News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-03-07
A FEW FACTS ABOUT GLOVES.
Not Made From Dog Skins or Rat
Skins-Higher Prices For Kids.

There are many popular fallacies con-
cerning kid and other fine leather gloves.
Some of the most sceptical people, ii
teirtatention is called to gloves, will say
with the utmost confidence: ooh, they
are made of rat and dog skins; in fact, al
most anything but the skins of kids. >
Many people think that dog skins play
large part IN the manufacture Of kid
gloves. The fact of the matter is that
not one dozen out of q thousand So
called dog skin gloves are made from
dog-sldns; dog-skins do not make fine
gloves. They cannot be dressed to give
them fine finish and are thick and
coarse. Of the rat skin faliacy itneed
only be said that there. could no consid-
>erable number of rat skins be obtained,
and they would be useless for the man
ufacture of gloves if there should be.
Xhe o1<T>a,s-eltss.-cllz in Il gentlemen s
furnishing store tells you: CHOW those
are dog skin; they are warranted to us
by the manufacturer and so we can war
rant them to you" The gentleman tells
his companion that he might as well buy
a pair Of dog skin gloves and pay a dog
skin price for them; for if he asks for
kids he is sure to get dog skins after
paying the extra price. The fact of the
matter is that about ninety-nine out of
every hundred dozen pairs of mems
gloves are made of sheep or lamb skin.
There are some few made of horse skin,
but these are considered fine and in fact
cost as much OF more than kids.
Nearly the whole supply Of horse
skins comes from Russia, and when
properly treated the leather tans beau
tiful white, and is used for the finest
mems gloves. Many sheep, lamb and
kid skins come from South America, but
the natives down there have not learned
the process of properly curing the skins,
and consequently much leather that
with proper care might be made valuable
the market. The finest kids come from
France, although a number OF European
countries furnish 4 large number Of good
quality. Goats multiply in numbers
rapidly with suitable care, and the peas
ants in some parts of Europe live almC I
entirely on goat meat and milk and what
few vegetables they raise in their gar
dens. A kid five or six weeks old is said
to make a more palatable dish than
lambs meat. The butchers in some
European countries will kill and dress
the kid for the hide. They understand
how to dress the skins aud treat them
so as to make them most valuable, and
do not blTnder as the South Americans
do by mailing them upon q flat surface
and allow the broiling sun to burn all
of the strength and elasticity out Of
them.
ga good lamb skin is better than a
poor kid" said J. NJ. Salve, the super
intendent of the glove department of
E. S. Jaffray & Co., ''and many lamb
skin gloves are sold for kids, but the
supply of kids skins is very large and
is increasing each year, so that there
seems to be no danger of a permanent
increase in the price, although there
has recently been an increase of from
ten to twenty per cent. in the price of
the skins"
This was explained by large dealer
by the fact ilItt though there 10 tlieoret-
ically no kid glove trust, there is what
practically amounts to the same thing.
The business in Europe is in the hands
of three or four rich dealers, who can
buy up the bulk of the skins on the
market and control prices for time, by
making an agreement, perhaps verbal,
to keep the price at a certain point.
This cannot be maintained any great
length of time, however. for the reason
that number of American houses now
have special buyers who visit all Of the
countries where the skins are produced
and buy them directly from the pro
ducers. The only dealers that are
affected by the market being cornered
are the small ones, who only buy enough
stock to last them month or two, and
when their stock is used must pay the
increase demanded by the large dealers
or stop their works.-Neeo York Tribune.