The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-10-24
YOUR CASHMERE SHAWL.
Where and How 1t Was Made and
what II Cost.
brakes Magazine. ]


Much good-natured raillery has been in
dulged in at the expense Of Queen Victoria.
owing to her invariable habit of giving but
one present on all occasions. Her CASH
mere shawls are looked for by every relative
who marries, and by every high court lady
who is specially honored by her. They are
gifts worthy of a Queen, however, for they
are the most beautiful articles made for
women to wear, and cost more than any
other single garment. The shawls of CASH
mere are justly celebrated throughout the
world for their extreme brillaney and ele-
gance. These shawls occupy a pre-eminent
place among textile products; and the Cash
mere shawl trade Is of the highest antiquity
and Importance. The cone pattern, with its
Moving curves and minute flowers peculiar
to these shawls Is well known. The unri-
vale1 OF the excellence of the manufacturers
Of Cashmere is attributed to certain proper
ties In the water of that country; for, though
great pains have been taken to manufacture
similar shawls in other places, they have
never the texture and softness of those of
Cashmere.
The hair Of the Cashmere goat is longer
than that OF the Ang0ra animal, and not,
like 1t. curled iuto ringlets, but straight. A
single goat yields only about three ounces
SO that the feeces of 10 goats are required for
the manufacture OF a shawl yard and
half square. The hair is spun by women and
dyed after it Is spun. Sixty thousand indi-
viduals are employed in Cashmere making
shawls, though the number of looms, which
200 years ago amounted to 100000 has been
reduced to 10000, produces annually about
$4,000 shawlS.
shop-sned or tent in Cashmere has
generally three working people, and re-
markably fine shawl will occupy them a
whole year or more to make. OF the best
kind three people will work only about a
quarter Of an. incl. in day. The plain
shawls are woven with shuttle; the varie-
gated ones are worked with wooden needles,
each different colored thread having dis
tinct needle. The ''oostand," or head work.
man, directs them as to the thread and colors
they are to use in order to make the figure;
ana though the rough side of the shawl is
uppermost on the frame, and the pattern
perhaps quite new. he never mistakes the
regularity of the most figured patterns.
Sometimes shawls are made in separate
pieces, and afterwards joined together
a lew years ago the shawl weavers of
Sprlnagar, Cashmere, were reckoned to be
about Y per cent of the inhabitants. The
proportion Is now less owing to the reduced
demand for Cashmere shawls, both loom
maae, ana nand-sewn. The Maharajah has
shawl trade by an extension of silk manufac-
lures. The annual tribute of the Maharajah.
pre- scented in token Of the supremacy OF the
British government, Is lone horse. u perfect
W W 6tato VA opPiOfcQ DfttQ (Slx male and
six female), and three pairs OF Cashmere
snawis. Some years Ego the annual value
Of these manufactures in Cashmere was es-
timated at e300, 900, but the amount has since
greatly declined. Cashmere shawls of the
finest quality are sold in London at from
el00 to e400 each. The chief demand for
shawls has generally been from France, and
French patterns have somewhat iDterfered
with native art. A collection of Cashmere
snawls was exhibited recently in London
G OF In Et.a q
the usual cone or shawl pattern others snuff
coioreo, OF softest texture, inwrought with
gold. One was worked with map of the
city Of Sprlnagar, the capital of Cashmere;
the streets and gardens, houses and temples,
with the people walking about among them,
ana the boats on the deep blue river, being
seen as clearly in the quaint drawing of a
medieval picture as in a photograph.
Another shawl, more soberly colored, was
one mass OF the most delicate embroidery,
Cashmere wilderness of flowers, with birds
OF the loveiiest plumage singing in the
blooms, and wonderful animals stalking
round and wondering men.
Ihe shawls OF Karman 10 Persia, not much
inferior to those Of Cashmere, are woven by
hand, similarly to the carpets The material
called "kurk, of which these shawls are
made. is the under wool of particular kind
OF goat. The whole of the ''kurk" is not
made use OF In the looms of Karman, large
fuoueity DotuB dnuudlly exported 10 AmrltSlS
Ia upper India, where 1t is manufactured
into false Cashmere shawls. The Paris
shawls are principally of the kind known as
French Cashmere, in which. by aid of the
draw loom and of the jacquard, a surface
appearance Is given precisely similar to that
OF the Oriental shawls. Real Cashmere
shawls cost from $500 to $4,000 in this coun.
Try, the duty to on them being so very high.
In England they are cheaper, there being no
duty TO pay. At present they are not as
popular as they were 10 years ago, the use
OF furs being more general and their expense
peing less, while their beauty, IN the eyes of