Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/416

LEFT CARPET 362 CABRANZA a structure, that of the joiner is applied to finishing and decoration. CARPET, a thick fabric, generally composed wholly or principally of wool, for covering the floors of apartments, staircases, and passages in the interior of a house. They were originally in- troduced from the East, where they were fabricated in pieces, like the modern rugs, for sitting on — a use obviously suggested by the Eastern habit of sitting cross-legged upon the floor. Eastern carpets are still highly thought of. The Persian, Turkish, and Indian carpets are all woven by hand, and the design is formed by knotting into the warp tufts of woolen threade of the proper color. Of carpets made in the United States and Europe Brussels carpet is a common and highly-esteemed variety. It is com- posed of linen thread and worsted, the latter forming the pattern. The linen basis does not appear on the surface, being concealed by the worsted, which is drawn through the reticulations and looped over wires that are afterward withdrawn, giing the surface a ribbed appearance. Wilton carpets are similar to Brussels in process of manufacture, but in them the loops are cut open by using wires with a knife-edge, and the surface thus gets a pile. Tapestry car- pets have also a pile surface. They are made in a manner similar to that in which Brussels and Wilton carpets are manufactured ; but only one yarn is used instead of five or more of different colors, as in the carpets just named. The Kid- derminster or Scotch carpet consists of two distinct webs woven at the same time and knitted together by the woof. The pattern is the same on both sides of the cloth, but the colors are reversed. An improvement upon this is the three- ply carpeting, made originally at Kil- marnock. The original Axminster car- pets were made on the principle of the Persian or Turkish carpets. Axminster carpets, made in one piece to suit the size of the room, have a fine pile, which is produced by using chenille as the weft, the projecting threads of which form the pile, which is dyed before being used. Carpets of felted wool, with designs printed on them, are also used, and are very cheap. Philadelphia is the leading carpet-manufacturing city in the United States. CARPET-BAGGER, a needy or other political adventurer who goes about the country pandering to the prejudices of the ignorant with the %iew of getting into place or power, so called l&cause regarded as having no more property than might fill a carpet-bag. Originally applied to needy adventurers of the Northern States, who tried in this way to gain the votes of the negroes of the Southern States after the close of the Civil War. CARPET SWEEPER. See Vacuum Cleaner. CARPOCRATES (l^ar-pok'Pa-tez), a native of Alexandria, who in the 2d cen- tury revived several Gnostic errors. He rejected the Old Testament and the gos- pels of St. Matthew and St. Luke; denied the resurrection of the dead, and advo- cated the most licentious mode of life. CARPUS, the name applied by anat- omists to the wrist, which is made up of eight little bones, of different figures and thickness, placed in two ranks, four in each rank. They are strongly tied together by the ligaments which come from the radius, and by the annulary ligament. CARRANZA. VENUSTIANO, Mexican President; bom in Cuatro Cienegas, State of Coahnila, Mexico, Dec. 29, 1859. I VENUSTIANO CARRANZA His parents were wealthy landholders. He was educated in the public schools of his own State and afterward studied law in Mexico City. His eyes were weak, however, and he abandoned the practice