The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-10-19
Eastern Rugs and Carpets.


gorgeous landscapes and enormous bou
quets of brilliant flowers which then
formed the groundwork of all carpets
Gradually the rugs made their way into
some rich houses, and with the introduce
ton of stained and polished floors toe
handsome to cover up with carpets, rugs
became common. and vessels coming
from Smyrna and other Mediterranean
ports with figs and dates began to bring
few rugs and carpets. About fifteen
years ago Americans began to give Or
ders directly to the Turkish merchants
who act as agents for the purchase
Of such stuffs, and now the business is a
large one, half a million dollars worth
of Eastern rugs coming into New Yorl,
every year, some of them direct, but
most of them by way of Liverpool, where
they are trstnshipped. Ef''--
Rugs vary in price not so much be-
cause OF the size as on account of the
quality of the wool and the fneness of
the work. New and then u rug is found
in which the colors are of unusual
beauty, and in such cases it acquires an
exceptional value on that account. Deal
ers and connoisseurs in rugs designate
them by the districts in which they are
made-as, for Instance, Herman rug,
or Il Feraghan, or Kula. Or Ushak, or
kuba rug or carpet. Each community
or village in which carpet -making is
practiced is noted for certain peculiari-
ties of texture, material, design and
color, always producing the same pat
terms, with slight variations, over and
over again. The countries from which
we get rugs include Turkey in Asia, the
Caucasian districts, Armenia, Persia
far into India into the Himalaya, where
= the commercial outlet is Bombay The
chief centerS for the manufacture of car
pets in India are MirZapore and Benares
in the northwest provinces, and Masuli-
1ipatam in the Madras Presidency Most
OF the Turkey carpets and rugs brought
to this country come from Ushak. in the
province of Adm, about weeks Jour
ney from Smyrna. In the provinces of
khodavendikiar, ,Adana and Nish, many
families pass their lives working at rugs.
Carpet-makers are also common in Boz
rah, .Aleppo and the villages of Trebi-
zond. .s9a.ias-, p. z, z5e -.
The business methods of buying rugs
are as follows: Turks are the chief
agents for American and English buyers,
because they are noted for honesty and
ability If the Jews of Turkey believe
IN any man honesty. it is in that of the
sl1rkiss buyers. When an American
bafer arrives in. the heart of the rug
making country he selects the best agent
D lie can find, and gives him an order for.
say, one hundred rugs, of about the
! colors and sizes OF certain samples which
! he may lind in the sbazaars. The Turk
ISL agent then. employees natives of the
villages where the kind ofTugs selected
are wanted, giving to each a bag of gold,
andinstruetions to order fourrugs. The
stib-agent then goes among the families
and talks rugs with them, drinking many
cups of coffee and discussing the price
] for days at a time. When a bargain is
concluded some money is furnished the
family for wool, dyes and food, and the
] agent goes away, sure that in the course
OF few months the rug will be ready.
Upon g carpet measuring eight feet BY
Twelve a whole family will work for
! aiol1ths. tFae cotton or wooden threads
which form the, groundwork or warp of
I she fabric. are stretched upon a huge
sfranle tie width Of the rug, and the fam
/ +, or st;;h members OF it as are able to
work, sit on the floor. and tie knots in the
) warp threads with the colored woods
tufts, tishtening the finished fabric now
and then with a. rough comb. Each
werker takes about twenty seven inchas
Of the rug and works along this strip
trom tive to four inches dav
sls- tile speed at which the rug adj
7vances If the family is large
enough for the whole width Of
the rug to advance at the same time. A
rug eight or nine feet wide requires four
persons, who work side by side. The
sfinishingsof. the rug, smoothing, clip
ping etc, is a work requiring skill and
Judgment. The wages are very small
anu the payments according to the num-
s Der fsauare feet. The workers know Ger
tam patterns by heart, and dye their own
swools.s The old dyes have in some in
stances been supplanted by aniline col
ors. which do not keep their tones, and
taae without giving to the rug the soft
ness OF tint which is the chief glory of a
fine Eastern rug. So many merchants
have rcfisedsto buy the carpets in which
aniline dyes have been used that the use
- N"SAAA 10y StCutltstii} De SlOppcu. Inc
rug rug makers as a class are poor in money!,
very ignorant andvery religious, but live
eonfortabiy Especially around the
'tesrdtTs Of the Caspian Sea, in the coun-
WateTed by the rivers from the eau
casan Mountains, are the people in com
fortabfe circumstances, although about
three centuries behind the rest of the
world: Wine is still brought into Tifiis
in ox-hiaes, holding hogshead of wine,
md is sold for about fifteen cents a GAL
lon. The rugs and carpets are brought
in IRON Persia and the neighboring dis |
tricts on camels' backs, the arrival of
camel-trains being one of the curious
Sights of the town.
old rugs, varying in age from ten to
one hundred years, are to be found all |
over the East, and are bought by tray
cling agents, who look chiefly for beauty |
OF coloring and fineness of material. |
Prayer rugs, without one of which q |
Mohammedan never travels, are about |
two feetssnd half wide and four feet
long. They can be distinguished at
once bv the DESIGN. which ALWAYS ranra