The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1870-04-16
The Slln wis of C. d Sin sn ere.
From Hearth and Home.1

mere are no ~ c1uiel S-udA eHdWIS,
nor can I learn, by much searching CT
many authorities, that shawls are or
ever were made of camel's hair at all.
On the highest inhabited table-land
Of the earth the average height of
which is about 14.OOO feet above the
level of the sea, lives and thrives the
Thibet goat.
Nature has supplied this goat with a
covering the warme>t and softrst that
is known to exist; and every attempt to
remove the animal from its high home
has proved failure for no where else
will the supply Of wool remain sufficient
to reward the labor of keeping. The
animal has coating of long. coarse
hairs, underneath which is found the
exquisitely soft substance that is almost
without a name, it being too fine for
hair, and too straight for wool.
The fleece is conveyed from Thibet--
a months journey ere it reaches the Vale
OF Cashmere in Northern India, where
the women are beautiful as no other wo-
men are, and where the men have at
tanned to the perfection Of the Asiatic
physical man. Who has not heard or
dreamed of this valley, where the shawls
are made?
The date of the manufacture of the
Cashmere shawl has not been learned,
nor is it positively known of what origin
the Cashmerians are. They appear to
be of Hindoo descent. ,
Arrived in Cashmere from Thibet, the
wool is caref lily, sl"wly. and patiently
collected, fibre by fibre, the choicest
being selected for the costly shawls
(probably the fifty thousand dollar
shawls). .., -...-. . ..
The color is gray as received. 1t is
bleached by the aid Of a preparation of
rice -four. after which it is dyed. 1t is
then given to women to spin it. 1t is
estimated that one half the weight is
lost in the preparation of the article be-
fore it is woven ,.= ....-....
The yarn is next given out to the
weavers by a merchant. who enters
largely into the shawl trade, and en-
ploys a number Of shops in which the
men work for him, or else he supplies a
certain number Of overseers with yarn,
delivering to them at the same time in
structions as to the quality, colors, and
patterns and these men carry on the
manufacture at their own houses with
the aid of ordinary weavers The
oyvrseers receive six or eight pice day
for their wages common workmen from
one to four, or about three and a half
pence. ..s..-.
A remarkably fine and elaborate
shawl will occupy,a shop for whole
year, four persons being employed on
It. ii. '. - = Pc.
Plain and inexpensive shawls are
made with long and heavy shuttle,
but the shawls of many colors and won
drous patterns are worked with wooden
needles instead of shuttle, there beirg
a seperate needle for every color, aud
the more tints there are in shawl, the
greater its cost. In the fine shawIs,
scarcely quarter of an inch is compile
ted by three or four persons iRa day.
In order to hasten the process, many
of the shawls are woven in s-perate
pieces at different looms They are at
terwalds so dextrously joined together
as to evade ordinary scrutiny, and some
times it is impossible to discover the
junction. ,.-.,-. ....-..:.-.. ~. III
One object, in dividing the work up
on a shawl, is to avoid loss by insects
and time, as it would require three
years to complete certain sha"ls if made
entire. 4: 1s fs~.#7r rs' tss#u Es'sz=';t
The worker puts in the pattern upon
th. wrong side Of the Shawl. and, if it
is new, or especially difficult. an over
seer direcs every movement with the
pattern before him. .. ~ ~ s...t....
The shawls OF Cashmere are always
made with both sides alike, although,
in the weaving, one side is called the
rongI. side. 1'@sF' ,''i57'' - 81 3. -'f~
Queen Victoria receives by treaty
FIVE Cashme,s shawls each year, or did
brief time ago. af. +. g...,.,,-......ss ...sr
In Cashmere. the sshawls mot the fn-
est, which are almost fabulous in price,
and winch find their way into Turkey,
and seldom thsnee) are worth from FIVE
TO eight hundred dollars. They pay du-
ties al every step ofthe way thence, 50
that, arrived in London, they are worth
two thousand dollars. ~, ar. .....- ..l,....
There arc but few Cashmere shawls
in the United States. the articles known
to commerce and republican shoulders
being the French aud English imita-
tions
The English have established manu-
factories at Delhi and Lahore. The
labor is carried ON by native Cashme
rians, and although the material be quite
the same, the fabrics have . coarse, de-
genera ed appearance difficult to acco mt
for. ...-..... g., s.
There is a mystery about the shawls
of Cashmere. ... -.f. Inn, z...e.., .... /
As the trials of life thicken, and the
dreams of other days fade, one by one in
the deep vista Of disappointed hope, the
heart grows weary Of the struggle, and
we begin to realize our insignifcance
raos, VIII, havs climed to the pinnacle
Of fame, or reysl in luxury and wealth,
90 to the grave at last with the poor
mendicant who begs by the way>ide.
and like him are soon forgotten. Gene
ration after generation. says an eloquent
writer, have felt as we feel, and their
fellows were as active in lite as ours are
now. They passed as a vapor, while
nature wore the same aspect of beauty
as when the reator, commanded her to
bs. Fl And 50 shall it bs when We are