The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-09-12

wooG, Just as mixed tow linen Is made
in the mountains Of Virginia end North
Carolina to-day. These Egyptian mixed
fabrics, as we'll as pure cotton cloths,
were largely used in upholstery as the
coverings of chairs and couches, and
probably also as drapery hangings. The
cottons of India were famous, and Hindoo
muslins were formerly produced that were
so fine that when laid upon the grass and
wet with dew they became invisible. The
marvellous fabrics of Cos and Tarestum,
by some said to have been made from cot
ton, were more likely silk, as they are
described as floating like a mist around
the female form. disclosing the contour
like a gauze veil. There is also the
record of a muslin turban thirty English
yards in length, contained in cocoanut
set with jewels, which was so exquisite
ly fine that it could scarcely be felt by the
touch. 1t is impossible to say how far
back into the ages cotton was first used
in India, and though it is referred to 800
b. c., we may be sure that the industry
was old at that time. Cotton was a late
introduction into Greece, though it was
known 200 B. c.. and even linen was an
introduced textile, which came slowly into
favor at a time when wool was almost
universally used.
Turning to the western world and to
the aboriginal civilization of the Incas, we
find the ancient Peruvians, with their SIM
pie hand looms, were enabled TO produce
fabrics that were marvels of design and
exquisite in color and finish. Both cotton
and wool were used in the different ar
ticles of dress of these people with other
fibers The Aztecs, or ancient Mexcans,
were familiar with cotton as well as sew
eral other vegetable fibers. With cotton
and feathers we are told they produced a
soft and beautiful fabric, which was used
for nantes and blankets, and examples
of their plain cotton fabrics are said to
have been as fine as some of the imported
linens of the present age. Regarding the
early use of cotton on this continent, there
are abundant records to show that it has
been cultivated more or less generally for
four or five centuries. How long it had
been known to the early ancestors of some
of the native Indian tribes of our own
country will never be known, although
from the fact that its use is required in re-
ligious ceremonies, as in the Hopl Indian
tribe, we may be sure that such use is no
modern innovation. 't
The date palm affords valuable mate
rial for cordage in Egypt in very early
times, as modern excavations have shown,
and Pliny says that even the papyrus was
used for cordage, as well as for mating,
curtains and sails
OF the two dozen species of commercial
fibre used in the United States, twenty fig
ure in the list of imported raw products.
Taking into account also the imported
manufactures from fibrous substances
and some of the rougher manufactures
from fibres, the complete list of American
commercial flbres may be swollen to thir-
ty though many of these are unimportant.
This list includes fax, China grass, hemp,
jute, sum hemp, Cuba bast, used in mil
linery, cotton and ssal and manila hemp.
cocoanut fibre, Mexican whisk Spanish
moss, and vegetable sponge Since the
e,.1e s,-.- 49,.
article was begun in the Bahamas this
industry has thrived until 1t is one of the
chief sources of revenue of Nassau.
AS to the source of supply of these
fibres," says Mr.. Dodge, FLAX Is imported
chiefly from Belgium, Russia. Holland,
Italy, the United Kingdom of Great Brit
ian and ireland, and from Canada China
grass or ramie comes from China lin very
small quantities). Hemp is derived from
Russia, France, Belgium, Germany Aus
tria- Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and
British East Indies Cthe last in tri1ing
quantity) jute from India, and Cuba bast
from the West Indies. The imports OF
cotton are chiefly produced In Egypt and
Peru, though small quantities may be de-
rived from other countries. RAMA, used as
agricultural tie bands, comes from Africa.
''rhe sisal hemp supply is produced In
Yucatan, small quantities being produced
in Cuba and the Bahamas. Manila hemp is
product or the Philippine Islands, cebu
hemp being a trade variety. Mauritius or
aloe fiber comes from Africa, and the
source of supply Of New Zealand fax is
indicated by it's name. Tampico, or istle.
is a Mexican product, and the Bahia and
Para piassabas, or bass fbers are coll
lected from Brazilian palms. There are
other species of bass derived from African
palms, which formerly never came to the
United States and now, If at all, only in
Prom lie
can product, the root of tall, wlry grass
The two palmetto fibers are produced from
uncultivated species of Florida palms.
while the erin vegetal Is derived from an
allied palm growing in Algeria. The vege-
table hair from Spanish moss is prepared
in South Carolina and other Gulf states
while cocoanut fibre comes from the East
Indies. Esparto grass is produced in Alge-
ria, Spain and Portugal, and vegetable