Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/421

Rh The details of this industry were more fully reported by the census of 1870 than at any former period. Besides the items in the above tables the following are given:

In 1869 Mr. B. F. Nourse, after a careful computation, reported the following results relating to the manufacture of cotton in this country: That the average annual consumption of cotton in the United States was at the rate of 65 lbs. per spindle; 60.7 lbs. per spindle in the northern and 138.12 in the southern states. The average size or number of yarn produced was 27½ in the United States,

28 in the north and 12⅞ in the south. This indicated a constant tendency to finer work as labor became more skilled and raw material more costly in proportion. Until within a few years the number of yarn was as coarse as No. 14 in a large part of the northern production; the average size of yarn was estimated to be No. 23 in 1860, No. 23 in 1850, and No. 20 in 1810.—Although England was among the latest of all countries to receive the cotton manufacture, it is now without a competitor in this industry. This has been attributed in a large measure to the abundance of fuel and iron which exist in combination in several English counties, but more especially in Lancashire, the great seat of the cotton manufacturing industry. The better machinery now affords a higher rate of production for the same yarn than was formerly attainable. The exact period when the manufacture was introduced into England is uncertain; but as early as 1641 it had become established in Manchester, and even then cotton goods were exported. Its growth has been rapid and steady until the capital invested, by a recent estimate, has reached the sum of nearly £60,000,000. The number of cotton factories, machines, hands, &c., as reported by the government inspectors of factories in 1871, were as follows:

The “doubling spindles” are for a secondary process, and add nothing to the consuming capacity of the factories. Of the total number of factories above given, 1,789 were in Lancashire. Of the persons employed, 43,281

were children under 13 years of age, including 20,139 girls. The following table shows the number of spinning spindles running, the total weight of cotton spun, and the pounds per spindle in each year named: