, 1876-11-19

style Of press saves the labor Of from ten t.
fifteen men and oveg S, ,000 year. After thu
introduction uf the Fourlriniez machine, Ame.j
can inycntiyencss and energy applied itself still
further to cheaper the cost Of the hangings
The effort has been perfectly successful. B,
means Of better processes ofmanufacturc, sucf
progress has been made that Americans are nov
| BEATING THE WORLD
in the prices at which they can sell these goods
The same article is made in this country BY ma
chincry which in the Old World, with old ideas
is made by hand, and it is 50 we'll made that tn.
eye Of an expert is genera1ly completely baillee
in their beauty. 0f course, the American paper
can be sold very much cheaper; and 1t is the fact
! that the cost Of our beautiful, richly-1ccoratet
hangings is soow to-day that we can enter into
! competition with England aud France for thu
sale can be created in England. At the present
| ruling prices 1t certainly can be done, unless
national prejudices should prove too strong tc
! be overcome.
While this ability to export is Of a great deal
OF importance to the industry, the ability to
command the home market is Of still greater
value. The victory that has been gained BY our
countrvmen in this respect within the last three
years is not generally known. Up to 1873 the
importation of this class of interior furnishings
article has been almostcomplctely excluded from
this market It is partly due to the hard
The tie p5Ses; r., 4 the industry here
az a9a t,o ,,o the red1ctioT A. OF the prices
confined almost entirely>to a very expensive
variety Of papers, costing from 81 to ST roll
and upwards, which are used only in large
cities, and consumed in quantities so small that
American manufacturers find it no object to
make them. It is true, there still appears to be
avery large sale Of French aud English papers
IN all parts OF the Union. The fact Is, however
that large part Of what are sold for English
and an French papers are not What they profess to
firm Of Germans and Americans, who can
make them better and cheaper than the Euro
peans themselves. One of the large
importing houses of this city. sells
sands Of rolls Of paper made in the United
States. It often needsa fraud like this to con-
vince people that just as good an article eau be
made In these States as anywhere else under
the sun.
THE CONSUMPTION OF WALLPAPERS
in this country is Increasing very fast, and is
gratifying symptom Of the education Of the
public taste. Ten years has wrought great
change in this respect IN this city. Time was
When club houses, private mansions, public din
inE-rooms, pariors, and apartments in hotels
we're tinted and decorated with the brush Now
they arc hung. with rich. and beauti~
full papers, with broad borders and do
does, in patterns which please the eve
and stimulate the Imagination, which
furnish the room as much as carpet Or b buffet
walls and frcscocs at the upper end Of the social
scale and whitewashed walls at the other are
going ont, and giving va5 to decorative papers.
The growth Of luxury demands it, aud fashion
popularity of wallpaper is undoubtedly the fact
that correct principles OF taste have obtained
control Of the designs for them Another is
that the antique is SO much the hobby Of the
fashionable world, and that the patterns for the
best classes Of hangings now are de-
rived so Narge1y from the quaint decorations
Of tapestry and carved stone and wood work OF
Queen Anne's time and the Middle Ages. Shaw
pointed ont long ago that these antique patterns
were worth great deal more than for the en-
broidery Of ladies' petticoats to which they we're
at the time being applied; and since that day
designers OF paper-hangings have seized upon !
them with avidjty, and now draw their chief in |
spiration from them. The world is indebted to |
try, leather, and brocade patterns, and for the |
class Of conventional and gecmetrica1 de- !
tie t"s Eastiafe @ designs. Amsicans saf s cannot o
produce these designs, because they are without I
the originals, but they can obtain them from
the pattern-makcrs in Europe and eau initiate
others, and strive u their superior mechanical ]
skill to make papers in those styles little bet
ter aud cheaper than their rivals. This is what
they are doing, and the low prices at which they
%AA
Of hangings in general. As far as
New York City is concerned, there is
4 LOCAL REASON
why American hangings are more sought after
than the imported. It illustrates the progress
OF the art Of household decoration. Ladies' |
and others who wish to furnish |
apartments In Certain style are able
now to throw rug into their carriage, and take
q stool upholstered like the rest Of the furniture
Of the room Oh the box, and drive down to the |
factory, select the pattern for their paper, and
have enough made for their single apartment in [
that pattern Of the exact colors requisite to |
make proper harmony or contrast throughout
the whole room. It costs no more than to buy
from the shelves, and the result is far more sat-
lsfactory. With the progress Of taste and Gu
terprise, an establishment where this can be
lone will become local necessity in every large
:ity in the country.
It is evident that the struggling industry Of
he hangings manufacture is at last trium-
1hantIy established in the United States, and
S just entering new era Of progress and
The result Of the attempt ut ex-
on large scale will be watched with
interest, as well as the building Of new factories
n different parts Of the country. The develop
nent Of an American School of Designers will |
e waited for impaticntly. When this Is ac-
ompiishcd, our national equipment IN respect
O paper hangings will be complete