Monongalia mirror. [volume] (Morgantown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1855, 1854-09-30
SCIENTIFIC.
From the Scientific American.
asw Tanning process-ieather, Shoes.

Of leather produced, placed in our hands Tor
examination, by the patentee, as well as
from reading the specification, we are con-
vinced that the process is good one. No
new substances are employed, those which
the patentee uses having been long known
to tanners; he only employs them in dif-
fercnt manner from that which has been
practised heretofore.
"The hair is first removed from the hides
in any usual manner, and the hides thor
oughly cleansed in either pure water or in
solution Of salt and water. A batch Of fifty
sides are then placed in liquor composed
by sleeping 40 pounds of sicilysumac, or
$50 pounds Of unground native sumac, in
$50 gallons Of water, and adding 25 pounds
Of salt thereto. The sides remain in said
liquor from twelve to ,wenty-four hours
the length of time depending upon the tenn,
perature Of the said liquor and the condi.
tion Of the sides. About blood heat is the
best temperature for the aforesaid liquor.
After the sides have remained the aforesaid
length of time in the .salted infusion of Su-
mac, the liquor is s,rengthenedby adding there
to somewhere about 200 gallons Of strong
oak or hemlOck liquor and fifteen pounds Of
salt, and the sides all owed TO remain in this
strengthened liquor for the space of from
twelve to twenty-four hours. The sides
should then be Withdrawn, and placed in a.
bout the same quantity of strong cold oak
or hemlock liquor, containing twenty pounds
Of salt in solution, and allowed to remain in
it for five or six days. They are then with
drawn, and placed in the same quantity and
quality of liquor-save that it should be a.
bout blood warm temperature, and are al
lowed 10 remain therein five or six days,
which latter operation should be repeated for
six or seven times. when the side will gene
rally be found ,ob be completely tanned
Whilst passing through each stage Of this
said Tanning Process, the sides should be
hanaled, as all ia.inets atevfally1
aware" m A i@f 3l.
This is description Of the process.-
Prac.ica tanners will perceive that neither
acids nor alkalies are used for raising the
hides, but that The salt sumac liquor is EN-.
ployed for the preparatory, and the common
tan liquors for the finishing process. The
inventor is an old experienced tanner, and
he says: "the salt sumac liquor enters at
once into the pores to the very heart of the
sides, and so acts upon them, as TO give
them an exceedingly pliable ye. firm basis,
and SO prepares them that the strongest Ii.
quors of oak or hemlock, &c, may after.
wards beappled without binding or injur-
ing the hides"
Tanning is a chemical process, and con.
sists in applying such substances to the skins
of animals as will combine with them, and
form compound firm, pliable and irsoluble
in water, which we term "leather.n It is
easy to make leather, but there are as many
qualities of it as there are Of cloth. Tie
tanning processes, 10 make good leather, are
tedious and expensive, requiring months 10
complete all the operations. To shorten the
time required in the process, many plans
have been employed, and numerous substan.
ces used to bloal the hides, SO as toallow the
tanning to combine rapidly with their geh-
tine. Some Of these have, indeed, shorten
ed the process, but at the expense Of the
quality Of leather, il being rendered very
brittle; hence general, and perhaps a just
prejudice exists among practical adners a.
gainst new processes in this art. No such
prejudice can exist against this new process,
as no new substances are used. The sole
leather which we have seen made byft will
bear the most severe scrutiny. We have
also been assured tha. the sole lea,hcrlmade
by this process, from sweated Buenos 4yres
hides, will make sewed work equally as swell
as the lined Slaughter hides. The led ather
is also tough and strong. The length Of lime
required for tanning a dry Bienos AIRES
hide is ninety days, with seventy-fve Eper
cent. gain. The time required for taniMg
an Oronoco hide is much less, with a gain
of eighty or eighty five per cent. This
method william slaughter sole leather in She
rough in twenty days, and calf.skins in frdn
six TO twelve days" sgd" |
We believe the public is more deceived,
and gets less real value for their money, In
common boots and shoes than any other D.
ticle used as parts Of human covering, Tie
lighter kinds Of shoes especially, sold in Il
stores, are disgrace to the Trade, both as h
respects the sewing and tho leather. Tile
uppers are generally made of glazed sheep
skin, about as thick and strong asold iasli
ioned brown paper, and the sewing, which
is now performed in many instances by md
chimes, is so carclessly executed as TO brine
into disrepute-unjus,ly, we think, The chan
actor Of those machines. In conversation
q few days Ogo, with q journeyman carmen.