Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1886-03-27

to make Il wide-hrimmed hato soft felt
and 4 narrow margjncd one If thicker
and sitter material. Sometimes a
pa>teboard Al cloth body was used
10 keep the tall crown better in shape.
The first silk hats possessed little
variation in form from the felt ones
of the time, The difference was
in the substance. not the shape. The
earliest silk hats after the futile in
vention of leprovo>t appear to have
been worn in Florence. Italy. Tall
silk hat. first came in for morning ~
undrc>s wear. For full dress a hat in
the shape Of . crescent, which folded
flat, and which is still in use a Il part
of certain uniforms. was adopted This
kept in favor till about 1872, when the
present opera het was invented. All
gentlemen visiting carried their hats
in their hands at that time, whether
calling or at a bah, and the opera or
crush hat speedily became very popu-
lar.
The old fashioned hattcrs made a
bitter fight against the silk hat and
offered one curious objection toit. This
was that it possessed no medicinal
properties, while the beaver hat did.
According to them, by wearing q cap
of beavers fur, amounting the head
once a month with oil OF castor, and
taking a couple OF ounces of the same
q year 4 mans memory would become
so strengthened that he would rcmem.
Der every thing he read. Even when
beaver had ceased to be beaver and be-
come q mixture of lambs wool and
rabbit fur, the old theory of the medi-
cinal value of the beavers fut was
upheld
BABBIT-FUR HATS,
The trade in rabbit-skins for hat
making is now an enormous industry
The skins are doubly valuable The hair
being used for ielt-making and the
pelts to boil down into glue, The
present statistics OF the industry in
Europe may be figured from the fact
that eighty millions OF skins are col
lected in France, twenty-five to thirty
milligns IN England, almost entirely
RON the warrens Of the sand-hills and
woods twelve to fifteen millions in
Belgium, almost wholly Of domestic
breed (as are nine out Of ten Of the
eighty millions of French skins): two
to three millions IN Russia, Sweden
and Norway, and four millions in
Northern Germany yearly, In Austria
and Hungary there are twelve millions
collected, but retained for home manu-
f%acture. Spain and Portugal 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 to quantity but quality. There
is no rabbit comparable to the French
rabbits. either to eat or make hats of.
Both to Belgium and to England large
quantities are exported.
The supremacy of France did not ex-
i,t at the start in the rabbit-skin trade.
In the early part of this century the
Germans and English took the lead in
the preparation of the skins, France
wa, oppressed by the system of protcc-
ton and prohibition. and so was unable
to take advantage of this new industry,
and it was not till lSi7 that the system
of prohibition wa. relaxed and the
protection of the home manufacture
was removed. Paris. which is the
center Of the preparation of the ma
terial. dispatched agents in every di-
rection to employ brokers, c~hifoniers
and other collectors of skins Of rabbits
and harcs. which had before been sell
dom preserved for any use. The most
energetic and successful ~purveyors in
this industry were the Auyergnats,
who still remain the chief agents in the
collection. In lS41 the c0apericS de
potts worked up two and a hall millions
Of skins; the establishments in the
provinces consumed about an equal
quantity.
At first the manufacturer collected
and stored rabbit->hins, and trans
formed them into hats with very rude
machinery. 1t is only recently, by the
distribution of labor, always advan-
tageouS, that the preparation of the
stuff has been separated from the man
ufacture OF hats, and the collection Of
the skins i, organized as a distinct in
dustry. In England there are now
some twenty ilrms engaged IN prepar-
iHS ana cutting Ine Shlhs, 'he largest
VI "litl iIll9 are III 9outA"aIA' aiu
otIels III Inancnestet anu heeos' Inc
iIu"Slll "iloeethet j. d very Interest
M oilo II! many ieSPecl>' III ~ lePle..
SUMS " iNihg 10 iaiSe numbers VI
PgoPI!' in'."u.ns we voI'ev,Ion VI
9A!l1 III 'lc 'oN rs an" til''ge9 llough--
o"' '"e couhltS' an" tI'e nuhuitus ot
women anu Slrls occuPleuih 'Pulllhg
a." IN o'her operations preparatory 10
lle lel'lhg' Wheh the nat lhanulaclurer
enters upon lhe mysteries oil MS special
'rale'
Naiue oil lhe rapplt-Skla trade III
England alone iasl year was over one
ilIiIloh uoi!arS' mere are no sla'lHtlcS
al manu- Oh lhe iraoe III TINS country
pul II Is yer! important. ana there are
even pIaceS "here RADIUS are oreu IN
oruer 10 proVlde SKINS Tor the market
ms j. however a perlIou, expert
ment; as the experience OF Australla
N Ne" neaiahd with Their RABBIT
Pla&ue' Will demonstrate
AUSTRALIA ; RABBIT PLAGUE.
In the natural history of aboriginal