VAIDEN - It was business as usual for the Vaiden Gin Co. following an early morning fire Tuesday.
The fire, which was reported at 2:20 a.m. to the Vaiden Fire Department, destroyed 175 bales of mote, which is re-ginned, short-fiber cotton.
The bales were under an open-sided shed just north of the gin proper. Some gin equipment, including a 1969 John Deere 4020 tractor, was either destroyed or heavily damaged by the blaze.
Marion Jones, whose family has owned the gin 44 years, said ginning shut down at midnight. An investigation into the origin of the fire is ongoing.
Jones said he's uncertain what the bales would have brought, though he estimated at least 10 cents per pound. The bales, which will smolder several days, weighed 500 pounds each. "I really can't say how much they would have brought. I have gotten 23 cents per pound for mote cotton, though I know I wouldn't have gotten that this year," Jones said.
He, his brother, Joe, and their parents, Ruby and M. M. Jones of the Midway community, own the gin, which is located off U. S. 51 north of Vaiden.
It's been a tough season so far for cotton producers, and the Joneses also farm.
The gin produced its first bale Sept. 7. Cotton suppliers come from Choctaw, Carroll, Holmes, Attala, and Montgomery counties primarily, and Jones says he feels sure there won't be as many bales as last season because of the drought.
"It's not a very high-yielding season, maybe a half-bale an acre, though I have heard of three-quarters of a bale per acre and some even a bale and a half an acre. Hard to say what the average will be. Farmers planted more than they did last year, however," Jones said. Last season, his company ginned around 11,500 bales.
Ginners get little sleep during ginning season, and these ginners had to help fight the fire Monday morning.
Jones said the fire didn't hinder operations, though.
"We cranked up at 7:30 a.m. as usual," he said.
