The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1893-06-08
FINE SILK FROM WOOD Pulp.
a Soyel Substitute Tor the Siltworm's
Product and what 1t May Mean.

NOfcl SuDSslLutc OF inc
Product and what 1t May Mean.
The fact that the United States has
not achieved q striking success in the
attempts which have been made to
introduce silkwOrm culture in this
country is practically admitted to-
day. A few scattered efforts have
shown some indications of success,
but for the most part the silkworm
finds fault with his food or the eli
mate. Perhaps because of the APP
parent impcssibility of producing
largo supply Of raw silk the Ameri-
can manufactures of that article
have not fairly equaled those of
France, except within few very re-
cent years. Today it can be said,
however, that Maine produces as
fine an article of "broad" silk goods
as any French manufacturing center
can show, if impartial judges are to
be believed. The American ribbons
also are practically as good as those
imported from France. The Ameri-
can and French manufacturers buy
much of their raw silk in the same
market, and the Americans are using
as good machinery and as skilled Ia
Dor as their French competitors en-
ploy.
It is therefore worthy of note at
this the best period Of American
silk manufacture so far that a meth
cd of making silk threads from wood
pulp is being brought to a practical
stage. The method made its first
public appearance at the Paris expo.
sition of 1889, where it at once at
tracted attention. Atthat time, how
ever, it was imperfect If not absolute
ly dangerous Since that date the
improvements in the original meth
cd have been noticeable, and the re-
vised process is now employed at
Besancon, where the silk is being
manufactured. The material EN-.
ployed is nothing more than the
"wood pulp" which is already used
SO largely in paper making. After
being crushed the pulp is dried in an
oven and afterward immersed in
nitro-sulphuric acid mixture.
Thepulp is then thoroughly washed
in water and is finally dried in alco
hol. The resultant product is put
into a mixture of practically pure
alcohol and ether until "collodi
on" is formed not noticeably differ
ent from that used for Photographic
films. After the collodion is pre-
pared it is forced through a filter
and is then forced into long tube,
in the side of which are hundreds Of
spigots with a very minute outlet.
The collodion issues from the spigots
in thin, sticky threads, which are
afterward washed by ammonia and
water. This washing takes the solu-
BILE ether and alcohol from the colo
dion which Immediately grows hard
er and tough and in about every re-
spect as brilliant and asstrong as silk
thread The resultant threads are
spun together in strands of six and
are then ready for weaving.
When the Chardonnet process was
first exhibited, one very strong OBJ
lection to the textiles woven from
the new silk" lay in the great in
fiammability of such texture. The
original combustibility was at the
rate of two centimeters a second,
and it was claimed with much JUS
tice that goods of such nature
could not be and ought not to be
used for purposes of dress. The adj
dition of ammonia to the water bath
in which the collodion thread was
washed served to do away with the
objection. Still again it was found
that the pressure on the collodion
tube was not equal throughout, some
of the threads swapping off before
they were put into the final bath.
1t is announced that this fault has
been corrected under the revised
process, and if this announcement is
authentic the new method of produc-
ing silk without silkworms will at
tract the notice of American manu-
facturers.-Boston Advertiser.