Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1892-02-06
LEATHER'S THE STUFF.
SEVERAL CURIOUS FACTS CON
CERHING 1T.
Used in tho Days Of TubaI Cain and =
One OF the Most Important and
valued Articles Known
in MaaufI ctures.

much about it They have always
BEEN accustomed TO seeing il in so
many forms and put to so many uses
that i; has never occurred to them
whaA an interesting history leather
has. 1t is interesting to note facts in
the line of footwear alone. There are
fifty millions OF people in this country
who wear out each three pairs of shoes
yearly. This gives an approximate
figure of $50, 600 600 pair OF SHOES
used annually in the United States. A
baby is scarcely out OF its swaddling
clothes until ii is provided with a pair
of shoes to cover its little feet, and
shoes it will continue to wear on
through childhood. youth and old age.
and until done with life and the things
OF this world forever. Among tanners
there is an old saying, There's moth
ing like leather.
The old tanner is very nearly right
when he says 1T dates from time un-
known, for leather is OF the very
highest antiquity. Long before the
days OF Noah's ark there were those.
who, according to Holy Writ lived in
tents and kept cattle. II is hardly to
be doubted that these people who
tended hocks and herds. which fur
nished them both with meat and drink.
also made use of the skins of their an
finals for articles OF clothing. and,
therefore, very early acquired some
knowledge of the tanners art In the
book OF Genesis mention is made of
colored leather, and all evidences of
an extraneous character 90 to show
thai some simple method of tanning
and dressing the skins of animals was
known before even Tubal Cain learned
the trade OF brass founder
The ancient Egyptians were skilled
in the art Of tanning leather and man
ufactured il in various ways and for
various purposes besides that of fur
nishiug covering for the feet Indeed
it is TO those builders OF the pyramids
that we are indebted for the first artis-
/ tic forms OF footwear: and so far az
can be ascertained from history and
/ the researches of arch8ologists the
| Egyptians were the first shoemakers
who were worthy of the name.
Ii is fact too. that tanners of to-
day employ very much the same meth.
| DDS as did the aucientS About the
same materials are used and the pro-
cesses are almost precisely similar 10
those in vogue hundreds OF years ago.
il is true that tanners Of the present
day have found means of greatly short
/ ening the time required to convert a
/ hide into leather, and that steam
| power and modern machinery have
| done much to expedite and improve
the processes of flushing the leather,
| but after all the principles OF tanning
! remain the same as they have from the
/ first
Leather was very early used as a
currency. says the Chicago Herald,
the Romans employing it for this pur-
| pose before either gold. silver or brass
| came into common use. History is
| full of references showing that leather
| was used by the ancients rs sort of
circulating medium of exchange. 1t
is said on good authority. that so late
4 as the reign OF Louis MI. OF France
4 the country became SO impoverished
and. as a consequence. money was SO
| scarce that little pieces of leather
with small silver nail driven through
each, were in general use as money
| Some few specimens of This leather
money are still in existence, but are
only 10 be found in the possession. of
numismatists, by whom they are highly
. priced
However, the manufacture of leather
4 has ever been slow and tedious FRO
i cess, as compared with mos every in
] dustries. and even now, with improved
processes OF tanning and finishing.
months are required for the tanner Ia
convert the hide of an animal in q
| leather There is too, u popular
| opinion extant that tanners do no.
make as good leather now from hides
that are tanned in three months time
as they used 20 turn out when nine.
and even twelve. months were neces-
1 sary. This is a mistake.
As a matter of fact better leather il
made to-day from hides in from sixty
TO ninety days than was manufactured
in the old way. 1t should be remem-
bered. however, that hides are tanned
in precisely the same manner now
they have always been. That is the
same agencies are used for combining
it with the gelatine Of the hide and
for converting it into leather Mod.
ern tanners have simply discovered
methods by which the fannie acid i.
made to penetrate more quickly into
the pores OF the skin. This is accom-
plished partly by frequent manipula.
ton OF the hides while in the watts anG
partly by special treatments for keep
ing the pores OF the skins open duriDs
the tanning process. 1t is u tact vel
known TO all tanners that any method
or process which will hasten the unior
of the fannie acid with the hide short
ems materially the time necessary L
convert it into leather.
Unpublished Poems BY Hurns.
A book buyer has stumbled upon ;
manuscript containing three poems b!