The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1884-07-31
CONCERNING KING COTTON.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT &
GREAT INDUSTRY.
The sacred shrub of dia-PrOdIc-
ton of Cotton in Oriental COHu-
lrieS-PrimiliXe MnrhinerY.

The sacred shrub of India-Proli,c-
tiOn of Cotton in Oriental COuu-
tries-Primitive MachinerY.
The traveller In the far East sees grow
ing about the temples of India u purple
blossomed shrub, over which the Hindu
priests watch reverently. 1t is the sacred
cotton tree from whose ripe bolls is made
the tripartlte 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 fields. And so they must
from necessity This king clothes fully
one half of the human race in his own fab
RIGS, and large share of the remainder
are indebted to him for an essential part
of their raimept. In his employ thou
sand "hcavy laden argosies" 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 Himalaya 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 foIm a 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 Shushan, described in the
Book of Esther, were made of this ma
terial Herodotus put it on record, 45O
b. G. 1.-THE wild trees of that country
(meaning lndia) bear ieeces as their fruit
passing those of sheep in beauty and eX-
cellence, and the Indians use cloth made
from these trees The Institutes Of
Menu, written some 400 years earlier,
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 / 900 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 80 fine that
you could hardly feel them in your hand,
and the thread when spun is hardly dis
cernible." Muslin has been made in
Bengal so extremely thin that when
spread upon the grass and moistened
with dew it is almost invisible. A single
pound of this thread has been spun out
to the length of a hundred and fifteen
miles. Clotn made of these delicate
threads has been POLITICALLY described as
"webs of the woven wind"
In China and Eevpt the production ,oi
| it was not until recent times that it as
sumed commercial importance. 1t was
considered worthy of record by Chinese
annalists that the Emperor Quit, who
ascended the throne in 502 A. d., wore
a robe of cotton on that occasion,
The cary explorers of America founc
the Cotton king already established here
Cortez received cotton garments as pres
ents from the natives of Yucatan; ant
Spanish historians describe it as forming
the chief article of clothing among tn
subjects of Montezuma Garments mad
of this material were found in cXpIOrin.
the most ancient Peruvian tombs, AM
there is evidence that it was cultivated /
that country as early as 1889.
The process of weaving cloth seems
have been one of the first arts practise
among mankind. 1t has been found
exist among the rudest and most savag
people, long anterior to the dawn OF civ
ilization. And although performed wit
the simplest and rudest implements, Il
same that are used to this day in man
Eastern countries, the product OF the
primitive machines often surpassed,
many respects, the textures NOW woven
the mills of Manchester and Lowel
With the aid of few sticks and the de
ferrous use of hands and feet, the nati'
of India constructs a fabric OF marvelo
fineness and beauty. Down to the tin
of the introduction of improved m
chinery weaving was chiefly done in Il
homes of the people, and the weaver
art descended as heritage from genei
ion to generation. 1t was everywhe
leld in high repute as most useful al
,onorable employment. The distaif
o.f became the sign of thrift and indu
Y.
The first manufactures of cotton goo
Europe were established in ltal
chiefly at Venice and Milan, whose fl
tans and dimities were highly valued
. the households of early times. I
y Netherlands was the next country
i adopt the art, which from thence W
- translated into England by the Protesta
- refugees from Flanders, after the captr
- of Antwerp by the Duke of Parma
15S5.-NeW York Obseroer.