November, 1913 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
321 
its manufacture, its durability and the 
rough beauty of its design; one factor 
worth mentioning is its romantic history. 
The races which to-day carry on almost 
exclusively the manufacture of carpets are 
the Pueblos and Navaj os. Their habitat 
extends through the northwest part of 
New Mexico, the northeast of Arizona 
and a small portion of southeast Utah, 
where practically their whole subsistence 
depends on small flocks of sheep or goats, 
the flesh of which provides them with 
food, while the wool is used to make car¬ 
pets. In prehistoric times it is supposed 
that settlers from the highly cultured Az¬ 
tec races wandered into this section and 
taught the art of weaving to the mound 
builders and rock dwellers, remains of 
whose civilization are still extant, and 
which are regarded as the oldest monu¬ 
ments of civilization found on the Amer¬ 
ican continent. Among the relics found in 
these dwellings was a strip of colored cot¬ 
ton fabric of present-day checked design, 
about two by four feet in size, and some¬ 
what in the style of present-day. carpets. 
This specimen, probably the earliest type 
of American weaving, is on exhibition in 
the Musuem of Natural History, New 
York. Within the last few generations it 
is supposed that the Navajos adopted this 
art of weaving from the Pueblos—the de¬ 
scendants of these ancient races. 
Whatever the origin of these rugs may 
have been, it is at least certain that they 
bear legendary and significant designs rela¬ 
tive to Indian history or beliefs. Herr 
Badermann, in the German magazine, Der 
Innenausbau, speaks of the weaver—in¬ 
variably a woman of the tribe—as a simple 
child of nature. Symbols are an important 
and serious reality to her, and while her 
fancy may have a certain amount of free¬ 
dom, she "is fast bound to certain definite 
forms and plans of design. The facts of 
her daily life are shown, but in the con¬ 
ventional manner. Nature, first of all, 
finds pictorial representation. The moun¬ 
tains, at the foot of which she was born; 
the river, where she and her husband 
washed their hands as part of their bridal 
ceremony; storm, clouds, rain and light¬ 
ning, and all the natural phenomena which 
formed a strong impression on the quiet, 
uneventful life of the weaver, are all 
shown in symbol. Each color, each stripe 
or square of zigzag line has its meaning. A 
markable feature of Indian weaving is that 
all the lines are straight. 
The various symbols have been deci¬ 
phered, and their meaning is of interest 
to the owner of such a rug. If an upright 
rectangle is found it indicates that portions 
of the family history are contained in the 
carpet. Wavy ornamentation represents 
the importance of water. The tassels at 
the rug corners—never lacking in the gen¬ 
uine article—are tokens of either the four 
i seasons or the cardinal points of the com¬ 
pass. Straight lines with small crossbars 
represent storms, while zigzag lines stand 
for lightning. When such lines are inter¬ 
woven they become the sign of the rattle¬ 
snake, which is sacred to the Navajos. 
Consider this significant fact: 
While most of the necessaries of life 
have gone up, the price of telephone 
service, which is one of the essential 
factors in our commercial and social 
life, has moved steadily downward. 
Although a pound of these neces¬ 
sities still contains but sixteen 
ounces, the telephone user has been 
getting more and more service for 
less money. 
On the average, the people of this 
country pay 49 % more today for 
food, fuel and clothing than they did 
in 1895. Since then, the decrease in 
the average rates for telephone ser¬ 
vice has been more than one-half. 
At the same time, the efficiency 
and value of the service to the sub¬ 
scriber has vastly increased. Today 
he can talk to an average of five 
times as many persons in each 
exchange as he could eighteen 
years ago. 
This is the inevitable result of the 
comprehensive policy of the Bell 
System, which brings together the 
associated Bell companies and the 
communities they serve. 
Through the very size and effi¬ 
ciency of their organization they 
accomplish improvements and effect 
economies which give the greatest 
service at the lowest rates. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
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