Lines. 41 



When boiled the raw silk parts with its gum, losing 

 about thirty per cent, in weight, and deepening in color. 

 The surface is no longer harsh, but of a smooth and slip- 

 pery character, and the silk becomes very flexible. 



Raw Italian silk is worth about five dollars a pound, 

 while boiled brings in the neighborhood of seven dol- 

 lars. 



Since the gum is removed by the boiling process, thus 

 reducing the size of the fibre without impairing its 

 tenacity, it follows that more material is required for 

 the same diameter, and that the boiled-silk line possesses 

 a far greater degree of strength than a like size line of 

 raw silk. Silk lines are also made from what might be 

 termed "shoddy," a material formed by reducing old 

 scraps of silk cast-off silk dresses, stockings, umbrella 

 covers, and such trash to a fluff by machines constructed 

 for that purpose, and spinning the thread composing the 

 line from that. As the length of the fibre in the latter 

 does not exceed a fraction of one inch at the outside, 

 while in the silk direct from the cocoon it may be hun- 

 dreds of yards, the relative value of the two products 

 may be readily gauged, without entering into the ques- 

 tion of how much the material composing the " shoddy " 

 has suffered before entering the machine. 



Again, lines are sometimes made of mixed silk and 

 jute, in which case the latter is a pure adulteration, since 

 it adds practically nothing to the strength. Such lines, 

 however, as are sold by reputable dealers, are made from 

 the best Italian silk. The thread is spun direct from 

 the cocoon. Three threads are then loosely twisted to- 

 gether, and thus each strand of the braided line is formed. 

 These lines, for their diameter, are of surprising strength, 

 and they alone are suited to our purpose. But in their 



