The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-12-31
CARPETS GOING OUT.
Oriental Rugs Largely Taking Their
Places

Places.
The New York Tribune says that
one of the most noticeable changes
in the furnishing of modern houses
and apartments may be found in the
gradual disappearance of the carpet
and it's replacement by the rug. Ev-
erybody has observed the progress in
this direction in the last few years,
and at present it seems as if the change
were going on more rapidly than ever
before. It is hard to get an estimate
on the subject which can have any
claims to accuracy, but the statement
of one rug-dealer that fully SO per
cent. of the floor coverings now in use
are rugs may be taken as cOnserva
tive one 1t is not difficult to see why
the popular taste has turned this way.
For one reason, rugs are vastly more
convenient and labor-saving. Instead
of having to be swept vigorously and
often on the floor, they can be taken
up every day, if necessary, and shaken.
They never become so impregnated
with dirt as carpets, and by their use
the dreaded semi-annual house-clean-
ing is robbed Of one of it's greatest ter
rors. The hardwood floors upon which
the rugs are laid can be kept perfectly
clean, and the gain to health from
the Punishment of the germ harboring
carpet is something to be considered.
People who live in apartmnts, or who
have occasion to move from time to
time, appreciate rugs to the FULL They
will lie anywhere, and the old-time
cutting and fitting process to which
carpets had to be subjected whenever
they were changed into other rooms is
avoided
All these advantages of rugs yet
omit to include the further one of ar
tistic merit. Laid upon a well-fnished
hardwood floor, fine rugs, from their
beauty of texture and variety of color
and design, are far more pleasing to
the eye than monotonous stretch OF
carpet. Made, as they are, in every
size and shape, it is possible to find
rugs to suit any part of the house
even for hall fioor-coverings.
The superiority of the handmade i'm
ported Oriental rugs over the products
of machinery in this country needs nc
obstacle in the way of a wide use Of
the Eastern rugs is their price. For
| tunately for those who cannot afford
them. many of the limitations produced
here are excellent asd durable They
cannot be expected to deceive an ex
pert, but they are perfectly able t.
| stand on their own merits as well
made articles of furniture, desirable
when the precious products of the ORR
entail looms are unattainable.
Of the thousands of rugs brough
yearly to this country from Persia
| Turkey and India, only a small per
centage now are genuine antiques. Tn
storehouses of these old treasures hav
| been largely drawn upon, and as
| consequence the rugs made severa
| generations ago are becoming rare
and more costly every season. TIL
modern Oriental rugs are articles o
great beauty. but comparison Of then
with those which time has mellowe
shows the points of difference Tn
antique rug has been treated by it
former owners with care which ha
often amounted to absolute reverence
It has never been trodden upon wit
| shoes, Or even sandals, but has fel
only the soft touch Of bare feet. Sue
dissertation as placing furniture upo
it. as is the practice here, would hor
| rified the Arab or the Persian VIII
| made it and willed it 10 his children
It has been washed at times in pure
soft water and then hung up to DIR
in the fierce rays of the hot Easter
sum- The result of the treatment ha
been a general softening and blendin
of the tones of color and an increase
lustre of surface. By these points an
by the character of the design, whic
varies with the generation. rug buyer
decide the antiquity Of a specimen
The modern Oriental rugs also es
hibit colorings which are due to pecu
liar and secret dyes not known in thi
country or in Europe.