The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-31
THE END OF sEALsKINS

The price of sealSkiIs throughout the
world is regulated by the auction sales which
take place twice 4 year in London, and OF
which the October sale is the most important.
The great sale of 1899 came off on Monday,
and prices showed an average advance OF
about 100 per cent over last years sales. ms
was caused by the meager offerings OF the
North American Commercial Company. which
only put up 21,000 skins for sale Buyers
were encouraged to bid against each other by
the steadily growing popularity Of sealskins
among the wealthy. In Paris, London, ST
Petersburg, Vienna, Berlin and New York
ladies of fashion are wearing sealSkinS, and
if the supply falls off the price must go up
When a seaiSkiu wrap costs at retail $3.50
it is plain that the garment must be the
apanage of The rich. Persons Of moderate
means must wear something else. An en-
terprisiug furrier has undertaken to intro
dnce a rabbit-skin, which has been so manp-
ulatpd as 10 resemble sealskin. This Is only
one of the skins which can be made up into
garments. Handsome wraps have been
made from the chincEilla of Peru, the
ermine Of Siberia, the silver Tex OF Alaska
and British North America, the woolly
lamb of Persia, the N. rten OF British North
America the mink Of Maine and Nova
Scotia the muskrat of New England, the
land otter OF Canada, the sea otter of the
Northern Pacific, the sable Of Siberia. Gar
ments CT fine sea-otter skin or Russian
sable cost even more than sealskins. and as
to these. the ermine and one or two others,
they are not likely to take the place of the 5 al
furs, simply because, even at the late adj
vance, the latter are still the cheaper But
the skins of the rabbit, the fox, blue and
silver. the mink, the muskrat and other
rodents are cheap, and if they were treated
as deliberately as the fuT-seal skin now is in
London they might be made handsome
enough to please ii portion of the ladies.
Whenever natural product becomes
scarce and dear an artificial imitation takes
its place and sometimes surpasSes 1t IN
excellence The tall stovepipe hat is an
example in point. These head coverings
were originally made of beaver skin and
to this day they are sometimes called
beavers. But when the hunters nearly ex-
terminated the beaver in canada and our
Northern States, hatters began to make
stovepipe hats Of silk. and now beaver skins
like hare skins and nutria skins are used
by hatters as stock for cheap soft hats.
The dress hat is siiken manufacture. a
beaver hat is thing of the past, heavy,
clumsy and deficient in gloss.
What has been done with hats may be ac-
compiished with wraps Human ingenuity
may be relied upon to invent some material
of silk and wool which will possess
the beauty and utility of the sealskin and
be far cheaper. The coming invention may
possibly take the shape of new adapta-
ton of such cheap skins as that of the rab-
bit, but it is more likely to be develop
ment of velvet plush such as is used by
matters and dressmakers. The skill of
modern artifcers can initiate anything and
often better it in the imitation. Ii the re-
cent advance IN sealskins leads TO the adop-
ton of a substitute the reign OF furs will be
ended. 1t has lasted long time. Fnrs are
the natural clothing of the savage. Be-
| tween primeval man and the brute the chief
difference was that if they fought and the
brute won he ate his enemy, whereas if the
man won he not only ate his enemy but
clad himself in his skin afterward. Wher-
ever travellers wish US to understand that
new tribe is III the primitive stage Of civil
iZation they tell us that the people wear no
clothing but skins. 1t is vii old coincidence
that the remark which Stanley applies to
the cannibals Of Equatorial Africa might be
used in regard tn ladies' OF fashion in the
most brilliant CAPITALS OF the world for they,
too, as they saunter through the streets
and air their beauly before all beholders,
appear to be clad in furs and draped in the
SKINS Of wild animals.