The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1877-01-07
Morning Star and Catholic essengsr'
80 "a. afJHDAY, JANUARY 7, If.7.
FURS.

FURS.
"a The old human fondness for wearing and
~nadinR upon brutes' skins has not been
Sbliterated by advancing civilization. There
never was time when tnrs were in 30 great
aemand as now. Animal life of every kind,
Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, 10
slaughtered in increasing proportion Tor t1e
hides Alone For this purpose thousands
"a hunters and trappers are employed, auu
treat companies lave established them
elves and distributed their agents. Inc
Hudsen's Bay Company in North America
laas its posts strung all the way ,hfouSh .ne
8Canad from Nova Scotia on the Atlantlc
TO British Columbia on the faclnc COAST.
7At these posts it collects immense numbers
az the skins of hears, wolves, foxes, minks,
5otters, lypxes, beavers, hshers ana mnsk
SRats. and thoee of martens (known as Hud-
Son's Bay sables), and sends them to its
hsaoduarters in London. The Alaska Com
sherciaI Company chartered by the United
kytases, flsys a hundred Thousand seals q
wear and ships their skins direct to London.
The great firm of G. NJ. Lampson 81 Co.,
London, receives from America furs SINH
Jar to those imported there by the Hudson's
Bay Company, and also skins of the sea
otter, the raccoon, the skunk and the
s0possum from the United States. Other
FUR companies with large capitals are seat
I'D in various quarters of Europe. The
- early production of raw furs throughout
he world is worth from $1S 600 900 to $22
DOC, 600, and the whole amount of the fur
Grade, including manufactured goods, ls
valued at about 500, 600 GOO.
The great fur marts in Europe are Lon
don, Leipsic and Mini Novgored. AT these
points semi annual sales Tor fairs as they
Are' termed) take place; and here he'repre-
eentatives of leading fur houses from all
parts of Europe and America meet TO make
Eheir purch asses during the months of March,
April and May. The fur trade of Leipsic
alone is estimated at Sc, 500 coo a Year.
Sable and raceoon far is the great stapie in
Russia; red fox in Turkey aud the Oriental
countries skunk in Poland and the ada
Gent provinces; mnsRratln Germany, France
sand England.
The most splendid and costly furs are
Russian sable, sea otter and black and sill
yer fox. he Russian sable is the finest
of all the martens, and, since ir 10 not very
prolific its skins are costly The best and
darkest are obtained in Yakootsk. Kan
tschatka and Russian Lapland. The fur
varies from a rich brown to n deep jet
black, with points of hair tipped with white.
This constitutes its peculiar beauty, but it
has also the popularity Of being fixed in
the skin 30 that it will turn with equal free
dom in all directions, and lie smoothly
wherever pressed. The best sables are al
moet mopopolized by the imperial family
and nobility of Russia, and only few find
their way into other countries. Some,
privately procured in Siberia by Jewish
traders, are brought annually to the Lelp-
sic fair. A muff of crown Russian sable"
! is now worth in New York from $1,l00
down toithe $500. Sets (by which is meant
a muff and boa) of sables not of the highest
4 quality cost $500 to $3.50. Sets of sea
otter are valued at $3.50 to $3.50. and sets
of black and silver fox at 500 to $3.50.
These high priced furs are bought only by
J the rich, and are not generally fashionable.
The delicate aud silken fur of that little
animal, the chinchilla, which burrows in
the valleys which intersect the billy slopes
of the Andean region from Chilli to Peru,
has returned to favor within the last two
years, and ia now in extensive demand. 1t
is long, of b clear gray color upon the back,
softenipg to a grayish white beneath. 1t is
used for muffs, tippets, Innings to cloaks
and pelisses, and trimmings, and is most
| becoming to young ladies' ard girls. A
chincbilla muff and boa cost from $50 to
$50, and are warranted by fur dealers to
{" make any lady look young Ecmine has
no longer a considerable market here.
For street wear it has been entirely given
up, except for children. lu is itfully used
to line opera cloaks, and some of E.e prln-
cipal furrierS are endeavorlDg TO put it for
that purpose into more extensive sale.
Mink is as fashionable as it ever was out
eide of New York, but no one in the city
puys it. All mink furs, taken in the right
Season, are durable, but they quickly fade.
New York and Canada minks are the dark
bat and best, and sets of these, which once
we're sold for Sl25 to $3.50, can now be
Bought for 800. The fur of the skunk,
described by the trade as the Alaska sable
And suddenly pOpuiarizsd a few years ago,
Is still in fashion When it was first intro,
dnced even its vile smell could not repulse
sEs admirers, and now that process has been
Uncovered for completely deodorizing it, it
will continue to sell because of it's glossy
beauty and its cheapness. English dy ed
furs of the American lynx are equally liked.
They are black and handsome, but frail.
A GIRL THAT IS FINIsHED."-JoshB Bill
ings gives the following: My Dear Ger,