most, were treated first. Later the practice spread to
colored, and even to white silks. Now, alas, the evil seems to have come
to stay. Salts of tin in varying degrees are used in the dyeing of most
silks, and the result is that the material becomes crisp and harsh so
that it cracks when folded, and does not wear long."

"What a pity!"

"Yes. And yet perhaps the Americans, who are none too anxious to wear
out their old clothes, are quite as well satisfied," chuckled Pierre.

"In what an endless number of ways silk is used!" reflected Madame
Bretton.

"Yes. And when you have done with the ribbons, and trimmings, and
braids, and silks, and upholstery brocades, and satins, think of the
velvets and plushes that can now be made in this country in all sorts of
fancy designs on power-looms instead of on hand-looms as formerly. Of
course it is still cheaper to import certain kinds of velvets and
plushes; but a great many of them are made here, as are the larger
proportion of the velvet ribbons which are easily turned out on
high-power machines."

"What about silk hosiery and underwear?" questioned his mother, much
interested.

"Silk stockings and silk gloves, Uncle Adolph says, are a big American
product. There is little finishing to them except putting the buttons on
the gloves. In fact I read the other day that the silk used for them was
only slightly adulterated, and that they were made even better than in
Europe. But making underwear seems to be another story. Each garment
manufactured has to be shaped as it is made, and therefore the process
is a special one and the knitting is slow. This results in expensive
labor, and a very limited output. After the seams are finished, the
buttons on, the fancy braid and facings in place, and the final
trimmings stitched where they belong, the profit is small. All this can
be done much cheaper in Europe, and were it not for the protection of a
high tariff, Uncle Adolph says, Americans would buy all such goods
abroad. The tariff protects the American silk industry at every turn. I
don't know where the United States would be without it! Then you must
remember that after this silk underwear is done it is not sold to
individual customers in any considerable quantity. Instead it retails
piece by piece, and therefore every piece has to be folded and packed
separately. No wonder such things are expensive here!"

"I never realized before how interesting the problems of making things
w