Plymouth Cordage Company
CONTENTS
| PART I | ||
| Historical | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I | Ancient, Mediæval and Tribal Rope-Making | [11] |
| II | Rope-Making in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries | [19] |
| PART II | ||
| Raw Materials | ||
| I | Manila Fiber | [27] |
| II | Sisal Fiber | [35] |
| III | The Hemps—American, Russian, Italian. Other Fibers | [43] |
| IV | Pine Tar. | [49] |
| PART III | ||
| Present Day Manufacturing Processes Methods and Equipment as Seen in the World’s Largest Cordage Factory | ||
| I | Buying, Grading and Storing of Fiber | [55] |
| II | Preparation of Fiber for Spinning—Formation of “Sliver” | [63] |
| III | Spinning of Rope Yarn and Binder Twine | [71] |
| IV | Tarring of Rope Yarns and of Small Ropes | [77] |
| V | Forming and Laying of Ropes and Cables—Ropewalk Method | [79] |
| VI | Forming and Laying of Ropes and Cables—Factory Method, Two-Machine System | [85] |
| VII | Forming and Laying of Ropes—Factory Method, Single-Machine System | [91] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| Ancient Egyptian rope | [12] |
| Nootka whaling lines | [13] |
| Ancient Egyptian rope-making methods | [14] |
| Use of rope in ancient Egyptian kitchen | [14] |
| Specimens of ancient Egyptian cordage | [15] |
| Detail of sculptured rope from Triumphal Arch at Orange | [17] |
| Attic sailing ship, sixth century B.C. | [17] |
| Mayflower in Plymouth harbor | [18] |
| Office of Plymouth Cordage Company | [20] |
| Bourne Spooner, founder of Plymouth Cordage Company | [21] |
| First advertisement of Plymouth Cordage Company | [21] |
| Old-time method of hackling cordage fiber | [22] |
| Spinning rope yarn by hand with old-time spinning wheel | [23] |
| Pilgrim Hall, Plymouth | [24] |
| Hank of Manila fiber | [28] |
| Philippine hemp cart | [29] |
| Filipino cleaning Manila fiber | [30] |
| Filipinos preparing Manila fiber for market | [31] |
| Examining Manila fiber at dock | [32] |
| Suburb of Manila—Manila fiber plant growing | [33] |
| Philippine street scene | [34] |
| Gathering leaves of Sisal fiber plant | [36] |
| Loading Sisal fiber leaves on plantation car | [37] |
| Scenes at cleaner house on Sisal fiber plantation | [38] |
| Bale of Sisal fiber | [39] |
| Machine separating Sisal fiber from leaves | [40] |
| Sisal fiber drying | [41] |
| Sisal fiber steamer at Plymouth Cordage Company’s pier | [42] |
| American hemp stacked in fields | [44] |
| Preparing American hemp for market | [45] |
| New Zealand flax plant | [46] |
| Hemp growing by the water | [47] |
| Uncle Ben, hemp breaker | [48] |
| Pine tar manufacturing methods | [50] |
| Pine tar handling at naval stores yard | [52] |
| Examining and re-grading Manila fiber at cordage factory | [56] |
| Track and warehouse facilities, Plymouth Cordage Company | [57] |
| Stacking Manila fiber in warehouse | [58] |
| Trucking Manila fiber into warehouse | [59] |
| Sisal fiber being transferred from warehouse to mill | [60] |
| No. 2 tar house, Plymouth Cordage Company | [61] |
| No. 3 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company | [62] |
| Preparation room, No. 3 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company | [64] |
| Lubricating oil mixing room, Plymouth Cordage Company | [65] |
| Formation of sliver on first breaker | [66] |
| Reducing size of sliver on preparation machines | [67] |
| Draw frame machines | [68] |
| Plymouth Cordage Company factory in early days and today | [70] |
| Spinning machine of early nineteenth century | [72] |
| Modern spinning machine | [73] |
| Spinning room, No. 1 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company | [74] |
| Spinning room, No. 3 mill, Plymouth Cordage Company | [75] |
| Tar storage and handling equipment, Plymouth Cordage Company | [76] |
| Tarring of rope yarns | [78] |
| Ropewalk manufacturing processes | [80] |
| Interior of ropewalk, Plymouth Cordage Company | [82] |
| Sixteen-inch towline with eye-splice | [83] |
| Lathyarn and tie rope machines, Plymouth Cordage Company | [84] |
| Rope-making machinery, Plymouth Cordage Company | [87] |
| Removing reel from forming machine | [89] |
| Compound laying-machine, four-strand type | [90] |
| Shipping platform, Plymouth Cordage Company | [92] |
Part I
THE ROPEWALK
In that building, long and low,
With its windows all a-row,
Like the port-holes of a hulk,