The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-08-01
CONCERNING KING COTTON.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT A
GREAT INDUSTRY.

The sacred Shrub of Indin-PrOduc-
ton OF Cotton iRi Oriental COun-
tries-Primitive Machinery.
The traveller in the far East secs grow
ing about the temples of India purple
bossomed shrub, over which the Hindu
priests watch reverently. 1t is the sacred
cotton tree from whose ripe bolls is made
the tripartite thread, the Brahmin symbol
OF the Trinity. Although in no other
cline and by no other race is this plant
held in such peculiar and reverent regard
all the civilized world pay homage and
tribute to the king whose throne is in
the sunny cotton tie DIS. And so they must
from necessity. This king clothes fully
one-half of the human race in his own fab
RIGS, and a large share of the remainder
are indebted to him for an essential part
of their raiment. In his employ thou
sand ''heavy-laden argosiesn pass to and
fro across the seas; at his bidding cities
rise vocal with the sound OF whir-
ring spindles and throbbing looms
Merrimacs and Willimantics do
his will; and all around the
world from the IIimalaya slopes to
the Carolinas, millions of human beings
toll their lives away in his servitude
The time is not known in history when
cotton did not form Il part of the cloth
ing of mankind. 1t is said that the
"blue hangings fastened with cords of
fine linen and purple to silver rings and
pillars of marble in the palace Of
Ahasuerus. at Shtishan, described in the
Book of Esther, were made of tins ma
terial. Hcrodotus put it on record, 40
b. c. "The wild trees of that country
(mcaning lndia) bear lleeces as their fruit
passing those Of sheep in beauty and ex-
cellcnce, and the Indians use cloth made
from these trees" The Institutes of
Menu, written some 400 years carrier,
contain many illusions to cotton and cot
ton cloth under various names. The
cultivation of the cotton plant in India
is traced back more than 1 200 years be-
fore the Christian era. The calicocs and
muslins of that country have been famous
for centuries. All the inventions and
mechanical skill of the present day have
not been able to produce such fine and
durable fabrics as are woven on the rude
and clumsy machines used in Oriental
countries
A French traveller, writing of the cali
Goes of Surat, says they are $50 fine that
you could hardly feel them in your hand,
and the thread when spun is hardly dis.
cerniblc." Muslin has been made in
Bengal so extremely thin that when
spread upon the grass and mois;ened
with dew it is almost invisible. A single
pound of this thread has been spun out
to the length of hundred and fifteen
miles. C.oth made of these delicate
threads has been POLITICALLY described as
'webs of the woven wind"
In China and Egypt the production Of
cotton began at remote period, although
it was not until recent times that it as
sumed commercial Importance. 1t wa.
considered worthy of record 10y Chinese
annalists that the Emperor Quit, who
assembled the throne in SOP A. D., wore
a robe of cotton on that occasion.
The cary explorers of America found
the Cotton king already established here
Cortez received cotton garments as pres
ents from the natives of Yucatan; and
/ Spanish historians describe it as forming
the chief article of clothing among tho
sub jects of Montczuma. Garments made
| of this material were found in exploring
the most ancient Peruvian tombs, and
there is evidence that it was cultivated il
that country as early as 1882.
The process of weaving cloth seems tC
have been one of the first arts practisel
among mankind. 1t has been found tc
exist among the rudest and most savage
people, long anterior to the dawn OF civ.
ilization And although performed with
the simplest and rudest implements, ;h(
same that are used to this day in many
Eastern countries, the product of these
primitive machines often surpassed, il
many respects, the textures now woven il
the mills of Manchester and Lowell
With the aid of few sticks and the dcX
ferrous use of hands and feet, the nativ,
of India constructs fabric of marvellous
tincncss and beauty. Down to the tint
of the introduction of improved ma
chinery weaving was chiefly done in TIT
homes of the people, and the weaver
art descended as heritage from genera
ton to generation. 1t was everywhere
held in high repute as a most useful anC
honorable employment. The distaif it
self became the sign of thrift and indus
try.
The first manufactures of cotton good
in Europe were established in Italy
chiefly at Venice and Milan, whose fus
tians and dinities were highly valued Il
the households OF carry times. Tn
Netherlands was the next country t,
adopt the art, which from thence wa
translated into Eng and blythe Protestan
refugees from Flanders, after the captm
of Antwerp by the Duke Of Parma il
15S5.-Nes0 York. OdGcr.
Immense Continental Armies.