erseded it.

WEAVING

Someone has said that "weaving is the climax of textile industry." It is
an art practiced by all savage tribes and doubtless was known before the
dawn of history. The art is but a development of mat-making and
basketry, using threads formed or made by spinning in place of coarser
filaments.

[Illustration: PUEBLO WOMAN WORKING HEDDLE IN WEAVING A BELT]

[Illustration: A NAVAJO BELT WEAVER]

[Illustration: ZUNI WOMAN WEAVING CEREMONIAL BELT]

[Illustration: PRIMITIVE HEDDLES]

[Sidenote: The Heddle]

In the beginning of the art the warp threads were stretched between
convenient objects on the ground or from horizontal supports. At first
the woof or filling threads were woven back and forth between the warp
threads as in darning. An improvement was the device called the "heald"
or "heddle," by means of which alternate warp threads could be drawn
away from the others, making an opening through which the filling thread
could be passed quickly. One form of the heddle was simply a straight
stick having loops of cord or sinew through which certain of the warp
threads were run. Another form was a slotted frame having openings or
"eyes" in the slats. This was carved from one piece of wood or other
material or made from many. Alternate warp threads passed through the
eyes and the slots. By raising or lowering the heddle frame, an opening
was formed through which the filling thread, wound on a rude shuttle,
was thrown. The next movement of the heddle frame crossed the threads
over the filling and made a new opening for the return of the shuttle.
At first the filling thread was wound on a stick making a primitive
bobbin. Later the shuttle to hold the bobbin was devised.

[Illustration: NAVAJO LOOM

One on the Earliest Types of Looms. At Hull House.]

[Illustration: SIMPLE COLONIAL LOOM]

[Sidenote: The Reed]

Before the "reed" was invented, the filling threads were drawn evenly
into place by means of a rude comb and driven home by sword-shaped piece
of wood or "batten." The reed accomplished all this at one time.

[Illustration: A JAPANESE LOOM.]

[Illustration: A FOUR HARNESS HAND LOOM

Weaving Linen in the Mountains of Virginia. (Photograph by C. R.
Dodge).]

[Illustration: TYPICAL COLONIAL HAND LOOM

Two Harnesses in Use; Weaving Wool at Hull House.]

[Illustration: DIAGRAM OF A HAND LOOM

_A_--Warp Beam; _B_--Cloth Beam; _DD_--Lees Rods; _H_--Harness;
_T_--Tredd