Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-04-04
THE WORK OF A WORM
Origin of SILK Making ~ "A T..
Throughout TT a Vo,Ia

d., conceived
idea that t,eautifuI. new and won.
derfu1 fabric, might be fashioned from
.ns e"co"I OF the ungainly worm which
AZ r''estec- the imperial gardens at Chen
'E-on1, on the Yellow river, and annual
~ destroyed SO many mulberry trees
In pursuit of this theory the empress
eand her maidens unraveled the queer
little nests and from the fine meshes
: wove strange and lustrous material
which was stronger and more beauti-
1nl than anything they had ever seen.
The officers of the court took it up, and
soon silk weavers and manufacturers
Were plentiful in China. It became the
badge of wealth and rank Only the
aristocrats were allowed to use it, and
they used it not only for the adorn-
xnent OF their persons. but draped their
homes Ia the Sheeny folds of the new
fabric.
That was more tkan four Thousand
years ago, and it is a commentary up
,on the Chinese nation that very nearly
the same rules and methods arc en-
ployed to-day as IN that far~past CEN
tury. Silk is stir the possession of the
mobile. ard but little improvement is 80
be found in the manufacturing of the
coveted article
For eenturies'China jealousy guarded
the serret of silk manufacture and en-
sriches herseE by commerce with ma
lions who eagerly bought, but could
not procure the secret of the fabric.
However, nothing can remain for
ever a secre5 in this world So grad
uaEy the Information spread to Persia,
India and Arabia, and they 1iso be
cane manufacturers of silk, and
riI aled Gina in the markets of The
civilized world. Alexandria invaded
Persia AMI India about three hundred
and fifty years before Christ He THUS
obtained the secret of silk culture,
which the Greeks used to advantzg e
and, like the other countries possessed
of the golden fleece" closely guar ded
the precious secret.
Not"untn ffty-sW years before Christ
did Rome fall into1ine with the ma tions
already familiar with the open sesame
of wealth and influence and produce
the material, thesTustfe Of which was
certainly golden, for even in the third
century of the Christian era SIX was
worth its weight in gold.
In 1855 Roger, king of Sicily, in
vaded Greece. He took prisoeler sew
:,
whom he compelled to teach the citi-
zens of Palermo the secret of the
weave. About twenty years later ST.
Gillian silks were famous Tor their
beauty. They were interweEen with
threads of gold and silver and richly
embroidered with gems
Christopher Columbus heard the mar
velous stories of Marco Polo;.vho, while
visiting the court of China, became IA
miliar with the silk worm and its uses.
Columbus was one OF the few who cred
tied the distinguished travellers nara
tive, and It was partly to find an easy
route to the land of silks that the great
discoverer embarked upon the hazard
Gus voyage which was destined to give
q new world to civilization.
The history of silk beginS in America
as early asi1522, when Cortes, ruler of
Mexico, cultivated the. mall berry tree
and raised the silk wormS1u that warm
climate.
Some claim silk TO have been in use
with the Eztecs before the invasion of
the Spanish, but 1t is generally con-
coded to have been q texture woven
from the ..ibers of plant and lacking
the lusseT.and- softnesS of the genuine
article.
England began the raising of the
silk-wocm in 154s, when James /. Or
dered the planting of muI berry trees
Only thesraw material was produced,
which was sent to Italy for weaving
and manufacturing. However, in
17i5 John Lombe, q young English
man, visited Italy for the purpose OF
procuring for the English government
the secret of silk manufacture. He
succeeded 10y bribery in obtaining the
coveted information, and, being de-
tected, was forcedFto flee for his life,
and returning to England erected the
first silk mill. Lombe was finally poi
soned by woman sent froEl Italy for
that purpose
England encouraged the. culture OF
the silkworm in the colonies of Ameri
ca, but prohibited it's manufacture.
All raw material was sent to England
for weaving. This effectually checked
such enterprise in america although
many young ladies raised, enough OF
the silk to have their wedding gar
ments made therefron.
In 1755 Mrs. Pinkney prese nted the
princess Gowager of Wales with a silk
dress, TIE material for which was
raised by herself nearsCharleson. In
SaSIuudh "TfkuG gave Succu
Charlotte a similar costume Thus
twice was American silk worn 10y roy.
atty at the British court
After the revolution silk culture,
which had died out with the war. began
slowly to revive. In the course of a
few wears the United States produced
an inferior quality of sewing silk sold
in skeins-
Philadelphia began the nanufaetur.
ing of tassels and laces for coaches in
1898. and IN 1915 undertook TO furnish
silk laces and dress trimmings.
South Manchester. Conn.,, produced
spun silk ia 1895. The same gear coE
-cress took up the subject of silk manu-
facrure, and ordered al investigation
and report upon the question. but did
little more TO aid the infant industry
struggling for life in the busy Eation.
In 1887 the silk-worm craze swep,
like wildfire over the states Large
schemes were set afoot whereby the
met. morphosis of the cacoon into dol
lars and cents was q foregone ,conclu
sion. The white nulherry-tfee was in
trodueed and a rich harvest teaped by
the pnopagations Of the speculation
stories were set adoat Of their <vondex-
ful properties: farmers converted theh
fields into orchards Of the white null
1,.-.v. men. women and children Anrse6