Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-09-26

eye in every direction, and indicates
the peculiar occupation of the inhabi-
tants of this busy little town, which,
but for this industry, would in all proba-
bility have shared the decaying tendency
of other Anatolian places.
Almost every household of any im-
portaBce 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 work
woman has certain width of work
allotted to her. and proceeds TO knot the
tufts which form the pile in rows, using
different colors to form the pattern.
Each tuft is knotted independently of
the others to an upper and a lower
thread OF the warp. When a row is
thus tied the weft is passed with the
hand between the warp, and then
beaten down with a 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 under roller, and a
corresponding length of warp u1rolled
from the upper one, until the required
length of carpet is made. The tying on
of the tufts and the picking out OF the
yariously- -colored woods which hang in
balls over the frame, is carried on with
the most surprising rapidity, the pattern
being meanwhile 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 wOrkwoman is
paid from six to twelve cents daily. 1t
will thus be seen that the women are
the sole manufacturers, that no mechan-
ism or instruments beyond a frame,
shears, and comb are used, and that the
design is worked from memory. Yet,
with such limited means at their dis
posal, these skilful workers eontrive to
produce the most tharmoniously colored,
and certainly the most durable, carpets
in the world.
We have so far spoken only OF the
women; the mems share of the industry
is to collect and dye the wool for the
and manage the sale of
the carpets when completed-tasks
light enough compared to the irksome
labor of the females, but quite con-
sistent with the Oriental notion of
mans superiority over the less-favored
sex. The dyes which by their per-
manency have given much of the cele-
brity to the Turkey carpet are mostly
produced in the neighborhood. 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 Ghiordess and
KOula- the other two manufacturing
towns, are made on precisely the same
principle and in the same primitive
manner as those of 0ushak, but the
work is of finer description, and the
colors livelier and more suitable to the
tastes of American purchasers than the
dark appearance of the
0ushak carpets, which are in almost
general use for dining rooms in Eng
land.
European taste has done much to
foster this manufacture by well-merited
but has never been able to
improve it, as appears from the utter
failure of any new designs which Frank
has attempted to introduce.
The demand for Turkey carpets has
been increasing from year to year
Carpet Trade Rerieir.