Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-05
SHOES OF HUMAN SKIN.
A Chicago Shoemaker Makes Them to
Order-A Practical Physician
Supplies Him With the Hides-His Only
Trouble is to Get Them Tanned. ~
Black and White Skins. sk
Chicago Tribune.

more reliable than any to be had in the
city, and Mr.. Gee, when approached,
admitted that it was so.
'FThey II never crack on the sides, -
he said, and they II never wear out.
They are most elastic, and shape them
selves to the feet so that there can be no
possible trouble from misfits -
81 believe l II get pair, said the
reporter
''That's right said Mr.. Gee.
"You IL never regret it. They'll wear
you forever and will fit like moccasins.
| One doctor 1 know has a pair of slippers
! that he has worn seven years, and they
! are good for another seven. l haven t
much left, but l have the skin of one
white woman here. 1 suppose you d
rather have that than colored man 5
SKIN
| - 1t was somewhat startling and if the
ereporter had not had a warning as to
what TO expect he would probably have
| been Hurried
Mr.. William Gee of No. North Clark
street sells shoes made from the skins of
| human beings.
He has done it quietly for some time
and is now making a pair of shoes for
| according to his own story, from the leg
of woman. A piece of this skin is in
the possession of the Tribune. Of course
| Mr.. Gee does not advertise the fact that
he makes shoes from human skin, but
some of his patrons have been told that
they could have some of these eek
tTemely durable shoes if desired.
These facts were in possession of the
Tribune man, so he promptly replied that
he preferred the skin of a white woman.
Mr.. Gee took a parcel of yellow leather
from a case and said:
"'Here it is. 1t is the last white wo-
man s I have. 1t is pretty hard to get
now. -
"Why, " asked the reporter, as he felt
of the leather.
"WeIl, it is hard to get it tanned, "
replied Mr.. Gee. "'We used to send it
out as pigskin, but before tanning it is
too easily distinguished, and tanners are
superstitious. l can get the skins
easier than l can get them tanned. -
How do you get the skins?'
'Fl know a man who used to be a med
zeal student and he supplies them to me.
He is a practicing physician now
A question as to who the medical man
was seemed to make Mr.. Gee suspicious
and the matter was dropped for mo-
ment while the reporter S foot was being
measured.
''What are the peculiar advantages of
human skin?'' ventured the reporter
after awhile.
cit never wears OUT" replied Mr..
Gee, "and it never cracks. 1t is the
most durable of any leather. You can
wear it for years. It stretches we'll, too,
and is most comfortable shoe.
''DO you make many?'
''No. l haven t had much to do late
ly. You see it isn't generally known,
and then I find il hard to get the skins
tanned now.
"Where are they tanned!''
Mr.. Gee evaded the question.
MIR. GEE PROVES IT.
Several hours later the Tribune man |
called again and suggested that the skin
was not human skin at all, but that de- |
ceit had been attempted. On this call a
young woman was working at machine |
near the front of the store. Her material |
was apparently from the same piece of |
leather that the reporter had seen earlier |
in the day.
elf any one wants to bet that that is |
not a human skin, - said Mr.. Gee, tell |
me what the amount is and I will put it |
up and furnish the proof. l can prove it |
by the doctor who got it for me and by
the tanners. -
He declined, however, to give the
names Of either ''unleSs there is some
thing to be gained by it, you know.
81 would like to know, though - said |
the reporter, 'that it is surely from hui
man body.
The girl at the machine made some
sort of an exclamation and Mr.. Gee re-
marked:
ySssSfe hates to work on it. -
3 when he brought out the skin that he
had shown in the morning, unrolled it
and laid it along his body. There had
been two pieces cut out.
"You see, - he said. as he smoothed 1t
out, cit is portion of a woman s skin.
1t runs from the neck nearly to the ankle.
One of your shoes and he showed the
was cut from the breast, and
the other another illustrations from
the Leg
In both places the leather had been cut
ont to all appearances for a shoe, and
TIE piece he exhibited had every indica-
ton of having been originally fitted to
that portion of the anatomy he de-
scribed To make the matter doubly
sure he brought out another piece of
skin.
''This is a negro s, - he said. TITS
taken from his side just under the arm.
You can see how thin it is under the arm,
and how it gets thicker further down. -
The matter was demonstrated as he went
along.
IT CAME IN A sATCHEL.
Going out the reporter asked the girl
at the machine how she liked working
on leather made from human skin.
81 don It like it, she said: "but
then there is no reason to complain now.
It doesn t smell.
''Did it at first?''
sFDid it??'' Her nose went up.
when the satchel first came here. -
"The skin came in satchel, then?'
eyes -
cit WASH It tanned?"
''No. ="
81 have it all tanned myself" said
Mr.. Gee. 1.-The skin is brought to me :
md then have it tanned. That's my
greatest trouble. -
''Who was the woman that this skin IS
,rom?'' asked the reporter.
Gwen, she WASH I a remarkably good .
- said Mr.. Gee, with smile.
There are one or two flaws in the
kin. -
'sYou knew her?''