Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-01-11
Utilizing Allipntors,

a reporter Of the New Orleans Plea
yi;nc has been investing the alligator,
its uses, commercial value, etc. The
following are some of his obscrva-
tons:
The edcts of fashion have sent hunt
crs into the tropical forests of Borneo
and Java TO bring back the plumago of
birds of paradise to decorate female
head gear. To-day these same imperial
ediots send the hunter TO the swamps
and jungles of Louisiana to procure the
hide of the alligator for slippers to
clothe the dainty feet of fair women
and to make satcbels and bags in which
10 carry their handkerchicfs and pocket
money.
The most fashionable material for
small valises, satchels, hand bags, port
monnaics, and the like, is the skin of
the American alligator, and In all Of
the gulf states, from Florida to Texas,
the saurians are hunted to supply the
demand. This fashion has not been in
vogue for very long time, but for the
past three years the slaughter of the
alligator has been carried on with great
activity.
A reporter desiring to make some in
quiry rs to the extent of the trade in
the skins of these saurians, visited sew
cral dealers in hides and furs on Peters
street A number of the dealers handle
alligator hides quite largely, and they
were found entirely willing to give in
formation on the subject. At the ware
house of Mcssrs. b. F. Simms & Son, a
lot of several thousand of these skins
were seen in process of being packed
for shipment to New York and Boston.
| The skins were in the state known to
the trade as green salted,' the fresh
| ly gathered hides being picked in salt
| and remaining soft and pliablc. There
were the skins of saurians, from those
| Of youngsters not much more than n
yard long to the hides of monsters that
must have measured twelve to fifteen
| feet when alive. One skin, minus the
tail and the snout, measured thirteen
feet by the line, with a corresponding
| breadth. The integument freed from
the bony scales which, like massive
| plate and armor cover the back and
head of the animal, was as heavy and
as thick as bulls hide, of which stout
| sole leather is made.
Only the skin of the belly and sides
| is used, the back with its coat OF mail
| being cut from the hide and cast away
as worthless. OF blackish blue hue
on the sides and bluoish white under
| the belly, all the skins showed great
uniformity of color, and each was curl
ously checkered in squares, which be-
ing separated by intersectihg grooves
and wrinkled, gave the peculiar check
cred appearance seen in all alligator
leather. The fiat parts of the skin are
used for bags and satchels, while those
portions covering the knees and elbows
of the monsters legs are peculiarly
suited for the fronts of boots and
shoes.
The trade in these skins takes them
of all sizes from four feet up, the aver
age prices paid here for green skins
ranging from ten cents each for the
smallest to ninety cents for the largest.
The skins most in demand are about
seven feet long, which is perhaps an
average of full grown alligators. Those
from ten to fifteen feet long are classed
| as monsters
Inquiry as to the number of these
hides handled in this market during the
present season elected some variance
of estimates among different dealers,
but the figures may be put with a de-
| gree of accuracy at something like 50,-
coo skins. Three years ago 100, 1000
skins were handled here, and the next
year the figures were reduced to TO-
600. The further reduction to $4,000
for the present season caused inquiry,
when it was learned that there is nc
lack of demand for the hides, but the
alligators are actually growing scarceI
as we'll as more difficult to find.
Besides the hides, there are other
products of the alligator utilized fol
commercial purposes. The teeth
which are round, white, and conical
and as long as two joints of an average
finger, are mounted with gold or silver
and used for jewclry trinkets and fol
tccthing h@lics To play with. All the
teeth If the alligator are of this class
~ conicai lush., with no cutting OF
| grinding apparatus, and hence the an
mal is forced to feed chiefly on carrion
which is ready prepared for his diges
, ton.
The oil extracted from this creature
has II high reputation among thu
swampcrs rs n remedy for rheumatism
being given both inwardly and exter
nally., and is produced to supply lin
tied demand.