Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1891-06-20
Lrlraea rAnNeo On eLscTalciTs
Am.Fiezn Tsns-F~ B-ss What Va. ttssa
Ilaae in Easo,,. Is fhi. Method.

American Tann~Fs ti~as What va. a~es
Daae in Easo,s. rs fhi. Method.
Tie proress ~ converting hides into
leather. as now followed. consumes a
space Of tire varying from six tC.swelEe
months u alsa demands clnse attention
AMI good management. A. well as expe.
rience Great care has "a lie exercised
IN the selection Of material. else lot Of
choice hides are found az the expiration
Of the tanning season 10 have deteriorated
into second or even third quality leather
Tanners and leather dealers generally,
are accredited with being very careful
and conservative in all their business
methods.
With these facts In view Il Is not sur
prising that when It was reported from
France that leather was being tanned
by electricity. American tanners regard
ed the statement as newspaper sensa
ton. Twenty -four hours was considered
pretty quick work for even electricity
Il was not until the doubting Thomases
had seen and felt that they believed
But now since tanning by this process
seems an assured fact 1t IL no longer re
garded as sort Of transatlantic offset 10
our electric sugar refining. Every item
that can be CLEANED Is thoroughly dis
cussed and every source Of information
eagerly sought That the earlier efforts
in this direction were failures Is true.
but this was largely owing 10 lack Of
electrical knowledge on the part of the
inventors. They were unable to econoni-
ically produce an effective current. And
again, many experiments were neces-
sary 10 learn the strength OF the most
effective current But this in time was
learned, as was also its most economic
means of production Only a uniform
current will give good results
The process. as described by those
who have seen it. il very simple one
The hides are placed in large cylinders.
which revolve upon horizontal axles.
The drum Is filled with decoction 81
tannin and closed Provision is made
for the passing of current of electricity
through the drum. The drum is kept
slowly revolving until the process of
tanning is completed The length of
time required varies with the nature Of
the hide. For the lighter skins. such as
sheep and goat. which used TO require
from.threc TO six months, by the electric
process are tanned in twenty-four hours
The heavier hides. such as calf, OK. cow
or horse, require from seventy-two to
ninety-six hours BY the old fashioned
bark process twelve months or even
more would have been taken.
The cost of production is greatly re-
duced by this method. for not only is the I
saving in time but in labor. The actual !
cost of working is reduced over so per 1
cent. BY the bark process the cost of
tanning is from seven to eight cents per |
pound of dry leather, as against that of |
three To four cents by the electric meth |
dds. And again. where a force of fifty |
men were required to produce given |
quantity of leather, only ten are needed
to produce the same by the new meth
DDS Heretofore large capital has been
required To run tannery having regu-
lar weekly output As hides often re
quire to lie in the tan watts nearly year,
it will be seen that great number must
be in process of tanuage in order that a
certain amount Of leather be turned out
each week. In addition TO extensive
plant. heavy investments are represented
by the hides In tannage But the cleo
trio process completely revolutionizes
this. Hides purchased on Monday have
been converted into leather and put ON
the market by Saturday.
Just what effect the electric current
has upon the tannin IS as yet question
I,.s l..
upon the tannin, giving it more active
properties. Others say that it effects
the hide only Professor S. F. Thomp-
son, who has examined the process,
thinks that the effect is to open the pores
of the hide and so permit more rapid
access OF the tannin solution Another
claims that the current renders the gela.
tine more soluble, so that it Is able To
combine more rapidly with the tannin ,
There is reason TO believe that there is .
truth in both these statements. from the 4
fact that the leather il much more phi.
able and Of greater strength than that
of the long process,
A company has recently been formed 1
in England which is preparing to tan
quite extensively by electric process
They will have an exhibit o. their leath. /
ers at the Paris exposition. rs will also 1
the French Electric Tanning company, /
Our visiting tanners. leather dealers and |
shoe manufacturers will no doubt view |
1t with interest. One of our largest |
leather dealers has decided upon Paris |
trip. especially to learn more OF this |
what he termed a few months ago a new
tangled idea. New York Mail and FIX.
press,