Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-11-07
PRODUCED FROM HIDES.
WHERE LEATHER COMES FROM AND
HOW IT is PREPARED.
TWO-thirds Of That Used In tho United
States Comes from South Amertc1-Tho
Different Methods Of Tanning-Cuttinx
Millions of Soles by Machinery.

Different Methods Of Tanning-Cuttinx
Millions Of soles by Machinery.
Since the day that Adam and Eve ex-
changed fig leaves for furs the human animal
has had a habit of clothing himself in tho in
tegument stripped from his dumb brothers
How, when or where hides were first con-
verted into leather no wise man ever pretends
to know. Doubtless the process was evolved,
not invented.
Leather certainly antedates the earliest rec
ords, and no savage tribe, however low in
tho scale, has yet been found ignorant of
some way to dress skins American Indians,
in especial, are past masters of the art Rude
as are their processes. deer, bear or buffalo
robes dressed by them are far ahead of those
that white men supply, while the buckskin
of their moccasins, leggins, and so on is a
positive luxury to the touch, 50 soft and pill
ant Is it.
HEAVY INFORMATION.
Neat cattle furnish hides for more than half
the worlds leather. Next to them come goats
and after them the East Indian buffalo and
the sheep. Horse hides are inconsiderable in
amount and Of low value. Pigskin used for
saddles is in limited demand and supply
Dogskin and ratskin for gloves are mere items
Of account, not at all equal to the kangaroo
skin, which has quite superseded some grades
of calf, while deer hides furnish glove leather,
as we'll as that for variety Of other needs.
In 1886 New York imported from all sources
about 1880, 600 worth Of leather In 1899
the amount fell to . little over So, 0O0, OO0
The home supply Of hides is far below the de-
mand In spite of all the cattle upon our 10, 900
western hills not to mention the plains Of
Texas or the ranches of New Mexico. Mexico
herself sends us many hides, both of steer
and goat. Indeed, she ranks next to South
America, from whence come two-thirds Of
our importations
The heaviest consequently the best, OK
hides come from Buenos Ayres. They weigh
over twenty pounds each and fetch sixteen
cents per pound Big fortunes have come out
of making flint" hides-that is, purchasing
the hides from the plainsmen, soaking them
for weeks IN saturated salt water, then dye
ing and selling them. The advance in price
is nominal. but each hide takes up ten pounds
or 80 Of salt, and this yields a big profit be-
sides cost and carriage. New Orleans is the
main seat of the business in North America,
as it is also the entrepot for hides of all sorts
The twenty pound OK hides all go to sole
leather. Cow skins and those from young
cattle furnish the kip skins of commerce, and
the hides Of animals a year old or under all
the several dozen varieties of calfskin.
For cheap work, both kip and calf are often
spit-that is, divided by machinery into two
sheets, each by courtesy called leather. 1t
will wear for day, or maybe a week, but is
about the most unsatisfactory investment the
bargain seeker can make
The first thing is to cut the hides in two
Then they are soaked in lime water four days,
milled for six hours to free them from loosened
hair, then washed clean and left for four days
to sweat. After that comes the acid bath,
lasting five to ten days, and next the tan
watts, six in number, filed with ooze of vary
ing strength, in which tho hides remain from
five to sixty days. Once the process stretched
over a year.
Modern invention has reduced it one-half
It is claimed that the new electric process
will make good leather in a months time. but
so far that remains to be demonstrated, at
least on commercial scale.
DETERRENT KINDS OF TANNING.
Oak bark, hemlock bark, and the powdered
leaves of sumac are the things that supply
tanning. Ths kerk is coarsely ground and
stepped in fresh water to make ooze for the
watts. A very late invention is mill for
grinding oak wood as well as bark into sort
of coarse meal, which, it is claimed, makes
double quantity of the very best ooze, at less
than half cost.
Once through the watts, tho hides are
washed again, scraped anew on the flesh side,
curried with tanner oil, whose source is
those cod ivers that are not fresh enough
for medicine; then steam dried, pressed be-
twixt hot rollers, and sent to market the
''sides of sole leather" that everybody knows.
The bulk of it is hemlock tanned. That
bark is cheaper and gives a harder finish,
which is thought to stand rough usage best.
Oak leather fetches almost q cent or two
more in the pound, and is invariably used for
fine footwear, as well as whenever leather of
peculiar strength and toughness is requisite.
There are many big houses in New York city
which deal in nothing but cut soles. They
buy leather in quantity, cut it by machinery
in the most approved patterns, and can sup
ply shoe men with exactly what they want at
a great saving of time, expense and material.
Kip skin goes through much the same pro-
cess-only less so. Being thinner, it requires
less time and care. More chemicals, too, are
used in tanning it. and, when finished, much
of it is BACKED ready for the boot or shoe
maker. As much of the best sole leather goes
to the maker of leather betting, so the finest
of kip goes to the harness and saddle makers
who also use good bit of fine russell calf
Nearly all of the finest ca1fskin is imported
from France 1t is, and will likely remain,
the favorite for mems shoes, though kangaroo
leather runs it closely. Indeed so popular
has that become that Australian govern
ments, which began by Offering bounties for
kangaroo scalps, have now decreed close sea-
son, six months long each year, to prevent
the determination Of the queer animal Its
skin comes hither via London and Calcutta
and furnishes leather pleasant enough to
the foot but liable to stretch out of all shape
if wet and not very carefully dried.
Goatskins. whence come kid and morocco
leather, are sent to US from Southern Eu-
rope Mexico and South America The very
best are shipped from Brazil or Curacao
Formerly they were tanned with sumac; now
the alum process is mainly used Each Of the !
big factories, however, has its own formula |
and guards it jealously, as the corner stone !
Of success. It is known, though, that. after |
the skins are beaten In bath Of /
yelk of egg; also that slbumen is largely /
used in some stages Glazed kid, not so long /
ago under ban Of fashion. is now the height /
of style. PEBBLE surfaces are produced By |
machinery. and are given only to the heavier 1
grades OF stuff.-M. {. Williams in Chicago 1
Inter-Ocean
slightly Mixed.
"Georr. has iussibeep sent to Yale for four
years"
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