The Yale expositor., 1908-07-24

a
which the maker has expended his ideas and per-
sonaty is pleasure quite distinct from gazing
at a machine-made article which can be dupli
Gated in any one of dozen stores. And the fas-
cination of fashioning things with the hands es-
peciay 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
sets who make attempt to market their wares
a good many have found weaving attractive
commercial proposition. Many of these have
rolled 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
in demand and there is ample room for the ex-
ercise of taste in developing simple patterns and
I'm 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
a drizzly day. For these it is necessary to
white new rags in the warp and alternating cords
of pink or blue.
The simplicity of these floor coverings affects
one with strange of relief which may be
inexplicable at first. 1t is the 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 regular
stations of supply. In Central square, Cambridge,
the Massachusetts commission for the blind has
IN 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 agreed
to this, and in many cases they insist that the
work is not only good, but superior. OF course
he rt1pc arQ ma nuh 10 M Cos
ing people, who select coors 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
tenn 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, well as the arrangement of the
materials near the loom, that once the position
Is memorized no sight aid is required to locate
any color From trangles and circles progress is
made to the more intricate patterns For some
of these a raised proof of the design is hung above
the loom 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 handwrought articles is rapid
Nv increasing. When Charles F. Campbell GU
nerintendent 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
1--WE 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