South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-01-30
Philanthropy

though merely enid. carried the
cocoon back 10 the garden. II
piqued her curiosity. Ii was about
the size of "A large peanut but slight
Is thicker and substantially hard.
From IL foated many soft threads.
she pulled one and found that al
thought IL was so light that IL wound
float in the air il was still so so
strong that she could pull of quite
a length. The hardness Of the &C.
coon bothered her and finally she
hit upon the idea of soaking one ~
warm water The result was that
she was better able 20 extract the
thread she wound il on her fingers
in one continuous thread nearly zoo
feet long. ii was yellow.
Si-Hng-chi had remarkable initia-
tive and had she lived in these times
and in the United states she would
undoubtedly have been leader IN
some one or more Of the advanced
movements that have placed wom-
en- at least closer 10 their proper
place in the worlds activities. Not
content with her interesting discov-
cry she set about 10 find some way
In which to utilize the beautiful
siIken threads After weeks -
study and experiments she ordered
the ladies of her court 10 gather in
the garden. There she dem On
strated her crude methods OF gath
ering and Keeling the silk and set
them all TO work learning 10 help
her. soon she taught them 10 weave
garments and to embrOider. 1t was
not long before the emperor, who
had shown so little interest IL her
silk worms. was presented by the
empress with a ceremonial garment
OF purest silk and only a short time
later all members OF the court were
wearing silken clothes Of dazzling
beauty.
The production Of raw silk quickly
became the chief industry OF China
and the nation grew rich beyond the
understanding OF neighboring cOun-
tries which sought vainly for the
secret Of silk. China held the secret
and monopoly Of export TO all parts
OF Asia India. Persia and Arabia for
many centuries. The death penalty
was decreed for the crime of send
ing or taking the silk worm, it's
eggs or the seeds OF the white mui-
berry tree out Of China.
All went well with the Chinese
silk industry until about $50 b. -
when a prince of India visited
China and won the love OF a demure
Chinese princess who accompanied
him 20 India. via the elOpement and
caravan route, taking, hidden II her
sandals. the eggs Of silk worms ana
seeds of the white mulberry tree.
within three moons of the arrival
in India OF the runaway princess,
she disappeared mysteriously be-
tween suns but il was too late 10
save the secret. She had not only
delivered TO her lover the eggs and
the seeds but had taught him all that
she had learned of silk in the royal
palace in China
Alexander the Great learned the
secret during a visit TO India in 325
b. G. and through him silk became
known throughout many parts OF
Europe only TO be lost again after
comparatively n few years. The
knowledge Of silk was not regaiued
in Europe until the reign Of Julius
Caesar in about 81 b. G. when in
Rome it became the specified court
dress and sold for it's weight in gold.
The Emperor Tiberius forbade the
men Of Rome to wear garments Of
silk because he considered the Gus
tom effeminate and many Romans
denounced the wearing OF silks from
the Island of Cos by women. 1t
was claimed that the extreme trans
parancy Of the fine fabric made such
costumes indecent. II was the first
dress reform movement in history.
The first standard price fixed for
silk was set by the Emperor Justin
ian in 52S A. D., when he decided
that the merchants should not exact
more than eight pieces OF gold
(about SIS for a pound Of silk as
sold ready for the tailor. The price
ruined the silk, merchants.
The silk OF that day, although Of
more gauZy texture. would not COM
pare favOrably with the good silks
OF today in the beauty of cOlOring,
weave or durability. It eXcelled 1t
only in price.
BY the year 1851 silken garments
were common in English court cir
cles although il was not until the
close Of the following century that
England took up the silk industry
during the reign Of Edward III.
While France engaged in the indus
try in the early part OF the 18th
century IL was not until almost 300
years later that the trade became
well established there through the
efforts Of Henry Of Navarro who
spent more than S25O00O OF his own
funds in experiments.
Wherever silk was introduced II
depended upon the favor Of women
who were its chief users then as they
are today when il virtually is impOs-
sible for a woman 10 dress herself
without DOMINIC many things into
which silk enters largely in manu-