The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1914-08-25
STR|NC|NC PEARLS
Only the Choicest Silk Is Used
For the Best Jewels.
TYING KNOTS AS A FINE ART.

pends Upon How These Tiny Twists
Are Formed, and It May Take
Year to Master the knack.
The pearl stringers themselves call
It "trade." They are not the kind OF
people to talk about art. II they see
anything Of their work beyond the
prosaic fact that "stringing" is good
employment it is only an indirect
and somewhat vague appreciation of
the delicate attraction of the pearls
they handle.
Although not protesting to be expert
judges, / have never met pearl
stringer yet whose eye and taste
were not trained to fine perception
of the form and color of the beamy,
iridescent luster Of the jewel of the
shellfish. 1t would be as impossible
for them to mistake an artificial pearl
for real one as 1t would be for a
lapidary to begin to polish piece of
glass under the impression 1t was
diamond.
1t is often said that the little known
industry Of pearl stringing is dying
out, but this is not the fact. No ma
chinery is yet invented to supersede
the ten clever fingers of the practiced
stringer. The industry is exclusive,
too, and a business has often been
passed on from mother to daughter,
even from grandmother to grandchild.
Drilling and mounting of pearls is
quite different branch of the indus
try.
Good light is one of the essential
needs of the pearl stringer, especially
when she is employed in making or re-
pairing seed pearl ornaments All the
beads have to be arranged according
to their size and then separately and
most carefully sewed into place on
their dainty framework. For instance,
If the design Is that of flower or leaf
the skill lies in graduating from the
the extreme point. Some of these Or
naments, by the way, are very old, for
If they are carefully handled there is
no reason why they should not be
joy, If not forever, at all events for as
long as the handsome, antique PEN
dants and pearl studded medals Of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
that one still admlres in the British
museum.
Only the finest silk is used for string
ing the finest pearls. Great beads,
round and shiny, Enthusiastically artif-
cial and with no more real luster than
white marbles-with the exception of
what are called Roman pearls, manu-
factured many years ago-may be al
lowed to hang together on catgut, but
orients must be threaded, pearl kiss
ing pearl. on silken strands worthy Of
their shape and "skin."
Now the art of the stringer lies in
the apparently simple manner of tying
the knot that attaches the snap. Some
times also she has to make knot
between bead and bead, method that
adds to the length of the necklace, but
detracts from the beauty of the line of
pearls. The knack of making this tiny
knot will perhaps take girl year to
master; the perfect hang of the beads,
neither too loose nor too tight, depends
on how 1t is-made.
There is no needle fine enough for
threading small seed pearls. so the
stringer makes her own out of piece
of wire as thin as hair. She arranges
her pearls, if they are of different
sizes, on grooved board covered with
billiard table cloth. any other material,
such as green baize, being much too
coarse. When she Is making tassel
or loops, 1t is pretty to watch her hold
her work at arms length every few
minutes. measuring its size and effect
with her we'll trained eye.
1t is hardly necessary to speak of the
strict integrity and unfailing care re-
quired In pearl stringer. She is in
trusted with great possessions. for the
value of pearls is continually on the in
crease There are some ladies who
never trust their treasures out of their
own houses. but arrange, through a
jeweler, for pearl stringer to call so
many times year to repair ornaments
or restring necklaces.
The work of the\pearl stringer is so
little known so quiet and dainty, that
it is doubtful If one in a thousand
women who stop to admire and covet
as they pass show windows ever gives
a thought to the patient fingers that
have threaded the beautiful beads and
tied the almost invisible, cunning knots
that link them to their diamond clasps.
The little band of stringers are very
simple. but businesslike people in their
humble workrooms-devotees OF beau
ty, although they are unconscious of
the fact. and true artists in the per-
lection of their work.-London Chron-
icle.