The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1885-12-25

ssWell, my dear fellow" said the
clerk, "what we sell here is the sham
nv of commerce, but as we don't get q
written guarantee with every skin that
the animal from whose back it come:
browsed upon the lofty Alpine peaks.
/ would advise you to 60 to q whole
sale dealer or importer Of such goods.
and perhaps he may be able to satisfy
/ you in that line"
To an importer of channels skins, on
Library street. the reporter went
Can you let me have piece OF real
tshammy?'" the reporter asked.
.Perhaps I can if you are willing to
wait for it while telegraph to Cha
mounix and see if / can get one OF the
old chamois hunters to 60 out and hunt
up a chamois, kill him, and have his
| hide dressed and sent here for you. 1t
will cost you trifie, though, dare
saw. Perhaps, though, we could buy
An old chamois from some museum and
get his skin for you if you are in hur-
~ for it. -
"But can't you give me one out of
your stockp These are all 'shammy'
skins. are they not?"
well, yes. they a-e-that is. they
are more .shammy' than chamois. OF
course, it wouldn't do to have it known,
but dom mind telling You that among
all the skins you see in these bundles or
.kips,' as we call them, there is not one
real channels skin.
"Thers has not been q genuine cha
mos skin imported into Philadelphia.
through this house, nor through any
other house for the matter Of that, for
tho last twenty Years o, more, l have
been in the business since 1872, and in
all my business experience / have
never seen one. My uncle was in the
business since 1852. and he never saw
one unless on the back of the animal
that owned it. saw channels once
when | was in Europe. That was in
museum in Chamounix."
1t is matte of fact that there have
not been dozen chamois pelts import
ed into this country in as Nany years.
for t e simple reason that the chamois
have become so scare that a successful
chamo.s hunt is of rare occurrence.
The animal which inha5its the Alpine
regions of central Euro 9. equents
the widest and most inaccessible
peaks and ravines of its mountain home.
The sport of the channels hunt was at
one time very popular one. and expe-
ditions to the animals browsing places
were, in the past, frequently organized,
and the few animals that existed be-
tween the snow line and the glacier
line of the Alps were so thinned out by
these hunting parties that they are now
very rare.
In the entire year the total number of
chamois killed by the hunters was $40.
and If the trade depended on the
channels for the commercial .tshammy"
skin, there would not have been enough
skins thrown on the market in that year
to give each importing house in this
country half skin. Time was when
the channels skin of the trade was gen.
uine. but the scarcity of the animal and
the rapidly growing demand for the ar
ticle necessitated q substitute, and this
was found in the skin of the common
sheep, which now masquerades' under
the appearance and name of the orig
inal article.
ALI the channels skins that are
brought to this country come from
France or from England. Up to within
few years ago the entire trade in this
country was furnished from England,
tho skins coming from the backs of
sheep that were raised and grazed on |
English pasture lands. French chamois
was unknown TO the American trade. |
There is little difference in the value of
the French and fEnglish chamois, both
answering the purpose for which they |
are purchased equally well. The only |
real differenee-and It is q difference in
which the French lose their claim for
the superiority Of their goods over the
English goods that on account Of
the peculiar properties OF certain fish
oil with which they prepare their skins. |
the French channels, instead of drying
hard and stiff, like parchment, dries as |
soft as before it is put in water. The
English channels is prepared in oil and |
lime, and is bleached to any desired |
shade. The best quality Of goods comes
from the backs of the young animals. |
After the wool has been removed the
skins are shaved down to the required |
which is regulated by the
purposes for which the skin is to be
used.
After it has been tanned it is put into
. preparation of oil and lime, softened. |
and then bleached 10 the desired shade. |
It is then dried and sorted, according
TO the sizes Of the skins, and tied up in |
bundles called by the trade s.kips,'f and |
8 is ready to b thrown on the market |
and sold by the druggists and the trade |
generally as genuine chamois skin.
There are no imitation channels skins
in this country. A we'll
known morocco manufacturer. near
Fourth and Girard avenue, tried it once.
bot the experiment did not pay. a the
English and French goods could be i'm
ported cheaper than. he could make
theuA and he gave it up.-Pailadelphia
Ledger.
Paper and Pencils.
At . recent meeting Of the Accidents
~ CrvfAeS<.<>rF a. n