| Show SILK FROM THE SPRUCE amp fiber Ts Is found to make a very good substitute silk of excellent quality is being made from tho the spruce tree in europe and a movement is on foot to establish the industry in this country it is said that the cost of making silk by this process is ia one fifth that of the spinning ing i from the silkworm cocoon the fiber takes dye as readily as the animal product and can be woven as securely and as rapidly it is also claimed that the tensile strength of the fabric is as great as it if not greater than the tha real silk although the spruce lends itself to the process better than most woods other forms of pulp can be used the inventor even declaring that old newspapers after they have been cleaned of the printers ink may bo readily made into silk the inventor who has made the subject a study for 20 years based his experimental work on the fact that the silkworm in eating and assimilating the leaf of the mulberry tree obtained the foundation of the tha silk from vegetable fiber in trying to hit bit upon the particular chemical process that the original fiber went through before it was spun bann as silk bilk by the loom he found that after the fiber had been separated it needed the chemical action of acer a certain form of glucose in the new treatment the tree is crushed and the resulting fiber is mixed with glucose and then placed in deep metal tubs A disk somewhat like a steam piston is then forced down on the mass by hydraulic pressure pre pressure ssuie until it is compressed into a very heavy gum at the bottom of the tubs are tubes bes terminating in tiny glass nipples with exceedingly small aper tures under tinder the hydraulic pressure the mixture is forced out of these glasa glass nipples in fibers which are so sa fine that the girls who are employed in this portion of the process are obliged to wear highly magnifying gia glasses ases in in order to see when any of the fibers breal break the material is then carried over electrically heated drums which dorythe dry the ether and the alcohol out of it it is then plunged into iced water dried and spooled for the looms buffalo express |
