The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-12-26

color to correspond with the exhausted
bark which, with lawn-like smoothness,
covers the land about the buildings.
Its interior, with beams unfinished, has
a doubtful-looking floor, and the planks
look as treacherous as loose bricks in a
Philadelphia side walk Stand on
which planks you will, they are all
movable, and are merely temporary
coverings for unsavory-looking liquids,
in "vats" or "pits," which, to say the
least, are uninviting bath.tubs. In old
times tanperies were largely "local in
dustries," and in such nearby noun
tain regions as the Berkshires or the
Catskill the summer explorer discovers
in balf-choked vats, or picturesque,
tumble-down, deserted buildings, vesti-
ges of a petty industry which flourish
ed till all the accessible trees had been
cut or recklessly robbed of their bark,
and then disappeared, to give way to
such modern centres of trade as Pea
body, Massachusetts. Higher up in
the mountains are still to be found
half-rotted piles of timber or bark,
stranded when the tide of industry
ebbed away.
Let our hides come to the tannery
''wet salted." The ropes are cut, and
the hides are put into the great sunken
boxes underneath the floor to soak in
''water-pits" for few days. This
''process cf water is necessary for
soaking, milling, and softening the
htAa ,xat 10 into condition 60 raoa;ya
the bark After soaking, the hides
are hung over wooden "horse," and
cut through the back to separate them
into ''sides." Some tanners then place
them in the watts, and cover them up
to take swarm sweat" or "cold
sweat the pungent moisture from the
hides loosening the hai and scurf. The
common method, however, is TO place
the hides for few days in solution
of lime and water, not SO strong as to
let the skin get slime burned This
''liming" not only plumps, or swells,
the hide, but if skin is beginning to
decompose or decay, tends to preserve
it for tanning. After the hair-loosen-
ing the besmeared tip cart again makes
its appearance, splashed and spattered
inside and out, driven by men whose
business it is to spatter and be spatter-
ed ready to take a load to the beam
house.
"Beaming," or unhairing, derives its
name from an inclined convex wooden
form called "beam," on which the
hide is spread during the operation.
A blunted piece of iron, known as a
'hide-worker," similar to a draw
shave, easily removes the hair after the
hide is taken from the water where it was
dumped after the lining. The beam
sters, bending to their task, look as if
they had taken in large weeks wash
ing, and but for unsavory odors
besmroom might pass for a laundry.
The hides are next "trimmed" with
knife to remove all the hard, harsh, or
unnecessary parts on the edge of the
skin-are cut off-as they are so much
thicker than the rest of the skin that
they would seriously interfere in the
future processes of obtaining an even
tannage, and also in an economical
use of the purchaser. The hides next
pass into queer-looking contrivauce
known as spin wheel" stout circu-
lar wooden box, in which they are
churned about in -warmish water,
dropping upon stout wooden pins at
tached to the circumference. The mis-
sion of the lime, to preserve the hide
and loosen the hair, is accomplished,
and this washing in warm water is a
preparation for 'drenching," the first
process of unlimiming.
To an observer it might seem that
the whole process has been such SER
les of drenchings that more is unneces-
sary. To "drench," however, the hides
are placed for six or eight hours in
vats filled with a dissolved excrement,
above which a line of large wooden
"England wheels'-like the paddle
wheels of a steamer-in their revou-
tion turn them over and over in the 80.
luton. The drenched hides, when ia
ken from this "bate," are a second
time worked over beam, to remove
the lime thoroughly and get them into
the best possible condition to receive
the bark.
To tread the wholesome looking
ground bark which covers the ap-
proach to the tan vats after leaving
the slippery. slimy, uncertain floor of
the beam-room, is almost luxury.
The deep -oolored "liquor," of ground
oak or hemlock bark and water, looks
inviting after the indescribable mix
lures thus far used. Most tanners buy
bark, which is now sold compressed
like hay, and grind it in bark mill, y
teaching the bark TO obtain the liquor,
but some use extracts. The hides to
be colored or tanned, looking unnat.
urally white after their thorough
cleansings, are placed in tanks of bark
liquor to be ''handled" by the revou-
tions of another England wheel, az in
the drenchlng treatment. Becoming
slightly colored, they are placed in
large piles for day or two to get
them seasoned to take the bark. The
plank flooring is removed from one of
tn, Sc long systems of vats, where the
hides are laid away in strong bark liq-
uor to receive the tannage. AS each
hide is spread ont in the vat il is GOV.
\ cred with some ground bark wet with
water as carefully a. good housewife
wrinkles with sugar her choicest pre-,
Res Hides remain in first layer"
ces or eight days. The same pro-
othA repeated in second layer" iii
tb;rsts for about two weeks, and in
four wy splitting layer" for about
liouor bS the temperature of the
ent lavers\ graduated for the differ
They are N hung ont for few
ds days n.sn,p t" So 't ,ha, at they % oa~
chine constracteAoy; means OF a ma
which roll or force, h iron Iron % rolleIs,
long spIitting-knKe Th;" %,aes against g
all to an even thickneA ,hn ' o,,s;aa ,euu0es 80
the hide retaining the .He ;s ""'S'ae "sa ,ta y,
part cut off becoming "' Snl;, anu The She
machine does not alwaysV ~, ,,art %o
perfectly, so the hide is \, NJ mon n
"hattening" or levelling Eard "p0" 20
pound out thicker parts. Havh. 49,
soaked In water, soaked in lime, asI.on
in hark Saua.aI =, NNth