Evening journal., 1893-04-21
RON LAMeskIN no GLOVE.
The Process of Manufacture From Hide &c
Finished Article.


Finished Article.
The manager of a fashionable glove shop
up town fell to talking the other day about
the making Of kid gloves. "Only n small
percentage Of the gloves sold as kid are
such, ," he said millions of kid gloves are
demanded, while comparatively only a few
goats are raised in the world, and Of these
large number must be kept until full
grown for breeding purposes.
"a substitute for the genuine kid is
found in lambskin, which makes an excel
lent grade of glove, and is easily sold for
kid. Genuine kid gloves can Of course be
obtained at high price, but thousands OF
persons who think they are wearing kid
have only the skin of the lamb"
"Where are the best gloves nader"
well, the French excel all other nations
In the manufacture of gloves. They are re-
markable for elasticity and give when
pressure is put upon them by the hand, and
retain their shape for long time. But an
excellent grade of glove is made in Amer
lea. The d6hestic glove sells well and
compares favorably with the imported
goods. In all the branches of the glove
making industry a high degree Of skill is
required and the workmen generally learn
their trade in Europe.
The lambskins are selected with great
care and put into large tanks at the fac.
tory. These tanks are partly filled with
the yolk of eggs and other soft, sticky sub
stances. Then the skins are subjected to a
thorough pounding with heavy stick that
is padded so as not to injure them. In
some factories men with bare feet tread on
them, their object being to 'nourish' the
skin and make it strong and healthy
The skins are kept in these tanks for q
long or short period, according TO the judg-
ment Of the superintendent. If allowed to
remain too long they become too well
nourished and decay.
After the work of nourishing is over
then comes the work of cleaning The skins
are worked in tubs of fresh water and
washed thoroughly until all trace of use
less substance is removed from the surface.
They now become soft and in color are a
dull white. Then they are laid on a smooth
stone slab, with the rough side down, and
pressed and stretched until every wrinkle
had been smoothed out.
'The skins being cut remain in this
stretched state and are then dyed. The
dye is laid on with brush, and the shade
is always darker than the one desired, for
the dripping and after treatment Tighten it
az AN1ob oA1 IudlNSIs Inc kIedlteb care IS
taken to prevent spots of dye from getting
on the inside Of the skins, as this would
produce a damaging defect in a high priced
glove.
After the skins have been allowed to
drip for several hours they are taken to the
drying room, the air of which is kept at a
high temperature, usually by steam heat.
1t does not take long for the skins to dry
out hard, stiff and rough. Before they can
be used, however, they are made soft and
pliable again by lying for several days in
damp sawdust. Then they are placed on a
machine worked by screw, and by a long
and gentle pressure stretched TO theutmost
If there are any holes, rough spots or cracks
in the skin, it is thrown away, or should be-
But not all the glovemakers are honest, and
the blemishes are often covered up. This
accounts for the sudden giving out of many
gloves.
'"Ihe delicate part Of glovemaking is the
cutting, as the least variation in the lines
will destroy the symmetry of the glove and
make its fit imperfect. Patterns are used
for each size, but even with these mistakes
are often made. In first class factories,
where the skin is not properly cut, it is
thrown away or cut up into gussets. Every
skin is studied by the cutter so as to make
the greatest number of gloves from it with
the least waste, and it is so graded that the
largest sizes are first marked out and tn
rest is used for children's gloves. New
York Times.