Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-11-14
PRINCESS LeUIAE srAnrED n.

PRINCESS LOUISE sTARTKD n.
Mexican Fad.
The origin OF the Mexican carved
Asa4her ID as hard TO tr,ace as thu reo1a
of some CT the fanily trees.
The Mexicafns seem 20 have appGe4
the art only in sad1lery. Now and
then some dashdng senior dec3ced his
Hombr,ero with broad hand of CARVED
eaa!.her, but thar wus all. And there
WAS mo more of u in California until
dozen or so years ago.
A share of the credit lis due TO the
Princess Louise for pu,ecipuating . IA
which has been so long lived an -
seem NO longer a fad. When this
royal tourist was dn SANTA Barbara in
the early sos, she admired extrava-
g,antly an e9aboG.aitely carved saddle
she saw in one of the shops. and
str,aightway ordered q portfolio and
some other trifes made OF carved
leather
This set some enherprising mann 10
thin king, and, not long afterwards he
had men AIT work turning out belts
end pocketboolos for tourists. Thus
Santa Barbara came Ito be known -
3aaither.
Santa Barb1ara also boasts the most
costly and wonderfully wrought sad.
die in the state of Oalifornia, owned by
D. w. Thompson. Indeed, it 10 eafd
in, LII %ha IT,. -
the waquero, there Is not such sad
die Or such a piece of carved leather.
Every part OF the saddle and bradlo
was made by hand, the trappings from
the silver bullion of Mexican dplhare.
The value Of the silver, ABOUT $3.50, wa
a sma'l part of the cost of the outfit,
as compared with the handwork which
was done in 1889 by a native of Mex
leo, who learned his 'trsade there.
The saddle is studded with silver or.
naments. The leather facings are ST
thick with buttons and rossutes- The
pommel is emcased in silver, the COT.
ners of the aprons tipped with u.
The leather which shows between
the silver mountings is eiaboraNely
carved in IA delicate design, giving
richness and rare artistic beauty 70
the whole.
TEN years ago the tourist that came
to Los Angeles could only pick up an
odd bit of carved Healthier here end
there, the work of some Mexican whA
had served an apprenticeship in sad.
daery. Now there are numerous fac.
tories where work is turned out.
The most interesting thing to be
LEARNED about Nle1uic,an hand carved
heather is that it rs not carved aE an
1t as hammered and stamped. Tha
only part THAT might be called carving
is the cutting of the pattern, a mere
ba1tlfne, with Ia small sharp chiseQ. Foe
beginners, or where the design is very
intricate, the pattern lis faGn,ily out.
Timed on the damp leather, iurlnsferred
fu'om the drawing on the paper. Olde7
workers can follow the pattern by
keeping it before them on paper. A
teW Cf The cid st Ones do awly with the
drawings altogether and work out the
design lis they see DIT in their mind.
Before the workmen is "a square Of
marble sometimes of lead. Beside the
squaue is Ia row of small steel toola
about four inches long, the end Of
each shaving a different stamp. Some
times the workman makes these on
himself from wire nails, fling the end
TO suit his fancy.
First the leather ds glued fast 10 Q
piece of manila paper, or cloth, b
keep it from stretching, and it Is us-
ually kept damp to make it more inn
pressioLubie. Then it as laid ON Q
marble slab, the design cut, and the
hammering begins-thlait ceaseae.ss mo.
notonous rap, rap, 1tap, that goes on
from morning till night in the CARVED
heather factories, until one minute ol
silence is more ITO be desired than any.
thing else i'm the world. With staml
having a small tiny cluster of tiny
dots. a hammer, m.ala5t, or piece o1
hard wood-it may be part of tha
spoke of AN old wagon wheel-and z
steady. quick rap, rap, rap, the back.
grouTl is hammered in. This Thrown
flowers, l,ilves, SCROLLS. ARA besques-
whatever the design into relief. The
effect is heightened by the deepen
richer color OF the hammered back.
ground.
The fir.shing is done by "a few def
delicate X uches, with diffe REM ones q
the numerous steel tools-the vein a
b leaf, the center of flower, a creaa
to show the fold of rose psiaal, "a line
of dots here and there to give bit o1
shading. A man is no longer an ap-
prentice who does his own finashina
and does it well.-Los Angelss Herald.