, 1888-04-26
DOWN IN TIE SWAMP"
TALK WITH AN OLO HIDE AND
LEATHER DEALER.
Varieties of Hides Brought to Ftsws Yorh
City-A Hale Of White Mud frem India.
Pests or the Trade-sussiA Leather,
Imported and Hems Made.

Pests OF the Trsde-lsussiA Leather,
Imported and Hems Made.
"Come into the hide house." said Mr..
Mel Horton, as he led the way into a very
spacious receiving room for untanned
hides down In the Swamp" where the
leather men most do congregate. Hun
drsds and thousands Of hides were there,
but the odors of "Araby the Blest" were
sfar of.
"Nearly 100 varieties Of hides come into
this city, BY varieties mean skins from
different countries or localities. The man.
ner Of curing, tho form Of package, the
quality OF the grain-all these arc differ
ent. A good Judge will tell at u glance
whence the hides come. Some Of them
are 30 expert that they can tell you not
only the country which produces tho
hides, but where there are several ship
ping points on the same river, like the
Para In South America, they can at q
glance locate the point from which the
goods were shipped. Europe, Africa,
Asio, Australia North, Central and South
America all contribute to the leather
supply Of the United States.
"Any time that you sec bale of white
mud carted about town you may under
stand that the heather HindOO Ct eastern
India has sent over lots OF mud and
small amount Of leather making material.
You see the hides are daubed with a mix
ture Of clay and lime, called chuenam, to
keep the insects out. There are fifty hides
in bale, and the purchaser expects them
70 average thirty pounds. Well, they
always do. Mud Is cheap out there and
the honest Hindoo Is absolutely careless
of the amount used 30 long as the proper
average is obtained. Why, / have seen
chunk OF chuenam rs big as q table In one
Of these bales.
"Those hides" pointing to heap, "qrs
Texans. They are very large, you OBJ
serve, and are dried over bush, fence,
almost anything I'm fact. Ten Of them
will mako u load "a big as a ton of loose
hay. These hides here we call the Bogota
book, owing to their place OF origin and
the form Of package. See, the hides are
folded book like and are aboua the size OF
The Boydell plates. The hides from Mon.
tevideo and other South American points
are usually folded so that they are about
nine feet long and two feet wide. You
can pick out the Orinoco hides, though,
readily. They are n little wider, NOT
quite so long, and are full of holes along
the border made by the stakes which held
them to the sand while drying.
"Now look at these hides. They are
genuine buffalo skins from India. No,
not the American bison, but tho real
buffalo of the naturallsts. They make
the cheapest quality Of leather, but still
very useful. Their grain, you know, Is
the loRgest; hence their great utility for
counters and insoles in boots and shoes
Well, we turn out over 100, 900 of them
annually alone, and there are others who
manufacture the leather Ia considerable
quantities.
'The greatest obstacle TO overcome In
preparing the hides and shipping them nj.
most around the world TO New York Is the
insects. Various methods are employed
TO destroy or frustrate these pests. The
chueuam method have explained to you.
It's hard TO tell which is the more OBJ
1ectlonable, the bugs or the mud. The
South African hides are what we call n
dry cure. They are rendered very dry by
long exposure to the sun before shipping.
In that condition they resist the attack Of
insects very we'll. But tho most success
full method, and that most widely used IL
IN dipping the hide in q solution OF arsenic
before drying This solution Is both n
preservative and an insecticide. Tanners
have good reason to prefer this style of
cure. Hides so treated will weigh fully
80 per cent. moro when tanned into leath-
er, while the chuenam hides Lose from 10
to 10 per cent. in weight"
''Wherc do you get the best hides?r
'"The only good hides come from the
temperate zone or from regions sufficiently
elevated to possess similar climate.
Healthy cattle there have thick, natural
hair and skins of good grain. But in the
hot countries the hair Is very thin and
the grain Of leather made from such hides
is coarse and poor. On the other hand, ia
the cold regions, tho hair becomes very
fine and so thick as TO make q kind Of
fur, which also destroys the grain of the
leather. In the temperate zones tho win
ter hides are better than those taken in
the summer. The grain of the leather ia
then at It's best"
Leaving Frankfort street and the region
of sole leather, the reporter sought u
large manufacturer Of fine feathers, u
leading producer Of tho American "Rus.
sia."
"What kinds of leather do you makeY'
queried the reporter.
Gan Of the finer kinds, including har.
ness, cnamcled, colorcd, Russia. and en-
bossed leather for furniture and wall
decoration
GLOW does your Russia compare with
the imported?"
'RussiaY Do you mean red leather? That
Is what the average American seems tn
understand by the term. But, I'm answer
to your question, can truly say that our
leather Is better than the genuine Russia.
Why? Because our tannage il better.
Let me show you"
Two hides were brought; the one i'm
ported, the other home made Russia.
The reporter could detect no difference.
'"The difference is positive and In our
favor" resumed the leather man, as he
picked up the genuine Russia, folded a
tightly, and vigorously rolled the fold be.
tween finger and thumb. Snow look.r
said he, as he Strengthened out tho fold,
lyon see the surface is cracked and a
wrinkle remains. That is tho weak point
IN this article, which, by the way, is OF
the best quality. 1t is imperfectly tanned
and colored Now try this piece of our
manufacture. There Is not the slightest