Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-29

the want Of that stimulus which great
city affords. over and over again nas ~ S5io
b attempt been made to induce ieautnS
emma meersch8um carYers 10 seoeiS ~
Ruhla, but the usual eXperle nee mas Deen
that after a time their Wealth VI lucas
failed and the power OF expression diInln-
isbed The carYers themselves are OF
the Opini6u that the deterl0rau0n OF Whlch
they are conscious comes OF not DelnS
able TO maintain themselves by afJisuc
work alone. such orders are so rare and
uncertain and the pay so Wretched shat
the artist must produce average wares
the greater part OF the time in order to
live, and this is ruinous alike to taste and
skill.
Ruhla Is better of than Sonneberg in
having an industrial art school, where
drawing, modelling, meerschanm and
wood carving are taught Instruction in
given on I'VE evenings in the week, and
the pupils range from IL years Of age up
wards.
! The eot cigars, which has so gener-
/ ally superseded pipe smoking, is cOmpen-
stated for by the Ruhla pipe-makers in the
use OF mouthpieces or holders for cigars.
/ The Ruhla pipe-makers export pipes or
eigar-holders literally all over the world.
The Swede, the Russian, the Greenlander,
the Kamschatkan. African, East and
/ West Indian, the negro, Malay and Great
| the man of every nation where tobacco ~
known America being in the Yanguard)
| IS purchaser OF Ruha wares. The eX-
/ porting firms alone number 40.
4 COMMERCIAL FEATURES.
Formerly all the great sales were nego-
/ tated at the annual fairs of the CONNER
/ cial centres, chief among which were
/ ErankiOrt-on-the-M Main and Lelpsic. And
10 this day the merchants of kuhla jour
ney TO the spring fair OF Leipsic often
/ with chests containing a hundred cent
! ners OF wares. But instead Of The other
fairs the travelling agent, the unfailing
( drummer, renders the service Of negotia-
| ton.
The race for cheapness and the strug-
gle 10 win supremacy in the pipe market
OF the world by undertaking all corners
Is telling upon the quality Of Ruhla ware.
Cheaper metal is often used for lids and
/ chains and blackened wood for bern, and
we nave seen already how the skill OF the
carver Is lost in consequence of his bad
wages, another form OF the struggle for
cheapness.
Yet sad as the pay Of the carvers it is
the best that Is obtained by any of the
working people of Ruhla, The peODle are
shy and proud and do not willingly reveal
10 strangers the evidences of their power
ty. Before Easter, when the Leipsic fair
Is about TO open, there is a pressure of
work, but in the rest of the year about
half the time even Of the most skilltul is
lost in waiting Tor work and mucn of the
work that comes is coarse, monOtOnOus
cutting that dictionaries the carvers' taste
and skill.
LIFE OF THE PEOPLE.
The one piece of comparative good for
tune which falls to the lot Of the Rhula
pipe-makers apart from the superb sur
roundings Of their cottage life is the fact
that they are little crowded in their dwell
lings in comparison with the workers of
| SOnneberg or with most OF the working
populations of whose house rooms any ex-
act statistics are TO be had. The furni-
ture is usually very scanty, but every
thing is scrubbed until ii SHINES, and this
is true not only OF the cleaniy trades, such
| as meerschaum carving or porcelain bowl
| painting. The dirty work, such as gild-
ing, silver washing, horn turning, etc,
are all carried on in clean work rooms
and where this proves impossible there is
always one room, however small, that is
kept dazlingly clean and serves for "com-
pany," for The "Ruhiaefs" are proud peo-
pie aud ambitious.
The census of 1880 revealed for Ruhla a
population of 4,534 Inhabitants, and the
statistics of emigration show that within
| q quarter Of century no less than ONE
tenth of the whole population has gone to
America. lt would be interesting to know
whether they have carried with them
/ their skill and cleanliness or whether the
new life in new land had forced them
to accept other occupations and other
| customs.
What drove these unfortunate people
! from their glorious valley to risk the dan
! gers, trials and struggles OF life in land
whose language they cannot speak,
| where their handicraft promises them Int.
! tie employment and the bot summers and
/ bitter winters offer q terrible contrast TO
their wOnted climate IN the Thuringian
! foresty Want or work, the oppression Of
their employers and bad times generally.
/ Moreover, the years 1852, 1856 and 1870
brought the dread Of active military SER
vice.
DETERIORATION.
Down to the year 1880 the trade of the
porcelain bowl painters was an impor-
tant one in Ruhla. But the advance OF
technical skill has made a host of paint
ers superfuous. In the old days each
decoration was completed separately and
the whole had an artistic character. But
| towards 1869 the process OF porcelain
painting was discovered and the poree-
Tain painters were routed at one blow.
They protested against this "ruinOus in
novatiOn" and demanded the expulsion of
the two porcelain painters who had set
tlen in Ruhla since 1897. But their pre-
test fell unheeded. To-day the outlines
/ are bhGAtuCQ upon the poNI nY a Young
girl aud the decorator mechanically laws
tho color on. The work OF decoration is
correspondngly poor and inartistic. The
decorator is forced TO paint by wholesale
because with his Ill-paid piece work he
must otherwise starye. For a dozen
small animals heads upon bowls he re-
ceives 10 pfennige, or two and a half
cents, and ne finishes from twenty to thir-
ty dozen such every day. In the painting
rooms established BY the employers the
working hours in summer are from a.
IN. to or D. m. In winter they are
from a. m. to 10 p. m, always with an
hours pause at noon. With full work a
first rate decorator earns IL to n marks,
| "A middling decorator l. marks and an in
feTior one to marks per week, and a
mark is equivalent TO a quarter OF dol
lar. Girl decorators received marks per
week. 1t is not strange under such con-
ditiOns that the number OF decorators has
dwindled TO fftyl
Russell Sage Talks Ab0ut His Wealth
NEW YORK, March 25.-Russell sage,
who has the reputation OF having a larger
supply of ready cash than any other man
in Wall street, and whose wealth has
been estimated as high as 500, 0OO, 600, was
examined IN the superior Court to-day as