162

And even some of them, queerly enough, came to this
little town named for Benjamin Franklin, up among
the New Hampshire hills. What wonder that the
little girls who used to play under the machinery in
their father’s mill, looked on at the unlading of this
strange merchandise with solemn faces! They had
seen many curious things in that great rag-room;
strange flotsam and jetsam had come thither; and
they had listened to stories of curious findings, but
there had been nothing so strange as this. There
was something really awesome in it. Still to their

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 

WROUGHT BY NUNS IN ITALIAN CONVENTS.

young imaginations the mummy cloths brought visions
of the sleepy Nile and the Pyramids, and palm-trees
under the hot haze of an Egyptian noon; old Cairo
and the Sphinx, the Pharaohs and Cleopatra seemed
_not so far away either in space or time: and that old
world and the Orient were for the moment almost as
real as the rambling village where they lived, with its
white houses and brick mills, and the cool green mead-
ows where the Pemigewasset and the Winnepesaukee
— lovely rivers !— met and formed the Merrimack.

That was years ago; and the paper was called
“ granite,” from the blue-gray stone of that name. In
these times it would probably be “momie” paper,
and very stylish.

As you will infer, the special mill I am writing
about (which is now engaged in the manufacture of
such paper as newspapers are printed on) then made
letter paper. The imprint was one well known all over

A DAY WITH RAGS, TATTERS & CO.

the country ; and the stamp, which may now be recog-
nized in many a bundle of old letters and documents,
was a bird holding a letter in its bill. Besides the
white and the granite there was a blue kind; and
about this there is a scrap of history too. At that
time, thirty-five or forty years ago, there was a great
deal of blue calico worn —we call the same thing
“print.” Dark indigo blue calico, sprinkled with
little stars or dots in white, or criss-crossed, as some-
body called them, or some small pattern. The style
has re-appeared, as you all know. A good, service-
‘able color our mothers found it for every-
day wear; and there was so much of it, that
when it came to the rag-room at the mill, it
was sorted out by itself, and went to make
a clear blue grade of letter paper.
There was a bit of Italy came in the same
way as Egypt did to this northern town;
bales of white rags from Leghorn; and they
were all linen. What exquisite, firm paper
they should have made! It was strong,
stocky linen, and some of the cast-off gar-
ments were in fashion somewhat like a
frock; and so rich was the embroidery on
them that ladies saved specimens as curios-
ities. The work was rich and strange ;
a not like anything ever seen in this part

Bech - 4
LN EE.
B:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

WHEN THE CHURCH RECORDS WERE MISSED.

of the world. One could only conjecture about who
wrought it; perhaps nuns in the Italian convents;
perhaps noble dames and maidens made a pleasant
pastime of it with their needles, as we do now with