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Show THE SILK I N TC RESTS OF ' AMERICA. American manufactures ever since the foiuuliUMii of the cunotiics have ' hint to atruptilo hard for oxihtetiee Numerous nioi,t;liry ilistuilj.inct'd ' ami the uncerUii clmr.ccs of le'sl'v-' tion have exerted a deprcvd influence influ-ence on all the more im-Mrt.uit branche cf industry involving Ure eutna of cipiial. Jiut anions all our rapidly growing interests, there is; none which id greater snurce of, wealth than the iron and steol man-1 ufacturei, nor any rtflectint; yrejter' crwlit on the country than tin; mnnulacture of silk. If we in.iv tako past cxponotice a's a foreshadowing of the JiUuro, wo may h0p0 t0 Bee' America at no distant day comnelin with France in the silk markets uT the world. j governor La;r, of Cunuecticut, in I 1747 wore a silk robe woven in his own state and manufactured from material raised upon Xew England soil, and thrceycars later his daughter wore the Orat American eilk drcs. Tims early datca thia branch of intimity in-timity in America. Twonly years more and silk was raised in Pennsylvania, Pennsyl-vania, from which a dress was made which wag presented to Queen Caro lice, and by her worn on many state occasions. To-day the robes worn by , tho presidents of nearly all our colleges col-leges are of American manufacture, aud the robe of ofKco of the United States chief justice is a product of tnmc industry. Many persons will call to mind the furor for rasing silk worms which sprang up over the countiy some thirty-live years ago. The children were ailected with the mania, and every one who had a small nlot nf , available land, istead of laying it out with fruit treca, stocked it with the Morns .Vuliicaulis. But various causes prevented the successful culture cul-ture or the eilk worm in the eastern stales, to that now what silk growing h done in the country is almost entirely confined to California. As a lenlt of this bombic mania a number of firms found themselves with tons of cocoons on their hands, and I believe be-lieve that the Chenev silk mills in Hartford wcro sLarted' to utili.o this stock. American bilk goals are manufactured manufac-tured from raw material imported from France, China and Japan. Owing to the dishonenty of the Asiatics and the adulterating processes to which they subject their silk beforii exporting it, tho silk recived frum France is, by far' the merit valuable. This accoun's, perhap?, for the French labels which must American manufacturers put upon 1'ieir goods that they may find nsdy sale. The silk inteioats of this country centre in New Jersey, and the eilk interests of New Jersey centre in Prtteroti. There were on the i:Jih of May, 1S7-1, thiity eilk mil!" in New Jeisey, with a capital invented and employed of ?"),4'J7,-il(. To-day ihore arc thirty-three nulla in New Jersey and twenty-scrm of them are in raterson. Ten yers ago not a piece ot dress silk was manufactured j ;n I'aterson; to-dav the Jacquard i looms may be counUd by the hundred in every lare mill in the city. The Statistics clearly show that the importation of foreign nunu fact tires is slowly fallint; oil and that the steady stream of gold flowing nut of the country tn p.iy for foreign luxuries in gradually diminialiing. It will not be long before AmerieMi ladies understand under-stand triat American dread silks are equal if not superior to the French, and many people already prefer American ewing silt lo the Italian. American filk hs long had a reputation reputa-tion for wearing in the moat wonderful wonder-ful manner, but it was deficient in color. Tiiin, howo rr, w.va only the cuse with the hi.irk which, after short wear, rvimed tlio npparancc of a pongee. Hut as black is used f.r dres purpose more than all the colors combined, it came, naturally enough, to be supplied that all American siU presi n I L-1 1 the sortie disadvantage. It is gratifying to know, hnwevcr, that i wiliiin tho l.iit year Amrrican dyers have mast' ml the black, the most ditlicult of all colors in dye. fln that now the most expert Cunnnis-eurs cannot detect the difference between the bt.-t of American and French ilka. Yet it will take a long lime for the inoct fashionable of our ladies to gi.-t over the habit nf aking foi "Krench" ailk. T nr-ib r.-U.U- of Frni' It silk", because upon any drrss occasion, the chances an that the material of which thfi haniis'Jiursi dreiiifs arc made, il bought in Ihii country, was made in this country. Some of the finest silk nold in the ultra fmii inable d ry good ttores in New York arc American, but are labeled with names of imaginary French firms, to make them "lake." In the largest retail dry goods store in the world shawls of a certain kind are labeled "Knghsh" and sold as such. These shawls are mamilacturcd near Boston, Mas. 'I he sa ne may be said of other products ol American industry. There seems lo be a charm about tho wool "foreign" which prevents pre-vents Americana, and especially American ladies, from patronizing home talent if they can help it. Tho following are the silk uLilistics for the year ending Dec. Jtl , lb7:J: Number nf ii inn ii fiictiir in R linns and r lrpurnlions in iho country l.Vi Number of lirniH arid c up. -ratio in Connr-L-licul 'J Number of o, i th lives eiu:oved...Hi,H.'iI Niinib-.-r in I'oniieclieui .l l'.i VnliKi of cupit'il invo-b'd fl.'i.'.WSTT Valu" ill' cfipilul iiive-ird in Oui-ni-ft:eut ."..1,'):t,noil Vllllie t, UO'llU'ls Ill .S!',S7-I V nl vi'j cf pr, duel.-, in C.un:e 't1- cut -I , i IT,S1 7 Tho figures showing and comparing the importations of tilk in diilereut yearn are as follows: Frum July 1, to April 1, in 1S7I o ?18,7:f0,5;i."i; 18712, lo ,:H; 18;u , $:!o,0h.j,,j:io. Th pro figures are forthepL.it of New York; but 02 5 per cent, of tho entire foreign silk imports of the United Hlalra are entered at the port of New York alone, j This is an exhibit which must be intensely gratifying to all who have tho industrial interests of our country at heart, and is a subject lo a I lord seiiotiH rellection to the silk manufacturing manufac-turing communities of Kurope. Hartford I'tilladiuiu. |