Copiah signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1888-1899, 1895-08-30


are accomplishing . great and Ruod
work by fasting for about ale months
la the year They are 80 little aeama'
toned 10 god fsssl that the rerFnsis
from this district eau not ent and "
grst che military rationA Their phys.
lcal stamina !. reduced a. 40 iow nH
ebh that the death rate i very high.
and they can NOT resist even slight
illnesses They are eont~ut ta sleep On
the damp earth iinora "a their cottages.
aud have 80 little sense ~ enjoyment
that. even " hen entertainments are or
ganiked in the town. none ~ the ma
tlvrs attend such. Ia few w0rsia, are
the principal facts deseribed Ia detail
la my previoas correspondence.
Vet u y this population, these miser'
able people who produce the renowned
aud heautiful Pirst carpets. Several
efforts, n vet totally unsuccessful.
have heea made "a improve their eon
dition. and the lnduNtry is still par-
sued ia the primitive manner ID tirni
originated ! was taken by Mr. Michel
Mihailoviteh, who was the leader ~
the bosnian insnrreettnn against the
Turkish occupation, Ga see several cot
tages where the carpets are made. The
work Is done outside under the shelter
of protruding roof or exiemp0rised
veranda The framework ~ the ear
pet y of the rudest description, for a
u made with the uashorn trunks ~
small trees or shrubs or branches ~
largertrees
4 aax thread warp l. fastened across
this frame aud II y bcnt up against
the outside wall of the cottage. The
worker selves 81 many threads of the
warp with the fingers ~ her left hand,
and with her right hand passes behind
them a thread of colored wnol which
constitutes she wen. No shuttle ~
employed; human fingers play tia parA
Of the shuttle When q certain num-
her of wef,. woolen threads have been
thus passed In and out across the
haxcR warp. the worker takes q piece
~ wood. roughly shaped IA imltate
four beat thln fingers ~ hand ln-
trosiuciag these woodea finger. hc-
tween the warp threads. the weft
threads are sharply pashcd downward
and tightly iammed together.
such u the process Ia all is sln-
plicity. easy bat slow. The diflicul-
~ arises la the making ~ the designs.
strange a. Say. the women have no
drawings, nothing Ia help thems but
evolve the designs out ~ their own
minds as they work. making the hg-
ures a. memory, tradition ~ itnaRlna-
tlon suggests The result 10 not an.
like tapestry, only VA the pirot carpets
the eolor~d woolen tsroad il always
laid horizontally oves the eolosless
vertical warp. which a. ofeourse. con
eealz In tapestry the eulsrle.M
gronndwork epnsists VI q weft an wen
- warp. and the eoloned wool IL
/! - nfmr ssssh w~rtiwmftn Assi hems !.
sel tally Thna In tapestry We hase
minute squares "a color. whaFemm IA
the psrot snFpet we have the eelor N.
lmw 10 herfznnfAi lines
firot carpet caa he bsuaht a rirak
from ~ 10 dinars the sqnare meter.
rNodollars Ia gold might he considered
the average price per square meter.
To make a carpet al,out . kilogramne
II wool u required pee square meter,
The coat of Wool just a. u eomes from
the sheep y J. ~ dinars or francs ia
silver. When earsioi aud washed the
t'cst qualities arc worth o. 90 dlnars the
kilo The dyelng of the wool eastsi "a
dinars NJ the total c,st for the wool !.
s 20 dinarS This i for the hrst aual.
itY, long haired waoL The short-hair
wool j. much cheaper There are In
firot sin exceptionally skilfnl work.
ers, and they arr capable of making
a square meter in three days.
All the either wor kers require avc ta
seven days to make a square meter.
and the day, work n fron sunrlse Ia
sunset Dor days work the fally.
/ qualified weavers earn 90 "a 20 cen.
times. or in American money . 10 10
cents hat. attached ~ these fully.
/ qaaliBed workers ara q mumher ~
/ other workers who. under dlfFereut
/ prctexts, are made % work for very
much less A the arSt cottage 1 vis-
tied ! fonad bright pleasant young
/ girl. ~ years old. who only earned 10
cvntimes. penay or : cen1s, day.
She said she was learner. was living
With her parents Rnd was working Ha
a. Ia earn enough nsney 10 ret mar.
ried Of course ! inquired how much
I
that i to say a. posssss a sn Iiiclent
tlowry ~ be able Ia marry aoms one In
her own station la life.
She replied that about 40 dlmava. er
So. would be- a suitable suaA Though
this sum was modest enough, II r~prr.
sented 500 days work at csnts' ON
the superstition that she never sp~nt a
sluRle cent ~ her earnings ON her.wlf
Then u was explained that the mar.
riage PARTON need not tc all In cash
bat the greater part was generally i'm
kind. and I was forthwith shown A
number ~ knitted woolea socks al
ready made for the a. yet uukaowu
husband A glrl. found, il
/ generally expeeted 10 nresent
her husband. on marriage, with a
some twenty pair ~ hand-knlttesl
woolen socks with elahvrata eolarp.l
designs over the instep. aud soma ON.
hundred and ffftv ta two hunslrs.l
meters ~ haasl-woven cotton material
for aaderciothlng Thus girls are
hardly in their teens when they bexln
81 make this provision for their mar
riage.
Il -" NV M"@NA&AtA N8HN 08 fAtM WIN
" likely Ia be their husband whaa tksy
hegin this work, ! wondered how the
socks woaid ~ the unknoun foot.
fhis. however, was considered trivial
difsieally. aud was told that The so.sls.
heAnE made the average size, usually
gave satssfaellen Then the sprvlans a,
not wear hoots aud shoes, and there !.
plenty Of room foF an ill.attinm sark
IN The lolse sandals with which thev
protect the solea % their feet A eon.
siderable nambeF ~ wosnen are alse
employed In spinnlnR the wool. aasl
for this they are paid ahaat ten cents
per day and their food. bnt II the Pea.
pie fur whom they work ara paor, the
iood consists oaly % onlons. bread aud
the pmprlka frmit, a. penper A suman
can spin fiom i've - Ten kilogrammes
NJ wooi 10 q day Cor fhiiasleiplsla
Telegraph
--~llow u IL thai yonr boAx' swe.l