The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-10-03
4 NOVEL INDUSTRY.

cut village.
OF late years, since the crazy-quilt
mania has taken possession of the temi-
nine mind and zigzags in silk and vel
vets have been in vogue, the old patch
work vagaries in which our grand-moth-
ers delighted to have been RELOCATED to
the prize booths at agricultural fairs.
Yet the world has not totally aban-
doned the homely calico quilt; the old
time favorte was never more popular
than at present. But its manufacture
is no longer the prerogative and mo-
nopoly of the gentler sex, and its char
acter has undergone remarkable
change. Unlike its prototype of the
old days, it is not an agglomeration of
samples from the gowns of every wo-
man in its makers neighborhood no
premium is placed upon the number of
its stitches beyond a certain limit of
thousands F; it is not stretched upon an
awkward, numbering frame, and
stitched day after day by weary house
wives. The quilt of the present day is
the product of machinery. The books
of quilt mandatory in Eastern Con-
necticut show that between seven hum
dred thousand and eight hundred
thousand of all grades of goods were
distributed from its doors last year.
There is no European trade in this par
ticular line of manufacture, because
down coverlets, or those with wool
filling, are used exclusively on the Con-
tinent. But New England quilts are
sold in great numbers in even the
warmest of the Southern States,
throughout the West, in Mexico, Can
ada, and the West Indies, as well as in
different cities of the South American
States.
About 1874 the business originated in
small wooden structure upon the site
of the present extensive factory. Here
the quilt materials were stored, to be
distributed among the farmers wives
of the vicinity, who occupied their leis-
ure hours between twelve o'clock din
ner and six o'clock tea, as well as the
hours of long winter evenings, in quilt
ing for the manufacturers, who repaid
their labor by the munificent sum of
twelve and one-half cents for each fin
ished quilt. But sthe farms were
sterile, and profits close; so the thrifty
housewife was glad to supplement the
scanty revenue from butter and eggs
and berries with the profit from her
needle. The wife of many a farmer
has opened her first bank account or
made the momentous purchase of her
first silk gown, while her rosy-cheeked
daughter has paid the first installment
upon long-coveted piano or cabinet
organ, with the dearly earned wages of
quilt-making When sufficient num-
Der of quilts were completed the man
ufacturer started upon the road with
his stock, peddling his goods alike to
house and storekeepers. As his trade
increased, quarters were prepared for
workers within the storehouse, which
then really became factory, where
eventually the quilts began to be run
byiordinary sewing machines. A year
or two later the business increased to
such proportions that a large stone fac
tory was built, power machines super
ceded the old-style ones, the little COM
pany of workers originally composed
of farmers wives and daughters was
increased by foreign operatives from
every nation, and three or four hum
bred boxes and bales of q dozen quilts
each were shipped from the works
daily. In course of time a second fac
tory was built, and later on branch
establishment was opened in Canada.
The calico which is worked up into
quilts was originally purchased in the
ordinary way, but after q time the
manufacturers began buying up large
supplies of uncolored cotton, originat-
ing their own designs for patterns and
having the calico printed especially for
their use. The bales of calico having
been opened at the quilt factory,
enough of the webs are sewed together
by ordinary sewing machines run by
steam. to form web as broad as the
quilt should be. Then these broad
webs are cut into squares, and these
squares are placed together in pairs,
and each pair is stitched around on
three sides so that it forms bag. The
bags are then taken to the story below
to be filed. The manner of filing the
bags is novel, The filling is first spread
upon a rack of wooden Stats, where it
is pressed down by second rack, and
then the bag is dexterously slipped
over the frame thus formed. The racks
are then removed. the filling beaten
smooth, and the whole rolled up ready
for stitching. Three boys manage the
rack, and so rapid are they that they
readily fill seven hundred quilts daily.
After filing the bag the fourth side
is sewed up and the quilt is fixed in a
frame. It'll then stitched by machine
which mechanically follows an arm
running in metallic guide to form
the desired pattern. The quilting ma
chimes are tended by girls, who are
paid two-and-one-half cents for each
quilt, and forty quilts are considered
an average days work. Some of the
girls make seven dollars week. The
work requires very little exercise of
either strength or attention. 1t is a
trifle oily, but is above the average of
factory occupations in health and
cleanliness.
In 1884 new machine for quilting
was invented, but there arc only six OF
them in use, The quilt is stretched in
wooden frame and stitched in the
most intricate designs by power, the
metallic pattern in which the guide
works beinor fixed underneath u,1on n