Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1847-11-06
Col. pratt.s Town.

Every body has heard of this remarkable
man. Here is description Of his tam
merry -
PRATTsvILLE--ITs Prattsville
is beautiful village on the Schoharie Kill,
thirty-six miles from Hudson. 1t lies in a
narrow valley between two nearly parallel
ranges of mountains. Its principal Street. a
mile long, Is beautifully shaded by eIms and
naples. This village contains more than
100 dwellings, three churches, an academy,
two wollen factories, making 500 yards of
cloth daily, one cotton factory, three machine
shops, one india rubber factory, two mitten
and glove factories, three hotels and seven
stores. A little more than twenty years ago,
where this fourishing village now stands.
was dense hemlocEl forest unexplored
except by the hunter. In 1924 Col. Pratt
visited the place, and established here a tam
merry which, under his skilful management.
has brought its proprietor fortune. and
given rise to this large and fiourishing vii
lage.
The tannery of Col. Pratt is the largest
establishment of the kind in the world. 1t
is am immense wooden building, $50 feet in
length, 43 in breadth, and two stories and a
half high Within this area are contained
500 watts, with conductors to. draw the liquor
to the pump, affording about 10000 cubic
feet of space for tanning purposes. A large
wing forty feet by eighty, extending over the
stream, contains twelve leeches, six of which
have copper braziers, each twenty-five feet
long There is also a bark loft through
which, in the course of the year, passes
more than six thousand cords of bark. The
mills in which it Is ground are capable of
grinding over cord of bark per hour, and
it has connected with it pump of sufficient
capacity TO deliver 900 cubic feet of ooze,'
or water charged with tannin, III thirty min
utes. The beam house contains thirty watts,
equivalent to 1910 cubic feet. 1t has con-
nected with it three hide mills, for softening
the dry Spanish hides, and two rolling ma
chimes, capable of rolling 500 hides of leath-
err per day. Outside of the building, but
connected with the beam house by an under
ground communication, are eight stone sweat
pits, with pointed arches and fues. The
pits are ten feet by fourteen, in depth eight
feet, with spring of water at one corner.
The tanning of leather consists in forming
a combination between the gelatine, which
is the main constituent of raw hides, and
tannin, a substance found in oak and hem
lock bark After the hides have been carried
through the process of soaking and sweat
ing, they are g handled" in weak g ooze''
once in two or three hours for two weeks,
and then laid away in bark, and changed
once in two or four weeks, till tanned The
strength of the liquor is increased till the
tanning process has ended. When the leath-
er has become thoroughly tanned, it is rinsed
and stacked in piles, where it is allowed to
sweat 1t is then oiled and rolled and stamp
ed for market The average time en-
ployed in tanning a hide is little less than
six months.
Some idea of the immense business car
ried on at this establishment may be formed
from the following statistics: Number of
men employed, directly or indirectly, GOO.
Of these fitty-eight, on an average, are en-
ployed throughout the year in the tannery
itself. From this tannery there were sent 10
New York city during FIVE years (from 1910
to lS46) 297, 295 hides, weighing 5sSl6, 759
Ia pounds, aflording net proceeds Of s7o4,-
OLA 81.