Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-03-04
(Clara Singleton. ) 3.

49, s fYs,tlS y. Is US 80
(Ciara Singleton.)
The making OF linen Is one OF the
most ancient crafts. Thousands of
years before the pyramids were built,
EGYPT was famous for flax, and the
cloth made from 1t was exported to
every part OF the Medfterranean,.
: 2 which then comprised about AL the
known world, The earliest niontion
of fax by any author was in the ac-
count of the plague of hail, which
sawas brought by Moses upon the
Fgyptians because they would not
let the chosen people go. King Solo,
mon brought horses and flax out of
Egypt. Isaiah speaks of that fine
work In flax. Joshua speaks OF RAJ
hab covering the spies with stalks OF
flax on the roof OF her house. In
Proverbs flax is mentioned many
times. as 'The woman who seeketh
wool and flax and worketh willingly
with her hands.
The Egyptian mummies were inva-
riably dressed in linen. This shows
how lasting 1t is, for, although some
of them have been buried thousand
vars some of their robes are found
to be quite strong.
Herodotus, the ancient writersays
that the clothing of the Egyptians
was nearly always made of linen.
They wore long robes of this cloth,
with fringe on the bottom. made
from thrums, or ends of the thread.
1t was also used for covering sacred
objects
Except that 1t was woven on hand
looms, the process of making linen
was very much the same then as 1t is
now.
1t is we'll known that the best
linen in the world is made in Ireland.
The climate of Ireland Is not only
suited to the growth of flax, but the
3 water possesses q peculiar quality
that is unrivaledi for the bleaching
of linen. An Irish field of flax in
flower, with its long, thickly grow
ing, waving stalks, with tiny blue
bells on the ends, looking very much
as If they were on the point of ring
ing out some message from the fa-
ries, is one of the prettiest sights in
the world When the stalks are
ripe they are buried in bogs so that
the bark will rot, and can be easily
separated from the fibre. But in
Belgium they have a still better pro-
cess of doing that. They place the
stalks of fiaxip a slow-running river,
which gives 1t a superior quality, and
gives the Belgian fax worldwide
reputation. In Ireland the govern
ment will not allow the rivers to be
used for this purpose.
The first stage of making flax is
not very beautiful process to watch,
nor. even to be within smelling dist
ance of. 1t has an ugly, sodden ap-
pearance, and the odor is over-pow-
ering. After the fax is taken from
the water 1t is piled or stacked up
and left in the sun for while. 1t is
then carried to the scutGt mills,
where 1t is threshed and freed from
refuse. 1t is then ready for bleach
ing, The best bleaching fields in
the world are in Ireland, around the
linen factories. The linen Is stretch
ed on the short turf in the bleach
ing yards, near the factories. 1t Is
left In the sun from six to eight
weeks.
The largest linen mill in the world
is on York street, in Belfast, Ire
land. 1t employs four thousand five
hundred men.
The European housewives take
great care of their linen. Some of
them are using the same linen that
their grandmothers used, and ex-
pect to leave 1t in good condition for
their daughters.