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Show The Source of Our Linen k, LINDN is scarce and high In price theie days, I mainly because Russia, the great 'lax- K ' " ng country. Is no longer furnlshlnc the raw The American housewife wonders why it Is H ;ary to send abroad to gel good linen. Our L grandmothers were expert With cpinnlng-wheel ! and cottaRe loom, yet In this generation we have no euch lien as Js made by the Scotch, lruh, IicUians and French. Totton is the chief reason why. Prolific pro- duction of that vegetable fiber made cotton king. and flax "lost out" in the competition. Another reason Is that In our country labor cost' too j much to make flax-growing profitable. k . For a very long time Scotland and Ireland L have produced most of the linen U6ed by the t English-speaking world. The moist climate of .. those regions is favorable for bleaching In lj former days the Irish and Scotch raised their own flax, but in recent years they have im- ported it In enormous quantities from Russia (until that source of supply was cut off) and from Belgium Some German llneni wear l!ke iron, but in finish nnd pattern the Irish and if Scotch are far superior. To be a linen designer I demands an artistic skill not inferior to that re- 1 quired of a designer of laces. One thousand I dollars was the price pad not long ago for a t tablecloth and twenty-four napkins in ihe pat- f tern of which the Rape of Proserp.ne wa de- pictcd. rl The French and Belgians are famous for their fine damask linens, which when finished In silk t are called "silk damask." That kind of weave gets Its name from an ancient cloth of Damascus f The designs arc exquisite, and in convents and schools children study art-lettering for napkins. f tablecloths, etc tl |