Telegram-herald., 1890-08-16

character ~ almost every O1a-ness -
existence slsbln the last EiIy ye---s, lat
taere = one which s<ll reLalns It's prime
va simplicity. That : the manuE4ct-
are q leather The ole thing needed %
make good leather Is time. snd ss m0dsfn
machines tend u eliminate that element
they are 4 10 us hrre. TIE ancient
and honorable occupation OF tie tanner
Stands proof against Innovations
Notwithstanding that TACT there Is an
Irnmense amount Of leather made, and
Cincinnatls output for a year reaches
the enormous quantity CT 4s2 coo hides.
valued at "a CSC, 0o0 CT this fully half
IS made az one t2nneEy, WAlch IS the
largest IL the world.
IL w@s 70 tals tannery that reporter
bet0ok himself yesterday u SEQ how the
Old fashioned business wss conducted
The obhging superintendent took kim II
hand. and fOr one hour and 2 half the
pair marched steadily onward, upstairs,
down elevators ana through yil@inous
smells.
FORESTS OF BARK.
The first rooIa entered was the bark
store room, where there was an immense
pile Of 1000 cords Of chestnut oak bark.
This is obtained from Kentucky, Ten
nessee and Alabama, and enough Is kept
stored for q years use. At one end of
this rocrn is q machine, into which two
men are kept busy feeding the bark 10
be ground up The tan bark was leis
for awhile and the hide room was visit
cd. This is below the level OF tho rail
road track. and trap door opens IN the
ceiling. through which the hides are
dropped from the cars. Most Of the
hides come from Chicago. bat for pat
ent leather those brought from Paris,
France, are the best, rs they are larger
and thicker Rough hides range IN value
from SS to $40, according TO grade. They
are here sorted, weighed and put into
packs Of 13i hides each, and one hide Of
each pack is numbered. The whole pack
is started At once, and comes out finished
at the same time. BY means Of a rope
attached to the numbered hide the loca-
tion Of any pack can be ascertained at
any time.
Next comes the beam house. Here
the hides are soaked in clear water for
three days, receiving four changes Of
water in that time. Thus thoroughly
soaked they are plunged into lime water
and left FOR five days. one more day in
fresh water and they are run through q
machine at the rate Of 5l2 daily and have
all the hair removed. Next they go 10
the beams, which are boards about five
feet long. inclined to an angle of forty
FIVE degrees and having 4 longitudinal
convexity upward and being covered
with zinc. Upon these the hides are
/ thrown flesh side up, and the flesh side
scraped off with broad bladed knives.
The bits Of meat go TO the glue factories
and the hair is used by plasterers. An
other soaking in fresh water and they
are taken by the strokers, who work
I them three times on beams to remove
/ any short hairs or lime that may remain.
/ from here they are put into fresh water
again, then suspended on sticks IN very
weak tan liquor for two weeks. They
are perfectlywhite when introduced into
this liquor, but come out slightly tanned
or brown
II THE TAN LIQUOR.
They are then taken into a large room,
the floor OF which is simply planks laid
over large watts. Into these vats hide
is thrown, fresh bark is scattered over it,
and another hide is placed On top, etc,
until the vat is filed. The whole Is sub
merged in the strongest tan liquor.
While these are soaking let us see how
the liquor is made. Ia a large room
there are thirty-two lecching watts, each
18 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep. In
new tanneTy these must be filed with
fresh water and ground bark, but in an
established tsnnery liquor is used. The
fresh bark is flooded with strong LIQUOR,
and when this is drawn off weaker liquor
is put on the same bark, the vat being
allowed to Stand eight days each time,
and then weaker liquor is placed on the
bark, till at the thirty-second time it is
pure water; or, in other words. fresh
water is put on worn out bark, then
transferred 20 fresher and fresheT, until
when put on new bark IL is strong
liquor. The exhausted bark is burned in
heated ovens and generates an immense
amount Of steam.
The hides taken from the vats were
packed with bark and suspended on
frames in tan liquor for two weeks
Here IS in the leeching process an old
tanuery has an advantage. The fresh
hquoris put on the hides that have beer
longest tanning. and as the strength i.
taken out by the hides the liquor is ruu
over fresher hides until at last it is rur
over perfectly fresh hides and into the
sewer Thus the longer a hide has beer
tanning the stronger liquor it is subject
81 20.
From the vats the hides are taken L
+ be secured by brush and stone in &
machine. They are then dried. Wher
perfectly dry they are tempered by be
ing dampenCd with fresh water. They
arc then polished with copper wheels
worked by machinery IN the manner 0.
a hinge haur0n. This Is the last tOucl
given 20 sole leather Betting leather i.
sold IN the rough without this last pol
ishinx Betting IS. however. made hers
and only tie best stock ia selected fo-
that purpose. The hides are first cut iut,
short strips of the proper width. soazeC
and secured. dried and stufei Stufins
consists in applying a coat of oil s1f
grease n the damp leather It is theI
dried AMI the OIL y ahsorbed BIZ th'
leather. after which the grease IS scrsDe,
ot5. the strip 3smpenei and put into
frame. where 10 is subjected ~ a crea
strs5r in a-.7rr thar 4 nav Icsa AL slas