The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-17
INT .II ! | ! OF SILK
ANNOYS ITALIANS.
TT WILL NOT STAND THE WEAR
OF THE REAL ARTICLE.
It Is Produced in Several Ways, but All
Having Cellulose as the Base-It Is
Very Intammable and Dangerous for
Dress Ends or Curtains.
London Times

An imitation Of silk, which so closely
resembles the real article that a casual
observance will hardly reveal the. differ
ence, has been introduced in Italy, ac-
.cordlng to Neville Rolfe, the British
consul general at Naples. According to
Mr.. Rolfe the Italian silk growers are
much disturbed over the discovery. The
artificial silk is produced in several
ways, all having cellulose as their basis.
The cellulose IS first transformed into
gun cotton, which is dissolved in alco-
mol and ether and passed thru a fine
sieve. 1t may be dissolved in other
ways, but the result is practically the
same; it becomes vegetable fiber like
cotton, linen, canvas or even wood
pulp. Hence, what is called. artificial
silk is nothing but cellulose or vegetable
cular composition and in it's physical
structure, but chemically little, if at all,
different from it's original material,
while between real silk and such ma.
terials as cotton and linen, the differ
ence is that the former contains azotes
to the amount of rather more than one
sixth Of its weight, and the latter con-
! tains none at all.
It must be admitted that the arti.
! fetal silk has a finer luster, but, on the
Other. hand, it has many important
|
pulled, it has but little elasticity, it's
specific gravity is far greater than that
Of silk, it is very infammable, and at
! the slightest action of water or even of
! damp it tears easily. These defects
/ render the product unsuitable for dress
materials or any uses where wear and
tear have to enter into the calculation.
It's inflammability alone makes it un-
suitable for covering furniture or for
curtains and hangings, and its suscep-
tibility to Injury from rain and damp
renders it useless out Of doors.
i It's cost is also not really so very
much less than that of true silk. AT
first sight it appears to be SO, since it
is quoted at from "a to % lire per kilo
Something under los a pound), but
as the density of the article is one-halt
greater than that of true silk, the
weight to cover the. same ,-superfcies
will be one half more. SO the former
must be reckoned at los pound, in
comparison with the latter, and thus
the new product is in reality deare1
than the commoner kinds of silk.
No doubt, as methods improve, arti
fetal silk will become better, as vel
as cheaper, but the variety Of the pro
cesses and the expense of the plant
make it doubtful that it can ever fail
below certain tolerably high limits. The
;; competition will not be so much with
real silk as with other kinds Of imi
tation silk, such as cotton fabrics pre-
pared to initiate silks very closely Al
cost of from Is to IS a pound, anl
which have the advantage over arti
!. fetal silk that they can be woven II
any form that is desired. ..--.a r.
The product has competed seriously
with the lower kinds of silk, and espe
cially with the fabrics made out Of the
refuse Of the silk factories, and how
ever much the artificial silk may i'm
prove in manufacture and fall in price
it will only rank with ordinary cotton
silk, and the true material, in the con
sui general s opinion, will always main
D tain its deserved supremacy.