The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1877-07-17
Textile Fabrics.

Fcib feJ'p, 70 faoricate, which come
! from the Greek fS'1y-,s5.. wii,h. ia tnru
comes ,r)gn the Sanscr.t root f9ksh. :.
"eav.. There - pedigree e-nelther
king nor kaiser can show one 50 an.
cieiIt, within a thousand degrees
Every kind # stuff w:ougl; In Tia,
loom is textile" Whether the thread,
be spun from the produce # the animal
vegetable or mineral kingdom whether
Of wool or hair; whether Of fax. hem D
fibre, from leaves. or cotton. whether
OF metallic wire-the webs from a! / such
materials ar textiles, ard many OF
them have been and are used for gar
ent-makiug, from the earliest &c ihe
present time
1t has been thought probable that
IN slost countries. sheep were bred more
for raiment than for food At first.
lock. Of wool would be torn away by
the hand. and spun by women from a
distsh, even kings daughters not dis
dalaing such work. particularly in Eng
land, before the Norman conquest. The
word spiasttT. still used ia legal docu-
ments, comes from this common occup.-
ton
In time. sheep p-shearing was used 10
obtain the wool; but. among the older
inhabitants of Britain. wo0len stuff,
were not woven, but plated Bodies
have been found in graves So wrapped
up
Don Casslus, a Creek historian, who
wrote In the third century, has told that
Queen Boadicea. British he<oinc-
who, being conquered by the Romans.
poisoned herself in the first century
wore. under her cloak. i many colorel
tunic, resembling the cbequered woolen
stuff, woven in Scotland 10 this day.
aud called tartan or ptaid
Cotton came from the East, aud is
the fiOrnus Coating OF the seeds Of ii
plant Of the mallow tribe. which orig
inally grew Wild there.
Hemp Is a plant of the net,lc tribe,
common III the north Of Europe Her
odotu-, over two thousand years ago.
wrote Of 1t a. cultivated in Scythla, f,f
the purpose OF having cloth made of IL
The Latin. and also the Greek, name of
hemp Is taAlsa}iS-- hence our own word
cdisSds applied to very Coarse hempen
textiles
FLAX, the Latin of which is isaum
,hcrCt or A.tst. grows Will la many
countries, but was used for weaving by
the ancient Egyptians. whose fssen
/ textiles Mere - famous that their owu
( word tYssUs was used by Greeks AID
Eomans for linen. Many mummic.
have been found rolled up in bantage,
/ at linen which fully bare ont tht
! praises ancienily bestowed on the
! bsHu,y Of Egyptian loom work.
I" the Rritish Nossum IN London
are pieces OF this mummy linen. which
SIR Garduer Wilkinson. the Egyptian
Traveller. describes as made "ot yarn
of nearly one hundred hanks IN the
pound. with one huf dred and forty
threads Ia an inch on the warp ard
sixty four on the woof,"
silk was unknown - the old Egyp-
tians, nor is there ary evidence that
any oae Of the most ancient nations o'
the world knew of 1t, either a. sim
pie twist or as "a woven stuff la our
English version of the Oli Testament,
the word silk" occurs in two or three
places. but the bes, authorities agree
that thus Is not "A correct translation
China il claimed to be the country iu
winch men first availet themselves oi
the labor If the silk worm. India va,
the next Aristotle, the Greek, was the
earliest author who mentions silk.
which. he says, was first spun III
the Island of Cos. in his time, and the
raw material was obtained from the
East
Ahoat the reign ot Augustus C,rsar
nineteen centuries ago. silks FOR robes
were made Of 80 thin a texture tha.
they showed rather thau concealed the
limbs. and poets ard moralsts sternly
condemned garments which were a
protection neither to the body nor from
shame"
/ The excessively high price OF slkcu
] textiles checked their wear uuder ,h,
Roman Empire They were regarded
as etfcmlns,e, and therefore forbidden
t. men. The Emperors Nespasian and
T4tnS exceptionally wore =;lken vest.
inents III celebrating their war srlumph~
The Emperor Aurcl.an refused 10 al
low hls "sie Il mantle Of purple silk q;
account of the ex,ravagant value, tor 4
pound % geld Was then the price Of a
pound oi' silk
The place whence silk came from wa,
not generality known until the sixth
century. when the ohsrur.ty Was cleared
mp hy ,ho successful result Of Journey
made ~ two HISTORIAN monks 10 Ckins