Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-26
AMONG THE WORKERS
METRoPRo11s OF LYONS AND ITS
-FOUR HUNDRED SILK FACTORIES.

FOUR HUNDRED SILK FACTORIES.
AMERICAN TRADE HURTS 1T.
A Visit to the Shops md Talks With
workmen-Costly Goods Mt Low
wages-How silk IL sold-French
Weaving Schools.
LYONS, FRANCE, October al am II
the silk centre Of the world. where tor
more than four centuries the finest gowns
OF the bellies of all nations have been
turned ont on common hand looms.
Lyons makes about s9o,Oo0oOo worth OF
silks and silk goods every year. Its
satins and velvets go all over the world
ard within the past few months II mas
been busy making the rich red Ve1sets
which were worn at the coronation OF
King Edward VII.
The city is the commercial centre Ok
middle France and. next TO Parls, tue
chief city of this republic. 1t took me
~
200 miles between here and Paris, and l
now find myself in the rich valley or the
Rhone. in one Of the most beautifully
located Of cities.
Lyons is surrounded by hills. It lies or
the lowlands. under the mountains, at
the confluence Of the Rhone and the
Saone On the other side OF the saonc
are the Heights of Fourvieres. with
great tower upon them. up which we
VITO a
through the town, passing the site OF
Roman palace in which the most cruel
of the Roman emperors, Claudus and
Caligula, were born; we go over one OF
the Saone bridges and by cable railroad
are elevated to the Loot OF tie tower.
Another elevator takes us to the top.
and we are 600 feet above the river, hang
ing, as it were, high over the city. Be-
hind us are the golden mountains. OF:
Lyons, and beyond them, over valley OF
gardens and trees are the mighty Alps,
their snowy peaks forming ragged silver
mass against the clouds. The day Is
clear and we can see the snowy cap
of Mont Blanc hundred miles away.
Turn about now and look down into the
valley. There Is the Rhone. fresh from
it's glacier cradle in Mont st. Gotnaru,
and nearer still, flowing. almost at our
feet is the Saone, winding about through
Al
the Rhone. Between the two IS the great
er part Of Lyons, and as we look we see
the silvery streams embracing the NUM-
cipal maiden In her slken clothes ana
going singing on together to the sea.
THE SECOND CITY OF FRANCE.
Stop minute and think where we are.
We. are in the heart of one of the Oldest
parts of Europe and on the site OF one Oh
the most famous cities of France. This
fro6 e re- in, tha
days Of Julius Caesar and great fairs
were held here in the middle ages, to
which merchants from Amsterdam to
Venice and from other parts of Europe
came to buy and sell. The Gauls had a
town on this site 600 years before Christ
was born, and at the time Christ lived
hero was a Roman city. On this very
hill one Roman emperor caused 10000
Christians to be massacred. and in the
days of the French revolution the Tribu-
nal. finding that the guillotine would not
kill the Lyons aristocrats fast enough,
tied them together with ropes. in rows
Of sixty, and executed them by wholesale
with cannon loaded with grape shot.
The Lyons of to-day, however, devotes
itself more to business than to politics or
religion. 1t is a great manufacturing
centre. It contains 100000 people, and
with its suburbs has about three-quarters
Of a million. Standing here on the tower
you can see the smokestacl:s Of it's car
shops tanneries, and chemical, works.
and there across the valley, on the other
side is the famous Croix Rouse Reo
Cross the hill where the silkrakers live
where the fashions Of generations have
been woven and where to-day some OF
the most beautiful clothes of the worlu
are produced The hill looks but little
liz a manufacturing centre. 1t has n.
vast brick buildings, walled with win
dCWs. such as you see in the factory
towns OF our country; it has no smoke
stacks pouring volumes of black into the
clouds. and it looks more like residence
section than an Industrial one Still
Lyons has hundreds of silk factories and
the most of them are situated upon thai
hill
Suppose We visit it. We descend to the
Saone. cross the bridge, and take the troll
ley car through the city to the cable sta
ton at the foot of Croix Rouse We go
into the car, dropping a sou, or / cent, at
the turnstile, for that is what is charged
for the ride. We enter a box car where a
score Of silk workers are standing, and in
a moment find ourselves riding to the top
Of the hill. A few steps from the station
above takes you into the heart Of the silk
industry Of Lyons. We can tell it by the
click! click! click! which IS heard on
every street and in every hallway The
houses are lean, fve-story structures
built along al1ey-like streets. with narrow
entrance doors. They look like tenement
buildings, and they are indeed, little more
than tenements, great beehives filled with
laborers, every cell of which is a little
factory. Most of the work in the great
silk department of Rhone is done on hand
looms. and there are 100000 men thus
employed in this department. Even where
power looms are used the work is largely
that of house industry. several weavers
having, in a single room, looms worked
by electricity, paying therefor few cents
per day per loom.
AMONG THE SILK WORKERS.
We enter one of the buildings and walk
up the narraw stone stairs. We hear the
clicking going on as we mount from story
to story. The building is rudely con-
structed and without modern conveni-
ences- We knock a the door. pounding
loudly in order that we may overcome
the noise Of the weaving. a Frenchmau
in his shirt sleeves, with a. cap on his
head, opens the door and asks US to enter.
He has just left his loom. and at our re-
quest he again goes to work. The loom
is old fashioned and he works it with his
feet, throwing the shuttle by hand from
one side to the other through the silk
threads. He is making a pattern of dress
pnOdS which NAV eSentlIaIlv he worn h,.