Morning journal and courier., 1892-08-06
THE FLEETING SHOW.
Some OF Its Facts and Fancies.
Written for the JOURNAL AND COURIER

Written for the JOURNAL AND CoURiKR.1
RIBBONS AND sILKwoRMs.
sTo discover what an artistic and beau
tiful thing ribbon may become we must
visit St. Etienne," says Miss Bethsm-
Edwards in her recently published work
entitled "France of To-day" This town
of the Loire, as seen from the railway,
presents a most uninviting aspect, never
theless it is a cheerful place, it's dingy
streets being enlivened with charming
gardens and small parks with flower beds,
fountains, marble terraces, and always
stand for musicians. From st. Etienne
come four-ffths of the ribbons and silk
braids made in France and nearly half of
those made throughout Europe, Lyons be-
ing its most formidable rival.
Several thousand weavers still work in
their own homes as generations have done
before them, but machinery is gradually
superseding the old system. In good times
forty thousand hands are employed, the
yearly commerce representing hundred
the manufacture is worth nearly half
that sum. Workmen earn from
three to four francs day,
from about ffty-fve to seventy
five cents; women earn considerably less,
and the working day is nearly twelve hours
long. The weavers have pinched and
pallid look, in sharp contrast with the
brilliant beauty of thei1 work. They are
courteous to sight-seers and proud of their
art, an art preserved from deterioration by
schools OF special training, and schools of
design which foster taste and keep up
artistic tradition. "In the tiniest shop"
says Miss Edwards, care displayed gems
of the weaver's skill, while the Musee
de Rubans contains verltable
works of art. From every side flash upon
the gaze hues rich and dazzling as those of
tropic plumage. Every imaginable varie-
ty of color, texture and design is seen
here. Oriental arabesques, flowers, and
birds raised in satin on soft silken
ground. landscapes, portraits in silk, to
say nothing of fabrics for ordinary use,
peacock's tail, the PEASANTS wing, sea-
shells, gold and gems, leaves and blossoms,
are reproduced by the weaver. There is
nothing that a skilled workman cannot eff
feet with his loom a la Jacquard"
The market for this time-honored and
beautiful article of commerce varies great
ly with the csprices of fashion. The de-
mand for cheap goods, and the barbarous
fancy for decorating hats with the plum
age of slaughtered birds, do much to de-
press the trade and lessen the earnings of
St. Etienne's work people. Yet with its
ribbons and rifles, perfect weapons as well
as matchless ribbons being An important
industry, as three hundred thousand fire.
arms are sent out yearly, st. Etienne finds
the four lines of railway that connect the
town with the great commercial centers
inadequate to transport its manufactures.
The material for the ribbons ie supplied
by millions of greedy little spinners that
are reared and cared for throughout the
Gard, a department south of the Loire.
Silk is the staple commodity of the Gard,
and the silkworm mulberry tree its most
important crop. Here, too, and at the Ar
deche are the silk factories, where may be
seen the process of silk weaving in all it's
stages, rows of girls manipulating the CO.
coons in hot water, and through the long
work rooms hundreds of shuttles swiftly
plying and broad bands of the pure, gold
colored silk dazzling the eye. More silks
are manufactured in French looms than in
those of all the rest of Europe put together
and represents yearly sum of half
milliard of francs. Silkworm rearing, an
industry established in France in the four
teenth century, now represents a revenue
of thirty million francs yearly. This silk
industry has of late years suffered heavily
from two causes, firstly, excessive compe-
tition, cheap Oriental and other silks sup
planting the richer and costlier products
of Lyons manufacture, and secondly, dis
ease among the silk moths which caused
loss of two hundred million pounds ster-
ling. This sum is a fateful one to France,
as it also represents the loss caused to the
vine growers by the phylloxera, or vine
pest, and the sum total of the Prussian
war indemnity. In this trouble. however,
NJ. Pasteur has lent helping hand, and by "a
simple method of selection he has taught
the silkworm rearers to breed only from
healthy moths. The eggs are examined
microsccpioally, and all showing signs of
disease are thrown away. This discovery
| has benefited commerce to the amount of
five milliards of francs, and NJ. Pasteur
/ will probably be more gratefully remem-
| bered by this service than for his much
criticised method of preventing hydro
phobia