The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-12-26
SILK IS REGAL IN MODE OF TRAVEL
 FROM ORIENT
One Trainload Of Pre- cious Cargo Is Valued
 At Over $5,0O0,OOO

JJncle Sam has been winning heats in one of the most dramatic races ever staged by trade-the raw silk transport race, says a bulletin of the National Geographic Society.
 The course is $500 miles. Swiftest steamships, special trains for which speed limits are waived, seaplanes and airplanes participate. But there IS no cheering crowd in the stands, because every mile of the race is concealed with the closest secrecy. The stakes are mil lions.
 In 1918. S1 per cent of the United States huge silk imports from Japan came in foreign steamers, but within two years steamers flying the Amerl- can flag in the Pacific have obtained an important share of this valuable trade.
 Excepting gold and silver bullion, silk probably is the most precious com modity, weight for weight, carried on a large scale by commerce., A single special train will bring five million dol lars worth of silk. Just as it costs dearly to ship money, high charges are nut on silk shirments. The saving of two days sailing time between Ioko- hama and Seattle is said to make dlf- ference of 50 cents bale at New York. Interest on the millions of dollars tied up multiplies at the rate of thousands Of dollars a day. and, in addition, there is costly insurance. In the SILK trade time literally is money.
 New Silk Course Record.
 The worlds record on the Yokohama New York silk course was set up q few months ago when the orient was brought within 13 days, 5 hours and 5 minutes of Manhattan. Laden with 5H2 million dollars worth of raw silk, the President Jackson made Seattle on the ninth day. A United States mail sea plane met the liner tt Victoria and winged its way to Seattle, one hundred miles away. It brought port documents and forwarded cargo papers to New York before the steamship docked.
 Special port forces moved the rich consignment in three hours to special silk train waiting with steam up. The swift Oriental limited passenger trains taken seventy hours to reach Chicago the 'reeier," as the silk special is known to railroaders, makes it in sixty-flve hours. Twelve cars were required for the President Jackson's cargo. With the silk goes a heavy cordon of train guards. When the treasure train safe ly reaches New York, the shipment IS divided quickly among the conslgnees | for storage in warehouses or dispatched to mills in such famous silk towns as Paterson, N. J., or Woonsocket, k.
 Carried On Mystery Train. | Few people know when the 'reefer' is on the rails. Like ship of war, il virtually runs under sealed orders. Rail road divisions seldom know when it is coming or where it is going until it anG orders arrive.
 The previous speed record for silk shipments was made when the Presi dent Grant landed a 0-million-dollaI consignment at Seattle. The ''reefer' brought this product of billions of cater pillars into New York in 13 days, 1 hours and 8 minutes out of Yoko hama Night air mail will be booI to these New York silk merchants Before silk shipments can be released many papers must be approved and in spected. Seattle has one of the two seaplane mail services in the United States, hence Queen Silk will suffer nc embarrassment of delay. Night air mai will hasten dispatch of silk shipment papers to New York so there will be no slip when the dusty 'reefer" reaches the Hudson.
 Although silk culture originated ir China and the very name China finds it's birth in term meaning 'silk peo. ple," the United States looks to Japan for moSt nf this raw material Amer ican mills are weaving nearly 30 mR lion pounds of raw silk annually oi which about 80 per cent comes from Japanese mulberry orchards. The ugly little silk worm is treated with great the far Eastern peoples more than 300 million dollars from the United