The Washington herald., 1921-01-30

Though none of the party spoke
English i learned lots of intensely
interesting things about silk didn't
know before and the story about the
discovery of silk reads like a child's
story almost. l thought It was
charming. Here 1t is:
+ =
A WOMAN discovered silk.
n And the secret was kept for
Il centuries.
Finally . woman told the secret
of its cult ture and manufacture to
a man and silk became a household
word in all parts of the world.
Walking one sunny summer morn
ing in quaint Chinese garden
where the high, enveloping walls
were all but hidden by a riotous
growth of exotic flowers and the air
heavily perfumed with their fra
GRANGE, a slim girl OF IA pattered
along slowly with tightly bound
feet to an inviting teak pagoda by
the side of a miniature lake.
There she rested. AS she Idly
watched a nest of insects and
worms she noticed that while many
" thC" APPARENTLY SlepJ IdSlly IN
the sun, a trio of caterpillars were
ceaselessly busy feasting on the
leaves of white mulberry tree.
CATERPILLARs' ENERGY
FAsCINATEs WATCHER.
Their capacity and their energy
fascinated her and the next day
and for many succeeding days she
watched them eat and grow, rapidly.
She had plenty oftime, for she was
the Empress Si-ling-chi wife of the
Emperor Huang-ti, who ruled
China in 2640 B. C. She is known
today as the Goddess of the Silk
Worm" and throughout China on
an appointed day the rich and poor
alike pay picturesque tribute to her.
One day she noticed that, as their
heads moved from side to side, a
semifuid gummy substance issued
from their mouths and soon turned
into a soft, downy thread. Soon CO.
coons were formed and she carried
one to the Emperor. He was not in
terested.
The lonely little Empress, sur
rounded by a small army of servi-
wi DNN "ANAlOhN PAhy LHdlt III
though merely a child, carried the
cocoon back to the garden. 1t qipued
her curiosity. 1t was about the size
of a large peanut but slightly
thicker and substantially hard
From it fioated many soft threads.
She pulled one and found that al
though it was so light that it would
float in the air 1t was still so
strong that she could pull off quite
a length. The hardness of the
cocoon bothered her and finally she
hit upon the idea of soaking one
in warm water. The result was
that she was better able to extract
the thread. She wound 1t on her
fingers in one continuous thread
nearly 1000 feet long. 1t was yell
low.
Sizing chi had remarkable initia-
tive and had she lived in these times
and in the United States she would
undoubtedly have been a leader in
some one or more of the advanced
movements that have placed women
at least closer to their proper place
in the worlds activities. Not con-
tent with her interesting discovery
she set about to find some way in
which to utilize the beautiful silk
en- threads. After weeks of study
and experiments she ordered the
ladies Of her court to gather in the
garden. There she demonstrated
her crude methods OF gathering and
reeling the silk and set them all to
work learning to help her. Soon
she taught them to weave garments
and to embroider. 1t was not long
before the Emperor, who had shown
so little interest in her silk worms.
was presented by the Empress with
a ceremonial garment of purest silk
and only a short time later all mem
bers Of the court were wearing
silken clothes Of dazzling beauty.