St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-06-01
COSTLY FuRs.


3he 1mmeEse B0010eoo O00o u Lo0Noo -
llandllng 9kias.
One of the most interesting branches
of trade is the fur business. 1t is in
teresting in its first steps; that is. the
pursuit Of the animals which are TO
supply the pclts; it is interesting in the
curious concentration Of pelt-selleFs
and buyers in London in each Of four
months Of the year-January. March.
June and October; and it Is interesting
in the beautiful dressed skins, robes
and prepared garments which are its
final result
London has maintained for many
years the pre-eminence in this trade.
American skins go to London to be
sold by auction. and then come back
to America to be worn by American
men and women, very likely ander
some high-sounding foreign name.
Russian buyers 60 to London to buy
Russian skinA
years auction sales Of furs in Lon.
don often amounts 70 twenty million
dollars.
Many curious incidents and caprices
OF the London market are recorded.
Ever since the middle ages the ermine
has been the fur of royalty. and it il
still used in the trimming Of the state
garments of kings and aueens; but it
long ago fell into disfavor with women
of fashion. White ermine skins became
SO cheap that the Canadian, Siberian
and Chic hunters NO longer sent
them to Waarket.
Two or three years ago. however, the
word went around from some mystic
rious fashionable source that ermine
should be once more the mode. Sud-
denly all tho buyers began to demand
ermine skins, and the price went mp ts
. great figure.
As WAS to be expected, the market
was soon glutted. Chinese hunters
sent to London NO fewer than ten thou
sand ermine skins in the spring of 1895
And then they promptly went out ol
fashion.
The ermine has been, in literature,
. symbol of innocence and purity, on
account of its whiteness, but the ami
NAL is far from being an innocent and
harmless creature. 1t Is . rspacious
and bloodthiFsty sort of stOat or weasel.
given to killing for the mere love Of
killing.
The ermine is white with the exeep-
tion of the tip of its tail. which is black.
These tips, dressed with the white fur
1T regular intervals, make the spotting
of black which is seen on regal or other
garments of ermine.
The finest and most costly and fash
ionable fur. ut the present time. is the
Siberian zibeline or sable. an animal
which is said to be rapidly nearing the
point of determination. This little
creature. known to science Is Mustela
zibellina, is . sable about eighties
inches long. with . bushy tail and Q
sharp. whiskered nose. It has re-
markable rich, three-fold fur, dark
brown or black. and very lustrous.
The chase for the Siberian sable is
now confined almost entirely to tho
peninsula of Kamchatha- II is dan
gerous business, for it must be carried
on in winter. and 1t that season tho
wilder parts Of Kamchatka are even
more inhospitable than those Of the
Hudson bay territory.
The very finest of these zibelines dc
not reach the London market They
are sent to the Russian imperial court,
and are thenceforth known % 'scrown
zibelines." The rest go to London,
where they come into competition with
the Canadian black sables.
The fur of the ses-0tter. commonly
called the fur-seal, il still in great re.
quest, and is likely, perhaps, to be-
come more SO il the efforts Of diplo-
macy do not more effectively preserve
it from extinction. The choicest seal
skins now bring high price. One OF
fine quality was sold in London last
year for eleven hundred dollars
Youths COMPANION.