Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-10-16
THE KANGAROO In COMMERCE.
Extensive Utilization of Their Hides in
This Country.

Extensive Utilization of Their Hides in
This Country.
From the Providence Journal.
There are 5000 kangaroo skins re-
ceived in Newark, n. J., every week.
They are all tanned in one large estab-
lishment on Sussex Avenue, and are
then made into fine shoes. Australia
and New Zealand furnish kangaroo
hides for the world. The kangaroos are
killed in Australia about 800 miles back
from the coast, and are shipped from
Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle, in
Australia, and from Masterton, in New
Zealand. Up to 1869 the kangaroos were
killed and eaten in Australia, and their
hides were cut into shoestrings. But an
Englishman named Brown in that year
discovered the remarkable character of
the leather, and brought several thou
sand skins to this country. He tried to
sell the hides to tanners, but they were
shy o. the novelty, and he had to sell
them at sacrifice to bookbinder. The
bookbInder made triangular corner
pieces in ledgers and commercial books
out of the skins, and SO ascertained the
good quality of the leather. 1t was in
this way that the large leather factories
were first attracted to kangaroo hide.
The skin was found to be very tenacious
and the compactness of the grain pre-
vents its absorbing water, while the
acids in blackiDg meet with an almost
impervious substance. 1t was hard
work for years to get the kangaroo
skins. 1t was not until the Newarker,
who now tans them, sent agents to
Australia three years ago, that the de-
mand could be supplied. The charac-
teristic climate of Australia, and
the pugnacity of the kanga-
roo make hunting the hides
dangerous. Winter starts in May
and ends in December in that country.
The rest o: the year the heat is intense,
the thermometer frequently reaching
for kangaroos. They are called "set."
When brought to bay the kangaroo
jun ps like fash for the hunters chest
and tries to crush it in with his fore
feet. To prevent this each man wears
across his breast two or three inch
thick mating. Armed with a spear,
with club attachment at the other
end, they ride upon swift horses into
a herd. With the agility and equi.
poise of circus riders they stand erect
upon their horses and use their spears
and clubs. The kangaroo is able to
Jump clear over a horse. AS the game
is bagged it is skinned, and the skin is
stretched on the ground and pegged
down to prevent shrinkage. The flesh
furnishes meat for the camp. Each
man places his private mark upon his
booty. and when they have 100 skins
apiece they return back to civil
zation. There are twenty varie-
ties of kangaroos, among them the
blue, red, Wallaby, black, gray and
Forester, the latter furnishing the best
leather, as it lives mainly in wooded
sections. When the shipping ports are
reached the hunters dispose of the
skins by auction to the highest bidders
and realize about 20 cents a pound.
kangaroo hunters make large profits.
One man is known to have cleared 81
500, free Of living expenses, in a single
year. The tanning Of kangaroo skin is
confined to men employed by Ameri-
cans, as other dealers cannot afford to
pay the high prices for the raw material.
The result is that Partisan and London
shoe manufacturers buy their stock of
kangaroo leather directly from Newark,
and prominent dealers in Germany,
Gree ce, Spain, and even Australia itself,
obtain their supplies from the same
source. The manufacturer here scouts
the idea that the original seven-league
boots were made from the skin of the
great Australian leapers.