Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1865-01-14

we'd handling or pEddltng apparatus, the
invention Of MF. Jtsse Wheat, one of the
| htm. It's said 10 handle the hides in q
most Perfectmanler, and is great saving
of time, labor ant expense.
Nextfn importance and capacity is the
tAnneFy of R. n6is & Co, an old es.
tabltshed concern located on the bank of
Wheeling creek. mar Zane street bridge
ltis capable of truing out about 8 600
hides rsyear, aid. the leather is of an
excellent 4uality and commands a ready
sale IN the eastern markets.
In all there are six tannerles IN Tne clEy,
the three we have named, and those of
John Yoecker, Water street, Centre
Wheeling, frederick Lobenstein,, Ritchis-
town, and Lewis Roth, Fulton. The three
latter establihments have each between
fifteen and twenty thousand dollars en-
ployed in the. business, and al
though they ire comparatively unpretend.
ing in appeaance,a they are industriously.
and successfully managed, and in course
of time, we doubt not will enlarge their
facilities to accommodate their increasing
trade, which seemsto be outgrowing their
several establishments. s-,l.lssz,
The manufacturers of boots and shoes,
harness, saddles and brides, etc., In many
parts of the country prefer W heeling leather
to that made elsewhere and in former
years it commanded higher price. 1t is
said that the leather is more thoroughly
tanned and that more care is taken in its
preparation for the market, A great deal
of the Wheeling leatherS however, is sold
in the rough and finished in the east,
though all of our restsblishments are-well
prepared to do any kind Of work pertain.
ing to the business. 6g5.az .ls..
The tsnneries use for fuel the bark which
has served its purpose in tanning leather,
andiwhich, with the assistance of a very
small quantity Of coal, makes all the steam
necessary to run the machinery. One of
the prOprietors informed Us that he thus
saved about forty bushels of coal per day.
Strange to say there has been very little,
if any, improvement in the mills that have
always been used for grinding the bark.
There are improved facilities for convey.
ing the bark from where it is ground and
for making the liquor, but the mills are
not unlike the old coffee mill arrange
ments, which all of US who have ever seen
2 county tan yard, associate with the
I'D fhoFse SShoBe business seemed 70 be,
day after d4y,, to, wAlk around centre
pole describing circle under rude she'd
Our tanners use chestnut oak bark al
most. exclusively. Its thelbest that can
be procured in this section. A great deal
of it comes from Matamoras, and other
points on the river below that. place. Bark
used to go begging at 81 per cord; now it
commands Sl3 and $l6, and is sometimes
hard to get at that. Down ina the Fish
Greek country and in most Of the counties
on the West Virginia side of the river,
there are said to be millions of cords of the
best kind of bark, but the people who own
the land do not seem to have industry enough
to 'tpeel" the trees and bring the bark to
market. OF late years, however, number
of enterprising Germans have purcha sed
small tracts of land upon which. this bark
abpunds, and are doing considerable in the
way of gettingthe article out for market. II
the efforts which some Of our public. men
are making to encourage emigration to this
State should succeed, as is. confidently
hoped and expected, industrious aud
thrifty people will take possession of these
lands, when it will be found that the pro-
duction of tan bark will be no mean item
in the resourc es Of this portion Of the State.
Every portion of green hide that finds
its way into tan yard lis turned to some
profitable account. Out of the fat which
usually clings to the hide the tanners
make. what is called "dubbin" /" which
serves an invaluable purpose in finishing
the leather. The horns are sold to be
convicted into combs and knife handles,
and the scraps are converted into glue.-
The tails are found hanging up to dry
across frames in all the drying rooms, re-
mindtng one Of the tails of Little Bo-
poeP'o Loot .sEeoP, which " . hRVe seen hang.
ing upon the limbs of trees in the: pictures
OF, Juvenile primmsrs.a The hair of these
tails is used for making mstrasses, upon
which people who are able to buy them,
repdse their Injurious forms when they
desire to- WOO Mr. Murphy.
We had almost forgotten the dogs, those
honest creatures, that never betray theil
masters. No tan yard is complete without
least two big dogs. There is. no trOu.
BILE about subsisting dog in a tan yard
He eats the fat off the:green hides and
grows very savage. They are the most un.
amiabls looking creatures imaginable, and
appear to be twice or three times as
large and ugly and ill-natured as the dogs