The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-03-17
WEAVERS OF THE PAST.

1t is matter of pride with many
families to preserve and to show with
considerable satisfaction the spinning
wheels that were used by their moth
ers in the early days of our country,
or in the "old country" These spin
ming wheels are the direct successors
of more ancient models. The spindle
for twisting fiber into thread and the
loom for interlacing these threads at
right angles into cloth are prehistoric
tools. In the ancient lake-dwellings,
pieces of their spindles and spinning
wheels have been found as proof of
the Weaver's craft among these an
| cient people.
Primitive man first contrived to
use various vegetable and animal
tbers as threads, Experience later
taught him how to twist these togeth-
er into heavier cord, and then suggest
ed that they might be woven back and
forth to produce fabric material
valuable for shelter and covering
This suggestion was realized by the
invention of primitive weaving i'm
plement The next step in a more
advanced age of culture was that of
refining and evening the material by
the use of only certain fibers. Then
followed the introduction OF color in
to the fabrics, and the working out
of original designs, this latter stage
representing a marked growth in the
artistic expression of man.
In India and China the weaving
equipment is almost identical with
that used in most primitive times.
India has been a center of cotton
spinning and weaving for some three
! thousand years. The spinning wheels
which the Irish, Scotch and the
Welsh have discarded in great meas
ure only recently, are closely related
to the ancient model. The Egyptians
were probably the first people skilled
| in the art OF weaving. Even as
early as 1900 B. c., this art was
| in wide use. The WeaverS were
men, for the women were busy with
| trade and business outside the home,
a reversal of the usual order. In
| Syria, cloth was q woven product at
an early day. The Syrian purple was
| a dye with which the rarest fabrics
were colored for royalty and high
personages.
Spinning was not a craft for the
lar in the homes of the rich and
great, for period, including the clas
steal land of Greece in the list. The
early form of the spindle and loom
suffered notifications until the spin
ming wheel was found the perfect
hand machine. The modern factory
has surpassed the wheel, not in quail
ity of material, but in quantity.
Spinners and Weavers of German.
have found in their own country
satisfactory and inexpensive subst
tute for cotton, wool, and jute-prod
T ucts which they now can obtain onl
with great difficulty because of tn
war. The plant is called the typh
, and is sort of cat-tail that grow
, extensively in marshes. This year
, crop is estimated at between 100000
: and 100000 tons. The yield of tn
: finished product is ten per cent of til
: raw product. Samples of cloth mad
S from this material are said to sho'
), that it is suited to making large V;
i riety of fabrics. Leading Germa
/. merchants, spinners and banker
s have subscribed capital for the man
i facture of the new cloth. They ca
d attention to the fact that Napoleon
d embargo ON sugar resulted in deye
II oping their great beet-sugar industr
# and predict that similar develo
II ment will take place in the cloth i
IL dustry. One point in favor of Il
/ typha is that it can be grown on laI
not needed for cultivating other crol
: and it can be harvested from June u
e til frost.