The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-24
THE STORY OF ALTAR OF ROSES.
Origin Of the Perfume and History OF
Its Manufacture.

New York Times.
1t was in the days of the grandmothers,
or possibly even the Observation-Disclosures
that the slender little bottle of altar Of
roses flourished in all its glory. 1t was then
that every fair dame, in her silk-quilted
petticoat and gay-colored touffant draper
les, with her picturesque elaborate couture,
rad on the top Of her claw-footed high bu-
reau, or in the drawer with her greatest
treasures and daintiest articles of dress. at
least one of the sweet-scented Walls.
They were such pretty little things of
clear glass, with quaint designs In gold on
the outside, long and slender. a pleasant
size to hold in any lady's fair white hand.
and suggesting all sorts Of mysterious
charms of the East, less known then than
now Within the last few months there has
almost been furore among. New York
women for some new-new to New York
and fascinating Eastern perfumes. and they
call to mind the little bottle of altar Of
roses, still in existence, but little heard of
outside of romantic old novels. The new
perfumes are interesting enough in them
selves for at least a passing mention.
First on the list comes the Gul Rea Zee,
a Greek perfume named after the Persian
festival called the Scattering of the Roses,
the festival which was in process of cele-
bration at the time when Lallah Rookh left
Delhi for Cashmere for the celebration OF
her nuptials with the young King. Beauti-
full children strewed roses through the
streets of Delhi until every part of the
city was as fragrant as if a caravan of
musk from Khoten had passed through 1t.
There is a sandal-wood perfume. reminiscent
of the Sandal-wood boxes, also treasures
of the grandmothers, sweet scented ana
beautifully carved, in which she Kept her
fads and her love letters. The young won-
an of to-day takes the perfume in this
form instead of in the box, which, like the
altar of roses, is still in existeAce, hui not
SO much a household treasure as In years
Fast.
There is Portocal AuZania, orange bios
som; Viorenta oren. violet; Chiche, bou-
quet; and another Eastern treasure that
the girl Of to-day has is cream that her
grandmother would have given her eyes to
have had, one that it is guaranteed is made
from the very same recipe as that used by
the beauties i'm the harems of Turkey, and
that has been used by them since as long
ago as the days of the Roman empire. All
these are interesting, but they do not have
the same fascination as the quaint little
bottles of altar of roses, in every drop OF
which was the imprisoned fragrance OF
acres Of beautiful roses.
There is one rose that is devoted to the
manufacture of the altar or the essential
oil, the beautiful red damask rose. the Rosa
the young King had arches made and
thrown from hedge TO hedge for two. miles
outside of Cashmere along the road which
Ialla Rookh passed on her journey. those
rarest roses from which the Altar Gul,
more precious than gold, is distilled.
Bulgaria is the chief country from which
comes the altar. KaZanalik being the CEN
ter and principal market place, while a
very considerable amount is also made in
Germany From Persia. the land OF ro-
nance and roses there should be superior
quality of the altar, but although Ii is made
there, the romance which surrounds II does
not make it at all superior TO that from
other lands. France has a little. but SUI
perior, altar. 1t Is made in other countries,
but in comparatively small quantities.
The process of manufacture after the
fields have been brought to perfection Of
bloom is comparatively simple. Much de-
pends upon the climatic conditions for the
perfect condition of the flowers. After a
mild winter with a cool, damp, early sum-
mer, not too wet or too hot, though IL may
be necessary to resort to artificial trriga-
ton to bring the plant to perfection. the
flowers come out In fine condition, and a
large amount OF altar is the result A hot
southern wind during the picking in Bull
garia will ruin the crop even there. Hot ard
dry weather during picking Is also unfavor-
ablef but not so fatal.
The picking is an interesting process. 1t
is done by the poorer classes of the people.
Each blossom is picked just below the
calyx. thrown into big baskets provided for
the purpose, and then carted away TO the
distillery, which is near at hand. The
flowers must be used Immediately, or they
sour and lose their fragrance. The picking
is done in June and July. and lasts prac-
tically a month-from the middle OF one
month to the middle OF the next.
In the vicinity Of the rose held In Ger