News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1883-10-18
HOW THEY TAN HIDES.
AN INTERVIEW WITH a PRACTICAL
TANNER.
The Old Way and the Ne" ""y-iOw Neaf
They are AIike-The smell OF h"sslH
Leather.

Leather.
The march of the tannery has been
westward a result of natural causes.
Hemlock and oak forests of the East
have been depleted, and as it is neces-
sarv that the industry be nearer the base
of supplies a removal to the virgin
forests of the West was a business virtue.
There are few tanneries in Massachu-
setts, but they get their bark at large
expense from Maine. In Connecticut
there are only two or three-amoDg
them one at Glastonbury and another at
Westchester. Not longer .taan 20 years
aco there was a thriving tannery at
| Windsor. If the old ones have not been
removed they have been closed and the
tanners have returned to agriculture.
Small operators cannot compete with big
ones who use the most improved ma
chinery.
Mr. Pliny Jewell, of P. Jewell & Sons,
mentioned facts of interest concerning
the industry. owe tan hides to-day" ;"
he said, "exactly as my father used to
tan them in Winchester, n. H., years
aro. OF course we have more facilities,
but the processes are just the same. We
tan more rapidly, to be sure, and this
process is not productive of inferior
leather, as some may argue; the product
is every whit as good as that of years
ago. We simply hasten the same result,
that is all. My fathers vats, when was
a verv little boy, were out OF doors, and
when cold weather came he had to cover
them over and let the hides lie all winter.
Afterward he built shed so that the
hides could be eworked as well in storm rs
in sunshine. In our large tannery near
Detroit, Nich.-it cost us $15O,OOO-
such delay would never be thought OF.
There the work proceeds day in and day
out year after year.
"Again, in old times the bate-a mix
t1lre introduced to remove the lime used
to take off the hair of the hide-would
sour if a thunderstorm came up. re-
member times when we had to work
! Sunday to remove hides from this sour
bate so that they wouldn't spoil. Now
the bate never sours; scientific knowl-
edge prevents it. We never use acids
in our tannery. We leach the bark and
use the liquor. Let me remark Just
here that you may have heard that it is
injurious to tan leather with hot liquor.
How absurd is such a statement !
Why? you can't tan leather with hot
liquor; it will close the pores so that
none of the tannin can get in. 1t is very
important that the liquor be not more
than that of a blood heat. To insure
this temperature we have built, at an
expense of 81, 900, several cooling watts
into which the liquor is run.
Il think that ~ IL Imist,,ile, ho s'sid.
| when shown n published statement to
the effect that American tanners had
never been able to closely initiate the
beauty and odor of the celebrated Rus
sin leather. 81 believe Russia leather
is now made at or near Newark. know
nv brother, when Minister at st.
Petersburg discovered the secret. You
have heard the manner of the discovery,
have you not? ?"
"I have heard several versions Of it. u
''Well, will tell you the true version.
) Over in Russia they didn't think he had
, any practical knowledge of mechanics
they thought he must be as helpless as
} they. One day he was going through
tannery with some of the officials. Reach
J ing a passageway he noticed some mix
| ture in barrels. He didn't recognize Its
character, and thrust his fingers i'll sew
4 eral times as n sort of investigation
There was no handy washing-roOm, Sc
r he completed the tour with his sollet
| hands. but as soon rs he reached hi
r room he washed up. In passing hi
e RIGHT hand over his face-as all men Will
= YOU lnow-he caught his nose betweel
t his thumb and finger-thus. There
= most certainly, was the OdOr OF Russl
e leather. Russia leather to be sure, h
exclaimed in ecstacy. He repeated tn
operation, and found the same odor
The secret was out.
"He didn't know the agents used, butt
= proved that they were employed, not
. produce the fragrance, but because the
: were cheap. The General 1mmedlatel
. wrote to Mr.. Schultz, or the Shoe an
Leather Reporter, and the process wa
! tried in this country. The base OF
" was asafmtida, which is also, as yo
i NAV know, the base of Worcestershire
y sauce. Do think the beauty of Rus
sia leather has ever been reproduce
here? Oh, yes, believe it has, br
the odOr is all there is to it. You fin
. Russia leather pocket books for so cents
= do you not? Well, that's not the IN
ported material but the leather success
fully tanned here by the Russian method
"tThe acids" continued Mr.. Jewel
~ care used to a great extent IN Eurol
and on the Continent because the oal
~ and helmlocks have disappeared or b.
cause they can be obtained cheaper tho
y the bark. Why, in England they str
~ every little twig to get the bark. In tn
country nothing but the trunks OF tre
are stripped. Most of the hemlock bal
we use at our tannery comes fro
=" Canada There are millions of acres
~ viroin oak and hemlOck forests in Il
&, South and Southwest, in Pennsylvan
u" and Now York. The AdirOndacks ha'
10 not vet been touched. There must b
y, 7 should think, material enough to last
iS' hundred years anyway. And then 9th
l9 forests may grow. In New Hampshl
t" today. where my father had his ia
norv there is more hemlock than the
nc was when [ was a boy.
he can oak forest, however, is OF sic
us Growth Soft wood springs up whC
NJ hard is cut down. Chicago is our he0
he Quarters for hides" he continued. '\
'p' buv them wherever we can, but we
on our great supply there. We use no no
ut Int thc best of American cattle h1C
ne wa Inv none of the imported on
'or Tanners manipulate buffalo skins, |
ng +bov are not the skins of our biso
ch thev come from India. The impor
IRE tion of hides is vely large-some n
$ II lions n wear. am not fearful that
oro American supply will be exhausted.
Ike uSumach is used Us well as hemlo
or and oak bark for tanning purposes, Il
NOT. and terra iaponica as well, whlcl
vo- supposed to have 80 per cent. OF tan
Ids much more than any OF the Others