Volltext Seite (XML)
82 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876. SILK AND SILK FABRICS. BY JOHN L. HAYES. Silk with its fabrics, by the value of the raw material, correspond ing to an equal weight of silver, its tenacity equal to that of iron, and its lustre surpassed only by that of the precious metals and stones; by the splendor of its fabrics, their relations to the decorative arts, their influence upon painting, heraldry, and the ceremonies of the church, their place as a means of exchange in early commerce, and the correspondence of their production in Western Europe with the decline of Oriental power,—would seem to claim a more extended notice than we have given to the homelier fibre and fabrics which have thus far occupied our attention. But the popular interest attach ing to silk and its fabrics has made knowledge of the subject so general that we could hope to add little to the common stock of in formation as to the sources of this fibre or the history of its Oriental and European fabrication. Besides, we do not forget that the prin cipal source of the popular knowledge of this subject in this country is the exhaustive report prepared by Mr. Cowdin, the Chairman of this group, in his former official position as an American Commis sioner at the Paris Exposition of 1867, and that it would be vain to expect to glean from a field which had been so thoroughly reaped and harvested. The writer will confine himself, in this portion of his report, to a brief sketch of the more general impressions made by the foreign exhibits of fabrics of silk,—omitting notices of the raw material, and not attempting any analysis or minute comparison of foreign fabrics, —and to a notice, more extended, of American products. Before proceeding with these sketches, it is but an act of duty for the writer to refer, as he can without indelicacy, to the character of the work performed by the subdivision of the Judges of Group IX. intrusted with the examination of silk. They consisted of Mr. Gustav Gebhard, a practical manufacturer of Elberfeld, Germany, one of the most celebrated and extensive fabricants in Europe, whose facility for work in this department was aided by his rare command of all the Continental languages; Mr. Louis Chatel, an eminent manufacturer of Lyons, who, confined to his chamber by an unfortunate accident, still insisted upon having samples of all the fabrics under examina tion submitted to him in his chamber; Mr. Hayami Kenzo,an accom plished Japanese gentleman, the Government Director of silk-reeling establishments in his own country; Mr. August Behmer, an Egyptian