Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-04-10

whole operation requiring five or six
weeks. The n-liquor. which is
largely fannie acid. acts on the fibres
of the hide as an astringent, making
them more compact. but ri the same
time leaving them supple. The
whole process is carried on simply
for the purpose of putting the hide in
such condition that it will resist the
tendency of nature to putrefy.
From long working over the watts
many of the employees have real leather
hands and leather faces sometimes,
too, where the tanning has touched
them.
After leaving the tan-roo the
hides, which have now become leather,
are introduced to machinery for the
! first time. They are fed between the
rollers of device which cuts them
laterally into slices of varying thick
ness. An unsplit hide is called sole
leather. The slices usually go for
upper leather" used in shoe and har
ness making. In order to prevent the
glazing or crusting of the cut surface
the leather slices are placed in a big,
hollow drum, the inside of which
bristles with pegs. On being revolved
at high velocity the cut sides of the
slices are roughened.
The leather is now pared down even
and rubbed hard or curried with a
wooden instrument somewhat like a
small dashboard. The water is then
"slicked out" with scraper, and
"stuffing" or clubbing" of cod oil and
tallow is rubbed into both sides of the
skin with brush. 1t is next rubbed
or boarded" and "stoned- out" the
object of each process being to make
the hide smoother and more supple.
This work is now done largely in a
device having cork rollers.
For black leather mixture of lamp
black and soap or lamp black and oil is
painted on and afterward given a
"gloss" and polish by roller machines.
After being sized with paste of brown
soap and tallow the hide is hung up to
dry, and in a week it is ready for the
market. The whole process has taken
about three months.
| ltuooCU lOoUhCl 10 lhduO SIMPLY
treating the hides, after being
boarded" and dried, with coloring
compound made up largely of birch oil.
The exact composition of this substance
is trade secret, each manufacturer
having his own recipe.
The japanning or enameling of
leather is trade by itself. The sur
face of the leather is first polished
smooth and then coated with thick
sirupy mixture Of lamp black. with
boiled linseed oil, umber and litharge.
Dozens of other styles of leather are
made in the east, but Chicago tanners
for the most part manufacture only
staple grades.
The tanneries turn out altogether
about 1900 hides every day. About
30 per cent. of this number is used by
the dozen boot and shoe manufacturers
of the city and all the rest goes to Bos
ton and the villages near that city,
where the largest shoe factories in the
world are located. Chicago and Mil
waukee are the great centers of the
tanning trade in this country. The
total yearly value of Chicago's product
in leather is not far from 100000.
The hides of almost all known ami
mails are tanned in this country. 1t is
said that when Henry NJ. Stanley went
to New York on his lecture tour he
met one of the Vanderbilts, and speak
ing of his African explorations he said:
81 have something that cannot be
duplicated anywhere in the world. 1t
is trunk made of elephant hide"
Mr.. Vanderbilt made no reply, but the
next day he sent over to noted tanner
in Newark and ordered a trunk of
elephant hide. A week later he
dropped a note to Mr.. Stanley.
"Come around" it said 81 want to
show you my elephant-hide trunk. !"
The same Newark firm is the manu-
facturer of cordovan, alligator leather,
porpoise. kangaroo and kid leather.
Cordovan, which is made from the
hides of horses, is a comparatively new
product. 1t was first finished in Ham
burg, Germany, about fifty years ago
under the name of ross leder. 1t is
exceedingly difficult to tan, but the
fineness of its texture makes it very
valuable fol. high-grade shoes. it will
take high polish and is almost water
proof. The supply of horse hides comes
mostly from South America.
Leather made from the skin Of the
kangaroo is comparatively new pro-
duct. 1t is soft and strong, and the
light grades are well adapted for sum-
mer shoes and for shoe tops. The
heavier grades will wear excellently
for almost any purpose, particularly
for fine shoes. Kangaroo hides all
come from Australia.
Alligator hide is growing more pop
ular every year. 1t is used mostly for
shoes and valises.
Other fancy feathers made by the
Newark house are from the skins of
boa constructors, rattlesnakes and black
snakes, used largely for pocketbooks
anI clinDorc