New-York tribune., 1911-11-29
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
A MODEL SILK MILL
Works of Cheney Brothers at
South Manchester
Extensive

Were it not for clothes man would be. as
Carlyle has said, bUt r poor forked human
animal indeed. Tho kins divcsted Of his
Taiment is tie same man as the humblest
workman. a uniform Of one kind makes
cornmis Siehod officer, and another makes
convict. Clothes are symbols the sign OF
power on the badge OF the scrf and the
ouicast. aud il is often very true that
CLOTHES make the man. The primitive
'Uavs Of the hg leaf soon passed and man
sncFUdiug woman early began to enhance
whatever personal charms he may have had
by the means of apparel just as fsnciful
.Pnd as expensive as Il was i'm his power
90 procure. The patriarch gave to his
asvoritc son coat Of many colors and
whereby conferred upon him a distinction
3n which his plainly clad brothers were
backing SO much did the heather world
1hiuk Of the attractivoness of fine raiment
That Si-ling-Chi. a Chinese Empress. who
sntroduced the making Of silk in China in
5he year 26oo r. G., was placed among the
Chinese deities.
In the almost prehistoric efforts Of the
Chinese goddess and tho enormous SILK
manufacturing plant OF Cheney Brothers, IN
South Manchester Conn, there seems
wide divergence. but both have a fasci-
mating meeting point I'm the production ot
she wonderful silken tissues which adorn
ahc fair person of the modern woman. To
reach the present perfection Of texture and
coloring however, long transitional ages
cf experiment and toll and failure have boen
necessary.
For many centuries the culture OF silk
Nas confined 10 China and was introduced
- Europe through India and Persia, only
u . "a not no
~ Industry of any Importance in mcdiaval
imcs. for at that period TO silks were
worn. woollcns and linen being the princi-
yu clothing textiles In tho fifteenth cen
1ury. however. tho production of silk be-
came "a well established industry in Italy.
Turkcy and Greece. later extending its
serritorv over al Europe.
IN thi. country tho carly colonists de-
voted much time 10 tho culture of tho muI-
ferry tree and silk worm growth. In iU2
the colonial government Of Georgia set
aside 4 plot ~ ground for usc A. 4 nursery
plantation for white mulberry trees. Lands
were granted To the settlers ON condition
that they planted ono hundred Of thes"
irees on cycry ton acres Of ground, very
much after tho plan or our modern re-
oaircrnents laid out for home-s"ckng colo
riets iu tho Wc-t IN the carly DAYS ct
Virginia James I wrote tho colonial Gov
ernor that whereas. We understand that
the soil iu Virginia naturally yieldeth sto-"
Of excellent mulberry trees, VIC recommend
10 your esuecial care that our people
SfSere uso an possible diligence in breeding
fiIkworme and erecting silk works. ana
that they rather bcStow their travail IN
composing this rich and solid COMMODITY
than I'm that Of tobacco. which. beside much
necessary expense brings with it many dis
orders and inconvenience" Skilled silk
worm raiscrs driven from France by the
Icdict OF Nantes and later by the French
Revolution came here, and many unsuc-
cessfu attempts were made TO raise SILK
on American soil. till it began 10 look as
though the rich and solid commodity
could gain no footing on our territory. the
raising of silk in New England was early
begun In Connecticut. and in l747 Governor
Law appeared in apparel the silk for which
had been raised on his own place. From
that time Until the present day the count
less efforts made nave extended from Maine
10 Florida. and 20 California, but for varl-
Gus reasons. mainly the high cost of labor,
all have failed
Il was Just previous TO the time OF the
wild speculation in mulberry trees that
spread through the country between The
years 1885 and 1870 that the cheney
brothers first became interested In the rails
ing of silk worms. and later in the sale OF
mulberry trees They set up plants IN con-
necrcut New Jersey and OHIO, but on ac-
count Of the stress Of the American climate
snd tho high cost ~ labor The enterprise
Vae failure The patience of these pioneer
uanufscturcrs WIS not set exhausted. now
ever and failure acted as an incentive in
isSs, one Of the the eight brothers set w