El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-07
HtNDWEAVING
IS TAUGHT IN
SCHOOLS now
Ancient Art Is Revived to
Teach Dizziness to the
Children.
INDIANS STILL
EXPERT WEAVERS
az FREDERIC J. HAsKIN.


~ ASHINGTON, D. c., March T.
M Women of today are bring
w ing hand weaving as an &C
compIishment into fashion, no doubt to
preserve the technique by which they
once clothed all the nations of man,
fabricated his tent shelters, his orna-
ments. fish nets and his blankets
Driven almost out Of being before the
connection of versatile, automatic,
mower driven machines, hama sewing
seemed destined to become one of the
lost arts.
Navajo blankets, Persian rugs GER
tain brOcades and cashmereS still con-
test upon the textile market with fab
RIGS of the power loom. Inere Is
sentiment in their favor, Whlcn the Ily-
ing bObbin the needle ana frame OF
steel cannot impart
Is Being Revived.
Hand weaving however, IS now be-
ing revived. Obsolete as a vocation,
it has become an accompllsh menL. 1t
is being taught in girls SemlnarleS, IN
the public schools, in normal schools
and in schools of handIcratL It's COM
merciaI value is confined TO patterns
of highly intricate design: For all 9TH
er purposes, the power loom, making
it possible for one weaver to attend
from four to a looms, each weaving
from 200 to 400 threads minute, has
won an indisputable victory.
Children Are Taught to Weave.
In the public schools and kindergar-
tens the children are taught to weave
baskets, paper designs, rag carpets
and, finally cloths and rugs This
work develops their taste, both of
their hands in dizziness; teaches them
the rudiments of design, and fosters
the growth of patience, industry, per
severance, economy in the use of ma
terialS, perception and cOncentra ton;
CREATES a T0TTT0ifv fnnlinp and a
wholesale appreciation of labor, and
supplies a mechanical balance to school
life.
At the Mechanics institute. Roches-
ter, n. Y, the highest types of creative
artistic work are taught. Mrs. ". H
Allen, of this institute, has more than
500 colonial designs Of weaves, in
themselves an almost complete history
commentary of the textile art of the
colonies. Some of the names of these
designs are "BraddOck's Defeat" THE
MayflOWer," philadelphia Pavement"
''WashingtOn's Diamond" and many
others dating between 1884 and 1900.
Tapestries HandWOven.
Tapestries are still made on hand
looms, and the cOlOred designs are
worked in by finger. Some of the pres
ent noted studios where this work is
done are the GObelin atelier in Paris;
the weaving sheds Of Merton Abbey
in England, and the studios Of Albert
Herter in America Some Of the rich
y
tificers rival the painters masterpieces
in their wonderful art and fidelity to
detail.
Weaving, spinning and the prepara-
ton of textile fibers were performed
by hand until the end of the 18th cen
fury. It was between 1850 and 1900,
that the wonderful strides were made
in the textile industry which have
brought it to point where about one
fifth of the working world is engaged
in weaving, its allied branches, and
the distribution Of its products. With
but little Improvement, the rudest
tools were employed in cloth making
for centuries. The distaff and the
spindle were used in spinning well into
the 14th century, when the spinning
wheel took their place to remain in
use about 200 years Undeveloped, the
production of cloth remained an in
dustry of the home. The factory sys-
TEN was ushered in with its period OF
brilliant growth, which began in 1855
when John Wyatt, Of Birmingham.
Eng, conceived the drawing rollers
and built the first machine for the
Of thread without the use of
the fingers.
History of Weaving Machinery
The history of the succeeding SO
CONTINUED OnNext Page, Column A.