Arizona silver belt. [volume] (Globe City, Pinal County, Ariz.) 1878-19??, 1886-08-21
RAspIfi SKINS aoR 4Ar-MAAlna.
The Growth Of an Enormous Industry

The Growth Of an Enormnus Industry
Tho business in France and England.
The trad, in rabbit skins for hat-mnk-
ing is now an enormous industry. Tive
skius are duubiy valuable, the hair being
used for felt-making and the pelts To- boil
down into glue, the present statistics
of the in5ssty la EJrnVvmal be- HGund
from the fact that S0,0.u.o0 Of sku~ urr
collected in Frame, 9n,ooU,On tu @o.,Hhl.-
900 in England, almost entirely from thr
warrenS Of the snud-hills and woods.
1900, 600 to Is, OOO,OOO in BelgrUm, al
most wholly Of domestic breed las aru
nine out Of ten of the SO,0O0,O30 Of
French skins, 1000 Oo0 to 5000 900 in
Russia, Sweden and Norway, and 4, 200,
900 in northern Germany, yearly, In
Austria and Hungary there are about
$4,000, 900 collected, but retained for
home manufacture. Spain and Portu-
gal have skins of inferior quality, which
are kept for the hat factories Of these
countries. France occupies the chief
place in the commerce Of rabbit-skins,
not only in regard 10 quantity but to
quality. There is no rabbit comparable
to the French rabbits, either 10 eat or 20
make hats OF. Both to Belgium aud to
England large quantities are exported,
The supremacy Of France did not eX-
list at the st lTt in the rabbit-slIn trade
In the early part Of this century the Ger,
mans and English took the lead in the
preparation Of the skins, France was
oppressed, and was unable 10 take adj
vantage Of this new industry till iS4I
From that date we reckon the rise Of a
trade which has attained to gigantic di-
mentions, Paris, which is the CEN
ter of the preparation of the
material, dispatched agents in
every direction to employ brokers, chif-
foniers and other collectors Of skins Of
rabbits and hares, which had before been
seldom preserved for any use. The most
energetic and successful purveyors in
this industry were the Auvergnats, who
still remain the chief agents in the col
lection. In 1917 the COuperies de potts
worked up 2, 500, 600 Of skins; the estab-
lishments in the provinces consumed
about an equal quantity,
AT first the manufacturer collected and
stored rabbit skins, and transformed
them into hats with very rude machin-
cry. 1t is only recently, by the distri-
button of labor, always advantageous,
that the preparation Of the stuff has
been separated from the manufacture of
hats, and the collection of the skins is
organized as a distinct industry. In
England there are now some twenty
firms engaged in preparing and cutting
the skins, the largest Of which firms are
in Southwark, and others in Manchester
and Leeds. The industry altogether is a
very interesting one in many respects,
and it represents a living 10 large mum.
bers of people, including the collection Of
skins in the towns and villages through
out the country, and the hundreds of
women and girls occupied in pulling
and in other operations preparatory to
the Telling, when the hat manufacturer
enters upon the mysteries Of his special
trade.
The value of the rabbit skin trade in
England alone last year was over 81, 900, -
00t There are TO statistics mt hand Of
fhe trade in this country, but il is very
important, and there are even places
where rabbits are bred in order to pro-
vide skins for the market. This is, how
ever, a Perilous experiment, as the ex-
peTience Of Australia and New Zealand
with their rabbit plaques win demon
Cincinnati Enquirer.