Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 145, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1916 — QUEER OLD RELIC [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

QUEER OLD RELIC

Towel Believed to Belong to Revolutionary Times Brought to Light at Pittsburgh. GREAT interest has been awakened among members of patriotic societies of Pittsburgh in the unique towel which recently came into the possession of Mrs. Cecelia C. Jones Murdoch of the Hotel Schenley, a pen-and-ink impression of which is reproduced here. The age of the towel, which is made of finest linen and woven most delicately, is problematical and probably can never be definitely established. - Its workmanship" is wonderful, the elaborate design being skillfully and artistically executed. Mrs. Murdoch believes her historic towel comes down from a period but a few years after the War of the Revolution, either the last decade of the eighteenth century or the first of the nineteenth. From the inscriptions on the face of the towel, she has formed the opinion that it was one of a number of similar pieces made abroad in commemoration of the establishment of the independence of the United States and the election of George Washington to the presidency, and

designed to be sold to the patriotic settlers of the American wilds, possibly by roving peddlers. It is her opinion that this particular towel may have formed a part of a set, possibly consisting of tablecloth, napkins, and other towels, and that it alone, by strange chance, has survived the generations. It came to her through an elderly woman of German extraction, who received it from her parents. It had been in her family as long as she can. remember, and no particular value was attached to it, for it was in constant dally use. The designing of the towel is most elaborate, and despite its great age, the various elements of the scheme stand out plainly and distinctly. The lettering alone is somewhat faint In some lights, but with care in handling can be clearly deciphered as the light falls at the proper The elements in the design are American eagles, shields of the nation and other devices of patriotic nature cunningly woven together. The length of the towel is 33 inches, and its breadth 19 inches. The. inscription follows: “The Independence of the United States of America Declared July 4, 1776—-Washington Elected President of the Federal Union March, 1789 — E Pluribus Unum.”

Impression of Newly Found Patriotic Towel of Probable Great Age.