The Jersey City news., 1898-10-03
4 IDEAS for dWollaen

* -
nv friend. the silk manufaeturer'
turned Is nle III amusement. says writer
in the Philadelphia Press. DID you no.
lice the imported silks the cleriS was Just
showing?" lie asked.
assented.
..NeIl. he continued those things are
not imported, but are the product q ny
own mill. z ..,.o,t
We were in one of the large department
stores of New York when the CONVERSE
tion took place And, my curiosity peiis
arof,sed. 4 asked for further inforfaaeloll'
.,rpl,e general public would hardly reali@s
tl,o amount of deception praetlcea On
t,,s,,, IN this way. Not only is American
s,1,- renresonted as imported goods, pue
American wines and pique, and ducks
a,d alI Sorts of clothes suffer in the same
wav 4 Baltimore firm dealing in cheni-
ca,s ships many Of them with the iaoei
Made in Germany, while piques ana
d5elxs are stamped England by Amerl-
can manufacturers.
srrhis deception is the outgrowth OF tne
preiudice of American women asa'iiss
American goods 1t started when Amer
can industries were young. Ihelr pro-
dl,et naturally, did not compare laVora-
blv with the foreign manufactures. NOW
however we have every facility Tor purii-
ing out goods that are equally wen niaoe.
orr machinery is of quite as improved
pattern, while many of our men We're
skilled workrnen ON the other side peiore
they entered our eraploy
.eYet we receive no credit for the better
grade of materials. as they are all oi1er-
ed as imported goods. As a result y -
almost impossible to convince the Ar1era-
can woman that American goods equal
those of foreign make. And as long as
merchants continue to deceive her re-
esrding the true source of materials, all
efforts ON the part of the manufacturers
cannot overcome her prejudice
swhy is it that reliable merchants, who
are otherwise above reproach, allow their
clerks to resort in these methods, cam
not understand. The merchants say III
defense that Americans wish to be hood
winked: yet, aside from few women who
pride themselves on always wearing mn
ported gowns / doubt if this is true At
least, women should be given an oppor-
sunity to defend themselves against this
charge of lack of patriotism.
So
ssThere is great deal of truth IN H.
said one of New Yorks foremost dress
makers, when asked her about the mat
ter. "a year ago we would not have been
able to convince a customer that piece
Of silk of good quality was American IL
she was convinced of its origin. she would
no longer believe in its quality, and, as a
result. we were often obliged to misrepre-
sent goods. dislike to practice a deeep-
tion of this kind, and, therefore, rarely
buy American silks.
u think, however, that the sentiment
regarding American silks is gradually
changing. Last year. when the new tar
ifr went into effect. many of our custom
or. objected to paying the high prices;
we then suggested American silks, and in
that way have overcome to some extent
thfs unreasonable prejudice. The war,
100 has helped to make American wonl
en- more patriotic and to see that Ameri-
q, -t,,,., o,,t sroads; nl,ite equal to those
of other countries
.This objection Of American women TO
American goods has resulted in many ri
dteulous situations to those behind the
scenes
xxi the showroons of d prominent mil
1,aer Of this city. ii is yearly announced
that she has zone to Paris for rev mod
cls and win return in about four weeks.
~ that end of that time, madame, whose
visit IN paris consisted Of her remaining
n the MINER rooms of her house once
more receives her customers, displaying
"a them gorgeous new creations, al
4anored Paris, They are received with
ia praatest admiration. and find ready
sele
..These hats. as YOU have suspected. are
all made within the brick walls of ma
DANES house. Yet, if New york's wealthy
women were told the truth, they would
fnd no beauty in the creations over which
.pev are now SO enthusiastic, and would
90 ii search of imported headgear.
ssBut. as said before. there is great
change taking place. and before long we
nav hone to find American women for
American industries. and openly wearing
American-made goods
onera or evening wraps have changed
their form COMPLETELY and appear this
season love1ier than ever before
There is an air of much elegance and