The record-union., 1891-10-17

lay their eggs upon the cloth placed to
receive them, and die in a few hours, TAX
ing no nourishment after reaching the
moth or perfect state.
Only those insects designed to propa-
gate their kind are allowed to come TO
perfection, for as soon as the spinning
ceases, which is determined by the abb
sence of sound from within the cocoon. a
small instrument having been devised
Tor the purpose of ascertaining if the
worm is still at work, the cocoons are
Stlfled or placed in hot water in order to
Kill the insects and prevent further de-
veiopment.
In Mount Lebanon, where the silk
manufactures are extensive, the coeoons
are frequently crushed with a mallet; but
the general impression is that by this
process the silk is injured. Both in
China and India the insects are killed
with boiling water, which is believed to
90 its work effectually, without II the
least harming the precious covering.
After sitting the cocoons they are loaded
into trays or baskets, and transported to
the reelers, who begin operations by
stripping the cocoon of its delicate fioSSy
covering, which then becomes waste"
or rejected silk. The cocoons are then
placed IN water and stirred with q care
tully-trimmed birch rod, which is lifted
from time to time to ascertain if any
threads are adhering to it.
As soon as one is found it is carefully
traced to its cocoon, another is picked out
and joined to it, and when four or five are
thus collected the combined thread is
placed upon reel which is slowly turned
and the threads unwound from the orig
mai package. Much care is required at
TINS part OF the operation, for the threads
are OF unequal length, and, besides, are
frequently broken, so as soon as one runs
out or breaks another is found and joined
at as nearly as possible the same point.
The reel must be far enough from the pan
containing the cocoons to allow the
thread to dry i'll transit, and the tedious
ness OF the process may be judged from
the TACT that the threads are often from
900 to l,0O0 feet in length, and one pound
OF cocoons ought to give a combined
thread about SIS, ,000 feet long. The pro-
cess OF raising silk worms is tedious from
beginning to end, as may be Judged from
the fact that the product of l, 500 worms is
required to make a single pound of mer-
chantable silk.
The strands thus made into thread are
passed on to the weaver and manufact-
ured into the delicate fabrics which de-
light the eyes and gladden. the hearts
aIlke OF pagan and Christian bellies. At
TINS point OF manufacture, however, when
the product passes into the loom, adul-
teratlons and frauds become possible. 1t
IS impossible to adulterate the thread.
but when the thread becomes combined
with many thousands of others to make
cloth frauds are frequently practiced. In
few lines OF dry goods is adulteration
more frequently practiced than in silks,
tact which has been caused by the de-
mand for cheap yet snowy goods, for in
this country the servant must look as
we'll as the millionaire'S daughter: the
woman who scrubs the front stems is as
ambitious, so far as dress is concerned.
as the woman who sits in the parIor.
There being demand, therefore, for the
greatest possible show at the least possi-
BILE price, metallic dyes came into use, and
also the practice of weighing the yarn,
especially that which goes into the man
ufacture of black silk tassels and fringes.
and to such an extent is this adulteration
practiced that oftentimes these goods are.
IN weight, two-thirds dye and one-third
cloth.
The adulterations do not always pass
undetected. There are several tests which
may be relied upon at least to give an in
dlcatlon Of tue presence of an adulterant.
BY weighing sample of the goods care
fully, then boiling it in water, drying and
again weighing, an approximation NAV be
made OF the loss, which is, in great part,
adulteratlon. An easier and quicker
method is to soak sample in warm wa
ter, then squeeze it in a white handker-
chief and ascertain whether anv color
comes off. Another test is by burning on
a white plate bit of the goods to be
tested. The pure silk viii burn to a fine
charcoal, the adulterated will shoulder
to greasy ash. But the adulteratioa
does not always consist of dyeing matter.
for even in tar-away India there is an
herb, the urtica, a sort of nettle, the bark
OF which IS used as an adulterant even in
the fiber of the goods. Inferior goods are
also made of the waste" which formerly
constituted from two-thirds to three
fourths of the silk. The waste is carded
and even the cocoons from which insects
have escaped are manufactured into an
inferior grade of silk.
Aside from China, where silk has al
ways been made in abundance. silk c11lt
ure is an important branch of industry in
Palestine, in Syria, particularly in the
Lebanon Range, where both Christians
and MOhammedanS work side by side in
the manufacture and realize well on their
labors. 1t is manufactured with profit
in Turkey and Greece, and also in Italy.
In San Reno and Genoa, in Naples, and
almost any other town on the western
coast of the peninsula, whole streets are
given up TO silk workers, and pictu-
rescue spectacles are presented by these
people with their spinning wheels and
looms, their trays and cocoons, and the
huge baskets of leaves brought in from
the surrounding mulberry plantations for
the SuStenance of their stock in trade.
Largely cultivated in Spain, Portugal
and the south of France, the attempts
which have been made in England and
Germany have not realized the success
hoped for them by the projectors. The
climate of the north of Europe is not
sufficiently warm, the changes are too
great, the proper food for the worm is not
always to be found, and the quality of the
silk depends in no small degree upon the
proper leaf furnished for the food.
The quantity ofsilk annually produced
is almost incredibly great There are
every year imported into England over
5000, 900 pounds Of raw silk, over 4, OO0. coo
pounds Of waste" and upwards of IOO.-
600 pounds of various grades of thread a
total of more than 100000 pounds a
year, to say nothing of silk goods al
ready manufactured, exceeding in value
$50, 900. Nor does this represent more
than the consumption of a single nation,
and it is estimated that the total annual
consumption Of the world exceeds fOO.-
100000 pounds a year.
Attempts have been made to raise the
worm in the United States, but not with
marked success. Before the Reyoln-
tionary War the silk worm was intro
duced into Virginia, North and South
Carolina and Georgia, but the industry
died out completely during the Revolu-
ton, and has not been resumed to any
considerable extent. But the silk man
ufactures of this country form an import
ant part of its business. By the census
of 1880 it appeared that there were 3S2
factories with a capital of $40, 125, 300, en-
ploying 10000 hands, and turning out in
the preceding year SS4, ,519,723 worth of
goods.
Common as is silk nowadays, in earlier
times it was a most precious material.
When it was first brought into Europe,
silk commanded three times it's weight
in gold, and so valuable was it deemed
that in the reign of Tiberius law was
passed forbidding it to all save noble