The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-14


mention the plains of Texas or the ranches
OF New Mexico. Mexico herself sends us
many hides, Doth Of steer and goat Indeed
Sne ranks next TO South America, whence
come two-thirds of our importations.
Inc heaviest, consequently the best, OK
hides come from Buenos Ayres. 1ney
welgh over twenty pounds each and fetc
10 cents per pound. Big fortunes have come
out Of making flint" hidss-ttat is. pur-
cnaslng the hides from the plsinSmen. soak
ing toem Tor weeks IN saturated salt water.
tnen dyelng them and selling them The
ADVANCE IN price is nominal, but each hide
taxes up en- pounds or so of salt. and this
yields big profit bes des cost andc arriage.
New Orleans Is the main seat of the business
III n orth 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
year Old or under all the several doZel
varieties of calfskin.
For cheap work, both kip and calf are
often spht-shat is. divided by machinery
into two sheets, each by courtesy called
leather. It 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, filled with
ooze of varying strength, in which the
hides remain from five to sixty days. Once
the process stretched over a year.
Modern invention has reduced it one-half
1t 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 a commercial scale.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF TANNING.
Oak bark, hemlock bark, and the DOW
dersd leaves of sumac are the things that
supply tanning. The bark 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 we'll as ba k
into sort of coarse meal, which, it is
Claimed, makes a double quantity of the
very best ooze, at less than half cost.
Once through the watts, the hides are
washed again, scraped anew on the flesh
side, curried with tanners oil, whose source
is those COD hvers that are not fresh enou n
for medicine; then steam-dried, pressed
betwlxt hot rollers, and sent to market 1.-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.
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 1t by machinery in tle most approved
patterns, and can supply shoe men with ex-
actly what they want at great saving of
time, expense aud material.
in Grin rrfo ~.
process-onlY less so. Being thinner, it re-
quires less time and care. More chemic ais.
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 calfslcin is i'm
ported 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
governments, which began by Offering
bountles for kangaroo scalps. have now de-
creed close season, six months long each
year, to prevent the determination of the
queer animal. It's skin comes hither via
London and Calcutta, and furnishes a
leather pleasing 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
Europe, Mexico and South America The
very best are shipped from Brazil or
Curacoa. 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 jealousy
as the corner stone of success. 1t is kuown,
fhOIIcrh that affair ta ha SlyT