The Belding banner-news. (Belding, Mich.) 1918-1973, 1921-03-02
SOME THINGS THAT
YOU MAY NOT
KNOW ABOUT SILK
THIS is SILK WEEK THRUOUT
THE NATION AND HERE'S
INTERESTING STORY
A woman discovered silk.

I WNlhdl discovered SILK.
And the secret was kept for many
centuries.
Finally woman told the secret of
It's culture 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 riotous growth of
exotic flowers and the air heavily
perfumed with their fragrance, a
slim girl of fourteen pattered along
slowly with tightly bound feet to an
inviting teak wood pagoda by the
side OF miniature lake.
There she rested. AS she idly
watched a nest of insects and worms
she noticed that while many of
them apparently slept lazily in the
sun a trio of caterpillars were cease
iessly busy feasting on the leaves of
whit, mulberry tree.
Their capacity and their energy
fascinated her and the next day and
for many succeeding days she watch
ed them eat and grow, rapidly.
She had ample time for she was
the Empress Si-ing-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 am appointed
day the rich and poor alike pay pic
turesque tribute to her.
One day she noticed that, as their
heads moved from side to side, a
semi-fuid gummy substance issued
from their mouths and soon turned
into 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 small army of servitors
but without playmate although
merely chfid, carried the cocoon
back to the garden. 1t piqued her
curiosity. 1t was about the size of
large peanut but slightly thicker and
substantially hard. From it floated
many soft threads. She pulled one
and found that although it was so
light that it would float in the air II
was still so strong that she could
pull off quite length. The hardness
of the cocoon bothered her and fl
nally she hit upon the idea of soak
ing one in warm water. The result
was that she was better able to ex-
tract the thread. She wound it on
her fingers In one continuous thread
nearly two thousand feet long. 1t
was yellow
Si-ling-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 silken
threads. After weeks of study and
experiments she ordered the ladies
OF her court to gather in the gar
den. There she demonstrated her
crude methods of gathering and reel
ing the silk and set them all to work
learning to help her. Soon she taught
them to weave garments and to en-
broider.. 1t was not long before the
Emperor, who had shown so little
interest in her silk worms, was pre-
sented by the Empress with a cere-
monial garment of purest silk and
only short time later all members
of the court were wearing silken
clothes of dazzling beauty.
Tic VI 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 Sc
cret of silk. China held the secret
and monopoly of export of all parts
of Asia, India, Persia and Arabia
for many centuries. The death pen
atty was decreed for the crime of
sending or taking the silk worm, its
eggs or the seeds of the white null
berry tree out of China.
All went we'll with the Chinese
silk industry until about $50 B. c.
when a prince of India visited China
and won the love of demure Chinese
princess who accompanied him to
India, via the elopement and cara
van route, taking, hidden in their
sandals, the eggs of silk worms and
seeds of the white mulberry tree.
Within three moons of the arrival in
India of the runaway princess, she
disappeared mysteriously between
suns but it was too late to 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 323
B. C. and through him silk became
known throughout many parts of
Europe only to be lost again after
comparatively a few years. The