The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-08-12

day more or less OF a curiosity. and
tnere are many OF the younger gen
Grafton who have never seen one.
Much skill on the part Of the weaver
IS required TO operate one Of these
Icons, and wen with the most ex-
pert weaver the production is slow. |
ne invention or the power-loom and |
the wonderful growth OF wooden man
have crowded OUT the spin
ming wheel and the hand loom. Home |
spun clothing IS rarely, # ever. seen,
while h home-wo@en rag" carpets,
which fit SO snugly 20 the door. look
SO clean and smell SO sweet, are on
~ for the favored few.
The affectionate regard which the
Elhln women have for their spinning
NhtelS ann looms was at one time
found among all Southern splnnefs
and weavers- Their machines are fam
lly that have been hand
ed down from generation TO genera
ton, and they are treasured by the
two good women like relics. Indeed,
they VIII readily assure an interested
visitor that they bear a feeling OF af-
lection for their looms hat is akin
= the love for a human companion.
Seated at their treasured looms.
the two aged women present a very
picturesque appearance indeed. The
old fashioned hand loom is so con
-
seated upon h permanent seat at
tached to il, the breast of the loom
Is Just q little above the waist line
Of the weaver, who sits with feet
resting upon the readles There are
three distinct motions in hand weav-
ing; first, the forming of the shed,
that is, separating the threads of the
warp-as the threads which u
throughout the length Of the finish
ed fabric are called, which have been
wound upon the warp beam and
placed in the loom-intO two or more
series, raising a part and depressing
the balance, leaving a space through
which h weft or filling is passed;
second, the passing Of the shuttle
containing the bobbin of filling
through the shed so formed either
by hand or mechanical third,
beating up this thread CT filling left
in the she'd by the shuttle against the
one which proceeded it. The process
Of weaving is simply a continued rep
| etitiOn of these three in
the order named.
A description of the operation OF
weaving is given in Ovid's Metamor-
phosis:
The piece prepare
And order every slender thread Will
care;
The web enwraps the beam, the reet
divides
While through the widening spac'
the shuttle glides, >
Which their swift hands receive
then poised with lead
The swinging weight strikes clos
the inserted thread
And so these women work. Sticl
in, stick out. warp and Woof, tn
pattern grows.
A New Yorker is said to V re
marked at the time the announce
9 ment was first made at Washington
that the w aged women of Elkil
were engaged in weaving "fxin's
/, for Mrs. Wilson'S private apartment
Y that the fact recalled a someWha
similar incident during the day
: when Mrs. Cleveland was mistress G
: the White House. Shortly after Pres
ident Cleveland nae purchased til
!. property commonly designated a
: Red Top on the Tepnallytow
road, he said, an old lady known q
Aunt Abbie," who was either a
v aunt or greataunt of Mrs. Clevelan
g and resided in the little town {
Cowlesvile, in Wyoming county, :
Y, decided that it would be a capt.;
idea TO fit up one of the rooms
Red Top with old fashioned ~furnitul
and carpets, just like the room Mr.
Cleveland's grandmother. Mrs Fo
som. occupied in the pioneer days
IS New York.
j. Consequently, Aunt Abbie got up
bee, and all Of the old ladies ar
some Of the young ones III that coul
At ~ industriously set themselves to II
l. task of sewing rags, which were dye
and finally woven into carpets al
Toned rocking chairs, a spinniI
rugs. They gathered several old fas
wheel, a secretary and a what nos
land other articles Of furnishing, i
Guiding a four post bedstead, rop'
as they used to rope them in the da
of yore, and even a feather bed. :
were shipped to Washington for u
in Red Top.
The comparison Of incidents is a
as we'll as striking. 1t IS SAID IN
when the fact became known tn
Mrs. Cleveland used rag carpets
her home. this sort of carpet imn
diateiy became 50 popular that tn
could be purchased in almost a
department store III the
is a matter of speculation as