The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1897-04-03

| be desired by Rich and Poor Alike-The
Matter of American Wool American Silks
that Deceive Experts-Good Imitation
Rugs.
The extent to which materials for wear
ing apparel are manufactured in America,
as developed by the New York Sun in
vestigations, has been matter of surprise
and qualification to large class of people
who were not aware of the fact that we'll
dressed man, or woman can be provided
with clothing of the very best quality with
out expending more than 10 per cent. of
the total outlay on articles or materials of
foreign manufacture Equally surprising
and gratifying will be the information that
in the matter of housefurnishing and dec
Grafton there is no need to go abroad for
the larger proportion Of the fabrics used.
In the two important lines of carpetings
and upholstery goods-the latter also EN-
bracing draperies and decorative hang
ings-the manufactures of our own coun-
try are notable alike in quality and guam
tity.
IOl luC dOOIuHlCiJb vi luO AuOlo VI
American dwellings of rich and poor alike
the products of domestic carpet factories
are all that could be desired in respect of
beauty and fine quality Almost the only
things for which it is necessary TO call upon
the Old World in order to satisfy the most
exacting taste are rugs 1t is, however,
in the nature of things, impossible that
Yankee thrift and enterprise should win
in race where qualities precisely the op
posite are essential to success. In the
making of an Oriental rug there can be
no such things as push and vim, and hence
there will never be successful manufac-
ture of Oriental rugs in America. In this
industry machinery is helpless and hand
labor is supreme. Days, weeks, some
times years of toll enter into the weaving
of the rugs of Persia, Turkey, or Hindos
tam There is no question of capital in
vested or percentage of profit; no costly
plant, no mammoth factory crowded with
the best of machinery and appliances that
skill can contrive or money buy. The
weavers of the Orient weave today as their
ancestors did generations ago. Their loom
is formed of trunks Of trees and poles
bound together in the most primitive fash
ion, and is usually set up either in rough
shed adjoining the domicile or placed out
in the open air Women do most of the
work, and as labor is their lot in life there
is no question of wages. Neither is time
an essential element in the process. The
weaving is done slowly and laborously.
Stitch by stitch, knot by knot, and nobody
is ever in hurry to get the fabric finished
and ready for market. Some clever imi-
tations of Persian and East Indian rugs are
manufactured in America. That is to say,
the design and general scheme of color are
fairly initiated, but to the practised eye
the marked difference i'll texture and in the
blending of the dyes is plainly apparent.
The business of counterfeiting Oriental
rugs is still more extensively carried on in
Europe, and large quantities Of these bogus
goods find their way to the American
market These rugs are imported, but
they are not the genuine article.
A large wholesale and retail house deal
ing in carpets and house decorations makes
a speciality of Oriental rugs. The firm
has its own buyers in the Orient, and also
maintains a factory in the Punjab, where
rugs are woven from designs that originate
in New York. On the main floor of the
New York house is an imported India
room, an elaborate inclosure Of carved teak
wood, in which are shown some rare stuffs,
among them exquisitely woven prayer rugs
of pure silk with occasional figures worked
in threads of silver For one of these
rugs, said to be several hundred years old,
SIS, 500 is the price asked. In the same
establishment you may buy imported Sa-
vonnerie carpeting, hand woven, with pile
nearly an inch thick, at the rate of 1925
a square ward. or an Aubusson carpet at
$25 yard; and for 50, 900 you may have
sent home the pair of lace curtains which
took the prize at the Paris exhibition of
1899 But these are not the kind Of
goods that enter into the adornment Of the
average American home. For carpet Of
rich design and material, good enough for
anybody drawing room, and woven within
twenty miles of the City Hall, you will
pay no more than s175 yard. 1t is
called Savonnerie, also, and in appearance
is wonderfully like the costly French fabric
whose name it bears. For an American
Administer of the highest grade the price
is 81. so yard; for moquette from so
cents to 81. so; for velvets from 80 cents
to 81 so, and for tapestry Brussels 10
cents, all American made and all of superb
pattern and first-class quality. They are
better carpets than you will get if you buy
imported goods at the same price.
For rugs the preference Of the well-to
do buyer will doubtless be those Of real
Oriental weave for which the price varies
from SIS to 81, 500, according to size,
age, quality, and certain intangible ele
ments that go to make up the value of a
costly rug. But you will not fare. badly
if your choice should be limited to an
American mat. Some extremely hand
some Smyrna and Administer rugs of do
mestic make are to be had at moderate
prices, and they will light up room hand
somely and give good service for many
years. A new thing in rugs of moquette
weave is of home production and remar-
ably rich and fine. Very pretty rugs are
made of paper fibre and are cheap and
serviceable for indoor use.
Mattings from China and Japan come
to this country in vast quantities, duty
free, and are sold so cheap as greatly to
diminish the demand for all grades of
American carpetings. A few days ago a
Sixth avenue retail house advertised i'm
ported straw mating in rolls of forty yards
for SO. so, or less than 8 cents yard
For the year 1896, the total importation
of mattings from China and Japan was
40, 900, 900 yards, at an average valuation
of about I cents yard. 1t is said that
45, 600, 900 yards more are now ahoat or
in sight destined for the American market,
the intention being to rush the stuff in
before Congress puts duty on this class
of imports. The placing of these mattings
on the free list is now seen to have been
mistake, as they are the product of coolie
labor at from A to cents a day and of the
work of young children at 2 cents day.
They can be sold at price far below that