, for I never till then could think it possible
that any man (in such situation and circumstances) could pretend one
thing and act the direct opposite. I then found it was possible, having
had proof positive."

Another side of Crompton's character may be seen when it is stated he
was an enthusiastic musician, and earned 1s. 6d. a night by playing the
violin at the Bolton Theatre. Four or five years after the invention was
known, he removed to the township of Sharples, where he occupied a
farm-house called "The Oldhams," being probably induced to take this
step in order to secure greater privacy.

A few words may very profitably be expended at this point in describing
the main features of the machine shown in Fig. 24.

Image: FIG. 24.--Crompton's spinning mule.

It has been remarked that Arkwright had already attained great success
in the production of yarn by the extensive application of the principle
of pulling out the cotton by drawing rollers. Hargreaves had also shown
how to produce a thread by attenuating the cotton by means of a
travelling carriage.

Crompton, however, laid the foundation of the present system of mule
spinning by combining the essential features of the two machines and
blending them into one.

He applied the principle of roller drawing in order to first attenuate
the cotton, and he utilised the travelling carriage as a reserve power
with which to improve the quality of the thread and draw it out finer.

It must not be supposed that his travelling carriage was identical with
that of Hargreaves. On the contrary, it was a vast improvement upon it.
Crompton put the twisting spindles into the travelling carriage and the
roving bobbins he transferred to a fixed creel, and these conditions are
invariably to be found in the self-actor spinning mule of to-day.

In Hargreaves' machine the rovings were placed on the travelling
carriage, and the twisting spindles in the fixed frame behind, a
position which has never been acceptable since that time for
cotton-spinning mules. Here, however, a word may be said in favour of
Hargreaves' disposition of the parts mentioned. The Jenny did not
contain any heavy drawing rollers and roller beams, and it was probably
best in his machine to have his crude roving creel to traverse and the
twisting spindles to be in a fixed frame.

This disposition of the parts is even now to be found in most Twiner
Mules, that is, mules used to double two or more single threads t