Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-01-01
a TALE OF TURKEY CARPETS.
How and Where chey are N ade
aud the Cost 0x Their MAnUfaC.

u h LIZ OF OH ASb CA16 r k1A -
How ana Where rhey are Made
iSt J.a es' Gazette. Decemberx
One OF the most important Industries OF the
ottoman Empire. and certainly the chief In
dustfy OF Asia Minor. always excepting aSYf-
culture, Is the making OF carpets Some OF the
Factories are now furnished with looms quite In
the European manner, but it Is not IN such
factories that these famous fabrics are chiefly
produced; the peasants In their mud-h0u5e5,
.n0 The E0mad YuIuES Ia their tents, all con.
tribute TO the many kinds that are made: Tue
annual value OF the carpets OF AnatOiia Ar
proaChes s100, 600; and OF these but small num-
Der remain in Turkey when compared vita
those distributed over Europe and America,
where The demand Is constantly increAsiDg.
About three-Tourths Of the carpets come 10
England tbut not ell for home conSumplOB)
and about one sixth goes 10 France. These
the b. st shops OF London and Paris all k. ads of
Eastern carpets can be got for ready money
more cheaply than the casual traveller can buy
them on the spot: This applies TO the finest
Old carpets as well as tn the new ones; for even
with good and trusty dragoman one may have
to lQse the best part OF day haggling for ha.f
dozen velvety mel!owed Daghestans with a
carpet dealer OF Smyrna, Cairo. or Alexa iria
aud after all be victimized 10 some extent
Ooshak. large village OF artisans about SIX
days Journey due east from Smyrna. is tie
HEADQUARTERS OF the manufacture OF the carpets
Known to us for generations as Turkey car
pets" and In France as "tapis de Smyrne"
The patterns are Turkish, or rather araoesaue
At Coshak there are at full work hundreds OF
the looms called tespGh, employing ABOUT three
thousand women, and turning out about eighty
I'VE thousand square yards OF carpets Of all
sizes and qualities annually A carpet II be-
tween seven and eight yards long will en-
ploy eight women al once, working SIDE by
side. Their wages are about eight plasters
week, which. tt is calculated, comes 70 about
wool used comes from the villages round about.
and IS bought for about halfpenny a pound
IN lis uncleaned state. When washed aud
beached 1t loses at least one third OF its weight
the foundation OF the carpet is made of an In
ferior wool, aud the whole material OF the fab.
ric may cost about g. Cd. a yard. This does
not Include the dyelng, which Is managed by
the men and forms the chief item of cost. The
colors that have SO long satisfied our western
der, cochineal and indigo Nader root or
azaIi sRM5ia ti,se'o,1,i,,. gives the line Old
Minor; the best roots cost from I'd. 10 sd
pound CGchlneal Is imported from England
ana france, and, being an expensive dye, con
sloeraply raises the price OF the carpets. IL
was not used before the year 1856; anterior 10
that date nader alone was employed for reds.
ana this TACT gives an epoch for the carpet
fancier. The Indigo is brought from England or
from India YelOws are got from the seeds of
Rh0mhuS dtdt1nuS, " hich Is cultivated largely
IN the eastern parts OF Karamania and Is get
ting dearer every day; 1t now costs about Is i'd.
pound. Other dyes. which are imported from
Europe, are used In small quantities to obtain
the more tender TINS and tone down to the
general eject. The velvet carpets which
Ocshak till the year 1860.
AT Ghiurdhes which is also a village CT art!-
sans IN Anatoiia. two days journey to the
taItS, Chiefly Turks the carpets known as
Persian are initiated TO perfection. Three
qualities are made. The finest are called hali
times as much az 100 square yards: then there
are the siG}iddeh and the ktari Hddthl-rugs
and small carpets which do not exceed five or
SIX s square are yards and are often made much
thousand yards Of all these sorts are produced
annually at Ghiurdhes.
The ellknown oblong carpets OF a roughef
quality. often joined down the middle and
called In some places karaman1an. are made by
the nomad luruks Ia wooden frames. to which
me WEB Is nxed by sort OF comb made OF iron.
They now speak Turkish, and although they
profess belief in Mahomet they In reality fol-
low no religion and have neither church nor
pas,s Ihey possess large herds Of cattle
the mountains, and In the winter descend into
the valleys and plains They are not agr1cul-
tural, though they breed their own cattle and
make butter and cheese. They are also wood
cutters and hunters and are very hOsDItable.
Which does not prevent them from thieving and
maraudlng when opportunities oi1er.
The figures that have been given above for
wages and materials show that these carpets
can be produced at a moderate expense They
are not In reality the costly luXuries which,
before the development CT trade and the conse-
quent competition, they were long col sidered
ia Europe. One OF the most trusted merchants
In Smyrna now offers the finest Ooshak, in
which all the reds are cochiDeal, for a little
over eighteen shillings square yard; the sec
ond quality, IN which the reds are half cochi.
neal, half madder. for less than twelve shll-
Hngs, and the Ghiurdhes carpets he prices at
nftten shllllDgs, free on board. The prices
seven years ago were about the same. but
thirty years back they were not more than
thEee lourthS OF these rates. Within that ne
roo the constantly growing demand and the
consequent increase In the cost OF lapor, COM
Dlned with the dearnesS OF the best dyeS,ufrs.
induced some makers to endeavor to reduce
cost price BY using cheaper colortng matters
such as aniline; the results were brilliant aud
startling colors With a falling OFF In quality
and s0lidity. These adventures soon became
convinced that the innovation would ineYita-
bly destroy the reputation Of Turkey carpets
and spoil their market, and they happily re.
turns 10 the Old methods.
But there Is danger to be quite as much
dreaded-a danger which threatens not alone
Inc colors. out the designs OF the old prOduc-
tons. Some OF the manufacturers, too DESTROYS
OF complying with the demands CT a vulgar
taste-and It is melancholy to think that these
demands chiefly come from England-are re-
placing the 1nimitable Old free Turkish designs
by stiff modern patterns The merchant whose
prices have been given above offers to execute
any order no matter what the dimensions or
patterns may be, and the same fatal cOmpla-
cency has penetrated even to the Weayera in
the interior of AnatOna- II the evil goes on &c
VIII soon bring to an end the ancient carpet in
dustry OF Asia Minor.
Annffor HSnnh