The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-20
THE QUEENS CARPET.
The Wonderful Fabric Making For
Her Majesty by Women.
From the London Chronicle.


From the London Chronicle
At Bridgnorth, within a stones throw OF
the home of Bishop Percy, whose REL
iques" have justified the preservation Of
his house, for nearly four months past
women have been weaving with deft fin
gers the magnificent fabric which will, dur
ing, the present month, be offered for her
majesty's acceptance. 1t is in keeping
with the Loyalty of the givers that the car
pet should be manufactured in a town
which claims as its civic motto, "Fidelitas
Urbis Salus Regis" That such a carpet
was in course of manufacture was gener-
ally known, but no description Of it has
been made public. In fact, few except the
Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge
and the Duchess of Teck-n whose mind
or ginated the form which the gift was to
take-have had an opportunity of inspect
ing the designs. When finished it
and although of unusually fine
texture, is upward of an inch in thick
ness. 1t was originally intended that the
material should be mohair, but on subse-
qLent consideration the finest worsted
yarn was used, inasmuch as this gives the
ftrmest and most durable surface. The
coloring is regal in its richness, the whole
ONAh6 NOAHsCANGQ Win a view 10 HARMONIC
ing with the surroundings of the throne
room. where it will be used on state occa-
sions.
The center. which is in two shades of
crimson damask contains the monogram
v. r. /. In bold letters of gold, supported
by the Tudor rose and the star of india
the whole being inclosed in a garter bear
ing the motto, "Honi soft qui NAL y
pense," surmounted by the imperial crown
entwined by a 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 Ohe latter
emblematical of India) are continued I'M
til the corners are reached. At the angles
are animals allegorical OF the colonies: the
tiger representing India, the elephant Afri-
ca, the beaver Canada, and the kangaroo
Australia. The whole OF these animals ar
life-like in coloring and attitude, and were
specially sketched at the zoo for the pur-
uoses of the design. The extreme edge of
the carpet has the conventional band,
worked in soft gold. The Midland looms
have rarely produced anything so strik-
ingly beautiful. Technically described, the
carpet is what is known as royal Amin
ster, every one of the thousand cords be-
ing separately tied by skilled female
hands. This fact lends additional interest
to a gift offered by women to their queen.
duced consists mainly of two strong wood
en- 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 we're made. Real AK
minister Is only produced by a very few
firms in England at the present time the
exceedingly slow process necessary rem
dering It extremely costly. and consequent
~ creating a somewhat exclusive demand.
Since the middle of February no fewer
than twelve girls have been regularly en-
ployed on the carpet, the number Of hands
being limited by the size OF the loom. All
Of them showed the greatest interest in
the national gift, and Individually endeav-
ored 70 turn out an article which will not
only be a credit 20 the firm by whom they
are employed, but will be a slngularly
handsome example Of the superiority OF
this branch OF British Industry. A case
composed OF polished oak Is being made
for It's reception. and as the latter Ia only
TO be used on state occasions, thore Ia no
reason why II should not remind many fu-
ture sovereigns OF the love and reverence
In which Queen Victoria was held by the
women Of England throu bout all the
| years OF her record reign.