flat edge,. so that when a cylinder is 
 well sharpened it will feel perfectly smooth both 
 ways. 
 
 A brush with good long bristles is a part of 
 the card grinder's " kit," and, after the grinder 
 is taken off, should be used lightly on the cylin- 
 
 28 
 
ders for as much as ten minutes. This is very 
 effective in removing the hook from the wire, 
 and when the card is started the fibre will comb 
 much freer from the doffer. 
 
 The licker-in, generally clothed with hardened 
 steel wire, is a very particular cylinder to grind 
 in such a way that there will be no hooked or 
 ragged edge; for if there is, it will not remain in 
 good form for any length of time, but will get 
 choked up so as to be very damaging to the 
 carding. It should be allowed to remain grind- 
 ing until it is perfectly smooth, both roundwise 
 and crosswise, after which it should be thoroughly 
 brushed, either by circular or hand brush, set 
 and tried, and if it will not clean it should be 
 brushed again until the cotton is delivered to the 
 cylinder free from sticking. (See cuts at 
 end of this chapter of well-ground and brushed 
 teeth). 
 
 The care of top-flats. — The teeth of the 
 top-flats ought to be "run" with the card-knife 
 tubed straight into line, and ground and brushed 
 to a perfect edge, by the time the cylinder and 
 doffer are ready. From the hard usage the top- 
 flats receive from the automatic strippers, the 
 teeth are often found to be laid in a very irregu- 
 lar manner. Being in this state interferes greatly 
 with their usefulness in straightening the passing 
 fibres, and shows the value of having them at- 
 
 29 
 
tended to and put in position every time the 
 card is ground. If a flat sheet be met with, the 
 teeth of which are maintaining their regular 
 form, and standing up well to the work for which 
 they are designed, it is not absolutely necessary 
 that the knife be run through them. The por- 
 tions of the wire laid down and tangled are quite 
 sufficient to be manipulated with the tool, because 
 this continuous running is found in time so to 
 loosen the teeth in the foundations, that when at 
 work they do not stand against the "pull " in their 
 orginal or best carding form, but give back so as 
 to be almost straight. This, instead of drawing, 
 the fibres parallel w T ith each other as much as 
 possible, allows them to pass on in a far from sat- 
 isfactory state. A flat is sometimes discovered so 
 hollow in the centre, that it cannot be ground 
 true, except by reducing the teeth at the ends. 
 The cause of this is generally the warping of the 
 wood and the remedy is to take the sheet off and 
 have it " trued up." 
 
 The top-flat clothing table. — The top-flat 
 clothing table is of special service to the man 
 who knows how, yet it is seldom kept in such a 
 state that a flat can be put on and reclothed, or 
 drawn up, without some trouble in putting it in 
 serviceable order. This is, perhaps, the worst 
 neglected piece of mechanism in the card-room. 
 It consists of a strong frame set up in a conven- 
 
 30 
 
ient place for light, with bar, ratchet and pliers 
 attached. The flat-seat is made full length and 
 nearly the depth of the flat, with the front or 
 breast-piece well rounded off for the pliers, and 
 with clasps to fit over the ends of the flat to hold 
 it in position. This tool is generally home-made, 
 and many original ideas are developed in the 
 construction of it, which no doubt could be im- 
 proved if builders of card-room machinery were 
 to take hold of it. But the principle point is to 
 keep it always ready, to save time ; and then 
 small jobs will be done at once, which, on ac- 
 count of the condition in which it is kept, are 
 often neglected until they become extremely 
 hurtful to the work. 
 
 Card Setting. — The style of the engine de- 
 termines the manner in which it is to be set. 
 The eye, the ear and the guage are often all 
 brought into requisition before the various card- 
 ing points are properly adjusted. Correct setting 
 becomes each year of more consequence, on 
 account of the increasing demand for perfect 
 yarn. Especially is this so when the carding is 
 for fine numbers. There are so many machines 
 in the market for carding cotton all of which 
 have their good setting points, that it is no easy 
 matter to determine which is the most proficient. 
 The many antiquated ideas which are being bur- 
 nished anew and put into more effective settings 
 
 31 
 
by the aid of improved construction, make one 
 conclude that the advancement in carding cotton 
 is not due so much to recent scientific research 
 as to the perfection of the mechanical means for 
 making all appliances more effectual. 
 
 There are but few serviceable devices on the 
 cotton card of to-day that were not in operation 
 forty years ago. What is the railway-head but 
 an extension of the old-fashioned " doubler," 
 where from two to four slivers were condensed 
 into one ? A combination of rollers and top- 
 flats has been in operation, and, for numbers up 
 to 36s, has proved a more than ordinarily good 
 card. Extractors of every conceivable shape 
 have been applied to cylinders, and operated 
 with more or less advantage for as great a length 
 of time. Revolving flats, cards doffed with 
 rollers instead of combs, cards feeding back and 
 front at the same time, two slivers delivered from 
 separate d offers, from the same cylinder, shell 
 feeds, centre-pressed feeds, feed-rollers covered 
 with card-clothing, self-strippers, brush-strippers, 
 fancy rollers, draw-boxes, coilers, knife-edge 
 plates set with screws, steel knives inserted be- 
 tween rollers underneath the cylinders of front 
 feed cards, cylinder screens, solid, perforated and 
 slatted in every possible form and width of space 
 — all these for the purpose of preserving the 
 staple, multiplying the setting points, and ren- 
 
 3^ 
 
dering the card more effective as a single ma- 
 chine. 
 
 It will be seen from these numerous devices 
 that the " setting " is one of the most particular 
 operations belonging to the business of the card 
 grinder. He must study what is of practical 
 and positive efficiency in attachments, and the 
 particular purposes for which they are intended, 
 so as to produce the best effects in actual opera- 
 tion. The common top-flats, on account of the 
 manner in which they are gradually widened 
 from doffer to feed, set bevelling, so that the 
 front of the flat be twice as far from the cylinder as 
 the back, are all that is ever allowed to be measured 
 by sight, and that only for the purpose of deter- 
 mining the bevel ; for the back must be gauged 
 in the same way as the feed-rolls, or doffer. 
 
 Where the space to be measured is from the 
 ninetieth to one hundredth part of an inch, the 
 unaided sight alone is not a sufficient guide. By 
 the use of a steel gauge the utmost exactness can 
 be attained, as well as the greatest possible safety 
 to the clothing, and the certainty of regular and 
 protracted production. The gauge then must be 
 used everywhere in " setting" the parts together in 
 working position, in bringing the different points 
 to the closest possible clearance, and to ascertain 
 definitely whether the cylinders and flats have 
 been ground true or not. A well-made card, suit- 
 
 33 
 
able for fine cottons, can be set to No. 33 gauge, 
 and when so set will produce splendid work. 
 
 The card grinder must always bear in mind 
 that the feed rolls, to make uniform work ought 
 to be set so that the cylinder or licker-in will 
 " nip the staple clean, without any lapping or ap- 
 pearance of fibres dragging, or turning over the 
 rolls." In adjusting the " flats " he must under- 
 stand that the fibre is, by the action of the cylin- 
 der teeth, made to slide from one to the other, 
 and that the movement of the cotton is checked 
 by the teeth of the flat, until it is laid, fibre by 
 fibre, as it passes onward. Hence the necessity for 
 having top-flats set bevelling, gradually widening 
 in front towards the feed-rolls. This space well 
 proportioned materially increases the efficiency of 
 the card. Rollers and cleanersshould be set 
 
 Al A Aa 1 A ^ 
 
 as close as possible 
 without being allow- 
 ed to rub. These 
 doff and feed on to 
 the cylinder alter- 
 nately. 
 
 34 
 
A i represents wire from the top-flat, well-ground and 
 brushed ; and Aa i represents the same wire much more 
 
 largely magnified. 
 
 A 2 represents the top- 
 flat wire well-ground,but 
 not brushed ; and Aa 2, 
 shows the same wire 
 more largely magnified. 
 
 -A. 3 
 
 In A 3 we have top-flat wire 
 so treated as to have been 
 spoiled, and the particular 
 effects of bad grinding are 
 more distinctly shown in the 
 enlargement of the same 
 points in Aa 3. 
 
 Ac g 
 
 3 6 
 
 2 H 
 
 35 
 
In B 4 we have cylinder wire ground and not brushed, 
 while Bb 4 is an enlargement of the point of the same 
 wire. 
 
 In B 8 we have cylinder wire badly spoiled in the grind- 
 
C 5 shows wire from the doffer well ground and brushed; 
 while Cc 5 is the point of the doffer wire greatly magnified. 
 
 C 7 represents the doffer wire ground but not brushed, 
 and Cc 7 is an enlargement of the point. 
 
 C 9 is an illustration of the effects of bad grinding upon 
 the wire from the doffer, and Cc 9 shows the results upon 
 the points much more largely magnified. 
 
 37 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SLIVER. 
 
 Importance of Even Delivery Draw-boxes — Obtaining 
 Uniform weight — Suggestions to that End — Re- 
 marks upon the Coiler — A Consideration of the 
 Railway head — Its good qualities and its objection- 
 able features. 
 
 Importance of even delivery draw-boxes, 
 
 — Having considered the conditions of the card 
 wire, the grinding and the setting, it will now be in 
 order to trace the delivery of the sliver after 
 being combed from the doffer and compressed 
 through a trumpet. The question to consider is 
 I. Do the cards work singly or in sections? 2. If 
 operated singly, are they using the draw -box with 
 fluted under, and leather top rolls geared for a 
 draft, of from one and a half to three ? The en- 
 gines fitted with draw-boxes are mostly of the 
 roller and clearer type, and are chiefly operated 
 on the coarser grades of product where large 
 production only is profitable. 
 
 Although these draw-boxes are often neces- 
 sary for the purpose of reducing the sliver before 
 being doubled four into one at the drawing, yet 
 
 38 
 
they cannot be trusted to make even work for 
 any length of time. Placed in a position where 
 the rollers must be driven at a great speed, the 
 least bit of cotton getting under the saddle-bear- 
 ings will cause them to cut the sliver, thus making 
 many piecings and much waste at the drawing. 
 
 Of all the places in the card-room for drawing 
 cotton, the draw-box attached to the front of the 
 card is the worst, because it cannot get proper at- 
 tendance, and the consequence always is a great 
 amount of waste. What is wanted from a card 
 that works single is a strong, even sliver that 
 will pull out of the can from the bottom without 
 either breaking or straining, so as to cause no 
 piecings or fine places, which cannot be taken 
 out after and must surely appear in the yarn. It 
 has been found to be an advantage in the matter 
 of getting better and cheaper work, to take these 
 " draw-boxes" off, and alter the speed so as to 
 run the sliver direct from the trumpet and con- 
 densing rolls into a revolving can. 
 
 The Necessity for Uniform Weight. — 
 
 All the cards that work for one drawing frame 
 ought to have a sliver of uniform weight. One 
 yard of sliver from each card should be measured 
 off and weighed, and the others should not vary 
 from these more than two or three grains. This 
 may be done at every change of laps, and if it is 
 found that the same cards are heavy all the time 
 
 39 
 
it may be concluded that the drafts are not all 
 alike. This must be seen to at once, and all the 
 draft-gears counted and made precisely of the 
 same number. But the cards may not all be of 
 the same make, and then may require different 
 pinions to produce the same draft, owing to other 
 parts not being similar. Still, to produce uniform 
 weight the drafts must be made the same. 
 
 In weighing these slivers, if it should be found 
 that they come sometimes heavy and sometimes 
 light from the same card, 4;hen the fault lies in 
 the laps, which are not as regular as they ought 
 to be. A platform scale in the lapper room is 
 the remedy for this. On it every lap as it comes 
 from the machine ought to be weighed until it 
 balances at the proper point, or at least does not 
 vary over half a pound. By attending to this a 
 few times a day the operator can prove whether 
 the evener is running as it should or not, and if 
 so, there will be no trouble in keeping the weight 
 right. The carder may occasionally test the 
 laps himself. If this matter be well attended to, 
 there will be but little trouble in keeping the 
 numbers even afterwards. 
 
 The Coiler. — The weight of the sliver, and 
 the best method of condensing it for drawing, are 
 next to be considered. In a carding room a suf- 
 ficient number of engines should be allowed to 
 keep up the supply of carding without being from 
 
 40 
 
time to time compelled to meet the demand by 
 adding weight. The weight of the yard of sliver, 
 from the same cards and for similar counts, takes 
 a wide range in the various mills. Some mills card 
 75 grains to the yard, while others run as low as 
 50 grains. Some use coilers and others railway 
 heads. Now on a card, that is to say a common 
 top-flat, which produces 75 grains of sliver per 
 yard, and condenses it in a coiler, there must 
 be but indifferent work. It is altogether too 
 heavy and the coiler makes it still worse. Not only 
 is the machine pressed too hard, but a twist is 
 also put in the sliver, which makes it hard for 
 the drawing rollers to draw, with the result that 
 the drawing sliver will be hacked and the yarn 
 will be very uneven. 
 
 These are the first and main points to look at 
 for the making of smooth, even yarn. Coilers 
 must necessarily have their condensing rollers so 
 tightly sprung together that they will drive the 
 sliver through the coiling gear. This, and the 
 twist they give the strand, make a heavy bulk of 
 cotton, too hard to draw. Still-, coilers are exten- 
 sively used on coarse numbers, where imperfec- 
 tions are not so visible. But for fine yarns, where 
 the thread must be strong and level, consider- 
 ing that the fibre has to be drawn to its utmost, 
 the coiler is a machine which ought not to be 
 employed. 
 
 41 
 
The coiler, however, has its good points. The 
 can being the best-filled and containing the 
 greatest quantity, is by far the most reliable and 
 runs the longest, and, as a result there are less 
 piecings and stoppages. Another point in favor 
 of the coiler is that on coarse " counts " it gener- 
 ally receives but the production of one card, 
 and, therefore, cannot contain singles or make 
 large quantities of waste, like doubles or railway 
 heads. There can be no doubt that if there were 
 any device by which the twists could be taken 
 out of the coiled ends before they enter the draw- 
 ing, the effectiveness of the coiler would be in- 
 creased, and as a means of filling cans it would 
 be still more largely employed. 
 
 The Railway Head. — The railway head is 
 another, and some think, a more efficient device 
 for concentrating the carding at a given point. 
 It is a most important machine, and on it depends 
 greatly the quality of the goods produced, as well 
 as the regularity of the spinning. It should there- 
 fore receive close attention. The weights should 
 hang straight, the levers should stand parallel 
 with the beam, and the conducting pins at the 
 back should be as close as possible to the rollers. 
 The slivers ought not to be contracted any more 
 than just enough to prevent feather-edges on the 
 front roller. The up-take must be computed to 
 such a nicety as to prevent the slightest drag be- 
 
 42 
 
tween the card front and the railway back. There 
 should be no back-play in the shipper-screw to 
 prevent the " evener " from acting quickly. The 
 cone-belt ought to be level and of the best 
 material. The rollers, on account of the heavi- 
 ness of the weights, require strict attention, and 
 want to be varnished often. If there should be 
 the slightest curl-up of the sliver these rollers 
 must be set a little wider. Should thick and 
 thin places appear they must be moved a little 
 closer. These and the driving-belt of the back 
 portion of the head, the pitch of the gears, and 
 the manner in which the slivers from the doffers 
 enter on the belt, all have an important part in 
 making the railway head keep up to the standard 
 of work. If we are sure these various things are 
 in good order, and kept so, we may rest satisfied 
 that the complaints regarding the running of the 
 work in other departments will be few. These 
 are the things which we can help, and if we are 
 not watchful of them we are neglecting our duty. 
 
 But there are other things connected with the 
 railway head which we cannot help, and which 
 to some make it objectionable. In the first place, 
 the evener is on the wrong side of the machine, 
 so that a number of inches of sliver must pass 
 before the evening is effected. This cannot be 
 prevented any further than that the nearer we 
 keep the machine and all its parts to perfection, 
 
 43 
 
the shorter will be the length that passes. Again, 
 if the piece upon which the evener is called to 
 act be short, it will pass without regulation, while 
 a certain length of that following, which is in all 
 probability the right weight, will receive the 
 action of the evener, and be, therefore, made 
 heavier or lighter, as the case may be, thus 
 doubling the evil, and causing twice the length 
 of sliver to pass in irregular shape. 
 
 A bunch sometimes will pull the trumpet down 
 and throw the belt an inch or so along the cones, 
 which will be making light work until it returns 
 to the proper place. A thin part will do the 
 same in the opposite direction, so the " railway- 
 head " is not quite as it should be yet. All this 
 unevenness would be averted if some genius 
 should place the " evener " behind the head ; and 
 recent information says that this is being accom- 
 plished. Our railway arrangement is a good and 
 cheap one for almost all numbers spun without 
 combing, and barring these defects, is a perfect 
 machine. 
 
 44 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 VARIOUS KINDS OF CARDS. 
 
 THE DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF CARDING ENGINES — BACK- 
 FEED AND FRONT FEED — THE WELLMAN STRIPPER CARD — 
 THE REVOLVING FLAT — THE ROLLER CARD. 
 
 Back-feed Cards. — It is not the purpose of 
 the writer to express a preference for cards of 
 any particular model or to claim that his experi- 
 ence in carding is worth more than that of others. 
 He merely wishes to indicate his own practice 
 during a series of years in this especial field of 
 cotton manufacture. Having had charge of, and 
 operated, cards with back-feed and cards with 
 front-feed, cards which were hand-stripped and 
 cards which were self-stripped, cards with rollers 
 and clearers and cards with revolving flats, he 
 thinks he is qualified to form a just opinion and 
 to offer substantial reasons why certain kinds of 
 engines are best adapted to, and more profitable 
 to operate upon, certain grades of stock. Twenty- 
 five years ago he was carding all kinds of cotton, 
 and for all counts up to 200s. and even higher, 
 on cards the cylinders of which were thirty 
 inches in diameter and the doffers thirteen 
 
 45 
 
inches. These were back-feed cards and they 
 made a good record for quality, but were defi- 
 cient in quantity of product. Numbers of these 
 machines are still running, however, on combed 
 yarns and giving good satisfaction. 
 
 Front- feed Cards. — Then were introduced the 
 front-feed cards, which at first and until, com- 
 paratively speaking, a recent period, were a de- 
 cided failure, especially on the finer grades. 
 This no doubt was mainly attributable to the 
 manner in which the cylinders were inclosed 
 beneath, as no knife plate, or contrivance of any 
 kind, could be brought with like effect so near 
 the periphery as the flats. Besides this the ele- 
 vation of the doffer excluded all chance of hav- 
 ing more carding area, or introducing more flats. 
 Hence, while the cotton passed from the feed- 
 rolls to the first top-flat, the centrifugal force 
 loosened the cotton on the cylinder to such an 
 extent that there was always more than the 
 short and seed thrown on the flats. This, to- 
 gether with the production of an extra quantity 
 of flies, of a very superior kind, which necessarily 
 must fall from a card of this description, was a 
 great hindrance at first to the popularity of the 
 front-feed engines. But this difficulty has been 
 removed in such a thorough manner that on the 
 modern front-feed card the flats are brought 
 near to the rolls, with the effect to obviate those 
 
 46 
 
faults entirely. This improvement has made 
 cards which feed at the front, or under the doffer, 
 very acceptable for all kinds of numbers, and the 
 mechanical intricacies, at one time thought so 
 inconvenient, have been simplified to such an ex- 
 tent as to make the machines very close compet- 
 itors with the revolving flat cards, even for card- 
 ing select combed yarns. 
 
 Licker-in and Carrier. — By the introduc- 
 tion of the " licker-in " and " carrier " to the 
 modern front-feed card, there are brought to- 
 gether other good points for separating and 
 ejecting the foreign matter. In these cards the 
 licker-in is made to strike downwards, and the 
 feed rollers are pitched so that the under is the 
 setting roller and affords a marked advantage to 
 exude the seeds and sand at this point, while 
 another appliance, called an " extractor " in- 
 creases the effectiveness under the centre line. 
 
 The " carrier" revolves in an opposite direc- 
 tion with as much more superficial velocity as is re- 
 quisite to strip the fleece from the licker-in, while 
 the cylinder,at a still higher speed, strips the carrier 
 in the same manner. By this system of feeding 
 we secure a downward blow for the cylinder, as 
 well as the licker-in, thus offering additional fa- 
 cilities to clear the fibre by the force of gravity. 
 
 If we examine the direction given to the cot- 
 ton, by this method of feeding, and the recent 
 
 47 
 
improvements introduced, to assist in the ex- 
 traction of the motes at this most accessible 
 place, we can discover how well adapted this 
 style of card is to the lower and softer grades of 
 cotton and the reason why it is so much pre- 
 ferred by spinners for coarse counts. The per- 
 nicious system of overloading has become so 
 prevalent with spinners of these counts, that the 
 good points on the cards are seldom secured. 
 Large production and reduced attention are the 
 conditions upon which these engines are run at 
 the present time, so that the advantages of con- 
 struction have little to do with the quality of the 
 work. 
 
 The Wellman Stripper Card.— There are 
 really but two principles involved in the con- 
 struction of cotton cards, which may be simply 
 designated the flat and the roller. The principle 
 of the flat is a succession of narrow carding sur- 
 faces retained in close proximity to the cylinder, 
 through the wire of which the cotton is teased 
 along and straightened out by the action of the 
 cylinder, while in the wire of said flats various im- 
 purities and foreign matter lodge until removed 
 by the stripper. On this principle we have the 
 top-flat, the under-flat, and the revolving-flat. The 
 American manufacturer long ago adopted the 
 top-flat as the best for carding cotton. When 
 Mr. Leigh, who spent many years trying to in- 
 
 48 
 
vent a top-stripper, saw and studied the princi- 
 ple of the Wellman attachment, he unhesitatingly- 
 admitted it to be the carding-engine of the future. 
 And we think were it now put on the market for 
 the first time it would be a very desirable and 
 acceptable machine for all purposes, as indeed 
 from the range of work it is doing it has proved 
 to be. All admit that the cards which take out 
 the most matter foreign to the yarn with the 
 least loss of prime fibre are those upon which we 
 accomplish the best results. When we lift the 
 flats off the Wellman engine we cannot fail to 
 observe the large amount of blighted seeds and 
 short staple those next the feed-rolls contain, and 
 how these impurities, though less in bulk, but still 
 numerous, lodge in the last, or flats behind the 
 doffer. This is a feature, and a very commend- 
 able one, which no other cards but those of this 
 type possess. 
 
 The common and under-flat cards are shown 
 to advantage when the strips are compared with 
 even those of the revolving-flat. It is found, 
 especially where the quick automatic is used, 
 that they take out more dirt, seed, and short dead 
 fibre, and prove that there are cleaning points in this 
 card which have not yet been beaten. The es- 
 sential difference, then, between the steady, and 
 the revolving-flat is that the one is dragged over 
 the cylinder, while the other is lifted from its 
 
 49 
 
position to be stripped. There is no other im- 
 provement on the one which cannot be equally 
 well applied to the other. If a cylinder 50 inches 
 by 40 inches, with other parts to correspond, is of 
 any advantage, it is equally so in both. If shell 
 feed and metallic lickers-in are desirable in the 
 one, there is no reason why they should not be 
 so in the other. In fact, every improved feature 
 of the revolving- flat card can be utilized with 
 equal advantage in the construction of the Well- 
 man card. And so far as the flies, or drops, are 
 concerned, there cannot be any great difference, 
 because screens or grate bars can be equally 
 well applied to both. 
 
 Of course under this head the Foss and Pevey 
 card is considered, and we have not yet seen or 
 operated a carding-engine which gives so much 
 area for cleaning and produces better work with 
 less waste. Besides, any one capable of forming 
 an unbiassed opinion' knows from practical ex- 
 perience, that this purely American machine can 
 produce 80 lbs. of carding per day of ten hours, 
 with less power and expense than any other on 
 the market, and this carding is superior and 
 takes a wider range than almost any other. 
 
 The Revolving Flat Card. — It is not neces- 
 sary for the writer to seek information regarding 
 the revolving flat, or as it is now designated, the 
 traveling flat card, because it was the machine at 
 
 50 
 
which, from boy to manhood, he worked. Thirty- 
 five years ago in one of the largest mills at that 
 time in the world, it was carding cotton for 40s 
 water twist, and 60s filling. While attempting to 
 describe the points which characterize this carding 
 engine, no injustice shall be done to the other side ; 
 but we shall endeavor to clear away some of the 
 rubbish and sentiment that interfere with the 
 merits or demerits of an old machine. 
 
 It is said that in those days the construction of 
 machinery for cotton-mills had not reached that 
 point of development necessary to build such a 
 complicated machine. Accuracy of workmanship 
 and nicety of construction are absolutely requisite 
 to the success of any machine in the factory as 
 well as to that of the revolving flat card. 
 
 The cylinders of the card under consideration 
 were of cast-iron, turned up, pierced for plugs, 
 and they ran as perfectly true as any we 
 have ever seen and at as high a velocity as 
 those of the new models. These cylinders 
 were clothed with Horsfall's patent clothing, 
 which has a name second to none at the present 
 day. The flats traversed a circuit concentric with 
 the cylinder, and each one had screws by which 
 to adjust it. The lickers-in were clothed with 
 diamond-pointed wire, and each machine carded 
 in ten hours 130 lbs. of cotton for the above 
 mentioned counts. The flats were ground with 
 
 51 
 
full length grinders and were brushed with circu- 
 lar brushes while working, so that no time was 
 lost in stoppages. A man and a boy ground 
 sixteen of those card cylinders and strickled and 
 brushed the doffers in ten hours. 
 
 The cotton which these cards carded for 40s 
 twists and 60s wefts would make one of our mod- 
 ern carders stare with wonder. The cylinders we 
 see were ground j ust as much as they were in need of, 
 once a day, and stripped after running five hours 
 with a rapidly revolving circular brush, which 
 was driven from a groove in the flange of the 
 loose pulley, and held up in the same stands as the 
 grinder. 
 
 Now how much does the modern traveling flat 
 card exceed this of thirty-seven years ago ? 
 What recent improvements, or special mechanism, 
 has been added to it that has brought it prom- 
 inently before our manufacturers of late? If im- 
 provements have advanced in this machine, as it 
 is asserted they have in others, the revolving flat 
 engine of the present, must be a different card 
 from the one at which we worked in 1854. There 
 were difficulties encountered in building the old 
 card which were hard to overcome, but which 
 improved methods and tools, longer experience 
 and greater resources, have been able to surmount, 
 and for this reason the traveling flat card of to- 
 day is a comparatively new machine. The chief 
 
 52 
 
difficulty experienced at the time mentioned was in 
 maintaining the circuit traveled by the flats con- 
 centric with the cylinder, and in the forming and 
 fitting of the parts necessary to secure this result. 
 
 Formerly it was found very hard to get ac- 
 curate mechanical construction in the upper sur- 
 faces of the bends. That the wire of the flats 
 resting on the bends should be in even and very 
 close proximity to the wire of the cylinder, and 
 run true in this manner all the way round, was 
 absolutely essential. Not only so, but there must 
 be provision made by which this could be 
 continually maintained to accomodate the wear 
 of the wire. This was the principal difficulty pre- 
 sented in the construction of this card, and with 
 this overcome, there is nothing about it that 
 offers any obstacle in handling and caring for 
 more than a common Wellman stripper engine. 
 
 The Roller Card. — In spite of the improve- 
 ments so extensively advanced as having been 
 added to the preparation departments, and especi- 
 ally to the cotton card, both at home and abroad 
 during the last decade, what has been long known 
 as the roller card has continued to fill an impor- 
 tant place, and indeed hold its own, if not more, 
 in numbers up to the medium. The principle of 
 this card is essentially different from the com- 
 mon or traveling flat. It is built on the teasing and 
 separating plan, and aspires to nothing it cannot 
 
 53 
 
do, while it is operated on the very cheapest 
 scale. 
 
 The cotton is fed to this card with the improved 
 shell-feed. Then by a small cylinder it is lifted 
 from the main cylinder, doffed by another still 
 smaller cylinder, by which it is fed back into the 
 main cylinder again, and this is repeated sixteen 
 or more times before it reaches the doffer. 
 
 The roller card is not adapted to very fine work, 
 but it is a popular machine in England on 
 medium and coarse counts, because very little 
 waste is made, there being no strippings taken 
 out. On the best authority this card is stated to 
 be doing 175 lbs. in ten hours, on 36s yarn, and 
 making first-class work. 
 
 54 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CARDING BLEACHED AND COLORED COTTON. 
 
 Cause of Difficulties — The Need of a Moderate 
 Even Temperature — Moisture — The Effects of Light 
 — Artificial Light — The Preservation of the Color- 
 Making Dyed Cotton Ready for the Cards — Faulty 
 Dyeing — Squeezing and Extracting — Drying. 
 
 Troubles with Such Cotton. — In carding 
 bleached and colored cotton, difficulties crop up 
 now and again which are never so annoying when 
 the material is worked in the natural state. Trou- 
 ble may always be expected when the temperature 
 is low, with a dry crisp air, and cold north winds 
 are prevailing. Manufacturers have been known 
 during periods of this kind to be compelled to 
 stop operations until the return of more favorable 
 temperature. Others under such circumstance 
 were able to go right along, without suffering any 
 more than the ordinary inconveniences of such 
 weather, and without having occasion to use ex- 
 traordinary means for keeping matters right. 
 Now why should such differences exist ? Why is 
 it that one manufactory should go along so easily 
 without trouble, and without having appliances 
 
 55 
 
of any kind to overcome difficulties, while others 
 with all kinds of attachments for averting the evils 
 have the greatest trouble to get through the 
 work ? This is the secret which we desire to un- 
 ravel, and if we discover the causes which pro- 
 duce the effect, we may suggest how to counter- 
 act them, partially at least, and to a great extent 
 remove the annoyance. 
 
 Different causes of Difficulties.— For many 
 of the evils which are likely to arise in the card- 
 ing of bleached or colored cottons, it is, we fear, 
 impossible to point out a remedy. The many 
 changes in the temperature that occur during the 
 year ; the time that elapses after drying until the 
 cotton is brought to the cards; and the manner in 
 which it is handled previously, all combine to sup- 
 ply causes for annoyance at this particular place. 
 
 It is well understood that bleached and colored 
 cottons absorb a deal more moisture than the or- 
 dinary fibres, and a continuous moderate tempera- 
 ture is the most favorable for carding them. It is, 
 therefore, necessary that the factory should be on 
 low ground, with a stream close by, and sheltered 
 by hills on the north and east. The basement or 
 cardroom should be as low as possible, and no air 
 openings should be under the floor whereby cold 
 currents may ascend. It is a very troublesome 
 business to card cotton out of which the natural 
 oil has been extracted by bleaching or otherwise. 
 
 56 
 
Especially is this the case in a factory exposed to 
 the full force of the northern winds, with the card- 
 room above a sub-cellar, or with floors through 
 which air-currents have free passage. 
 
 The character of the building and machinery 
 are also powerful factors in making this kind of 
 cotton. In the location, described, the cold air often 
 rushes with force through the crevices and open- 
 ings, creating a strong upward current. It draws the 
 fibre, when in a fleecy state, in all directions, divides 
 the slivers on the railway and drawing heads, 
 causing them to spread out and separate. Be- 
 cause these air-currents inflate the bleached and 
 dyed fibres, the cotton will cling to the conduc- 
 tors and condensing roll. It no longer remains 
 compact. It loses its affinity. It sticks to the 
 edges and sides of the cans. It will not fall into 
 the cans. In fact it cannot be pushed down in 
 any good shape into them with the hand. The 
 currents of cold air rushing upwards to displace 
 the lighter and warmer air above, give the fleeces 
 an upward tendency, which causes the fibres to 
 spread and cling to everything around them. In 
 carding the bleached and dyed fibres the air must 
 be well impregnated with moisture. 
 
 Temperature and Moisture. — The dry-air 
 from steam pipe heating lacks the moisture neces- 
 sary to prevent this confusion, except at a tempera- 
 ture considerably lower than it is usually kept at 
 
 57 
 
while the fibre in the natural state is being carded. 
 Still in no case can it be dispensed with, in this 
 climate at least. But it is often forced so high 
 as to be unbearable to the operatives. When 
 the weather outside is cold, as a remedy for sticky 
 work the heat in the room is often raised to 90 de- 
 grees and more, while it is well known that com- 
 mon cotton cards and works best at between 70 
 and 75 degrees. In this case of colored and 
 bleached fibre extreme heat will not help; it only 
 aggravates the evils, and is therefore just the re- 
 verse of what is required, for the greater the heat 
 in the room, the stronger will be the upward 
 current of air. The proper way is to maintain 
 the temperature at a minimum. Both night and 
 day let the thermometer stand at about 65 de- 
 grees. The moisture will then average 60. Have 
 three thermometers to try with, one near the 
 floor, one near the ceiling, and one in the middle 
 for the working test. The difference between the 
 upper and lower will be the force of the upward 
 current. If the difference is kept between one 
 and two degrees, the working or middle ther- 
 mometer may be as high as 68°. But there will 
 be trouble if the upper and lower show a vari- 
 ation of from 6° to 8°. 
 
 Some carders have, with good results, had re- 
 course to a system of heating the cans by steam 
 pipes or other appliances, for the purpose of cre- 
 
 58 
 
ating a downward draught. The object is to 
 make the lower part of the can warm, and to 
 cause the air at the upper part to fall with force, 
 creating a downward current which will take the 
 cotton with it. This method is considerably bet- 
 ter than the system of blowing steam around the 
 rollers, which causes everything to rust and does 
 no good at all to the cardings. If the air is 
 found to be too dry, very fine jets of steam might 
 be allowed to issue on the north side of the build- 
 ing, as near the ceiling as possible, and perhaps 
 ten feet apart, because to create a downward cur- 
 rent the moistened air is valuable ; at least it is 
 useful in checking or retarding the upward cur- 
 rent and materially counteracts the cause of bad 
 work. 
 
 In connection with this matter there are other 
 things to be considered, such as the dyeing, the 
 drying and the storing before the stock is pre- 
 sented to the card, as well as the mixing and the 
 best method of obtaining bright colors. 
 
 The Effects of Light. — Though good light 
 is essential for all kinds of carding, yet intense 
 light is very injurious to colored work. Solid 
 colors withstand the light better and fly apart 
 less. With mixtures, or when white is used with 
 a heavy color, it is very troublesome, because 
 they have no affinity. The lighter color has a 
 tendency to fly from the heavy, and intense rays 
 
 59 
 
of light, as well as intense heat, increase the at- 
 tractive power which draws the colors apart. 
 When light penetrates with force, it may be sub- 
 dued considerably by colored window curtains, 
 or frosted glass. This will also contribute ma- 
 terially to preserving the color of the cotton, 
 giving it a brighter tint and a better gloss, qual- 
 ities very desirable to preserve, but on which the 
 light has a bad effect. If these were all the advan- 
 tages procured by having the light mellowed, they 
 would be sufficient to recommend it, but there 
 are others. There will be less waste made, less 
 piecings of ends, less labor and more perfect work. 
 
 Artificial Light. — All the influences which 
 make the work go badly in a mill with white 
 cotton have doubled force in the mill running on 
 colored work. Especially is there a harassing 
 time when the machinery has been standing idle 
 for a day or two. In such a case, good results 
 may be obtained from lighting the gas for a 
 couple of hours. The heat thus diffused has a 
 softening influence on the atmosphere, and per- 
 mits a certain amount of moisture, which steam 
 heat does not give. 
 
 The effect of gas-light on the drawing of the 
 cotton is very marked and favorable, especially 
 when a wind storm springs up and scatters the 
 fibres in all directions. By the aid of gas-light 
 the effects may often be controlled, and the work 
 
 60 
 
kept going right along. In exposed locations 
 when sudden changes oftenest occur, use of gas- 
 light is one of the best temporary expedients 
 practiced. It gives heat and moisture combined, 
 radiating from below, as well as from above, and 
 giving no perceptible upward current. 
 
 Preserving the Color. — The saving effected 
 in the working of cotton after coloring makes the 
 practice desirable, but it is very difficult to obtain 
 and preserve colors that will compare with those 
 to be found in the dyed yarn. In many cases 
 this kind of manufacture is carried on without 
 the necessary amount of skill and knowledge, so 
 that the endeavor to approximate to the nice 
 shades and colors of the material that has been 
 dyed in the yarn is not satisfactorily accomplished. 
 The desire to have a good color is, of course, 
 strong, and yet in many instances the extraor- 
 dinary efforts to get it tend only to destroy the 
 effect and to injure the work. During the card- 
 ing, much of the coloring matter falls out, and 
 the same thing occurs in the process of drawing 
 and twisting, all of which hurts the color and 
 ought to be avoided by proper methods in dyeing. 
 It is absolute waste to load the material with un- 
 needed quantities of dye. The fine fibres will 
 only absorb a certain quantity of dye and any 
 additional amount put on them is sure to go to 
 waste. Carelessness in preparing the cotton for 
 
 61 
 
the cards, and in loading it with more matter than 
 is necessary, has a very injurious effect on the 
 preservation of the colors. 
 
 Making dyed cotton ready for the cards, 
 
 — The desideratum in preparing fibres of dyed 
 cotton for the card is to have them free, and de- 
 void of stickiness, so that they will not be badly 
 torn, and the liability of the color to come out be 
 increased. If the processes before reaching the 
 cards are intelligently performed, that machine 
 will be relieved of duties which do not properly 
 belong to it. Bleached or dyed cotton should be 
 stored away for a week or ten days, at the least, 
 before carding. In this delay lies the cure for 
 almost every evil incidental to the manufacture 
 of this class of goods, as compared with the ordi- 
 nary white goods. After the cotton is brought 
 from the drier, it should not be packed tight ; es- 
 pecially if only the stated number of days are to 
 intervene before using. It should be laid on a 
 floor where the air can circulate above, below, 
 and around it, and the temperature should be 
 kept steadily, night and day, at as near 65 de- 
 grees as possible, for the reason that if it is too 
 dry it will absorb the proper quantity of moisture, 
 and if too wet, it will part with the moisture with 
 which it is overcharged. By having this rule 
 closely observed the cotton will be brought as 
 near as can be to its natural state. 
 
 62 
 
If brought to the carding engine too dry, much 
 of the color will be thrown off in combing the 
 fibres, and it will appear dull and faded, and be- 
 sides, dry, warm stock is always more likely to 
 generate electricity. On the other hand, if the 
 cotton be brought forward in its too wet condi- 
 tion it will not only lose color in the carding and 
 drawing, but it will also destroy the card wire and 
 produce a poor quality of work. So the very 
 simple rules which indicate how to preserve the 
 color in the best possible manner, also help to 
 preserve the card clothing and to make the best 
 work all round. 
 
 Faulty Dyeing. — There are no manufactur- 
 ers of dyed yarns who do not desire to get at 
 least moderately fast colors. There is great dis- 
 similarity in the cotton manipulated by different 
 dyers. Much depends on the facilities at their 
 command, and a great deal upon the methods 
 adopted in the work. A most important thing is 
 the cleaning out of the vat, which should be done 
 regularly and often. A desire to save may move 
 the dyer to keep the old sediment for a large num- 
 ber of dyes. This may be properly called wast- 
 ing, because in cotton there is a small percentage 
 of natural oil which operates against the action 
 of the dye and remains in the liquor, which, 
 when used often, becomes overcharged and causes 
 the material to feel greasy. When in this state, 
 
 63 
 
the dye easily rubs off The pressure of the rol- 
 lers of the various machines will obliterate every 
 vestige of the brightness, and by the time the 
 cotton gets into the cloth it will look dingy, dull, 
 and faded. 
 
 The way to get the best possible color with 
 the least amount of dye, and to have at least 
 moderately fast colors is the most economical. 
 To make this sure, the vat ought to be cleaned 
 out every time, and the liquor used as a mordant 
 on the next vat following. Then use only once, 
 after which let it pass away. By this method it 
 takes rather less dye to set the vat, the colors are 
 always regular and the cotton pleasant to the 
 touch. This may be called the economy of dyeing 
 fugitive colors, although in this system there is 
 extra cost for the plant, for it* requires two vats 
 instead of one, to do it effectively. But it pro- 
 duces good results in the work afterwards, and 
 gives a good appearance to the cloth. 
 
 We do not pretend to be competent to give in- 
 strutions in dyeing, but we do know when the 
 work is badly done and that bad dyeing interferes 
 greatly with good carding. Cotton having a 
 greasy, "soggy" feel in handling, will not card 
 well. It will not separate at the feed-rolls. It 
 clogs on the wire ; the short fibres roll into min- 
 ute balls, and make what is called a " nitty" sliver. 
 A fleece of this carding, if held up to the light, 
 
 64 
 
would seem to be full of small " nits," and in such 
 a state it can never make good work. 
 
 Squeezing and Extracting. — Cotton that is 
 wet lies inert ; it has no spring or elasticity like 
 wool, but without resistance remains just as it 
 has been pressed. It is very desirable that the 
 cotton should be kept as open as possible during 
 the extracting, so that the process of drying may 
 be forwarded with such uniformity as will insure 
 good carding. Cotton squeezed through rolls 
 under a heavy pressure is never in good condi- 
 tion for carding, because it is in slabby, hard- 
 compressed pieces. The dryer will not open 
 these to any appreciable extent, nor will the 
 beater in the lapper entirely do so, and when 
 presented to the card in this irregular state, the 
 wire although of the best tempered steel, sharp- 
 ened and set in the most approved fashion, will 
 not produce good even work. From poor card- 
 ing, all the other evils follow, such as uneven 
 yarn, bad spinning, and large quantities of waste 
 at each operation. The flies and strips from the 
 cards, when on stock of this description, are 
 double what they ought to be. It is nonsense 
 to try to make work out of lumpy material, and 
 when the water is pressed out with rollers cotton 
 is always lumpy after being dried. Some por- 
 tions, which receive more pressure than the rest, 
 come through in shining cakes, glistening like 
 
 65 
 
silver. These spots are not taken out by all the 
 machines combined, and they often appear in the 
 cloth in such numbers that they cannot be 
 " burled M out. Rollers also press out the color- 
 ing and produce a variety of shades to the same 
 lot of material, which when worked up on the 
 picker and card give anything but a true 
 color. 
 
 It will be observed from these remarks that 
 good hydro-extracting is, for this kind of mate- 
 rial, the only sure way in which to keep it spongy, 
 so that the air will circulate, and be distributed 
 all through the mass drying it with uniformity 
 and in a condition to preserve the brilliancy of 
 the colors. 
 
 The Importance of Proper Drying. — We 
 
 have referred to this already, but it is of such 
 importance that it ought to have a paragraph to 
 itself. The cold-air method is the safest for this 
 kind of material. 
 
 One of the most notable difficulties produced 
 by over-drying is the development of electricity 
 in the carding. It is generated, no doubt, to 
 some extent by the heat with which the fibre 
 is impregnated, and this is so tormenting and so 
 certain to produce bad work that the cotton 
 would be more profitable in the bale. These 
 conditions can be obviated if the material is ex- 
 tracted without lumpiness and dried in the right 
 
 66 
 
manner. If over-dried, the life and strength of 
 the fibre are destroyed ; for, although of great 
 tenacity, it can be singed and have its vitality 
 completely burned out. When hot-air drying 
 is used, there should be an experienced hand to 
 attend to it, for there may be some portions 
 over-done and some under-done, the results of 
 which will be as before-mentioned. With hot 
 air much experience is required to tell when the 
 cotton is dry enough ; but when properly dried, 
 and with reasonable facilities for storage, to give 
 it a chance to " age " and return to the natural 
 state, it will be found when wanted to be in 
 as good a condition to work well, and with 
 little more trouble than the common white 
 stock. 
 
 The Use of Seed Extractors on the Cards. 
 
 — In carding colored stock, every appliance 
 known to have been used with success, in remov- 
 ing the specks and nits, should be adopted. 
 The Keene extractor, the shell flat and the adjust- 
 able knife have their proper places here, and 
 will be found to more than repay their use in a 
 short time. In mixtures with black and white, 
 or black and yellow, the smallest speck, or 
 " nit," is plainly seen, and whether done in the 
 vat or by the squeezing process, stands out very 
 prominently. By the use of these appliances on 
 the cards, the yarn and cloth of very opposite 
 
 67 
 
colors are made clean in appearance and soft to 
 the feel. The great point, therefore, in carding 
 and spinning this kind of stock, is to let it " age," 
 and so naturally return to its original state, 
 without which it is not possible to get good 
 carding and fast colors. 
 
 68 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CARDING FOR COMBED YARNS. 
 
 SKILL REQUIRED FOR THIS PROCESS — GOOD MACHINERY 
 NEEDED — POINTS THAT MUST BE LOOKED AFTER — THOR- 
 OUGH CARDING CALLED FOR — USE OF THE DRAWING-HEAD 
 COILERS. 
 
 Skill Required. — There is no process in 
 cotton spinning less frequently discussed than 
 that of making combed yarns, nor is there one 
 in which so much skill is required to make the 
 operation successful. Very few not directly 
 engaged in it realize the amount of extra labor, 
 caution and cleanliness necessary to keep the 
 yarn up to the standard. One thing is in favor 
 of the carder for these counts : He does not have 
 to contend with the unknown constituents of a 
 lower grade, but has always honest and well- 
 selected material to handle. 
 
 Good Machinery Needed.— As there is 
 but the single process allowed in all concerns 
 when combed yarns are made it is very essential 
 that the cards shall be first-rate in every respect. 
 The clothing of the cylinders and flats must be 
 composed of the best material. The wire must 
 
 69 
 
be of hardened and tempered steel, so as to in- 
 sure the desired elasticity and a better and more 
 lasting point, thus permitting harder usage and 
 withstanding the excess of stress necessitated by 
 the carding of the longer staple. Hardened and 
 tempered steel wire has now greatest popularity, 
 and is almost universally used for fine carding. 
 The flat card system has been accepted every- 
 where as the best for carding Egyptian, Sea Isl- 
 and or Peeler cottons. The material demanded 
 for the class of yarn under consideration will not 
 admit of being teased and disunited in a rough 
 way. It must be combed over the ends and 
 drawn into parallel fibres by the means best 
 known to the carder. By feeding slowly to the 
 periphery of a well-clothed cylinder, running at 
 a moderate velocity, and by using the feed with 
 the most tenacious grip, we have the kind of 
 machine most desirable for this work. We also 
 want the flat which will take out the most dirt, 
 and at the same time draw the fibre best into 
 line. Hence it is the flats, and the methods by 
 which they are actuated, which secure preference 
 for the principles involved in the flat carding 
 system. 
 
 The arrangements for setting the flats at a per- 
 fectly graduated slant from one end of the cir- 
 cuit to the other, and the positive manner in 
 which they are held to their duty, are wonder- 
 
 70 
 
fully free from defect. Each flat, with certain 
 motion, travels over in closest proximity to the 
 cylinder, wire to wire, without touching; the 
 whole space occupied by the full set. The clean 
 flat enters upon its work behind the doffer, and 
 finishes it at the feed-rolls. This continual mo- 
 tion tends greatly to draw the staple into line, 
 and to straighten it, thus giving a degree of ex- 
 cellence to the carding that few other machines 
 can impart to long-stapled stock. The feed is set 
 a little under, in order to allow the periphery of 
 the cylinder to come nearer to the nip of the 
 fibre. This is where the draft of the card is, 
 and here the straightening process takes place. 
 By the set of the feed, and the quality and sharp- 
 ness of the wire, the crossed fibres are the better 
 reduced. 
 
 At this place the extractor is now in operation 
 with the best results. It sets very nicely to the 
 cylinder, and its sensitiveness recommends it. 
 It is a mote-catcher that once seen will be sum- 
 moned to the aid of the card working for combed 
 yarns. 
 
 Stationary flats do their duty well. They, too, 
 are extractors, holding to the periphery of the 
 cylinder, a one-and-a-half inch face, slightly 
 raised at the edge next the impact, for the pur- 
 pose of catching the short and foreign matter 
 which the centrifugal force throws off. These 
 
 7i 
 
faced flats are therefore very little, if any, inferior 
 to the most improved traveling flats for the pur- 
 pose of producing well-carded and well-straigh- 
 tened cotton, for combed yarns, except it be in 
 the quantity carded. 
 
 This is the kind of card and the sort of 
 carding which is most desirable for the best yarns, 
 and in order to give the machines the greatest 
 chance to produce such work, we dispense with 
 the licker-in. Here an almost indispensable ad- 
 junct on the coarse grades is not allowed. A 
 great egester of seeds and motes, a great opener 
 of stock, and a saver of clothing is not considered 
 profitable for Sea Island cotton, or other long- 
 stapled material, because it prevents the cylinder 
 to a large extent from straightening and laying 
 the fibres. 
 
 That the wire on the cylinder does straighten 
 the fibres better when brought into immediate 
 contact with the feed, is a fact which all who 
 have attempted an analysis of the science of card- 
 ing will admit. Wide set feed-rolls cause the cot- 
 ton to lap around the one from which the cylinder 
 bites, and instead of the fibres being properly 
 laid on, they trail, as it were, and get into 
 small bunches, thus missing the efficiency of the 
 process partly, if not altogether. The laps on 
 these rolls often become so hard, when card- 
 ing long stock, that the teeth of the clothing 
 
 72 
 
will get set back with serious injury to the 
 wire. 
 
 The doffer is, scientifically speaking, for the 
 purpose of collecting the fibres from the cylinder 
 and delivering them at a specified weight. But 
 in order that the doffer may perform this func- 
 tion in a satisfactory manner, it must be set in 
 such close proximity to the cylinder as to be 
 just clear. Now, if a blister, or some other im- 
 perfection, makes necessary the withdrawal of 
 that doffer from its most effective seat, what will 
 the consequences be? In the first place, the doffer 
 will begin to deliver a lighter quantity, and in 
 the next place, the cylinder will retain, for some 
 time at least, the fibre which the doffer ought to 
 be delivering. But in a short time the cylinder 
 will have more than it can carry, when the cot- 
 ton will begin to nit by rolling and the centrifugal 
 force will throw it in every possible direction. 
 These are extreme cases, to be sure, and easily 
 attended to. But there lie between the perfect 
 working card and these extremes, certain partic- 
 ulars incidental to minute degrees of setting, 
 which are not so readily watched and guarded 
 against, and the attending to which marks the 
 successful carder of fine stock. 
 
 Points to be looked after. — Clothing should 
 be drawn and nailed on by a thoroughly practi- 
 cal man, who understands just what is wanted, 
 
 73 
 
because regularity of stretch prevents blisters. 
 Still it is- possible to run cards so close that the 
 best stretched clothing will spring and blister. 
 An ill-set jam may have the same effect, and 
 cause the same trouble. A bungled jam may 
 be even worse than a blister, for the teeth may be 
 so loosened in the bottom as to lose their elas- 
 ticity. It may set them to leaning both ways, 
 according to the pressure, standing neither 
 against the cotton nor the grinder, but straigh- 
 tening out with the centrifugal force and making 
 bad and nitty carding. 
 
 The nit in coarse numbers does not show so 
 prominently as when the thread is drawn out to 
 a very fine count. Here it stands out in bold re- 
 lief and carries its evils with it, all of which are 
 attributed to inefficiency in the carding. 
 
 These nits are not found uniformly distributed 
 through the whole of the carding, but are most 
 numerous in cards of the above description, or be- 
 fore stripping or sharpening time. The cause of this 
 is the fact, that the longer the card is allowed to 
 run, the heavier will be the accumulation of strip, 
 and the more likelihood there is for the cotton to 
 roll between the points of the teeth. 
 
 Of course the better the condition the card is 
 in, the more surely the nits will be reduced both 
 in size and number. Still, in carding stock suit- 
 able for fine yarns, it is a very difficult matter to 
 
 74 
 
keep the work clear of nits. In fact it is not ef- 
 fected at all without the aid of the combing 
 machine. 
 
 Thorough Carding Necessary. — It has 
 
 been said that the passing of the cotton once 
 through the cards is sufficient, when combing 
 machines are used, because these will deal with 
 the shorts and motes while the combs will take 
 out all the rest required. Still, an object to be 
 aimed at is to have the material in proper condi- 
 tion, before presenting it to the combs ; and the 
 method of doing this in the most practical as well 
 as the most economical form. Before the advent 
 of combs we were compelled to continue carding 
 the staple until it was free from every speck that 
 would in anyway be detrimental to the yarn. 
 This was very weakening to the fibre and caused 
 great trouble in the after process, and was the 
 source from which came the large quantities of 
 waste that went back to the pickers. The combs 
 have obviated all this and they do the cleaning 
 much better than any cards possibly could. 
 
 Use of the Drawing-head. — But there is still 
 another condition of efficiency to be noted here 
 which tends to the progressive evening of the 
 fibres lengthways, and diminishes to some extent 
 the weakening effects resulting from carding 
 doubles. It has always been found in practice to 
 be expedient to run the cotton once and sometimes 
 
 75 
 
twice through the drawing-head, as a very useful 
 help in doing what the cards leave undone in the 
 way of evening and laying the staple in the 
 same direction. When it is understood that the 
 combing machine requires the cotton to be laid 
 lengthways as much as possible, in order that the 
 nippers may catch it in the most advantageous 
 position, it will be seen that the idea of elonga- 
 ting by drawing was a very natural one. 
 
 Coilers. — Coilers are not so numerous in fine 
 mills now as they were ten years ago. They 
 were extensively used at first, but small defects 
 were found which were hard to remedy. These 
 decreased the desire to have them, and in spite of 
 the beauty of their workmanship and excellence 
 in can-filling, they are not gaining ground. 
 
 Beater-Speeds. — In mills where fine yarns 
 are a specialty a very perceptible difference in 
 the beater-speeds will be found in the picker- 
 rooms. The velocity must be proportioned to 
 the length of the staple. Long-stapled cottons 
 have an economical point of beater-speed some- 
 where, which, like the twist of roving, is learned 
 only by experience. It has been demonstrated 
 by a series of experiments, carried on under very 
 favorable circumstances, that the correct limit of 
 beater-speed for long-stapled stock is between 
 seventeen and eighteen hundred revolutions of 
 the ordinary double bladed perforated beater. 
 
 76 
 
The Sectional Evener possesses very su- 
 perior gripping power, and is therefore well 
 adapted for fine cottons, because long stock is 
 more subject to be pulled in bunches. This is 
 prevented to a great extent by the manner in 
 which the rollers of the evener are constructed, 
 so as to hold the cotton with double power. 
 
 77 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 COMBING THE COTTON FIBRE. 
 
 THE COMBING MACHINE — FINE YARNS MUST BE COMBED — 
 THE NIPPER AND COMB SYSTEM — CAPACITY OF THE COMB 
 — COMBER-WASTE — WEAR AND REPAIR — THE NUMBER OF 
 THE NEEDLES — THE SLIVER — CAM MOTIONS — DRAFT AND 
 WEIGHT OF LAPS — RULES FOR SETTING THE COMBS. 
 
 The Combing Machines. — The changes ef- 
 fected in the preparation of fine counts by the intro- 
 duction of the combing machine are surprising. 
 That machine embodies ideas of distinct origin- 
 ality, in the development of which several me- 
 chanical difficulties are made to harmonize. 
 Here the cam-motions are made exclusively 
 practical, and show with what concise regularity 
 they may be made to bring fibre to fibre. The 
 finest needle-pointed tempered steel wire is re- 
 quired for these combs. This preparatory pro- 
 cess is of a delicate and complicated character, 
 and on every detail of it much depends. It has 
 been reserved for this age to complete and in- 
 troduce an invention which takes hold of the 
 cotton fibre in a natural way and sends it to the 
 spinner in a state which far surpasses anything 
 of the kind previously known. 
 
 78 
 
It is a complex contrivance, to be sure, and 
 has been a long time making its way to favor 
 among manufacturers, but those who spin fine 
 numbers now realize that they cannot get along 
 without it. 
 
 Fine Yarns must be Combed. — The combing 
 machines have now been in operation long 
 enough to have stood the test of experiment, to 
 which inventions brought for 'the first time into 
 practical use are necessarily subjected. There 
 can be no question, in spite of some differences 
 of opinion, that fine spinners have reached the 
 conclusion that they cannot succeed without 
 them. The preparing of the cotton for the 
 spinner is a perplexing problem, which often 
 confounds the wisest man. The more we are 
 pressed for quantity, the heavier the carding 
 must be made, and the more deterioration of the 
 quality is aggravated. But the machine under 
 consideration is so sensitive in every particular 
 that to push it hard will deprive it of efficiency 
 with fine numbers Its capacity for separating 
 the short fibre from the long, and. for evening 
 and straightening it at the same time, is a suffi- 
 cient warrant of its real practical utility. 
 
 The Nipper and Comb System. — The feat- 
 ures of this machine are the nipper and comb 
 method, by which the nits and broken seeds, with 
 the fine hairy feelers or prongs that reach out in all 
 
 79 
 
directions and intertwine with such persistency, 
 are effectually dissevered and removed, and the 
 healthy fibre sent forward in a perfectly clean 
 and purified condition. It is then ready to be 
 drawn out to any degree of fineness, for the pur- 
 pose of making thread, or to be woven into 
 cambric without spot or blemish. The picker 
 and the card, and we might safely include the 
 gin also, have a tendency to split and deteriorate 
 the fibre, and to reduce its strength considerably. 
 By the way which they are constructed they 
 cannot but cross and tangle the fibres ; but in 
 the combing machine the impurities are carried 
 over the ends by the needles, in a manner which 
 is perfectly natural, and better calculated to even 
 and lay the staple in a parallel state than to in- 
 jure it. In fact, from the way in which it is 
 drawn by the combs, it cannot be otherwise than 
 inclined in the same direction. 
 
 The capacity of the Comb. — A machine that 
 
 can be adjusted to take out from five to forty per 
 cent, of the fibre, according to the length desired 
 for the numbers, must be applicable to a wide 
 range of work. This scope is not half developed 
 yet, but in time it will be fully employed in kinds 
 of manufacture which requires justa certain length 
 of staple and which no other machine can supply 
 with nearly the same exactitude. Besides, there 
 are classes of goods which cannot be made soft 
 
 80 
 
or silky to the feel with the present preparation, 
 but when combed, fibres are found to spin with 
 less twist and to make a much softer cloth with 
 a gloss and beauty after calendering and finishing 
 which are far ahead of anything the cards can 
 do in this line. The manner in which cotton 
 cloth that requires brilliancy of color and soft, 
 fleecy facing is now made must be departed from, 
 and the combs brought into action to prepare the 
 stock, because superior work and clean soft 
 cloth are always secured from combed yarns. A 
 manufacturer also knows just what he is going to 
 get from the combs and can depend upon re- 
 ceiving it in the shape required. 
 
 Comber Waste. — It must not be forgotten that 
 the short or noils thrown off by the doffers from 
 the combs are from what is considered an ex- 
 tremely good class of cotton and are therefore 
 much sought after to manufacture into coarse 
 yarns. These shorts command a fair price and 
 make the strongest quality of a coarse grade of 
 goods. Buyers know that this cotton is carded 
 before it is brought to the comber and cannot on 
 this account be foul. This, together with the fact 
 of its coming from a superior class of stock, makes 
 it sought for, and it always commands a ready 
 sale. An industry like this is very profitable, 
 and is sure to be established in any locality where 
 there are sufficient combs to make it an object. 
 
 81 
 
Wear and Repair. — There is one more point 
 which it may be proper to consider in connection 
 with the combing machine and its properties for 
 work, and that is the wear and tear. Some ma- 
 chinery is very costly to keep in such order 
 as will ensure the desired results; especially is 
 this so with regard to the carding engine. No 
 machine requires more care or more outlay to 
 keep it in perfect order than the one first men- 
 tioned. The comb, however, does not require 
 any great outlay on furnishings. To be sure it 
 wants to be set regularly, and the comb teeth 
 now and again must be renewed. This is cheaply 
 and easily done, often, when there are not a large 
 number of machines, by the carder himself. A 
 place is appointed for the repairing of the combs 
 where the special tools required for the purpose 
 are kept. After the broken needle-points are 
 taken out, and the place in which they were is 
 cleared of the old solder and cleaned of every 
 speck of oily matter, it is thorougly tinned over, 
 and the steel points, according to the number, 
 lifted with a magnet and placed the proper dis- 
 tance apart. After this a little acid is applied and 
 then a hot soldering-iron with a very little solder 
 is run across lightly. This closes up the inter- 
 stices between the needles and sets them firmly in 
 place. Great care must be taken to clean and 
 brush the combs after this, because the acid will 
 
 82 
 
rust them and make trouble afterwards about the 
 work. 
 
 The Number of the Needles. — The needles 
 of the combs are made of tempered steel wire and 
 of the following numbers. 
 
 From one to six comb. 22 wire. 
 " seven " nine 24 
 " ten " eleven 26 
 " twelve " thirteen 28 
 " fourteen to fifteen 30 
 " sixteen " seventeen 33 
 and top " comb 28 
 The top comb rests in front of the cushion- 
 plate, and is the last set of needles through 
 which the cotton passes. Here, then, are seven- 
 teen rows of combs, composed of different sizes 
 of wire, all of which are drawn through every 
 fibre, on the same principle as with the familiar 
 process of combing the hair. Indeed it is said, 
 and we doubt not with considerable truthfulness, 
 that the idea originated from this. But, be this 
 as it may, the idea is the only natural one we 
 have ever seen put in practice to take the im- 
 purities out of cotton. 
 
 Improved Machines. — The nipper holds 
 the one end of the fibre against the cushion, and 
 the rolls the other, until alternately the combs 
 pass through both ways. The improved ma- 
 chines are adapted to comb both ends of the 
 
staple with the cylinder, while the older ones 
 dress but one end with the cylinder, and the 
 other with one, or sometimes two, top combs. 
 These latter machines seem to make a consid- 
 erable advance in the proper direction, and will 
 tend to make the comb more popular on this ac- 
 count. These machines have longer cylinders 
 with two comb sections, and two fluted sections, 
 and a double grooved cam to correspond. 
 
 Disjointed and Pieced-up Slivers.— A dis- 
 jointing of the sliver is the result of each turn of 
 the cylinder, a circumstance which cannot as yet 
 be avoided on account of the combs being con- 
 structed to carry the motes, nits, and short over 
 the ends of the sound staple when held between 
 nipper and cushion. The rolls therefore have to 
 return part-way back, at each revolution of the 
 cylinder, in order to piece up and deliver a con- 
 nected sliver. The distance the rolls have to re- 
 turn must be nicely adjusted, or else irregular and 
 hacked slivers will be delivered and the work 
 will prove uneven and break so that large quan- 
 ities of waste will have to be made. It is part of 
 the business of a carder who runs combs to see 
 that the motion of the rolls backwards is so 
 geared that the inaccuracies resulting from this 
 continuous break and splice of the sliver are 
 scarcely noticable. These continual piecings 
 are a serious drawback, and no doubt any 
 
 84 
 
remedy looking to an uninterrupted delivery of a 
 combed sliver would be an escape from needless 
 work. 
 
 Gam-Motions. — A very peculiar action 
 in the mechanism of the comb takes place in 
 the back-turn of the rolls for the purpose of re- 
 uniting the sliver. The seventeen rows of combs, 
 when set in the cylinder, occupy somewhat less 
 than one-half of the circumference, and the re- 
 maining part is intentionally left vacant. When 
 the needles pass through the fibres of the sliver 
 held out to them, the cushion and nipper fall into 
 this vacancy and permit the rolls without rubbing 
 - to return and piece up. 
 
 The cam and ball which operate this move- 
 ment must be watched and kept without play, 
 because the slightest digression from the positive 
 direction is the source of great trouble and long 
 stoppages. In fact, anywhere on this machine 
 where two distinct motions are made to take up 
 the same space alternately, particular care must 
 be taken with the cams and balls. The latter 
 must be tempered hard, and made a good, easy fit 
 all round the cam. There being no other ma- 
 chine in the carding-room where the cam and 
 ball are brought into action so much as in the one 
 referred to, it is therefore necessary that the op- 
 erator shall get thoroughly acquainted with this 
 part of the work and never forget, when putting 
 
 85 
 
in a new ball, to feel it with the fingers all round 
 the groove. This is important in practice, as 
 cams are often burst because these small things 
 are not being looked to in time. On a combing 
 machine head there is complicated work, some of 
 which is pretty hard to get at, so that when an 
 accident occurs from some small neglect there is 
 often a large amount of work to be done for the 
 necessary repairs. 
 
 The Prevention of Weak Work. — To make 
 the weak parts disappear from the combed sliver, 
 a much greater number of doublings is neces- 
 sary than is really good for the work. 
 Still, these must be resorted to for the purpose 
 of reducing the cloudiness. This is a delicate opera- 
 tion to do well, to avoid waste, and not to stretch 
 the sliver so as to make it uneven. The feeble- 
 ness of the sliver delivered from the combs ne- 
 cessitates such a loose release from the rolls that 
 there is always a danger of lumping or bunching 
 under the condensing rolls. The operator, there- 
 fore, has to be continually on the alert for this, and 
 at the same time to make sure that the polished 
 table on which the ends double and pass along to 
 the can-head or coiler, as the case may be, is 
 always free from any damp or sticky substance 
 which would cause them to adhere and make a 
 break in the doubling. A considerable amount 
 of valuable waste is often made at this place, and 
 
 86 
 
nothing must be neglected, even to the slightest 
 detail, to keep it down. 
 The Draft and Weight of Laps— The 
 
 total draft of a combing machine with the draw- 
 box is about 16; that is to say, one inch going 
 in at the back or feed rolls comes out at the coiler 
 1 6 inches. The laps are generally six in number 
 to a machine. Some have only four. Others 
 again have eight ; but six is the average and the 
 lap generally weighs from 160 to 200 grains per 
 yard. We have had combs running with a lap 
 194 grains per yard, six laps to a machine ; that is 
 1 164 grains per yard feeding at the back or feed- 
 rolls and when it entered the coiler it weighed 
 but 65 grains to the yard, with a loss by combing 
 in waste and noils of 17 per cent. 
 
 Essentials to be Remembered when Draft- 
 ing. — In drafting a combing machine it is essential 
 to bear in mind that the index-gear and the cam- 
 shaft both run at the same velocity. The index- 
 gear is on the cylinder shaft, and with a pin 
 attached to it drives the feeding rolls, and the 
 gear on the end of the cam-shaft the delivering 
 rolls. The ratchet-gear, which drives the de- 
 taching shaft and front rolls, is also driven by 
 the cam-shaft, one turn of which makes one 
 tooth of the ratchet. In working out the rule 
 for drafting, which will be given in another 
 chapter, it will be necessary to remember that the 
 
 87 
 
notched gear makes four turns for one of the 
 ratchet. 
 
 Rules for Setting the Comb. — The following 
 rules are generally used for setting a Hetherington 
 comb for long Sea-island cotton; but these may 
 be slightly modified to advantage on other 
 grades : Lever or catch to fall in at lever 
 or catch to fall out at io^i. Commence to feed 
 in at 4^. Detaching roll to touch circle plate, or 
 the fluted part of comb cylinder at 6^. Nipper 
 to touch cushion plate at 8^. Leave off draw- 
 ing at 9*^. Drop top comb at 6^. 
 
 Another Rule used on Egyptian Stock. — 
 
 Cylinder to gauge at 5.25. Catch to fall in at fully 
 1.3. Catch to fall out at 13.25. Top comb down 
 at 7.1 ; Cushion plate up at 5.1. Nippers meet 
 at 9.75. Detaching roller down at 7.1. Detach- 
 ing roller up at 10. Feed to begin at 10.56. 
 Top comb to set as close as possible. These 
 points are all shown on the index-gear, and can 
 be understood after considerable practice. 
 
 88 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 DOUBLING AND DRAWING THE SLIVER. 
 
 THE QUESTION OF HOW MANY DOUBLINGS — IMPERFECTIONS 
 IN DRAWING — SETTING ROLLERS — PERFECT DRAWING — 
 EXTRA DOUBLINGS NOT ALWAYS BEST— IMPROVED DRAW- 
 INGS—IMPORTANCE OF CAN-FILLING. 
 
 Few or Many Doublings. — There are carders 
 who recommend few doublings for the purpose of 
 producing an even sliver ; but they by no means 
 make it clear why it is they would discard an 
 old and tried system. Few practical men would 
 advocate an innovation of this kind without 
 having special reasons therefor. " In nine cases 
 out of ten," says one of these overseers," uneven- 
 ness is produced in the drawing." Wherein, 
 then, is the use of all the exactness resorted to in 
 the carding, in order to make the work straight 
 and clean, if it is made uneven the moment it 
 enters the drawing rolls ? And why is it that, 
 as a remedy, we should be advised to take out a 
 doubling ? The answer to these questions is to 
 be found in our improved quantity-producing 
 
 89 
 
cards, or, to be more exact, in the manner in 
 which they are operated, as will be seen. 
 
 A Case in Point. — A room with 60 cards of 
 the old pattern, and 5 railway heads, 12 cards to 
 the section, is calculated to card sufficient to run 
 the spindles. These cards are thrown out, and 
 24 of the large-producing kind put in. Now, 
 the first-named machines kept two grinders bus- 
 ily engaged to maintain them in good working 
 trim. But w T hen the new style machines were 
 set to work, one grinder was dismissed on 
 account of the small number of cards to care for 
 and the other one was intrusted with the charge 
 of grinding and setting the whole. These 24 
 cards were driven so that they actually produced 
 more work than the 60 old ones did; and all 
 this weight of sliver was forced through three 
 railway heads. The weight necessary to hang 
 on the rolls, to draw in any kind of fair shape 
 the concentrated slivers of eight of these cards, 
 is sufficient to keep the top rolls almost the 
 whole time in poor condition. Indeed, the best 
 covered rolls are seldom able to withstand the 
 compression required to sustain the weight of 
 slivers to be drawn on these railway heads. 
 This is seen to the best advantage when we clean 
 and set the head in order and put in a complete 
 set of new rollers. It at once becomes apparent 
 that the machine is working smoother, for the 
 
 90 
 
irregularities which were caused by the bad 
 rolls, and which kept the trumpet bobbing and 
 restless all the time, are not there. 
 
 This illustration shows without doubt that the 
 leather rolls are the source from which the un- 
 even work springs. At the time the railway- 
 head was introduced, double carding with light 
 sliver was the accepted method, which afforded 
 and does still afford, where this system has not 
 been thrown out, a much better chance for the 
 head to draw well and the tl evener " to correct 
 with more regularity. We cannot Conceive of 
 anything more out of line with the progress of 
 cotton preparing than to set down a railway- 
 head and evener to draw and correct the size of 
 eight or even more cards of the improved and 
 prolific class designed for single carding, espe- 
 cially for the coarser counts. 
 
 It must not be understood, however, that we 
 find fault with the new cards, for when compared 
 with the old they are in many respects superior, 
 if the grinding and setting are attended to with 
 intelligence. And here we desire again to say 
 that the heavy amount of carding these new ma- 
 chines are designed to do, and the high speed at 
 which they are driven, make extraordinary care 
 and frequent adjusting essential to maintain their 
 proficiency. But this is what is wrong with the 
 railway-heads. This is the cause of the uneven- 
 
 91 
 
ness which our carders are complaining about, 
 and it is likely to remain until common sense 
 again assumes control and the English system 
 of carding for coarse numbers is adopted. Let 
 every card fill its own can, and make up the doub- 
 lings by running the sliver lightly the necessary 
 number of times through the drawing frame. 
 In this plan there are no heavy ends to draw, 
 and therefore no uneven work. 
 
 Imperfections in Drawing. — Imperfec- 
 tions in drawing may be somewhat modified 
 by soft condensing and spreading the slivers 
 well on the rollers. The card slivers should be 
 equally distributed on the belt in the railway- 
 box, so that they pass through the rolls in a 
 thin and even sheet. Thick ridges caused by 
 the ends entering the rolls, one upon another, 
 raise the rolls unequally and cause cloudy draw- 
 ing. Defects such as these, which make the 
 work slightly hacked and lumpy, some imagine 
 are of little account and will afterwards be leveled 
 up by the doublings. This theory will not 
 stand the test of experience, for no amount of 
 doublings will amend the weak parts. They are 
 only lengthened by the drafts to which they are 
 subjected. Besides, it is the worst kind of work- 
 manship to allow inaccuracies of any description 
 that can be prevented to be passed from one 
 process to another. Inequalities caused by the 
 
 92 
 
evener, or rollers of the railway head, or in fact 
 by any other rollers from whatever agency, will 
 undoubtedly appear in the yarn. In doubling, 
 weak places cannot be prevented from coming 
 together, and when it is considered to what 
 length a half inch at the first drawing process 
 w r ill be stretched when it reaches the last twist, 
 we can form some idea as to the causes of un- 
 even yarn. 
 
 Setting Rollers. — On a fair grade of cot- 
 ton from y to y% of an inch is a good 
 testing distance to set the drawing rollers 
 apart, because there is no rule by which to gov- 
 ern this but by the rule of experience. Let it be 
 understood that the closer we get the front and 
 the next roll to it (for in every machine these 
 two rolls do all the drafting), the better and more 
 uniform will be the work. Still, this may be 
 overdone, and the resistance may become so 
 great as to cause the top rollers to slip and to be 
 the source of considerable mischief. It is the 
 slight slips that give the most trouble, because 
 they escape observation, and we may be led to 
 believe that the rollers are seated at the best dis- 
 tance while another sixteenth of an inch would 
 remedy everything. This can only be found out 
 by trial and experiment. The rollers will turn 
 with more certainty, because the pull is easier, 
 when set farther off ; yet if they are set farther 
 
 93 
 
apart than the length of the fibre they will pull 
 fine places in the sliver which will be very detri- 
 mental to the yarn . The correct principle,therefore, 
 is to keep the front and middle rolls as close 
 as possible without crimping, and good spinning 
 will always be the result. 
 
 Perfect Drawing. — The system of draw- 
 ing by degrees on the same machine pro- 
 duces cloudy work, and there are reasons for this 
 of a very cogent nature. If the volume of cot- 
 ton is not properly contracted, condensed and 
 adjusted while it is undergoing a series of draw- 
 ings on the same head, the more it is drawn the 
 more uneven it becomes. The custom is to keep 
 the front leather rolls in good condition, while 
 those at the back are old and often fluted. Be- 
 tween these the less is drawn the better for the 
 yarn. Practical experience has demonstrated 
 that on any machine operated for the purpose of 
 evening and reducing the sliver, there is no place 
 where good drawing can be accomplished but 
 between the front and middle rolls. A light 
 draft on the first head with few doublings is pre- 
 ferable to a more numerous quantity which would 
 necessitate a heavy draft to keep down the weight. 
 When we ascertain the manner by which these 
 fine filaments are made parallel by drawing, we 
 cannot fail to see that the method of connected 
 drawing by degrees on the same head, misses the 
 
 94 
 
object for which the drawing frame is intended. 
 Contracting so as to prevent the edges of the 
 slivers from spreading or " feathering" is the true 
 principle of preparing cotton on the drawing 
 frame. Perfect drawing is a cloudless and 
 straightened sliver having a glossy luster, which 
 if we do not secure on the finishing head, we 
 have not attained the perfection which the ma- 
 chine is capable of. 
 
 Extra Doublings not always best. — It is 
 
 understood when additional doublings are put in 
 that an extension of the drafts is also made in 
 order to counteract the extra weight. The ob- 
 ject of these doublings is to mix and even the 
 stock better while the drawing renders the fibres 
 more parallel, and both of these operations are 
 utilized to reduce the sliver to a proper condition 
 and size for the spinner. This is the theory, but 
 it is often modified to meet circumstances. Al- 
 though the draft is not computed by the number 
 of doublings, but from the weight of cotton pass- 
 ing through the rollers, yet it must always be in 
 proportion to the hank sliver being made. There- 
 fore, when we add doublings we must regulate 
 the drafts accordingly. It is not to be inferred 
 from what has been advanced, that all we have to 
 do is to compute the doublings and drafts, and set 
 the machine to work without considering how it 
 is otherwise adapted to the class of stock we are 
 
 95 
 
called to manipulate. It is at times like these, 
 when changes are being made, that the wisdom 
 of the carder is exhibited. A class of cotton 
 with unequal fibres will not, under the same 
 treatment, bring out the same quantity from the 
 same weight, as would stock with a uniform staple. 
 The carder must also remember that it is an un- 
 twisted sliver with which he is contending, and 
 that equal doublings, on account of this inequali- 
 ty, will not stand equal drafts. As the fibres be- 
 come more parallel the short releases itself and 
 by repeated drawing, in this case, makes a lumpy 
 sliver. So it would be better, before going too 
 far, to turn it over to the u slubber/' where a 
 closer bite can be given it, and a little twist put 
 in, which has been proved to be the best and 
 most judicious way of operating on this descrip- 
 tion of stock. 
 
 A Drawing-Frame with the Most Ad- 
 vantages. — Cotton spinners have for many 
 years been working towards the use of drawing- 
 frames with a somewhat longer boss on the 
 rollers,' and the practice of using several bosses, 
 separating the slivers at the back and concen- 
 trating them immediately in front of the trumpet 
 inside the condensing rolls, has been dying out. 
 This is desirable on many accounts. With long- 
 stapled cotton a roller of larger diameter can be 
 used; but with certain mixtures we find a neces- 
 
 96 
 
sity for more latitude in the adjustment of the 
 rollers, which with a smaller diameter and ad- 
 justable stands can be readily obtained. This 
 cannot be overestimated, and it is a good sign of 
 progress to see that some builders are adopting 
 to a certain extent this line of practice. 
 
 This make of frame has every facility for accu- 
 rate work so arranged that there is no collision 
 or multiplicity of parts. It is built so as to be 
 run three, four, five or six into one, according to 
 the ideas of the spinner. Each one of the roll- 
 ers is independently weighted on either end of the 
 roll, doing away with the saddle-stirrup and the 
 rocking motion of the roll being made greater 
 upon one end and less upon the other end of the 
 double boss. Back and front stop-motions are 
 arranged so that it is impossible for laps or 
 break -backs to occur to any extent. The calen- 
 der rolls may be plain or grooved. The can 
 tables are driven by an upright shaft from the 
 bottom of the calender roll, and the same shaft 
 also by means of the worm and gear system 
 drives a transverse motion at the back. The system 
 of weighting adopted is that known asthe direct. 
 
 The gearing has been arranged so as to give 
 the best possible results, as well as the greatest 
 facility in changing. The difference between 
 doubling at the back, where it should be done, 
 and doubling with the old system of two bosses 
 
 97 
 
in front, is simply that fewer edges are put to- 
 gether. The draft is upon a single sliver, rather 
 than upon two, while the fleece of cotton passing 
 and receiving draft between the rolls, is not lia- 
 ble to be affected by any deficiencies that may 
 exist by means of different diameters in the 
 bosses. Some of these little things are worth 
 studying, for they make a great deal of difference 
 in a machine for drawing cotton. 
 
 The Importance of Can-filling. — The 
 
 filling of the cans is another of those processes 
 demanding dexterity. No hand should be 
 allowed to press down the drawing except one 
 that has been trained to it, because the least 
 catch or tangle will cause breakages and stop- 
 pages, numerous piecings, poor work and small 
 production. The several devices at work for the 
 purpose of filling the can show how essential it 
 is that the sliver be pressed down in such a way 
 that it will not break in the pulling out. It must 
 not even be racked or strained in the cans. 
 There never were better-filled cans than when 
 they were gently pressed down by a slow-work- 
 ing plunger. There was no strain then in draw- 
 it out. The can revolved very slowly, not more 
 than six times a minute, though it is still better 
 to have the can go only half-way around and 
 back again. Coilers may be run to advantage 
 where coarse yarn is made. 
 
 98 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 DRAWING AND TWISTING. 
 
 THE SLUBBER — WEAK POINTS IN THE SLIVER — REMEDIES FOR 
 THEM — SLUBBER DRAFT REGULATION AND ROLLER SET- 
 TING — THE TENSION OF THE ENDS — TAMPERING WITH 
 THE LET OFF — THE USE AND ABUSE OF DOUBLINGS — TRUE 
 ROLLERS TO SPEEDERS — THE COMPOUND MOTION EXPLAINED 
 — IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING IT — DUTY PER- 
 FORMED BY THE CONES. 
 
 The Slubber. — The stubbing is the next 
 process of interest that engages the attention of 
 the carder. Here he is compelled to enter upon 
 a new experience. With continued extension of 
 the fibre, the strength of the sliver is giving out; 
 so a machine is brought into operation which 
 will reduce it still more and preserve its unifor- 
 mity. Hitherto no twist has been necessary, but 
 the reducing and equalizing on the drawing 
 make it indispensable that a little shall be put in 
 to insure cohesion. In operating a slubber the 
 first thing to do (and it requires skill) is to get 
 the slivers up out of the drawing-cans without 
 racking or attenuating them. This may be ac- 
 complished best by setting the cans well in under 
 
 99 
 
the lifting roller. By so doing we avoid the 
 friction incidental to the slanting and rubbing 
 against the edges. When we see the slivers 
 back of the slubber falling back into the cans, 
 and refusing on account of weakness or some 
 other cause to continue the process, we may be 
 sure there is something the matter that will re- 
 quire careful investigation. 
 
 There are a number of things that may be the 
 cause of this. The drawing rolls may not be 
 properly adjusted. If this is so in the last pro- 
 cess, the weak parts will be separated but a short 
 distance ; but if they occur further back they 
 will be much further apart. This is a practical 
 way of locating faults. All the overseer has got 
 to do is to give his attention to the distance 
 these tender parts are separated, and by looking 
 to the drafts to which they have been subjected, 
 he may determine where the trouble is. 
 
 Other Reasons for Breaking Down. — 
 
 Still, there are other reasons for this breaking 
 down behind the slubber. It frequently happens 
 that the drawing is running with an allowance of 
 draft between the front and condensing rolls for 
 the purpose of keeping the sliver taut. When 
 running on heavy work, although some inquiry 
 is done, yet through the strength imparted by the 
 extra weight the damage may be imperceptible. 
 But let us change to a lighter class of work, and 
 
 IOO 
 
the slivers probabiy will not bear to be pulled 
 up out of the cans. Let us get one tooth (often 
 two will be required) more for the condensing 
 roll and note what a difference is made. If the 
 sliver is strengthened by the change we may 
 congratulate ourselves upon having practically 
 straightened out a part of the process, which was 
 not as it should be. The surfaces of the front 
 and condensing rolls should run exactly at the 
 same speed. Be it remembered that the stock is 
 made as nearly parallel by drawing on the pre- 
 ceeding machinery as is prudent, for the sliver 
 must have consistency sufficient to sustain its 
 own weight. Still, before twist is given, there is 
 another draft to be added. Thus it will be 
 seen, that care and skill must be used at this ex- 
 treme stage to prevent over-drawing. 
 
 We have been persistent in this chapter in 
 directing attention to this point, knowing how 
 important it is, and how easily too much draft 
 may be given to the slubber. 
 
 Slubber Draft Regulation and Roller Set- 
 ting. — Experience has demonstrated that the most 
 economical machinery on w r hich to draw cotton 
 should have but three rollers with just sufficient 
 draft between the back and middle to prevent the 
 sliver from bagging. The reason for this is that 
 the slower the roller which grasps the fibre 
 moves the greater the chance the drawing or re- 
 
 IOI 
 
voiving roller has to make the work uniform. If 
 we divide the draft between the front and middle 
 and back and middle equally, we must of course 
 speed up the middle rolls and these would natur- 
 ally lose their retaining tendency and allow the 
 cotton to give out in flakes, thus causing uneven 
 and consequently weak yarn. The more we 
 speed up the centre roller the more certain it is 
 to yield the fibre to the. pull of the next roll, the 
 periphery of which is traveling at a velocity of 
 three, four, and often on speeders as high as seven 
 to one. Now this slower motion is just as capa- 
 ble of receiving the inaccuracies coming to it, 
 as would be the velocity coming to it where the 
 whole draft is given between the front and mid- 
 dle rolls, but let it be understood that the light 
 drafts must receive faster and thus produce in- 
 ferior work. 
 
 It must also be remembered that no yarn of 
 good quality can be produced if we slub with 
 wide rolls ; and this is a part of the business of 
 carders and spinners that is to our knowledge 
 greatly neglected. What is the use of all the 
 trouble consequent on the shifting of the rolls 
 for one sixteenth of an inch ? says a carder. 
 But we know the closing or opening of the rolls 
 that distance has often done wonders in making 
 the yarn both to spin better and to break 
 stronger. 
 
 102 
 
The Tension of the Ends. — The tension 
 of the ends on the speeders should be very 
 light, so that the least possible strain can be felt 
 when touching them with the finger underneath. 
 There should be just sufficient tension to reach 
 the flyers without too much hanging. If there 
 should be any drag, it will surely twist at the 
 rollers. It is common to see the speeder-ends, 
 especially those of the slubber, so tight that they 
 pull with the strain and make tender places in 
 the roving. Have the twist light and the tension 
 easy to produce good drawing on the next ma- 
 chine, is good advice. Hard twist may keep the 
 ends from breaking, but it draws badly on the 
 following frame, and cuts and hollows the leather 
 rolls. If there are any tender places arising 
 from poor drawing, wide rolls, or uneven feeding 
 in of waste on the pickers, the twist running up 
 into the bite of the rollers will pinch these most. 
 Some of these places occur at irregular intervals 
 according to how the doublings acted on them 
 in the previous processes. 
 
 Tampering with the Let-off. — The re- 
 marks regarding tension stand good for all 
 kinds of speeders, whether on coarse or fine 
 hank. The retarding or tightening of the let-off 
 is another of those small affairs which are pro- 
 ductive of consequences of which the operator 
 may not be aware, but which often take consid- 
 
 103 
 
erable ingenuity to trace out. The system of 
 " thumbing " the roll is bad enough,but not nearly 
 so injurious as that of tightening. Let us take 
 a frame on which we .find a number of slack ends 
 and set the rack to suit them ; what effect has this 
 operation on the other and much larger number 
 of ends which were running at the proper ten- 
 sion? Will these break down? No ; but they 
 will pull and tug until they equalize the diameters 
 of the bobbins by tighter winding. The loose 
 ends to which we refer have been made so by 
 neglecting to piece up in time, so that the bobbins 
 are somewhat less in diameter. Now, the wind- 
 on, having but the same length of delivery, must 
 of course strain and tug at the roving to accom- 
 modate the greater circumference upon which it 
 has to be wound, and this tension affects the 
 weaker parts ; for it is well understood that if we 
 pull a piece of roving, the tenderest portion will 
 stretch. Therefore attenuations formed by pull- 
 ing down or tightening the ends are very slender 
 and feeble, but not so much so that they will break 
 down(except in extreme cases) either on the frame 
 or in the creels, because they, so to speak, swallow 
 up the twist which strengthens them sufficiently 
 for future mischief. 
 
 We are referring to one only of the many 
 things in the building of a . set of roving which 
 will cause weak parts, such as neglected rollers, 
 
 104 
 
unequal pressures, or a poor cone-belt. But this 
 tightening circumstance may and does fre- 
 quently happen after the overseer has spent 
 hours of his time tempering the machine and put- 
 ting it in shape for first class- work. He is there- 
 fore off his guard, and in passing, if he finds the 
 machine running, he takes no further notice 
 of it. 
 
 An Illustration. — In order to illustrate our 
 position regarding weak parts on the slub (and 
 they are most frequently made here), we will 
 assume the draft on the intermediate to be 4.5, 
 that of the finishing speeder 7.5, and the draft of 
 spinning-frame 8.5, which is a fair ratio of drafts 
 to give these machines in ordinary practice. 
 Now, by multiplying these drafts together, we 
 obtain a product of 267.75, or if we allow for 
 contraction by twist, we have 266. A single 
 half-inch of a weak piece of roving made on the 
 slubber will, therefore, be lengthened on the 
 yarn to 266 half-inches. So we see by actual 
 demonstration that the tender parts made on the 
 roving by tightening, or from any other cause, 
 however short these may appear at the machine 
 upon which they are made, will under ordinary 
 circumstances be an aggravating length when 
 they come to be woven, and whether they 
 appear in the warps or filling must give poor 
 results. 
 
 105 
 
Doublings, of which there are generally two, 
 one on the intermediate and another on the fine 
 speeder, help to lessen this degree of weakness 
 somewhat, but there are chances remaining that 
 two of these slender pieces may come together 
 in the process of doubling, a circumstance that 
 aggravates the evil. Besides, these same ma- 
 chines are subject to the same abuse. The 
 frames upon which the remedy is being applied 
 are liable to be tightened, too, and the conse- 
 quences are of the same nature, although not so 
 far drawn out. On account of their closeness to 
 the spinning, the weaknesses will be the shorter, 
 but none the less hurtful. 
 
 The Use and Abuse of Doublings.— 
 
 From what has been observed in describing the 
 failings of speeders and those attending them, it 
 is not to be inferred that doublings are of no 
 value in the preparation of roving. The writer 
 has invariably maintained, in the face of opposi- 
 tion from practical men, that the factory which 
 runs the most doublings produces the best work, 
 provided the stock and machinery are equal. 
 But doublings are like drafts: they must, to be 
 effective, be judiciously applied, and not be the 
 cause of weighty drawing on any of the machines 
 to which they are put in process. Our idea has 
 always been, and no reason has yet appeared 
 sufficient to alter it, that if heavy, and therefore 
 
 106 
 
cloudy and bunchy, drawing is the outcome of 
 stuffing in doublings for the purpose of having 
 as large a number as possible, a considerable re- 
 duction of these would be productive of better 
 work and stronger yarn. 
 
 The Importance of True Rolls on Speed- 
 ers. — Seeing that we are at present dealing with 
 the speeder, our object will be to offer such sug- 
 gestions as will not be disappointing to any who 
 will take the trouble of putting them to the test. 
 One of the first things to do is to look closely 
 into the condition of the steel rolls, on which we 
 are going to make roving. Put a straight edge 
 along the bearings, and prove to your own satis- 
 faction that these are perfectly level and that 
 the journals will bear equally the whole length 
 of the machine. Calliper the rolls in several 
 places and satisfy yourself that they are suffi- 
 ciently near, so that there will be no possibility 
 of one of those troubles after starting which no 
 person can account for. If the machine is old, 
 see that the joints do not make a quarter turn, 
 and that the flutings are not gone or hollowed 
 down where they are in constant contact with 
 the cotton. The rolls must be sharpened so that 
 the edges of the flutes will offer equal resistance 
 to the drag, and that there will be no uncertainty 
 about the slip or escape of the fibre when brought 
 under for the purpose of reducing. 
 
 107 
 
Observe that there is no wabble to the roils, 
 caused from springing or misplaced joints, be- 
 cause that means uneven roving and lots of it. 
 If the top rolls are solid be very particular that 
 they are of the same diameter. This is often the 
 source of much annoyance and irregular work. 
 If the front rolls are shells, the diameters will not 
 make so much difference, and in this respect 
 they are preferable ; but particular care must be 
 taken of the spindle as regards cleaning and 
 oiling. 
 
 The next and one of the principal things to 
 look after is the weighting, and to this in a great 
 measure is due the quality of the production. 
 The saddles ought to be of a good pattern, and 
 the friction reduced to a minimum by keeping 
 the dents on them no larger than is serviceable. 
 The stirrups must hang in such a way as not to 
 rub the steel rolls, for rubbing not only wears the 
 stirrup but causes misplacement of gravity; so 
 will also a crooked stirrup, especially those kinds 
 which pass through the weight. 
 
 The Compound Motion Explained. — In 
 
 order that the compound motion on the speeder, 
 and the methods of calculating it, may be explained 
 and its significance as a movement understood 
 and appreciated, let us offer here a few remarks 
 concerning it. The first driver is a bevel, keyed 
 or set-screwed on the main or twist shaft and 
 
 108 
 
drives a pair of bevels in the interior of and car- 
 ried round by the center-gear. Now, by the 
 centre-gear carrying these double intermediates in 
 the direction of the driver or fast bevel and in the 
 contrary direction of the driven or loose bevel, 
 it is evident that double the revolutions are taken 
 from the last-mentioned bevel that the centre-gear 
 makes. This compounding of fast and loose gears 
 is for the purpose of regulating the wind-on of 
 the roving in proportion to the increasing diam- 
 eter of the bobbin. In the more recent arrange- 
 ment of this motion, the centre-gear revolves in 
 the same direction as the twist-shaft. The vari- 
 ation imparted to the bobbin side, is, therefore, 
 two revolutions less than the centre-gear. But 
 if the said gear revolves in the opposite direction 
 it will gain in the same proportion. Hence the 
 take-up is regulated by the centre-gear, and it in 
 turn is regulated by the cones. 
 
 As the spindle and the bobbin revolve in the 
 same direction, it is evident if both travel at the 
 same speed no wind-on can take place, and it is 
 also evident that if the bobbin remain stationary 
 the wind-on will be equal to the length traversed 
 by the flyer. As the twist is given to the roving 
 by the spindle gaining a certain number of turns 
 on the length delivered, so it is, by the spindle or 
 the bobbin gaining on the length traversed by 
 the other, that the roving is wound or lapped on, 
 
 109 
 
hence the difference between the velocity of the 
 spindle and that of the bobbin in either the new 
 or old arrangement, is the wind-on, and must, at 
 every stage, from the empty to the full bobbin, be 
 equal to the length delivered from the front rol- 
 ler. But as each layer of roving enlarges the 
 diameter of the bobbin, a little consideration will 
 make it apparent that if the spindle and bobbin 
 were to continue at the same velocity at each turn 
 of the rail, more length would be required, or in 
 other words, the wind-on would soon out-wind 
 the length delivered. The effect of this contin- 
 ual increase is counteracted by the agency of the 
 compound motion set to run in such a way as to 
 cause the velocity of the bobbin to approach that 
 of the spindle in exact proportion to the increas- 
 ing thickness of the bobbin. 
 
 Important Considerations Regarding the 
 
 Compound Motion. — When studying this mo- 
 tion at work, or computing problems relative there- 
 to, it is necessary to bear in mind that the number 
 of revolutions which the loose bevel is augmented 
 or retarded is equal to twice the revolutions of 
 the centre gear. And it is also very essential to 
 know, when called upon to change any gears 
 which will vary the speed of the centre-gear, 
 that the slower said gear revolves the faster will 
 the loose bevel revolve, and vice versa. There- 
 fore, to give sufficient action to the compound 
 
 no 
 
motion, the differential gradient which occurs at 
 each turn of the rail must be so tempered by the 
 let-off movement, that the bobbin will revolve 
 exactly so as to wind on the length delivered 
 from the front roll without drag. Of course the 
 length delivered from the front roll is somewhat 
 modified by the amount roving contracts in the 
 twisting, and when exact calculations are requisite 
 must be considered. And when two motions 
 driven from independent sources, so to speak, are 
 worked together for such a delicate operation as 
 to wind on without drag or hurtful tension, exact 
 computations are indispensable. 
 
 Another Duty Performed by the Cones. — 
 
 Another use of the cones is for reducing the 
 speed of the builder and equalizing the coils as 
 the bobbin increases in diameter. As the bobbin 
 enlarges, the rail must travel proportionately 
 slow, and if the proper gears are supplied, this 
 duty is performed with great accuracy by the 
 cones. The gear that will start the ends loose 
 enough on the first row, must be ascertained by 
 computations. This is very important, for very 
 often there is considerable drag, and consequently 
 poor work is found here. The rail should at no 
 time travel faster than just enough to allow the 
 rovings to wind-on close enough to touch each 
 other, because a wide coil-on allows the next 
 row to get down into the space between the coils 
 
 in 
 
and makes the machine difficult to temper. A 
 cone-belt ought to be of the best material and 
 have no butts or thick parts. These make the 
 ends bob, and often deceive us regarding their 
 tightness. 
 
 112 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 DIFFICULTIES PRACTICALLY OVERCOME. 
 
 THE TWIST IN ROVING — GOOD RULES — THE BEST METHODS 
 OF SIZING SLIVER — SIZING THE FINE DRAWING — PRACTI- 
 CAL SUGGESTIONS— HANK-TABLE — INFLUENCE OF TEMPER- 
 ATURE ON DRAWING — A CAUSE OF UNEVEN NUMBERS — 
 HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE FRAMES — THE PREVENTION 
 OF WASTE — A RECEIPT FOR GOOD ROLLER VARNISH. 
 
 The Twist in Roving. — Twist in roving 
 not only affects the spinning as relates to quant- 
 ity and quality, but in the card-room, if it is not 
 soft enough to draw well on intermediate and 
 fine speeders, simular results are experienced, and 
 the thoroughly practical carder always knows 
 whether the proper twist is on the rove^or not, 
 by giving his attention to these frames. Theory 
 cannot be depended on, in regulating the twist 
 on roving. Experience in preparing different 
 grades of stock is absolutely necessary in order 
 that sound judgment may be used in applying to 
 the roving, in every process, the twist that will 
 assure the best results. Practical carders are 
 well aware that any attempt to twist roving by 
 rule is a very perilous operation, and the effects 
 
 113 
 
of such efforts are often absurd. Different 
 causes produce different effects. The cotton 
 fibre is liable to variations in several ways, and 
 according to these variations, the degree of twist 
 on the roving must vary also. Sudden atmos- 
 pheric changes which affect the cotton while pass- 
 ing through the several machines must be care- 
 fully studied, and the suitable twist-gear kept 
 ready. The let-off gear is also effective in keep- 
 ing the roving good during changes of the 
 weather. Still, this does not prevent us from 
 starting with the correct rule by which to get 
 twist, and afterwards satisfying ourselves as to 
 its reliability. Strength enough to pull the bob- 
 bin round in the creel without weakening the 
 rove in any way, is as good a rule as any. 
 
 The English standard twist per inch for one 
 hank roving is 1.20 while the American is xtu 
 more, and the rule to find the requisite twist for 
 any hank-roving is this : 
 
 RULE FOR TWIST OF ROVING. 
 
 Take the square root of the hank-roving des- 
 ired and multiply by the standard twist per inch 
 on one hank-roving, which will give you the 
 necessary twist per inch. 
 
 ANOTHER RULE. 
 
 A very safe rule by which to calculate the 
 twist for roving, and which applies to slubbers 
 
 114 
 
and intermediates perhaps more than to fine 
 speeders, on account of its simplicity, is to take 
 the decimal .85 for a standard, and multiply by 
 the hank-roving. The product will be the twist 
 per inch required for said hank. 
 
 These rules, combined with experience and 
 practical common sense, will answer every pur- 
 pose for preparing roving for the spinning. They 
 must be used only as guides to inform the carder 
 that he is pretty near to the right twist, after 
 which he must arrange it with reference to the 
 requirements of the staple. If the cotton in use 
 has a long, strong fibre, it will not need so much 
 twisting as cotton with a medium fibre ; while 
 cotton with a very short fibre must have more 
 twist than the medium. The object is to have 
 the roving soft, so that it will draw well in the 
 following process, and at the same time strong 
 enough to stand the strain which will be given 
 to it in the creels. 
 
 In some places the cotton used varies much 
 in condition and length of fibre from time to 
 time, which is very annoying, and prevents the 
 carder from getting his rove forward in the state 
 he desires, especially with the proper twist. The 
 reason for this is that the shorter portion runs in 
 with the longer and cannot be detected in time to 
 make the desired change. 
 
 The best Methods of Sizing. — Every 
 
 115- 
 
card-room must have some positive method 
 by which to determine whether the sizes are too 
 heavy or too light. If a mill is intended to weave 
 40-inch goods to weigh 3^ yards per pound, a 
 variation of ten per cent, in this weight makes 
 trouble at once with the financial department of 
 the concern, because the cloth is too light or too 
 heavy ; and the blame generally falls upon the 
 carder. Now, when a carder takes one yard of 
 sliver from the railway-head or drawing frame, 
 but most generally from the former, and weighs 
 it to ascertain whether the machine is regulating 
 at the standard weight or not, and makes changes 
 on the test which must go forward in the differ- 
 ent/processes until it reaches thread or cloth, he 
 is working on a very poor basis. The sizing of 
 the sliver ought to lead to a positive result and 
 the length measured should, to accomplish this 
 with any degree of certainty, be not less than 
 twelve yards. But this is somewhat tedious in 
 places where the yard is laid off on a board. We 
 will, therefore, give a description of a little ar- 
 rangement by which the carder is enabled to 
 measure the sliver or roving with remarkable ex- 
 actitude to any desired length. 
 
 It consists of a pulley, the circumference of 
 which is either ^ or 3^ of one yard, with an up- 
 per roll, to keep the drawing or roving in con- 
 tact with the measuring surface. The index-gear 
 
 116 
 
is subdivided, one circle being revolutions, and 
 the other yards. Some of these little machines 
 * have an attachment outside of the large pulley, 
 by which the number of twists per inch in the 
 roving can be readily shown. This is a very 
 complete and necessary appliance for the card- 
 room and together with an accurate instrument 
 to weigh on, forms an apparatus that is efficient 
 for measuring and weighing, and from which 
 good results will be obtained. 
 
 In the cotton mills in England much more 
 consideration is given to the methods for keeping 
 the numbers correct, than we find at home. When 
 the writer worked there, in 1856, there was a little 
 machine used for sizing roving, the like of which 
 he has not seen since. It was very artistically 
 made with beam and scales directly in front of 
 the pulley. When the bobbins were set on the 
 creel, the ends, after passing over the pulley, 
 were delivered into the scale and the operation 
 of turning continued until the beam was exactly 
 balanced. The size was taken. There was noth- 
 ing more to do but to look at the indexes, which 
 were on two gears, one of which contained 99 
 teeth and the other 100, and both pitched into 
 the same worm. The 99 gear indexed the 
 hanks and the 100 teeth gear the decimal 
 parts of one hank. This was at that time 
 considered a very ingenious and perfect sizing 
 
 117 
 
apparatus, and no doubt is in operation in many 
 places yet. 
 
 Sizing the Fine Drawing. — In fine factories 
 where the carder must be still more careful with 
 the numbers, an excellent plan is to size the fine 
 drawing head at least three times a day. For 
 this purpose there are many devices which will 
 measure with great accuracy 30 yards of sliver. 
 The same plan ought to be extended to all the 
 mills; it would be of great advantage and would 
 pay well for the trouble. 
 
 Practical Suggestions. — There is really no 
 better way by which to keep correct sizes, than 
 with a machine like one of those described, 
 which will measure with certainty 30 yards. Size 
 the roving frequently, that is to say slubber, inter- 
 mediate and finishing, of each section ; for all the 
 room may not be running on the same hank. 
 Some prepare two or three, and even more, differ- 
 ent sizes of roving in the one room. When we 
 say each section, we mean the slubbing, intermed- 
 iate and finishing, of every system on which dif- 
 ferent hank-roving is being made. The carder can 
 mark off on his roving table, the hank, or weight 
 in grains, the 30 yards from each of the frames 
 ought to weigh, and note the correct weights 
 each time regularly down. These will tell at all 
 times the variations and will be of great benefit 
 for reference. 
 
 118 
 
Besides, there is nothing easier to calculate 
 the hank by than 30 yards. Multiply 30 by 8*^, 
 which equals 250 which being divided by the 
 weight in grains, the quotient is the hank. Surely 
 this is simple enough; 250 always the " standard" 
 number to be divided by the weight in grains. 
 The utility of such a method of keeping num- 
 bers in our climate will be seen at a glance. It en- 
 ables the carder to put on or take a tooth off of any 
 the machines and thereby to prevent irregularities 
 from getting to the spinning. If this system were 
 thoroughly carried out, there would not be one- 
 tenth of the poor spinning there is,, because we 
 depend too much on the automatic evener of the 
 railway head. And all of us know that it does 
 not or never was guaranteed to keep numbers 
 even„ We append a hank-table for '30 yards of 
 roving : 
 
 HANKS FOR THIRTY YARDS. 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 1 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 en 
 O 
 
 Grains. 
 
 .1 
 
 2500. 
 
 2.5 
 
 100. 
 
 4-9 
 
 51.02 
 
 7-3 
 
 34.25 
 
 .2 
 
 1250. 
 
 2.6 
 
 96.15 
 
 5- 
 
 50. 
 
 7.4 
 
 33-79 
 
 •3 
 
 833.3 
 
 2.7 
 
 92.06 
 
 5-i 
 
 49.02 
 
 7.5 
 
 33.33 
 
 •4 
 
 625. 
 
 2.8 
 
 89.29 
 
 5-2 
 
 48.08 
 
 7.6 
 
 32.90 
 
 •5 
 
 500. 
 
 2.9 
 
 86.21 
 
 5-3 
 
 47.17 
 
 7-7 
 
 32.47 
 
 .6 
 
 416.6 
 
 3. 
 
 83.33 
 
 5.4 
 
 46.3 
 
 7-8 
 
 32.05 
 
 •7 
 
 357.14 
 
 3.i 
 
 80.65 
 
 5.5 
 
 45.45 
 
 7-9 
 
 31.67 
 
 .8 
 
 312.5 
 
 3.2 
 
 78.12 
 
 5-6 
 
 44-64 
 
 8. 
 
 3L25 
 
 119 
 
HaNks FOR thirty yards. — Continued. 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Nos. 
 
 Grains. 
 
 Q 
 
 •y 
 
 277 7 
 
 O-o 
 
 7=;. 82 
 
 5 7 
 
 43 86 
 
 8.2 
 
 
 I. 
 
 250. 
 
 0"t 
 
 7^. 53 
 
 5-8 
 
 43. IO 
 to* 
 
 8^ 
 
 30.I2 
 
 I.I 
 
 227.27 
 
 
 71.43 
 
 y 
 
 42.37 
 
 8.4 
 
 2Q.76 
 
 1.2 
 
 208.3' 
 
 
 6q.44 
 
 6. 
 
 41. 66' 
 
 8.S 
 
 2Q.40 
 y t" 
 
 1.3 
 • o 
 
 IQ2.^ 
 
 o # / 
 
 67. S7 
 
 6.1 
 
 40. q8 
 
 8.6 
 
 2Q.07 
 
 1.4 
 
 178.57 
 
 3.8 
 
 65.8 
 
 6.2 
 
 40.32 
 
 8.8 
 
 28.40 
 
 
 166.6/ 
 
 3-9 
 
 64.10 
 
 6-3 
 
 39-7° 
 
 8.9 
 
 28.09 
 
 1.6 
 
 156.25 
 
 4- 
 
 62.5 
 
 6.4 
 
 39.06 
 
 9- 
 
 27.77 
 
 1-7 
 
 147. • 
 
 4.1 
 
 60.97 
 
 6.5 
 
 38.46 
 
 9.2 
 
 27.17 
 
 1.8 
 
 138.9 
 
 4.2 
 
 59-52 
 
 6.6 
 
 37.88 
 
 9-4 
 
 26.59 
 
 1-9 
 
 131.58 
 
 4-3 
 
 58.15 
 
 6-7 
 
 37-31 
 
 9-5 
 
 26.31 
 
 2. 
 
 125. 
 
 4.4 
 
 56.81 
 
 6.8 
 
 36.76 
 
 9.6 
 
 26.04 
 
 2.1 
 
 119.05 
 
 4.5 
 
 55-55 
 
 6.9 
 
 36.23 
 
 9-7 
 
 25-77 
 
 2.2 
 
 113-63 
 
 4.6 
 
 54-35 
 
 7. 
 
 35.72 
 
 9.8 
 
 25.51 
 
 2.3 
 
 108.7 
 
 4-7 
 
 53.19 
 
 7.1 
 
 36.21 
 
 9-9 
 
 25.25 
 
 2.4 
 
 104.16 
 
 4.8 
 
 52.08 
 
 7.2 
 
 34.72 
 
 10. 
 
 25. 
 
 The Influence of Temperature on Draw- 
 ing. — Tests and experiments carefully taken 
 with a desire to ascertain the cause or causes of 
 
 the work at one time grading light and at an- 
 other heavy and strong, have ' shown some im- 
 portant results in regard to the effect the various 
 conditions of humidity and temperature have 
 upon the sliver. In our climate atmospheric 
 changes are frequent. The influence of these is 
 often felt, and causes a little variation betimes ; 
 yet by the use of atomizers and other artificial 
 means, now well developed, we can control the 
 atmosphere within the rooms so as partially to 
 
 120 
 
overcome the excess of moisture on the one hand 
 and the action of electricity on the other. In 
 England or Scotland may be seen how well the 
 work runs, surrounded by an atmosphere pecu- 
 liarly adapted for spinning ; yet in those factories 
 where the laws of nature are more potent than 
 atomizers, there are spells of good and bad spin- 
 ning, and sometimes very uneven numbers. 
 
 One of these tests was made with Middling 
 New Orleans Cotton. It was a very damp, 
 warm day, with 85 per cent, of moisture — just 
 the kind of weather when cotton draws hard, 
 because the fibres adhere more closely and the 
 drawing between the rolls is not so regular as it 
 ought to be. With a good magnifying glass we 
 could easily discern that the drawing was not 
 uniform, and although the rollers were in good 
 form, and set, the fleece was cloudy. From this 
 we were convinced there was too much moisture 
 in the room, and that the cotton was absorbing 
 more than was necessary for good work. The 
 heat, combined with the excessive moisture, 
 made one think that a fan, with some kind of an 
 atomizer, would do much good. 
 
 On another occasion, when the air contained 
 but 58 per cent, of moisture, and the electricity 
 as severe in its action upon the cotton, the fibres 
 were found standing off from the bulk of the 
 sliver. This kind of temperature is probably the 
 
 121 
 
worst of any with which the carder has to con- 
 tend. Air containing an excess of moisture ex- 
 tends over but a few weeks, while the difficulties 
 attending the dry electric atmosphere are very 
 extended. Now, what practical means should 
 carders have at hand to prevent the numbers 
 jrom altering through these atmospheric changes ? 
 In the first place, they ought to know the condi- 
 tion of the atmosphere, both dry and wet. To 
 find this out, they must have wet and dry bulb 
 thermometers, and note them faithfully. These 
 ought to be hung in the centre of the room, 
 open to atmospheric changes. By the use of 
 these instruments the carder will get acquainted 
 with the best temperature for keeping numbers, 
 so that the hank roving, counts spun and weight 
 of cloth will always approximate very close to 
 the standard. Without this aid, no carder can 
 tell the variations of the atmosphere, unless these 
 are extreme. The practical rule is, if the weather 
 is at an even temperature, say of 75, with a rela- 
 tive humidity of 60 to 65, these are the best 
 conditions for making good work in the card- 
 room. Keep the work to the standard on the 
 railway head. But when you find you are sur- 
 rounded with an atmosphere exceedingly dry, 
 with between 35 and 40 relative humidity, keep 
 the work at the railway head a grain or two 
 heavy. And when a damp spell comes on and 
 
 122 
 
the humidity runs up, you will be safe in letting 
 the weight at the railway head run a grain or 
 two under the standard. Cotton acted on by 
 the electricity will not close together, and 
 consequently will cause more friction in the 
 trumpet, so that less fibre will pass through ; 
 and if kept to the standard weight will shade 
 light, while on a damp day the fibre lies closer 
 together and passes through the regulator with 
 less friction, and permits a gain in the weight. 
 
 Another cause of Uneven Numbers. — The 
 
 unsteadiness of the numbers is a subject which 
 embraces the whole science of cotton spin- 
 ning, and is a matter of such importance to 
 all concerned, that no effort should be spared to 
 maintain uniformity of weight and strength in 
 the yarn. There are more disturbing elements 
 by which the numbers are varied than those of 
 temperature. In practice, the greatest unevenness 
 has invariably been found when new cotton is 
 being brought forward. It takes a number of 
 days to get the new stock in and clear out the 
 old, and until such time the carder is in a dilemma 
 and can do nothing more than guess to which 
 side the new stock will incline. The length of 
 time he remains in this state of uncertainty de- 
 pends upon how much of the cotton is stored by 
 in laps, cans, or on bobbins. Of course, if he is 
 methodical he will get rid of all he can, and arrive 
 
 123 
 
at a definite conclusion as soon as possible. But 
 this is not all. The rollers may be required to 
 be adjusted to the new staple, and in the mean- 
 time some of it has got mixed in with the old, 
 and the rollers cannot be touched, nor indeed 
 can the truth be discovered, until the old is all 
 out. This will be about the time it begins to 
 tell in the spinning, and if it does not chance to 
 come right, the work is bad, the roving is cut, 
 the numbers are uneven, and in fact everything 
 is in a disturbed state, until the rollers, are got 
 right, the sizes steadied down, and the spinning 
 creels filled anew. 
 How to take Care of the Frames. — To work 
 
 to the best advantage is the duty of every carder. 
 In order to do this he must have his frames 
 leveled up every time they require it. No over- 
 seer who works around a speeder can fail soon 
 to discover whether it is off the level or not. The 
 frames should be thoroughly cleaned, and the 
 steel rollers scoured, the joints disconnected and 
 lubricated, and the stands adjusted once a quarter. 
 When the rolls are dried well and put back in 
 place a little piece of tallow should be put on 
 each bearing. It ought to be seen to, at this 
 time that the cap-bars, especially these in which 
 the front roller stand, are not worn so that the 
 covered rollers will not stand parallel with the 
 flutes on the steel rolls. The covered rollers ought 
 
 124 
 
to be all tried, to make sure that the leather is 
 tight on them. The traverse-guide should be 
 tested with the hand, while the rollers are out, to 
 make sure that it travels far enough. The rails 
 ought to be cleaned and tallowed as often as the 
 rolls, and the spindle and bobbin-gears examined 
 to see that they are properly pitched. The steps 
 should be oiled once a week. The compound mo- 
 tion is so sensitive that it must be kept running free, 
 because its regularity secures a more even drag 
 on the roving, and produces more quantity and a 
 better quality. 
 
 Look out for undue friction on the rail slides, 
 and ballance weight pulleys. Be careful that the 
 rack is well oiled and runs easy. Make your 
 bobbins as large as you can, and see that the 
 builder is not running too wide, and leaving a 
 space between the winds on the bobbin. In this 
 case your frame will be hard to temper, and you 
 will not get so much on the bobbin. There is so 
 much time spent in doffing that it pays to look 
 after the small things. 
 
 To train the help against waste.— The carder 
 is responsible for the establishing of a fixed sys- 
 tem of procedure, the carrying out of which -will 
 ensure the greatest chance to produce the most 
 and the best, with the least possible waste. In 
 the best regulated rooms so much pains are 
 taken in instructing the help that very lit- 
 
 125 
 
tie of the work is allowed to go back in waste. 
 This is simply and easily accomplished by the 
 practical carder who devotes his attention princi- 
 pally to one thing until he is satisfied that his 
 labor is sufficiently appreciated, and the reason 
 made apparent to the worker. He must not be 
 discouraged at the result of the first effort to 
 economize, but must persevere, fully realizing the 
 difficulties to be surmounted. He must make his 
 help interested by reasoning with and illustrating 
 to them the necessity of entering into any project 
 by which real good can be done and through 
 which their services shall be the more appreci- 
 ated. Carders must, to be successful, train their 
 help well concerning the making of waste. This 
 should be kept down by every means. There 
 are several sorts of waste in the preparation de- 
 partment which can, and ought to be avoided, 
 and that object is materially assisted by the use 
 of a good varnish. 
 
 A receipt for a good Roller Varnish. — 6 ozs. 
 
 of cooper's gelatine, I oz. of common glue, I oz- 
 gum arabic, 4 ozs. alcohol, 1 quart water. Soak the 
 glue and gelatine separately in vinegar over night 
 and gum arabic in water : boil 20 minutes, then 
 add 6 ozs. of vermilion dry. When cold it will 
 be about the consistency of cheese. When wanted 
 for use, heat to 1 50 degrees, spread on with a brush. 
 The rolls are ready for use in one hour. 
 
 126 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 CARD-ROOM CALCULATIONS. 
 
 TO FIND THE DRAFT OF ANY MACHINE — DRAG BETWEEN 
 DOFFER AND CALENDER POLLS — DRAFT OF RAILWAY 
 HEAD — OTHER MISCELLANEOUS RULES FOR MAKING CALCU- 
 LATIONS. 
 
 To Find the Draft of any Machine. — 
 
 Multiply the revolutions per minute of the back 
 roller by its diameter for a divisor, and for a 
 dividend multiply the revolutions, per minute, of 
 the front roller by its diameter. 
 
 EXAMPLE I. 
 
 The feed rollers of a card which is I y§ inches 
 in diameter makes 2*^ revolutions per minute, 
 and the delivering roller, which is 2}4 inches in 
 diameter, makes 61 revolutions per minute; re- 
 quired the drafts of the card. 
 
 25.0X61 , 
 
 — =60.24. 
 
 2.25x1.125 
 
 EXAMPLE 2. 
 
 The feed rollers of a card which is 2^ inches 
 in diameter and makes 2.85 revolutions per min- 
 
 127 
 
ute, and the doffer 30 inches in diameter 12.35 
 revolutions, what is the draft from feed to doffer ? 
 
 30^12.35 _ 
 2.50x2.85 
 
 52. 
 
 Another Rule. — Count the number of 
 turns of the front roller for one of the back, this 
 multiplied by the diameter of the front roller and 
 divided by the diameter of the back will give the 
 drafts as before. 
 
 The turns of the front rollers for one of the 
 back are 63^, the diameter of the front roller is 
 \yi and the diameter of the back required the 
 draft. 
 
 In taking the Draft of a Carding Engine 
 call the Feed-Roller Gear the First Driver. 
 
 — Multipy all the drivers and the diameter 
 of the feed roller together for a divisor, and 
 all the drivers and diameter of the doffer or de- 
 livering roller for a dividend ; the quotient will 
 be the draft. 
 
 The feed roller gear of a roller-card contains 
 120 teeth and drives a pinion of 21 teeth on end 
 of extension shaft, on the other end of which 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 9X6.50 
 7 
 
 ,8.36. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 128 
 
there is a 40 gear driving a 30 pinion on end of 
 doffer, the diameter of the feed roller is 2 inches, 
 and that of doffer 23 inches. It is required to 
 find the draft of this engine doffer. 
 
 I2QX40X2 3=8 62 
 21X30X 2 
 
 On this card there is a draw box, the back roller 
 of which is ^ in diameter , and the front roller xa. in 
 diameter. The back roller pinion of 26 teeth is 
 driven by a 32 and the first roller pinion of 21 
 teeth driven by a 26. What is the total draft 
 
 120x40X23X26x36x14 ^ 142 38 
 21X30X 2x32x21x12 
 
 EXAMPLE 2. 
 
 A front feed card feed rol- 
 ler gear has 73 teeth | 
 
 Stud bevel gear " , . 
 
 v drivers. 
 
 Side shaft bevel gear 35 " | 
 
 Gear on doffer pulley 26 " J 
 Diameter of calender roll 3^ inches 
 
 Gear on calender roll 24 teeth 
 
 Bevel gear on doffer pully 37 " 
 
 Side shaft bevel gear 12 " 
 
 Stud gear 1 1 " 
 
 Diameter of feed roll 1^ inches 
 
 73X50X35X26X3^ 
 
 drivers. 
 
 24X37X12X11X1^ 
 129 
 
 79-85- 
 
EXAMPLE 3. 
 
 Common back feed card first driver 138 
 
 Driving a pinion 13 
 
 " " " " second driver 67 
 
 Driving a pinion 16 
 
 " " third driver 27 
 
 Driving a pinion 30 
 
 " fourth driver 18 
 
 Driving a pinion 37 
 Diameter of condensing role 3^ 
 
 " of feeding role 1 }£ 
 
 138x67X27X18X31 , 8l 
 i3Xi6X30X37XH 
 
 To Change the Carding from one Weight 
 to Another. — If less weight is required 
 say, as the greater weight is to the lesser 
 so is the present gear to the required gear, 
 but if more weight be required say, as the lesser 
 weight is to the greater so is the present gear to 
 the required gear. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 What feed pinion will be required to change 
 the weight of the carding from 60 grains per yard 
 to 48 grains, the present feed pinion bung having 
 1 5 teeth ? 
 
 As 60 : 48 : : 15 : 12 the pinion required. Sup- 
 pose that you want to change from 48 grains of 
 
 . 130 
 
the yard to 60 grains say : As 48 : 60 : : 1 2 : 1 5 the 
 change gear required. This rule is applicable to 
 drafts in the same manner. 
 
 To Prove Whether there is any Drag 
 between the Doffer and the Calender Rolls. 
 
 — Multiply the calender roll gear by the diameter 
 of the doffer for a divisor, and for a dividend find 
 the product of the doffer gear and the diameter 
 of the calender roll. Whatever is more than one 
 in the quotient will be the drag. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 The doffer gear is 128 and the diameter of the 
 calender roll 3^ and the calendar roll gear is 32 
 and diameter of doffer 13^ to find the drag. 
 
 128X V 2 , - , 
 
 — — =1.002 ths the drag. 
 
 32x107 1000 
 
 To find the take up between the back 
 roller of a railway head and the surface 
 speed of the traveling railway belt. — Find 
 the product of the revolutions per minute of the 
 driving shaft, the diameter of driving pulleys and 
 the teeth in driving gears, and divide by the pro- 
 duct of the diameter of driven pulleys, and teeth 
 in driven gears for a divisor. 
 
 Then find the product of the revolutions of 
 driving shaft and the number of teeth in driving 
 gears, and diameter of drum and belt. And 
 
 131 
 
divide by the product of the number of teeth in 
 the driven gears for a dividend and the quotient 
 will be the take-up minus one. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Speed of pulley shaft 180 per minute on which 
 is first driven 17 teeth driving 43. Second driver 
 18 driving 50. Third driver 21 driving 59. Di- 
 ameter of drum and belt 6*4 inches. 
 
 1 8ox 17x18x21x6^ ^ inches, speed of railway 
 43X50X59 S5 ' 85 belt. 
 
 Speed of pulley shaft 180, first driver is 5^ 
 inches in diameter driving another pulley 6y 
 inches in diameter and on end of short shaft 
 is second driver 24 teeth driving a 72 on end of 
 back roller the diameter of which is I y& inches. 
 
 i8ox5-75X24Xi-375 * j r , , n 
 
 \ =62.09 speed of back roll. 
 
 72x6.25 * r 
 
 62.09 Inches. II. , r . i 1 
 
 — t tt — - is therefore the take-up. 
 55.85 iA 100 r 
 
 Fluted roller gear, 25; condensing roller gear, 
 43; diameter of fluted roller, 1 y 2 inches ; diame- 
 ter of condensing roller, 2 y 2 inches, what is the 
 drag or take-up ? 
 
 43X1-5° * t. 1 16 
 
 ^ J =1.016 take-up ths. 
 
 25x2.50 r 1000 
 
 To find the draft of the railway head at 
 any part of the cones. — Find the product of 
 
 132 
 
the revolutions per minute of the driving cone 
 shaft, the diameter of the driving cone, and the 
 driving gear of the front speed, and divide by 
 the product of the diameter of the driven cone 
 and the driven gears of the front speed for a div- 
 idend. Then find the product of the revolutions 
 per minute of the driving shaft, the diameter of 
 the driving pulley, and the driving gears of the 
 back speed. Divide by the diameter of the 
 driven pulley and the driven gears for a divisor. 
 Then multiply the quotient of the back speed 
 by the diameter of the back roll for a divisor, 
 and the quotient of the front speed by the diam- 
 eter of the front roller for a dividend. 
 
 The revolutions per minute of the cone shaft 
 1 80, diameter of driving cone 7 inches, diameter of 
 driven cone 7 inches, driving gear on driven cone 
 shaft 28 teeth, and driven gear on front roller 24. 
 
 The revolutions per minute of shaft 180, diam- 
 eter of driving pulley for back speed 5.75, diam- 
 eter of driven pulley 6.25, driving gear 24, and 
 driven gear 72. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 180X7X28 
 7X24 
 
 2.10, speed of front roll. 
 
 180X575X24 
 6.25x72 
 
 55.2, speed of back roll. 
 
 133 
 
2 1 OX I draft of railway head to front roll, 
 
 7=4.65, when the belt is at a 7-inch part of 
 
 S5.2XI>^t ' 'the cone. 
 
 To find the draft of drawing, beginning 
 at front roll. — The product of the drivens and 
 the diameter of the front roller divided by 
 the product of the drivers, and the diameter of 
 the back roller will give the draft. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Front roller pinion 20 driving first stud gear 
 48, on the hub of which is a pinion 36, driving 
 second stud or crown gear 60, on the hub of 
 which is the change pinion 34 driving back rol- 
 ler 40, the front roller 1 ^ inches in diameter and 
 and the back roll I inch, to find the draft : 
 
 48x60x40x11 
 
 2QX3 6 X34X8 
 
 —6.47, draft. 
 
 To find the speed the back roll ought 
 to run to take up what the front roll 
 produces. — Multiply the speed of the front 
 roll by its diameter by the time it works per day, 
 and by the number of ends delivering at the same 
 time, and divide by the number of ends up at the 
 back of the next machine supplied by these de- 
 liveries, the time the machine works per day, and 
 the diameter of the back roll. 
 
 * Diameter of front roll, 
 t Diameter of back roll. 
 
 134 
 
EXAMPLE. 
 
 At what speed must the back roller of a slub- 
 ber revolve per minute, its diameter being 7/% of 
 an inch, and the number of ends up 80, so as to 
 uptake what is delivered from the drawing, the 
 condensing roller of which revolves 220 times 
 per minute and the diameter 2^ inches, the 
 stoppages on both machines being equal, and the 
 number of ends delivering at drawing 2. 
 
 To find the draft of a combing machine. 
 
 — Note. The index wheel and the cam shaft go 
 at one speed. The index wheel is on the cylin- 
 der shaft and driving the feed is with a pin on this 
 shaft. The pinion on end of cam-shaft drives the 
 delivery. The ratchet gear which drives the de- 
 taching shaft and front roller is also driven by 
 the cam-shaft one turn of which makes one teeth 
 of rachet. 
 
 The product of the turns of the detaching 
 roller, for one of the ratchet gear and its diameter 
 divided by the product of the turns of the feed- 
 ing roller; for one of the ratchet gear and its di- 
 ameter will be the draft. 
 
 In a combing machine the ratchet gear has 
 20 teeth and the wheel on end of ratchet shaft 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 i35 
 
138, pinion on detaching or front roller 18, and 
 the diameter of said roller 7/^ of an inch. 
 
 Notched gear driven by feed pin 5 teeth pinion 
 on end of notched gear shaft driving feed roller 
 19, gear on feeding roller 38, diameter of feeding 
 roller ^ of an inch. Required the draft. 
 
 138 7 4x19 3 966 228 . e 
 
 The following rules are from a book by 
 Joseph Cheatham. 
 
 To find a twist wheel for a roving 
 frame in changing from one number of 
 hank to another. — Take the square root of 
 the hanks roving required for a divisor, and for a 
 dividend multiply the square root of the hanks 
 roving you are making by the twist-wheel you 
 have on. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 If a roving-frame is making a 2^-hank roving 
 with a 36 twist-wheel, what would a 5-hank re- 
 quire? 
 
 2,23 : 1,58 : : 36 : 25 twist-wheel required. 
 
 To find a rack-wheel for a slubbing or 
 roving frame in changing from one hank to 
 another. — Take the square root of the hanks 
 roving or slubbing you are making for a divisor, 
 and for a dividend multiply the square root of 
 
 136 
 
the hanks roving or stubbing required by the 
 rack-wheel you have on. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose in making a i^-hank slubbing or 
 roving with a 22-rack wheel, what would a 2j{ 
 hank require ? 
 
 1,22 : 1,50 : : 22 : 27 rack-wheel required. 
 
 To find a change-wheel in changing 
 from one hank roving to another. — Take 
 the hanks roving required for a divisor, and for 
 a dividend multiply the hanks roving you are 
 making by the change-wheel you have on. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose a frame making a 3 hank roving with 
 a 38 change-wheel, what wheel would you re- 
 quire to make a 5^-hank roving? 
 
 5>5 : 38 : : 3 : 20 change-wheel required. 
 
 To find a change-wheel to give a re- 
 quired hank slubbing from a given hank 
 drawing. — Multiply the front-roller pinion, hank 
 slubbing required, and diameter of back roller 
 together for a divisor, then multiply the carrier- 
 wheel, back-roller wheel, hanks drawing, and 
 diameter of front roller together for a dividend. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 If the front-roller pinion of a slubbing frame 
 contains 18 teeth, carrier wheel 72, back roller 
 
 137 
 
wheel 44, hanks drawing hank, diameter of 
 front roller I inch or fths, back roller ^ths, re- 
 quired a change pinion to produce a I ^-hank 
 slubbing. 
 
 18 
 
 72 
 
 i.5 
 
 44 
 
 90 
 
 288 
 
 18 
 
 288 
 
 27.9 
 
 3168 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 189,0 
 
 25344 
 
 
 ,25 
 
 
 126720 
 
 
 50688 
 
 189,0)63360,0(33 pinion required. 
 
 Note. — If there are two ends put up at back 
 of the slubbing frame multiply the divisior by 2. 
 
 To draw a required hanks roving from a given 
 hanks slubbing is found in exactly the same 
 manner. 
 
 To find a change- wheel for a roving 
 frame in changing from one hank roving 
 to another when the hank slubbing is 
 altered. — Multiply the hanks slubbing to be 
 
 138 
 
altered from by the hanks roving required for a 
 divisor, and for a dividend multiply the hanks 
 roving to be altered from by the hanks stubbing 
 you are going to work, and that product by the 
 change-wheel. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose a roving frame was making a 2-hank 
 roving with a 33 pinion, and a ^-hank stub- 
 bing, what pinion would be required to produce 
 a 3-hank roving from a i^-hank slubbing ? 
 
 ,25 
 
 : ,50 
 
 3 
 
 : 2 
 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 
 33 
 
 
 300 
 
 
 300 
 
 75)3300(44 pinion required. 
 
 Note. — The same rule also applies to a slub- 
 bing frame. 
 
 To find the hanks roving when the slub- 
 bing is altered. — Take the slubbing you are 
 working for a divisor, and for a dividend multiply 
 the slubbing you are going to work by the rov- 
 ing you are making. 
 
 139 
 
EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose a *^-hank slubbing produce a 2-hank 
 roving, what will a ^-hank slubbing produce ? 
 
 ,25 : ,75 : : 2 : 6 hanks roving. 
 
 To find the hanks slubbing when the rov- 
 ing is altered. — Take the hanks roving you are 
 making for a divisor, and for a dividend multiply 
 the roving required by the hanks slubbing you 
 are working. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose a J^-hank slubbing produce a 2-hank 
 roving, what hank slubbing will be required to 
 produce a 6-hank roving? 
 
 2 : ,25 : : 6 : ,75 or ^-hanks slubbing. 
 
 To find the draft of slubbing or rov- 
 ing frames. — Multiply the front-roller pinion, 
 change pinion, and diameter of back-roller to- 
 gether for a divisor, and for a dividend multiply 
 the carrier-wheel, back-roller wheel and diameter 
 of front roller together. Reduce the diameter 
 to 8ths of an inch. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose the diameter of back roller be 1 ^ 
 inch, front roller 1 inch, front pinion 22 teeth, 
 change pinion 26 teeth, carrier wheel 78 teeth, 
 back-roller wheel 36 teeth, required the draft. 
 
 140 
 
26 78 
 
 22 $6 
 
 52 4 68 
 
 52 234 
 
 572 2808 
 9 10 
 
 5148 )28o8o(5,45 draft 
 
 RULE 2. 
 
 The hanks roving you are making divided by 
 the hanks stubbing you are working will give 
 you the draft. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose the slubbing was *^-hank, the roving 
 3 -hank, required the draft. 
 
 ,50)3,00(6 draft. 
 
 The draft and hank slubbing given, to 
 find the hanks roving. 
 
 RULE. 
 
 The hank slubbing multiplied by the draft 
 will give you the hank roving you are making. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose a frame had a i^-hank slubbing put 
 up at the back, and a 6 of a draft, what would be 
 the hanks roving ? 
 
 141 
 
,5o 
 
 6 
 
 3,00 hank roving. 
 
 Note. — If 2 ends put up at the back, divide 
 the quotient by 2. 
 
 To find the hanks slubbing. — The hanks 
 roving you are working divided by the draft will 
 give the hanks slubbing. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 Suppose the draft was 6, the hanks roving 3, 
 required the hanks slubbing you are working. 
 6)3,oo(,50 or y 2 hank slubbing. 
 
 To find the length of yarn delivered 
 from the rollers of a slubbing or roving 
 frame in a given time. — Multiply the number 
 of revolutions by the circumference of front roller. 
 
 EXAMPLE. 
 
 If the front roller of a frame makes 70 revo- 
 lutions per minute, required the length of yarn 
 delivered, supposing the roller is I inch diameter, 
 
 70 
 
 219,9120 or nearly 220 inches, 
 
 THE END, 
 
 142 
 
The PEttEE 
 MachinE Works 
 
 NEWTON UPPER FALLS, MASS-, 
 
 ARE THE ONLY BUILDERS OF THE 
 
 Revolving Flat earning Engine 
 
 IN AMERICA, (PLATT PATTERN WITH RECENT IMPROVEMENTS). 
 
 Also, COMBINATION CARDS, ETC. 
 
 SEND FOR CIRCULARS. 
 
C. W. LASELL, Prest. G. M. WHITIN, Treas. H. ELLIS, Supt. G. E. TAFT, Agent. 
 
 —THE 
 
 Whitin MachineWorks 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 COTTOI MACHINERY, 
 
 Openers, Lappers, 
 Cards (Full Roller, Combination, Arlington, Wellman, 
 
 Whitin Strippers), 
 Railway Heads, Drawing, Ring Spinning, Spoolers, 
 Wet and Dry Twisters, 
 Reels, Warpers, Dressers, Looms, Etc. 
 
 WHITINSVILLE, WORCESTER CO., MASS 
 
3 ACQ WATER-FDTffER 
 
 Machine Shop, 
 
 BIDDEFORD, MAINE, 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 COTTON MACHINERY 
 
 OF THE MOST IMPROVED PATTERNS. 
 
 CARDS, 
 
 RAILWAY HEADS, 
 
 DRAWING FRAMES, 
 ENGLISH SLUBBERS AND PLY FRAMES, 
 RING SPINNING FRAMES, 
 
 TWISTERS, 
 SELF-ACTING MULES. 
 
 S. f , RICHARDSON, Treasurer, 
 
 No. 1 Simmons Building, Boston. 
 
 JAS. H. McMULLAN, Aunt, 
 
 Biddeford, Maine. 
 
STEDMAN & FULLER MFG. GO., 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I., U. S. A. 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF 
 
 CARD CLOTHING 
 
 OF EVERY VARIETY, 
 
 Made of Leather, 6-ply Cotton, Woolen Cloth 
 or Vulcanized Rubber, 
 
 Tempered Steel or Common Wire. 
 
 N. B. — Tempered Steel Wire Cards Ground 
 
 if required. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA OFFICE: 
 
 236 Chestnut St. WESTERN AGENTS: 
 
 R. HENRY, Agt. Messrs. R. R. STREET &, CO., 
 
 188 and 190 Washington St. 
 CHICAGO. 
 
A GRAND SUCCESS. 
 
 HOWARD & BULLOrGH'S 
 
 PATENT 
 
 REVOLVING FLAT CARD. 
 
 ITS SIMPLICITY, ACCURACY AND SUPERIORITY 
 
 ARE 
 
 UNEQUALLED EITHER IN THEORY OR IN PRACTICE. 
 THE PERFECT CONCENTRICITY OF FLATS TO 
 THE CYLINDER CANNOT BE DESTROYED. 
 AN ORDINARY WORKMAN CAN BE ENTRUSTED WITH 
 THE ADJUSTING ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 Electric Stop-Motion Drawing Frames. 
 
 SLUBBING. INTERMEDIATE, ROVING AND FINE JACK 
 FRAMES, WARPERS, AND SLASHERS, Etc., Etc. 
 
 RILEY &c G-JEUlTXT, 
 
 Boston, Mass. 
 
 SOIvK IMPORTERS. 
 
ATHERTON MACHIE GO., 
 
 SOLE SUCCESSORS TO THE 
 
 Whitehead & Atherton Machine Company. 
 
 PATENT COTTON MACHINERY 
 
 Works at Atherton Station on B. & M. R. R. 
 
 Telegraph and P. O. Address, Lowell, Mass. 
 
 A. A. COBURN, Pres't. ALFRED CLARKE, Sup't. 
 
 LOWELL, MASS. 
 
 COTTON OPENERS and LAPPERS, 
 
 Pat. Perforated Hollow Steel Shaft flipper Openers, 
 
 The most perfect Opener for Bale and Colored Cotton, 
 in connection with 
 
 PAT. CLEANING TRUNK. 
 
 Compact, Simple and Effective. No Overhead Condensers, Gage 
 Boxes or other complications. The largest and most successful Mills 
 in the country have our Cleaning Trunk in operation. 
 
 PAT. STEEL RIBBON EVENER, 
 
 The most Sensitive aud Accurate in use. 
 
 CARDS, RAILWAY HEADS, 
 DRAWING FRAMES, CARD GRINDERS, 
 CLOTH INSPECTORS. 
 
 PLANS AND ESTIMATES. 
 
Cotton Openers, 
 Cotton Lappers, 
 
 THREAD EXTRACTORS 
 
 —AND- 
 
 Waste Working Machinery. 
 
 WOOL WASHERS 
 # DRYERS. 
 
 Shoddy Pickers. 
 
 Kitson Machine Co., 
 
 LOWELL^ MASS. 
 
Uniform with this Hand-Book. 
 
 THREE TEXTILE HAND-BOOKS, 
 
 1 — Practice in Wool-Carding, By Joseph Brown. 
 
 2— Practice in Finishing Woolens and Worsteds, 
 
 By Fred. H. Greene. 
 
 3— Practice in Weaving and Loom-Fixing, 
 
 By D. B. Nightingale. 
 
 Nos. 1 Price, 50 cents each. 
 No. 3, 75 cents— the three for $1.50. 
 By Mail to any Address. 
 
 PRACTICE IN WOOL-CARDING 
 
 Is the work of a carder of 40 years' experience and is full of practical 
 instructions as to how to overcome difficulties. Over 2300 copies have 
 already been sold. 
 
 PRACTICE IN FINISHING 
 
 Is a complete, carefully written and accurate explanation of the best 
 methods of finishing woolens and worsteds. We already have orders 
 for nearly 2800 of these books. 
 
 PRACTICE IN WEAVING AND LOOM-FIXING 
 
 Is a manual for the use of the weaver and loom-fixer in a woolen or 
 worsted mill. It is the very best book for practical men ever written. 
 No difficulty can be encountered by a loom fixer in a woolen or worsted 
 mill which is not solved in this handy little book. It has already had 
 a wide sale. 
 
 The volumes are small enough to go in the pocket. The prices of 
 technical textile books are usually very high. These have been issued 
 for the uses of workingmen, and the prices put at very low figures. 
 
 The three volumes mailed on receipt of $1.50. 
 
 THE TEXTILE RECORD, 425 Walnut St, PMlada. 
 
ESTABLISHED 1786. 
 
 Manufacturing Company, 
 
 CARD CLOTHING 
 
 OF ALL VARIETIES. 
 
 Patent needle Pointed 
 
 Hardened and Tempered Steel Wire 
 
 JL SPECIALTY. 
 
 FACTORY AND OFFICE : 
 
 WORCESTER, MASS., U. S. A. 
 
F. A, U\GH & CO,, 
 
 70 KILBY STREET, BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 IMPORTERS OF 
 
 THE LATEST AND MOST IMPROVED 
 
 TEXTILE MACHINERY 
 
 OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. 
 
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 GO 
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 GO 
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Decker 1 \ Booilz Gapd Clothing Co., 
 
 Factories: Philadelphia, Pa., and Leicester, Mass. 
 
 MANUFACTURE ALL KINDS OF 
 
 CARD CLOTHING 
 
 For Woolen, Worsted, Cotton, Flax and Silk Ma- 
 chinery, in mild and tempered Steel Wire, 
 Set in Leather, Woolen and Cotton 
 Cloth, Rubber or Felt. Ws fur- 
 nish all sheets and fillet- 
 ings ground smooth 
 and ready 
 for work 
 
 WITHOUT EXTRA CHARGE. 
 
 MAKERS OF 
 
 THE CELEBRATED 
 
 "Decker's Needle Point." 
 
 MEET ALL COMPETITION PRICES, AND BURNISH ONLY 
 FIRST-CLASS WORK. SEND FOR SAMPLES. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA OFFICE, 22 gOUTH gEdOflD gT. 
 
FRANKLIN 
 MACHINE CO., 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I. 
 
 Cotton Mill Machinery 
 
 PARTICULAR ATTENTION PAID TO 
 
 SPMING AHD CARDIHG. 
 
THE IMPROVED 
 
 FOSS & PEYEY 
 
 UNDERFLAT 
 
 COTTON CARD, 
 
 CYLINDER 36 x 36. 
 WILL CARD 150 LBS. PER 10 HOURS FOR 
 Nos. 12 AND 16 YARN. 
 
 JOHN M. PEYEY, Prop'r, 
 
 LOWELL, MASS. 
 
 See what the Author says., page 80. 
 
THE 
 
 PHILADELPHIA CARD CLOTHING CO. 
 
 D. C. BATE MAN, Manager, 
 
 Makers of every description of 
 
 CARD CLOTHING 
 
 FOR 
 
 WOOJjJJJI, WOJISJEP & CGTTOJI CAJipS, 
 
 From Imported Tempered Steel Wire, 
 
 AND 
 
 ENGLISH OAK BARK TANNED LEATHER, 
 
 S. t Cor. Putnam and Maseber 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
D. F. ROBINSON, 
 
 MANUFACTURER OF 
 
 Card * Clothing 
 
 OF EYERY DESCRIPTION 
 
 KOR 
 
 COTTON, WOOLEN AND FLAX MACHINERY 
 
 LAWRENCE, MASS. 
 
 -COBBBSPOIsrXlBlJCE SOLICITED.- 
 
HARDY MACHINE CO., 
 
 MANUFACTURERS OF THE 
 
 Hardy Improved Traverse Emery Wheel 
 
 cord mnm 
 
 -AND- 
 
 Card Grinding Machinery. 
 
 BIDDEFORD, MAINE. 
 
Date Due 
 
\ 
 
 J 
 
Date Due 
 
 LIBRARY BUREAU FORM 1137.3