The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-03-29
FACTS ABOUT GLOVES
According TO Authorities They Are Not
Made of Dog or Rat skIns.

Made of Dog or Rat skIns.
There are many popular fallacies con-
corning kid and other fine leather
gloves. Some of the most sceptical peo-
pie, il their attention Is called to gloves,
will say with the utmost confidence:
'Oh, they are made Of rat and dog
skins; in fact. almost any thing but the
skins of kids" Many people think
that dog-skins play a large part in the
manufacture of kid gloves. The fact OF
the matter Is that not one dozen out Of
a thousand so-called dog-skin gloves
are made from dog-skins; dOg-skins do
not make fine gloves. They can not
be dressed to give them fine finish and
are thick and coarse. OF the rat-skin
fallacy it need only be said that there
could no considerable number Of rat
skins be obtained. and they would be
useless for the manufacture OF gloves If
there should be.
The dapper clerk in a gentleman's
furnishing store tells you: Now those
are dog skin; they are warranted to us
by the manufacturer and so we can
warrant them to you" The gentleman
tells his companion that he might as
well buy a pair OF dOgskin gloves and
pay dogskin price for them; for II he
asks Cor 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 or more
than kids.
Nearly the whole supply of horse
skins comes from Russia, and when
properly treated the leather tans a
beautiful 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 leath-
or that with proper care might
be made valuable is practically
spoiled in preparing it for mar
ket The finest kids come from France,
although a number OF European cOun-
tries furnish large number of good
quality. Goats multiply in numbers
rapily, with suitable care, aud the
peasants in some parts Of Russia live
almost entirely on goat meat
and milk and what few veg,
etables 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 Eu.
ropean countries will kill and dress the
kid for the hide They understand how
to dress the skins and treat them so al
to make them most valuable, and do no
blunder as the South Americans do by
mailing them upon fat surface and al
low the broiling sun to burn all OF the
strength and elasticity out of them.
"a good lamb skin is better than
poor kid said the superintendent Of
glove department, land many lamb
skin gloves are sold for kids, but tn,
supply OF kids skins is very large an,
is increasing each year, so that Their
seems to be no danger OF permanen
increase in tho price. although Their
has recently been an increase Of iron
ten to twenty per cent. in the price Q
the skins"
This was explained by a large deale
by the fact that though there i
theoretically no kid glove trust, Their
is what practically amounts to the sam
thing. The business in Europe is i
the hands Of three or four rich dealers
who can buy up the bulk Of the skin
on the market and control prices for
time, by making an agreement, perhap
verbal. to keep the price at a certai
point. This can not be maintained an
great length of time, however, for tn
reason that a number of America
houses now have special buyers VIII
visit all of the countries where tn
skins are produced and buy them d
rectly from the producers The onl
dealers being affected by the marke
being cornersd are the small ones. VIII
only buy enough stock TO last them
month or two, and when their stock
used up must pay the increase de
manded by the large dealers or stO
their works.--N. Y. Tribune.