FRAUDS WITH LACE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 229, 20 June 1908, Page 11

FRAUDS WITH LACE.

_ A writer in the " Westminster Gazette" tells how clover 'fingers' manage to combine real lace with an inferior quality so skilfully that only an expert can detect the artifice. I saw -soihe lace the other day (says the writer) that looked like a most lovely and expensive Brussels, applique, and which I discovered oil an impertinently close oxaminalion to bo of braid-work on net; figures had been cleverly arranged from bought lace braid; these braids being now made fine and delicate-looking to' reproduce, exactly «io effect of pillow-work. It was clever how the effect of laborious hand-work had been attained. A thread is pulled here'and another there, so that the braid takes just' the shape pillow-work would give it. . ' Then the other day I 1 saw some marvellous imitations of point de Gaze that an expert would have to handle or como'within a quite near range to declaro imitation. At a distance of two yards I was-deceived: at one yard I grew suspicious; and at closor quarters knew the worst. And then in tho crochetguipure -section there are mixings of tho real and the machine-made. I saw a- blouse the other day of imitation Irish guipure which was studded all over with little roses of real Irish crochet; so' that just a little way off the whole blouse'seemed to bo an expensive thing of real Irish crochet. . It takes an expert to detect the oharactoristics of a 'real Irish as distinct from a i'.rench crochet coat. It is not just in the circumstance that every bit is handworked that you may know the coat Irish, but rather py the circumstance that tho French coat is attained with a wonderful economy of work, whilst the Irish is laboriously worked throughout Here is an example. The i rench will take a collar and manipulate it into the design of a coat, making a sort of scroll wiJi it and perhan 3 finding a number of similar collars 'available will almost make a garment out of these, cleverly disposed. ouoh Irjsh collars,. all after one pattern, are produced really quite cheaply. One sees them m boys outfitters on little velvet and cloth suits, and one would not imagine tbev had possibilities until they get into the hand's of the clever folks on the other side of the Channel. Wo aro all also quite familiar with a cheaper kind of crochet coming from Turkey that k offered in many of tho big shops, which people use for bordering counterpanes," teacloths, and such things. Well the clover French worker will snip out manv figure and scrolls from tho cheap, crochet and work it in with the more expensive kind. Ihe Irish crochet guipuro being composed of WtE 0 m , a "- y - a rato figures all connected together .by a groundwork of chain stitch, there is immense opportunity for this clever mixing of tho inferior and t)ie superior, and micallyltinT/ tJUicWy Bnd eCOn °-

It was, of courso, a most charming idea of Barm's (writes "Laura" in tho "Australasian ) to mako the children in "Peter ?. ai l : out of tho window lij c o so many buds; but, alas I two little suburban children tried _ the flying process out of their nursery window, (which providentially hanpenod to be. upon tho ground floor)'! The result of the experiment was that both small' poop s wero badly bruised, but fortunately no . bonos were broken. While on the subject of ~ "Peter Pan," tho ideas of a groat many people regarding the motive of the play wore ludicrous. One lady dccl-rcd vehemently that she knew perfectly well Hint it was intended for a skit upon tho servant, question, else why should a dog be employed as a nursemaid in the Darling establifibmnnt. > ' \