Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-08-13
CANNING rHE ~ Roor.
rnsasiry which gurnlshes Employment
Many Celestials.

Many AHirskA4tes
For more than a hundred genera.
tions there has been guild OF artists
ia this pop loss prov nee Of Fo-klen
whose life work Is the opvers on Of
the gnarled aud interlaced roots OF tbe
tea tree into things Of beauty that IA
beauty from q celestial point 81 Wow
says writer in the Collector Tho
herb whose leaves gladden. western
palates in the form OF Colong Tyson
and Souchong, Is "a harry plant and
takes a firm hold on mother earth
Its roots seems TO have no regular
law OF growth. Sometimes they 10.
velop very much as beard sprouts
from tbs caini at others they separate
aud move along parallel lines as II
they were lignose centipede, In
general i may bsbaid that they make
one large. clumsy mass from VII Cd
shoot out anywhere from three 10
thirty fOotletA Their surface Is never
smooth but always irreg -larly coz.
rugated The value Of root depends
upon It's size its outline. is free.
dom from decay and It's suggest Q.
ness OF some everyday OBJECT II is
rare that a main root mass Is more
than six inches in diameter such
belonging 70 trees ranging in age from
thirty years 90 a century. lniIe.
quently they attain 10 twelve ana
fifteen inchea aud are thea said by
Chinese experts 20 DO 400 and 500
years old.
The roots are aug from the soil ana
allowed 10 thoroughly dry In the open
air under he'd or elsn ln a moi.
erateiy warm room. The loose earth
Is carefully removed as Is the loose
bark and AL pieces dccayed cracked
or wormeateR. The artist then
determines what il is 10 TO The
iayorila types ara dragons baHaloss
COWS, carnlyores bears mauaarink
priests how.iag derYlsheA dancers Or
mythic heroes II tho root cannOs 50
worked INTO ona 81 these shapes ID Is
converted Enio pedestal OF platform
for figure piece. The primary
operation consists In saving Ii lnta
rough shape 1hls Is done with a
Gus cross cut aud the clean edges
removed 81 rnbblag them on tllss 81
BRIGGS Sometimes root u beat by
so,teE.ng !t with steam Or hoilng
water and then twisting ID Ia any
desired direction
Now cones tito hardest task ~ all
The RIOS. valued ploec i that whlea
shows no nrl and seems perfectly
natural The carver goes over tho
block removing here a tbeg aaa there
D sct 81 roots here thinning out one
on the unArr side aud iorrgrg iiduwa
aa4 tRese blralag another aud az.
paudiag u 10 tho bGrael point
have one Ia tnE dFAu NJ. room whleh
y capita. tgnee ~ dragon rcar.
ing ana opening his Jaws ~ II 10
spring gpoa his proy Careful IS.
6piuhi.ou shows that nothing has been
added % tho mass bat that hundreds
o. tbNrk Engis aaA corrugntious have
been skI.ita..y runD "a
in aearly cyary Instance 4 human
| hgure made ~ tho same manner Of
carved from WOOL ~ she Same color
or else partly made from tGa roots and
| partly from carved wood IL added
70 the first piece Tho designs arc
Il NAFAkthNF teh HtAH RHtaAs AsttME lNW AafN ~
lccturing birds nAnbnrIHs standing On
dragons boys riding on cows and other
ridiculous 4uadrlpgda dancing bog.
gars mon Sighting each other are the
eommonCst groups but Of the moro
uncommon there AFRO thousands ono
famous artist in Foochow claims 10
haze produced with tho aid OF his
apprentices over fitty thousand dif.
fcrcnt designs aad Judging from his
stock on hand his claim seems reason.
able enough.
lhs teavoos carvings nre seldom
very costly. running from 80 cents to
$40 Nine-tsnths bring loss than 81
each A handsome s0t % dozen can
DO purchased for $50 which will doc
crate a drawing. or hall better
than brtc-a.brac many mos moro ex.
penslve. The figures aru strong dur.
able and 10 no danger OF fracture BY
Bridget Of Al Sin Oatsida OF their
aesthetic 9alue they are 81 interest Ia
shoTtng the wonderful ingenuity and
economy Of our Chinese cousins.