Rbvie'^^ 
 
 ^ Publishing Company 
 New York 
 
Copyright N^ ^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSITS 
 
HISTORY AND 
 
 MANUFACTURE of 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY 
 
 REVIEW PUBLISHING CO., 
 
 n 
 
 New YORK. 
 
 PUBLISHERS OF THE 
 
 CARPET TRADE REVIEW. UPHOLSTERY TRADE REVIEW. 
 
 FURNITURE TRADE REVIEW. 
 
 Established 1870. 
 
 C^iy^M, ♦^ 
 
A 
 
 
 ^^HE Carpet and Upholstery Trade 
 y Review is the oldest, most important 
 
 — i^ and influential publication devoted to 
 
 the carpet, upholstery and kindred 
 trades. It is published semi-monthly, these fort- 
 nightly editions furnishing the readers with the 
 latest trade news, general reviews of the markets 
 and all other information requisite for a clear un- 
 derstanding of the trade situation and outlook. 
 
 A prominent feature of The Review is the large 
 amount of high class, continuous advertising pa- 
 tronage accorded to it, a fact which speaks vol- 
 umes for the profitable results secured by its ad- 
 vertisers. 
 
 Its large circulation has been attained by many 
 years of conservative, reh'abl- management, and to 
 the manufacturer and dealer alike its semi-monthly 
 visits are as welcome as they are essential. 
 
 rvVO(W5PIES RECEIVED. 
 
 
 ^^-i-C^i 
 
PREKACE. 
 
 1' 
 
 ^"7^lf5r~^HE PURPOSE of this book is to present concisely, 
 yet comprehensively, such information regard- 
 ing the history and technique of the trade in 
 floor coverings as is desirable and necessary for 
 those who are engaged in the making or selling of these 
 goods. The necessity for this handbook must be obvious, 
 for there is no similar work in existence. Articles relating 
 to various branches of the industry have appeared occa- 
 sionally in The Review, but this work is the first in which 
 the subject is handled in a systematic and fairly compre- 
 hensive manner, the compiler's idea being to give the more 
 salient facts, avoiding as far as possible purely technical 
 terms or unessential details. 
 
 To those who know little or nothing of the technique of 
 the trade the illustrated explanation of the principle of the 
 loom, on pages 89 and 90, and following this the Carpet 
 Cyclopedia, will perhaps be especially useful, presenting as 
 they do the general theory of weaving and brief definitions 
 of the technical terms most used in the art, so far as it relates 
 to floor covering manufacture. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 (For index see page 95.) 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Carpeting in Antiquity 3 
 
 Carpet Making in Great Britain g 
 
 The Carpet Industry in the United States 15 
 
 Oriental Rugs and Carpets 25 
 
 Savonnerie and Aubusson Carpets 41 
 
 Hand-made and Chenille Axminsters 45 
 
 Body Brussels and Wiltons 49 
 
 Tapestry Brussels and Velvets 53 
 
 Printed Tapestry Carpets 59 
 
 Moquettes and ]\lachine-made Axminsters 63 
 
 Smyrna Rugs and Carpets 65 
 
 Ingrain, Venetian and Wool Dutch Carpets 69 
 
 Straw Matting ■ 71 
 
 Cocoa Matting 75 
 
 Floor Oil Cloth 79 
 
 Linoleum 83 
 
 Animal Skin Rugs and Mats 87 
 
 Principle of the Loom 89 
 
 Carpet Cyclopedia 91 
 
 Index 95 
 
FLOOR COVKRINQS; 
 
 THEIR 
 
 History and Manufacture. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Carpeting in Antiquity, 
 
 X the most ancient times known in his- 
 tory, when the arts highest in 
 favor among the inhabitants of 
 this globe, our amiable ances- 
 tors, were those which helped 
 men of one tribe to murder or 
 rob members of another, but 
 little thought was bestowed 
 upon the matter of floor cov- 
 erings. In the earliest huts, 
 caves or tents the only attempt 
 toward a carpeting consisted in strewing leaves of 
 trees or grass, &c., over the ground. The next advance 
 beyond such primitive expedients was in the use of animal 
 skins. Later, with the progress of civilization and the 
 growth of wealth and luxury, came floorings of variously 
 colored wood, marbles and encaustic tiles. In ancient 
 Greece and Rome mosaics of marble and artificial stone 
 were used in the temples and in the houses of the rich. 
 
4 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 Textile carpets were first made in Asia, and were in use 
 there at a time when Europe was inhabited only by sav- 
 ages. The ancient Egyptians made carpets of wool, and the 
 woolen carpets of Babylon were well known at Rome dur- 
 ing the second century. 
 
 The Oriental looms of antiquity were in all essential re- 
 spects the same as those upon which rugs and carpets are 
 now woven in all the countries of the Orient, where carpet 
 weaving is still done by hand labor, and, as is well known 
 in the trade, the best product of these early looms has 
 never been equaled by modern goods — so far as durability 
 and beauty are concerned. 
 
 Carpets were introduced into Spain at the time of the 
 Moorish conquest of that country, and the Crusaders 
 brought some Turkish carpets with them when they re- 
 turned from the Holy Land. Italy received most of these 
 goods, and they were dealt in by the enterprising Italian 
 merchants long before they became known in many other 
 parts of Europe. 
 
 Mosaic floor coverings were introduced into Britain by 
 the Romans. Planks of oak and deal came into use in 
 Europe during the Middle Ages, and parquetry, com- 
 posed of squares and lozenges of wood, found some favor 
 among the wealthier classes. In the British Isles the 
 earthen floors, seen even in the best houses of those times, 
 were covered with rushes, hay or leaves. The weaving of 
 these rushes to form a matting was a natural advance 
 suggested perhaps by importations of Chinese and Indian 
 matting. The weaving of straw matting was an art com- 
 mon in China thousands of years ago. 
 
 Long before textile carpets were known in Europe the 
 noble ladies of England, Flanders and other European 
 countries were accustomed to spend much of their time in 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE, 5 
 
 the making of tapestry or needle- work hangings for 
 walls, and occasionally these fabrics were employed also 
 as carpets. In the fourteenth century this work, imtil 
 then a feminine accomplishment, was taken tip as a trade. 
 A factory was established for this purpose at Arras, in 
 Flanders, and the manufacture soon spread to France and 
 other parts of Europe. The materials employed in these 
 goods were woolen yarns and threads of silk, silver and 
 gold. In 1607 Henry IV. of France estabhshed a fac- 
 tory at the Louvre for the making of wall hangings and 
 carpets. The carpeting made was called Turkey stitch 
 (point de Turquii). In 1627 the carpet factory known as 
 the Savonnerie was established in a building at Chaillot 
 which had previously been used as a soap factory. 
 
 In an ancient romance there is reference to carpets which 
 were made at Limoges, France, in the twelfth century, 
 and a hundred years later the making of carpets was the 
 daily work of the rhonks in the convent of Lilbe, West- 
 phalia, but these goods were embroidered, not woven. 
 The mediaeval church in Europe employed Oriental carpets 
 and rugs before altars, in the choirs of cathedrals and at 
 the feet of images. Carpets mounted on poles were carried 
 in religious processions as canopies over the Host or great 
 dignitaries of the church. The troubadours and jugglers 
 gave their performances on carpets. Ladies ornamented 
 their presence chambers with carpets and used them as 
 hangings for private oratories. They were laid before 
 thrones and at state banquets. In the pictures of the old 
 Dutch school the table covers were frequently Oriental 
 carpets, and they were largely used in this way in the 
 Netherlands and other European countries. In the second 
 edition of Bailey's Dictionarium Britannicum, published in 
 1736, a carpet is defined as a table cover, while in the 
 
6 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 twenty-first edition, published in 1766, it is described as a 
 covering for a table, passageway or floor. 
 
 In the goods made at the Louvre and the Savonnerie in 
 the early part of the eighteenth century the weavers used 
 a combination of the loom and a shuttle needle, in which 
 the latter formed the pattern, the general effect being 
 similar to needlework. In 1664 Colbert, minister of Louis 
 XIV., established a carpet factory at Beauvais. The car- 
 pet workshops of the Louvre and the Savonnerie were re- 
 organized by Louis XIV., and some of the most famous 
 painters of his time were engaged to supply designs for 
 the weavers. A few of the carpets of this period still sur- 
 vive. Their ornamentation consists of large scrolls of 
 acanthus leaf, combined with flowers and moldings en- 
 circlmg groundwork of various colors or medallions repre- 
 senting figures in cameos or landscapes. The Gobelins 
 Museum has a carpet of the time of Louis XII. It bears on 
 its face a representation of that king, his queen, Anne of 
 Austria, and their two children. 
 
 A large proportion of the workmen employed in the 
 French factories were of Flemish birth or descent, and 
 Protestants; while among the French themselves, under 
 the protection of the Edict of Nantes, the number of 
 Protestants had greatly increased, especially in the 
 class of skilled artisans. The revocation of the edict 
 in 1685 resulted in the flight of many thousands of these 
 workmen from France to countries where they were not 
 liable to persecution on account of their religious faith. 
 Flanders, Holland and England received many of these 
 fugitives. 
 
 Flanders was the first country in Europe to engage in 
 the weaving of carpeting on looms of a distinctly European 
 pattern, as compared with the primitive apparatus used by 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 7 
 
 the Oriental weavers. Brussels carpeting was a promi- 
 nent product of Flemish looms, as was also a kind of 
 velvet pile carpets, also woven entirely, the pattern being 
 brought out by the shortening of the weft threads and the 
 interlacing of the warp quite across the web. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Carpet AIakinc; in Great Britain. 
 
 early as the reign of Edward III. a 
 number of Flemish weavers settled at 
 Bristol, England, and began the manu- 
 facture of a floor covering which became 
 known as Bristol carpet. It was similar 
 to the Scotch or Kidderminster carpeting 
 of a slightly later date. 
 
 In the reign of Henry VIII. an unsuccessful attempt to 
 manufacture carpets was made by William Sheldon, and 
 under James I., who took much interest in the enter- 
 prise, a factory was established at Mortlake, in Surrey, 
 for the manufacture of carpeting and tapestry; but the 
 amount of goods produced was small, and the English 
 carpet industry did not become of any material impor- 
 tance until 1(385, when the French and Flemish weavers 
 were forced to flee from France into England by the 
 intolerant and short-sighted policy of Louis XIY. 
 
 Before 1745 most English carpets were a mere interlacing 
 of warp and weft of different colors, and dornix, a sort of 
 linsey-woolsey cloth. In 1735 the manufacture of Kidder- 
 minster carpeting had become a notable industry in the town 
 of that name. In 1745 a carpet factory was established at 
 Wilton, England, under the patronage of the Earl of 
 Pembroke, who while traveling in France had noted the 
 superiority of the French in this industry, and determined 
 to introduce their methods into his own country. He 
 accordingly imported a number of French weavers, and 
 
10 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 secured a patent giving him the exclusive privilege of 
 manufacturing these French carpets in England. They 
 were made in one piece, either square or oblong, and had 
 a cut pile like the Oriental goods. Four years later some 
 Kidderminster manufacturers began to make carpets like 
 these goods, then known as Wiltons. The patent granted 
 for the Wilton goods, among other particulars, specified that 
 the fabric was made with "bobbin and anchor," but the 
 Kidderminster manufacturers erected looms on essentially 
 the same principles, the only difference being the use of 
 "bobbin and ball," instead of "bobbin and anchor." 
 
 Besides the carpet factory at Wilton, the Earl of Pem- 
 broke established also w^orks for the manufacture of mar- 
 ble cloth, which was a kind of floor cloth. 
 
 In 1750 a Capuchin friar began the manufacture of 
 Savonnerie carpets at Fulham, England. The enterprise 
 was unsuccessful, but at London in the same year two 
 workmen who had been employed in the vSavonnerie fac- 
 tory opened a workshop with the assistance of a Mr. 
 Moore. A disagreement between the three men resulted 
 in the starting of another shop by the two Frenchmen in 
 partnership with one Parisot, and under the patronage of 
 the Duke of Cumberland. Moore's factory continued in 
 operation, and in 1757 he obtained a premium from the 
 Society of Arts for the production of the best imitation 
 of a Turkey carpet. 
 
 The manufacture of what is known as Brussels carpets 
 probably originated in Flanders. The city of Brussels 
 was noted for the product of these goods, and gave its 
 name to them ; but they were also made at several other 
 places in Flanders. Their manufacture was introduced 
 into England by John Broom, a Kidderminster weaver, 
 who went to Brussels and afteward to Tournai to studv 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 11 
 
 the method of weaving- the goods. At Tournai, Broom 
 found a man who understood the making of the Brussels 
 loom, and the two men embarked together for England, 
 where in 1741) they built and set in operation the first 
 Brussels loom known in that country. Broom and his 
 assistant were anxious to keep to themselves the secret of 
 the Flemish loom, and no other man was allowed to enter 
 their workshop ; but they ran the loom by night as well as 
 by day, and finally a weaver in the employ of another 
 Kidderminster carpet maker discovered the principle of 
 the machine by climbing a ladder night after night and 
 watching the two weavers while they thought they were 
 unobserved. In a short time Kidderminster had a num- 
 ber of Brussels looms in operation, and the town eventu- 
 ally became the chief seat of this particular branch of the 
 carpet industry. 
 
 In the year 1831 an invention of the highest importance 
 to the carpet trade was accomplished by Richard Whytock, 
 of Edinburgh, Scotland. Mr AVhytock was the head of 
 the firm of Richard Whytock & Co., manufacturers, job- 
 bers and retail dealers in carpeting, at Edinburgh. His 
 experience as a retail dealer as well as a manufacturer had 
 convinced him that a carpet differing from Ingrain, but 
 cheaper than Brussels, woiild be in demand among that 
 large portion of the public which could not afford the pur- 
 chase of Brussels. Pondering upon this idea it occurred 
 to him that a one-frame Brussels would be just the fabric 
 desired, because it would save all the usual waste of valu- 
 able material in the weaving of Brussels, a loss entailed 
 by the fact that in such weaving the greater part of the 
 worsted went to the back of the fabric where it was prac- 
 tically useless. With this idea in view he began in 1830 his 
 experiments in the making of the new fabric. In his em- 
 
12 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 ploy at that time was William Sloane, who afterward came 
 to New York and founded here the great carpet business 
 now conducted under the style of W. & J. Sloane. Mr. 
 Sloane procured for Mr. Whytock at Kilmarnock the 
 first jars of coloring matter used in the dyeing of the 
 
 :.y ^^ 
 
 RICHARD WHYTOCK. 
 
 yarn. Being now convinced that the idea was prac- 
 ticable Mr. Whytock began to print a warp for weaving. 
 As no patent had then been secured by him he desired to 
 keep the invention private, and the first loom for the weav- 
 ing of the fabric now known as Tapestry or Tapestry Brus- 
 sels was set up in a stable loft in the rear of Whvtock & Co. 's 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 13 
 
 warehouse. The first entire piece of Velvet carpet made 
 was woven on this loom by William Sloane in the year 1831. 
 
 Soon afterward Mr. Whytock obtained a patent for his 
 invention, and an arrangement for the manufacture of the 
 goods was made with the firm of Pardoe, Hooman «& 
 Co., of Kidderminster, England, who were then the 
 largest manufacturers of Brussels carpeting in England. 
 They intended to manufacture the new fabric on an ex- 
 tensive scale, and believed that they could improve Mr. 
 AVhytock's method of printing the yarn, but after experi- 
 menting for a considerable time and incurring heavy 
 expenses in consequence, they found the result unsatis- 
 factory and finally abandoned the scheme in disgust. One 
 or two other manufacturers attempted to make the goods, 
 but were also unsuccessful. 
 
 Although somewhat discouraged by these failures, Mr. 
 Whytock kept a few looms running to supply the retail 
 trade of his own firm, and the goods gradually gained a 
 small degree of favor with the public, but it was not imtil 
 they were introduced into the United States, in 18-13, that 
 the demand for them assumed large proportions. Soon 
 afterward the English carpet manufacturing firm of John 
 Crossley & Sons became the owners of the patent, and by 
 making important improvements in the styles of designs 
 and colorings and the quality of the fabric speedily secured 
 for it a wide popularity, especially in the United States. 
 
 Mention has been made of the manufacture of imitation 
 Turkey carpets in England at Moore's factory. About 
 the middle of the eighteenth century similar goods were 
 produced by several English manufacturers, and especially 
 at Axminster. The fabric soon became known as Ax- 
 minster, but the demand for it has always been limited on 
 account of its expensive character. It is made almost 
 
14 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 entirely of fine wool for both front and back, the wool 
 being knotted in tufts upon the warp threads by the hand 
 of the workman, and held together by an invisible ground- 
 work of linen thread. 
 
 A desire to produce a fabric which, although less ex- 
 pensive, would preserve in fair measure the rich effect of 
 a genuine Axminster prompted experiments by James 
 Templeton, of Glasgow, and William Quigley, of Paisley, 
 Scotland, which resulted in 1839 in the invention of the 
 carpeting called patent Axminster. Mr. Templeton was 
 a member of the carpet manufacturing firm of James 
 Templeton & Co., Glasgow, and John Templeton, a mem- 
 ber of the firm, devised several improvements in the fab- 
 ric, with which this house has ever since been most promi- 
 nently identified. The salient feature of patent Axminster 
 manufacture is a species of double weaving, by which 
 strips of chenille employed as woof are arranged in accu- 
 rately defined patterns, and a heavy velvet piled carpeting 
 is produced with a hard linen back instead of the soft 
 woolen back of the original Axminsters. The patented 
 goods are cheaper, partly on account of the use of steam 
 power, but mainly because they require only about half 
 the wool used in the real Axminster. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Carpet Industry in the United States. 
 
 N this country 100 years ago the only woven 
 covering for floors in use to any material 
 extent was the domestic rag carpet. All 
 other textile floor coverings were im- 
 ported, for it was the policy of the British 
 Government at that time to discourage 
 and, in fact, repress every colonial industry which seemed 
 to threaten competition with the British manufacturers at 
 home. The carpeting imported consisted mainly of Scots 
 or Kidderminster Ingrains. In 1760 J. Alexander & Co., 
 whose store was on Smith street, New York city, advertised 
 in the New York Gazette that they had some Scots carpets 
 for sale, and in the following year they announced through 
 the same newspaper that they had added Turkey carpets 
 to their stock. 
 
 All imported carpeting was expensive in those days, 
 and the Turkey hand-made goods were especially dear. 
 Such floor coverings were regarded as luxuries to be in- 
 dulged in only by wealthy people, and the rich were then 
 exceedingly small in number. Even such modest floor 
 coverings as rag carpets were used only in the best room 
 of the average house. For the bed chamber the bare 
 floor or perhaps a bedside strip of rag carpet was thought 
 good enough, and in houses where the kitchen was used 
 also as a sitting room some thrifty housewives used no 
 other floor covering than sand, which was strewn around, 
 as is still the custom in some barrooms and country 
 
16 FLOOR COVERINGS, 
 
 hotels. It was not uncommon for the Dutch housewife of 
 New York or New Jersey to use sand even in the best 
 room, and if of an aesthetic turn of mind she might gratify 
 her decorative instincts by arranging the sand in designs 
 simple or intricate. These home-made patterns had the 
 great advantage of being open to change as often as might 
 be desired. 
 
 The first carpet factory operated in the United States 
 was established at Philadelphia in 1791 by William Peter 
 Sprague. Among Mr. Sprague's earliest products was an 
 Axminster carpet in which the pattern represented the 
 arms and achievements of the United States. This factory 
 attracted the attention of Alexander Hamilton and induced 
 him to recommend the imposition of a small duty on 
 foreign carpeting as an encouragement for domestic manu- 
 facturers. 
 
 Soon after Mr. Sprague established his factory, several 
 others were started on a small scale at Philadelphia and 
 elsewhere for the manufacture of Ingrains and Venetians. 
 In 1804 Peter and Ebenezer Stowell opened a factory 
 at Worcester, Mass., where they had in operation six 
 looms of their own invention and construction. In 1810 
 George W. Conradt, who came from Wurtemberg, Ger- 
 many, entered into the manufacture of Ingrains at 
 Frederick City, Md. Mr. Conradt's carpeting was made 
 on the old barrel loom, which required a separate barrel 
 for each pattern. The barrel was studded with pins some- 
 what like the cylinder of a music box, and in rotating the 
 pins acted on the warp threads. The application of the 
 barrel machine to carpet weaving was first effected by 
 Thomas Morton, a Scotch weaver, who afterward came to 
 the United States and plied his trade in Connecticut. In 
 1801 Jacquard invented the famous device which was des- 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 17 
 
 tined to supersede the barrel machine and all other methods 
 of figure weaving, but the Jacquard attachment was not 
 adapted for use on carpet looms until several years later. 
 According to the census of 1810 only 9,984 yards of car- 
 pet and coverlid were made in this country in that year. 
 
 In 1821 John and Nicholas Haight started a factory in 
 New York city. Their mill superintendent was James W. 
 Mitchell, a Scotchman from Kilmarnock, which was then 
 the principal seat of Ingrain manufacture in Scotland. In 
 1825 Alexander Wright started a small carpet factory at 
 Medway, Mass., but it was not successful, and in 1828 the 
 plant was bought by the Lowell Manufacturing Company, 
 which had been organized in that year for the manufac- 
 ture of cotton goods and carpeting at Lowell, Mass. This 
 was the beginning of the great carpet manufacturing 
 business of the Lowell Company. 
 
 The first adaptation of the Jacquard machine to carpet 
 weaving in this country was made in the Lowell mill soon 
 afterward by Claude Wilson, one of its employees. To 
 accomplish this purpose it was necessary to make several 
 changes in Jacquard's device, and since then some other 
 and important modifications of it have been made to ren- 
 der it more effective in the weaving of carpets. 
 
 But the Lowell mill was destined to become the scene of 
 a far more important event, one which marked a new 
 epoch in the history of carpet manufacture, for it was in 
 this mill that the great inventor, Erastus B. Bigelow, per- 
 fected the first loom ever made for weaving carpets by 
 power not depending on human muscles. 
 
 Bigelow began experimental work on his power Ingrain 
 loom in 1839, but the invention was not perfected until 
 about two years later. The experiments essential were 
 costly and the inventor was a poor man, but he was for- 
 
18 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 tunate in enlisting the interest of George W. Lyman, 
 then treasurer of the Lowell Company, and father of 
 Arthur T. Lyman, who is its present treasurer. George 
 Lyman, a sagacious, far-sighted business man, quickly 
 recognized the importance of the invention, and, having 
 
 ERASTUS B. BIGELOW. 
 
 the courage of his convictions, he influenced the company 
 to advance money for the making of the new looms, and 
 also for the building of a large mill for them, several hun- 
 dred thousand dollars being thus invested. 
 
 The chief difficulty in the weaving of Ingrains on the 
 power loom was in the matching of the figures. The 
 hand-loom weaver accomplished this by a careful regula- 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 19 
 
 tion of the tension of the warps and beat of the lay, but 
 to niake automatic machinery perform the work as well 
 seemed impossible until Bigelow's inventive genius was 
 directed to the task. His first loom turned out carpeting in 
 every way superior to the fabric made by hand looms, but 
 the product per day, was not much greater, the hand loom 
 making 8 yards a day, while the automatic machine pro- 
 duced only 4 more yards in the same time. Not being 
 satisfied with this result, Mr. Bigelow continued his ex- 
 periments, and in 1841 succeeded in increasing the product 
 to from 25 to 27 yards a day. 
 
 At this time carpet manufacture in the United States 
 was an infant industry in every sense of that term. The 
 factories then in operation in Massachusetts were seven in 
 number. In Connecticut four were running; New York 
 had eight; four were situated in New Jersey. In Penn- 
 sylvania there were five, all of which were in or near 
 Philadelphia, and Maryland had one. The principal mills 
 were: The Lowell Company's 150 looms; William H. 
 McKnight's, Saxonville, Mass., 150 looms; Orrin Thomp- 
 son's, at Thompsonville and Tariffville, Conn., 250 looms, 
 and W. H. Chatham's, Philadelphia, 160 looms. Among 
 the mills in operation were the first plants of several of 
 the largest concerns now in the trade, including, besides 
 the Lowell Company, those now known as the Hartford 
 Carpet Company, Robert Beattie& Sons, the E. S. Higgins 
 Carpet Company and McCallum & McCallum. The total 
 number of looms in operation in 1841 did not much ex- 
 ceed 1,500, and about 1,250 of them were used for In- 
 grains, the others being devoted to Brussels, Damasks, 
 Venetians or rugs. 
 
 But the industry was soon to receive new and great 
 impetus. In 1848 Mr. Bigelow turned his attention to the 
 
20 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 construction of a power loom for Brussels carpeting, and 
 the invention was soon perfected, its salient features being 
 adapted from a loom invented by Mr. Bigelow several 
 years previous for the weaving of coach lace. But al- 
 though the new Brussels loom was a success in operation, 
 the inventor was unable to make satisfactory arrange- 
 ments with any carpet manufacturer for its utilization, 
 and he was finally obliged to invest some of his own 
 money in the establishment of a Brussels mill at Clinton, 
 Mass., which was the nucleus of the present great plant 
 of the Bigelow Carpet Company. 
 
 The manufacture of Tapestry Brussels and Velvet 
 carpeting in the United States was first undertaken in 
 1846 by John Johnson, who came to this country from 
 Halifax, England, where he had been in the employ of John 
 Crossley & Sons. Mr. Johnson opened a Tapestry mill at 
 Newark, N. J., with twenty-five looms. The plant was 
 subsequently removed to Troy, N. Y., and in 1855 was 
 purchased by a company headed by Michael H. Simpson 
 and removed to Roxbury, Mass. The Roxbury Carpet 
 Company, as this concern was called, under the lead of 
 President Simpson soon became and continues to be one 
 of the most important factors in the Tapestry and Velvet 
 trade of this country. 
 
 The product of Johnson's Tapestry looms was about 5 
 yards a day. In 1856 the product of each loom run by the 
 Roxbury Carpet Company was 16 yards a day, and at 
 present the average Tapestry loom turns out about 60 
 yards a day, and a product of 65 yards is not unusual. 
 The great increase in production was effected first by the 
 application of Mr. Bigelow's invention for power weav- 
 ing to the Tapestry loom, and later by various improve- 
 ments in the wire motion and other features of the loom. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 21 
 
 In the year ISTG another invention of great importance 
 to the carpet trade, the power loom for making Moqnette 
 carpeting, was effected by Halcyon Skinner, who was then 
 
 ^; 
 
 :^ ^^. 
 
 '*=: - 
 
 HALCYON SKINNER. 
 
 in the employ of Alexander Smith, founder of the great 
 manufacturing concern now known as the Alexander 
 Smith & Sons Carpet Company. About twenty years 
 previous Mr. Sm.ith, who was then making carpeting in a 
 
22 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 factory at West Farms, N. Y., conceived the idea of weav- 
 ing Axminster or tufted carpets on a power loom. Hav- 
 ing- recognized in Mr. Skinner a mechanic of far more than 
 ordinary talent and originality, Mr. Smith employed him 
 to devise the loom, and about a year later one was con- 
 structed and patented. It proved unsatisfactory, but in 1860 
 another was built and this was found to answer the purpose 
 perfectly. But soon afterward the factory at West Farms 
 was destroyed by fire, and although the new loom was 
 saved it became necessary to build another mill, and in 
 the meantime Mr. Smith's attention was directed to other 
 interests. In 1804 he closed his factory at West Farms 
 and opened one at Yonkers, N. Y,, where he engaged at 
 first in Ingrain manufacture and subsequently in the 
 making of Tapestry Brussels on an extensive scale. Mr. 
 Skinner continued in the employ of Mr. Smith as a 
 mechanical expert, and during this time he invented im- 
 portant improvements in Ingrain looms, and also in the 
 machinery for Tapestry Brussels manufacture. In 1876, 
 at the suggestion of Mr. Smith, he began work on a power 
 loom intended for the weaving of Moquette carpeting, and 
 in January, 1877, the first or ground patent for the loom 
 was granted. Since then many other patents have been 
 ^ obtained for improvements on the original loom. Some 
 of these changes were made by Halcyon Skinner, and 
 others were invented by his sons, Charles and A. L. Skin- 
 ner. The ground patent for the Moquette loom expired 
 January 17, 1894. Several later and important patents 
 for improvements of the fabric and loom still survive, and 
 are also controlled by the Alexander Smith & Sons Car- 
 pet Company, but American " Axminsters," goods made on 
 power looms and very closely related to the Moquette weave, 
 are now produced by several other manufacturing concerns. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 28 
 
 Among more recent improvements in carpet manufac- 
 ture perhaps the most interesting is to be credited to 
 James Dunlap, of Philadelphia, whose patented method of 
 printing Tapestry carpeting in the cloth has solved a 
 problem which many manufacturers had struggled with 
 in vain. John Bright, the Enghsh statesman and carpet 
 manufacturer, was one of those who attempted the solv- 
 ing, and failed completely, a great deal of money being 
 lost in experiments. Thomas Crossley was more success- 
 ful, for his Electrotype carpeting, as it was called, was a 
 marketable fabric. His mechanical ingenuity enabled 
 him to overcome difficulties which had baffled previous 
 efforts in the same field, and in a factory estabhshed at 
 Ellington, Conn., he produced for a year or two 1,000 
 yards daily, all of which found a ready sale. But 
 neither he nor his brothers, with whom he was associated, 
 had much business ability, and the enterprise eventually 
 proved disastrous to all concerned in it. 
 
 Mr. Dunlap' s invention was an improvement as com- 
 pared with all previous ones for the purpose, in the fact 
 that the coloring in the fabric extended entirely through 
 it. Former devices for printing the cloth had failed to 
 saturate the pile down to the roots, and consequently the 
 color was rubbed off when the tips of the pile were sub- 
 jected to ordinary wear and tear. Mr. Dunlap overcame 
 this defect by using a peculiar roller, which not only gave 
 a superficial color but also held the dye in cells or depres- 
 sions, so that when the roller was applied to the carpeting 
 under great pressure the coloring matter was forced down 
 to the roots of the pile and thoroughly saturated them. 
 
 Besides the inventions which have been mentioned many 
 others have been highly important factors in the progress 
 of the carpet industry in this country, but reference to 
 
24 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 them is postponed for the present. It is sufficient now to 
 note that American ingenuity, enterprise and energy have 
 never been exhibited more prominently and successfully in 
 any industries than in the manufacture of carpeting. 
 From the small beginning of hardly a hundred years ago 
 the industry had attained in 1890 a yearly product valued 
 at about $50,000,000. The number of factories was 173, 
 representing an aggregate capital of $38,208,842, and em- 
 ploying 29,121 persons. These figures, which are from 
 the census of 1890, do not include 854 factories or work- 
 shops in which rag carpeting was made, the yearly prod- 
 uct of this fabric being valued at $1,714,480. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Oriental Rugs and Carpets. 
 
 HE making of Oriental rugs is a simple but 
 slow process, and although it seems 
 easy, it is so only to Orientals them- 
 selves, with fingers trained to deft, skill- 
 ful manipulation and an inherited taste 
 and ability for such work. The loom 
 may be a few trunks of trees and poles bound together 
 in primitive fashion. It is never more than a simple 
 vertical frame, carrying on its upper part a beam con- 
 taining the warp, which is kept stretched by a pole or 
 rod passing through it. It is usually set up in a rough 
 shed adjoining the house of the weaver, though sometimes 
 in the open. 
 
 The weavers, who are the women and girls of the 
 household, sit before the loom and taking the threads 
 of wool, previously prepared and sorted, attach them 
 to the warp by a running knot. They then insert 
 the weft for the back, press the knots home with 
 a wooden comb, and level the pile with a pair of 
 scissors. 
 
 Generally each worker has a special piece of the pattern 
 assigned to her. To make a carpet 4>4 yards square six 
 women are usually employed, being placed at a distance 
 of 27 inches from one another. On an average each woman 
 weaves daily a piece 8 to 10 inches long and 27 inches wide. 
 When the work is made merely an avocation, as is so 
 commonly the case, the weaver generally knows the pat- 
 
Fig. 13. 
 
 Fig. ir. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 27 
 
 tern by memory and is never at a loss for the right shade. 
 But in places like Oushak, where many weavers are concen- 
 trated and have made the work a vocation, new patterns 
 are sometimes required, and then an especially expert 
 weaver is employed in making a pattern carpet from a 
 design, and from this the women work as usual, copying 
 the design from the back of the pattern carpet by count- 
 ing the knots. 
 
 Great care is taken in the preparation of the wool and 
 dyes for the choice grades of rugs. Sheep having especially 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 good wool are kept housed, and often have linen coverings 
 sewn upon them in order that the wool may remain clean 
 and also because wool treated in this way becomes satu- 
 rated with animal fat, which makes it soft and glossy. 
 Goat's hair is used to some extent, as there are certain 
 breeds of goats that have supple, glossy hair. Camel's 
 hair is also employed. Silk is rarely used, and scarcely 
 ever in Western Asia. Most of the silk rugs in existence 
 are of antique manufacture. But in the finest rugs silk 
 is sometimes used even in the warp threads, appearing 
 at the end to form the fringe. The wool used is always 
 unbleached and the fat is allowed to remain in it. It is 
 
28 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 difficult to dye such greasy wool, but the Orientals do not 
 desire sharp, well defined colors. It is indeed the custom 
 to leave the remains of dyes in the vats or kettles, as this 
 constant blending of colors gives the soft, broken tints 
 which are characteristic of Oriental rugs. Another point 
 
 ORIENTAL CARPET LOOM. 
 
 to be borne in mind is that such goods are always dirty. 
 A thorough cleansing will never fail to make the colors 
 brighter and clearer. 
 
 The colors most used are indigo, porcelain blue, green, 
 yellow, orange, crimson and rose red. The best wearing 
 colors are the blues, reds and yellows, because they im- 
 prove with age, while the others are liable to deteriorate. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 29 
 
 The dyes used are supposed to be vegetable, but of late 
 years aniline colors have been used largely by some un- 
 scrupulous weavers. Aniline colors are handsome at first, 
 but change finally into an ugly gray. 
 
 In all Oriental designs for rugs or other textile fabrics 
 certain figures are especially prominent, either in their 
 
 GHIORDES RUG. 
 
 ANTIQUE MELES RUG. 
 
 simplest forms or in combination with others. The palm 
 in various modifications is a favorite "motive." Figures 
 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in the cuts shown herewith, are all based 
 upon the palm. Fig. 1, which is the most elaborate, is found 
 frequently in the antique Persian rugs and carpets. Fig. 2 
 is common in several Oriental makes. Fig. 3 is an old Per- 
 sian motive. Fig. 4 is used freely in the modern Ferahan 
 
30 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 and Kurdistan carpets. Fig. 5 shows a palm and geometri- 
 cal figure found in the rugs of the Caucasus. Figs. 6 and 7 
 are blendings of palm and floral motives seen in many Per- 
 sian carpets. Figs. 8 and 9, the rosette, Fig. 10, and the 
 pomegranate. Fig. 11, are prominent in several varieties 
 of Oriental rugs. The lozenge, Fig. 12, is the charac- 
 
 SUMAC RUG. 
 
 teristic motive in the rugs made by the nomads of Central 
 Asia. Fig. 13 is Persian. The borders shown in Figs. 
 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are well-known Oriental types, but 
 Fig. 18 is usually found only in Herati carpets or rugs. 
 
 In former times the differences between the rugs of the 
 various weaving districts of the Orient Avere clearly 
 marked, and a glance at the material, design or colorings 
 of a rug would be sufficient to show at once the country, 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 31 
 
 and in most instances the very district or province, from 
 which it had come. 
 
 But at the present day such details as texture or pattern 
 are not always decisive in tracing the origin of a rug of 
 modern manufacture, because in many of the Oriental 
 weaving districts the goods are made for the Western 
 markets under the order and often imder the supervision 
 
 KIRMAN CARPET. 
 
 of a European buyer, who allows no native ideas to inter- 
 fere with his own conception of a handsome and salable 
 pattern. But it should also be said that such goods gen- 
 erally possess all the desirable features of an Oriental make, 
 without the defects often found in those which are made 
 by native weavers to suit themselves. 
 
 Of course these remarks do not apply to rugs which are 
 really antique, or to modern goods manufactured in dis- 
 tricts in which the weavers are still exempt from the in- 
 
32 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 fluence of Western ideas, as in the Caucasus or among the 
 nomad tribes. 
 
 But while it is not always safe to be positive as to the 
 exact birthplace of an Oriental rug, it is still true that 
 each rug making country in the Orient has its particular 
 kind of rug, the typical Turkish product, for example. 
 
 
 
 W^^ 
 
 
 I 
 
 ^'^r^^^'Tw^i 
 
 
 SUMAC CARPET. 
 
 being different from the Persian in both weave and 
 pattern. 
 
 Oriental carpets and rugs may be divided into four gen- 
 eral classes — Turkish, Persian, Daghestan and Indian. 
 Some experts would say that Indians could hardly be re- 
 garded as a separate class. The Turkish goods are looser 
 in texture than the Persians or Indians, but the length of 
 the pile gives them thickness and durability. The de- 
 signs are a mixture of arabesques, moresques, medallions 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE, 33 
 
 and rosettes. The conventionalized flowers used in them 
 are generally tulips, hyacinths and roses. The best known 
 among Turkish rugs are called Oushaks, because they 
 come from the province of that name. Among other 
 prominent makes are the Ghiordes, Kcula, Dimirdje, 
 Youroke and AnatoHans. 
 
 In the Oushak goods the most usual colors are old gold, 
 old red and cream, mingled with blue. The texture is 
 thick and the designs are large, bold figures, as a rule. In 
 Kirmans, which are a finer grade of Oushaks, the patterns 
 are in Persian style, and the Ghiordes rugs also resemble 
 Persians somewhat in designs and colorings. Koula pro- 
 duces a specialty in all wool carpets of primitive make but 
 excellent quality, and also an inferior kind of prayer rug 
 in which are three parts of wool and one of hemp. The 
 antique Ghiordes rugs were made in mosque designs, and 
 rank among the finest Oriental goods. The rugs and car- 
 pets now made in Ghiordes are very popular in the Euro- 
 pean and American markets. They come in all sizes and 
 in Turkish, Indian, Persian and other patterns. The 
 Dimirdje rugs are similar to Ghiordes, but heavier. Meles 
 rugs come in small sizes only and in peculiar brownish red 
 effects. The centres are plain excepting a sort of mosque 
 design, and the edges have a selvage like the Bokhara or 
 Shiraz rugs. The pile is velvety and the wool used is very 
 fine . Youroke rugs have a long pile and come in bright 
 reds and blues with well covered grounds. 
 
 The Sumac is woven more closely than the Oushak, and 
 has no pile. The back is shaggy, and has long strands of 
 wool left hanging loosely, as in the Cashmere India shawls. 
 For this reason Sumacs are often, but erroneously, called 
 Cashmeres. The Sumac has a longer fringe than most 
 other rugs, but this may be more or less worn away if the 
 
34 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 rug is old, and the strands of wool on the back are also 
 liable to be worn off by years of use. The designs are 
 conventional, and generally consist of several large figures 
 in the centre on a background which is almost always a 
 deep rich red, which in an old rug may turn to a soft shade 
 of pink or red. Occasionally one sees a blue or yellow 
 ground. The border almost invariably consists of four 
 lines. The outer edge is 10 inches wide, the design being 
 in black or dark blue on a red ground. Inside the red 
 border is a white band with bits of red or blue. The 
 centre and largest line of the border is usually a zigzag 
 design on a black or brown ground. The inside line is 
 white, like the line next to the outer edge. 
 
 Under the name of Daghestan are included the makes 
 of several districts in or near the Caucasus Mountains, and 
 also some other rugs in which the patterns and fabric are 
 somewhat similar. Like the Turkish goods, the Da- 
 ghestans are of much coarser weave than the Persians, and 
 the designs are composed of geometrical figures. Crooked- 
 ness is another common feature, and many good patterns 
 are spoiled by this defect. Daghestans are not high priced 
 as a rule. They come frequently in long strips, and are 
 therefore well suited for halls, but the strips are liable to 
 be curved or otherwise unsymmetrical, and even the small 
 pieces are often much broader at one end than at the 
 other. 
 
 Among the makes which are frequently classed with 
 Daghestans are Karabaghs, Kazaks, vShirvans, Cabistans, 
 Sumacs and Guenges. Neither Karabaghs nor Kazaks 
 ever come in carpet sizes. Khivas and Bokharas are not 
 made in Daghestan or near it, but they are made in 
 Russian territory, and in the Constantinople market they 
 are often classed with the products of Daghestan or 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 35 
 
 the Caucasus districts. Karabagh rugs have a silky woof 
 and are closely sheared. The centres are light colored and 
 the borders are often of camel's hair. Cabistan is the 
 name used for Daghestans when the goods are made in 
 carpet sizes. 
 
 Fine Karabagh s are remarkable for beautiful combina- 
 tions of colors, especially in the blending of reds, olives 
 
 CAMEL'S HAIR CARPET 
 
 and blues. The nap is generally heavy and very glossy, 
 and the designs, although characterized by large figures, 
 are usually artistic as well as striking. 
 
 The coloring usually seen in antique and modern Da- 
 ghestans is various shades of red, blue, yellow and white. 
 The red changes with age to a beautiful pink or rose. 
 The blue and yellow become richer or mellower as they 
 grow older, and the white turns to ivory. A Daghestan 
 
36 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 rug always has a fringe on one or both ends, the warp beino- 
 carried out to make it, but a Kazak, besides being heavier 
 than a Daghestan, has no fringe, the warp being twisted 
 into a heavy cord or braid. This twisting draws the ends 
 of the rug and makes it crooked. The colors of the 
 Kazaks and Daghestans are generally the same, but white 
 grounds are common in the latter and rare in Kazaks. 
 
 The Bokhara and Afghan rugs, although so often classed 
 with Daghestans, differ from them in several respects. 
 
 KARABAGH CARPET. 
 
 The Afghans are always prayer rugs, and are as a 
 rule softer in color than the Bokharas. The dominant 
 color in both Afghans and Bokharas is red of various 
 shades. The design is generally an arrangement of 
 geometrical figures in lines running from end to end of 
 the rug, and leaving only a few inches around the edges 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 37 
 
 for what is called the border. The figures are squared off 
 with a fine black line running each way through the cen- 
 tre, and between the spaces are little figures in various 
 tones of white, bkie, green or yellow. The border, 
 when it occurs at all, is made by two narrow rows of 
 
 INDIAN CARPET. 
 
 geometrical figures, like those in the centre of the rug, 
 but much smaller. When made in sizes as large as 6x9 
 feet or larger the goods are called Khivas. 
 
 Persia has furnished the oldest and finest examples of 
 
38 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 Oriental floor coverings. Among the best known makes 
 classed as Persian are the Shirvan, Sennah, Kirman, 
 Mossul, Cashmere or Soumac, Shiraz, Ferehan, Herati, 
 Teheran, Khorassan, Kurdistan, Heraz, Khivas, Serebend, 
 Djorzan, Savelan, Hamedan and Sedjades. 
 
 The Ferehan goods are made in both rugs and carpet 
 sizes, in small, chintz designs, with dark blue grounds 
 and reddish borders. They are not expensive and are 
 well suited for dining reoms or libraries. 
 
 Most genuine Shiraz rugs are antique and are found in 
 small sizes only. They are of closer weave than the 
 Ferehans, and are much more varied in colorings. 
 
 Savelans resemble Ferehans, but are of finer weave. 
 They come in large, bold designs and in a wide range of 
 colorings. Most of the weavers of Savelans are under the 
 control of European firms, and therefore any designs or 
 colorings required can be supplied. 
 
 Cashmeres or Soumacs are often classed with the makes 
 of the Caucasus, and a rug called Cashmere is also made 
 in India. The Cashmere is woven without a woof and in 
 large medallion designs. The ground is generally dark 
 red. The antique specimens have admirable colorings, 
 but the modern goods are often crude in this respect. A 
 characteristic of many Cashmere rug designs is a figure 
 representing an obelisk. 
 
 Hamedans rank among the least expensive of Persian 
 makes, but they are both durable and handsome. They 
 resemble the Heraz in pattern, having medallion centres, 
 with conventional floral treatment, and borders in which 
 the designs are also floral. 
 
 Sedjades, Kirmans and Sennahs rank among the 
 choicest products of the Oriental looms. The Sedjades are 
 largely used for wall hangings. vSennahs are woven closely 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 39 
 
 and have a short, silky pile of goat hair. The colorings 
 are delicate opaHne shades, suggesting sapphire, gold and 
 rich ivory. The borders are generally in mosaic designs. 
 These rugs are rarely found larger than 5x7 feet. 
 
 The weave of the Kirman rugs is especially close and 
 fine. The pile is as lustrous as silk, especially in the 
 antique specimens. The old gold and ivory grounds, 
 
 
 
 
 TURKOMAN CARPET. 
 
 characteristic of many of these rugs, are beautiful 
 specimens of Oriental coloring. 
 
 Kurdistan rugs are closely woven, have a short, velvety 
 pile, and are somewhat subdued in colorings. 
 
 Khorassans are of fine texture, and the floral designs, 
 which are much used in them, are less conventional in treat- 
 ment than is the case with most other Oriental patterns. 
 
 Khivas or Bokharas are made of thick fine wool, woven 
 
40 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 very closely, and rank among the finest rugs made in the 
 Orient. They come generally in two styles of designs, one 
 being known as the round and the other as the temple. 
 The ground is usually red, in various tints. 
 
 The rugs called Ivelenis are made in several provinces 
 of Persia, They have patterns which are the same on both 
 sides, and being of light and flexible texture they are used 
 for portieres and table and sofa covers, as well as for floor 
 coverings. The designs are good and the colorings are 
 brilliant. 
 
 The Namads or felt carpets of Persia are made by digging 
 out a space in the earth as large and as deep as the size 
 and thickness required for the carpet, and then filling the 
 space with hair, which is beaten with mallets until it be- 
 comes a cohesive mass. A design of colored threads is 
 beaten into the upper surface. The large size and weight 
 of these carpets render them imdesirable for export. 
 
 The special features of Persian designs are coiling tendril 
 work, with indented leaf and palmetto-like blossom. These 
 designs are often found in combination with figures of ani- 
 mals, flowering plants and trees. 
 
 The leading makes of East Indian carpets are the Push- 
 meina, Punjaub, Maharajah, Cabul, Cashmere, Candahar, 
 Agra, Mirzapore, Amrister, Juipore and Marzuliptan. 
 
 The Pushmeina rugs are made of the finest wool, closely 
 woven, and are both rare and expensive. The Agras are 
 notable for heaviness, rigidity and stiffness. Rug making 
 is carried on to a considerable extent in the jails of India, 
 this kind of work being found well suited for the convicts 
 of that country. There are also several large and success- 
 ful factories controlled by foreign firms, but the industry 
 has lost the prominence it enjoyed in the past. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Savonnerie and Aubusson Carpets. 
 
 HE French Savonnerie carpets are woven on 
 high warp tapestry looms in the same fac- 
 tory at Paris in which the Gobelin tapes- 
 tries are made ; but the method of weav- 
 ing them differs entirely from that em- 
 ployed in the making of Gobelin tapes- 
 tries. Savonnerie carpets are, properly speaking, velvets. 
 The warp is wound vertically on two cylinders, and 
 arranged as in the tapestry loom, but the worsted threads 
 composing the woof, which are to form the surface of the 
 carpet, are fastened by a double knot on two threads of 
 the warp, which is of wool and double, combining itself 
 with the threads of the velvety surface, and also with a 
 warp and weft, which do not appear on the outside. The 
 weaver, while at his work, sees the right side of the fabric, 
 not the other, as in the weaving of Gobelin tapestry. 
 
 To make the knot he takes a shuttle, separates with his 
 left hand the thread of the warp on which he is to begin 
 and draws it toward him ; he then passes behind it the 
 shuttle and the worsted thread, which he holds with his 
 right hand, and then bringing forward the next thread of 
 the warp makes a running knot around it, which he tight- 
 ens. Between these two shoots the wool forms on the 
 front of the warp a ring having a diameter in accordance 
 with the height of the pile. The weaver then intersects 
 the threads of the warp with another hempen thread, form- 
 ing the weft. To do this he advances the threads which 
 
42 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 are behind, passes the woof between the two rows of 
 threads and allows those from the back to resume their 
 former place. In this manner each of the knots is, as it 
 were, linked together. The knots and hempen threads are 
 then struck with the comb and forced inside the fabric so 
 as to be invisible. Finally the carpet is clipped or shaved, 
 this being necessary on account of the unequal length of 
 the ends of wool left in cutting the loops of the pile. The 
 clipping process requires much precision on the part of 
 the workman and has an important bearing on the appear- 
 ance of the carpet. 
 
 As Savonnerie carpets are larger than most pieces of 
 Gobelin tapestry, the looms in which they are made are 
 also larger, and allow several weavers to work on a carpet 
 at the same time. 
 
 Aubusson carpets are made at the well-known tapestry 
 factory at Aubusson, France. Only low warp looms are 
 employed in this factory, while at the Gobelins only high 
 warp looms are used. The Aubusson carpets differ from 
 the tapestries of the same factory mainly in being of 
 coarser and thinner v/eave. 
 
 In the low warp loom the cylinders, which are placed 
 horizontally, are inserted in two wooden checks, which 
 are supported by uprights. Around one of these cylinders 
 is placed the warp, and the web, as it progresses, is rolled 
 on the second cylinder. Two treadles are used to raise 
 alternately each leaf of the warp. The workman seated 
 on a bench placed in front of the loom, with his feet rest- 
 ing on the treadles, separates with his fingers the threads 
 of the warp which he requires, and passes between the two 
 leaves of the warp a broach, so called, which is mounted 
 with wool. He regulates the courses with a reed and 
 presses them down with a comb of wood or ivory. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 48 
 
 In making the body the workman weaves the ground 
 until he reaches the point where the figure begins. Hav- 
 ing the design before him, he then inserts the yarns 
 which go to make the figure, these yarns being hung near 
 him so that he can take up each color as required. There 
 are no repeats in an Aubusson centre design, the char- 
 acteristic feature of such patterns being a medallion. 
 
 Savonnerie and Aubusson carpets being hand made and 
 ot fine material, rank among the most expensive of floor 
 coverings. The demand for them is comparatively small, 
 especially in the United States, where a heavy import duty 
 is added to the high cost of manufacture. 
 
 Qu^a3^^^=i)(r"*s^^^ 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Hand Made and Chenille Axminsters. ^ 
 
 LD-STYLE hand made Axminsters were first 
 ' manufactured by Thomas Whitty, who es- 
 tablished a factory for the purpose at 
 Axminster, England, in 1755. When Mr. 
 Whitty failed in business some years later 
 the industry was transferred to Wilton, 
 where a factory for the manufacture of the goods is still 
 in operation. 
 
 In 1833 James Templeton, a manufacturer of chenille 
 shawls at Paisley, Scotland, conceived the idea that the 
 process of making these shawls might be applied in the 
 manufacture of Axminster carpets, and this was the origin 
 of the Templeton Chenille Axminsters, which are now 
 produced in the factory of Templeton & Co., Glasgow, 
 Scotland. This firm are also extensive manufacturers of 
 machine made Axminsters. 
 
 In the weaving of the old-fashioned hand made Axmin- 
 sters the carpet is made in one piece on a loom which con- 
 sists substantially of a large wooden roller or winch, about 
 1 feet G inches in diameter and some 20 feet long, pinned 
 at the ends to two uprights. These uprights are joined 
 together by a beam some 4 or 5 feet above the roller, and 
 of course parallel to it. The long warp threads of the 
 carpet are passed over this beam and separated from one 
 another by little pins or studs in the beam. The strong 
 linen threads comprising this warp are fixed to the roller 
 at one end, the other end being also secured. 
 
46 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 The girls who do the weaving sit beside one another 
 on a long bench in front of the loom, each girl having a 
 certain width of carpet to weave. She has first to fix the 
 pile to the warp strands, and then to weave the strands 
 into a solid backing. 
 
 Beside her, so that her left hand can reach them, hang 
 a number of short lengths of wool of various colors. In 
 front of her is pinned the colored paper pattern which she 
 is to reproduce in the carpet. Guided by her pattern she 
 takes the appropriate piece of wool, ties it tightly on to 
 the warp strand, and then, with a pair of scissors, snips 
 off the two ends of the knot within about an inch of the 
 strand. In this way the two woolen tufts are left standing 
 out from the warp, and by placing a succession of them 
 side by side the thick pile of the carpet is gradually built 
 up. When one row of tufts is completed, a shuttle carry- 
 ing strong threads is passed once backward and once for- 
 ward between the strands, thus interweaving warp and 
 tufts. Then comes another row of tufts, and the passing 
 of the shuttle as before, and so on until the carpet is 
 finished. Each tuft of the pile goes through to the very 
 back of the carpet, so that real Axminster cannot become 
 threadbare imtil it is worn entirely through. 
 
 The process of manufacture is slow, and the thick, heavy 
 pile calls for a great amount of wool \ consequently real 
 Axminster carpets are extremely expensive. The demand 
 for them, as with Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets, 
 comes from quarters where more importance is attached 
 to quality than to price — large and fashionable hotels, 
 club houses, royal palaces, and houses of the rich. The 
 floor coverings known as Berlin carpets are similar to 
 Axminsters. They are made in Germany, and also at a 
 factory in Morrisania, New York city. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 47 
 
 In the machine made chenille Axminsters, the chenille 
 is first woven so as to form a double fringe of colored yarn 
 with a fine thread running along the centre to keep the 
 thread lengths of wool taut. This fabric is then cut into 
 strips, each of which is bound into a V-shape, so that the 
 double fringe becomes a series of thick tufts of wool side 
 by side and firmly held together by the binding thread. 
 This chenille is then ready to serve as the weft of the 
 carpet fabric, being laid across the warp threads and woven 
 into place in the loom, a hand loom being used for all 
 chenille Axminsters wider than 27 inches. 
 
CHAPTER Vll. 
 
 Body Brussels and Wiltons. 
 
 Lr^ ODY Brussels carpeting consists of a worst- 
 ed yarn built upon a linen or cotton chain, 
 and a linen weft. The worsted warp which 
 forms the face of the carpet is wound on 
 reeb or bobbins arranged on large hori- 
 zontal frames, which are placed one above 
 the other in the rear of the loom. Each 
 reel supplies one thread of worsted to the loom, and as 
 there are 260 threads in the width of a Brussels carpet 
 (27 inches), there are necessarily 260 reels on each frame. 
 The loops which appear on the face of the fabric are 
 made by the insertion of wires when the worsted warp has 
 been raised by the operation of the Jacquard. These wires 
 are withdrawn and inserted again at regular intervals as 
 the weaving proceeds. The warp from each frame is 
 drawn in a continuous web into the loom, and the Jacquard 
 attachment above the looms controls every separate strand 
 of the 1,000 to 1,500 which are being fed into the loom 
 from all the frames. Each yarn is raised into the face of 
 the carpet or dropped into the body according to the pat- 
 tern on the Jacquard. 
 
 A Brussels carpet is called 5 frame when it is woven 
 from five of the frames referred to, and if but four are 
 used it is termed a 4 frame Brussels. It is obvious that 
 if each of the frames is run with its full warp a 5 frame 
 carpet will contain 25 per cent, more wool than a 4 frame. 
 The number of frames used never exceeds six, and if 
 
50 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 each contributed but a single color to the warp the greatest 
 number of colors possible would be six. But some Body 
 Brussels contain as many as twenty-five or thirty colors 
 
 I flC' VSPHHHhIHC^IrII ■nUMICIIBHiHVHH 
 
 this variety being obtained by " planting " warps of differ- 
 ent colors on the same frame. But it is evident that the 
 number of colors in any perfectly straight line running 
 lengthwise in the carpet cannot be greater than the actual 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 51 
 
 number of frames. Modifications of color lengthwise can 
 be obtained only by dropping the warp of one frame and 
 picking up the corresponding warp of another. 
 
 If a color — as, for example, blue — appears only in spots 
 or in small masses of any kind, and these are separated 
 from each other by some distance in the width of the car- 
 pet, it is then obvious that this color does not go all over; 
 but if certain colors recur constantly throughout the entire 
 width of the fabric, then the number of these will show how 
 many frames or thicknesses of worsted are in the carpet. 
 
 In the diagram presented herewith, which represents a 
 ruled paper drawing of a six color, four frame Brussels car- 
 pet, the diagonal lines indicate one color, the dots 
 another, the vertical lines another, the horizontal lines 
 another, the white spaces another and the black another, 
 while by a glance at the gamut a it will be seen that but 
 four thicknesses of yarns are necessary for weaving this 
 pattern, the yarns being of six colors. Frames 1 and 2, 
 counting from the top, are "planted"; that is, each of 
 them contains more than one color, and the first three 
 frames are also imperfect. Thus in the top frame one stitch 
 out of every ten is omitted, or twenty-six in the entire 
 width of 260 threads; in the next frame four are saved out 
 of every ten, or 104 in the width, and in the third frame 
 one is saved out of every ten, or twenty- six in the width. 
 The fourth frame alone is complete. 
 
 Wilton carpets are woven just as Brussels are, excepting 
 that the wires used in making Wiltons have a sharp blade 
 attached, and so arranged that when they are drawn out 
 the blades cut the loops open, and thus form a plush sur- 
 face. The pile of a Wilton carpet is higher than the loops 
 of a Brussels, about 50 per cent, more yarn being used for 
 Wiltons. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Tapestry-Brussels and Velvet Carpeting. 
 
 HE salient feature of the manufacture of 
 Tapestry or Tapestry Brussels, and Velvet 
 carpeting is the printing of the pattern 
 on the yarn warp, thread by thread, be- 
 fore the carpet itself is woven on the 
 loom. The pattern is drawn and colored 
 on rule paper, just as the Body Brussels 
 pattern is laid out. Some years ago it was 
 customary to elongate the drawing in order 
 to allow for the loops on the surface of 
 the finished fabric, but this method is not 
 
 necessary 
 
 i 
 
 mm 
 
 V'.W,, 
 
 now. 
 yili Next 
 
 comes the 
 ID ^ I illy ^^^^ distinc- 
 
 j fi I I I I y n 1 I ^^^^ ^^^P ^^■' 
 
 Ilii DIDI Tapestry 
 
 IlOliSI IDli making, 
 
 which is the fig. i. 
 
 cutting of 
 
 the rule paper pattern 
 lengthwise into several ob- 
 long strips, one of which 
 is shown in Fig. 1 of the 
 engravings presented herewith. This strip represents 
 consecutive threads which run lengthwise through the 
 entire piece of carpet, and for the sake of clearness in this 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
54 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 FIG. 3. 
 
 description, these strips are shown again, separated from 
 
 each other as in Fig. 2 The number of warp threads in 
 
 a width (27 inches) of Tapestry carpeting varies from 
 about 180 in the low grades to 216 
 in ten wire goods. Each strip of 
 pattern paper is placed on an oblong 
 board, and when the dyeing of the 
 threads represented on it is to 
 begin the board is taken to the 
 printing drum. These drums vary 
 
 in diameter in accordance with the length of the pattern, 
 
 or sometimes the number of repeats in it. The drum is 
 
 first covered with an 
 
 oil cloth, which is in 
 
 turn covered with 
 
 white yarn, wound 
 
 around it as closely 
 
 as the thread on an 
 
 ordinary reel of cot- 
 ton. The drum re- 
 volves on its axis and 
 
 the man who guides 
 
 its movement has 
 
 hung before him for 
 
 reference one of the 
 
 oblong strips of the 
 
 pattern previously 
 
 mentioned. Each of 
 
 the various threads 
 
 represented on the 
 
 strip is designated by 
 
 a number, and every 
 
 color which appears p|Q^ 4_ 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 55 
 
 in the pattern has also a number. The drum also bears 
 near its edge a series of numbers and is provided with 
 a ratchet arrangement which enables the operator to guide 
 the revolution of the drum in accordance with the ruled 
 squares of color upon the design. Underneath the drum 
 is a small carriage running on rails, and in this carriage, 
 which contains a quantity of dye, a wheel revolves as 
 shown in Fig. 3, the top of the wheel being just high 
 enough to touch the thread on the drum, and thus cover 
 it with dye. The printer, referring to his pattern, sees 
 the color needed for, say, the first square in it, and the 
 carriage is then passed along the rails, so that the color 
 required is printed or ruled across the thread. Dur- 
 ing this operation the drum is held in place by the 
 ratchets, its revolution and the movement of the carriage 
 beneath being regulated by the printer's comparison of the 
 index on the drum with the numbers on the print board. 
 
 The width of the dyed portion of the thread does not 
 correspond exactly with the square or squares of the pat- 
 tern, some allowance being 
 made for the fact that the fabric 
 will be woven in loops like 
 Body Brussels. As has been 
 said, the loops were formerly 
 provided for by elongating the 
 design, but this had disadvan- 
 tages, and most manufacturers 
 now make the movement of the 
 drum answer instead, some al- 
 lowance being also made for 
 the stretching of the yarn when the loops are formed. Fig. 
 4 represents the drum with the yarn wound around it, 
 the dark stripes showing where the dye has been applied. 
 
 FIG. 5. 
 
56 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 The printing of the yarn on the drum is continued in the 
 way described until all the colors needed for the particular 
 thread which covers it have been applied. It was formerly 
 the custom for the printer to scrape the yarn with his 
 fingers to remove superfluous dye, but this operation is 
 now performed much better by a mechanical scraping de- 
 vice, in which a rubber substitute for a finger follows the 
 dyeing wheel in its passage across the thread. 
 
 The dyed yarn, all of which forms but a single thread 
 in a piece of carpeting, is then removed from the drum to 
 the steaming room, where it remains long enough to fix 
 the colors firmly, and is then allowed to dry. From the 
 drying room it passes to the reeling machine, which winds 
 it on a spool, and it is then ready for the setters, whose 
 work consists in setting side by side all the pattern warp 
 threads which are to appear in the carpet when it is 
 finished. At one end of the setting machine are arranged 
 the reels or bobbins of thread, every thread in the width 
 of the carpet being wound on its particular bobbin, the 
 number of bobbins running of course from 180 to 216. The 
 thread on each bobbin is pulled out and fastened to a roller 
 at the other end of the machine. The roller is then run 
 out to a certain length, the threads being thus drawn taut 
 side by side, like the strings of a piano, but touching each 
 other. Two girls, one standing at each side of the ma- 
 chine, then take each thread separately and move it to its 
 proper place, as it appears in a somewhat elongated copy 
 of the pattern, which is placed on the machine underneath 
 the threads. As a certain portion of the threads is passed 
 it is wound on the roller at the other end, and when the 
 setting process is completed the yarn on this roller is ready 
 to be woven in the loom. Fig. 5 shows the pattern as it 
 appears in the finished carpet. 
 
HISTOR V A ND MA TV UFA CTURE, 57 
 
 Tapestry carpeting has a backing of jute yarn, a cotton 
 chain, and a Hnen or cotton weft, which serves as a binding 
 thread for the loops, these being made over wires as in the 
 weaving of Body Brussels. Until recently all Tapestry 
 looms have been subject to a serious defect, in the liability 
 of the printed warp to run unevenly in relation to the 
 groimd warp. When this trouble occurs the successive 
 '' blocks " of the pattern are too long or short, and do not 
 register accurately with successive portions of the warp 
 strands so as to secure uniformity in the appearance of 
 breadths, and the matching of the pattern in successive 
 breadths when placed side by side. This difficulty has 
 been overcome by a recent invention which insures the 
 accurate registry of the pattern blocks with the other 
 portions of the body fabric, any irregularity which occurs 
 being corrected by the automatic action of an ingenious 
 mechanism by which the tension on the warp yarns is 
 increased or diminished as may be necessary. This 
 device not only removes the danger of weaving unmatch- 
 able goods, but also enables one operative to run two 
 looms instead of one, thus doubling or almost doubling the 
 capacity of the Tapestry loom. 
 
 Velvet carpeting is the same as Tapestry Brussels, ex- 
 cepting that the wire used in the weaving has a knife-like 
 edge which cuts open the loops as it is withdrawn and 
 forms a pile surface as in Wilton carpeting. Velvet car- 
 pets also resemble Wiltons in the fact that more yarn is 
 used for the pile than is considered necessary when the 
 loops are not to be cut as in Body Brussels. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 Printed Tapestry Carpeting. 
 
 ^HE making of Tapestry Brussels by the method 
 which has been described enables the manu- 
 facturer to produce handsome carpeting at a 
 low cost, but the dyeing of the yarn is a 
 delicate operation and the process of manufacture 
 throughout requires much skill and care and the 
 investment of a large amount of capital. For these and 
 other reasons many attempts have been made to simplify 
 the process and to reduce still further the cost of manu- 
 facture, but among all the improvements put forward in 
 this line of invention during the past forty years or more, 
 the conception of James Dunlap, of Philadelphia, has 
 proved the most successful. 
 
 In the process patented by Mr. Dunlap in 1891 the 
 yarns are woven undyed, or dyed of a uniform basic color 
 or tone, and they are woven like a Tapestry or Velvet 
 carpet, that is, without a Jacquard machine. After the 
 fabric is woven, with the pile cut or uncut, as desired, it is 
 si:bmitted to the action of a color printing machine some- 
 what similar to that which is used in calico printing, in 
 which the fabric is wound on a large pressure drum or 
 roller, and pattern rollers, one for each color and engraved 
 to produce the design desired, revolve in contact with the 
 face of the undyed carpet. 
 
 The idea of impressing a design upon an undyed carpet 
 by means of block or roller printing devices was not anew 
 one, but Mr. Dunlap's method of carrying it out was 
 original and overcame an obstacle which had baffled all 
 
60 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 previous inventors. This difficulty was caused by the fact 
 that a pile carpet, cut or uncut, is a comparatively soft, 
 yielding mass, which, to be perfectly dyed, must receive 
 the color not only on the tips of the pile, but down to the 
 very roots and even into the back. Moreover, the color 
 must be so applied that the yielding or wearing of the pile 
 in use will not distort the pattern. Great pressure must 
 be employed to force the color into and through the fabric, 
 and the dyeing matter must be used in considerable quan- 
 tity, but not so as to fly or run laterally in the pile beyond 
 the exact limits of the particular figure of the pattern 
 being printed at that point. 
 
 In Mr. Dunlap's process the carpet fabric, after being 
 woven undyed in an ordinary Tapestry loom, is prepared 
 for the reception of the dyes by dampening its surface 
 with a mixture of oil, vitriol and other ingredients. The 
 fabric is then dried by running it over hot cylinders. For 
 printing the carpet, the designs engraved upon the print- 
 ing rollers are cut to a certain depth, and then further and 
 deeper cuts are made in the form of cells or cups evenly 
 distributed over the entire figure. These cups receive 
 the heads of the pile and the great pressure with which 
 the roller is applied forces the color into their very roots. 
 After passing the fabric through the rollers steam is 
 forced into and through it from both sides, in order to 
 drive the dye into it and at the same time to raise the 
 pile, which has been forced down by the pressure of the 
 printing roller. 
 
 In June, 1896, Mr. Dunlap obtained an additional patent 
 for certain improvements on his original process, by which 
 the various steps in it which have been described are per- 
 formed continuously and automatically, instead of being 
 more or less independent of each other. This improve- 
 
HISTOR Y A ND MANUFA CTURE. 61 
 
 merit was accomplished by embracing in a single structure 
 a printing mechanism, a steam chamber, a starching ap- 
 paratus, a drying chamber and means for operating auto- 
 matically and in concert the various parts of the structure. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 MOQUETTES AND MACHINE MaDE AxMlNSTERS. 
 
 HE carpeting which first bore the name of Mo- 
 quette was practically the same as the Wilton 
 fabric. In the United States Moquette is the 
 name applied to a tufted pile machine-made 
 carpeting first manufactured by Alexander 
 Smith on a loom invented by Halcyon Skin- 
 ner and patented in 1856. These American Mo- 
 quettes are an imitation of a carpeting first 
 made at Nimes, France. The French goods were made on 
 a hand loom only, but Halcyon Skinner's invention ren- 
 dered it possible to make them on power looms and so ef- 
 fect a great saving of the cost of manufacture. At the 
 present time the name of Axminster is also used to 
 designate carpeting which is practically the same as 
 Moquette, differing mainly in the number of tufts of 
 wool to the inch or in the manner of fastening 
 the tufts more or less firmly in the fabric. In the Skm- 
 ner Moquette loom the warp is composed of two parts 
 mounted on separate beams and comprising threads of 
 dififerent grades of fineness, the warp of coarser threads be- 
 ing under greater tension than the other so as to be kept 
 straight as possible, that of the finer thread being under 
 less tension, so as to be bent around the woolen pile tufts 
 and the weft threads. The straight or coarse warp is sub- 
 divided into two parts, one being called the tufting warp 
 because the tufts are secured to it, and the other the body 
 warp because it gives firmness to the fabric. The pile con- 
 
64 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 sists of a succession of the tufts of yarn referred to, ex- 
 tending across the fabric, with the ends standing upward. 
 To carry the yarns which form the tufts spools about as 
 long as the width of the fabric are employed, the number of 
 spools composing the series being equal to the number of 
 ranges of tufts required to complete the pattern desired. 
 The yarns are wound on each spool with such an arrange- 
 ment of colors as may be required by the part of the figure 
 supplied by that spool. The spools are mounted in suc- 
 cession on the links of a pair of endless chains which move 
 in unison and with a positive motion, to bring each spool 
 in succession to the position for introducing one range of 
 tufts into the fabric. The journals of the spools work in a 
 frame which engages with the links of the chain by means 
 of spring clips. 
 
 In beginning the weaving, the mechanism of the loom 
 detaches the first of the series of spools with its frame from 
 the chains and carries it down in front of the lay just over 
 the tufting warps. The tufting yarn is then grasped by a 
 series of nippers, drawn out and carried around the pairs 
 of tufting warps, these nippers being mechanical substitutes 
 for the Oriental weaver's fingers in his hand loom. The 
 heddles are then operated so as to hold the tufts in posi- 
 tion while the nippers let "go their hold and two steel blades 
 then cut the tufting from the several parcels in the spools. 
 The tufts are then woven into the body of the fabric, thus 
 completing one row of tufts in the fabric. This operation 
 is repeated for the next row and so on continuously. 
 
 Since Halcyon Skinner's loom was first put into use 
 many changes have been made in both the mechanism of 
 the loom and the fabric manufactured on it, but the essen- 
 tial features of the weaving process remain as here de- 
 scribed. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Smyrna Rugs. 
 
 Smyrna rug is simply a chenille Axminster 
 fabric with the wool distributed on both 
 sides, instead of only on the face. The 
 goods were at first a by-product of the 
 factory of the Messrs. Templeton at Glas- 
 gow. This firm were the original manu- 
 facturers of the chenille Axminster car- 
 peting, and from the waste chenille they 
 made what they called an Afghan rug, 
 which had a double instead of a single face. The goods 
 were woven only in hit or miss or mottled patterns, and the 
 Oriental and other effects now the prevaihng styles in 
 these rugs originated in this country. 
 
 The double faced chenille fabric was first made by 
 European manufacturers of shawls, and it was these 
 shawls which suggested to carpet manufacturers the idea 
 of making a floor covering of the same material. 
 
 Robert Beattie & Sons were pioneers in the manufac- 
 ture of Smyrna rugs in this country. They were perhaps 
 the earliest manufacturers of them, and they were cer- 
 tainly the first to make them in any considerable quantity. 
 They made them at first by sewing together breadths of 
 chenille carpeting, and sewing on a border, which was 
 woven with separate corner pieces to avoid mitering. The 
 goods were made in one size, 6x9 feet, and sold as " Turk- 
 istan " carpets. Most of them were bought by Joseph 
 Wild & Co., and it was this firm that suggested to the 
 
66 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 Messrs. Beattie the idea of reproducing Oriental patterns, 
 a Ghiordes rug being selected as the first to be copied, 
 
 Sheppard Knapp, of Sheppard Knapp & Co., believes 
 that Job Pearson made the first piece of chenille carpet in 
 this country. Mr. Knapp advised Pearson to put a border 
 on the carpeting, and thus produce an imitation of an 
 Oriental rug. Mr. Knapp was the first to advertise these 
 goods as " Smyrnas," and at his suggestion application 
 was made for a patent on them, but for some reason it was 
 refused. 
 
 Since the starting of the industry in this country, which 
 was about twenty years ago, many important improve- 
 ments have been made in the process of manufacture. In 
 the factory of to-day the dyed yarn is first taken to the 
 cop winding machine and wound on cops, which then go 
 to the weft weaving room. The pattern which is to be 
 reproduced in the weft is drawn and colored upon the de- 
 sign paper in the usual manner, but is then cut into strips, 
 which are called papers. Each strip is a double paper, 
 each paper representing one shot in the setting loom. 
 
 The operative at the weft weaving loom begins her 
 work by placing one of these strips before her as her 
 guide in throwing the shuttles containing the weft yarns. 
 The warp yarn is composed of four cotton threads, but 
 by the movement of a cam in the loom these are twisted 
 in the weaving operation so as to make two double threads 
 instead of four single ones. When the pattern on the first 
 strip has been reproduced in the weft the weaver takes 
 the strip which comes next in order in the design, and 
 continues in this way until the entire pattern has been 
 woven. The chenille, which during the weaving opera- 
 tion has been wound on a beam, is then taken to the cut- 
 ting machine, in which a number of small circular blades 
 
HISTOR V A ND MAN UFA CTURE. 67 
 
 fixed on a revolving cylinder come in contact with the 
 chenille as it passes over another cylinder and cut it into 
 narrow strips. As quickly as it is cut the twisted threads 
 in each strip cause it to twist itself into the fur-like shape 
 characteristic of chenille fabric. The strips after passing 
 through the cutting machine are wound on cops, and are 
 then ready for the setting loom, in which the warp is cot- 
 ton thread and the chenille fur is the w^eft, with a shot of 
 jute yarn between each strip as filling. From this loom 
 it emerges in the form of rugs, the pattern on the design 
 paper being exactly reproduced in the woven rug. From 
 the loom the rug goes to the shearing machine, where the 
 surface is made even, and it is then fringed and finished. 
 The fringing operation formerly required a great deal of 
 hand labor, but all or nearly all of this work is now done 
 by machines. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Ingrain, Venetian and Wool Dutch Carpets. 
 
 NGRAiN is a fabric composed of two webs or 
 plies of cloth. 
 
 In weaving Ingrain each ply has its par- 
 ticular color, as, for instance, a two-ply car- 
 pet may have one ply of green yarn and the 
 other of red. If the red ply forms the 
 ground color of the design, then the green ply will be the 
 figure color, and wherever the green yarn appears over the 
 red ply that is ingraining. Two-tone carpets are used, as a 
 rule, for churches only. The more general this ingraining 
 or mixing up of the two plies, the more durable the fabric 
 will be. A skillful designer will always mix his plies as 
 closely as possible to avoid "pockets." The plies are of 
 equal texture and are united at the edges by the selvage 
 threads. 
 
 In weaving Ingrain the warp threads are moved by the 
 Jacquard. For a two-color effect the filling threads are 
 thrown by the shuttle from right to left and then about or 
 back again. 
 
 In the shotabout ply two or more shuttles are used. When 
 both plies are shuttled with two colors each, the weave is 
 called a double shotabout. In a plain Ingrain each ply has 
 but one color. In a plain and shotabout weave, one ply 
 is plain and the other is a shotabout ply composed of threads 
 of two or more different colors alternating, as, for instance, 
 green and white, giving the effect of three colors in the car- 
 pet. In double shotabout each ply is a shotabout one, giv- 
 
70 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 ing a design in four colors, say, black, red, green and white. 
 Until the invention of the mate thread weave two dark 
 threads could not be brought up together in a carpet, it be- 
 ing necessary to bring a light one up with a dark thread 
 or vice versa. The mate thread device, by enabling the 
 weaver to bring up either light or dark threads together, 
 makes four-color effects possible. 
 
 In the old style Kidderminster Ingrain the warp yarns 
 were three-thread worsted, but in the modern goods two- 
 thread yarn is generally used, because this makes a saving 
 in the most expensive material used in the carpet, and, 
 moreover, the finer the warp yarn the more scope there is 
 for shading in the weft colors. 
 
 Venetian carpets are made with a worsted or cotton warp 
 and a jute filling. The warp is colored and makes the 
 figure effect. In the weaving a Jacquard is used, but it is 
 much less complicated than the one employed for Ingrain 
 carpets. Venetians are used only for stairs and halls. 
 
 Wool Dutch carpets are not used now. They have a heavy 
 warp and a thick single filling. The warp is woven in so as 
 to form stripes, making what is called a Dutch plaid pat- 
 tern. The Jacquard employed is of a very simple kind, 
 having but one card and resembling that which is used for 
 weaving plain Ingrain filling. 
 
CHAPTER XI 11. 
 
 Straw Matting. 
 
 HE straw matting which comes 
 from China is manufactured 
 from a species of reed or 
 grass having cuhiis which 
 grow as high as 6 feet. 
 When it has acquired the 
 proper height the grass is 
 cut, spread out in the open 
 air to dry, then roughly 
 sorted, packed in bales and 
 delivered to the matting 
 manufacturer, who sorts it 
 again according to its fine- 
 ness, uniformity and color. 
 The freshest, greenest look- 
 ing straw is taken for white matting, and the rest is put 
 aside to be dyed. In the familiar red and white check mat- 
 ting the red color is given by sapanwood. For all other 
 colors aniline dyes are used. 
 
 In Japan the matting manufacturers use a straw, 
 like the Chinese, from which they make what is called the 
 Bungo weave, but a larger proportion of the matting which 
 comes from China is made of straw which is smaller than 
 the Chinese and this makes what is called the Bingo mat- 
 ting. This kind of straw is easier to manipulate and can be 
 woven in designs much more elaborate and handsome than 
 is possible with the Chinese reed, but it is not so durable. 
 
73 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 In both China and Japan the loom on which the matting 
 is woven is of the same pattern, consisting merely of an 
 upright bamboo framework with cylindrical crosspieces 
 above and below, over which the warp runs, the woof being 
 woven in without a shuttle. The movement of the warp 
 is governed by the weaving beam or bar, a piece of wood 
 2 inches square and about a foot longer than the width of 
 the matting which is to be woven. The bar is pierced with 
 thirty-nine small holes, to receive the warp threads, the front 
 row of holes being about three-sixteenths of an inch to the 
 right or left of those on the opposite face, through which 
 the other row of warp is threaded. The warp threads are 
 made of hemp, and are oiled to make them smooth. When 
 the warp become loose it is tightened by driving wedges 
 between the upright and crosspieces of the loom. 
 
 The weaver handles his bar by means of a peg inserted 
 midway in it. With this peg held at a right angle to the 
 weave the warps are in normal position. When the peg is 
 turned up the front row of warp threads moves back, and 
 when the movement of the peg is reversed the back row of 
 threads moves forward. Between each upward and down- 
 ward turn of the bar the weaver's assistant, who kneels at his 
 right with bundles of straw for the woof on the ground 
 before him, draws from a bundle a straw of the color called 
 for by the pattern, catches it in a notch cut in the end of a 
 slender piece of bamboo about 4 feet in length, and holding 
 the straw in this way places it horizontally between the 
 two rows of warp threads. The weaver seizes the end of 
 the straw, which passes beyond the left hand selvage and 
 twists it around the selvage cord, while the assistant twists 
 the right hand end in the same way. Then the beam is 
 brought down with sufificient force, to press the warp straws 
 closely together. 
 
HIS TORY A ND MAN UFA C T URE. 73 
 
 When the loom has woven a piece of matting 2, 4 or 5 
 yards in length the selvage is cut down clean with a knife, 
 and the matting or mat is taken off the loom, which is then 
 provided with another warp. As the straw is always wet 
 before the weaving, the woven pieces are dried in the sun 
 or over slow burning wood fires. To make the ordinary 
 roll of matting a number of these pieces sufficient to meas- 
 ure altogether 40 yards are joined, this being done by 
 running the warp ends of each two pieces in opposite di- 
 rections under the woof, a smooth, flat bamboo needle 
 being used for this purpose. The roll is then ready for 
 packing. 
 
 Jointless matting is made on a loom which differs but 
 slightly from that which is used in making the joined goods, 
 the only change consisting in arrangements for loosening 
 the warp and pulling it over whenever about 2 yards of the 
 matting have been woven, the finished part being passed 
 back under the loom. As the beam cannot beat up the 
 woof so closely with this arrangement the texture of the 
 jointless goods is quite loose. 
 
 To remedy this the roll is made somewhat longer than 
 40 yards, and is then stretched tightly over a tall box-like 
 structure, open at the top, and containing in its centre a 
 charcoal fire. Two coolies, one standing at one selvage of 
 the roll, the other at the opposite selvage, then apply their 
 hands to both sides of the matting, loosening and then 
 forcing down the straw to the firmness desired. While this 
 raking, as it is called, is going on the heat from the charcoal 
 fire is removing the moisture from the matting. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 Cocoa Matting. 
 
 OCOA or coir matting is made from the fibrous 
 rind or husk of the cocoanut. The cocoa- 
 nut pahii tree, which produces these nuts, 
 is cuhivated in Ceylon, the Malabar 
 coast, the Straits Settlements, the islands 
 of the Eastern Archipelago, the West 
 Indies, Central America, Brazil, and Zanzibar, Africa. 
 
 The husk, which contains the fibres, is removed from the 
 nut by pressing it upon the point of a sharp spike of iron or 
 hard wood fixed in the ground. The husks are then placed 
 in soaking tanks, which are filled with fresh water. If the 
 trees are on or near the seashore, the nuts are simply buried 
 in holes dug in the sand, so that the salt water may reach 
 and macerate them. The soaking renders the fibres more 
 pliable and facilitates their separation from the cellular tis- 
 sue of the husk. This is accomplished by beating the mac- 
 erated husks with hard wooden clubs or mallets. 
 
 The fibre, or coir, as it is called, is then arranged in loose 
 rovings or sheaves, which are twisted into yarn by being 
 rolled in a peculiar manner between the palms of the hands. 
 All these operations are performed by the natives in the 
 countries where the cocoanut palm tree grows. The separa- 
 tion of the fibre from the nut and the twisting of the yarn, 
 occupy them through the rainy season, when no other work 
 can be done. The cost of native labor is so low and the 
 yarn spun by machinery is so much inferior to the hand- 
 
76 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 made product that all attempts to introduce machines in 
 this work have proved impracticable. 
 
 The first process to which the yarn is subjected in the 
 matting factory is bleaching, and, as all the skeins are not of 
 equal texture and do not have the same color after bleach- 
 ing, they are sorted according to shade or tint and texture. 
 
 The yarn intended for the warp is reeled upon bobbins 
 about a foot in length, and these are placed on a frame at the 
 back of the matting loom. Each thread passes separately 
 through a reed, which keeps it in place, and then between a 
 pair of iron rollers with roughened surfaces, which hold it 
 tightly. The woven fabric also passes between a similar pair 
 of rollers, whose purpose is to give the tension desired. The 
 shuttle used is quite large, and the yarn for the filling is 
 wound on a cob large enough to fit tightly in the shuttle. 
 No spindle is used and the yarn unwinds from the end. 
 
 The matting loom is operated by power, and, unlike most 
 other kinds of power looms, it requires constant and ardu- 
 ous labor to make it weave properly. This is owing to the 
 difficulty in giving the necessary tension to the weft threads. 
 The yarn is so coarse and harsh that every contrivance for 
 tightening the weft sufficiently for a perfect selvage tends to 
 interfere seriously with the working of the shuttle. The 
 workman is therefore obliged to catch the thread behind the 
 shuttle every time it passes through and draw it tight, an 
 operation which considerably retards the speed of the loom. 
 
 Ordinary cocoanut matting is woven with a certain kind 
 of twill in a three-leaved harness, two extra threads running 
 in special loops, alternating up and down for selvage. In 
 Calcutta-made matting this twill is reversed every five or six 
 inches, so as to give the fabric a striped appearance. But 
 all goods having this appearance do not come from Cal- 
 cutta, for the American manufacturers produce the same ef- 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 77 
 
 feet by reversing the order in which the warp threads are 
 drawn into the harness. 
 
 The looms on which cocoa mats are made are Uke an old- 
 fashioned hand loom of the most primitive style; but they 
 are very strong and substantial, as great tension is needed 
 and heavy blows must be dealt with the lathe to beat the fill- 
 ing up tightly. The warp is wound upon the beam in the 
 ordinary manner and passes through a plain two-leaved 
 harness. 
 
 In making fibre mats the workman uses the loose cocoa- 
 nut fibre, having first run it through a picker. He springs 
 the harness, and twisting a bunch of the fibre into a wisp or 
 loose strand, passes the end of it under each alternate warp 
 thread as it is brought uppermost by the harness, cutting off 
 each time a length sufficient to form the pile of the mat. 
 The loose ends which are too short to be fastened in are 
 pulled out. After a tuft of fibre is thus placed under each 
 warp thread across the loom, the harness is sprung about 
 and a weft thread run through as a binder. In the better 
 grades of mats Zanzibar yarn is used for the weft. In 
 cheaper goods remnants or short ends are employed. The 
 harness is then sprung again and the process of inserting 
 fibre is repeated. When the mat is woven to the size de- 
 sired the warp is set forward some inches, leaving a number 
 of bare threads. The mats are finally cut apart, finished on 
 the edges with braid and sheared on the surface by a ma- 
 chine resembling a cloth shearer. 
 
 Coir mats are made in a similar manner, but, instead of 
 loose fibre, the weaver has a large ball of yarn from which 
 he forms the tufts. The weaving requires less time than it 
 does for a fibre mat. The weaver, after springing the har- 
 ness, passes the end of the yarn through from one side, while 
 from the other, on top of the warp, he pushes forward a flat 
 
78 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 iron rod, grooved on the edge, upon which he winds the 
 yarn, bringing up the loops between successive warp threads 
 while pushing the rod along. When the yarn is thus wound 
 across the warp a straight thread is run through for a 
 binder, the rod is turned, with the groove uppermost, and 
 the threads are cut by running a knife along the groove. 
 The harness is then changed, the filling well beaten up with 
 the lathe and the operation of winding the yarn on the rod 
 repeated as before. 
 
 :^!^ 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 Floor Oil Cloth . 
 
 IN the manufacture of floor oil cloth the first step is the 
 preparation of the foundation, which is composed of jute 
 burlap. 
 
 It is necessary to size the foundation, and in making nar- 
 row oil cloths the sizing is done by drawing the burlap 
 through troughs filled with liquid glue, rye flour, tapioca 
 or varnish, the best among these different sizes being a 
 matter of opinion among manufacturers. The burlap is 
 
 GREEN. BLACK. 
 
 drawn through the troughs by means of rollers, which press 
 the surplus sizing out of the cloth as it passes between 
 them. 
 
 The sized surface is then rubbed thoroughly with pieces 
 of pumice stone, this operation being performed either by 
 hand or by a simple mechanical arrangement, in which the 
 ''rubbers" are moved over the surface by steam power. 
 
 When the cloth has been rubbed smooth and even, it is 
 
80 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 then covered with a mixture composed of ochre, linseed oil 
 and benzine. In order to make this coating even and uni- 
 form in thickness the cloth is passed under an arrange- 
 nient of metal blades which scrape off superfluous paint. 
 The coating, when dry, is rubbed smooth with pumice- 
 stone, and this process of coating and rubbing is performed 
 several times, the number depending on the quality of the 
 goods desired. 
 
 The printing of the pattern on the cloth, which is the 
 next step in the process, was formerly done by hand en- 
 tirely, but most manufacturers now use machinery for this 
 purpose. In printing by machinery the cloth passes over 
 a fiat table, and under the printing blocks, which have a 
 rising and falling motion. In the old manner of printing by 
 hand the blocks were i8 inches square, and only this 
 amount of surface was printed at one time with each block, 
 but in the present method the blocks extend entirely across 
 the cloth. The printing blocks are made of wood, and each 
 color used in the pattern requires a separate block. The 
 pattern is carved on the blocks in relief, the portions left 
 uncut being those which form the design. The manner in 
 which each separate block presents a surface exactly cor- 
 responding to one of the colors in the pattern is shown in 
 the illustrations presented herewith, which represent a pat- 
 tern with six colors and the six blocks used for it. 
 
 The colors employed are spread on the blocks by an ar- 
 rangement of troughs and rollers. A roller revolving in a 
 trough filled with coloring material passes across the face 
 of a printing block, which then descends upon the cloth, 
 makes its particular impression and rises again, each block 
 printing its own separate color in this way until the pat- 
 tern is complete. 
 
 When the printing is completed the cloth is taken to the 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 
 
 81 
 
 drying room, where artificial heat is employed to facilitate 
 the drying. When sufficiently dry and hard the cloth is 
 placed flat upon a platform, varnished, trimmed and rolled 
 up ready for the market. 
 
 The blocks used for printing are made of the best white 
 pine, thoroughly seasoned. They are about if inch thick 
 and are faced with hard wood, usually maple, which is glued 
 on. The face is generally creased by sawing fine parallel 
 lines in one direction or both before the carving, as this 
 facilitates the tracing of the design and the cutting away of 
 
 YELLOW. 
 
 BLUE. 
 
 the superfluous wood. In order to get certain effects in the 
 printing some parts of the design may be cut or punched 
 in metal, these portions being then fastened to the faces of 
 the blocks as required. 
 
 The pattern to be used is drawn and painted in full on 
 paper, every color and part of the design being produced 
 exactly as it is ultimately to appear. This design is then 
 reproduced on the surfaces of the printing blocks, the num- 
 ber of these depending, as has been explained, upon the 
 number of colors in the pattern. The part of the design 
 
83 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 apportioned to each particular block is transferred to it by 
 a tracing process, and the figure is then cut in relief as indi- 
 cated by the tracing. 
 
 Besides the carved blocks, manufacturers use what are 
 called pin-blocks. These are made in three pieces, to 
 prevent warping, the pieces being securely cemented to- 
 gether. The middle one is of pine and the outer ones are 
 of maple, the grain of these running at right angles to that 
 of the inner piece. The printing surface is sawed across 
 
 COMBINED COLORS. 
 
 RED. 
 
 at close intervals in two directions at right angles to each 
 other, and a surface thus produced composed of pins or 
 pegs, the narrow interstices being regular and uniform. 
 In preparing the block for its design all the pins not neces- 
 sary for producing the figure desired are cut away. 
 
 The process of manufacturing sheet oil cloth dififers 
 somewhat from that which has been described, but the 
 difference is simply in the manipulation of the cloth, the 
 composition of the goods and general principles of manu- 
 facture being the same. 
 
CHAPTER XV L 
 
 Linoleum. 
 
 TWO main ingredients in the manufacture of 
 linoleum are cork and linseed oil, to which 
 are added smaller quantities of kauri gum, 
 resin, and pigments of various kinds. In 
 the manufacture of bottle corks about one- 
 half of the cork is wasted, and this waste 
 of the cork for linoleum. The cork 
 
 after being freed from dust and other admixed sub- 
 
 is the chief source 
 waste, 
 
 stances by means of a sieve with a rapid reciprocating 
 motion is crushed. This sounds ver}- simple, but, as a 
 matter of fact, the machinery required for the actual opera- 
 tion has to be of special character, on account of the elasticity 
 of cork and the almost incredible rapidity with which it blunts 
 the hardest steel knife edge. The breaker reduces the cork 
 to pieces of about the size of a pea, in which state it is passed 
 on to the grinding mill, which is like an ordinary flour mill, 
 but with stones of lava, sandstone, or some other rough ma- 
 terial. Cork dust being excessively light, quickly dis- 
 seminates' itself through the air of the mill ; hence the utmost 
 precautions have to be taken to prevent the explosive mix- 
 ture of air and cork dust being set on fire. Even when the 
 greatest care has been observed small explosions are some- 
 times caused by sparks from the machinery. 
 
 The next stage in the manufacture is the preparation of 
 what is technically known as "cement," the chief ingredient 
 of which is oxidized linseed oil. As everyone knows, oils 
 are divisible into two classes, drying and non-drying oils, the 
 
84 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 drying being brought about in the case of the first named 
 by the absorption of oxygen from the air, and the conse- 
 quent transformation of the oil into a solid resinous mass. 
 For Hnoleum manufacture the linseed oil used must be of 
 good quality, and great care must be taken in its treatment. 
 The oil is first boiled, much as in the manufacture of paints 
 and varnishes. The process of drying is facilitated by the 
 addition of a small quantity of oxide of lead. The boiled 
 oil, after being allowed to deposit any sediment in it in a 
 settling tank, is pumped to the top of a high building and 
 allowed to flow thence over a number of pieces of light cot- 
 ton fabric, known as "scrim," which hang vertically from 
 iron bars. The air of the building being heated to a tem- 
 perature of about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, the layer of oil 
 which adheres to the surface of the scrim becomes oxidized ; 
 that is, it solidifies, in the course of twenty-four hours. 
 
 This operation is repeated daily for six to eight weeks, 
 until a sufificient number of solidified layers of oil are de- 
 posited on the cloth, the mass of oxidized oil having then a 
 thickness of half an inch, and being termed "a skin." These 
 skins are then cut down and ground between rollers. 
 
 To prepare the linoleum "cement" itself, the ground oil 
 is mixed with resin and kauri gum until the whole mass is 
 homogeneous. The cement and cork dust are then mixed 
 together thoroughly, and if the linoleum is to be plain the 
 coloring matter necessary is added at this stage. The mix- 
 ture is then rolled upon a backing of jute burlap which 
 passes between two cylinders to insure evenness and uni- 
 formity of thickness in the coating. 
 
 The printing of the pattern is the next step in the process, 
 and there is no very material difference between the method 
 of printing linoleum and that adopted for floor oil cloths. 
 
 The latest and most important improvement in linoleum 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 85 
 
 manufacture is the production of mosaic or inlaid goods, in 
 which the colors do not appear on the surface only, but go 
 through to the very back of the cloth. 
 
 Several patents have been granted in this country and 
 abroad for methods of obtaining this result. In one process 
 the linoleum cement having been made to a certain thick- 
 ness, is cut into separate pieces by dies, and these pieces, 
 shaped and colored to make the pattern desired, are then 
 placed upon a burlap backing. Pressure is then applied to 
 the mass until the canvas and coating are thorougHly united. 
 After drying the backing is treated with a preparation of 
 resin and other ingredients to make it waterproof, and the 
 goods are then ready for the market. 
 
 In another process the linoleum mixture is in the form of 
 a powder, which is dropped upon the jute backing so as to 
 represent the designs and colors essential for the pattern, 
 and the powdered mass is then subjected to heavy pressure 
 from a heated plate until it is completely fused and firmly 
 attached to the backing. 
 
 ^ 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 Skin Rugs and Mats. 
 
 IN the manufacture of sheepskin rugs and mats the first 
 step is the sahing of the pelts. As they come to the 
 factory from the slaughter house they are piled up in layers, 
 each layer being thickly salted. The room in which they 
 are kept must be as cool as possible to avoid heating or 
 sweating, which would quickly destroy the skins. 
 
 The soaking, which is the next process, is done in soft 
 water, which in cold weather is slightly warmed. The skin 
 must be softened thoroughly and the soaking necessary for 
 this is done very carefully to prevent the loosening of the 
 fleece at its roots. After soaking the skin twelve hours in 
 the first water, this is replaced by fresh water, in which 
 the skin is kept for twelve hours more. It is then placed 
 over a beam or horse with the flesh upward, and stretched, 
 scraped and scoured. The scraping is done with a dull iron 
 tool similar to a large drawing knife, and in the cleaning 
 soap, soda and water are used freely, but the soda rriust" 
 not be employed so much as to make the skin brittle. The 
 cleaning process is finished by rinsing the skin thoroughly 
 in clear water, and it is then hung on a horse to dry, but 
 when the skin is to be dyed of certain colors it is first soaked 
 in a strong lime bath to remove any traces of grease which 
 may have remained after the scouring. 
 
 Dyeing sheepskins is a diflicult operation, requiring great 
 care. The wool must be dyed hot, and as the heated dye- 
 stuff would spoil the leather if it came in contact with it, 
 the wool side must be dipped in the dye so that a small space 
 is left between the surface of the bath and the leather. In 
 doing this a small part of the wool near the skin is not sub- 
 
88 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 merged in the bath, but the fleece is nevertheless dyed to 
 the roots, for the hquid color moves along or is drawn onto 
 the very roots of the wool, and dyes the grain of the skin 
 also. Skins with long fleeces are the best for dyeing, and for 
 this reason winter skins are preferred. 
 
 It is next necessary to treat the flesh side of the skin by 
 stretching it and closing up the pores. The skin is stretched 
 upon a wooden frame similar to an old-fashioned quilting 
 frame. Cords are attached at intervals to the edges of the 
 skin, and the other ends of the cords are wound around pegs. 
 By turning these pegs with a key the cords are tightened, 
 and the skin is stretched lengthwise or laterally as desired. 
 The pores are closed by the application of a solution of alum 
 and salt to the flesh side. This serves also to tighten the 
 roots of the fleece. While the solution is being applied, the 
 skin is scraped with a tool made for this purpose, and the 
 pressure caused by the scraping stretches the skin so much 
 that frequent tightening of the pegs is necessary to keep 
 it taut. When this process is finished the skin is semi- 
 dried and the flesh side is then scraped, or shaved, with a 
 keen-edged knife of peculiar shape. In the drying room, 
 where the skin goes next, the back is pared and rubbed down 
 with whiting, which absorbs any traces of grease which may 
 still remain. The skin is then ready to be made into a mat 
 or worked with others into a rug. 
 
 Our American sheep furnish the raw material for nearly 
 all our sheepskin mats and rugs, but the Angora goatskin 
 rugs and mats are made of imported skins. 
 
 Fine rugs are made from the skins of tigers, leopards, 
 bears, foxes, wolves, dogs and other animals. The prepa- 
 ration of the pelts and heads for these rugs is a trade in it- 
 self. Tiger, bear and leopard skins make especially hand- 
 some rugs and are correspondingly costly. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 The Principle of the Loom. 
 
 In the engravings presented herewith will be found a 
 clear and simple illustration of the fundamental principle 
 involved in the art of weaving. 
 
 FIG. I. 
 
 The materials used in this object lesson consist, as shown 
 in the engravings, of a piece of cardboard, two lead pencils, 
 some thread and a heavy book to serve as a w^eight. The 
 lead pencils are made to serve as the warp beams; the 
 
90 
 
 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 heddle may be cut out of the card with a penknife, with 
 which also a shuttle may be fashioned, as shown in Fig. 2. 
 On the shuttle should be wound the thread that is to serve 
 as the weft to be passed through the threads of the 
 chain. 
 
 To rig up this improvised loom it is only necessary to 
 place the two pencils on the edge of a table, held firmly in 
 place by the weight of the book, as shown in Fig. i. Now 
 comes the operation of warping, which is done as follows: 
 Fasten one end of the thread that is to form the warp chain 
 
 FIG. 2. 
 
 to one of the pencils, pass the other end through the first 
 sHt in the heddle, then around the other pencil and through 
 the first aperture, then around the first pencil, and so on 
 until the last slit in the heddle is reached. 
 
 The next step is the weaving. For this purpose the hed- 
 dle should be raised and lowered alternately, while at each 
 motion the shuttle carrying the weft is passed through the 
 warp threads, one-half of which will be alternately lifted 
 and lowered by the raising and lowering of the heddle. 
 After each passage of the shuttle the weft thread may be 
 pushed home to the web with the aid of a paper cutter. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 Carpet Cyclopedia. 
 
 Art Square — An Ingrain carpet woven in one piece. 
 
 AuBussoN — A French carpet made on a tapestry hand loom. 
 The warp is cotton and the weft consists of woolen yarns of 
 the colors called for by the design. The weft yarns are in- 
 serted in the warp by hand, the weaver using a small bobbin 
 or broach similar to that which is employed for Gobelin 
 tapestry. 
 
 AxMiNSTER — I. A hand made carpet, having a warp of linen threads, 
 with a pile of woolen tufts tied in by hand in Oriental fashion. 
 
 2. A carpet with a linen, cotton or jute warp and a chenille weft. 
 
 3. A machine-made carpet similar to an American Moquette. 
 Batten, Lay or Comb. — A swinging bar which beats up or forces 
 
 closely together the weft yarns in the operation of weaving. 
 
 5eam — A round, horizontal part of a loom, on which the warp or 
 the woven fabric is wound. 
 
 Bobbin— A spool carried by the shuttle and on which the weft or 
 filling is wound. 
 
 Brussels — A carpet having a cotton or linen chain, a linen filling 
 and a warp of colored worsted yarn, which is raised by the 
 Jacquard machine into loops in the weaving to form the pattern. 
 
 Brussels, Tapestry — See Tapestry Carpets. 
 
 Brussels, Stouts — A Brussels carpet having only 208 or 216 ends 
 of worsted warp to each frame instead of 256 ends, as in regu- 
 lar five frame Brussels. In weaving Stouts, jute yarn is used 
 to replace the worsted yarn omitted, and also to give body to 
 the fabric. 
 
 Chain — The warp threads of a fabric, the pattern chain. 
 
 Cloth Beam — The bar on which a fabric is wound as it is woven 
 in the loom. 
 
 Color, Complementary — One of two colors which when combined 
 produce white or nearly white light, as orange and blue. 
 
 Color, Primary — i. The principal colors into which white light is 
 separated by a prism. 2. Those colors which when mixed (in 
 pigments) produce any color, as red, blue, yellow. 
 
 Color, Secondary — Three colors, each of which is formed by mix- 
 
93 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 ing two so-called primary colors, as green (blue and yellow), 
 orange (red and yellow), and purple (red and blue). 
 
 Color, Tertiary — A color such as olive, russet or citrine, produced 
 by mixture of a primary and a secondary color. 
 
 Comb — See Batten. 
 
 Cop — A conical roll of thread or yarn found on the spindle of a spin- 
 ning machine. 
 
 Cop Tube — The tube on which the thread or yarn is wound. 
 
 Drop Box— A box used in a figure weaving loom, to hold a number 
 of shuttles, any one of which may be brought into operation as 
 desired. 
 
 Filling, Weft, Woof — The threads or yarns thrown by the shuttle 
 through the warp from selvage to selvage. 
 
 Granite — An all cotton carpet, an adaptation of the damask weave, 
 the pattern being formed by the warp instead of the filling. 
 
 Harness — An apparatus used for lifting threads in a loom. 
 
 Harness Frame — An upright board for guiding the cords of a loom 
 harness. 
 
 Harness Shaft — A device for holding and guiding the heddles in 
 a loom. 
 
 Heck — A vertical grated frame, through the meshes of which the 
 warp threads pass. 
 
 Heddle or Heald — A series of vertical cords or wires, each of which 
 has in the middle a loop or eye, which receives a warp thread. 
 The heddles pass around and between parallel bars, forming part 
 of the harness, and by rising and falling alternately cross the 
 warp threads and form sheds for the passage of the shuttle. 
 
 Hemp Carpet — A fabric made with a jute warp and filling in two 
 or more plies. 
 
 Ingrain- — A carpet made in two plies, the warp being worsted or 
 cotton, with a wool filling. 
 
 Jacquard — An apparatus used for weaving figure patterns. It 
 consists of a chain of perforated cards, which move over a ro- 
 tating prism. The perforations permit the passage of wires, 
 which determine by their movements the raising of the warp 
 threads, and thus cause the figure to be woven in accordance 
 with the arrangement of the perforations. 
 
 Jute Ingrain — A carpet made like an Ingrain, but with a cotton 
 warp and jute filling. 
 
HISTORY AND MANUFACTURE. 93 
 
 Kidderminster — An Ingrain carpet, so called because first manu- 
 factured largely at Kidderminster, England. 
 
 Lay — See Batten. 
 
 Loom — A machine in which yarn or thread is woven into a fabric 
 by the crossing of the warp or chain by other threads called the 
 weft or filling. 
 
 MoQUETTE — I. A French pile carpet resembling a Wilton, but made 
 on a hand loom. 2. An American pile carpet woven on a 
 power loom which forms the pile by fastening tufts of woolen 
 yarn into the warp. 
 
 Oriental Rugs (and Carpets) — Goods woven in Eastern countries 
 and made in one piece, usually with a linen or hemp warp and 
 filling, and a pile consisting of tufts of colored wool, twisted 
 around the warp by the weaver's fingers. 
 
 Pattern Card — The perforated card in a Jacquard apparatus, repre- 
 senting part of the pattern. 
 
 Pattern Chain — A device for operatmg the shuttle in figure 
 weaving. 
 
 Pick — i. The blow that drives a loom shuttle. 2. A unit of speed or 
 measurement of work done by a loom. 
 
 Picker Staff (or Stick) — A lever used to impart motion to a 
 shuttle. 
 
 Pro-Brussels — A carpet woven on an Ingrain loom but with both 
 faces bound together. The warp threads are of jute, one-half of 
 them being used for binding threads and the other half as a 
 stuffer. The pattern is produced entirely by, the interweaving of 
 the weft, which is wool. 
 
 Reed — This part of a loom consists of two horizontal bars, con- 
 nected by thin parallel strips between which the warp threads 
 pass. It is used to keep the threads separated from one another, 
 and also to preserve the proper distance between the selvage 
 threads. 
 
 Savonnerie — I. A French carpet woven in one piece on a high warp 
 tapestry loom, the warp being of wool and the weft of worsted 
 threads, which are fastened by a double knot on two threads of 
 the warp. 2. An American carpet similar to the American Mo- 
 quette or Axminster, but somewhat thicker and heavier. 
 
 Shade — A color mixed with black. 
 
 Shuttle — A boat-shaped piece of wood which holds the bobbin from 
 
94 FLOOR COVERINGS. 
 
 which the weft thread or filhiig unwinds as the shuttle moves to 
 and fro between the warp threads. 
 
 Shuttle-box — i, A case placed at the end of the shuttle-race to re- 
 ceive the shuttle after it has been thrown by the picker, 2. One 
 of a series of compartments containing shuttles carrying different 
 colored threads. 
 
 Shuttle-race — The track on which the shuttle travels in a loom. 
 
 Smyrna Carpet or Rug — A chenille Axminster fabric woven with 
 two faces, the wool being on both sides instead of one. In the 
 finished carpet or rug the warp is of cotton thread and the weft 
 of chenille, with a thread of jute as filling between each strip of 
 chenille. 
 
 Tapestry, or Tapestry Brussels — A carpet fabric in which the 
 woolen warp forming the surface is dyed in the yarn in such a 
 manner as to produce a pattern when woven. Tapestry carpets 
 have a linen or cotton weft or binding thread and a jute yarn 
 backing. 
 
 Temple — An attachment to a loom which holds the last woven part 
 of a fabric stretched to prevent chafing of the warp in weaving. 
 
 Tint — A color diluted with white. 
 
 Velvet — A Tapestry carpet in which the loops made by the pattern 
 warp threads are cut, thus forming a velvety surface. Velvet 
 carpets have about 25 per cent, more wool than is used for 
 Tapestry Brussels. 
 
 Venetian — A carpet fabric having a worsted or cotton warp and a 
 jute filling, the warp being colored and forming the figure. 
 
 Warp — The threads or yarn running lengthwise in a fabric, and be- 
 tween which the cross threads of weft or filling are woven. 
 
 Warp Beam — The roller on which the warp is wound. 
 
 Web — A textile fabric, a name used especially to designate a fabric 
 in the piece or being woven in the loom. 
 
 Weft, Filling, Woof — See Filling. 
 
 Weft Fork — That part of the stop motion which causes the stoppage 
 of the loom when a filling thread breaks or fails. 
 
 Wilton— A carpet made like Brussels carpeting, excepting that it 
 has about 50 per cent, more wool, and that the loops on the face 
 are cut so as to form a velvety surface. 
 
 Woof, Weft, Filling — See Filling. 
 
 Wool, Dutch — A carpet having a heavy warp and a single thick fill- 
 ing, the warp being woven in so as to form stripes. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Afghan rugs 36, Z7, 39, 40 
 
 Agra carpets 40 
 
 Anatolian rugs ^2, 
 
 Art squares 91 
 
 Aubusson carpets 91 
 
 Axminster chenille carpets 45, 46, 47 
 
 hand-made carpets 45, 46 
 
 machine-made carpets 63, 64 
 
 Batten 91 
 
 Beam 91 
 
 Bobbin 91 
 
 Bokhara rugs 36. 2)1, 39. 40 
 
 Brussels, body, carpets 49, 50, 51, 91 
 
 Brussels, printed, carpets 59, 60, 61 
 
 Brussels, stouts, carpets 91 
 
 Brussels, tapestry carpets 53- 54. 55- 56, 57, 9i 
 
 Cabul rugs 40 
 
 Cabistan carpets 35 
 
 Candahar rugs 40 
 
 Carpet Cyclopedia 91, 92, 93, 94 
 
 Carpet Industry in the United States. .15, 16, 17, 18. 19, 20, 21. 22, 23, 24 
 
 Carpeting in antiquity 3. 4. 5. 6, 7 
 
 Carpet making in Great Britain 9. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 
 
 Chain 91 
 
 Chinese matting 71, ']2, 7^^ 
 
 Cloth beam 91 
 
 Cocoa matting 75, 76, 77, 78 
 
 Color, complementary 91 
 
 " primary 91 
 
 " secondary 91 
 
 tertiary 92 
 
 Comb 92 
 
 Cop 92 
 
 Cop tube 92 
 
96 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Daghestan rugs 34, 35, 36 
 
 Dimirdjes rugs 2,2) 
 
 Dj orzan rugs 38 
 
 Drop box 92 
 
 Ferehan carpets 38 
 
 Filling 92 
 
 Floor oil cloth 79. 80. 81. 82 
 
 Ghillem rugs and portieres 40 
 
 Ghiordes rugs and carpets t^2> 
 
 Granite carpets 92 
 
 Hamedan rugs 38 
 
 Harness 92 
 
 frame 92 
 
 shaft 92 
 
 Heald 92 
 
 Heck 92 
 
 Heddle 92 
 
 Hemp carpet 92 
 
 Herati rugs 38 
 
 Heraz rugs 38 
 
 Indian rugs and carpets 40 
 
 Ingrain carpets 69, 70, 92 
 
 Jacquard apparatus 92 
 
 Japanese matting 71, "^2, y2) 
 
 Jute ingrain carpet 92 
 
 Karabagh rugs 35 
 
 Kazak rugs 36 
 
 Khiva carpets 27 
 
 Khorassan rugs 39 
 
 Kidderminster carpets 93 
 
 Kirman rugs 33, 39 
 
 Koula rugs 2>2> 
 
 Kurdistan rugs 39 
 
 Lay 93 
 
 Linoleum 83. 84, 85 
 
 Loom 93 
 
 Loom, principle of 89. 90 
 
 Maharaj ah carpets 40 
 
 Marzuliptan carpets 40 
 
INDEX. 97 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Matting, Chinese 71, ']2, jt, 
 
 cocoa 75. 76. 77, 78 
 
 Japanese 71, 72, 73 
 
 straw 71, 72, 73 
 
 Meles rugs 2>2) 
 
 Mirzapore rugs 40 
 
 Moquette carpets 63. 64, 93 
 
 Mossul rugs 38 
 
 Namad carpets 40 
 
 Oil cloth, floor 79. 80, 81, 82 
 
 Oriental rugs and carpets, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, t,t„ 34, 35, 36, 
 
 i7^ 38, 39, 40, 93 
 
 Oushak rugs and carpets 2>2) 
 
 Pattern card 93 
 
 Pattern chain 93 
 
 Persian rugs and carpets 2)7' 38, 39. 40 
 
 Pick 93 
 
 Picker stafif 93 
 
 Principle of the loom 89, 90 
 
 Pro-Brussels carpet 93 
 
 Punjaub carpets 40 
 
 Pushmeina carpets 40 
 
 Reed 93 
 
 Rugs, Oriental 25. 26. 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. 2>2>, 93 
 
 Smyrna 65, 66, 67, 94 
 
 " animal and sheepskin .87, 88 
 
 Savelan rugs 38 
 
 Savonnerie carpets 41, 42, 43, 94 
 
 Sedjades rugs and wall hangings 38 
 
 Sennah rugs 38, 39 
 
 Serebend rugs 38 
 
 Shade 94 
 
 Sheepskin rugs 87, 88 
 
 Shiraz rugs 38 
 
 Shirvan rugs 2>'^ 
 
 Shuttle 94 
 
 Shuttle-box 94 
 
 Shuttle-race 94 
 
 Smyrna rugs and carpets 65, 66. 67, 94 
 
98 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Straw matting 71, '^2, y2> 
 
 Sumac 2>Z 
 
 Tapestry or Tapestry Brussels carpets 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 94 
 
 Tapestry printed carpets 59, 60, 61 
 
 Teheran rugs 38 
 
 Temple 94 
 
 Tint 94 
 
 Turkish rugs and carpets 33, 34 
 
 Velvet carpets 53, 54, 55. 56. 57, 94 
 
 Venetian carpets 94 
 
 Warp 94 
 
 Warp beam 94 
 
 Web 94 
 
 Weft, woof, filling 94 
 
 Weft fork 94 
 
 Woof, weft, filling 94 
 
 Wool, Dutch 94 
 
 Youroke rugs 33 
 
ioyy 
 
i\lP.y 
 
 I 
 
 ■mk 
 
 
 !:v:i ■H5-;:^i<H 
 
 riC'.wr.) 
 
 :)h 
 
 'MK^h 
 
 ma 
 
 l^^l^^, 
 
 thlv.ih 
 
 "M^^^^^^^ 
 
 m 
 
 ;^< 
 
 m 
 
 Ay 
 
 
 
 •b■^XK 
 
 WM^mm 
 
 paH'- 
 
 '■sisiiisi 
 
 
 $■->' 
 
 s 
 
 U: 
 
 ■mm 
 
 liii 
 
 mM 
 
 J) 
 
 i 
 
 •kk; 
 
 »::x\iO J %".!.•: 
 
 II 
 
 :-v;n: 
 
 'i^-^sX' 
 
 SK;iS' 
 
 f!i;'i 
 
 IIS! 
 
 i 
 iiiii 
 
 ;.^jfel>) 
 
 ;^r^: