g are placed directly over the
spindles. Around each of the latter is a steel ring. There are at least
112 spindles on each machine, and all the machine rings for the spindles
are fixed in a single frame. The upper edge of the ring is flanged, like
a miniature railroad track, and snapped over the flange is a small but
important C-shaped steel ring, called the traveler.

How Thread is Spun
on the Ring Spindle

When the machine is in operation (See diagram on page 56) each roving (H)
leaving its bobbin, runs through the usual drawing rollers (G) then
through a guiding wire to the ring, where it is passed through its
traveler (B) which is always at the winding point on the spindle. As the
spindle and the rollers revolve, the roving is fed out at a considerably
slower rate than the spindle takes it up, so that there is always a
tension on the thread. The whirling spindle thus pulls on the traveler,
drawing it round and round on its flanged track (A). It revolves just a
little more slowly than the spindle and thus the yarn receives its twist.
Meanwhile, the frame (C) on which the rings are fixed moves slowly up and
down, so that the winding is properly regulated.

It is possible to operate the spindles at a remarkable speed. So perfect
are the bearings which have been evolved that the average speed is ten
thousand revolutions a minute, and on fine yarns it is sometimes 12,000
to 13,000 revolutions. The speed is limited by only two factors: the
first is the ability of the operator to make splicings when threads
break, and the second is the tendency of the traveler to fly off when the
speed is too high. The number of travelers consumed is high at best, and
in a mill which has long been in operation the floor in the front of the
frame is likely to be paved with the little steel rings which have fallen
and been ground into the planks by the heels of the worker.

[Illustration: _Diagram of mule_]

The battle between the advocates of the ring frame and those who favor
the mule is still on. For the American spinner the ring has undoubtedly
many advantages. Because it spins continuously, and not intermittently,
it turns out about a third more yarn per operator. It is usually
admitted, however, that the thread from the mule is more even in
diameter. Advocates of the mule say, moreover, that the thread from the
mule is softer and "loftier", and that cloth woven from it has a more
"clothy" feel. But others say they can produce s