Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1883-06-07

deal in fur do not make the hats. They pre-
pare the fur and sell il to the manufacturers.
The fur Of the beaver, nutria. coney, (rab-
bit,) hare, muskrat, mink, squirrel. and seal
is used. Beaver makes the finest hats, and
nutra the next best The nutria ia u web.
footed water animal trapped on the bank.
Of rivers and streams in South America
Most OF the better grades Of hats are made
of coney's or rabbits fur. The bes, are the
wild rabbits caught in Scotland. Rabbits
caught in the United Kingdom are preferred
to any other. Those found in the south and
vest Of England and in Ireland and Wales
are not a- good as those trapped in the more
northerly parts. Tame rabbits are raised in
France and Belgium tor their fur. They are
larger than the Wild rabbits, but as they are
much eoarser they are not so valuable.
Hares are also raised. Russia and Germany
produce some rabbits, but more bares. The
fur Of the hare makes a finer hat than that
Of the rabbit. The difficulty lies in obtain
ing sufficient quantity Of il. Rabbits null
uply so rapidly tha, the demand can be sup
piled with them when IL cannot With the fur
Of any other kind Of animal. Besides the
countries named, rabbit skins come from
Australia. The breed j. the same A. IN the
United Kingdom. but, owing to the differ
ence in the climate. the quality is not so
good. The fur is longer, but weaker. A
great many rabbits are caught in America
for their fur. the quality Of which is the most
inferior Of any. This is owing to the prev
al.nce Of hair in the fur. which must be re-
moved. The skins of the mink. mu.krat.
squirrel, aud seal are worth more for con
verting into such garments a. cIoaks and
,rtsp MI ~ ~. ali
which are useless. that the fur is removed
from 10 20 into the manufacture of hats.
The pieces ar. called "furriers' waste" The
better quality Of rabbits fur is worth e.
a pound, Of nutria twice that. and OF beaver.
which manly comes from the Rocky Mount-
aims. twice that of nuiria. The fur of a
rabbit is divided into different parts. which
distinguish its value-thr backs, SIDES, tails.
and cheeks. The backs are the most valua-
BILE. Ten dozen Of rabbit skin, make O IL
pounds Of fur. and of this FIVE pound, con
.ist OF backs" The greater value Of the
backs is due to the fneness Of the fur. The
skin i converted into glue and sxing In
France II Is clarified and made into g-Iatine
and lozenges. Only the fur can be used
for hats. No machinery has been devised
that will successfully separate the hair from
the Tur. The hair has TO be pulled out BY
hand. which Is a SLOW and expensive process
After the hair is removed the fur is shaved
OF close 10 the skin BY machinery. In Eng
land the miner. and poorer classes use the
hair IN making beds. No use has been
found for 1t here. The furrier's waste i.
used for "hliag in" on account Of it. fine
quality. Il works in with the other. and
makes the body Of the hat more compact
and finer IN texture.
About 5000, 900 worth Of fur wear i.
sold IN this Git, alone tn hatters, and ~hen
converted into hats the value IL increased
,hrre-fold Fifteen million Of foreign rab-
bit and hare skins cut IN the New York
market annually. besides 2.5GO0 Ameri-
can rabbits. In Europe the number of rab-
bit skins cut IS computed 10 be 3O,ooo. .Dp
Whrn the number of people who wear hats
is considered these figures do not look so
large. There are from two To three ounc-s
Of fur IN a hat, and only n ,rlhe over an
ounce Of fur IN a rabbits skin. About one
third of the average stiff hat is fur The
remainder of the weight Is made of sheilac,
which is applied TO stitfen il, and th. trim
mings. including the lining and the band in
side After the hair Is pulled from III. * in
the fur Is ..carroted." .'Carroting" consists
Of applying silver and nitric acid. which re-
moves whatever animal properties rrnain
IN the fur, and improves the f.lting charac-
ter After the fur is shaved of it Is blown"
70 purify il and take out the hairs that are
left. This operation makes It soft and downy
10 the touch. The fur in making the hat !,
blo~n against a tall revolving cone on which
II forms. The hat after this operation is
n.rha tXn feet . .kap
ounces cap. The next operation is 10
shrink il, which makes it more compact
To s,lfien il, i, is dipped in shriiac. which
increases its weight very much. Tn, final
operations, are coloring. blocking. finishing
the surface, and trimming.
Better hats are made in America than
anywhere else in the world" said an -1ten-
sise manufacturer. "Only a handful Of
English hats come 70 this country. The,
are sold At few plac-. on broadway. The
cost Of the average hat ha. been reduced to
the ~earer from $3.50. 20 years ago, to
$50. This has been accomplished by la
Dor saving machinery. Ii used TO be a good
workman who could blow out dozen hats
from sunrise To sun down. Three men and
. boy viii nov, with machinery, turn out 4s
dozen" Most ever, manufacturer makes
up from 800 to 500 different STYLES and
shape. a year. Each devises his own pat
T. rms. although the English STYLES are copied
great deal. New styles are gotten out
tw.ce ,ear-in the spring and fall. The
retailers are the ones no suffer by hats GO
ing out OF fashion. The Wholesale price Of
the cheapest stiff hat by the dozen is $3.50
and Of the cheapest soft hat $40. The
price Of the dearest stiff hat is $50. and the
dearest soft $12. There i. more work on
stiff hats and less Of the expensive material
in them. The production of hats is said to
have increased 100 per cent. in Is years.
The main importations are TO New York and
New Orleans, in the latter case for the
French resident. The factories for the man |
utacture Of fur hats are mainly in New Jer- |
sey. with q few in BROOKLYN and Yonker.. |
"Light plugs as they are denominated, are
made the same as stiff hats. There is said !
to be a. much in value Of wool hats sold as
fur hats. A wool hat is worth not over half |
as much as fur hat. From these figures
there must be almost twice as many wool !
hats as fur hats worn. The sale Of wool |
hats is mainly outside Of New York and in |
parts Of the country where quality is not
taken SO much into consideration by pur-
chasers. Fur hats are closely initiated, but |
little wear will show the grossness Of the |
wool Dirt and dust cling to wool hats and |
brushing does no, keep them clean. They
look greasy after a while and do not hold |
their color we'll. Their greatest sale in |
New York is in the cheap clothing shops in
Chatham and Baxter streets. They look |
we'll enough at the outset. and the loquacious
shopmen can persuade the customer that
the reason he offers them so low is because
they were stolen at fire. The difference |
in price is a great incentive to those who do |
not care so much for looks TO buy wool hats. !
The lowest prices per dozen for soft wool
hats is $l.75, and for stiff %. The highest |
price for soft and stiff il alike-1l2 The |
difference in the first case is in the amount |
Of work on stiff hats. Most Of the wool |
hats are made at Reading, Penn, Danbury,
Conn, Bridgeport. Conn.,. and vicinity, Bos-
ton, Mass, Matieawan. and Yonkers. Cal |
ifornia and Cape Of Goosi Hope wool and
Ohio aeeces are used in making hats. The
wool is first secured to take Out the grease
and foreiUn suhsf ances then csvded and af