Daily Kennebec journal., 1880-06-07
(Consinued from ar,s Pare, !,

fFench goveFnment for IL own use IN nation
81 buildinss, and for occasional presents TO
foreign governments. II il TOO costly fabric
to be bought and sold in the market, or TO be
manufactured by private individuals. twas
commenced in the reign of Louis XIV, by
two brothers named Canaye, and il called
G0belin merely becsuse tie spot where the
building stands was once occupied BY Jean
Gobelin, . dyer Of wool. At the suggestion
ofhis prime minister, Louis bought the man.
ufact0ry, and il has ever since been managed
BY the government Of Prance. The works
were destroyed during the German siege,
and have not been wholly rebuilt. They are.
however, very extensive at the present time.
The tapestry Is made Of the size Of the space
to be covered. and its manufacture il . won
derful exhibition Of art and skill. By the
process of weaving, beautiful figures and flow
ers and landscapes are placed on the tapestry,
almost ~ life-like ~ the most finished work
Of the painter. We saw enc piece in process
Of being manufactured, with two human 6g-
ures upon it, as.perfect in color and design as
an artist could paint them. Groups Of ami
mails, flowers, and Whatever the human mind
can invent, were represented in the tapestry
in perfect shape. The different species Of
flowers appear a. distinct and distinguishable
- in nature. We we're permitted to examine
all the processes Of designing and manufac-
turing.
The process is Described by another writer
better than ! can do it. "A series Of threads
are arranged vertically in 4 frame. like the
warp in loom, and the workman stands be-
hind the frame, the pattern being placed be-
hind him for reference. To produce the de-
sign, he has . number Of wooden needles
threaded with wool and silk Of the cslors re-
quired, and these are passed through the up
right warp threads, and brought back again,
80 that each thread becomes covered with. the
necessary color; and such IL the extreme
nicely with which this il done, and such the
delicacy and multiplicity Of the shades Of col
or employed. that but little difference can be
detected between the tapestry figures and the
painting from which il was copied"
We had seen tapestry in various picture
galleries, but none equal to the Gobelin tap
estry.
WINE AND WATER. .
l am amused whenever think of what
occurred at our first dinner At the Hotel du
Rhone. In Paris, wine il furnished at dinner
to the guests ut hotels without extra charge,
and no deduction is made il you do not drink
it. When we sat down to the dinner table
in the evening, what should we see but bot
ties of wine from one end of the table to the
other, about one for every two persons. In
our party there were two or three gentlemen
who had their bottles Of wine at table the
first two or three days after we came on the
continent. Finding the rest Of the party alb
stained entirely, they soon discontinued the
practice At this first dinner in Paris not .
bottle of wine was touched by any of Il e
party. After that, whilst we remained at the
hotel we neither heard nor saw anything
more Of wine or wine lists.
Our conductors were wine drinkers. and
the party had been repeatedly told by them
and Others and had read it in books rs well,
that it was dangerous to health to drink the
water in Europe, and that we must neces-
sarilly use wine instead. The people Of the
different countries seemed to have no idea
that water was made to drink. But of our
party Of 90, ~ drank no wine or beer, but
freely drank the water in every country we
visited, at the hotels, at the pumps and fOun-
tains in the streets, and at the brooks and
cascades where we travelled. Our unani
nous experience was, that the water produced
no injurious effect that we could perceive.
and was not only refreshing, but pure and
wholesome. The landlords and walters
stared at us as a strange sort Of travellers.
But VIC adhered to our temperance princi-
pies, enjoyed the benefit Of our abstinence,
and the only members of the party who were
at all affected by sickness were one or two Of
the wine drinkers. II. X. B.