Litchfield enquirer., 1856-09-11
The Cashmsrs Goat md shaNls.

| l It is not, we believe, as yet very nlly
 known that the species called Th|o11 xoat, from whose wool the famous Cashmere shawls
 are made, has been introduced into the United
 States. This contemplating undertaking was
 achieved Q few years since, after many difficult
 ties, by Dr J. B. Davis, of Columbia; s. O, at
 that time employed by the Ottoman Porte in
 experimenting on tho growth of cotton, in the
 Sultan's Dominions. Dr. Davis succeeded, at | vast expense, in securing eleven of the pure
 breed, which on his way home, he exhibited at
 London and Paris. Since that period, the
 goat has been introduced from South Carolina into Tennessee, where it is said to thrive The value of flock may be estimated from the fact ! that no real Thibet goat has ever been sold for I less than thousand dollars. This enormous price, moreover, is not speculative one, for no aeeced animal has wool of such fneness, soft ness and durability. The wool of all the Thi- l bet goats in Tennessee, for example, has been engaged, at New York, this year, at eight dol
 lars and a half per pound, the purchasers de- signing to send it to Paisley in Scotland, in or. der to be manufactured into shawls.
 The princes paid for the real Cashmere shawls, 1 or those woven in India, have sometimes been
 almost fabulous. A full sized shawl, such asis l called in America long shawl, ordinarily com | mandsin Paris or London from five hundred to five thousand dollars, according to the quality l Scarfs and square shalws, being smaller, sell | for less. 1t issa mistake however to suppose that all these shawls are manufactured in India,
 in the shape in which they are sold here. Gen erplly, indeed the centres and borders come out
 separately, and are put together afterwards in
 sizes. and often patterns, to suit purchasers Moreover, large portion of the shawls sold as
 real fuda ones are actually made in France, for
 the Thibet goat was introduced into that
 country more than thirty years ago, and tho
 Cashmere shawls initiated with considerable
 skill. Judges of the article pretend to say,
 however, that the real India shawl cau be de. tected by its having less evenly woven web, as also from its brighter colors. It is likewise said, thnt the border of the genuine Cashmere shawls is invariably woven in small pieces, which are afterward sewed together, as the
 whole border is subsequently, sewn on to the centre. ;: But other authorities deny that the skill of India is insufficient to byocke shawl: in other words, to weave the border and centre in one piece, or run the pattern of the former over the latter. <. s.-E E -s, .
 Notwithstanding the successful imitation of these shawls, fashion and luxury still prefer the apparently rnder original Just as faces, woven by hand, bring price more than five times as great as the same pattern woven by machinery, 50 Cashmere shawl, known to have como iron, India, will fetch vastly more than the clevercst
 imitation. Probably, however, this is not alL
 Persons familiar with both the article aud the
 imitation, assert that the former is softer than the latter, and that this softness arises partly from the way the thread is spun, and partly be. cause the Thibet goat, when exported from its native hills sensibly deteriorates. There is also
 shawl known popularly as the French Cash.
 mere, which is an imitation of the imitation but this has none or very little of the wool of the imported Thibet goat. The animal from
 which this valuable fleece is taken is hardy creature, at least in it's original locality and
 their fine cured wool lies close to the skin. just as the under hair of the common goat lies under
 the upper hair. Eight ounces for full sized goat is large yield, but the yearlings, rom
 whom the best wool is taken, give less. About
 five pounds is required to make shawl of the
 largest size and finer quality but three or
 four pounds is sufficient for an inferior ono,
 Iss..