St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-17
"FIRE-pRooF" BUILDINGS.
Countess di Brazza-Savorgn Offers
q Gentle Roast.

Gentle Roast.
New LONDON, Conn.,, July 16.-The
Countess di Brazza-Sayorgn president
and representative in America of the
committee for the Italian lace exhibit
in the woman's building at the worlds
fair, is now at her mothers summer
home in Groton, Conn.,, detained East
by the protracted illness of her child,
and, therefore, unable for the present
to give personal attention to the eX-
hibit, in the success of which she has
taken such deep interest.
'Our exhibit" said the countess. 1.-THE
entire profit of which goes to the poor
of Italy, was suggested by Mrs. Palmer,
and when Mrs. Thomas Ryan, of Chi
cago, came to Italy l obtained for her
an audience with and a promise from
the queen that she would try to gain the
permission of the whole royal household
to send the royal laces to the exhibition.
We onlyIhad allotted to US space thirty
feet square 10 make an exhibit showing
the employment of the women of Italy,
and therefore we would take only one
branch and use the others as access
SorieS.
-Four of these philanthropic ladies
of Italy volunteered their assistance. 1t
was in May of last year that the exhibit
was suggested. We decided that to
complete the queens collection, and
make it interesting as possible, we had
better go back as far as we could in the
history of lace collection by loaning
from all the different ancient families
of Italy examples of lace, and we also
requested all of the most eminent
arch biologists, not only of Italy, but of
other nations, to give us all the infor-
nation they could. The consequence
was such vast amoant of information
on textile art generally, and lacemak-
ing in particular, and so many examples
were found which had been made ante
rior to the time when any lace was sup
posed to be executed, that it would
have been impossible, even Tor the most
well-informed on tho lace question, to
have understood the exhibit without an
explanatory guide. The queen there
fore requested me to write it, as | hap
pened to possess the most information
on the subject. and would be most in
touch with the American people, being
an American by birth.
1--WE were encouraged in doingthis be-
cause of the devotion of Italians to lace
and of the vast treasurers in private
families and in possession of the queen.
Her majesty fully realized that if we
could send unique collection of art
treasures to this country and include be-
sides them in the exhibit copies of these
antique designs of laces. we could show
that they are as perfectly executed in
Italy today as there were at the time of
their greatest renown and glory, and
are also as cheap as are even laces made
in other countries-that naturally the
Americans would be glad to patroniZe
the industry, and that in this way many
women who have been forced to abail-
don their needle and their bobbin, be-
cause there was not sufficient demand
for their work, could again maintain
their families. In that way we could
diminish the emigration from Italy,
which is as disastrous for that country
as cholera or famine would be.''
The countess then extensively ex-
planned how the story originated that
valuable pieces Of laceS had been stolen
n transit.
"Of course" she said, "the grand mis-
tress of ceremonies to the queen is rot
commercial person, and therefore was
ignerant of the necessity of Including
an Invoice, and simply sealed up -tsels
different packages and placed them 10
zinc cases enclosed in a wooden case,
which was sent to the consulat Chicago
Now, when wished her majesty and