Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1888-08-01
THE ART OF DYEING.
SOMETHING ABOUT WHICH BUT
LITTLE IS POPULARITY KNOWN.

But tNs is the ageof color; and In moth.
ing else during the last thirty years hos
science made such foreible impression
on the usages Of domestic life as it has
made through It's contributions to the
resources of the dyer. Go through the
dry goods district and observe the win
dows. Look into the carpet ware rooms.
the furniture ware rooms. or even into
the gentleman's furnishing store. Every
where the rainbow seems to have been
caught and reproduced In fresh hues. The
very flowers and fruits, though still beau
tifui and attractive on account Of their
odor and favor, have lost the transcend
Ing superiority IN ttnts for which they
were once noted, and must consent to be-
come only common contributors to an
ocean Of color, where every wave is o
translucent marvel. According to M.
Chevreul, the resources of the dyer now
cover 10, 900 chromatic shades. But after
counting 1890 shades 1t would have
been Just as well had this author stopped
calculating and pronounced the remainder
infinite IN humber.
This sudden advance in the art of dye
ing has been due to the general cause that
has contributed so much to civilization
during the last hundred years. It has
been due to the discoveries In chemistry.
Through all the many centuries of history
the world knew only of natural dyes, and
down to the beginning of the present CEN
fury, or rather till past the middle of this
century, it still busted itself with the dis
covery of new natural agents. 1t had
found indigo, cochineal, logwood, madden,
quercitron bark, sumach, Brazil wood,
ard other vegetable or wood dyes, and it
learned by various means to be more or
| less successful, by the use of chemicals in
a process technically known as mordant-
ing, in making permanent the colors pro-
duced by these agents. But it had not
learned to distill color from the elemNlts.
It could reach only the boundaries of ar
| empire that was not yet quite won.
Finally, the chemist Unverdarben discov-
cred aniline, purely chemical sgent, the
| distiilation from coal tar. This discovery
opened the way for an industrial revolu'
ton. which is perhaps even yet only In
the infancy Of it's movement This hap
pened in 1926. But the utility of the dis.
covery was not known until many years
later. It was not until the year 1858 that
the tint known as Perkins purple, pro
duct Of aniline, followed soon afterward
by aniline red, or Magenta became known
| Then the revolution was fairly inaugura
has been rapid. ALL that Is most brilliant
in color is credited to this new chemical
agent.
But the body of the art remains I'M
changed. What are technically known as
the wood dyes have more substance and
permanency than the aniline dyes. Indigo
still forms the basis for blue. The scarlet
| on the coats of the British soldiery, war
ranted not to run, is. mainly produced
from cochineal madden is the basis fol-
crimson red and Turkey red, and yellow is
produced by fustic, quercitron bark, or its
concentrated extract, called havine, and
from Avignon OF Persian berries. The
mordants remain also unchanged. Chief
among them is the oxide of tin, called tir
spirits by the trade. This fixes the scarlet
colors founded upon cochineal; but alum
Ia used as a mordant for crimson red, ane
cherry red is produced with tin NOR
dant from ammoniacal cochineal. Turkey
red is produced from madden on alumni
nous basis. Thus ran the formula In the
old art of dyeing, and thus it runs still
Aniline is rather reinforcement than an
independent agent. Prussian blue, how
ever, is purely chemical product, and It'll
discovery antedated the discovery Of ami
line colors.
But after the production of the simple
or primary colors comes the production Of
the infinite variety of tints that go tx
make up the total used In the industrial
arts. In this work the process Of thu
dyer differs from the process Of the painter
rather In the means of execution than II
the principles on which he works. Does
the dyer wish to produce green fabric
He may mix indigo (blue) with fustic o.
quercitron bark yellow, handling at thu
same time the mordants in accordanc,
with the teachings of the best experience
and the result viii be the desired color
Does he want orange? The dyes that pro
duce yellow and red will give him al
orange fiber, and by the same process O.
combination he may have purple, violet
mauve, gray, drab, black, or any one O.
M. Chevreul's 5000 chromatic tints. Blu
he should be man with trained eye
and person who is color blind viii
hardly make dyer.
Dyeing is one of our most important in
dustries, employing in New York alon'
nearly 1900 men, at wages averaging
about $18 a week. It does not belong
strictly to the process of manufacture
L
ate art. It may be easily seen, too, tina
there is no other industrial art wher,
there is more likely to be marked differ
ence in the capacity of different workmen
First, there Is demanded the accomplish
ment of knowing the mechanical process
to perfection. It is an operation tina
must be timed to nicely, as the best re
suits may be Lost even at the moment o
fruition. Then, again, no man can eve
become good dyer, no matter what tn
length of his training, who is In any wa,
defective in his sense of color. In a Ger
tain sense the dyef is professional color
list, and though dyeing is usually done il
the skein, and much of the beauty of tn
finished fabric Is due to the taste for com
bination in the designer of patterns, tn
dyer has his share, and very large share
in the success of the work. It Is the ad
vance in the art of dyeing that makes tn
chief superiority in tie coloring of tn
more modern goods, and not the advanc
in the art OF combination and design.
Were the subject of dyeing to b
treated broadly 1t might be made to In
clude other arts besides the art of dyein
textile fabrics. Other material may b
made to receive coloring matter In man
ner to change its appearance as com
pletely as the appearance of these fabric
Is changed. The endolithic process in tn
treatment of marble furnishes an II
stance. Marbles subjecte to this pre-
cess are as completely dyed when 1t
thought worthwhile to change the entir
substance, as skein of silk, and made t
initiate perfectly the product of an
ancient or modern quarry, or to absor
pictures. But this Is not credited to th
dyer's art and stands as distinct dill
covery, with only the antiquity of a fe'
years to make it venerable The tru
dyer can trace his lineage back almost 0
far as the shoemaker York Sun.
sksena RIVER Troubles Exaggerated.
WINNIPEG, July 25.-The report
which are being circulated concerning