Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1892-06-04

ElO" to PICK Out GOOD Pleces-Soi'ie oil
the tricks of Mannf ciure.
Some silks sell for a dollar Il yard.
ot.. ts sell for ten dollars, on account of
tw" things. the quality of the silk thread
and the amount of that silk. The raw
silk as it comes from the cocoons is of
very different kinds. Some of it is long
and even and smooth, while inferior
| qualities are rough and brittle and in
short lengths. The poor qualities do not
stand wear SO well as the best ones do,
and, not being worth so much money,
are utilized for the cheaper grades Of
silks. The long, glossy threads go into
the hest silks, and because in these beauty
is sought before cheapness, greater
amount of silk thread is put into yard
that is, the silk is heavier.
Another way in which the expense Of
silk is decided is by the quality Of tho
filling that is used in it. 1t is no secret
that large number of the medium
priced silks are filled with cotton or with
linen. They give additional weight with
out commensurate expense. If the fill
ing be of silk, The price of the silk is
largely increased. One firm of Ameri.
can manufacturers has recently adopted
the plan of using the waste silk, that is,
the short rough threads, for filling, max
ing an all-silk fabric that will not turn
brown, as those that are filled with cot.
ton do, and yet is not very expensive.
The cost of putting brocaded figure
to plain background varies greatly with
the material used for the brocade the
number of colors used in the figure, and
the elaboration of the pattern. Tie
simplest brocaded figure can be added
to piece of silk at cost of about 10
cents yard; it may add twenty times
that sum to the cost of yard, because it
may be of silver or gold thread and be
heavily jewelled.
To the natural query, How may
woman be sure of getting good piece of
silk when she is buying?" manufac-
turcr's answer was: "She can't. The
experts are not always able to tell and
even the manufacturers are often hon
estly puzzled as to why a piece Of silk
doesn't wear well. By twisting the peco
of silk about her finger and then smooth
ing it out, a buyer can tell something
about it. If it smooths out without
creases, it is more likely to wear welI
than not. By touching a match to a
small bit of it she can tell if there is cot
ton in it, If it is all silk, it will burn
with difficulty; if there is cotton in it,
it will light readily. But the best way
woman can do is to pick out shop that
has reputation for honesty in silks ard
everything else, and then take the sales.
mans word for it. He is much more
likely to know good silk than she, and
can make her believe very dishonest
piece is remarkably good if he chooses.
No woman can be half way up in tt @
tricks of the trade. There are more
ways of cheating at silks than there
are at cards. An expert has to carry
whole apothecary's shop in his pocket to
make his test, and a powerful magnet t
besides, because one of the most common
tricks of manufacture is to load up ii
silk in the dyo with iron filings OF lead
dust to increase tho weight. Soapstone,
eumarabic, and rosin are also comnt II
aduIterations in the process of manufac-
.ure."