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National Geographic : 1920 Mar
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MASSACHUSETTS-BEEHIVE OF BUSINESS A BATTERY OF FORTY-EIGHT PRINTING-MACHINES AT WORK: LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS One Massachusetts cotton mill produces five hundred miles of cloth a day, and a large percentage of this passes through the printing-machines here shown, said to be the largest group of its kind in the world. It rattles off the knots about as fast as a machine-gun pumps out bullets. If it fails to get both ends properly in its grasp, it makes a second effort. If this be not successful, it tries a third, a fourth, and even a fifth time. If it still fails, it stops and refuses to budge until the at tendant gives it the missing thread. With 24 miles of looms and 62 miles of whirling spinning-frame bobbins, to say nothing of pickers, drawing frames, rovers, and spoolers, and with an output of five hundred miles of cloth every working day, it is but natural that the Pacific Mills of Lawrence should require every device to prevent defective work. If a drawing frame did not stop as soon as a break in the sliver occurred, or a warper as soon as a thread pulled apart, or a loom as soon as a thread in the warp snapped, there would be defective ma- terial at every stage of the proceeding. So every strand passes through its own little guide, which consists of a tiny lever. The moment the thread breaks this lever is released, and by its own weight shuts off the power and stops the machine. Our cloth is now woven. It is known as "gray" cloth in the mills, but at the dry-goods stores is called unbleached muslin. After careful inspection to lo cate imperfections, it is sent to the print works. REMOVING THE FUZZ FROM CLOTH Here it goes through another long series of operations. In the first place, it must be made into great rolls, like the paper for a newspaper press, so the ends of many pieces are sewed together. This makes possible the handling of many yards in one length. Many operations 221
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