The Portland daily press., 1897-09-07
A WONDERFUL CARPET.
English Women VIII Present 1t to the
Queen as Token of Their Love and
Esteem.

of the home of Bishop Percy, whose
+" Releiques" have justified the preserva-
ton of his house, for nearly four months
past women have been weaving with deft
fingers the magnificent fabric which will,
during the present month, be offered
for her Majesty's acceptance. 1t is in
keeping with the loyalty Of the givers,
says the London "Chronicle," that the
carpet should be manufactured in a town
which claims as It's civic motto, "Fideli-
tas Urbis Salus Regis That such a
carpet was in course of manufacture was
generally known, but no description of
it has been made public.
In fact, few, except the Primes of Wales.
the Duke of Cambridge, and the Duchess
of Teck-in whose mind originated the
form which the gift was to take-have
had an opportunity of Inspecting the de-
signs. When finished it will measure IS
feet by l6 and, although Of unusually fine
texture, is upward of an inch in thick
ness.
It was originally intended that the ma
erial sh ould be mohair. but on subse-
quent consideration the finest worsted
yarn was used inasmuch as this gives
the frmest and most durable service.
The coloring liz regal in It's richness the
whole being conceived with a view to
harmonizing with the surroundings of
the throne room, where 1t will be used
on state occasions. ms
The center, which is In two shades of
crimson damask, contains the monogram
"V. r. IT, in bold letters of gold sup
nr &od hr thu Md kho ~
India, tho whole being Enclosed in gar
ter bearing the motto, "Honi soft qui
may pense," Gurmounted by the i'm
perial crown entwined by wreath of oak
leaves, tied with ribbon.
A marked feature is the border in
which, on an ecru ground, and in proper
colors, the rose, the shamrock, the thistle
and the lotus flower (the latter emblernat-
ical Of India) are continued until the cor
ners are reached.
At the angles are animals allegorical
of the colonies; the tiger representing III
dia, the elephant Africa, the beaver Can
ada, and the kangaroo Australia. The
whole of these animals are lifelike in col
oring and attitude, and were specially
sketched at the Zoo for the purposes of
the design. The extreme edge of the car
pet has the conventional band, worked in
soft gold.
The Midland looms have rarely pro-
duced anything SO str1k1ngly beautiful.
Technically described, the carpet is what
is known as royal Administer, every one
Of tho thousand cords being separately
tied by skilled female hands. This fact
lends additional interest to gift offered
by women to their queen.
The loom on which the carpet was pro-
duced consists mainly of two stron G
wooden beams, over each of which the
work is stretched, and is in every way
identical with those on which the Oldest
examples of Oriental carpets were made.
Real Administer is only produced by a
very few firms in England at the present
time, the exceedingly slow process neces-
sary rendering it extremely costly, and
conseq uently creating q somewhat exclu-
sive demand. ys 20 s.
Since the middle of b February no fewer
than twelve girls have been regularly
employedt on the. carpet, the her of
hands being limited BY the size Of the
/ loom. All of them showed the greatest
interest In the national gift, and individ
ually endeavored to turn out AM article
which will not only be creditto the
firm by whom they are employed, but
will be singularly handsome example
of the superiority of this branch of Brit
ish industry.
A case composed of polished oak is be-
Ing made for It's reception, and as the
latter Is only to be used on state occa-
sions, their Is no reason why 1t should
not remind many future sovereigns of
the love and reverence in which Queen
Victoria was held by the women of Eng
land throughout all the years of her
record reign.