fine ribbon, has a beautiful border which 

 differs from the rest of the fiber. A 

 fiber of flax has a glassy luster and is 

 not flat like cotton, but rather like an 

 extremely fine bamboo rod, cylindrical 

 and jointed. When these facts were 

 learned regarding the two fibers the 

 cloth under suspicion was placed under 

 the glass and showed unmistakably 

 that it was round, transparent, and 

 jointed. So there could no longer be 

 any doubt that the ancient coverings 

 of the dead in Egypt were all of linen 

 with no mixture of cotton even when 

 cotton was well-known. 



The dead could not be buried in cere 

 ments of wool because there was a 

 strict law against it, the wool being 

 supposed to invite worms. The re 

 markable preservation of the cloth is 

 largely due to the fact that it was well 

 smeared with wax and asphaltum. 

 But the fibers of flax resist decay to 

 such an extent that in the ordinary 

 process of preparing flax for spinning 

 it is moistened and left exposed to such 

 an extent that if it were as easy to de 

 cay as cotton it would become rotten 

 before the time for spinning. 



The earliest records of the business 

 of preparing this useful fabric are those 

 of the Egyptians as cut in stone on 

 their ancient monuments. In their 

 hieroglyphics and illustrations they 

 have left us a complete representation 

 of all their arts, and the processes of 

 gathering flax, rotting off the bark and 

 coatings of the fibers, cleaning the ma 

 terial by striking with clubs or whip 

 ping it against stones, straightening 

 the fibers, twisting them into threads, 

 and weaving cloth, are all beautifully 

 pictured and described. 



When William the Conqueror invaded 

 England his wife Matilda made a rec 

 ord of the principal events of his life 

 by embroidering upon a linen strip 

 twenty inches wide and two hundred 

 and fourteen feet long figures of the 

 men, boats, animals, weapons, and other 

 interesting objects, using woolen thread 

 and depicting all with great clearness 

 and accuracy. The Bishop of Odo as 

 sisted her husband at the battle of 

 Hastings, and in remembrance of his 

 kindness Matilda presented the work 

 to the cathedral of Bayeaux. It is 



now preserved in the public library of 

 that city. 



Two hundred years ago there were 

 spinning schools in Germany. The 

 teacher sat with a wand in her hand 

 and tapped the children near her when 

 they lapsed into idleness, and when she 

 noticed any of those at some distance 

 from her not at work she rang a little 

 bell for an attendant to enter and take 

 the offenders out of the room for the 

 purpose of punishment. 



The old Dutch settlers in New York 

 made what was called linsey-woolsey. 

 This was a sort of cloth made with linen 

 warp filled in with woolen woof. It 

 was better than all-wool goods be 

 cause it held its shape better and was 

 stronger. This material was much 

 worn by the early inhabitants of Amer 

 ica, Abraham Lincoln being one of 

 those who were well-satisfied with 

 home-made garments of this fabric. 

 Irving, in his "Knickerbocker's History 

 of New York," claimed that some of 

 the Dutchmen whose names ended in 

 broeck were so-called because of some 

 peculiarity pertaining to their breeches. 

 For instance, Tenbroeck took his name 

 from the rare distinction of his possess 

 ing and wearing at the same time ten 

 pairs of linsey-woolsey breeches. 



When people began to show their 

 prosperity by purchasing cloth made 

 up more beautifully than the product 

 of the homestead loom they had to 

 endure the remarks of others who 

 affected to despise the man who was 

 so extravagant as to care to dress in 

 "store cloth." So recent is the use of 

 this old-fashioned material that we find 

 in one of Louisa Alcott's essays to 

 girls the statement that " Modesty is 

 as sweet in linsey-woolsey as in linen." 



The greatest country in the world 

 for the production of linen of the best 

 quality is Ireland. Flax there reaches 

 a height often exceeding two feet and 

 the soil and climate seem to be the 

 very best for maturing the fiber and 

 manipulating it when gathered. In 

 traveling through the country I saw a 

 great deal of what at first glance seemed 

 to be some sort of grain lying on the 

 ground spoiling in the rain. I soon 

 realized that this was flax and that it 

 .was left out on the ground purposely 



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