Though all the machinery is not yet going at the mill of the Hongkong Cotton Spinning, Weaving, and Dyeing Compan Limited, things are in a sufficiently ad. vanced state to justify Mr. Alfred Shaw, the Manager, in inviting the shareholders to inspect the premises between four and five o'clock any Tuesday or Friday afternoon during July or August. A further invitation was issued for yesterday afternoon, when a practical demonstration of the Grinnell Automatic Fire Extinguisher This is the first cotton mill erected in Hongkong, and though it is as yet too early to say much, still as far as they have gone the promoters have every reason to be satisfied with their venture. In March of lst year the site of the premises, near Causeway Bay, was practically a swamp. Now it is occupied by a hive of industry which is calculated to have an important effect on the colony. For the list two months between 800 and 900 hands—mostly women and girls—have been leamning the mysteries of spinning cotton and preparing it for spinning, "ring spinning," as itis called, with which the concern is fitted up, being much simpler than mule spinning' and only requiring girls attend to it, whilst the intter requires men and boys. Though the hands ud never seen a cotton mill in their lives before, they have been wonderfully quick in picking up the work, and some of them seem as much at home among the frames as do the Lancashire lasses in the factories of Cottonopolis and neil hood. True, cotton machinery has been brought to such a state of perfection that really comparatively little human labour is required, The machinery, in which all the latest improvements are incorporated, has been sent out by the great firm of Platt Brothers, of Oldham, whose workshops cover an enormous area and whose em-number several thousands. The triple-expansion—are by Woods, of Bolton, There state. Mr. Alfred Shaw kindly escorted a party through the different rooms yesterday, and delivered what was really most interesting and instructive lecture on the different processes through which cotton passes.
With ro yard to the automatic sprinklers,"" as is the ease in the great majority of the mills at home, every room is supplied with them. The pipes run a short distance over the frames, and if a fire breaks out the sprinklers are set to work automatically when a heat is engendered sutlicient to fuse a certain prepara tion in the pipes. The usefulness of sprinklers has on several occasions been demonstrated at home, what would otherwise have been large fires having been nipped in the bud through mills having been fitted up with them.
The better to show how the extinguisher works, a pipe had been carried into the mill yard, where a pile of wooden boxes had been' placed, the top box containing shavings. A minute after the shavings were set alight the extinguisher was at work on the fire beneath:
The more means of employment there are for the inhabitants of " town or city the more prosperous that town or city becomes, and accordingly avy new venture such as that of the Hongkong Cotton Spinning, Weaving, and Dyeing Company, Limited, should be hailed with satisfac: tion.—Hongkong Daily Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.