"HANDS AND THE SPINDLE."

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 793, 25 August 1916, Page 4

"HANDS AND THE SPINDLE."

REVIVING AN ANCIENT ART. Somehow she turned time backwards curiously, the slender, somewhat oldfashioned figure at the spinning wheel, ileft" hands holding the wool, which by some miraculous process transformed itself into yarn and wound itself smoothly upon a spool. In her soft, quaintlyaccented speech, she told the assembled children that she had learned the art when no bigger than they were, in the Danish home that she had left nearly half a century before. The lady was Mrs IsraeJson, and the occasion a demonstration of spinning for the benefit of a class at the Normal School, arranged by Miss Laura Tabart, whose interest in its revival is well lnown.

Prior to the actual spinning, Miss Tabart gave a very clear and interesting address on the subject. She explained that spinning was one of the most ancient of industries- —so old that its origin was lost in antiquity. The goddess Minerva was supposedly the deity who presided over its destiny and encouraged the art. Helen of Troy, most beautiful of women, used to sit amongst her maidens and spin. The romantic story of Penelope and her suitors was interwoven, as it were, with the whirr of the spinning wheel. Queen Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror, wove the celebrated Bayeux tapestry. Stories of such famous women, who were all spinners, formed the preliminary part of Miss Tabart 'a address, and thus she conjured up a series of fascinating pictures, illuminated with the light of romance, to which the spinning wheel sang an accompaniment. Solomon, wisest of men, had specially commended spinning to women, and in praise of' the perfect housewife had said, "She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands; she layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff; she maketh fine linen and selleth it, her clothing is silk and purple." From the days of actual and lcgen- ! dary romance Miss Tabart conveyed her hearers to practical facts—the evolution of the perfected spinning wheel from its crude beginnings, the value of the industry, which could be pursued by anyone in her own home, and the proposed establishment of a spinning guild in Christchurch, on the lines of the many which nourished in Victoria. She dwelt upon the superior value of, say, a pair of stockings made of wool practically direct from the sheep's back, as compared with the article purchased in shops. In Victoria there were a number of spinning guilds, all doing useful work. The members prepared the wool, and even dyed it, themselves, an excellent khaki dye being obtained from an infusion of gum leaves. She concluded by introducing Mrs Robert Hay to the class, a lady who had consented to be I president of the guild. There was a i reason for Mrs Hay's occupation of this j position, as her parents had been amongst the earliest Canterbury setj tiers. In fact, her father was the first j man on the Peninsula to keep sheep, so it was particularly fitting that she should head the band of women who hoped to introduce the spinning wheel to the new generation in Canterbury. Mr Wyn Irwin voiced the thanks of the class to both Miss Tabart, who had given such a valuable talk, and to Mrs Israelson, who had given an actual presentation of the art as pursued by her in Denmark. The class were also glad to see Mrs Hay present, and to have been introduced to her. A hearty vote of thanks to the visitors was carried by acclamation, after which they were entertained at afternoon tea.