The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-02-06
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PHiLADflriiia. February 2, 1885.
Carpets have taken adown-
ward lurch. Ingram tumbles;
Tapestry tunbles to Ingram;
brussels to tapestry; Velvet
to Tapestry; Moquette below
Brussels; Smyrna almost to
Tapestry.
People who were going to
buy one are thinking of the
next grade higher. The new
prices point to different car
pets or less expense. Which
shall it be' They need to
know about the carpets Of
which they are thinking now
as much as they know
about those they were going
to buy before.
There is reason, therefore,
for putting in print the COM
monest facts about we'll
known carpets.
Tapestry looks like Brus-
sells, as every body knows
There are several grades of
it. Few can distinguish one
from another. Certain
makes command the highest
prices, partly because of the
difficulty of judging the
grades, But, as buyers gen
orally have no means of
knowing one make from
another, they have to trust
the seller. Buying Tapestry,
then, is apt to be an act of
confidence. We propose to
make it less so. So is buy
ing Brussels. We propose
to make it safer. And the
same of the others.
What is Tapestry carpet?
What is Brussels ? One is d
copy of the other. Tapestry
costs about two-thirds as
much as Brussels; and, on
the floor, there is very little
difference between them.
The framework of both is
hard in1exible cotton and
jute. If you take a bit of
each and pull the wooden
yarn all out, there is left, of
the Brussels, the framework
that holds it together and
gives it stiffness; it looks
like a sieve, with meshes
about ten to the inch. OF
the Tapestry more is left.
When the wool is drawn
out of the face, the back is
solid with jute. Pull out this
solid back of jute, and only
the framework is left; the
same as the framework of
Brussels. The difference be-
tween the stuffs of Brussels
and Tapestry, then, is jute in
the place of a part of the
WOOL.
The face of Brussels and
tapestry, both, is a mass Of
loops of colored wooden yarn
held fast by the hidden frame
work of cotton and jute be-
low; and the colors form the
carpets figure. The car
pets goodness as to dur
ability depends on the max
ing, of course, but main
~ on the wool in the loops
and what is under the loops.
One judges Tapestry by the
number Of loops to the inch.
The best has ten the poor
EST down to six. Turn it
over, and look at the back.
The larger the mesh in the
framework, the more sparse
the loops and the wool on
the face.
What is under the face?
What effect does it have?
The loops on the face of
Brussels are backed by wool
below. The loops on the face
of Tapestry are backed by
jute. Wool is soft, and jute
is hard. The wool on the
face, of course, wears longer
against back of yielding
wool than against a back of
unyielding jute. So Brussels
wears longer than Tapestry.
How much longer? By as
much as the back of wool
is gentler to the trampled
loops than jute so much;
no more. 1t isn't soft enough
to have the difference felt by
the foot in use. The makers
object in using wool instead
of jute is only to make a sof-
ter bottom to wear against.
The luxurious softness one
feels with the foot comes
only of carpet-lining.
This back of wool in
Brussels has another conse-
quence. 1t is the source of
colors to make the carpets
pattern. 1t consists, or
rather the wool of the Brus-
sells carpet consists, of