Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1852-04-15
BY E. p. WALTON & SON.

We hhbW SbluttHlHy OIL Tue lHCt OF tllS as
constituent; for we have been noting the
wonders that are to be found on the prem
ises of Messrs. Leavesey and Hands, at
Coventry
On entering we see, ranged along the
counters. half round the room, bundles of
glossy silk, Of the most brilliant coors.-
Blues, rose-colors, green's, hlacs, make a
rainbow Of the place 1t is only two DAYS
since tins silk was brought in in a very diff
iefent condition. The throWster. ITO throw,
means to twist or twine, after spinning the
raw silk, imported from Italy, Turkey, Ben
gal and China, into threads tit for the loom.
sent IT here Ia bundles, gummy, harsh. din-
gy; except, indeed, the Italian, which looks.
tll washed like fragments Of Jason's
fleece. II handles, and regiments Of bun-
dies, like these, come into one dye-house
every few days, to be prepared for the wea-
wing OF ribbons alone, aud for the ribbon
weaving of a siuaa town. It is overwhelni-
ing 60 think of the amount Of production
required for the broad silk-weaying Of Eng
land, OF Europe of The world. Ofihe silk
dyeo at Coventry, about eighty per cent is
used tor the rbbon-weavug of the cay and
neighborho0d and the quantity averages
SIX tous and half weekly. or the remain
ing twenty per cent, half Is used for the
manufacture AZ irnges; aud the other half
goes TO Macclesheld, Congcton, and Der
by
The harsh, gummy silk that comes 10
from the throwing mills is boiled. wrung
ont, and boiled again. III wants bleach
ing, there Is a sort Of open oven of house
vault ia lhe yard where 1t is " sulphur
d LII
throat, inform US M moment where we
have got to. When the hanks come forth
from tins process, every thread is separated
from MS neiEhJor. aud the whole bundle is
suh, Day, aud glossy Then follows the dive
iuE To make the silk receive the coors,
Il IS dipped ga mordaht, iu some diluted
acid or solution of metal, which enables the
color Co bite into the fibre. Tomake pinks
of 400 shades the silk g dipped 90 diluted
tartaric acid for Me mordant and then 300 a
decoouon of s.illlwer for the hue. To
make a pium-color OF puce, indigo is the
dye, with cochtneal. To make black.
nitrate OF iron first; then washing folows.
and then dipping Ia logwood dye, mixed
wlth soap aud water. For "A white, pure
enough lor rhDcus the SILK has go pass
Through the three primary colors, yellow
red aud blac Tie dipping. wrinuing
splashng, SURFING, boiling, drying 90 on
vigorously from end To end Of the large
premises, as may be SUPP, sed when the
/ fact rs mentioned that the daily consump-
ton of water amounts 10 one hundred thou
sand gallons. 4 reservoir n the middle
Of tie yard, formerly supplied the water ;
but lt proved lusuiIclrnt or uncertain {;
and now It Is about to te filled up. aud an
Auesian well Is opened 10 the depth Of one
hundred aud mney-isc feet. The dycug
sheds are paved with pebbles or bricks,
crossed uih cutters, aud vauegaied with
gay puddles Stout BRICK built coppers arc
stationed round the place Above each
copper are cocks, which .ei iu bot aud cold
water from the pipes THAI travel round the
walls of she sheds There are wooden
irough> for tbc dive, and TO these troughs
the water Is conveyed by spouts. The silk
hangs down iuto The dye from poles,
smoothly turned ard unnom, which are
lald across the ,foughs by the dozen or
more at once. These slaves are procured
from Derby. They cost from SIX shlllines
to twenty -iour shlilngs per dozen, and con-
stituie an independent subsidiary nanulac-
ture. The silk hanks being suspended
from these poles, Two men, standing on Ell
Their side Of tibet rough, take up two poles,
aud shake, aud plunge the silk, and turn
that winch has been uppermost under the
surface oi the liquor, and pass on TO the
next two. When done enough, the silk IS
wrung out aud pressed and taken TO the
dryinE house The heat IN that large
chamber Is about one hundred degrees
Gu entering II, everybody begins to cough
The place Is lofty and large. The slaves
which are laid across the beams, 10 con
tam the suspended silk, make httle nova
bic ceilings here and there. Tins cham
Der contains five or six hundred weights ol
silk at once. Our minds glance once more
towards the spinning insects on hearing
this; aud we ask again, how much OF theu
produce may be woven into fabrics m Gov
entry alone We think we must have madC
a mistake in setting down the weekly aver
age at six tons aud half But there was
no mistake. II is really so.
While speaking of weight, we hearC
: something which reminded us of King
Charles Is opinion about some practices
: which we're going forward before our eyes
Il appears that The silk which comes to the
= dye-house is heavy with gum to the amount
OF one louftl OF It's Ntlgut. MS kuH
must be boiled out before the silk can be
; lyed. But the manufacturers of cheaI
I goods require that the material shall not be
{ SO light as this process would leave it. Il
) is dipped 10 well-sugared water, which add
about eight per cent to its weight. Man
: tons of sugar per year are used as (wha
I the proprietor called) 4" the silk-dyer's dev
IFS dust" Ii was Tins very practice wmel
/ excited the wrath of our pious KIM
E Charles. in all his horror Of double dealing
r A proclamation of his, of the date of 1880
declares ms fears of the consequences G
e "a dece,fu handling" of the material, b
adding to It's weight N dyeiug, and ordain
e that the whole shall be done as soft as pos
{ sible that no black shall be used bu
e Spanish black, " and that the gum shall b
n fair boiled off before dyeing" lie foun
e in time, that he had meddled with a matte
: that he did not understand, and he ha
gone TOO far. Some of the fabrics OF hi
& day required to be made OF hard silk (;
= and he took back his orders IN l63S, ha'
+ lug become. as he SAID, better informed.
d From trough to trough we go, brea.hin
y steam, and stepping into puddles' or reel
v ing rivueis ripping over the stones oil IN
a lat