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The City of DuBois
Chapter 6
Page 033
CITY OF DUBOIS Page 33
After the heckling, the process of spinning on the old
fashioned wheel took place. A reel was then used to reel it off the
spool of the wheel into skeins of one hundred threads each, and when
the one hundred threads was arrived at, a string was tied around the
one hundred threads and the reeling continued until four of these
skeins had been tied. This was called a hank. After the spinning,
the thread was then ready for coloring, if it was desired to be
colored.
The tow remaining after the scutching was not wasted.
It was spun into a coarse thread from which bed ticks, bolsters,
sheets, shirts, trousers, etc., were made. If a rope were needed for
a bed cord, or a clothes line, it was made of tow. It must be
remembered that at this time, manila rope was not known.
ROPE MAKING
The process of making rope was one of considerable
labor. A local genius made a machine for making ropes. This machine
stood on two stationary posts inserted in the ground and the machine
itself was composed of four gear wheels, one of which was about
twelve inches in diameter, and three smaller wheels not exceeding
two inches in diameter. A crank was on the back side, and on the
front side the axle of the small gear wheels extended through a two
inch plank head. Short cranks on the axles with pins in the one end
around which was wrapped the tow yarn for making the rope. Another
frame resting on wheels upon which the other end of the rope was
fastened could be carried out twenty-five feet, fifty feet, or one
hundred feet, to suit the length of the rope to be made. In the
making of the rope, there were three strands made up by taking the
tow thread and starting at the small crank and going out to where
the movable head was located, and there wrapped around a pin and
carried back and forth until the thickness of one strand was
completed. The other two strands were constructed in the same
manner. On the movable head was a block of wood about four inches
long tapered at one end, in which three grooves were made to hold
the strands of the rope apart. After the strands were built up, this
was inserted and then one man stood at the movable head and the
other turned the crank of the gear wheels, and kept these moving
until the rope was thoroughly twisted. Of course in the twisting
process the rope would shorten up and probably the loose head would
be moved eight or ten feet nearer the machine where the twisting was
done. When the rope was sufficiently twisted, the operator at the
movable head commenced to move the block of wood between the strands
toward the operator who had done the twisting, the operator still
kept on twisting until the rope was thoroughly twisted and it was
then ready for use.
PRODUCTION OF WOOL
Each pioneer kept a flock of sheep, corresponding in
number to the needs of his family. Some of these flocks were as
large as Too. However, the ordinary flock was about 50 sheep. In
summer the care of
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