The Sunday globe., 1901-08-04
MAXINE ELLIOTT
To Wear a Dress Made of Spun
Glass.
A VERY UNIQUE CREATION
There is but One Man in the World Who Can
Spin and Manufacture This Style Of Dress
aad OF CouSrs He is An AmeriCan-Fu Full
Description Of the New Toilet, which is Most
Economical.


Description OF the New Toilet, which is Most
Economical.
There is only one man in the world
who manufactures a certain kind Of
beautiful cloth Out of that he has
lust made a dress for Miss Maxine FL
lott, the actress, which is not merely
lovely and unique, but will wear for
ever and a day. The man who manu-
factured the fairy fabric is II. Ham
mesfahr, of Brooklyn, a modern magi-
clan, who spins and weayes weird ef-
fects out of a strange substance. The
material with which he works is glass.
Odd as it seems to think of drawing
a window pane into threads and wind
ing them on a reel like cotton, the pro-
cess appears to be simple enough after
one has once seen it done. Holding
over a gas fame the end Of a glass rod
about a foot lang and half an inch in
diameter, Mr., Hammesfahr, Jr., slowly
turns the rod in his hand. The glass
melts at the point, stringing off into a
fine thread. This is drawn out and
thrown on a huge revolving iron
wheel, which winds up the glass thread
as fast as it is spun. This wheel makes
$50 revolutions in a minute and winds
Is feet of thread with every revolu-
ton. A mile and a half of glass
thread is thus spun in minute, So
fine is the thread that it takes $50 Of
them to equal the thickness Of a cotton
thread. "I'll prove it to you" said Mr..
Hammafahr with enthusiasm. "Pll
spin for a minute-siXty seconds by
this clock. Now, since this wheel re-
wolves $50 times in a minute, there
must be $50 strands upon the wheel
after I've spun a minute, See that
bright stripe on the wheel. Well take
it off and see if what | say isn't true"
Stopping the wheel and cutting the
strands. Mr.. Hammesfahr gathered
them up in his hand, pressing them to-
gether. The whole $50 ii is true, did
not combine to make a thread any
coarser than the ordinary stout cotton.
These glass canes are blown for me
into thread, and they are then woven
into cloth on that loom over there. It
takes about an hour and a half to
spin one of these rods into thread, and
each one makes about 100 miles Of
thread"
The glass thread is finer and softer
than any wool or cotton or silk that
ever was spun So fine is it that it
plats together easily and can only be
worked when wet. Neckties are made
of braided strands of glass fiber, There
are 60 strands in each necktie, and L.,
$50 threads in each strand. 1t takes
three minutes to spin each strand in
other words, the wheel reyOlyes 1850
times. Three hours spinning will pro-
duce enough thread for one necktie.
They are braided by hand and the
woman who only knows how to plait
her hair in three strands must marvel
at the tactile skill of the girls who
manipulate 60 strands into a regular
and pleasing pattern.
The dress made for Maxine Elliott
clothes a wax model of the actress,
which is a conspicuous feature Of the
exhibit. Miss Elliott posed for the fig
ure, and the dress was cut to fit her.
The cloth was made on a silk warp
with a glass filing. 1t has wonder
full sheen similar to that Of a mOire
silk, but far more lustrous. 1t took a
week to make the cloth in the dress.
II Nl NAlAlltN hbDhA ~ 10 t'ltlfN7' NNNAA AlAN
ribbons and the silvery braid used to
edge the flounces. When Miss Elliott
comes out on the stage in that gown,
every light in the theater will be re-
flected in it.
The strangest thing about it is its
wonderful softness. 1t is as plant as
the finest nuns yelling, and yet it has
a body to it that any other material
equally soft in its effects lacks. Fine
as the glass thread is, it is yet strong
enough to cut paper as Mr. Mammes-
fahr illustrates when he is spinning,
by drawing a piece Of paper through
the thread and cutting it as clean as
with a knife
The most charming thing about this
dress is its economy, apart from the
cost price. 1t is not merely tough
enough to last forever, but whenever
it gets soiled, a little sponging will
make it as fresh as ever. Soapsuds are
as good for it as for dirty windows.
In color it is an iridescent white, the
natural hue Of the glass. The cloth
might have been made any shade, by
first coloring the glass.