The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-21
IRISH HoMEsPuNs
Made Popular by Rink Edward This
 Summer.
Mail Orders
 Filled Promptly.

Brooklyn Eagle.
 King Edward has made lrisn nome, spuns popular this summer In Englano and on the Continent and so conhden' are dealers that there will be a big de' mand for these goods in the United States that already btg import business ma, has inc tailoring business declare that the well-dressed man must now include one or more suits of homespun in his ward- robe. The cost will be much greater ,ns. uaSn that now exacted by high-pfced tailors' for, while the original price of the home spun is comparatively small after tne goods pass through the hands of several middiemen. ana have paid nign taIai, {, 1t becomes one of the costlicst materiais on the market However, high prices are the things most needed to give them popularity with the rich.
 For two years there has been growing tendency among women in favor or the Irish hornespuns but there Is small chance of the market reaching the proporLions now expected. following the setung or the fashion among men by the kins; , Whsa ,ena she placed large orders for homespuns and a demand instantly followed from the women of her court ana the noplhty. roI a time homespuns threatened to become a fad in Europe, but 1t was found that the materials were as a general rule too heavy for womens wear. As long as the heavy skirt goods were worn tnere was a steady call for homespuns in plaid CT
 
 change in styles the trade diminished.
 A few weeks ago King Edward instruct ed his taffors to provide him witn sen- eral suits of Irish homespuns ana lmme diately this became known there was a wild rush of those who live mostly 10 De thought fashionable to their tailors to get in the first orders for/homesp m sults. AZ a result, several London houses sent gents to Leland to SCOUT the country for material and in most of the districts where the goods are manufactured tn gre has been a practical abandonment or 'ail farm work for the more profitable em- ployment of manufacturing homeSpuns
 The homespun industry centePs chieny n Donegal, and the mountainous regions or Connaught. Here large families. living on few acres of poor land. work gay and night at loom and spinning, wheel. Fifty years ago in the country districts throughout the island these all wool tex lures were made in almost every mousse hold, and the dowry or prloe was h1t that has now become a curiosity to the great majority of people. In Ireland long ago it used to be the common question. when any one told of having seen the hrides new home: An tell me. did ye see tn spinnin' wheel on tn top or ail! Ye did? Then good luck Will foha her to her dyin' day" .h,,,, of the past when Queen Victoria gave her order two years ago. It has revived enough since then to net a comfortable fortune for an Irish-American, who re. turned to County Antrim in the spring or 1900 to marry. He had been an active worker oH~ a daily paper. in Sacramento, Cal. and despite his wish to return to this country. his bride was obdurate' ana finally prevailed on him to stay in Ire land. The papers were then printing long accounts of the growing market for home snuns. and. acting with as much energy and speed as if he were covering a 'story'' in Sacramento, the went to the markets where the peasants sell their bolts of cloth. and in a week secured corner on all the visible supply. In SIX months he had secured large orders from all the courts of Europe, the Shah of Persia and had shipped several hundred dollars worth as an experiment to the United States By paving more than average prices from inc first he won the good graces of the mountaineers, and now controls more than 50 per cent. of the yearly output. Not little of his business has been done with New York houses. and he has private customers in nearly every State in the Union. Just at present he Is laying plans Sor supplylng the demand that he Is sure noust come from the big tailoring estab- Iiahments and most of the recent heavy imnortations have come directly from his warehouse In Belfast
 The Irish homespun Is not usually beau- tifuI in pattern. but it has an attractive ness all It's own, and one that marks II to the critical eye in all centers or good dressing. The weave Is somewhat coarse, but the finished goods has 6oftness ana richness seldom seen in any wearing material. The patterns all tend to dark shades with subdued stripes and checks, and are used mostly for golf, shooting and sack suits of all kinds.