The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-09-25
DESTINED FOR SUPREMACY.
American strides in the silk Trade
of the World.

OF the " Grid.
At the recent request Of the Amcri-
/ can Silk Association. Thornweu Haynes.
/ the United States Consul at Rouen.
/ France. was instructed by, The Depart
/ meut of State to report upo1 the Expo
| sition Of Arts for the Decoration Of Fab
( RIGS. held in that city during the months
/ Of July, August and September, 1901
( The Consul has Just Transmitted the de
I sired report
| The reluctance Of the president of the
/ exposition 20 furnish the Consul with any
/ information. the absence of printed cata-
/ logues, the care with which the exhibits
| We're guarded. the suspicion with which
/ even note taking was regarded, etc.
/ made it impossible for the consul to sup
ply such "a report as ne would otherwise
] have prepared, nevertheless. he has col
( lected mass Of technical detail which
I VIII be Of great interest to the American
SILK Association. to the manager Of which
the full report has been mailed.
Extracts from Mr.. Haynes report and
! the enclosed descriptions are given below:
The silk industry was introduced into
france from Italy at the beginning Of the
fourteenth century. when discontented
| italian weavers established themselves at
! Lyons In the sixteenth century the in
i
/ scale. and in 1750 France surpassed italy.
and has since kept the position OF leader.
( Today however, the success Of the United
States and other countries in all the finer
hnos Of goods points TO a probable crisis
Tor this industry in France. All that has
gone 20 make the United States foremost
IN other rCspects-the same causes that
I Tor the last three years have operated to
place Its consumption Of raw silk above
/ thHt or France, and that have enable IT
IN forty years TO Increase the production
OF It's own supply from = per cent to s.
per cent-will. in all probability, enable il
some day to sell silk piece goods. ernbroid-
| cries, and ribbons iu Paris Berlin. and
London
The United States seems destined TO
. gam the supremacy over France in the
silk industry as France obtained II over
Italy in the eighteenth century At that
time it was simply the triumph Of newer
and brighter ideas. Of more perfect means
OF Intercourse, and Of greater activity and
more daring diversity. When the Keeling
OF the Orient is made TO conform to
American looms and its raw silk is i'm
ported direct. instead Of via France. there
10 be rehnished, rebranded. and re-export-
cd, II can hardly be doubted that the
United States viii have advantages TO
counterbaIance those possessed by France
'heap ana patient manual labor artis-
TIC taste. and Industrial skill So far the
raw six going to the United States has
Deen The trenchman' $ gain and the Amer
lean loss The extra cost Of reshfDn1ent
ana the increase Of freight rates by lon
ger routes only defers the day OF our su-
premacy in silk manufacturing
rench manufacturers are already re-
alizlng the danger. Some have removed
thelr plants 10 the United States. TO take
l4F n~rv freaF~
uonsi the Lyons Chamber Of Commerce
demands. truitlessly. free importation Of
raw material: French journals call atteu-
ton TO the fact that although the United
states did not succeed IN aCcIfmatfziug
Inc manufacture OF silk until near thu
close OF the civil war. il is now pressing
France for first place
One Of the most significant proofs Of
lhiS Tear IS the interest that French in
dustrtal societies are trying TO arouse not
only IN the silk industry. but In all 9TH
or fabrics Special attention was paid TO
such exhibits at the Paris Exposition On
the lst Of November next there Will be
opened at Mines an exposition Of decora-
i've ana Industrial art. while at present
there Is being held in this city CRouenb
the centre Of the French iudienne' or
calico, trade, an exposition Of arts for
the decoration of fabrics. Evidently the
purpose OF this exposition by the Rouen-
natse Is not TO make q grand display.
complimentary 10 the superiority Of their
textile fabrics. but 70 stimulate an ac-
competition
One Of the most singular things about
this exposition is the low price OF adrnis-
slon-5 cents. / have seen the poorest
classes there. No wonder the French
Workingman can impart 70 his work an
artistic feeling. the result Of the study
Of works Of art by generations; the peO-
PIE nave learned not only that they are
beautiful. but why they are beautiful II
has been a free tuition This is surely
better policy than that Of countries
u al mn inns
itions. etc. are closed 20 those who have
not good price with which to pay en-
trance fees
MI Haynes groups the several exhib-
its under the following cateEories. An
cient fabrics Egyptian. Roman, and By
Zantine. old embrOideries. old brOcades
Of the times Of Louis XIV. XIV. and XVI;
old Oriental Nelyetsi gObeluS. modern
fabrics In this connection. the consul
makes the following comments
ION entering the modern hall Of fab
RIGS the question at once presents itself.
How, in such a little time have the dec
orative traditions Of such distinguished
art been lost2 Here and there one can
see the influence Of Louis XVI. but the
vulgarity Of the colOrs, the overlooking OF
decoration. the abuse Of gold embrOid-
cry, show what decadeuCe has befaIen
the Lyons satius, the brocades, the fab
RIGS Of Tours the damaSks-teW Of the I
pieces Offering an artistic interest
I'm one room are exhibits Of fabrics for
export TO Algeria, Tunis, Cambodia.
Cochin China. Madagascar. and other
French colonies Instead Of being mostly
OF cotton, as one would naturally expect,
they consist, for the greater part. OF silk
and wool goods. and are finished in The [
scarlet. sea green. deep violet. blue, iudi-
90. etc. The designs If they may bee :
called such. consist Of straiSht-linc
stripes Of different colors and widths In |
an the collection not one flower OF ng-
ure is 70 be seen The goods Tor NADIA !
E1scar. however, consist mostly Of cot !