ABSTRACT
IN the Irish Te:rti!e Journal for 15th February, 1890, I find a notice of" Technical Training for Women," au article by Miss Catherine Drew, which .appeared in the ENGLISHWOMAN'S REVIEW of 15th January, 1890. That notice consists very largely of extracts from Miss Drew's article. Amongst the extracts I find one which interests me. It runs thus :-" Desi~us turned out in the ordinary drawing schools are practically useless, as however attractive they ~ay look on paper, without a knowledge of how they w1ll work, and the cost of carrying out, they are worth no more tban the paper on which they
are drawn. A familiar example of the failure of designers unacquainted with technique is to be had in the lace designs for the Irish schools sent out and approved of by the Science and Art Department, which involve a useless amount of labour, and are so unsuitable to the intention that the trade· buyers refuse to accept them." Would Miss Drew be so kind as to indinate, so that I may be enabled to track it down, one "lace design for an Irish school, sent out and approved by the Science and Art Department, which involves (or has involved) a useless amount of labour?,. I recognise the statement, and I am soiTY that Miss Drew has accepted it as sufficient authority to support a. "familiar example." But I hoped that this statement which, as originally made, was incorrect, had been since disposed of, so that a careful critic like Miss Drew would not have made use of it. I feel sure she will agree with me that it is worth while to endeavour to correct an error which infuses a false tone into her argument.
