Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-01-04
WHALEB0NE IS HIGH.
A Gross of Stays Worth More Than
Their Weight in Silver.
THE CATCH SMALLER EVERY YEAR
Only Wealthy Women Can Afford the Old
Fashioned Corsets.
NO SATISFACTORY SUBSTITUTE MADE
rcoRHrsroxpnNcE OF THE DrspArcH,

CORRESPONDENCE OF THE D1sPATCHf
NEW YORK, Jan. 3.-"Whalebone is
getting scarcer and dearer every year." says
an oldtime manufacturer on Duane street.
II have been at this stand for 26 years, and
my predecessor % years beyond that. We
have seen the annual production of whale
bone fall from 1,00O, 900 pounds under the
oldtime sailing vessels with ancient appli-
ances, to some 100000 pounds under the
modern whaling steamers and guns. The
oldtimers had to sail around the Horn, too,
going out and coming home with cargo. In
those days the whalers laid the foundation
for q successful American navy. They
made the grand Republic possible.
"This falling off of the whale trade has
greatly enhanced the price of bone. The price
ofwhalebone from mere trife has gradually
risen to from 81 30 to S. per pound. Yes,
we can now tell just how many whales are.
taken, and can gauge the supply pretty ac-
curately, but have never been able to regu-
late either supply or demand. We count
every Arctic whale worth about 1900
pounds, though they will run as low as 800
and as high as 2, 900 pounds of bone.
THE SOURCE OF SUPPLY.
"We depend upon the Arctic whale,
chiefly, though about one-third of the sup
ply is the Japan whale. The catch is usual
ly about 100 of the former to 30 of'the latter.
This last season only about 100 whales were
taken in Pacific waters and but about 20,-
600 pounds of bone from the Atlantic catch.
The latter is by English vessels of the Dun
dee fleet. You see it don't cut much of
figure in the supply, and that we must ex-
~ 1or 1xy 10 fha nd Tn
fact, we export moro whalebone now than
we consume at home and the worlds demand
has carried the price away up. Whalebone
is probably higher priced, relatively, than
any other product that enters into 30 few
articles of commerce"
At this moment an employe brought down
stairs and laid upon the high wooden
counter, before the speaker, small bundle
of whalebone made for dress waists-about
36 inches long. for cutting to dress length.
"You see this gross of bones? Well, they
cost just $25 to the Western jobber. They
will weigh less than SO many silver dollars.
These are the best, and there is only one
house in the country that buys them and
that is in Chicago. You could carry $500
worth to the ferry under your arm without
attracting attention.
wHALBoNE FOB WHIPS.
mo, the sperm whale has no whalebone.
The Japan whalebone is coarser grained and
is chiefly used in whlpstocks. Very little
good whalebone goes that way now. Here
is the kind that is used in the best whip
stocks" exhibiting bone about IL feet
long and a quarter of an inch square.
''That piece" continued the manufacturer,
sis worth 81 60 as it is, and, consequently,
the whip that is made out of it sells for a
good price. Many so-called whalebone
whips have only enough whalebone in them
to swear by, not enough to make them
really valuable. There has been no substi-
tute anywhere near equivalent to the real
whalebone article, because nothing has ever
been discovered or manufactured possessing
the same;strength, lightness, hexibility and
wear.
"We get the whalebone in slabs from to
II feet In length direct from the commission
merchant who represents the vessel owners
on the Pacific coast. The vessels are those
of the San Francisco Whaling Company,
who have feet OF some 40 odd vessels.
whaling trade now, although there are New
Bedford vessels in the business in the North
Pacific also.
THE PRICE FLUCTUATEs.
ga good many years ago the Massachu-
sets Yankee had the whaling business all
his own way. Instead of the long sailing
voyages of those days the steamers land
their product at San Francisco and 1t Is
brought here BY rail. As was saying, it
comes to us in slabs of varying length, prin-
cipally short and medium-the extra lengths
being exceptional. We nave to take it
short and long, and pay to-day 81 30 per
pound, cash down. I say to-day, for last
month it was S., and tomorrow 1t might be
So 80 or So. The price fuctuates worse than
the stock market, owing to the limited sup
ply and export demand.
'sWhat is a slab7 It is the natural divis-
ion OF the whalebone in the whales mouth.
They are close together in the jaw, feather
edge up-that is, this edge with coarse hair
on it--and the whole forms a sort of an i'm
mense sieve, through which the water filters
like the gills Of other species of fish. There
are about 300 of these thin plates or slabs in
themouth of full-grown whale. Many
people have an idea that whalebone comes
from the fms and tail, or from some particu-
lar region of the body; but it doesn't, as
they might, indeed, easily ascertain by g
look at the unabridged.
MoNoPoLIzED BY THE LADIES.
"Perhaps the whalebons trade. aside from
the fluctuations in price, is the simplest
business in the world, considering that all
the civilized world uses the article. There
are but five manufacturers in New York
and two III Boston. That is all in this coun-
try. We are simply manufacturers-that is,
we plank down SIC, 900 for ton of raw ma
terial, and split it up and prepare it for the
market. The articles into which it enters
are SO few and the space the material occu-
pies is so small, that the questions of ma
chinery, freight and storage do not enter into
the business.
''The bulk of the whalebone crop is mo-
nopolized by the fair sex. It always has
been and always will be so. Outside of the
stays we make this round, fine stuff you see
here"-showing a small bundle of bones
about the size Of 22-gauge wire and quite as
smooth and round-"which is 50 inches
long, for use in silk mills where ribbon is
manufactured. They use it for the edge of
the ribbon in weaving. The same grade
and finish is used In the best silk hats in the
sweatbands. Both are new uses of the
whalebone. It is rounded thus by being
drawn through hole in steel, being split
square and then put through smaller
and smaller hole until perfectly round and
smooth. When I add whipstocks you've
got the whole business.
SUBSTITUTES FOB THE BONE.
"Corsets? Yes, corsets and dress STAYS
take up, practically, the whole supply. Yet
fully 80 per cent of corsets are braced up
with something else. The growing cost of
whalebone has placed frst-class corset out
OF the reach of most women. Add to the
price of the raw material the manufacturers
price, the jobber's, the retailers and the
dressmaker's, and you will get what the Gus
toner has to pay.