, 1889-08-24
MAKING MY LADYS MUFF.
THE BUSY TURNER'S IN AN OLD
QUARTER OF NEW YORK CITY.

Hare and the Foreign Ermlne.
Furs in summer Yes, they're not so
uncommon as to attract undue attention,
but these are not worn over fair shout
hers clad in lawn. They are heaped in
various shapes of manufacture in the
shop of a furrier down in the French
quarter. At least one thousand men and
women in New York are busted in max
ling fur garments. There are factories
Employing many scores of workmen, and
there are dingy little shops where a few
journeymen work together, with small
capital, low rent and moderate profits.
In this particular shop there are only
four men at work-just the number re-
quired to complete n garment under the
division of labor usual in the fur bust
ness.
One man stands ut n counter with n
pile of muskrat skins at his left hand,
and in his right n keen little knife, shaped
almost exactly liketh outstretched wing
of a bird. The skin of the furs has been
dampened so that it is plant. The cut
ter, as he is called, seizes a skin, turns
the fur down and rapidly cuts out de-
fects with his birds wing knife. =
o1ANCil1 VI IhhfECI ShlNS.
Scarcely one skin in a hundred is per-
feet. There are shot holes. scars from
bites and scratches, tears and other dam
age, the result of careless curing. BY
the time all dcfects have been cut out it
may have been necessary to divide the
skin into twenty strips and squares.
About 20 per cent. of the fur is lost by
the process of cutting; though the small
est pieces, even those not more than an
inch square, are carefully saved, so long
as they are well covered with hair.
AS the knife slips through the leather
you notice that the under side of the
fur is n rich, golden brown, while the outer
surface is black. The fur has been dyed,
but the dye has not penetrated to the
skin. The dyeing and curing are done
elsewhere at factories which receive the
raw skins by the thousand from the
west and south. They come turned
wrong side out and looking like great
Japanese slippers from having been
stretched and dried by the trapper ON
pointed shingles.
From the cutters table the skins go
to the sewer. He sits in a corner and
works a strong sewing machine, whose
needle is easily driven through the skin.
Ordinary, stout thread is used, and the
sewer manages to piece together the va
rious scraps in such n way that no seam
shows on the hairy side. The seams on
the under side appear like straight ridges
or cords. The skin comes from the sewer
a patchwork of leather almost as strong
ly held together as an uncut pelt.
From the sewer the material goes to
the blocker. In this instance it is n muff
that they are making. The 'block" is
tn seven pieces that fit together and form
IAN implement that looks almost exactly
like a big wheel hub. The skin, which
has beer sewn end to end so as to form a
hollow cylinder, is placed on the block
form. 1t extends a little beyond the
block, and a little wooden disk is placed
I'm each end of the latter. To these disks
the ends of the skin are nailed, and the
whole thing is then placed in the window
to dry.
When the skin is partly dried it is re-
moved from the block and turned over
10 the finisher. He puts in wadding and
Dining and sews on the cord and t~assels,
if the muff is to be thus ornamented.
Finally the fur is carefully brushed until
II is smooth and glossy. Then it is put
into n round ~pasteboard box, ready to be
shipped to the merchant, through whom
lit is distributed to the retail dealers here
and elsewhere.
AGE OF WORKERS.
Four men working together thus ten
hours a day can make three dozen muffs.
Cutters earn from SIS to S1S n week and
,blockers and finishers from $40 to S12 a
week. Women are sometimes employed
Us finishers at about the same wages.
lrhe busy season is from June to Decem-
Der. September, October and November
hre perhaps the most active months of
business is dull, and the few men en-
bloyed are at work upon inferior ma
terial, which cannot be worked profita-
ply in the busy season.
Fashion in furs changes slightly from
Sear to year, and the growing taste for
hummer furs now has to be taken into
Recount. Boas, capes and muffs are now
being made for next winter. The cheap
list and most abundant skin is that of
The hare; the costliest are those of the
beaver, sable, seal, black fox and err
mime. The last named is extremely rare.
trhe disposed polecat contributes fur to
khe comfort and ornamentation of beau
by, and nobody turns up their nose at
him.
His unpleasant characteristics disap-
pear in the curing. Pretty boas are made
bf the hare's skin, and costly capes of
Lynx, sable and beaver fur. Some of the
COS tliest furs are imported, but the great
bnass of fur garments are made from ma
i've skins.
Foreigners have been pioneers in the
fancy fur business of New York, and
there are still many Frenchmen, Ger
fnans and Italians employed in the work;
but native Americans are taking to the
trade more and more. 1t requires from
bne to five years to become an expert
cutter, but other branches of the trade
are more quickly learned. The costliest
furs are made up in large factories, be-
cause it takes considerable capital to keep
a stock of raw material on hand. The