The evening world., 1888-08-25
HIDE Sailing AND SELLING.
A GREAT BUSINESS REPRESENTED IN
"THE SWAMP" DISTRICT,
Animals whose skins GO to Various clever
Uses, from FurnishinR Msn's Bests 70
Making Machinery Belts-where the
Best Hides Come From and what They
Are Worth In the Market.

Years ago. when New York City lay chiefly
about the Battery. the n~eighborhood of what
Ia now Ferry street, Gold street and two or
three others in that neighborhood, was q
low, swampy district that nobody thought
would ever be redeemed or built on.
Two or three tanners found the spot useful
for the erection of their watts and settled
there. That was the origin of the leather
business, ard the reason that it is almost en-
tirely in that section of New York to-day.
Many of the big stores which deal in hides and
all sorts of leather have one or two of those
old tanning pools under them, and when the
Brooklyn Bridge was built numbers of them
were dug into. The neishboihood is still
known by the practical, though unpoetic
name of "The Swamp"
The leather industry is q very big and
profitable one. Most of the leather merchants
ought to be free-traders, as the removal Of
the 10 per cent. tariff on leather has greatly
helped their business. In 1872 Congress was
petitioned to remove this tariff, and it was
done. Leather is free. Nearly twenty-five
or thirty thousand sidesl of leather are ex-
ported a week. When the tariff existed there
was none of this exporting done.
good, experienced leather dealer can tell
the sex of the beef from which the hide was
taken, the season when the beast was killed,
and can almost tell the State from which it
came.
Swift, Phil Armour. Hammond and Eelse
Morris are the four large packers of the
United States from whom the hides come.
Most of the hides carried by the Swamp
dealers are green sailed and dry sailed. A
| green hide is the skin lust as il is taken from
the brute. 1t would not remain incorrupt
for twelve hours if it were not sailed, 30 this
is o necessary measure where the hides have
to be transported, They are cured by being
spread out and having rock salt sprinkled
over them.
The dry-salted hides are those which are
spread out TO dry after they have been sailed
in that way. 1t makes quite an important
difference in the freight expenses, as hides
by one half as the green-salted hides.
Hides are taken from cows, steers and
bulls and also from calves. As a rule the
bulls hide is not regarded as being as good
from the shoulders to the hips. and one thing
that l~rritates the leather people q good deal is
the fact that the ranchmen brand their cattle
right in this section of their hide. OF course,
when you have Q wild, %plunging, steer who Is
from q red-hot iron it il not easy to place this
upon his neck or down on his TANKS. The
broad side offers the best field for the brand.
ing iron, though it very materially impairs
the value of the hide.
A good thick pelt makes the best hide, 60
that as a rule the character which consti.
tutes excellence in q hide is its plumpness.
The hides from steers is the best for sole
for betting a refractory small boy is cow hide.
Cow hides are the best for : uppers " and fol
upholstering furniture. Stamped leather.
which makes such an elegant finish for 6
library or for big arm-chairs, is made from
either cows or steers hide, but il is split an6
subjected to certain special notifications.
Dry hides are used largely by hemlock solo