New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-05-31
DESIGNING YOUNG WOMEN.
A CHEAP FIFTHAvE. BOARDING SCHOOL.
HOW GIRLS ARE TAUGHT TO MAKE DESIGNS
FOR CARPETS AND WALLPAPERS

FOR CARPETS AND WALLPAPERS
| BY MRS. CORY.
| Four dollars week Is not large amount 10 espen'
for hoard and lodging and yet there are girls III We"
| York supporting themselves with that expenui'uio
Oh, yes, OF course says some one, poor sewing
| girls on the East sidc'
Not at all; they are healthful, brght-eyed youna
women and their abiding place Is no less fsslonaoic
and hight priced neighborhood than Fifth-ave near
EiQhteenth.st The aforesaid young women nave no'
been drilled In the school OF poverty snd necessity
either They are simple, self-reliant, welieduceteo
daughters of the South and West, who have come 10
study the art Of technical design at Mrs Corys scnooi
NJ Industrial Art and don't want to spend any more OF
their fathers and brothers money about IL than u
| necessary. a..
Up on the top floor OF the big building at NO iof
Fiftiave are these abodes Of economy ana miniature
housekeeping. Each room is occupied oy TWO sris'
who pay 90 week apiece for rent Ihen tnes c''i'
| put 90 week In household purse, ana the nos'
determined girl holds the purse strings IL she mas
the weeks appropriation disappearing too quickly sne
pulls the purse strings little tighter and all luxurious
tendencies are repressed with a stern hand AS for
| the kitchens themselves, chapter In the Doh
| House, ought TO be devoted 10 their description
Various decrept drygoods boxes gotten from hessrs'
Arnold Constable at heavy trade discount turhlsh
the basis OF the structure. Porteres Of the richest
Calico strung a brass rod close the front OF the
establishment and protect It's internal arrangements
from the unfrendly eye. The boards comprising the
kitchen are put together in that somewhat haphazard
manner characteristic Of feminine carpenterlng. An
occasional crookedly driven NALL splintered plank or
cleat askew bears witness TO the anguish of mind and
| finger expended in the building of this shrine OF
| cooking.
On the top Of these cabinet kitchens is arranged that
portion of the little stock of china which is innocent
of flaws while the upper shelves Of the interior are
the less presentable utensils, the kettles and pans, the
oil stove and the spice boxes On the lower shelves
are the bread tins, the sugar boxes the bag of Hour
and other stores The iee-box is outside the window
and the laundry behind the closet door. The house
keeper for each week makes pilgrimage to Washing
ton Market every three four days and puts out the
few dollars In her purse in the that will stretch
the amount the most the bill Of fare including meat,
fish, vegetables, pancakes ETC., with an occasional
| flight into the higher regions Of cake and pastry
| Many Of the students realize enough money from
the sale Of their designs for wall papers, carpets, oil
cloths silks, tiles and prints Of all kinds to pay
portion of their expenses. Some have paid all their
expenses by work done while at the school. good
design will sell for $25. Sometimes as much as $50
or 575 will be paid for an elaborate design. MIS-
Corys hobby is "practcalo instruction. She will not
allow her pupils to turn out work which is simply
pretty but Of to the manufacturer because Oh
the limitation Of machinery and the requirements OF
business. There lots of little tricks Of the trade
| which must be known before one can do work that
can be used In the factories Thus, in the average
loom for making body Brussels carpet, only five colors
can be used The average wallpaper printing machine
can only handle eight coors at impression. The
| largest machine will take twelve. Additional colors
require second printing and this increases the cost
Two wet ooors must not be laid together in printing
| for they will run" etc.
Professional designers keep their knowledge to them
selves. They will teach nobody but their apprentices
and they will only take boys as apprentices. Mrs
| Cory's work is to get lovely woman" within this
| charmed trade circle
The School of Industrial Art and Technical Design
for Women, as Mrs Cory's institution is called, has
about 500 pupils its books, many Of whom are taught
by correspondence One student is in Japan and
part of the work Of pupils and graduates the making
of designs for real japanese goods' manufactured In
this country. In speaking of her system of instruction
yesterday while sitting in easy rocking chair and
keeping eye on class of young women struggling
with the mysteries Of perspective, Mrs. Cory SAID;
1--WE begin with q girl who enters the school KNOW
ing nothing OF drawing first she taught to Judge Of
distances by making lines Of certain length and udg
ing the lengths by her eye / say to the pupils ::
Draw line three inches long (nothing is copied In
the school, everything is drawn either from the nina
or from the object. They draw this line PROBABLY
not one in The whole school will make It just three
inches long After it is drawn they test it, find out
whether the lines are long too short What the
difference ls and draw another, which more nearly
approximaes the proper size. After they have exer-
cises of this sort give them lessons in dctaton.
saw Draw tlrree-inch square,. The only guide Is
the hand and eye Perhaps the next dctaton VIII be
Draw its diagonals and diameters; bisect the
| sides: from the points of dissection draw lines
either diagonal vertical or HORIZONTAL anything thae
have mind to dictate. So go on from step 10 step
until the first thing they know they have design.
They did not know what it TO be; 1t may be a
chair goblet, or just haphazard design that womb
do for a tle All have the same thing without seeing
each others drawings, Just from what tell them 10
do. That gives the idea Of how to lay out design
| Systematically and geometrically. Then say NOW
| make q design yourselves in the same way ORA"
! souare. circle triangle, any geometrical form you
wish; divide it with any subdivisions you like, ana
connect these points by lines, either curved or trasht
and see what the result will be- Before they hU%
what they are doing until they have made one OF t%o
Then they begin TO how it IS that you lay ont 9e
S1a SnG r aTo drawn SSS s from G
in the school, and the pupils draw ana PAM The ad
vanoed class they have learned to make pleasing forms
and not only draw the flower and paint ~ as an d
would do but resolve 1t into its elements tat y, I ~;
the flower front view back view, front and back 6 C
leaf the roots, every part OF the HOVER 'io hiO''
Then pick this flower to pieces. Draw and e9iG
one petal draw and color stamen or llle p s'ro
cut the side in two and see what nart of every
Hover is based on some geometrcal figure. di ion
one OF the first things they learn rmeS and ' leaf IS
on what geometrca figure each Hover anu i thar'
based hold up flower or Leaf ana ASH tIt t 4;
what figure would ncose that best WneSs t ~
Then this flower as l said before, is res9Vsu nv p
the clements and each element drawn sepaatcE y
the time they are through they understand us n9o
of growth and everything that belongs 10 IT. anu S
saw from seven to eight up TO twenty or tn'S yh n
ferent forms derived from the one mower. VIII M
thew combine these elements into design rom loo
there will be nothing but rose elements @
there will be the rose seed-pod, the thorls le ~
itself and all the various portions so thai " mus o
pure throughout. Another thing, they VIII H. nea oy
make the mistake after studying flower III WIS M. t
nf putting ivy leaves on and spring nowes WIZ.
those that bloom in the fai and SO on ,r1 and
every flower they study thoroughly trOugn a, anu
through They begin with the natural plant anu IIc
natural drawing. and finish the fullsEe worAi"S ue
sign derived from it. , c,o,,or+
The first year is taught geometrca arrangement,
conyentionazaton Of flowers, the drawing OF hoMeIs
from nature and adapting them 10 simple Designs,
that Il nrlnts etc The technicalteS are simple as