The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-02-05
CLOTH FROM NETTLES.
A RAW MATERIAL CHEAPER AND
TOUGHER THAN ANY.
\ Yankee Substitute for Chinese Seer
sucker-Suits Made of Rami-Enu-
meration of the Virtues
of Nettle Fiber.


MI. rtitA TTtiltFJj u We'll hlOWH rus
sian savant and inventor, is stopping in this
city. He has mission. 1t is to revolu-
tioniZe the textile industry in the United
States
Il am a native of Aix-la- Chapolle," said
Mr. Fremery, "and have devoted my life
principally TO the study Of botany. | am
not unknown in this country, since l took
prize at the Centennial exposition for an oil
to lubricate vegetable woods in course OF
preparation for the spinning process.
You know the seersucksr cloth so popu.
lar for summer wear in your country. How
light and strong it is, and what pretty ma
terial too. You know, l suppose, that it is
made from the fibers OF the Chinese nettle.
The process is a very peculiar one. The
Chinese until 1881 alone possessed the secret
of freeing the tibers of the plant from the
resinous gum holding them together. These
tlberS are then, not spun, but cut into long,
narrow strips and glued together at the
ends with a species of glue unknown to us.
1t is in all probability animal glue mixed
with a certain per cent. of hard wax This
process preserves the peculiar gloss of the
fiber, which causes some people to mistake it
for silk. If the cloth We're spun it would lose
its luster
in Rhode Island seersucker cloth is imi-
tated in cotton. There is no doubt that it
could be manufactured here in large guam
titles out of the fiber of the American nettle.
The rami or rhea of China or India grows all
through the southern states and portions of
California. The material is known in Eng
land as China grass.
"A gentleman sent me from Altoona, Pa,
few years ago for some cuttings of the
American wild nettle Urtica postulata is
its Latin name. 1t grows in great abundance
all through the Allegheny mountains ex-
perimented with it, and became convinced
that here was cheap and common substi-
tute for flax. l have q nursery garden of
these cuttings now at Aix-la- Chapelle
IN the course of my experiments noticed
that the thread produced from the fiber was
was similar to that of flax but glossier AMI
more like silk in appearance. 1t can be pro
duced very cheaply, the plant. being
perennial one-that is to say, it does not
have to be replanted every year These
cuttings came to me ton or twelve years ago.
found that tie fiber Of the American nettle
was finer and stronger than that of Euro
peen growth-Urtca dioica
"At this moment thora are ten or twelve
manufactures in Germany where the fabric
is prepared to be made into clothing, hand
kerchiefs. stockings, shirts. toweling, lace
curtains, and many hundred species of tex
tile articles. 1t completes with wool on &C
count of its greater strength and cheapness'
This material take every fast color, Just
rs wool does, aud its introduction would not
require any change to he made in machinery.
These diScuy cries Ga NINE are covered by
several patents il tie United States
Another use h. which il may be applied is
f0r sall-rloth, ropes, or cordage There are
numerous vari'tics of tie wild rett!e in
this Country. OIe Of the c1mmaaass kinds
in The S.uth, Where i; grows SIDE by side
~ith the raWi, IS tn Bacteria urfira, of
which there ara mora than ~ varie.ioi
AN hungarian ramed Neunann las at
s. Nicholas. near Antwerp, a tnaIuiactory
of this material Tue daily production aver
ares abou 5000 pouni- Neumann startal
another m%nurfCtorg near Dusseldorf, in
Hncnish Prussia bus had to fly the country
ou account of some trouble lie got into with
o government Official lie was convicted Of
SANDER az s. nlsan.d 30 one year imprison-
ment But Tor this trouble he would he
tIlili7 wen, IL tLc E'NtiIillitut La 1, up 70
this time, helped him by every means in
their power, supplying him gratuitously
vith large quantities Of neitles from East
Prussia
DO you see this piece of red wOol' Well,
it dee mt happen to be wool at all, though
anybody who didn't know it might be will
ing to swear it wa. II is nettle fiber from &
place ] know near Newark, n j. This
piece Of gray cloth you see was made OF the
same stuff; 81 were these handkerchiefs, and
these stockings, too Thoy are almost indie
structible. / wore pair Of trousers made
of the cloth several years; wore them at
work in my garden but they seem practic-
ally indestructible, and have been washed o
dozen times. Most Of these articles were
manufactured for me at Passaic n J. The
gray cloth came from ths Germania mills in
Holyoke This cheviot cloth can be washed
twenty times without injuring the material
1t would be splendid for workingmens
clothes
"Tho Igh possessing so great power of re-
sistance to the action of water, a lint can b
manufactured of American nettle fiber SUI
pcrior to the best cotton as an absorbent
See, drop this piece of nettle grass lint in
this tumbler of water In an instant it has
become saturated with the fluid and sinks to
the bottom.
"These nettleS grow in prodigious quantity
all through the Jersey swamps. This year
| the yield on my place near Newark was 20 to
% per cent of pure fiber from this dried stock.
The nettles must be cut about the end of Sep
tember, when the sap begins to ripen in accord
ance with the laws Of your climate here. Of
course as one goes further south the nettles
will ripen earlier. There is no market for
the American nettle fiber, but it could be
| made profitable article of export"