Isles of the East : an illustrated guide : Australia, New Guinea, Java, Sumatra . facture hats by the method oftwisting them out of bamboo strips. (Bamboo tali or Rope Bamboo.)Success attended his efforts, and with the aid of native workmen, hegradually extended his operations until he had built up a successful busi-ness. Competitors soon sprang up, and the industry from such a smallbeginning increased till at the present time over 60,C00 natives find em-ployment in connection with same. A ready market was found allover the Dutch Indies. The next step was further afield. A French-man, M. Petit
Isles of the East : an illustrated guide : Australia, New Guinea, Java, Sumatra . facture hats by the method oftwisting them out of bamboo strips. (Bamboo tali or Rope Bamboo.)Success attended his efforts, and with the aid of native workmen, hegradually extended his operations until he had built up a successful busi-ness. Competitors soon sprang up, and the industry from such a smallbeginning increased till at the present time over 60,C00 natives find em-ployment in connection with same. A ready market was found allover the Dutch Indies. The next step was further afield. A French-man, M. Petitjean, of Tangerang, in 1899 sent a collection of hats manu-factured at his establishment to the Paris Exhibition, which attractedgreat attention. The exhibit took the form (Si a Javanese Kampong(a native house), with an entire native famil\ engaged in making his nowfamous bamboo hats. As far back as 187b M. Petitjean started export-ing hats to all corners of the globe, chiefly to England, France, Germany,Austria, Italy, and Greece. His efforts to pjease the customers of all 84. nations were crowned with gratifying success since 1882, and of late yearshe has shipped large stocks to America and Australia, where his hats aremuch admired. The method of making the hats is most interesting towitness. The tools employed by the natives consist of a knife, a woodenboard with a hole equal to size to the crown of a hat in it, and a fial-headed nail. The bamboo is first of all cleaned, the outer covering isstripped off with the knife and the inner portion exposed to the dew atnight and to the heat of the sun by day for a period of 48 hours. Thenext step consists of cutting the bamboo into pieces at every knot, andthese pieces are split into blades 3 to 4 inches in width. These are againsplit, and only the hard portions retained, the centre, being too soft, isthrown away as useless. Many cuttings of the blades are made until thedesired width for the tapes is attained, and then the material
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu3192401058, bookyear1912
