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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1884)
THE WEST SHORE. 106 T INTRODUCTION OF CARPETS IN EURUrz. riMIE first known carpets in modern Europe were 1 brought into Spain by the Moors, who were great tl.eir wandorinirs. When these Moorish caqNttH im-Hiue known in Spain they were Boon introduced intn lti.lv 1-v Wn.'tinn morchnnta, and thence they were supplied to Western Europe. Only three hundred years tl.v worn considered a treat luxury in the mansions (,f wealthy Englishmen, and even iu the palaces of royalty itself. Queen Elizalx-th had one spread over rushes on the llMr; her sister, who preceded her (the cruel Qitwn Mary ), had only the rushes - not the common rushes, however, but sweet smelling reeds, which are still Hhundaiit in Norfolk. Somo years before, their father, Henry VIII., had made an attempt to establish a carpet manufactory in England, but without success. During Eli.alcth'K reign, while Henry the Great-the well known PrutesUmt "King Henry of Navarre" sat on the throne of France, the French learned the art of carpet weaving from the Persians. After James I. succeeded ev to the crown of Enulaud the art crossed the Channel, and di this monarch contributed to the maintenance of carpet Yi works at Mortlake. However, it was not until the latter half of the seventeenth century that much progress was made. In KHil, Colltcrt, tho Prime Minister of Louis XIV. of France, established n large carjM't manufactory at Beauvais, and a few years later the famous UolMilins' establishment was started. Brussels carpets were intro duced into England from Toumay, in Belgium, rather more than n hundred years ago. Tho first of English manufacture were made at Wilton, but Kidderminster, Halifax and (ilasgow supply most of tho present day. BUILT UP WOOD. SLMJIAL thin sheet of wcsxl-they nre called ve neers, though they are sometimes an eichth of an inch thick -aro glued ono uion another, with the grain of each sheet crossing the grain of tho sheet next nlxivp or below it nt right angles; and, wbeu tho whole complex Jaiiric has lost all jxiwer of resistance through being almost saturated with steaming glue, it is pressed into an nlmoHt homngentsmri Isiard without nnv cleavauu wl.nt ever, and so without inmsibility f splitting. Every sort of wood, of course, can bo built up. The inBido layers can i rump ami tlie outside choice. No matter wWW or not the different sheets naturally swell and shrink eveniy together, lliey are too thin to exert much force. ,u U10 mmoQ nnd overmastering union. The advantages of economy ...bi . .Ijr uin-cuon ana immunity from crackine are enough to give tho fabric the readiest ssiblo accei.U anco for whatever use it msv bo a.hmte.1 T : i. V. iu use for broa.t, flat surfaces iu cabinet work, esiK-ciallv where Ktrength or iormanene is waut.nl. It already v.u..i. WUni tor uoo covers. IU availubiliiv f..r nev, of quality. That it will be adapted U many u " MW iwuury oi our mechanics. A FABLE. INHERE were once four flies, and, as it happened, they were hungry one morning, ine nrst settled upon a sausage of singularly appetizing appearance and made a hearty meal. But he Bpeedily died of intestinal uiflam mation, for the saubage was adulterated with analine. The second fly breakfasted upon flour and forthwith suc cumbed to contraction of the stomach, owing to the inor. dinate quantity of alum with which the flour had been adulterated. The third fly was slaking his thirst with the contents of the milk jug, when violent cramps sud denly convulsed his frame, and he soon gave up the ghost, a victim to chalk adulteration, beeiug tins the' fourth fly, muttering to himsolf, "Ihe sooner it s over the sooner to sleep," lighted upon a moistened sheet of paper exhibiting the counterfeit presentment of a death's head and the inscription " Fly Poison." Applying the tip of his proboscis to the device the fourth fly drank to his heart's content, growing more vigorous and cheerful at every mouthful, although expectant of Mb end. But he I not die. On the contrary, he throve and waxed fat ou see, even the fly poison was adulterated. MARKING THINGS. !HE owner's name put plainly on grain bags, hoes, i rakes, spades, shovels, steelyards, etc., and on large implements, is very convenient, and will often save their. andering and loss. We have long kept a steel punch, a piece of iron one-half inch square, the corners rounded off a little, the lower end terminating in a flat piece ot steel, three-fourths of an inch wide. On the bottom edge f this the letters of the surname and initials of the given name are cut in relief. With this, and a hammer blow on iti head, the name is cut into every implement, arge and small. It is beaten into very soft iron, if there is any, otherwise into the wood, and has doubtless saved twenty times its cost (twenty-five cents a letter) in keeping a great variety of things from straying off, or remaining in possession of borrowers, who are thus pre cluded from Baying of them "they did not know whose tliey were.' These punches, made to order, can be got at moderate cost TO FRIGHTEN BRIDS. IN Cochin China, says a writer, birds are frightened away from wain finUu from poultry houses, by the following device : " Old bottles are taken, the mouths corked, through the cork a thread is pccu wun its end hanging down, where a small piece oi board, slate or any other object presenting surface to the wiim, is attached At the height of the thickest part ot the bottle a nail is fixed in a way that the thread agitated by the wind makes the nail beat ugaiust the bottle like uumng a ueu. After preparing a number of bottles in this way strong wooden rods are placed in the soil, and on "wir top these bottles are put by means of a string ,tenel ftt tie neck of the bottle. When the bottles are unlike in size and shape the concert of sounds on them often a very pleasing one."