An article from Cassier's Magazine by W. B. Smith Whaley on the adoption of electric drive in American, mainly Southern, cotton mills. It sketches the history of Southern cotton spinning from water and steam power to electricity, then describes steam-electric mills such as Olympia, Buffalo, De Kalb, Inman and Seneca. It lists the advantages claimed for electric drive over rope and belt transmission: lower building cost, flexibility, less friction and power saved, and surplus power sold to other users. Illustrated with photographs of mills, engine rooms and overhead motors, and with floor-plan diagrams of mill layouts.