y means of
accelerating rollers and a carriage draw out and twist it to the
proper fineness for the size of thread wanted. Having passed through
the complex processes of cleansing, combing, drawing, and spinning,
the cotton is now in the form of yarn of various sizes, and the real
work of thread making, which is a distinct art from yarn making,
begins.

The thread-making process is briefly as follows: The yarn is doubled
and twisted; then three of such yarns are twisted together, which give
the six-fold combination for six-cord thread. For a three-cord thread
three yarns are twisted together. After the twisting is completed the
thread is reeled into skeins having a continuous length of 4,000 to
12,000 yards, according to the size, and is then sent to the
examining department where it is rigidly inspected. Every strand is
looked over, and any found to be defective are laid aside, so that
when the thread is put on the market it shall be as perfect as care
and skill can make it.

At this stage of the work the skeins of thread are of the pale cream
color common to all unbleached cotton goods, and are technically known
as "in the gray." They therefore have to be bleached pure white or
dyed in fast colors. The skeins, whether intended for white or colored
thread, are first placed in large, steam-tight iron tanks and boiled.
Here the thread remains subjected to a furious boiling for six or
seven hours; when removed it is perfectly clean, but still retains the
brownish gray color of unbleached cotton. It then goes into a bath of
chloride of lime and is bleached as white as snow. The skeins are next
drawn through an acid solution to neutralize the chloride. Another
boiling, another bleaching, a bath of soapsuds, and the final rinsing,
complete the cleansing and whitening process. Those skeins intended
for colored threads are taken to the dyeing room and placed in tanks
filled with suitably prepared dyeing solutions.

[Illustration: TWISTING ROOM

1. Humidifier.
2. Twister machine.
3. Boxes containing spools of cotton, ready to be put in creel and
form warp.]

From the bleaching and dyeing departments the skeins of thread go
back to the mill to be wound on the bobbins, and from the bobbins
finally on the small wooden spools. The automatic winding machines can
be regulated to wind any given number of yards. The small spools are
fastened on pivots, the thread from the bobbins fastened on the
spools, and the mach