ing took place in Manchester, where the cotton of America
meets the coal of England under satisfactory climatic conditions, and
around Manchester is the greatest cotton manufacturing of the world.

The same is true in America. Lawrence became a large worsted center on
account of the great fall of water and the use of the river to deposit
wool washings. Lowell, Fall River, and New Bedford became large cotton
centers for similar reasons.

HISTORY OF MANUFACTURING

[Illustration: SPINNING WHORL

One of the earliest devices used for spinning]

=Spinning.= Spinning and weaving are two of the earliest arts
practised by man. Yarn for the making of cloth was spun in the
earliest times by the use of the distaff and spindle. The spindle was
a round stick of wood a foot or less in length, tapering at each end.
A ring of stone or clay was placed on the spindle to give it
steadiness and momentum when it revolved. At the top of the spindle
was a slit or notch in which the yarn was caught. The distaff was a
larger, stouter stick, around one end of which the material to be spun
was wound in a loose ball. The spinner fixed the end of the distaff
under her left arm so that the coil of material was in a convenient
position for drawing out to form the yarn. The end of the yarn, after
being prepared, was inserted in the notch, and the spindle was set in
motion by rolling it with the right hand against the leg. Then the
spinner drew from the distaff an additional amount of fiber, which
was formed by the right hand into uniform strands. After the yarn was
twisted, it was released from the notch and wound around the lower
part of the spindle.

In order to spin yarn by the primitive spinner, it was necessary for
the fiber to have sufficient length to enable it to be manipulated,
drawn over, and twisted by the fingers. It is noted that the yarns for
the gossamer-like Dacca muslins of India were so fine that one pound
of cotton was spun into a thread 253 miles long. This was accomplished
with the aid of a bamboo spindle not much bigger than a darning
needle, which was lightly weighted with a pellet of clay. Since such a
slender thread could not support even the weight of so slight a
spindle, the apparatus was rotated upon a piece of hollow shell. It
thus appears that the primitive spinners with distaff and spindle had
nothing to learn in point of fineness from even the most advanced
methods of spinning by machinery.

[Illustration: HAN