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Show TURKESTAN: RUGS AND WOMAN PROBLEMS Turkestan 1ms been figuring In the .world's news lately because of the activities of "lho Ilolshevlkl In tho central Asian borderland of the old Hussion empire, but It Is known best to Americans by Its wondorful rugs. How the rug Industry has affected tho people of Turkestan Is toW In the fol- In the Bazaar at Merv. lowing communication to tho National Geographic society : "If somo ono nsscrted that the American lovo for Oriental ruga had changed the marriago customs of o nomadic people, hud brought forth on this globe a comparatively homely raco of human beings, and had built tip a complox systoni of morals In tho heart of Asia, It would seem liko a sonsatlonal story. Yet that statement seems well founded, and love for beauty beau-ty In America has reacted on the facial fa-cial fenturos of n princely race in TuVkestnn with deplorable result. Truly It Is a Finall world when un nr-tlstlc nr-tlstlc recluse In a New York studio fathers n homely son In a distant desert. des-ert. Yet tho rising generation of Turko-ir.nns Turko-ir.nns aro distinctively homelier than their princely sires. And the conquest " II of their domain by Russia does not t entirely explain It. "Thu Tekklnui rug, moro commonly i.T.VU by.tIm 'N distinctive nnmo of -lokhnra. Is the loveliest product of tho ?nrt .10, lls clmrm es not in in-iricacy in-iricacy of design, manifold detail, or muol c moaning, it Is notn picture ool. 'rllllnncy'of coloring It does not hne. ltut rici1DS8 of tono ,ho ,, ",1 Mll9 Us rightful place as queen of rugs. v "Years of cure in selecting thoMng-nnered. thoMng-nnered. spotlms wool, In dyeing It In wis from Hokhnrn, blues from Af-Kiinulitnn, Af-Kiinulitnn, "r ''lacks from Men,, with " touch of orange r yellow now and then, mid m wenvlng It beneath the til8"" f t,u ,,ry tlcscrt Slvo' tuo iekklntxi n character which moje bur- ried methods ennnot give. It 'reveal io irace of foreign accent, for Its language of mating beauty Is bred In the blood. "For centuries, possibly extending back to the Iranian peoples whom Alexander Al-exander found here on his wny to India, In-dia, tho Tekke mnlden hail been taught to dye and weave. When sho wn married to her Mohammedan husband, the joung bride took with her to her mnster'tf hut the rugs her patient toll hod formed, and he In turn paid n cor-responding cor-responding price to her parents. Hoi dowry was her skill and its product She was n menial, but with the sou of nu artist. Her toll was long, but It was not drudgery. Sho wns not u slave, for her work demanded the inspiration in-spiration of a soul, nnd sho had on envloblo position compnred with, that of many of her Oriental sisters iu polygamy. "Gradually these masterpieces In mahogany, deep chocolate, terra-cotto, old rose, burnt orange mid black found their wny to America, whero their appeal ap-peal wns irresistible. Iluyera raced ono nnother across Europo Into tho Trnnscosplan homo of history to secure se-cure tho priceless treasures! of "n conquered con-quered race. The skill of tho Tekke woman began to win Its reward. Her genius had caused tlio art world to wear a path to her hut nnd her open- un- iwiu. uui mere was mo unnnppy side. "Only tho rich young Turkomans could afford to buy a wlfo at tho exorbitant ex-orbitant price her skill mado possible. Pnrents raised tho price of their daughters, consoling themselves with the fact that If they could not produco pro-duco offspring they could nt least produco pro-duco valunblo rugs. The ago of mur-rlago mur-rlago became higher. Caught In n trap whtch skillful women had woven, the young men revolted from the exaggerated exagger-ated aemnnds of tho nvnrlclous nnd unromnntlc parents nnd spught chenp-cr chenp-cr wives elsewhere, whllo Tekke women, wom-en, robbed, of lovo nnd enmeshed in tlrclr own skeins of flno wool, dragged out busy lives of hnted splnsterhood." |