Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1908-07-24

To rug table cover or a curtain on
which the maker has expended his ideas and per-
'sonalty is pleasure quite distinct from gazing
at machine-made article which can be dupli-
Gated in any one of dozen stores. And the fas
cination of fashloning things with the hands,
pecially essentials of the household articles
that add refining touch to a commonplace SER
vice. has led many to abandon china
painting and fancy work for the more active work
of the loom
Though there are many amateurs in Massachu-
setts who make no attempt to market their wares
good many have found weaving an attractive
commercial proposition. Many of these have en-
roAed themselves in the Arts and Crafts asso-
citation. For them, rag carpet weaving provides
the most direct method of securing remunera-
ton for their work. Rugs of this sort are always
N demand, and there is ample room for the ex-
ercise of taste in developing simple patterns and
III the variation of colors
Most of the rugs are woven with grayish back
ground. For the piazza and the summer home
there are lighter patterns soft blends which will
absorb the sunshine or brighten up the tedium of
drizzly day For these it is necessary to use
white new rags in the warp and alternating cords
of pink blue.
The simplicity of these floor coverings affects
one with strange sense of relief which may be
inexplicable at first 1t is the sense of contrast
with Intricate machine-made designs which are
often as confusing the rattle of the steel ten
tacled machines that made them.
Some of these rugs are made in Boston. but
most of them come from outside towns. Deer.
field. Marblehead, bingham and Lynn are regular
stations OF supply. In Central square, Cambridge
the Massachusetts commission for the blind has
an established factory where men weave rugs
In 1904 the experiment of blind weavers was
first tried They have proved in less than four
years that their work can rank with that done by
anyone. Without prejudice, buyers are agreed
to this, and in many they insist that the
work is not only as good but superior. OF course
the rugs made under the supervision of see
ing people. who select colors and distribute the
materials
An expert supervisor with the use of his eyes
hrst teaches the mechanism to the blind pupil
who memories everything by a numerical sys-
TEN. After he has mastered all the movements
he soon can acquire the technicalities of pattern
weaving
BY numerical system" is meant the numbering
of each thread as we'll as the arrangement of the
materials near the loom so that once the position
Is memorized no sight aid is required to locate
any color From triangles and circles progress is
made to the more intricate patterns For some
of these raised proof of the design is hung above
the ioom BY touching 1t with the fingers the
pattern Is reproduced on the cloth.
The proficiency shown by the sightless weavers
has eliminated the question of their ability to
execute the work. The question remains: Where
shall they market their wares?
This problem is solving ITSELF for the number
OF people who buy hand-wrought articles is rapid.
ly increasing. When Charles F. Campbell, SUI
perintendent of the Industrial department of the
Massachusetts commission for the blind was
asked where the department disposed of their
output, he turned up the label of the package he
was tying. 1t was addressed to Detroit, Mich
I'VE have shipped stuff TO Duluth and San Fran
CISCO" he added; so you see the folks out west
aren't going to be distanced in this new twist