Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-10-22
SILK THREAD MAKING.
An Industry that Is RapfdlyGainIng
Ground on the Pacific Coast.
The San Francisco Chronicle.

/ lut Dali fTdIClSCO SAIOuClo.
The silk industry is one of the most
promising that California possesses,
| it is but two or three years since it
was proven by practical demenstra-
ton that 1t could be succe ssfully car
ried on here. There are three factor
les in the state, and they are all pros~
pering. One produces fine piece goods,
another fringe for upholstering anG
the third is restricted to the produc
ton of silk thread. Altogether, they
give employment to about sixty ar
tisans. Thus far the great stumbling
block in the way Of complete success
has been the lack of skilled hands to
reel the fiber from the cocoons, but.
the state school in this city, estab-
lished with the object Of training girls
and boys in this labor is making ex~
cellent progress. Meanwhile silk
manufacturing has planted itself GA
firm basis. without waiting for domes
ic production OF the raw material to
tattain such a development that it
could supply its demand. The most
important silk manufacturing house
on the coast offered, when the present
proprietors began operations, to take
all the good raw silk IL at could be
produced in the state. Tnev have
seen themselves forced however, to
rely for nine tenths of their stock thus
far upon the imports from Italy and
Asia An odd feature of the business
| is that much OF this raw silk is 1nporL-
ed through San Francisco and goes
to New York, where that portion
needed by the thread mill here is set
apart and shipped back. The cost of
transportation from Japan to Now
| York is about s cents a pound, and
from New York to San Francisco
about 5 cents. The advantage OBJ.
| tanned ia price is believed to counter
| balence the cost Of SO much unnecess~
airy transportation, but an effort is to
| be made to break bulk here so as TO
| reduce the laid down" price. II this
can be effected the San francisco
manufacturers would have a marked
superiority in position over their east
ern rivals. They are already, accord
| ing to the statement of the Leading
| manufacturing firm, able to sell as
low as the latter, and sometimes even
lower. Of the kind, just as fine goods
are made here as anywhere else ia the
| world, and the Pacific coast jobbers
! Der could do muuh to encourage the
prosperity Of this region if, when the
foreign manufacturer offers no better
bargains, they would give their pre-
| ference to the domestic one. Despite
| the fact that many Of them do not do
so, thread manufacture has steadily,
grown and new machines have been
| recently added 10 the factory. These
| cost some thousands Of dollars, and to
| help is required. At present about
fifty girls and boys are employed,
many more of the former than OF the
latter. Their wages average 81 day,
some hands receiving only SO cents
and others 1925. A few of them were
experienced in the trade when they
were engaged. but the great maj 9rity
have been taught hear. AT the begin
Ling, of course, they earn nothing,
but their pay, when once they COM
mence to receive it gradually increases
as they grow more skillful, until in
the case of special aptitude, it reaches
| the maximum.
The process of making silk thread
is exceedingly interesting. The work
room at the factory is about twice as
long as it is wide, and it is full of
buzzing and whirling machines. On
one side beautiful masses, of raw silk
are seen piled up on low counter:
in a corner hundreds of boxes of the
spoiled thread, as varied in color as
Joseph's coat, are ranged in orderly
fashion upon narrow shelves. The
raw silk arrives in bales and of from
100 to 140 pounds each, and worth
$400 to 800, according to its quantity.
Each bale consists OF bundles called
books" and they III turn consist of
| skeins. There are two hundred or
more skeins IN bale, and every one
contains about q Thousand yards of
cocoon thread. The raw silk has little
gloss, but is sort dull white. It is
first soaked IN a preparation of
water and a special kind of soap.
About per cent OF the animal
gum is thus removed. It is then
put in a press and the liquid is squeezed
out Of it. After that it is wound for
the first time on bobbin, the cocoon
threads being gen orally run quintuple.
! The machine can however manage
them in octuple. The thread is now
well started upon its journey toward
perfection. It passes from bobbin to
bobbin and from machine to machine,
in each receiving more strength and a
tighter twist. A technical description
of the details of the process would fill
a greaG deal of space. The sizes Of the
completed threads are finally CLASH
fed by means of a weighing machine.
which indicates the most delicate diff
ference not distinguished to the eye.
The threads consist Of from As to $50
origrnalfbers. a stretching machine
makes the weight, size, and strength
as nearly uniform as possible. After
this the remaining gum, about rs per
cent, is boiled out. The thread then
goes to the dye house which is situat-
&C in another part of the city. A
1 L i l. 81. j