The Osceola times., 1877-09-22
TURKISH CARPETS.
How and where They are Maae-Am In
teressiag Descriptiss.

teressiag Dsscripties.
Three small towns--Oushsk, Koula,
and Ghiordess, within the boundaries Oh
Greater Phrygis, in Asia Minor, have
preserved to the present day the carpet
manufacture, one OF the few remaining
branche. of Turkish manufacture and
it is rather an interesting point TO note
that this manufacture has not much
changed its locality from time i'm
memorial.
Oushak, the largest of the three towns
above mentioned, is situated on an ele-
vated plateau, between two and three
thousand feet above the level of the sea.
1t has q population Of over fifteen thou
sand inhabitants, of which only about
third are Christians. The houses are
built of sun-bried bricks in the usual
style of modern Turkish towns, and plas
tered over inside and out with sort ofdark
clay, which gives the place sOmber
appearance perfectly in keeping with the
character Of its people. Quaint old foun.
tains and wells, mosques and minaretss,
overhanging latticed balconies, and dark
narrow, crooked and dirty streets charac-
terize the place even more than other
towns nearer the seaboard. Wool in
every stage of progression, from the mo-
ment it is clipped from the sheep to its
final dyed and spun state, fit for the
hands of the manufacturer, meets the
eye in every direction, and indicates the
peculiar occupation Of thu Inhabitants Of
this busy little town, which, but for this
industry, would in all probability have
shared the decaying tendency OF other
Anatolian towns. ,...,t..st
Almost every household of any i'm
portance carries on the carpet manufac.
ture. The mechanism employed is OF
the simplest and rudest description. A
vertical frame supports two horizontal
rollers about five feet apart. The warp,
of any required length, consisting OF an
upper and lower thread is wound round
the upper roller, and the ends fastened
to the lower one, from which the work is
commenced by the women and girls, who
kneel or sit cross-legged in row before
the frame. Each woman has certain
width Of work allotted TO her, and pro-
ceeds to knot the tufts which form the
pile in rows, using different colors to
form a pattern. Each tuft is knOtted
independently of the other to an
upper and lower thread of the warp.
When row is thus tied the tuft is passed
with the hand between the warp, and
then beaten down with heavy wooden
comb. The pile is now clipped smooth
with large pair of shears, and the next
row above the first commenced with.
As the work proceeds upward it is rolled
over the uncer roller, and correspond
ing length of warp unrolled from the
upper one, until the required length OF
carpet is made. The tying of the tufts
and the picking out OF the variously col
ored wools which hang in balls over the
frame, is carried on with the most sur
prising rapidity, the pattern being mean
while worked from memory, unless some
new design is to be made. Forty.four
rows of pile are thus knotted in the
course of the day, and for this amount
of labor each werkwoman is paid from
six to twelve cents daily. 1t will thus
be seen that the women are the sole man
ufacturers, that no mechanism or instru
ments beyond frame, shears and comb
are ustu, duu tudt tuc ucoikh 10 wo'A'
from memory. Yet, with such limited
means at their disposal, these skillful
workers contrive to produce the most
harmoniously colored, and certainly the
most durable, carpets in the world.
We have 30 far spoken only Of the
women; the mems share of the industry
is to collect and dye the wool for the
manufacturers, and manage the sale of
the carpets when com pleted--tasks light
enough, compared to the irksome labor
of the females, but quite consistent with
the oriental notion Of mans superiority
over the less favored sex. The dyes
which by their permanency have given
much OF the celebrity to the Turkey
carpet, are mostly produced in the neigh
borhood. Madder roots for the reds, and
yellow berries for the yellow and orange,
are grown in the surrounding districts,
and indigo for the blue is imported from
abroad. The carpets and rugs Of Ghior-
dess and Koula, the other two manufac.
turing towns. are made on precisely the
same principle and in the same primitive
manner as those OF Oushak, but the work
is of finer description. and the colors
liveler and more suitable to the tastes OF
American purchasers than the somewhat
dark appearance of the Oushak carpets,
which are in almost general use for di-
ming rooms in England.