Part 12 (1/2)
”No About 1870 the Chinese silk dealers got it through their heads that what the American manufacturers de more carefully the cocoons fro it enuity to work to increase the weight of the fibre itself by loading it with acetate of lead”
”I should think the Ary at that!”
”They were They told the Chahai that the United States would refuse to buy silk of China unless this practice was stopped That scared the people, and for a while the adulteration of theFrom time to time the natives went back to their old tricks until by and by not only Aot all out of patience with them When they finally remedied the evil it was too late Other countries had learned the art of silk-raising and had stepped in and snapped up most of the trade My father says that now Aest silk consumer of the world, buys only about a quarter of her raw silk from China”
”So the evil-doer does not always prosper,” laughed Pierre
”Evidently not In contrast to China's actions see what japan did That nation was enterprising enough to cultivate silk and foster its reeling; and when America sent the japs machinery they set it up and soon had tremendous filatures run by their own people There were thousands of factories where whole japanese fa silk from the cocoons The japanese raw silk, however, was not always free froum, and in time there was sohouses were established at Yokohaoods of each jap merchant were examined and his personal trade-mark attached to his wares so if they did not come up to the standard they could be traced back to the oho shi+pped them Now ood, although America sometimes complains that it drops below the standard Certainly no one can begrudge japan her prosperity, since she had the wit to grasp her opportunity for co of different nations one with another is all very interesting, anyway,” went on Henri ”Why, we are like one big faht to be! My father has no patience ar He thinks we should try and overlook the other's faults as we do at hoether in peace We all need each other, and the products peculiar to each land No one of us can get on without the rest, for as yet no one country has been able to turn out everything its people require It takes every cliether the produce of the globe Besides, trade brings the different races closer together One of the greatest pities of this war is its interference with co up bonds of universal friendshi+p and sympathy It stands to reason that we understand the people of China or As with them and meet them sometimes, than if ays stay here in France and read about thereater prosperity everywhere”
”It was to bring back to France that prosperity and peace that your faently
”Yes And if this can be accohtful war be the last war of the world it will be worth all that we have sacrificed,”
returned the older boy fervently ”But peace is a long tihed
”And prosperity will be still longer, I fear,” added Pierre soberly
There was an instant of tense silence
Both boys were thinking
”Speaking of co in upon the serious tenor of thein his for of the Suez Canal London was the great raw silk centre of the world; now our own Marseilles leads, or did before this fighting began And wenations, for our neighbors, the Italians, have done asas has France You see their cli silkworue that destroys their crops, as it did between 1864 and 1878, the industry prospers wonderfully with them The thread froer than ours, and some of the best quality raw silk in the world coes Then, too, of course Italian labor is cheap While in France we pay unskilled reeling operatives fro the saet only fifteen or twenty cents There is not so much American machinery used in Italy as here, however, and therefore some merchants in the United States prefer French to Italian thread But generally speaking the very finest and highest priced silks made in America are manufactured from French or Italian material For many purposes where less perfect thread is required the Americans use silk from the East It is cheaper, and manufacturers cannot afford thetheythe material in bulk, even compactly as it is shi+pped, is enormously expensive For you see there is always the chance of loss in the silk business”
”Why?”
”Because although silk is necessary in the manufacture of certain indispensable articles it is for the most part a luxury, and the deo without silk gowns and silk stockings; nor do they expend their s The fashi+on, too, has much to do with the demand
Some seasons women wear only satins and that throws back on the manufacturers the silks they have on hand; or velvets are worn and the satins have to be shelved The vogue of certain colors also often causes loss It is a great lottery to be a silk merchant, my father says”
”Certainly the silkworm creates lots of business for people,” declared Pierre s sarsnet--or sateen, taffeta, satin, and velvet, as well as providing the fibres for sewing-silk is not all the little caterpillar gives, either Had you thought of the oiled silk, used for a thousand and one purposes? Or of the silk-gut we use near the hooks of our fish-lines?”
”I fish with just a string,” replied Pierre
Henri chuckled
”You are not an expert fisherood fish with a pole and string; I have done it scores of tiut to connect the hook with the line Not only is it very strong, but it is invisible when under water Most of the silk-gut isall others atit Valencia is the chief centre for the industry”
”And how is it made? Spun from silk fibres?”
”Not at all You reins to spin, the viscid secretion is stored in the two long ducts at each side of the little creature's body It is that le thread in the spinaret, you know Well, before the worar and this jellied silk is extracted It is first soaked in cold water and afterward in a caustic solution so that its outer covering can be loosened and taken off Then the yellowish gum is dried in a shady place and bleached white by means of sulphur fumes You can see that it is expensive because so many silkworms must be sacrificed, and because the thread produced is so small Why, I have read that it takes as s to asped
”No wonder I don't use silk-gut on my fish-line!” he exclai on a machines