La Junta tribune., 1899-02-22

formerly the much less jolly catcrpillars,
put at first she was very unhappy that her
butterflies would not eat OF the fresh null
berry leaves she had brought In for them
every day. Still they would always keep
near the boughs placed in the room.
shortly after the clever child made another
discovery.
Sho found upon the boughs tiny giobules
and romembcred having seen similar ones
upon tho branch that had been brought
hrst from the garden. She appriscd her
parents of the news and between them
they soon found the truth. They hnd dis
covervd the transitory forms Of the devel-
opment Of the silkworm.
After that time Emperor Hoang II was
often s.cn In deep thought. Whenever he
found the empress mt her loom he would
remain at her side for hours, watching
her quick hands guiding the shuttle
through the warp. 1t went so far that
while looking at the empress work he
would sometimes neglect even urgent
affairs Of state.
Just think OF II, said the master of
the household to the minister of war one
day; "his majesty has not listened to me
or heard one word Of my verbal report
about what measures l propose to employ
to stop the damage done by the caterpil-
lars In the imperial gardens. We would
have ample work for Mt least l50 people II
the emperor had sanctioned my plan and
approved OF the creation OF the new charge
of imperial caterpillar destroyer even
had imagined most handsome uniforms
for these very useful officials"
"Oh, yes, you are quite right" rotorted
the minister of war. His majesty Ger
tainly lacks the mental vieor OF former
days. While rcs,d my report on the state
of our northern Notifications yesterday
the emperor played the whole time with
one of the little egg shaped balls made by
the worms of the little princess, and when
had finished he had pulled 1t to pieces
and into nunberlcss flno threads
Tho two old courtiers shook their gray
heads In dismny and went ON their re-
spectivc errands- Their nstonishinent
about the whims of their imperial master
rose higher still when in the following
spring Emperor Hoang I'll gave orders to
collect all the worms that could be found
on the mulberry srces and had them fed
and cared for in the largest state hnlls Of
his sumptuous palnce Tho empress and
the princess supervised this work In per-
son, and never II day passed without tho
emperor himself inspecting the prog rexA
of his hobby. Whom the worms ceased
feeding ON leaves and began spinning their
cocoons, the emperor came forward with
q little machine. which made 1t possible
to unwind the fine threads from the CO.
coons and to turn thom into yarn Of IA
flnoness previously unknown. When
sufficient quantity of the yarn had been
obtained, the princess again turned 70 her
loom, and what she wove then was not
wool. but the new fiber procured by tho
machine of the emperor from tho cocoons.
The monarch had thus become the found
er Of tho silk industry. Soon hc also
taught the nrt OF dycing the silk In vaFi-
Gus colors by means Of vegetable dyestuns.
The first silk fabric that came from the
loom OF the empress was worked into .
garment for the little princess, Louit-Sue,
who was radiant In the dazzling yellow
white dress, but the very next was . hand
some shining gown for the emperor, in
blue--the color Of tho sky-and yellow
the color Of the earth-in memory Of thu
beautiful spring morning when tho en-
peror In the light Of radiant sky had
discovered ON earth wherewith to make
his people wealthy and happy.
Long ere grim death put an end to the
glorious reign Of Emperor Hoang- tt many
thousands of industrious workmen were
engaged In tho newly created manufac.
ture of silk. When the entire people
through delegates wanted to thank the
emperor for giving his valuable discovery
to the nation the modest monarch dis
claimed all merit and only said that he
had thought "a novel occupation would
be the most adequate means to raise tho
moral standard Of his people and to com
bat poverty
After the death Of Emperor HoangTi
the people rose as a man to erect monu-
ment to his memory such rs no mortal
had ever received, but then there appeared
an old anchoret, who had for many years
lodged In the mountains In deep seclusion
and exhausted all earthly wisdom: ''Would
you," said he to the people, erect to the
man who was morn modest than the mean
est among you monument made of ironf
Very we'll, then. do no II you think 1t will
satisfy your sense Of gratitude, but 1t
would be far more beautiful II you could
succeed in setting an everlasting monu-
ment to Emperor Hoang II In the mem
ory OF our entire nation. Teach your
children TO look up In clear nights to the
starry heavens above and to couple with
tho brightest Of the stars the memory OF
the great emperor and with the hardly less
brilliant star next to II the thought Of his
noble wife. Let that pious devotion pass
on 10 your children and to your children's
children indefinitely"
And SO 1t happened. Thousands OF years
have since gone by. Weknow not whether
the great Emperor Hoang- I'll ever had n
metal monument erected to his memory,
nor where 1t once stood, but when night
falls in the Flowery Kingdom and star
upon star flashes up in the sky then the
little Chinese children come out Of their
houses. They turn up their eager faces
and search among the stars until they
have found Whist they were looking for
and then they joyfully exclaim. "Tsan-
Fans, the little nlkhouser'
Ard then they think Of the great EN-
peror Hoang III, who more than l5 cen
turies ago understood the art to observe
natures own forces at work and to make
use Of what be LEANED for the benefit Of
his people.-Fsom the Chinese In Chicago
Inter Ocean.
rn. p.r-o,,s rvya.t.