The ring-frame appears to have a great future before it ; and since its introduction a few years ago, it has greatly risen in public estimation. At the moment of writing, we are informed that the largest firm of cotton machinists in this country have not a single order in hand for the ordinary throstle-ft ame, whilst they have several for the ring-frame. Every maker of cotton machinery in England has turned his attention to it ; and many have sought to improve upon its present condition. As ordinarily used in America, and as introduced into this country, there are several drawbacks against its general adoption. The necessity of employing a bobbin, upon which to wind the yarn, would seriously interfere with the trade iu yarn as at present conducted. The small quantity of yarn that can be put upon the bobbin, the weight of the latter in proportion to the yarn, and the cost of its transit to and fro between the spinning mill and the weaving shed, would form important items of expense, and do much to neutralize all its advantages. A very great proportion of the yarn spun in this country is produced for sale in that form, and is manufactured elsewhere. This is not the case in America ; hence the same difficulty has not been experienced there. Another obstacle to its adoption is the fact that it has not yet been adapted to produce weft yarns, or filling, in the hest forms. For some time, filling has been. spun upon the ring-frame in America ; but where this is the case, bobbins have been etnployed, and these have not been capable of reduction below a point which required the use of a large shuttle in the lodm, or the re-winding of the yarn upon pirns, both of which courses are extremely objectionable.
The ingenuity of English maclainists has therefore been directed towards the removal of these difficulties, and to the modification of the frame so as to fit it for incorporation with the existing system. The attempts made have been partially successful. Several makers have been able to dispense with the bobbin, and have spun cops upon paper or metallic tubes. This may be regarded as a partial success, but it will hardly be perfect until these can be abolished altogether. " Pin " cops, otherwise " pirn " cops, for the shuttle have also been successfully produced from machines constructed by Samuel Brooks, of Manchester, and John Tatham, of Rochdale. The machines upon which this has been done only require perfecting in a few points of detail before they become commercial successes ; and this may be confidently expected in a very short time.
The adoption of the ring-frame is greatly to be desired, from the fact that it will preserve a large amount of capital invested in mills erected 25-40 years ago, but which, owing to recent improvements in the construction of the mule, are unable to compete with mills furnished vvith the most modern plant. These, however, could be easily adapted to the ring-frame : in fact, without alteration even are nearly as suitable as new erections would be. On this ground, it is to be hoped that success may attend the efforts being made t,o improve it.
Reeling.—This is one of several subsidiary processes carried on in connection with spinning, according to the character of the business transacted. It is used in the preparation of yarns for export, and also when the yarn as such has to undergo the further processes of bleaching, printing, or dyeing. For the former purpose, it is " straight " reeled, and made up into " short" bundles ; for
the latter, " cross " reeling is preferred, and the yarn is made up into " long " bundles.
Where throstles or ring spinning frames are used, reeling, or " ball-warping," is a necessity, when the yarn is sold from the mill, as the transit of the bobbins backwards and forwards entails expense and loss, which it is usually sought to avoid. Warping will be explained under the next division.
Doubling.—This is a process in the course of manufacture, and is generally carried on in con nection with spinning, though it often forms a separate and independent business. In it, two threads are twined together to form one. The throstle machine is most usually employed for the purpose. It is in all respects the same as the spinning-frame, except in being deprived of the drawing-rollers, which are replaced by a single pair of rollers of larger diameter. There are two processes of doubling, called " wet," aud " dry." In the former, this pair of rollers are covered with brass, to prevent oxidation. After it leaves the cop or bobbin, the yarn is passed through zinc troughs filled with water. Inconvenience arises from the use of these troughs, through their liability to become receptacles for loose fibre, dust, &c., which is agitated when the water is renewed, and fouls the yarn, or necessitates the stoppage of the frame during its subsidence. This may be avoided, and all the troughs in a frame may be fed at one operation from a supply pipe at the end, by connecting the troughs together by means of little inverted U-shaped syphon pipes. This will prevent darnage to the yarn, and loss of time. After passing the troughs, the yarn goes between the pair of rollers to the flier on the spindle, which gives it the requisite twist, and delivers it to the bobbin ; this, lagging slightly behind the spindle in its revolution, winds up the thread.
In the doubling-throstle, especially where fine numbers are doubled, several serious disad vantages are encountered. One of these is in the fact tlaat after doffing it is necessary to oil the spindles, in order to make the bobbin slip more freely than it otherwise would, so as not to break the fine threads in process. The consequence is that many bobbins soon become saturated with oil, the dry porous wood readily absorbing it, whereby the weight of the bobbiu is greatly increased, and the drag is rendered unequal as compared with others that have not absorbed oil. This produces irregularity in the yarn. A greater evil is the large number of bobbins that are rendered useless. The saturated bobbins also stain the yarn wound upon them, by which its value is depreciated 3d.-6d. a lb. Often when a frame has been replenished with bobbins it is found that several will not slip ; and the threads, after breaking and being pieced several times, are thereby rendered unfit for their purpose. They are tlaen taken and stripped with a knife : yarn worth 1-5s. a lb. being thus reduced to waste, worth only 4-6d. a lb. In numerous other ways, yarn is stained by the saturated bobbins, and thereby greatly depreciated in value. A great quantity of oil is also consumed in the lubrication of the spindles, and a heavy loss is sustained weekly by the necessity of throwing out as unfit for use a great number of saturated bobbins.