The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-05-09
America The Worlds PurVeyOr.

A dispatch from Paris last week says
THE president of the British chamber
of commerce predicts that America will
replace Germany and England as the
worlds purveyor.'
In connection with this. an article in
the New York Sun is of special inter-
est. 1t is dated Berlin and states that
American furniture having been men,
toned as one of the commodities for
which there might be an opening in the
German market. l have obtained some
opinions on the subject. To cite Ameri-
can option first: One man recently fur
nislled his home exclusively from Ger
man firms. as he knew of no American
importer. The furniture, he says, proved
dear and uncomfortable. 1t would have
paid him, SO he believes, to imoprt ever-
thing from America, and he regrets he
did not do SO. -
sAnother man tells me he is going
shortly to New York to fetch his young
wife and settle down woth her here. He
means to return with small cargo of
American furniture as we'll. A third
man complains that his German friends
take to his American rocking chair the
moment they see it, so that he never
| gets sitting in it himself.
fourth sent lately to America for Il
| bed. 1t cost him so landed in Berlin,
and he is sure he would have had to pay
$500 for the same sort of article, or one
as good as it, in Berlin. A fifth Ameri-
can showed me a revolving bookcase,
the top of which was, as he pointed out,
badly warped.
There is German article" he said,
"and most German furniture warps
somewhat"
The opinion of the English speaking
principal of one of the largest German
furniture houses in Berlin was of the
same tenor-not be it understood, in
depreciation of German furniture but in
| recognition of the attractive character
of American furniture. According to
| him, though American furniture cannot
! compare with German for sOlidity and
| thoroughness of work. it has charm
that instantly takes the fancy. and it
| is, he considers, extremely comfort
| able.
eff we had a stock here to show" said
| my informant. land a place to show 1t
in it would sell. AS it is, we sell great
number of American easy chairs; in
| fact, all light chairs that can be turned
out cheaply and in large quantities by
American machinery. A German officer
placed an order with us the other day
| for complete set of American bed
room furniture, but as we had not the
articles with the American flxings he
specially wanted we could not fill it.
my opinion" he concluded, lis that
American furniture of all sorts would
sell in Germany if it We're well known
| t. Ia If in Ror1Or
that 1 know of, though I believe suct
depots exist at Hamburg and Cologne
may mention here that we went over
the showrooms of the firm-a, series OF
chambers, each fitted up in differen,
German style. Severity, squareness
simplicity and a certain solid chilliness
of impression were the predominant
notes. 1t reminded one of court life or
a scale adapted to families.
The chairs and fauteulis did not lool
as If they mean to be sat down on, tht
arms projected in very angular AMI
unreceptive way and the idea they sug
eested was that they were chiefly in
tended for popes, bishops. monarchs
amba ssadors and similar unbending Off
cial personages-all on a small scale
however. The larger and handsomer ar
ticles were astonishingly dear.
"What is the price of this?" I in
ouired, as we stood before fine. carved
but not very elaborately-sideboard
"Two thousand two hundred marks,
about $40.
.Why. it could be made in Americ:
for half that. perhaps less, I objected.
The principal agreed, but did no
thing the American article would las
so long or wear as well.
I was glad he thus expressed himself
for it was so stiff and baronial hall-lik'
that I rather felt the sidebOard mus
have been offended by my criticism
Then there was so writing table
with great depth of surface and twt
carved stand-up cabinets at either end
It was certainly quaint and seemed
/ fairly cheaD at the price but there 1,