The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1876-08-24
our CENTENNIAL LETTER.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. IL, 1876.

Craze digger.-why. sir, his hide is so tanned
with his business, that he keeps out the water
o long time, and your voter is sore destroy
erof your whorson dead body,
Shakespeare.
Who the tanner was, has never
been definitely settled, but with all
due Difference to those whose histori
cal researches entitle their opinions
to weight, would respectfully sug-
gest the name of Adam. | do not
mean to assert that he tanned leather
breeches tor his ffs.rring Gain and
Able, but there is every reason to
suppose that, like more modern par
ents, he tanned the place which the
brecches was Intended to cover. and
whether ho used oak, hemlock, or
birch in the operation, is matter OF
no particular Importance, alongside
of the establishment Of the substan-
Siul historical fact. Since his day,
the business has very materially i'm
proved, and l have no doubt Adam
would be oxcetdingly ly astonishod aud
gralfiel if he could step into the shoe
and leather exhibit at the Centennial
Exhibition and observe tho vast ad-
vanccs that have been made i'm this
useful branch Of manufactures. Fig
leaves may have served II very ex.
cellcnt purpose in Il cin ate where
the thelmumcic rarely falls below
sixty, but in lands where the keon
biing blast will take the hair off of
dogs back, it is evident that ladic,
of gentlemen hunting huckleborr,er
or polar bears would need something
more subsantial. s., naturally n!lei,
tig leaves grew unfasLonable, the
skiLs ut animals became the favurite
covering of man.
can imagine that the young gen
tlenan who tore the rcUliIng relt
from the back ot Meguthcraum,
nust have found it rather an unsA-
worry dressing gown in the course of
It@' or three weeks. though it is news
crlheless true that he might have
combined in n single garment the de-
light OF Ljmburger ch,e-e with the
c"mI"rts ot Il Mackinaw blanket. 10
people Of delicate organization it
must bee me evident that tanning
would very eally bccome necessary
aud useful acconlpl lplishment--not tnat
! consider the boquet Of lanyard
superior to the altar Of roses, and
candor compells me to say that there
arc many smells that are to me much
more agreeable and refreshing-but
find the inclination to wander off
in the regions Of classical re earch
and philosophic specula or, getting
the better OF 10Y discretion. So /
repress it at once and quietly address
myself to my muttons. In any other
situation the shoe and leather build
ing would be considered All immense
structure, and it only dwarfs beside
Machinery Hall, under whose shad-
Aow it stands. 1t is 3l4 feet long by
100 wide. This exhibition is pecu
liar to itself-lealher there is and
plenty Of it in the Main Hall. Eng
Iand and oil her colonies exhibit it,
Yon see it from Africa, Australia,
and every portion of her dominions.
Every kind of pelt from Il skin of a
kangaroo to the hide of a hippopota-
mus, but nowhere do you get the
same idea Of the possibilities of the
tanners art that you do in the build
ing exclusively devoted to their use
Near the east door, at the poet of
honor. | might cay on the right of
line is placed the exhibit OF Russia,
y and surely no nation that ever used
tan bark was better qualified to stand
"'tho ordeal. We do somo pretty good
tanning i'll America, and we turn ont
some very nice leather, but if YOU
want a pair Of bouts that YOU desire
to leave as an heirloom to your great
frau1apu on fo Gt D.t.I