The San Francisco call., 1898-07-31
How TO Buy
 EASTERN RUGs

IuuCu bOuG cLlCI ny lHC 1OilOWS 0 CTS of fashion countless frauds
 and impositions are being prac- ticed Here are few pointers as offsets furnished by professional buyer of rugs from the East.
 Some dealers will always assure you with passionate earnestness that the rugs are either Persian or Turkish. You must not believe a word they say, for somc Mussuimen have been raised in the be- lief that to get the better of a Christian is a saving grace. AS the, size of Persian and Turkish rugs rarely exceed eight and a half by six and half feet. about per cent of all the rugs made are larger but they have been made to order, and only about l per cent of the per cent ever come to America.
 The Oriental worker makes the rugs to fill the use of chairs and they are piled in heaps In his narrow hut or house. Only the long narrow carpets which we covet for our halls and stairs are in- tended by him to be used under foot. These floor strips are never more than sixteen feet, and are usually thirteen by three feet.
 In this country, and in San Francisco in particular, great many large rugs aru being sold as Dagastan, Goulistan, etc., some of them running as high as twelve by twenty-four feet. They are made in large barbaric patterns, with great wealth Ol CO1OT anu dT6 very lOOS6ly WON6n.
 They are genuine Oriental rugs, but not Persian or Turkish. They are made in four prisons of India, where the British Government employs the native eonvicts in the making of these rugs for the En- ropean and American markets.
 As number of men are employed on one rug the pattern must be given them by the English overseer, as the convicts do not belong to the rug ulaiIing class. Hence the patterns are such as a long headed Englishman would select.
 In the Persian and Turkish huts the whole family will work on rug, whose pattern is evolved with the rug.
 The prlson-made rugs are made Of in ferior wool as the Government buys only the short staple, while the Oriental uses the longest and finest wool obtainable.
 The prison rugs are dyed with analine dyes, while in the old Oriental families the secret of the vegetable dyes has been guarded for centuries and handed down from generation to generation.
 The British Government has found this such an extent that sthey have more orders than they can fill. As conse- quence they are constantly improving the rugs which, while beautiful and genuine, are not what they are represented to be when sold in this country. The analins dyes fade, which often softens and im- proves the rug, where 1t does not fade unevenly,. as Is very often the case.
 A simple test for analine which any one can apply at a moments notice is to mofsten a white handkerchief and rub
 
 the color comes off 1t is analine dye
 It must be borne in mind that owing to the difficulty the peasants have in ob- taining some of the vegetable dyes, they will sometimes substitute one color. par ticularly sapphire, in analine An abso- lutely infallible test for analine dye Is to test the rug with match. Pull out a thread and burn with match. letting the ash fall on the rug. It will leave yell low smudge. If the thread was dyed with vegetable dyes you can easily. rub the tf1 fNfr xxr4t tH I1rl with analine the smudge cannot be ruo- bed off
 As to patterns, the genuine rug may have occasionally European designs. The French have sent to the Persian families designs to be made up, and these rugs are sometimes offered for sale e,<here;
 An American had for sale in San Fran cisco three of the most beautiful rugs, which he said had been ordered by the French Embassador
 in the other and white in the third. Each had for the center the French flag. crossed by the Persian. The rugs were valued at s700 for the three.
 Most of the Eastern rugs are made by Mohammedans, and as the Koran forbids the representation of any living thing. when the pattern contains the likeness more or less crude of an animal usually horse, & sometimes ns eamei. the & ruT was in Asia Minor, or in Anatolia, by a Greek Christian family.
 IneSe Andtollan rugs De1ng made or very long, staple wool, are exceedingly beautiful, and are more artistic In color ing and in pattern than in Persia, where rug making has become an established industry.
 The Anatolian agrees with Eugene Field, thinking that any color, so long s4 1t is red is the color that suits him best and the prevailing color of all AnatoliaR rugs is a rich pigeon blood red. Tho Christian made rugs often have cross in the pattern.
 The Bokara rug, so much prized by col- lectors, has always for a pattern a very conventionalized pomgranite about 1x1h inches, being nearly circular, usually on a rich dark red background.
 The Tifiis hall carpets used by us aS stair carpets have also frequently cons and the pomgranate Is much larger-thaf but the rug is not so closely woven as a Bokara, the coloring is totally different and the pomgranite Is much larger-that is, about 215 inches in diameter, and is rather square than round
 One of the best weaves of the Persian rugs is the Sherez, but word of warn ing concerning these rugs. At Sherez, a town in Persia, factories have been started where they turn out large numbers of tho rugs. very beautiful, but all colored with the analine dyes, and sure to fade. and to fade uneyenly.
 The genuine old Sherez is usually of very simple pattern, consisting of verti- cal or diagonal stripes surrounded by a greater or smaller number of borders. As