The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-07-30
OF the
Household

The cocoon consists OF an exterior
portion of struggling fiiaments tby
means of which It was fastened to
the twigs or branches that supported
ft. and closely cemented sheath
around the body Of the chrysalis. The
threads of this sheath are so tightly
glued together that they cannot be
unwound until after It has been thor
oughly soaked In water. The exte-
rior portion Is removed. being known
as floss or waste. and is spun with
the material Of roken or defective
cocoons by methods similar to those
used with cotton and other f1ibrous
materials. The filaments of the per-
feet C ocoons are caught up on fine
brush, four. Ave or six Of them passed
through an eyelet to areei and wound
upon this In O continuous thread from
500 to 1000 yards in length. From
these reels the silk Ia taken In skeins,
constituting in tf1fs form tho raw silk
Of commerce.
The first step in the manufacture OF
silk In known as throwing The skeins
are inclosed in light cotton bags and
soaked for several hours In warm.
soapy water. Then they are dried
in a hydro-extractor, and stretched
upon swift or skeleton reels adjust
ed to hold the skeins tightly. Then
the flaments are wound upon bob
bins and cleaned by being passed from
one bobbin to another through the
cleaner. which consists Of two paral-
lei plates 50 adjusted that there IL
just room for the thread to pass
through. Single Hilk lfrom which
pongees are woven) is not double or
twisted, but Is ready for the scourer
and dyer just as II comes from the
oil IN silk Ia NADIA
by twisting two or more singles to-
gether and then doubling and twist
ing again. II 10 used for the woof
thread in weaving. Organzine In
made by the union of two or more
single threads twisted separately In
the same direction. and then doubled
and twisted In the opposite direc-
ton. II 10 used chiefly for wrap
threads.
The thrown silk Is then secured to
remove some of the natural glue, SO
that 1t will have greater iustre and
take the dyes better. Shaking. gloss
ing and iustreing are processes for
which special machinery has been
devised, designed to develop the lus-
tire OF the silk. Then 1t lie ready for
the dyer.
II properly handled silk is the
strongest and most durable of all tex
tile materials. but the various pro-
cesses of manufacture. removing the
natural glue. cause 1t to lose so much
of it's weight that INSCRIPTIONS dyers
and manufacturers resort 10 load
ing" dipping the thrown silk into
solution of oiohloride of tin. II makes
the threads weigh more. and. Of
course, sells for more money. but 1t
destroys the durability OF the fabric.
Stretching the fllaments to their
elastic limit, so that a given weight
will weave a greater number of yards
and steaming TO give the threads an
unnatural Iustre are other processes
that prove profitable to manufaetur-
ers. not only mfw emf emf omfwww
ers, but costly to consumers. and that
cause many people to regard silk as
an uncertain and treacherous fabric,
with an inexplicable tendency to spiit
crack or fall into holes. even though
packed away In drawers or hanging
up In q closet.
There are in the United States =
few great establishments In which all
processes of throwing. dying and
weaving are performed, but as rule
these are conducted as entirely sepa.
rate industries.