The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-03-17

brought to italy from China. then a clos
ed and forbidden and by Jesuit mission
aries. who concealed the eggs In the ho-
lows of their bamboo walking stafs and
thus eluded the Wig lance of the watchiul
Chinese. China has worn silk from
time immemorial, and wished to keep her
monopoly of the stuff Until very lately
she still led the world in silk production.
This mainly from the fact that the spe-
cial painstakirg labor required In silk
raising is cheaper there than anywhere
else. Chinese work ng women felt opu ent
with daily wages of three cents. Not
withstandng Italian women run them
close. Everywhere It is women who do
most of the work in rearing the worms.
Men bring in the fresh leaves and cultl-
vate ehe trees which supply them, but IN
the silkeries women watch over the
worms, from the egg TO the cocoon.
To keep the eggs dormant requires a
temperature just above freezing Even a
light freeze would kill them. They must
not be laid in the Matching trays with
out regard to the season. If It Is cold
and backward the hatch must be post
poned to wait the growth of the leaves.
When first the worms hatch they are fed
leaves finely shredded. In bits suited
their tender jaws. After the first moult
the leaves are only torn. Thenecforward
they are fed whole, but must not be al
lowed to get hard and woody. They are
stripped from the young shoots, just be-
fore they reach full size A tree that has
given all it's early leaves to the silk
worm brood is so weakened II may die.
Consequently, trees are not fully stripped
unless under great stress. and II more
than half denuded, get later a special Gull
tlvation and fertillzing to help them make
up lost vitality. Leaves are plant lungs
where the blood otherwise the sap, Is e'ab-
GRATED, enriched and made fit for tissue
building.
After the fifth moult the worms, fat,
green sluggish rolls, refuse to eat, and be-
gin moving their heads rapidly from side
TO side. This Is the sign Of cocoon spin
Ming so those in watch supply the trays
with bundles of clean short twigs. Upon
these the worms crawl, attach themselves
and begin spinning. The cocoon is finish
ed In twelve to twenty-four hours Inc
goodness or badness Of 1t is Judged less
by the size than the weight and SYM
metry. percentage Of the finest cocoons
are set apart to hatch out, and produce
next years eggs. The rest ore baked az
steady heat that destroys the chrysalid
without injuring the silk, then boiled
doubled, reeed, secured and sent to mar
ket. There are tricks In the trade or SILK
spinning, also Of silk dyeing. Thread can
or earthly salts, to weigh half as much
again as the pure raw silk. But dealers
are alert for such frauds, and have be-
sides tricks of their own to quite onset
them
A curious industry is the manufacture
OF silk worm gut for fishing tackle Inc
best Of II comes from the Spanish SILK
fields A silk worm ready to spin his
cocoon has within long. much-convo-
luted intestine filed with pure flued SIX.
The gut makers take such worm, snip of
both ends, then deftly draw out the full
Intestine straighten It, pass II through
sundry chemical solutions to cleanse and
strengthen II. and at last dry 1t, and tie
Il in punches. The result Is a hiament
several yards long, strong, fine elastic
and In water nearly invisible. This is the
gut leader" attached to the end OF
braided fishing line. to hold the nook.
Sometimes 1t holds two hooks, one at each
end OF course II can be broken by he
mad rush OF big fish, but II the n her.
man knows his business and the hook Is
weil-bedded, and properly fastened he Is
likely to land his quarry, In spite OF
rushes or sulklng.
silk worm gut is also useful In surgery.
Sterilized II makes a suture that can be
left to be absorbed with no danger what
ever 10 the patient. II has possibly the
greatest textile strength proportioned to
size of any known ligature. hence Is
among the special silk products artificial
silk making cannot touch. Chemistry ha,
found out a way to do In tanks what the
worm does in his stomach-that Is, how
to dissolve woody fiber Into a clear ropy
LIQUID. This Is spun by forcing II through
innumerable tiny holes in brass cylin-
der Then the threads are chemically
treated, washed, dried. hot pressed and
q
that looks and feels like raw silk, but
which lacks the strength of true silk. II
Is used for wool, in many mills with
real silk warp. Thus does Times whiri-
Gig bring IN revenges. Morus mulcaulis
failed us-stil America has found a way
10 make much OF her own raw silk.
Martha McCulloch Williams.