New-York tribune., 1903-06-28
READS AND THEIR OOEo.
is Ornaments and Useful articles
Theu Are Gro7cing in FaUor.

Tho bead craze is on the increase NOT oniy
bags purses and even large hand satcheis are noN ~
made entirely. handles and all, OF the uns grass
disks but also an increasing variety OF neck chaihs
hair and hat ornaments and dress trimmings n
,,aar mr. two hence may reasonably see more bead
trapping about up to date feminine gowns thah
ever worn by wild Indian or Fiji Islander But per-
haps not one woman in hundred who glories IN
her bead garniture and accessories knows single
item in the interesting biography of these bits OF
glass that are transported from Italy to Germany
by the rainload. and come into this country at the
rate of nearly 81 100000 worth yearly Italy Is the
mother country for bead manufacture. and one
New-York importer has score or more of quaint
Venetian sample books a hundred more years
old odd hinged affairs like very shallow boxes. with
rows and of colored beads OF all sizes anu
shapes long and short and round and Jagged
threaded closely on their inner surface Originally
of course they were made wholly by hand. A hoie
was punched through fast cooling bit OF moten
glass and then small boys employed 10 run III
opposite directions holding opposite ends VI 'i0
still malleable material with metal nlppers- 49,
rally the faster they ran the more attehuateu INC
strand of glass would become before hardeneo ~
oooIirg bIt no matter how fast or how far the
small glass stretchers rushed, the hole III .i7
middle would never close up After thiS CoVIil.9
and elongatng process. which lelt 'Ae mn. ~.
strand OF unequal thickness, throughout l'S
length it was chopped into minute lengths %
nearly equal as possible. and then the dl1efeht
sizes sorted out for sale. To smooth the roush anu
irregular surfaces bushels of these beads were put
into huge cylindrical drum with quantity OF
ashes and turned at rapid ra te for some length o
time There are still quantities of partially mn
ished beads shipped from Italy TO Germany as
there the immense water power avallaole Makes til
mechanism necessary for their completion compar-
atveIv cheap while in Italy it would nave 10 "
done bv electricity at great expense
Besides the many methods of persohdl a''oi
roent beads figure ir a number OF useful ways III
daflv life They are used now for the bearings VII
natent fishing tackle, spoon hooks, etc
Kindergarten supplies create another marhet lol
the ubiouitous bead. Ard curiously enough some
Of the long thick, opaque bits OF glass; usually
nourkv or creamy in tint, which form an attfac'i'e
mart of the string which the toddling disclple ol
Eroebel carries home in triumph are as oIIeh o.
NOT a part of the old time purchase money %
African slaves When this trade was at ITS he4sli'
shins from Boston and New-York used 10 set o'''
for the slave coast laden with fifty or more Id se
cases of these trinkets, for admiration Oh Wiilol
African chiefs used to part complacently WIN aS
many of their neghbors as the oead oIti -
sired Stanley later found these oeads IdI LII '
,n+ar;or of Africa where they passed as CURRENCY
,rder the name of soh, and in many poruonS INeS
s+,u circulate largely. When slave trauels We
snauv nut ont of business, several nrnlS IN -He"-
vi and Boston found themselves with quailOi'es
- +bis head currency on hand. and they "et0
e+ou,ed away for a generation or more aS mop
Inrarketable until of late, when' 10 au0Ie i0
saa1o .anvthing goes in kindergarten usage they