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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 23, 1903)
Uncle Sam's Effort to Aid Silk Industry I . lASHINQTON, Aug. 20. (Special I yy I CorrpRpundvnce or The Bee.) I. , , I Within the next year the Depart iOSSt! raent-of Agriculture will offer for 1 ' ' Bale In the open market, at the highest prlre It will bring, a product that baa been made on government premises by government employes. Business men need not take alarm, however, ror the federal government will not attempt to compete with any Industry or to destroy any trade. In fact, tho Agricultural department ex pects to lose money In tho enterprise. The business In which the department will engage Is one that Heretofore has never been undertaken In this country. No Inen or body of men In the world of com merce or of Industry have had the spirit or courage to engage In this particular work, and tho government has therefore taken upon Itself the burden of Instituting and fostering an Industry which it is hoped and believed will ultimately become a profitable one and which will eventually Interest business men and capital. For many years the Department of Ag riculture has been endeavoring In various ways to encourage silk culture In this country, but It has met with little success. At the present time cvrry strand of raw Bilk used In the United States Is Imported from Kurope or Asia. Hardly a thread Is reeled In this country; yet Secretary of Ag riculture Wilson and Dr. L. O. Howard, the entomologist of the department, be lieve that It Is possible to produce In the Vnited States all the raw silk needed, which would result In a saving of a mil lion dollars annually. Many difficulties stand In the way of suc cessful silk culture In this country, but that these difficulties can be eventually Bolved and the business brought to a point whore sure profits may be realized, in the belief of many persons who have given the subject much careful thought and study. Two great obstacles to successful silk cul ture In the past have been the problem of cheap labor and a market for the cocoons. Those difficulties. It Is confidently believed, may be met and successfully overcome, and to prove the proposition it Is the purpose of the Agricultural department to show by practical methods that the business of rais ing silk cocoons and reeling silk may be pursued In this country with a profit. Dr. Howard, who is directing the work for the department, began his efforts to es tablish Bilk industry in the United States by distributing silk worm eggs and silk worm food (mulberry trees) In different sections of the country where conditions were the most favorable for the raising of cocoons. He then advertised that the de partment would purchase at the current European market price all the cocoons of fered for sale. The business was engerly taken up by small farmers in the south and west, and the result has been the offer to and purchase by the department of several hundred pounds of cocoons every month. Dr. Howard proceeded on the theory that In order to make a success of Bilk culture In the United States it would be necessary to pursue It merely as a household industry. Experience has demonstrated that the business cannot be conducted successfully on a large scale, whereas It can be brought to a profitable point if carried on as a side line and participated In by the children and feminine members of a household. Thero are many thousands of women and chil dren on farms In the United States who can find light and pleasant employment In the raising of cocoons, and it will re ward their labor more profitably perhaps than many other occupations now pursued by them. The work requires the atten tion of several persons for six weeks In the year, but it does not call for more labor than that given to the raising of chickens or any other light employment. It Is es timated that from twenty to thirty pounds of cocoons can be raised on the smallest farm in six weeks' time, on which a profit of $30 or J35 may be realized, an amount which would form considerable of an Item to many small farmers In this country. Last summer Dr. Howard made a trip to the silk-raising countries of Europe France and Italy and visited a number of large estates where tho raising of silk Is highly profitable. In Lombardy he visited an estate of 10,000 acres owned by an Ital ian nobleman. Several years ago this es tate was In the hands of a tenant who was extremely tyrannical. He treated the peasants with the greatest cruelty; con fiscated their crops, and was severely ex acting In dealing with them. He became so cruel that the peasants finally revolted, and were on the point of killing the man and his family. Word was sent to the owner, who departed In all baste to tho estate. He found the tenant barricaded in his house, fear-stricken and humbled. The nobleman had long known of the dissatis faction existing among the peasants on his estate, and was desirous of terminating the lease of his tenant. He was power less to do so, however, but he now saw an opportunity of accomplishing this, and he suggested to his tenant that the only m-jiH of paclfyinr the peasants was to give up tho lease and get out of the coun try. This his tenant was only too glad to do. The owner of the estate thereupon formed the peasants Into an agricultural - ;-- ! c I ' 1 r ) i " -k .1 f ' & ' a l rr .: f - iR I m r 1 !( - -; . . -1'; ! i UNCLE SAM'S SILK TILIATUKK WITH FOUEION OrEUATIVES. society, and advised them to operate the farm on the commonwealth plan, dividing it Into small farms of three or more acres. This plan was carried out, and the noble man secured the same rental for the place that he had formerly collected from his single tenant. The society prospered, and the first year paid the rental out of the profits arising from silk culture alone, which was only a small percentage of the total profits realized on the estate. The nobleman became the most popular man with the peasants In that part of the coun try, and to this day Is idoMzed by all of his tenants. If any of them become nick they send for him before they will for the doc tor, and the heads of families will not permit their children to marry unless they first secure the consent of their landlord. Among his neighbors, however, the noble man is not liked, for they look upon his action as destructive of the old feudal principles which are still la vogue on many of the estates of Italy. Dr. Howard also visited all of the largo Bilk reeling establishments In France and Italy and carefully studied the work. These Bilk reeling establishments are called fila tures and the employes are composed largely of women and girls. Nearly all of the women and children living In the vil lages where these filatures are located are employed In some capacity in the filatures, while the husbands and sons work on farms. Whole families are thus engaged in the raising or reeling of silk. A child becomes useful at the ago of S years, and the silk Industry Is therefore a highly profitable one to large families. It is true that the wages paid In the filatures are very small, averaging from 20 to 30 cents a day, but Inasmuch as nearly all the children in a family are capable of working the total amount earned by a family aggregates a tidy sum. Upon his return last fall Dr. Howard recommended that the department purchase . a four-basin silk reel, with which to reel the silk from the cocoons purchased. In this way the department could provide a market for the cocoons and the raw Ktlk sold In the open market would help to defray the expenses of the reeling estab lishment. It was apparent that this small lilature could not be operated upon a paying basis, as experience has demonstrated that no reel of less than twenty-eight basins can be run with a profit. But the department, as already stated, Is not In the business to make money, and It did not hesitate on this account. The result was that two four-basin reels were Imported from France, and ono of those has been set up In a building In the Agricultural department groundB, where It Is now In full operation. The other has been sent to Talulah Falls, where a northern capitalist has purchased a farm of 3.0U0 acres with the Intention of establishing a colony of foreigners for the purpose of raising cocoons. It Is hoped and believed that from the operation of these two reels many Ameri can girls will learn the business of silk reeling. Several of the brightest pupils of the Tuskegee school In Alabama will prob ably be brought tp Washington to receive Instruction In the art of reeling Bilk, and later on It Is the purpose of tho depart ment to establish a filature in connection with the school there. The women employed In reeling silk for the department are the only ones now en gaged In the business In this country. They were brought over from France a few weeks ago, after great difficulty had been experienced In getting their consent to move to America. Women employed In the Bilk filatures of France have a horror of crossing tho ocean and going bo far from their native land, and our consul at Lyons had to use his utmost eloquence to Induce the women to emigrate. He visited the large filatures of France and secured tho consent of a number of women, but all declined before the time for embarka tion arrived. Finally he round a mother and daughter employed In one of the fila tures who Beemed Inclined to yield to per suasion. The husband and father owned a small farm upon which a ortgngo had been given, and It was for the purpose of helping to pay off this encu.nbrance that the women consented to come to the United States. They made many stipulations, how ever, before signing a contract. Thoy wanted it provided thut In case either ot thorn became sick a physician and tho nec essary modlelncB should bo furnished. Our consul told them that they were going to a country where peoplo did not got elck, but that if thoy did become 111 they would be given every attention that civilized peo ple could give thorn. They then usked that It be Incorporated In the contract that If they died their, bodies should bo Bent to tholr home In France. Everything was finally arranged to their satisfaction and they were paid a Bum of money In ad vance In order to prepare for the voyage, and It was whispered about tho village) that they had boon given an enormous amount of money. Our consul was the) subject of mnny wondering glances from the women In the filature and Boon became known as the American multi-millionaire When tho women departed for Havre to take the Bteamor tho husband and father was too greatly grieved to nrcompany them to tho boat, and when the women were put on board they tearfully declared that If they had not been bound by contract thoy would back out and return to their home. Since coming hero, however, they' have learned to like the country and now appear to be perfectly conrented In their . now home. Both are expert rcelers and their work will be watched with much profit and pleasure by tho thousands of visitors to tho Agricultural department. Dr. Howard has been In conference with the Immigration bureau officials, and'lt Is expected that nn effort will be made to noeuro a small colonoy of Italians, prob ably from tho estate of a nobleman In Lom bardy, and to locate them on ifjnrgc farm In Cnllfornla. A firm of Pnrtrlo coast bank ers has taken gre-it Interest In tho silk In dustry and has expressed a fleslre' to be come Instrumental In fostering the busi ness In the United States. This firm has agreed to assist financially In the enter p -Ise, believing that it would prove of value to the western country to estnbllsh a colony of silk rulsers In the state of California, Science of Handling the Broom O KEEP on -v-lng an old stubby, wornout broom is the poorest kind of economy. Not only does it wear the carpets, but it takes double time and strength to do the sweeping. When buying brooms get good, firm ones, but as light in weight as possible. If one has a large house. It s.ivos time to keep a broom and dustpan on each floor In order to obviate carrying tho outfit up and down stairs each time It Is needed. When not In use, keep the broom hung up. The cellarway, where It Is cool and damp, is a good place. H there Is vo ring to hang the broom by, bore a hole through the handle, or cut a notch around the upper "part ot the handle end fie n string around It. Every broom should bave an occasional bath In salt water not only to keep t.o broomoorn In good condition, but to dis pose of the accumulated dust and mlcrube3. On this account new brooms are to ba Kpceially commended, as they can be taken apart. The top of the broom is covered with Ua which screws onto the handle. Ia the top of the broom Is a tube of metal. Into which water or a disinfecting fluid can be poured to moisten tho broom. A word must be Bald against the un cleanly habit of using a broom splint to tet-t a cake when baking. Not only Is there a danger of disease germs, but much of the broomcorn Is colored with nrscnlc. A broom cover to slip over the broom when brushing down the walls or sweeping a dusty piazza will be found a great con venience. Sew up, bag-shaped, canton flan nel, and make a narrow hem. Work two buttonholes an ineh and a half below, one on oath Hide of the seam. Stitch an Inch Wide casing on the under side, and run a stout tape through the buttonholes. When ready to use Klip tho bag over tho broom, draw up the tapes and tie securely. A lightweight flannel Is easily washed. Keep uevi ral unbleached for tho walls and col ored for the porch and, when Boiled, wash them. When using a broom don't sweep with your back use your arms. Sweep In ono direction with long, light strokes. Sweep the carpet with the pile, not against tt. Don't wait to sweep a room until it Is dirty and smelly, . The Rejected Tip One of the stock stories about tipping Is that of the waiter In n swell hotel Bneerln( nt a quarter and remarking to the giver, "t beg pardm; haven't you made a mistake?"' A few nights ago. In the main dining roon ' of the Waldorf Astoria where tips range) ( from a quarter to 5, a westerner (not Johit .! Watch-Me CJatts this time) said to his two1 companions: "Watch me paralyze this I waiter: he ain't worth a cuss. He hasn't showed us any exlr.i attention and doesn't deserve a cent, I lit hero goes." Tiio 1)111 being paid and change placed be foro him In a plate, he handed the waiter n copper cent. As ho expected, garcon turned up his noso and Bald: "I beg pardon; haven't you made a mls tako?" "Not at nil." was tho reply; "not at alL You aro qulto welcome. I cover give lcas, New York Times.