Merchants and Craft Guilds

1895

During the twelfth century merchant guilds arose in all the towns of importance in England, and in the next century a further development of town life took place in the rise of craft guilds. These associations were composed of the artisans engaged in a certain industry in a particular town. By the growth of population it is evident that when the merchant guilds had attained their first century there would be a considerable number of persons dwelling in the town who would not be eligible to membership of the guild either as landholders or as the heirs of guildsmen. Many of these would be skilled in some pursuit or calling, and naturally they would adopt the best means of securing their rights and protecting their interests by taking common action against the rest of the community.

The earliest craft guilds were those of the weavers and fullers of woolen cloth. The guild of bakers is nearly as old, and that of the leather dressers, or corvesars, dates from about the same period. At first there was a struggle between the merchant guilds and the craft guilds, as the one body naturally strove to retain its monopoly of the government of the town, and the other endeavored to share in its municipal privileges. But the circumstances of the time were such as to quickly unite the two bodies in a common resistance to the tyranny of the sovereign power or of the great feudal lords. In turn, the monarch found it good policy to foster the towns, both with the object of developing their wealth and so of acquiring a source of revenue for himself as well as of bringing into existence a factor to counterbalance the overgrown power of the nobles. — Westminster Review.

A Chinese Curiosity

1901

"A Chinaman in San Francisco," says a gossiper in the Philadelphia Record, "showed me once an ivory ball as big as your two fists, with six smaller balls inside it. It was the most wonderful thing I ever saw. The Chinaman said that the balls had been begun by his grandfather and that he was the third generation to work on them. He told me how the work was done.

"It begins with a solid block of ivory, which is turned into a ball and then carved in a latticed pattern with tiny saw toothed knives. Through the lattice, with other knives that are bent in various shapes, the second ball is carved, but is kept fast to the first one by a thin strip of ivory left at the top and by another left at the bottom. Then the third ball, with still finer knives, is tackled through the first and second ones, and so the work goes on till all the balls are finished, when the strips that hold them firm are cut away, and they all revolve freely, one inside the other.

"This Chinaman said it was a common thing for families to have such balls for hundreds of years — grandfather, father, son and grandson working on them when they had nothing else to do. They are priceless, of course. Some cheap balls are made of vegetable ivory, being carved while the material is soft, like a potato. These, though, are not worth more than a few dollars at the most."

Fine Home-Made Violin

1905

Kentuckian's Instrument He Wouldn't Trade for a "Strad"

H. H. C. Q. James of Bullitt county, who is an expert performer on the violin, finished making a new violin last Monday, and played on it Tuesday and thinks it has got the best tone of any that he ever heard. The lightest touch of the bow will produce a clear, even and well-sustained sound.

He made the top of cedar and the back and ribs of maple. Two years ago he cut a cedar tree that was known to be seventy-five years old, and sawed from the first cut the piece with which he made the top of the violin, and at the same time he cut the maple, and after thoroughly seasoning he has, with a specially-shaped knife, and a file, made what he considers one of the finest-toned violins he ever heard.

All of his friends are congratulating him on his success and as the violin ages Mr. James expects it to improve in tone. — Salt River (Ky.) Tiger.

Various Kinds of Leather

1878

Morocco leather is made from goatskins, tanned in sumach, dyed in the ordinary way, having been previously immersed in a solution of sulphuric acid; and the grain or stamping upon it is done either by hand or by machinery, similar to that for the purpose of dicing or graining. Very fine small skins for gloves are often prepared by immersion in a solution of alum and salt, instead of tannin, flour and the yolk of eggs being afterward applied to soften and whiten.

Buff leather, not now quite as much in request as in former days, was at first made from the skin of an animal called the buffe, or urns, which was then common in Western Europe. When new, the leather was always a tawny yellow, and the skins gave the name to the color.

Cordovan leather was first made at Cordova, in Spain, from hides dressed to be used with the grain side outward. It was from this leather that the title of cordwainer came.

Russia leather is tanned in an infusion of willow or birch bark, and derives its peculiar and long-enduring odor from the birch oil with which it is dressed.

Levant leather is first "struck out" in warm water on a mahogany table, "blacked" with logwood and iron liquor, then polished by revolving rollers, and "grained up" by the workman with a "corking board" on a table. The grain is set into the leather in a hot stove, and after this it is oiled with cod-oil.

In finishing japanned leather the japanning mixture is worked by the hand aloop. This mixture consists simply of linseed-oil and Prussian blue, the last coat being of linseed-oil and lampblack, put evenly over the surface as it lies spread out on a table. No machine has, as yet, been made to supersede the hand in this part of the work. In the blacking of skins a mixture of ox blood and acetate of iron is now very often used.

Some of The Genuinely Odd Things That Happen in Life

1893

OF GENERAL INTEREST.

—Dr. McBride, of Orange, Va., uses a flock of geese as a team of horses, which draw him over the ice in a specially prepared vehicle at the rate of one and a quarter miles a minute. He is now making a balloon in which he proposes to ride drawn by the same team.

—The man who orders plain butter in a New York restaurant and discovers it to be oleomargarine, or other kind of substitute, can have the proprietor arrested and fined, and the informer receives half the fine. The way in which the proprietor can protect himself is to print on his bills of fare the confession that his butter is not genuine.

—Uncle Joe Ardle, an old Georgia darky living on the Savannah river, thinks it about time to take to the woods. After the earthquake of 1886 he was afraid to live on the ground, so he built a hut in the branches of a huge oak tree, where he lived contentedly until the storm of a few weeks ago blew him and his hut clear out of the trees and almost into the river.

—The keeper of a cheap but clean restaurant in the French quarter in New York has hit upon the plan of advertising his wares by means of pictures on the flags of the sidewalk. He hires a chalk artist for this work, and you may see upon the flags just within the stoop line well-drawn fish in groups of three, and other lifelike representations of the viands that the place affords.

—An alligator eight feet two inches in length and weighing two hundred and twenty pounds was lately caught in the Mississippi. Alligators are quite plentiful in southwestern rivers, but they rarely attain a length of more than four feet. So far as known, this one is by far the largest ever taken from the Mississippi. Some of its teeth are over two inches long and very like the teeth of a shark.

—The Evening Democrat, Warren, PA, Oct. 17, 1893, p. 3.

Note: I've never heard of the French quarter in New York. Probably make that New Orleans.
—Towns county, Ga., boasts of a novel specimen of the "white" negro. This one has been "turning" for several years, until the left side of his face is perfectly white while the right side remains almost jet black. Negroes whose skin changes from black to a light brown or reddish white are not uncommon in the south, but the change mostly shows in blotches, giving them a mottled appearance.

—Stock raising is a business beset with many risks which do not cease until the flocks and herds are safely marketed. A flock of sheep was being driven through Grant county, Ore., to market at Baker City a few days ago, when, in passing through a narrow ravine, the sheep stampeded, and after the scare was over the stockman counted over sixty head of dead sheep that had been smothered in the crush.

—It may distract the attention of those who suffer from headache to learn that in early English days there were remedies "for headache, and for old headache, and for the ache of half the head." "Eye work and the fiend's temptations" are also mentioned in this catalogue. Ache of half the head, or hermicrania, from which George Eliot suffered so much, has been considered a distinctively modern disease, but there is nothing new.

—A strange fatality hangs over the Weeks family of Albion, Ind. Sherman was killed recently while climbing a tree. His brother entered the army during the war and died of lockjaw. Cornelius lost his life by swallowing a copper cent. Thomas jumped from a train and was killed, while Charles, still another brother, committed suicide by swallowing poison. Edward Weeks, also a brother, moved west some years ago and has never been heard of.

—Miss Minnie Rush, of Lakeville, Indiana, has discovered for herself and, perhaps for her sisters a new field of employment. For the past three years she has had charge of the passenger, freight and telegraph offices of the Vandalia line in her town, the receipts for which are fully ten thousand dollars a month. Miss Rush is only twenty-one years old, but she has organized railroad excursions which have netted handsome profits to her employers the past year, besides conducting the ordinary affairs of the office with skill and success.

—An ingenious mechanic in the Catskills has long manufactured small articles of use and ornament from the excrescences that grow upon the maple and other trees of the mountain region. He travels far in search of these nodules, seasons them for many years, and then fashions them into polished jewel boxes and many other beautiful things. He is especially careful that his material shall be well seasoned, a fact that means a good deal when one knows that the wood that goes to form some parts of thoroughly well made pianos should be seasoned thirty or forty years.

The Luxury of a Great Porch in the Summer

1912

SUMMER PORCHES

The Luxury of Living Outdoors in Hot Weather

WHAT PAINT WILL DO

Get Out Your Own Chairs, Buy Two New Wickers, Give Them a Green Coat and Then Dress Them Up In Gay Chintzes

It seems a pity that all country homes are not built with roomy, spacious piazzas. After all, the principal reason that any one has for living in the suburbs and going through all the trouble of commuting is because he wants to live in the country. Of course six months in the year it is too cold to sit out of doors, but when spring comes the suburbanite wants to enjoy the country to the utmost. He cannot do this by sitting indoors, certainly. He wants to read his paper and smoke his pipe where he can see nature's beauties spread all out before his eyes — namely, on the porch.

Modern architects are realizing more and more the need for big porches, no matter how small the house. Of course the suburbanite who owns his own home can always add to the porches if he wishes. But the others must make the most of what they have and do the best they can to make their piazza cozy and comfortable, no matter how small it may be.

You women who live in the country will find that a can or two of paint and a bolt of pretty chintz will do much to transform your porch furniture. If you have no comfortable chairs for piazza use do buy one or two. They need not be expensive pieces, but be sure they are comfortable and have pretty lines.

The wicker or reed furniture is really the most attractive for verandas, and it is not at all expensive.

You need not worry if you have two or three pieces of one kind and a couple of pieces of another variety. After you have given them all a coat of the same paint and made chintz cushioned seats and backs for them they will look enough alike to fool any casual eye. Besides, no one expects rigid formality in porch decorations.

If your house is white or gray you will find that green porch furniture will look best. Give all the chairs, tables and settees a coat of green paint and one of green enamel paint. The chintz for green furniture should contrast with it, and a figure with a good deal of red in it will be found most effective.

It may be wisest to have a cheap upholsterer make the seat cushions and backs if you are afraid to tackle so tricky a job. Have them made with some white goods as a cover. Then you can yourself make slip covers of the chintz for them. The reason why it is better not to have the chintz put right on as the first cover of the cushions is because it may soil very quickly, being where the street dust can easily reach it. If the chintz is made into slip covers they can be removed and washed when soiled.

If your house is any other color except white or gray brown porch furniture is prettiest. So you can paint your furnishings brown and use almost any gaily colored, pretty bright chintz for cushions.

—The Kingston Daily Freeman, Kingston, New York, June 24, 1916, page 7.

Victim of Infantile Paralysis Makes Living by Sewing Quilts

Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, 1912

CRIPPLE PIECES QUILTS IN ORDER TO MAKE A LIVELIHOOD

Former Resident Does Exacting Work at Oshkosh on a Sewing Machine Though he is Denied the Use of His Limbs

Oscar Lewis, a cripple residing on Ashland avenue, Oshkosh, has adopted a novel way of earning a livelihood. The Lewis boy is a victim of infantile paralysis, as a result of which he is a cripple from the waist down. He left Fond du Lac five years ago, and just recently specimens of his work have been sent here to show what he can accomplish though denied the use of all his faculties.

The boy makes quilts, and all of the work done on them is on a sewing machine which he operates with his hands. A stick is attached to the pedal and operated by hand because of his affliction. One quilt which was sent to this city is now the property of Mrs. William Forest, residing on Rees street. The quilt is pieced and is made up of 2,003 pieces; the work being done in the most creditable manner.

Lewis was taken ill with infantile paralysis fifteen months ago while at work in the Rueping tannery in this city. He is 32 years of age and is a nephew of John Mensch, 115 West Johnson street, this city.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 17, 1912, page 5.

Comment: He's 32 years old and is called a boy in the article. Sounds kind of insensitive. Not to mention the cripple-this and cripple-that.