2-791-536 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Interior of a Power-Loom factory, 1844. 'We are persuaded that the annexed engraving will be interesting to our readers, in connection with the great question of "The Factory Bill," which has just been disposed of by the Legislature. The power-loom is now generally used in the cotton manufacture, for the weaving of plain cloth, and for the various kinds of twilled and figured goods; and Dr. Cooke Taylor considers that manual labour, at least for the coarser kinds of goods, must rapidly fall into disuse. In one respect, the power-loom has a very obvious advantage over the hand-loom...the lathe is easily adjusted to give a certain steady blow...power-loom cloth is always of a more equable and regular texture than that woven by hand'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I.