The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1905-06-29
PRESERVE OLD ART.
A COLONY OF wooD-cARvE1a
YfoHT MACHINE INvAsroN.
ArtiAcsrs Forced Out Of Work b.
New Invention Join in Con-
structing Hand-1rads Fur
niture-Add to Work.


Moylan. Pa.--Some persons are still
,old-fashioned enough to cherish an
aversion to an article of furniture
that Is put together with glue or
piece Of wood carving done by soul.
less machine that carves as long az
the power runs, all the same pattern
until the man in charge shifts the de-
sign and starts another pattern going
To them II will be welcome news that
a colony Of skilled workmen. disgust.
ed with the era of machinery in com.
mercial life, has retired to q pretty
country spot called Rose Valley, neai
here, and has there established itself
for the purpose Of perpetuating the
arts and crafts that are threatened
with extinction through the deftness
Of the modern machine.
Ruined themselves, II was not In
appropriate for these exponents Of de-
caying arts to select for their future
homes and principal workshops spot
which was for the most part In ruins
Itself. The principal workshop has
been erected on the site once occupied
by mill, the dismantled walls Of
which afford q shelter to the walls Of
Q workshop. Besides this workshop
there Is an old stone building that has
been turned into q pottery, row Of
cottages for the workmen and an old.
fashioned inn that is known as the
Guest house.
All the men at the colony are Of for.
eign birth. Among the skilled wood,
carvers Is James Rigoulet. Here Is his
story:
Il came to America 81 years ago tt
make my living as skilled woodcarv.
er. For several years there was plenty
Of work at fair wages, with living cheap
Then. one day, strange machine was
brought into the shop and was asked
by the boss to set 1t going. All hat
to do was to follow a pattern already
marked out, and piece Of carved wood
or what looked like it, was the result
Then was set to work to teach a new
man how to run that machine, and In
two weeks the fellow could do it as
we'll as I could, though he had never
carved bit Of wood by hand in his
life.
From this time forward we wood.
carvers had either to run machines OF
get what work we could at finishing
off and polishing the product of the
machines, for 1t was not long before
every shop had them. OF course the
machines could do 20 times the amoun
of work shat our hands could do. The,
turned out so much in excess of tn.
market demand that dull times became
frequent and work scarcer.
This was bad enough, but worse was
another kind of machine was invented
Just about the time that I came tt
Rose Valley to live. Now would yo,
believe it? This machine does ava,
with hand carving altogether. 1t doe!
verything-fnishing and polishing in
cluded. We woodcarvers have a stron,
union, but what can the union do fo
us now? The men say they can't ge
work-that times are dreadfully dull
but the employers are not finding thing,
dull. The machine kills the man
that's the truth"
| 1t is the belief of the men at Ros,
Valley that there will always be de
mand for hand-wrought articles. ant
that this demand will more than repa!
the efforts of the members of the littl
colony. A pottery is the latest addi
tion to the workshops at Rose Valley