Speedy transfer of the fiber from warehouse to mill is made by an industrial railroad operated by compressed air, which carries the bales directly into the various opening rooms.
NO. 2 TAR HOUSE, PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY
REAR VIEW NO. 3 MILL, PLYMOUTH CORDAGE COMPANY
CHAPTER II
Preparation of Fiber for Spinning—Formation of “Sliver”
The opening room where the fiber is made ready for the preparation machinery is a reminder of the days when all rope-making processes were hand work. The bales are first opened up. In the case of Manila this means cutting away the straw matting put on to protect the fiber in shipment. Then the hanks which are packed in various ways—sometimes doubled, sometimes twisted—are taken out and straightened and the band at the end of each hank removed.
No machinery has yet been perfected for doing the work just described, but the first of the preparation processes, a short step beyond, tells quite a different story. Here the hanks of such fibers as require a special cleaning treatment are placed on fast-working hackling machines which comb away most of the snarls, loose tow and dirt.