The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1908-07-23

To own a rug table cover or curtain on
which the maker has expended his ideas and per-
sonality is a pleasure quite distinct from gazing
at a machne-made article which can be dup
Gated in any one of dozen stores. And the fas-
cination of fashioning things with the hands, es-
pecally essentials of the household articles
that add refining touch to commonplace SER
vice. has led many women to abandon china
painting and fancy work for the more active work
of the loom.
Though there 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-
rolled themselves in the Arts and Crafts
citation For them, rag carpet weaving provides
the most direct method of securing remunera-
tion for their work. Rugs of this sort are always
in demand, and there is ample room for the ex-
ercise of taste in developing simple patterns and
i'll the variation of colors.
Most of the rugs are woven with grayish back
ground. For the piazza and the summer home
there lighter patterns, soft blends which will
absorb the sunshine or brighten up the tedum of
dlizzly day. For these it is necessary to use
white new rags in the warp and alternating cords
of pink or blue.
The simplicity of these floor coverings affects
with strange sense of relief which may be
inexplicable at first, 1t is the of contrast
with intricate machine-made designs which are
often as confusing as the rattle of the steel ten
lacleQ macnlneS tnat 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 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 agreed
to this, and in many cases they insist that the
work is not only 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
first 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 techncalities 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 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 loom. BY touching it 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 handwrought 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 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