THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK

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actually made it by the squirting process was
an Englishman— Joseph Wilson :Swan. He
took out his patent in 1883.

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He squeezed a mixture of wood and ‘cotton
pulp through small holes and made a thread
of it. He did more than this. He actually
made Artificial Silk woven goods and showed
them at the Inventions Exhibition in London
in 1885.

It is very necessary to remember this fact,
as many writers are now giving the credit to
a Frenchman, Count Hilaire de Chardonnet,
as the first maker of Artificial Silk.
Chardonnet did not begin his experiments
until 1884, a year after Swan had taken
out his patent. He did not show any
Artificial Silk goods until 1889, at the Paris
Exhibition.

But Swan was a plain, unknown Englishman.
 He received no notice and no honours
from the British Government, but the French
Government awarded Chardonnet the Grand
Prix and made him a Knight of the Legion of
Honour

Swan received no encouragement from
anyone. He battled on and laid the solid

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