The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-03-16

Continent. and therefore they should compete through finer and choicer wares.
 At Beer. that charmingly picturesque little village so beloved or arusts' tne ' alive to his parishioners' interests in the industry, and possesses valuable ally in Miss Audrey Trevelyan. who has some fourteen highly skilled workers. while al the church day school there are aosen young girls learning. and about twenty more in the technical classes or tne County Council When Miss Trsvelyan first set herself to raise the craft rom the slough of bad design and worse vess sxss s., ago. she found that the wretched prices given by dealers. who were also very harsh and tyrannical in their ueatmens of the workers. seemed to nave roopeo them of all ambition. As an instance, she mentioned one aged woman who was so miserably remunerated that she had scarcely clothes enough to cover her, put who, under encouragement ana Just pay produced a piece of lace which won spe- cial medal ir the Paris Exhibition of 1900. In the Chicago Exhibition also high hon- ors were attained for beautifui adapta- tions of Italian designs. The general buy ing public are not yet. however. sum. cientIy fastidious as to what they will buy, and provided that the handkercniel. or berthe, or flounce. Is real, Tn the sense of not being machine-made, they are not sufficiently exacting as 10 pat IK
 ecution. Perhaps the very finest speci- mems now being turned out come from Bfanscombe, where the workers, Wno number upward of seventy. in additlon to many girls under nstruction, are ex- tremely sldllful. Sudbury. Sidmouth ana Exeter-this last with q factory In the hands of an old firm of high reputer-aii have workers, well, as other centers' but in some places, as. Tor instance seaton, the craft has practically disap- peared. At Beer. 1t Is interesting 70 note' several antique examples have lately been received for repair and restoration, m view of their being worn during the com ing season. -
 Prices have advanced considerably with the higher standard of work of the last i've years, and 1t would seem that there is no lack of young girls willing to make themselves really proficient. All who have interested themselves in the ques- tion are of opinion that the great need Is that of better opportunity to learn 10 do the finest work. and that more classes and more advanced instruction yet are demanded. Miss Trevelyan points out that London possesses no great central depot where the buyer. foreign as well as English. can go when desirous of choos- ing choice examples for Court or wedding dresses, and at which 1t should be pos sibie to see all kinds of British faces. It must be borne in mind in this con- rlection that in Bucks. Bedford. and the Midlands. other ladies have been work
 
 these should also be brought under the direct notice of the ordinary purchaser. But to do this on safe commercial basis considerable capital and much pa tient organization would be necessary. Tn Ireland it has been achieved. however. and it is difficult to estimate the benefit that has come to the workers there through the Irish Industries Association and other bodies. The Irish Lace Depot, in Grafton Street. Dublin. alone deals in 2)0O0 pounds worth a year, and has workers who can earn 60 pounds a year by their skill. Thanks. therefore, to the standard of merit and the methods of dis tribution Irish laces and crochets are as much in demand In Paris as In London. Unfortunately. however. the French buy CTS, who in Dublin will take practically all they can get. cannot be induced to visit Devonshire. for the dreadful deteri- oration of the sixties and seventies gave it's lace a bad name. and they do not re- alize the extent of the recent improve ment It Is to be regretted also that there are no better means of bringing the beautiful English makes to the notice of American visitors who are wont to be such generous buyers of artistic and cov- etable wares,