The story of rope — Background and Themes

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In Category - Inventions Industry

Authors: Plymouth Cordage Company Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2023 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Rope Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 16,805

Reading time 74 min

Text sections 21

The catalog record for The story of rope — Background and Themes provides practical reading context through 16,805 words, 1 hr 14 min estimated reading time, and 21 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 27.3 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Rope,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #71807

An industrial history of rope-making published by Plymouth Cordage Company in 1916, tracing fiber cultivation, manufacturing processes, and the company's own methods through detailed descriptions and photographs.

Editorial Edition Score 4.7/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg71807

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place the massive stones used in some of their structures, but it is certain that rope must have been an indispensable part of their equipment. Indeed, some of the sculptures illustrate the free use of rope in moving heavy stone carvings. It is known that rope was made in China at a very remote period.

[B] See page 15. Photograph from the original specimens taken expressly for us through the courtesy of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

It is of course certain that when men began to propel boats by means of sails, some sort of rope must have been at hand for rigging such vessels. The early history of the building of sailing ships seems to be lost in obscurity, but many of the ancients were good sailors, there seeming to be some difference of opinion as to who were the pioneers in undertaking long voyages. We show an illustration of an Attic sailing ship of the sixth century B.C. The drawing was made from the painting on a drinking cup in the collection of the British Museum. We also give a picture illustrating a detail of the bas-relief from the triumphal arch at Orange erected about A.D. 41. This shows an anchor and a coil of rope, evidently a halyard for a good-sized sail, rove through a pulley. In these and numerous other cases we have records of the use of rope among the Greeks and Romans, as well as similar ones from other nations, handed down to us through their sculptures and paintings.

The historians also occasionally mention the use of rope in connection with some great undertaking. Herodotus tells us that Xerxes, during his invasion of Greece, B.C. 480, crossed his army over the Hellespont upon two bridges of boats, which were held together, and the plank roadway supported, by enormous cables stretched from shore to shore, a distance of seven-eighths of a mile. It is said that these ropes, of which there were six to each bridge, were twenty-eight inches in circumference, two of each set being made of flax and four of papyrus. It is stated that the famous galley, the _Syracusia_, built for Hiero under the supervision of Archimedes, was furnished with hempen rope from Rhodes.

ROPE-MAKING IN THE SEVENTEENTH, EIGHTEENTH AND EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURIES

Coming down to more recent times we find that rope-making had been going on for centuries with probably very little change, up to the time of the introduction of machinery and the establishment of the factory system. It had been carried on as a domestic industry, or a trade handed down from father to son, and naturally was of most importance in the principal seaport towns where vessels were built or fitted out.

This was the state of the business at the time of the settlement of America, and it was not long before the rope-maker began to be needed as a citizen of the new Colonies. This need was felt in Boston with the first efforts at shipbuilding there, and was also suggested by the great demand for fishing lines, the cod-fisheries being of great importance upon the Massachusetts coast.

It is recorded that rope was made in Boston as early as 1641 or 1642. John Harrison, a rope-maker of Salisbury, England, came to this country at the request of a number of citizens of Boston, and set up his business in that village. He seems to have had a monopoly of the local trade for a good many years, under the paternal protection of the town authorities, for John Heyman, to whom permission to make rope in Boston was given in 1662, was the next year ordered to give up the work and depart from the town, it being found that this competition interfered with Harrison’s business to such an extent as to make it difficult for him to properly support his family of eleven persons.

However, upon the death of Harrison this monopoly came to an end, and ropewalks began to multiply in Boston as well as in other parts of the country. In 1794 there were fourteen large ropewalks in Boston, the business having steadily increased with the development of the new country. The importance of this industry is shown by the report that in the federal procession in Boston in 1788, the rope-makers outnumbered any other class of mechanics.

In 1810 there were 173 ropewalks in the United States, scattered over the country from Maine to Kentucky.

In 1824 the infant Plymouth Cordage Company entered upon the scene and gradually but surely became an important factor in the trade, until today it stands at the head.

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The Plymouth Cordage Company opens its industrial history with a foreword explaining that the text originally appeared as a series of articles in its monthly publication Plymouth Products, aiming to make rope-making better known and to advance the cause of good rope. The book is divided into three parts: historical background, raw materials, and present-day manufacturing processes—the latter focused on the company's own factory, described as the world's largest cordage factory.

The authorial voice is that of a manufacturer proud of its expertise, using precise technical language and firsthand knowledge. Diction is factual and promotional, as when the company states it buys yearly more Manila hemp than any other single manufacturer, supported by ninety years of experience. The text includes numerous illustrations and detailed descriptions of fiber grading, spinning, and tarring.

A Company's Voice in the Foreword

The foreword establishes the book's dual purpose: to educate and to promote. The Plymouth Cordage Company explicitly states that the story aimed to make an industry better known and thereby to advance the cause of good rope. This direct link between information and commercial interest shapes the entire work. The company describes the text as having had many interested and responsive readers, and that encouragement led to this publication in improved form. The language is confident and proprietary, using phrases like our monthly publication and our present improved form. The foreword does not claim objectivity; it presents the company as the authoritative source on rope-making, blending educational content with brand promotion. This voice continues throughout, as when the company explains that its large scale of production warrants buying more Manila hemp than any other single manufacturer, and that its purchases are governed by knowledge gained through more than ninety years of experience. The reader is positioned as a learner and potential customer.

Precision in Describing Fiber Grading

The chapter on buying, grading, and storing fiber reveals the company's meticulous approach to raw materials. The text explains that Manila fiber, commonly called hemp, is the principal cordage material, and that commercial grades and brands run into the hundreds, covering a wide range in strength, texture, length, and color. A single mark may vary greatly from time to time, so market designation alone is not a safe sign of fitness. The only way to ensure uniform quality, the company asserts, is by examining and re-grading fiber according to its own standards, combining selections of different marks in the right proportions. The description of the examination process is detailed: bales are opened, hanks laid out flat, fiber minutely examined, and each mark given the company's own grading. This examination is conducted purely from the manufacturing standpoint, entirely in addition to the one made on the dock. The text emphasizes the scale of operations, noting that single shipments frequently contain as many as seventy-five marks, and warehouses have a floor space of over 370,000 square feet.

Visual Evidence and the Role of Illustrations

The book is heavily illustrated, with photographs and drawings that serve as evidence of the processes described. The text frequently references these illustrations, as in the chapter on tar manufacture, where the company notes that the pictures showing kiln operations are very unusual and were secured only after several trips. Other pictures were taken at the company's yards in Wilmington, North Carolina, where tar is inspected, strained, and re-barreled for shipment. The illustrations are not decorative but integral to the argument: they show the company's facilities, the fiber arriving at docks, the grading platforms, and the machinery. The captions are descriptive, such as Examining and Re-grading Manila Fiber and Stacking Manila Fiber with Portable, Compressed-Air Engine. The text invites the reader to examine larger versions of most illustrations by right-clicking, a note added by the transcriber. This visual documentation reinforces the company's claim to expertise and transparency, allowing readers to see the scale and precision of its operations.

The Language of Scale and Expertise

Throughout the excerpts, the Plymouth Cordage Company uses language that emphasizes its dominance and knowledge. It states that it buys yearly more Manila hemp than any other single manufacturer—more than many combined. Its purchases are governed by knowledge gained through more than ninety years of experience with fiber markets and rope-making. The company explains that it has erected warehouses capable of holding large quantities of fiber for months, allowing it to take full advantage of specially favorable offerings. The text uses superlatives and quantitative claims: the world's largest cordage factory, floor space of over 370,000 square feet, single shipments with as many as seventy-five marks. The authorial voice is confident and authoritative, presenting the company's methods as the standard. The diction is technical but accessible, with terms like sliver, hackling, and tarring explained in context. The company positions itself as the expert guide, and the reader is invited to trust its judgment and appreciate its achievements.

The book is best read as a primary document of early twentieth-century industrial promotion, where technical education and advertising are inseparable. Readers interested in the history of manufacturing, the cordage industry, or corporate communication will find a wealth of specific detail about fiber grading, spinning, and tarring, all presented in the confident voice of a market leader. The illustrations are essential to the text's argument, so examining them closely will enrich the reading experience.

I was thinking of my grandfather’s workshop, the slow twist of sisal in his hands, how rope held a quiet, patient logic. This book’s industrial photographs stirred that same reverence for craft. Pyrotechny — Edition Insights once gave me a similar ache, tracing fire’s careful choreography until the ordinary felt sacred again.