Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-05-11
GROWING SILK INDUSTRY
france Is Now This Country's
Only Rival in Manufacture.
'mporatious Napidiy DeclinlUG-Ans
nun1 output If American Mills
Now Exceeds aioO,ooe,o 900 IN
Value.

Recently issued Government statistics
show that the tritcd States is the sec.
cnd silk acturinC nation in the
world. France being its only rival. 1t
Is q far call from LOG, when James I.
Jailed in an etdcavor to introduce silk
culture into the American colonies. TO
the present day. with the annual output
Of American mills aegresatirg S101 .20.-
W., but in these three centuries this par
ticular industry has kept pace with the
development of the country. James l..
made another effort AT introducing the
tilk industry into the colonies in 1919.
and this time with somewhat greater
success. hut until The close of the Revo-
stionary war it langnished, i'll spite OF
royal and colonial bounties. Connecti-
cut TOOK it UP in 1853. and the industry
had an uncertain and not very rroinis-
ing career from tnat tine until after
the middle of the last century. CALI
rornia was the last state to pay silk
bountics. aud il stopped them in 1866.
Tho expectations of silk are rapidly
declining. American silk mills supply
NEST Of the American demand. and are
competing with France and southern
Er,ropc countries. ard also with China,
Japan. and Iudia. for the trade OF the
rest OF the world. silk was first made
in China. and authentic history notes
the use OF that article there as early as
the wear oe4o E.. G. China guarded the
secret Ct the manufacture jealouslN. and
81 was not until the third century of the
present era that Japan learned how silk
was raade. There is a legend that .
Japanese royal princess. returning from
2 visit TO China, concealed several CO.
in haV 1rit and n ffpYU-lYH f1llNhf
ber countrymcn the secret OF the induy-
,ry as she had learned it herself. A lit
flc later the industry travelled overland
30 India. whence it went to Persia, and
WAS from that country taken to Greece
By Alexander the Great.
The FIRST notice OF the silkworm in
Western literature was made by Aris-
,,tle. England first am into contact
with the industry through the cncour-
esemcn Of Henry VI, and Louis NJ.
established it in France. Cortez brought
,ne first siikworms to Mexico two years
SITTER the conquest in 1922. Such, III x
few words. is the history of this great
Industry as Uncle SANS statistics record
st.
Tie Development OF sericulture in the
United States since 1850 has been rapid.
There were then " silk manufacturing
plants. and they had a capital aecre-
eating Se7S. hf'. employing 1.123 wage
workers. vino We're paid annually S.G,.-
pa. The ;otai value OF the output of
That year was 81 400. W0: to make il. 800
NJ pounds Of raw silk were consumed.
II lNo there were 4S silk manufacturing
plants in the United States. with an
aggregate capital Of ss1 con. Io. employ
Ing $50 hands. and paying them sl1.-
$4,000 a year in wages. The value of
ilc output in 1860 was slo7, 2O.O)o. for
which 100000 pounds of raw silk were
used. valued at s45.ooo.0c.
In 1880 the imports Of silk into thu
United States amounted to 500 .opD. and
by 1880 they had reached 81. 800, Con. This
grew by 1870 to 49,. 0CD.nn0 The to-
Ia imports in 1900 were $30. 600. COO
these figures. since 1850. do not include
raw. silk. but only the finished product.
with the exception OF France. the
United States IL now tho largest import
er of Chinese and Japanese raw silk.
CHS country imported more raw silk
from China i'll 1900 than all Europe, ex-
ocpt France. THE value of spun silk
imported into the United States in 1910
was only ss.IO,oOo. as compared with
our own output of that year. which was
valued at s107. 80. 0O.
Another way OF showing the rand in
crease OF the industry in this country is
this: In SEQ. only i; per cent. of the
silk used here was home manufactured
mis- percentage had increased to Sc in
$50. and to - IN 1890. and 10 70 in 1900
The real figure is considerably more
tha1 this, because The % per cent. al.
lowed for imported silks covers mot only
Ie costs of tho goods at the place OF eX.
bort, hut the carriage across the water
and the high tariffs collected 81 the
ports of import. Government report,
how that 50 per cent. OF all silk ribbons
,ssI IN the United States are manufact'
s"~d here.
This American industry is largely con.
inod to FIVE States, New Jersey. Penn,
,ylvania, Connecticut, New York. anc
Massa chusetts, in the order named. The
rapital invested in New jersey is 81,
5on. H.: in Pennsylvania. 81 600 ,0o; in
connecticut. $i2.U~.000; in New York
1,oQ0,0 900, and in Massachusetts, $500,
tM