Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-08-28
THE FUR BUSINESS.
Busy Craftsmen in the Old Frenol,
 Quarter of New York.
So'eer' Sewer, Blocker and Finisher Gan Turn Out Three Dozen Muns in Day-Summor Work for
 Winters Use

uncommon as to attract undue attention. | out these are not worn over fair shoulders rs l Sad In lawn They are, says the New York | o'af, neaped i'll various shapes,of manufact
 ure ID the shop of furrier down in the
 1Fehch quarter. At least one thousand
 men and women in New York are busted i'm
 making fur garments. There are factories employing many scores of workmen, and tnere are dingy little shops where a few lourneymen work together, with small capi- tai, low rent and moderate profits. In this particular shop there arc only four men at "ork-Just the number required to finish a garment under the division of labor usual m the fur business. One man stands at a counter with pile of muskrat skins at his le11 nand, and in his right keen little knife, snapped almost exactly like the outstretched w1ng or bird. The skin of the furs has been dampened so that 1t is pliant The cut seI' as ne IS called, seizes 8 skin, turns the !ur down and rapidly cuts out defects with hls bird's-wing knife. Scarcely one skin in hundred Is perfect. There arc shot holes. scars from bites and scratches, tears and otner damage, the result of careless curing. by the time all defects have been cut out may have been necessary to divide the skin into twenty strips and squares. About twenty per cent. of the fur is lost by the process of cutting; though the smallest
 
 square. are carefully saved, so kng as they are well covered with hair.
 AS the knife slips through the leather you notice that the under side of the fur Is a ron, golden brown, while the outer surface is black. The fur has been dyed, but the aye has not penetrated to the skin. The dyeing and curing are done elsewhere at tactories which receive the raw skins by the thousand from the West and South. They come turned wrong side out and looking axe great Japanese slippers from having been stretched and dried by the trapper on pointed shingles.
 From the cutter table the skins 20 to the sewer. He sits in corner and works strong sewinR-machine, whose needle is easily driven through the skin. Ordinary, stout thread Is used, and the sewer man ages to piece together the various scraps in such way that no seam shows on the hairy side. The seams on the under side appear hKe straight ridges or cords. The skin comes from the sewer a patchwork of leather almost as strongly held together as an uncut pelt
 From the sewer the material goes to the blocker. In this instance it is a muf that tney are maktQg. The "block" Is in seven pieces that 1t together and form an imple- ment that looks almost exactly like biz wheel hub. Tho skin, which has been sewn end to end so as to form a hollow cylinder. IS placed on the block form. It extends a little beyond the block, and a little wooden disk Is placed on each end of the latter To these disks the ends of the skin are nailed, and the whole thing is then placed ln the window to dry. --~a
 When the skin Is partly dried 1t is re- moved from the block and turned over to the tnlsher. He puts In wadding and lin- ing and sews on the cord and tassels, If the nun IS thus to be ornamented. Finally the fur Is carefully brushed until it is smooth and glossy. Then 1t is put into a round pasteboard box ready to be shipped to the merchant, through whom 1t is distributed to the retail dealers here and elsewhere.
 Four men working together thus ten hours 8 day can make three dozen muffs. Cutters earn from $l5 to SIS week, and blockers and hnishers from $10 to SIP week. Wom- eo are. sometimes employed as fnishers at about the same wages. The busy season Is from June to December. September, Oc- tober and November are perhaps the most active months of the season. In the spring and winter business Is dull, and the few men employed are at work upon inferior material, which can not be worked protitably in the busy season.
 Fashion in furs changes slightly from year to year, and the growing taste for summer furs now has to be taken into &C., count. The cheapest and most abundant skin Is that of the hare; the costliest are those of the beaver, sable, seal, black fox and ermine. The last named is extremely rare. The despised polecat contributes fur to the comfort and ornamentation of beauty, and nobody turns up their nose at him. His unpleasant characteristics disappear in the curing. Pretty boas are made of the hare's skin, and costly capes of lynx, sable and beaver fur. Some of the costliest furs are imported, but the great mass of fur gar ments are made from native skins
 Foreigners have been pioneers in the fancy fur business of New York, and there are still many Frenchmen, Germans and Italians employed in the work; but native Americans are taking to the trade more and more. It requires from one to five years to become an expert cutter, but other branches Of the trade are moro quickly learned. The costliest furs are made up in large factories, because 1t takes considerable capital to keep D stock of raw material on hand. The busi- ness Is rather dirty, but it is not specially 
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