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From the Louisville Journal.
A Visit to Lovck
Early one bright sunshiny morning in
July last, we sallied out from the Trc
mont House, into the crooked streets of
Boston, and inquiring our way as we
passed along, of the shop boys who were
brushing down and sweeping out the
stores previous to the hustle and business
of the day, we soon found ourselves at
the Lowel Railroad Depot, in the midst
of a crowd of market women, factory
girls, and artisans, all waiting for the
starting of the cars. Some were seat
ed in the cars, others were standing a
longside of a counter, upon which was
spread a dejuner a lo finger. On one
end of the counter was a huge bright
cot Tee pot, from which the aromatic steam
puffed and hissed like a small locomo
tivc. The largest crowd, however, was
around the ticket office. These last we
joined, and by paying one dollar we re
ceived a little blue card, which permitted
us to have passage to Lowel, and took
our seats in a car, with nineteen young
women, and one man in horn spectacles.
' We soon started, and in an hour reach
ed the city of Lowell, situated on Mer
rimack river, twenty-five miles from Bos
ton.
We walked to the corner of the square
and looked Ground. All was still and
silent; the streets looked deserted, for
not a soul was then to he seen. Me
looked up and down the main street; the
houses were all built of fine brick—the
street was beautifully graded and paved,
every thing looked as bright as a new
pin, and as though the whole town, hous
es, streets, canal, and all, had been built
by contract, and was just completed !
The canal or aqueduct of solid masonry
ran across the main street at light an
gles—and on each side of it were beau
tiful rows of shade trees, forming ave
nues most delightful for promenading.
The houses were tastefully built, neat,
commodious, and comfortable. Ibe
cleanly and neat appearance of the
streets, the bouses, the pavements, r.nd
everything around was so remarkable,
that I involuntarily brushed the dust ofi
mv clothes, and smoothed my hat as we
walked along. There was no loungers
sitting at the doors or about the hotel, no
idlers in the streets, no dirty children
playing on the pavement, no beggars!
craving your charity.
The very few persons that were occa .
sionally seen at all, hurried to and fro, as ,
if their time was precious. We walked
on a square down the canal, and saw be
fore us dozens of immense new brick pal
aces, ns they may be truly called, tower
ing six or seven stories high, the ualls
absolutely full of windows. We enter, i
tered u gateway within a large enclosure
of many acres. The grounds wero laid
out with the same neatness as was ex
hibited throughout the whole town, and
in white gravel walks, grass plats, and
• beds of flowers. Within the high brick
walls enclosing these grounds, rose five
mammoth mills, all detached from each
other, and many smaller buildings occu
pied as offices for the print works, &c. j
Presenting our card for admission, from j
Messrs. A. & A. Lawrence and Co., of,
Boston, at the agent’s office, we were
shown all through the buildings. En
tering one mill, we passed on up from j
story to story, and saw the whole process |
of manufacturing, in the different stages, |
from beginning to end—from cotton in !
bales to fine fabrics, ready for printing.
Throughout the whole establishment
everything was neat, sweet, and ch an, j
The floors were scrubbed ns brijilit and
stainless as the decks of a man-of-war, i
the machinery was bright and highly pol
ished, and the most perfect order, sys-I
tern, and regularity, were every where
exhibited, likthe windows bloomed the
jessemane, the geranium, the cactus, and
the lily, and in the passages were hung
up a whole legion of bonnets and shawls
in systematic array. On each floor was
a dressing room, where the' girls had a
wholesale supply of water, brushes and
looking glasses. As we passed through
the building, from floor to floor, every
body was busy at work. Ten thousand
spindles whirled with unceasing motion,
and the sharp, quick, claptrap of a thou
sand looms was as deafening ns the deep
voice of the hurricane on the sea shore.
A thousand girls, and more, were bu
sily engaged around 11s —fa r and beauti
ful maidens from sixteen to eighteen or
twenty years of age. Their straight,
AUGUSTA WASHINGTONIAN.
A WEEKLY PAPER: DEVOTED TO TEMPERANCE, AGRICULTURE, at MISCELLANEOUS READINGS.
Vol. 11l ]
well turned figures, tall and graceful,
showed that they had just expanded into
womanhood. The blush of modesty
tinged their downy cheeks, their express
ive eyes beamed with intelligence, and
around their ruhv lips played sweet
smiles, so saucy and so tempting, that my
heart swelled and thumped like a plieas
ant drumming on a log.
The intelligent gentleman that con
ducted us through the mills told 11s that
all the factory girls were boarded by the
corporations; and that (lift strictest
watchfulness was kept over them. There
was an elevated tone of morality and
virtuous feeling existing among them un
equalled in anv community of the same
population. The majority of them were
from the neighboring Slates; the aver-;
jerage distance which they had come was
seventy miles. After remaining three
;or four years at Lowell, they generally
j returned home to their families, possess
ed with a small fortune, saved from their
I wages, to bestow as a dowerv on some
worthy young man, seeking a wife.
The average wages of the females in
(he mills clear of board, amount from 81
To to 82 per week, and of males to 70
cents per (lav—as they arc paid bv the
j piece, they can make more or less, as
| they please.
At 12 o’clock M.. the factory hells
1 chimed merily, and the whirl of the spin
dles, the clatter of the looms, and the
hum of the drums and wheels, all ceas
ed. The gates flew wide open and out
poured a dense mid livftig stream of girls;
all with shawls and deep sun bonnets—
i from beneath which soft eyes beamed
| and heart thrilling glances were thrown.
! On—and on they came, and filled with
ore long and almost interminable line,
the streets that a few moments before
were so lifeless and deserted. And yet
they came, from the mills above, and the
mills below, and the mills all around, till
; twenty thousand souls had ceased their
l labors and gone abroad together, forming
j'or miles and miles one continuous line!
ft was a strange and deeply interesting
-igbt. These females, with she fresh and
rosy lines of health, and the bloom of
• vouth upon their cheeks, would have
formed a galaxy of beauty, by the side of
whom the sickly looking, pale faced, cot
ton stuffed, ball-room belles of other
| cities would seem like, so many Egyptian
| mummies! For almost an hour they
j continued to pour out, till really they had
| all dispersed and the streets were once
! more empty.
M ; c walked up the street and in each
■ house we could see fifteen or twenty at a
table, gaily chatting whilst at dinner.— ;
The savory smell of meats and viands, j
that greeted our olfactories as \vc passed ;
! along, whetted onr own appetites and j
made onr mouths water. These hoard-!
ling houses were situated in rows, each !
lone painted white and embowered in!
shade trees, with a little garden and neat :
white pailings in front. They looked
like the abode of cheerful comfort and
! happy contentment; each house was un
; dcr the management of a tidy house wife. |
• and all of them under tho immediate \
and direct supervision of the agents of
! the corporations.
Having partaken of an excellent din
liter at the Merrimack House, we return
ed again to the factories.
We next visited the printing establish- j
; nicnts, where the bright while fabric, is !
1 by a rapid process converted into the most j
! brilliant and beautiful calico prints. The :
! process was very interesting ; each color j
is printed separately by an engraved cop
per roller, and after passing over four, I
'five, or six rollers, according lo the mini- j
liter of colors, the pattern or figures are
completed. At one establishment they !
have thirty odd engravers constantly em
ployed, in making new patterns and en
graving new rollers. After the cloths
are printed, they arc dried by running .
them over warm rollers and through a
heated room. Then the colors are set
and “warranted fast,” and finally the :
calicoes are glazed, folded, labelled, and 1
ready for sale. The whole operation 1
from beginning to end, is extremely in- |
teresting; and the rapidity and perfect
accuracy with which the fabrics an; 1
printed l>v the rollers show an incalcula- 1
ble improvement on the old process of I
printing by band with wooden blocks.
At the carpet factory, we saw them i
manufacturing corsets by power loom— 1
the machinery is a most complicated and I
ingenious invention of a gentleman of <
Lowill. This is the only establishment 1
in the world where carpets are manufac- I
tyred and woven by machinery, the in- <,
AUGUSTA, GA. MARCH 22, 1845.
ventinn being so recent that it is still re
garded as an experiment. No doubt,
however, can he cuteitained of its on
tire and perfect success, and in a few
years hence, w hen the use of the power
loom becomes general, we will be able
Ito carpet every house in the United
States and England, at one half the price
that it has heretofore cost! The extra
ordinary working of this almost inlelli
gent machinery surpassed all complica
ted complications I ever beheld. The
“ modus operandi" surpassed mv compre
hension ; hut there were the carpets rap
idly growing in the looms; carpets of
two ply or three ply, in grain and Brus
sels, all of the most brilliant dyes, the
most beautiful patterns and the most fash
ionable styles. The rug department too
was full of interest and wonder, and a
mong various kinds of rugs, we noticed
one, which for beauty of design, brill
iancy of color, and fineness of texture,
was far superior to any ever imported
:! from Europe. YVe were told, that al
though this carpet mill had ninety looms
in operation and employed more than six
hundred hands, they could not supply the
1 demand for carpets, which they manufac
tured and sold cheaper than the foreign
! carpets could be imported.
The next establishment \vc visited, was
; an immense woolen mill, where broad
. clothes and cassimeres were manufac
! lured. The process of washing, dying
and spinning tiie wool, weaving and
dressing the doth—then pressing, finish
: idling and folding it, was on a scale so
■ extensive, that one can form no correct
I impression of it without really seeing and
beholding for himself. 'J'he number ,0!
1 : hands employed in this mill is between
, 'eight and nine hundred. There are 159
• looms in constant operation, and the cash
capital of the corporation is 8950,000.
We saw an immense stock of fancy cas
simeres on hand, which for elasticity,
fineness, strength and firmness of body,
• were equal to the very best French ens
simi les we ever saw. In fact, one mcr
•j chant in ten would hiiVc taken them for
J such and never known the difference.
The styles were also new and tastelul, ai d
we were informed that the stock would
not he offered for sale before this fall,
when a sufficient supply will have accu
mulated to meet the demand.
In ilie broadcloth department we were
shown an article of black doth for 88 per
yard, that compand advantageously with
the French cloth we were Wearing,
which bad cost fifty per cent more. We
felt truly ashamed of ourselves for wear
ing a foreign cloth, when just as good
; American cloth could have been bought,
| and that too for much less money.
No one, indeed, can visit Lowell, and
, go through these mills, and see the indus
try and prosperity every where around,
and reflect upon the beneficial results to
i the whole country that arc derived there
from, without feeling proud of his coun
try, its growing wealth, its increasing
prosperity, and its liberal institutions sos
-1 taring American enterprise and protect
| ing American industry.
The locks and canals machine shop,
where five hundred men are employed,
was most wonderful. It was an im
mense building, and had works sufficient
to make all the machinery complete for
a mill of 5,000 spindles in four months.
I We saw them here planning, turning,
j and polishing the solid iron, as though it
were so much wood. The foundary or
j smithy attached to this shop was on an I
j extensive scale.
The reed machine is a curious inven-!
! lion. The wire and wooden slits, and
| tarred twine, are separately prepared by
machinery. Then they are put in a ma
chine together and the reeds come out
completely finished at the rate of a foot
a minute. In this process the steel denis
of the reed are cut, placed between the
slits, and the twine wrapped around
twice, all by machinery, as quick ns
thought. It is an operation so ingenious,
and yet so simple, (hat l wondered if
there was any thing that human genius
and Yankee invention could not accom
plish.
The card machines is another engoni
oils contrivance, wlieie machinery is
made to work like the human hand, and
to think like the lmtnan mind.
But it wound take volumes to describe
all the wonders and interesting sights at
Lowell. Besides these mills for manu
facturing sheetings, shirtings, drillings,
calicoes, flannels, broadcloths, cassimcrs,
blankets, carpets, rugs, negro clothes,
linseys, jeans, osnabtirgs, machinery,
Ate., al! on the »oet extensive scale, tiere
is «i water proofing establishment, and
there arc also powder mills, halting
mills, pnpermills,card factories, whip fac
tories, planing machines, reed machines,
hleacheries, grist mill, saw mills, and va
! riotis other kinds of manufacturing es
tablishments, all in the most prosperous
and flourishing condition.
| In the canal, the water fall is 32 feet,
I and the water, after being used bv one
. mill, passes on and is used over again by
[other mills, until its very power is spent,
l when it returns again to the bosom of
; the Merrimack, that silently and smooth
ly flows by the town, enjoying, as it
I 'fccre, the noise and bustio it has been
'the means of creating.
The city of Lowell has a population
of 23 to 28 thousand, and is scattered
I over an area of about one mile square.
It contains many handsome churches,
J hotels, shops of all kinds, schools, &c.
j Several newspapers are published there,
j and the “Lowell Offering,” a magazine
i edited by the factory girls, has a reputa
tion extending all over the Union.—
I here is no town in the world that sur
passes it in neatness and cleanliness of
appearance ; and the morality and indus-
Iry of the entire population unequalled
in any community of the same size.
There are eleven principal manufac
turing corporations in the place, wit!) an
aggregate capital of 810,600.000, and
which have in operation 201,076 spin
dles, and 6.191 looms. These eleven
corporations consume annually 58,240
hales of cotton, manufacture 74.141,600
yards of cloth, employ about 9,000 hands
and have 33 large six and seven storied
mills, besides many other extensive build
ings. One of these corporations alone
has a capital of two millions of dollars.
:nnd besides having 40,384 spindles and
j 1.300 looms in operation, it employs con
| slant ly 1,250 females and 550 males,
j The mills or factories look bright and
; new, (all of them having been built since
! 1822 ) and are not only full of windows,
to afford a free ventilation through the
| different apartments, but are also furnish
:ed with every safeguard against fire. On
j every side ot each building are ladders
j extending from the roof to the ground
j so that in case of fire these immense bee
I hives can discharge their swarms of liv
ling creatures in a few moments without
' the least danger of accident.
With regard to the health of I lie per
sons employed in the mills, “six of the
' females out of ten enjoy better health
j than before entering the mills; and of
: the males one half derive the same ad
-1 vantage.”
One could spend weeks and weeks in
j Lowell, and yet see something new, in
[genious or wonderful every day. It is
j one of the most interesting cities to visit
in the United States, if not indeed in the
| world. T. S. K.
Roses. —There were but five kinds of
roses known in France and England 160
years ago. and when a sixth was import
ed into the former country from Italy for
the first time, all the world of florists
went mad to obtain it. When Linnaeus
j published his “Species Plantnrum” in
1762. there were only fourteen kinds ol
roses known, and now there are more
than two thousand. The great advan
tage is, to have obtained plants (hat un
like the old parent stock, which no doubt
was considered very respectable in its
day, will exhibit animation throughout
| the year, though their flowers have here
tofore been deficient in (he odor and ex
cellence of the ancient family. The ;
new hybrid roses just now introduced,
promise to remedy this deficiency, to he
perpetual, and are eminently beautiful.
>«cieiilitic Thief.
A thief found means to enter a house
in Cincinnati early in the evening, kept
by a widow lady ns a hoarding house,
and secretpd himself under her bed, fee
tween the wall and a trunnel bedstead
used for children. At a proper hour the
trunnel was drawn out and the children
pul into it, and soon fell asleep. After
the inmates had all retired, the ladv alter
seeing that every thing was right, fires
put out and doors bolted came up to bed, j
and after a fatiguing day’s work soon fell 1
asleep. The thief then came from his
hiding place and surveyed the apartment
filled with closets, bureaux and ward
robes. Ho first helped himself to some
loose change, qbout two dollars and >.i
half, which he pocketed, and commenced i
operations on the drawers by collecting
seme clothing, but as the operation of
opening wardrobes and packing trifles
1
WASHINGTONIAN
TOTAL ABSTINENCE PLEDGE.
We. whose names are hereunto an
nexed, desirous of forming a Society for
our mutual benefit, and to guard against
a pernicious practice, which is injurious
to our health, standing and families, do
pledge ourselves as Gentlemen, not to
drink any Spirituous or Malt Liquors,
H ine or Cider.
[No. 3G
might disturb tho lady, the thought struck
him that he would put her into a mag
netic sleep and then undisturbed, he
might overhaul every thing at leisure
: and without hindrance, The idea was
ingenious and novel, and he determined
i toput it into execution. There lay the la
jdv in calm repose dressed in a neat ruf
fled night cap, and her arm on the bed
! s pread; the mesmerizer approached the
■ bed, and gazed intently on the subject
before him, and commenced making the
usual passes. It did not occur to the op
erator that to put the lady into a magnet
ic sleep, it would be first necessary to
awaken her out ot a natural one, so that
j Use passes, instead of deepening the sleep,
actually awoke the lady: who, seeing a
strange lace gazing on her with uplifted
| hands, very naturally screamed so loudly
i - that (he mesmerizer dropping his bun
dles, made his escape with all possible
, | expedition.
. I
• | ‘ ■ i."—S
A sound Mind a rare Thing. — “ I
once saw, says Mr. Cecil, “ this subject
■ i forcibly illustrated. A watchmaker told
i ; me, that a gentleman had put an exqui
site watch into his hands that went ir
i regularly. It was as perfect a piece of
work as was ever made. He took it to
■; pieces and put it together again twenty
1 times. No manner of defect was to bo
I discovered, and yet the watch went in
tolerably. At last, it struck him, that
i possibly the balance-wheel might have
l been near a magnet. On applying a
I needle to it. lie found his suspicion true.
The steel-work in the other parts of tho
1 wateli had a perpetual influence on its
motions, and the watch went as well as
possible with a new wheel. If the sound
. cst mind he magnetized by any predilec-
I tion it must act irregularly.”
Talents. — “l have no talents.” In
deed you have, voting man ; but they
are in a crude state; dig them up—drag
, them to the light—turn them over—pol
' i i'h •hem, and they will sparkle and servo
jto give light to the world. You know
! not what you are capable of doing; you
: cannot sound the ocean of thought that
!:s consolidated within you. You must
labor—keep at it—and delve deep and
long before you will begin to realize
much. He inactive; mourn because
you were not created a giant in intellent,
and you will die a drone and a nincon
poop.
Aristocracy. — ln reply to the question,
VVliat is Aristocracy? General Fov, a
distinguished orator of the French Cham
bers, gave (he following striking defini
iion: “ Aristocracy in the 19th century
is the league, the condition of those who
would consume without producing, live
without working, know every thing with
out learning any thing, carrying away
all the honors without having deserved
them, and occupy all the places of gov
ernment, without being capable of filling
them.”
An Experiment on Oats.
Having sown tho same oats for several
years without changing the seed, my
crops become fuller and fuller every year
of the black dust head or blast , until the
loss from this cause, amounted to one
half the crop; and when threshed out,
• lie black dust was so suffocating that
the laborers were made sick by it. I
determined in 1832, to change the seed,
and got one hundred bushels of the pu
rest seed that could be procured in Rich
mond ; they did not quite hold out to sow
all the land intended, and 1 had to use
my own impure seed—which I washed
effectually in very strong lime water, and
allowing them to remain in the lime wa
ter the night before sowing. It proved
an effectual remedy; the product was
decidedly more clean on harvesting, than
that from the seed procured in Richmond,
j although that was tolerable pure.—Far
j mer's Register.
Death of Cattle from Dry Corn Fod
\der.—Jas. Grant, Esq., of Davenport,
lowa, informs us, that on turning hiscat
!tie into the corn-fields, after the corn
I was gathered last fall, several of them
died of constipation. The death of the
animals was so sudden, that cows which
gave a good mess of milk at night, were
dead the next morning: and oxen which
worked as well as ever in the morning,
died in the afternoon. And having lost
several of the herd, among which was a
valuable Durham bulj, Mr. G. saved tho
remainder by administering heavy doses
of Epsom salts.— Albany Cultivator.