Page 71 - Industries_of_San_Antonio

71
COMMERCE AND MANUFACTURES.
the country. The clay from which they: are made is specially adapted to
the purpose, having all the constituent ingredients necessary in the com-
position of first-class brick. They supply a large proportion of the de-
mand here. In addition Messrs. Waite & Co., handle lime, cement, plaster,
and hair, odd size sash, doors and blinds, made on short notice. Stair
work a specialty. Practical, industrious mechanics, they merit the suc-
cess they have achieved.

J. W. HANNIG—Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Furniture, Carpets,
Mattings, Oil Cloths, Window Shades, Etc.; 37 and 39 Commerce
Street.
The reform which, of late years, has taken place in every style of arti-
cle or utensil, either necessary or ornamental, has extended, in perhaps a
greater degree than any other, to furniture, and in scarcely a less degree to
the carpet trade, which, either separately or collectively, engage the atten-
tion and best talents of thousands of
workmen and designers in all the
great manufacturing centers of the
Union. The rage for the antique
has culminated in a complete revival
of style once considered obsolete, and
now acknowledged to be the perfec-
tion of beauty and elegance. The
graceful and elegant side-board of 150
years ago is now confessedly superior,
both in designs and finish, to the best
efforts of modern workmen; and the
same is true of all other articles of
furniture. The reason of this is ap-
parent to one who has studied the
matter closely. The workmen of the
past devoted weeks or months to the
decoration of a single panel, and,
when finished, it was at once recog-
nized as among the master-pieces of
art. His whole soul and genius were
in his work, and the result was a triumph of art, ingenuity and patient
application; to-day a set task is given each to perform, at so much per
cent., and when finished, his work, though coldly correct, cannot for one
moment bear comparison with that of his fellows. The revival of the old
style is, therefore, a most happy augury of the future of. the furniture
trade considered as an art, and workmen are already rivalling the master-
pieces of by-gone days, and will, no doubt, in time, fully equal, if not sur-
pass them. Of- carpets, the same may be said; the English factories, par-
ticularly the Axminster, in combination of colors, taking the lead of all