Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1870-01-27
visit 70 a Chinese SIX Fatoty

aI Acofre3bondent Of the Cincinna
' III Commercial thus describes a CHI
D aese silk factory:
/ ~ directed my guide to take N,
inel the silk weaving streets, W.
E soon entered them. / at once dis.
Y mounted To make a careful obserya-
: ton of their modaJ operandi for
the p oduction Of This renowned
G fabric OF Oriental looms. All
around me was silk, silk, nothing
! but silk. In small, dark houses,
} littlc better than novels, were seen
I people, chiefly women, dyeing this
delicate textile. Outside, in little
! filthy yards and pig-styes, over the
ground where the family swiae
we're yallowing, we're placed BAN
boo poles, Hbereon. we're hanging
skeins Of colored silk just from the
I dye, aud glowing with the most
vivid hues as they hung for drying
in the sunshine over tile loathsome
Ipools below. / visited several of
their weaving shops. They were
quite similar in their fixtures and
arrangements. l spent some time
in examining one oi the largest
1t was, perhaps, 100 feet long and
about Is feet wide. The walls
were of coarse clay blocks, sun
dried, unpierced by a single aper-
ture for air or light save at the
front, which was entirely open the
whole bredth Of the building. The
floor vas simply Of trodden clay,
uneven and untidy An aisle ran
down the center, just vide enough
for one person to pass on either
side of this were ranged the near
est looms and standing as close to-
gether as they could be placed.
Two or three persons were en- |
lployed on the work Of each loom. |
The looms are plain. common look
ing affairs, nearly all of the same
kind as to appearance and mode
of manipulation, as were those up
on which our grandmothers in Ohio
used to weave the linsey- woolsey
for the wear of Western boys, when
even the preacher was almost a
stranger to broadcloth Squatting
myself down by one of these friend
ly looking acquaintances of my
boyhood, | leisurely watched the
delicate and diligent msnipulations
of the weaver and his assistants as
their shuttles few to and fro in the
mazY mystery of figures and flow
ers that came gradually out larger
and palmer upon the growing sur
face Of the gorgeous fabric which
those skillful workmen were there
creating under my eye, So com
plex were the movements Of the
men on these simple looking ma
chimes, and so maryelously beauti-
fnl were the products resulting
therefrOm, that | gazed with un-
bounded amazement upon this work
ofsilk weaving as it progressed be-
fore me.
The weather being warm and the
shop crowded the workmen were
almost naked. My visit interested ,
them manifestly, yet not a loom
ceased its clicking, clacking noise,
not q man left his employment to
gaze; but / detected them giving
furtive glances and exchanging /
mutual smiles among themselves at
the rurious stranger who bad thus
lnceremoniously squatted himself '
down in their midst, by one of these a
humble looking looms, on a com l
mon dirt floor, within homely clad r
walls, where, nevertheless, are pro- d
luced those beautiful fabrics which h
or ages and throughout the world II
lave been the pride of wealth, the "
,nyy of beauty and the admiration g,
md desire of royalty Far down Q,
nd nearly to the extreme limit of o
his long room was plain board
ounter, extending quite across the
Dom. Beyond it stood the pro- il
rietor of The factory, a smooth el
aced richly clad Chinaman. Di- tt
ectly over him the building was m
nroofed, thereby affording a spa $,
ious skylight; except this, win et
ow there was none. Through u.
ais skylight, and down upon the tt
ounter below, the sunshine fell up fl
n the finished work of this dingy, I'll
irty, squalid looking workshop pu
he prorietor was busy measuring al
fl and packing up the products of bt
is looms. And as the sunlight ne
.reamei full upon the gorgeous OF
olors Of those magnificent silks, tr
atins and brocades which the pro- OF
rietor was tossing about in bill Fl
IVY radiance, it seemed to my
yes, as l stood far up in the feeble
ght of the center Of the room, as OF
iough he were tossing and toying st
it'll rainbows. From places SO m
lmble and surroundings so squal- tn
as this, come those royal fabrics &c
hich are to decorate palaces and D
adorn the persons of princes cl
ID monarchs of the earth. pc
ci
- An occasional correspondent, gr
Getting a party of settlers the 9th bl
day in Texas, inquired from the m
.D,1,otOr 1sth an tho I1aa,, in tho 6rSt tD