Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 March 1899 — Gowns of a Philippine Bride. [ARTICLE]

Gowns of a Philippine Bride.

There is a cloth here which is manufactured of pineapple fiber, and is called pinas cloth. Tbe texture is as delicate as a spider’s web, and in the hands of the women is fashioned into the most wonderful designs. I have seen small handkerchiefs which cost SIOO apiece, and lace sleeves which run as high as S2OO apiece. When a Philippine lady of the better class gets married she sometimes wears as her wedding dress a costume of native manufacture that reaches in value up into four figures. It takes months to make a handkerchief or a sleeve or a neckerchief. so microscopic and delicate is the fabric. Considering tbe costliness of the finer kind of native needlework, it is hardly probable that the soldiers will take borne many trunkfuls for exhibition purposes.