THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK

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For tens of thousands of years, the silk-Worms
 spun their little sleeping robes, and
No one gave them a thought. Millions of
naked savages glanced at them stupidly and
never conceived of the glory of silken clothes,
They looked at them as stupidly as you and
I look at the tides, moving back and forth
With an infinite power that we do not know
how to harness.

._ Then, about 4,600 years ago, there came
Into the world a wise man and woman, who
discovered that the silkworm was the ablest
of all clothiers. The name of the man was
Hwang-Tj, and the name of the woman was
Lui-Tsu, They were Emperor and Empress
of China, which was then the most enlightened
 country in the world.

The Empress Lui-Tsu was called ‘the
goddess of the Silkworms.” She and her
husband found a way to unroll the silk from
the cocoons and to make beautiful fabrics.

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These fabrics were the glory and pri
the Chinese people. They were worn only
by the royal family and a few very
mandarins.

The Chinese wrote poems about silk. They

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