Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-10-22
LEATHER PROSPECTS.
harness Material Dull and Prices
Are Still Declining.
SOLE LEATHER MOVING FREELY.
dargins of Profit in Tanning Industry
Down to a Minimum.
RAILROADS CROWDED WITH GOODS
OFFICE OF PITTsBURG DISPATCH.
TUESDAY. October q, 1890.
Harness Leather DulI

TUESDAY. October q, 1890.
Harness Leather Dull
The Allegheny harness leather tanners
eport trade as very blue. Prices have
Iropped &c per pound in the past two weeks.
The stock in hands of tanners is light, in
pite of low prices. The cost of production
shade higher than last year at this time
when margins were uncomfortably narrow.
Profits are so small at this date that tanners
'zpress doubt as to whether there is any
margin lie t. Certainly it requires close
catching and the stoppage of all leakages for
harness leather tanners to make anything at
present prices Following are rates as fur
lished by James Gallery Co.
No. extra trace selection weights 20 TO q lbs. 81
10 extra trace selection. weights 20 to q lbs. 81
20 medium selection weights Il to % lbs. %
70. medium selection. weights II to - lbs. %
Slack line leather. made from stag heads and
bellies. split to an even substance...........-2 y
'ine harness backs 30
fine finished bride leather, russet and
.tiheu. ..'--.---toC per lo
While sole leather is of lc per pound in the
tasJ week OF two, demand is active and products
re moving out freely. The shoe trade is in an
unusually prosperous condition. An advance
IF 10 to - per cent on shoes the past month and
II materials that enter into the making of foot
wear are firm. Manufacturers are refusing
rlers for next springs delivery, a fact unusual
the history of the trade. Until recently sole
Gather was the weak factor of the leather
rade- Now it is the strong factor, and sole
Gather tanners find ready demand for their
PRODUCTS. Hides are still dull and slow, with
markets in buyers favor all along the line
5utf hides and calfskiDs are particularly weak,
till thev are &c per pound above the lowest
Nolnt reached last year.
PennsyIvania's Bark Belt.
\ recent interview with a citizen of Ridg-
ID,
interest concerning the tanning industry.
}idgway is the center OF the hemlock bark ill.,
iustry of Northern Pennsylvania. The
Iemlock territory of the State is about IS by
so miles il extent. and the tannerIes located
that district have extra facilities in securing
laTk. The cost of hemlock bark at Ridgway
: about IS per cord. The two tanneries
ocated at that point consume about 10000
Urds a year.
Large quantities of their products find ready
arkets IN Europe. and it is not an uncommon
llng to receive cablegram in the morning
alling for immediate shipments and see the
DDS on the way before nightfall of the same
sv. Saiu one of our leading tanners: The
'st Of bark transportation has become of late
hars 4 very important element in the success
the tanning industry. Bark is bulky, and
'st Of transportation long distances adds very
ateually 70 cost Of leath -r. Pittsburg has adj
.ntageS over New England tanning cenIers by
5ason of its nearness to West Virginia bark
1Eions.
Aud the tanneries located in the very midst
the bark districts have. of course. special
lIvantages. which count in these days of close
margins. We have reached a time when all
opportunities for reducing cost must be
watched, and the manufacturer who fails to do
% Is apt to be left
Railroads Crowded With Stuff.
Commission merchants are again complain
nE of delays on Western railroads. said q
a1ding jobber OF dairy products yesterday: ~
ave met with some heavy losses of late from
he failure Of railroads to deliver goods at the
;ue expected. \ lot of cheese and butter
,l-pped from Ohio, which should have been
lere on Saturday, did not appear until Tues
lsy This delay has wiped out all expected
profits. Our railroads coming into this city
E'm the West are evidently having more stuff
)rered than they have ability to handle"