Under the auspices of the Shanghai Literary and Debating Society, Mr. A. W. Danforth lectured at the Philharmonic Hall on Thuraday night (2nd) on**The Maniulation of Cotton." The chair was occupied Mr. R. E. Bredon, President of the Society, and there was a large attendance.
Mr. Danforth, who prefaced his remarks by asking the' audience: to excuse any deficiencies, lecturing not being at all ip his line, began by mentioning the principal portions of the globe upon which cotton is grown, Cotton spinning and weaving were of very ancient origin, the earliest record thereof being in Ezypt three thousand years ago. Up to 1760, the apphanoes gland were little better than those in use in India a thousand years before. About this period im-Provements began to be made, and by 1785 the contrivances of Hargreaves and Arkwright had come into general use. The factory system began about this time through the adaptation of the steam engine, resulting in the concentration in the factories of the operatives, who had previously carried out the spinning in their own homes. After giving the botanical definition of cotton, the lecturer proceeded to describe the fibre as being in. to in. in length, and from one 600th to one 2,000th part of an inch in thickness. The most valuable cotton is own on the islands off the coast of forth Curolina and Georgia. A thread of this cotton has been spun to the length of 1,000 miles from Ub. of cotton and threads of 300 and 400 miles in length are comparatively common. In America the plant is not sown broadcast as i China. The plants are placed in rows, 18 inches apart, and are consequently able to draw their full nourishment from the soil, while the sun is able to reach them and mature them. Cotton picking begins in August and is done by hand. A picking machine was introduced two or three years ago, but does not seem to have come tical use, Cotton after being picked is dried in the sun and is then ready for the gin. The production varies from 100 Ibs. per acre in poor upland soil to 500 Ibs. in rich land, Mr. Danforth then proceeded to give a few figures showing the present vast extent of the cotton industry. The first import of cotton from the United States into England was in 1784, and consisted of 8 bags weighing 120 5 A bun 865,600 per Ib. ital employed in England in the cotton industry in 1886 was £104,800,000. The number of operatives at the same time was 700,000. From 44 to 5 million people are dependent on the Prosperity of the cotton trade. Cotton seed has become an important article of commerce, and is used for a variety ut purses. The earliest mention of cotton in chinese records was A.D. 502, when an Emperor was mentioned as wearing a robe of this material. In the 13th century the cultivation of cotton was enforced by the Emperor, and the people, soon afterwards recognising its usefulness, have grown it ever since. It is claimed that China produces 1,500,000 bales of 400 Ibs. each at the present time, A good deal has been said about the manufacture of Chinese cotton by foreign machinery in Shanghai, and some people thought the result would be that foreign-made cotton would be supplanted, and that there would benomore imports. This might be true, the but in an address delivered to support the idea, "A large He said part of China, in which there is a very dense Populations and to which most of our drills and sheetinge are sent, is in the same latitude as the northern United States, It is not as cold, but yet it is a cold country, and the common people are clad wholly i cotton fabrics. Here gp one of their coats handsome of their other garments. You can judge for yourself whether on not they consume more than two and a half pounds per head. This coat weighs nearly four pounds, At five pounds per head, which is " much mute, the factory-made fabrics of this country and of Europe would not suffice to clothe more than ten per cent. of the population of China. There hag been an ill-defined dread lest China should
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.