as told, was
in dress goods. Many of these were rich in quality, but many were not.
The American women eagerly followed the fashions and were, as a class,
far more concerned about having silk of a fashionable color than
possessing that which would wear a long time. In fact, they did not wish
materials to wear too long. Most of them were fairly well-to-do and were
able to discard a garment when a passing fancy had been gratified, and
after a thing was passe they would rather toss it aside than wear it
out. In consequence shopkeepers, who studied the market as if it were a
thermometer, refused to cumber their counters with expensive goods which
must only be shelved after their color or design was out of date. Such
conditions had created an American market for cheap silks such as was
unknown in Europe where quality was a far greater factor in the sale of
silk materials. In the United States these flimsy dress goods could be
turned out with little expense on American power-looms by unskilled
workmen, whereas in other countries experienced men were needed to make
them.

As for the soft satins or messalines, they were made almost entirely in
Europe because the cost of American labor was too great for them to be
produced here. The operatives making them were paid by the piece and the
process of weaving was a slow one. The heavy brocades and tapestries for
upholstery were usually of such elaborate design and so interwoven with
gold thread that to manufacture them on power-looms was practically
impossible; and as hand-looms were required European hand-loom work was
cheaper than American.

"The flaw in our power-loom is that double threads cannot be handled,"
explained Mr. Gautier to Pierre. "Any goods requiring such treatment
must of necessity be made on hand-looms."

So little by little Pierre's knowledge grew.

Military and upholstery trimmings, he ascertained, could be turned out
in large quantities on power-looms; but dress and cloak trimmings, which
were more elaborate, were made in America only in comparatively small
quantities and again because of their intricate patterns and gold
threads Europe could produce them cheaper on hand-looms. If, however,
the pattern desired was sufficiently simple, and a large enough quantity
of it was ordered to make it pay the manufacturer to bother with setting
it up it could be made on the American power-loom. Fancy braids were
made chiefly in Europe from the floss or spun silk taken f