Omaha daily bee., 1896-03-28
TANNED ELETnANT's HIDE.
An Extremely Rnre Article Made Into
ms

| An Extremely Rnrc Article Made Into
Purses.
An elephant skin Is decided rarity, which
only comes on the market once or twice in
a lifetime. The babies who were little when
the first elephant skin was tanned are grown
men and women now, and there have been but
two in America since that time. One of
these was exhibited at the Worlds Fair, says
the Chicago Tribune, the other came TO Chi
cago about year ago There are about five
pieces Of II left, and they are made up as
! pocketbooks and purses mounted and finished
in the best Of gold, for elephant skin
is far too rare and precious to be treated
with anything Of less value. The tiniest
coin purse costs $17, and the prices range
all the way up to $S5 or 500 for really
| nice purse.
! All of the skin which is coming to Chicago,
and which VIII cost over S500is already ordered
made up, and much more could be disposed
of II 1t were to be had. Elephant skin, ac-
| cordng to the Dealers never gets into the
regular channels of trade at all; IL Is bought
up, whenever 1t Is possible to buy 1t at all,
| by two large manufacturing companies.
| The Chicago firm which has captured the
coming skin over the heads of the New York
companies Is rejoicing in Its first attempt,
II never having handled elephant skin before.
And large number of pocketbooks, all new
and shining for Easter, together with a
prayerbook-if the heavy hide can be made
to serve this purpose-will come out of the
huge skin. 1t is only a small hide and will
not last long. 1t is the scarcity of the
skin which makes 1t so greatly in demand
Monkey skin has been sold for elephant skin
several times since the advent OF the first
hide in Chicago, say the authorities, but
none but the most casual observer is ever
deceived; to the expert in feathers there is
no resemblance whatever. and any one
who has ever seen the two skins together
will never mistake one for the other.
Elephant skin, although making "beauti-
full skim to the eyes Of the leather dealers
is not especially beautiful to the unframed
eye, being coarse in grain and rather heavy
The original skin, when first stripped from
the animal is several inches thick, and 1t
takes three or more years in the tanneries
ana watts, together with special and costly
treatment, to reduce it to thickness which
Will admit of being made up. 1t is soaked
pared, pared. soaked, and so on for months at
a time: then 1t is treated In various ways to
give 1t pablity and all the daintiness of
texture possible, then hammered and dyed
1t is capable of taking exquisite colors, one of
the purses now in Chicago being of wonder
fully lovely green shade, and the markings on
the surface are unique If not positively beau
tiful. This, of course makes it greatly ad-
mired, since anything new is always declared
beautiful, and the woman who buys a pocket
book of elephant skin, or the man who makes
her an Easter gift of one, may have the salts
faction of knowing that its value will not de-
crease. In all probability no more elephant
skin will be purchasable for years to come,
and 1t may never be had again.
The tanning of elephant skin can never be-
come a regular branch of the industry on
account of the long life of the elephant the
difficulty Of procuring the skin, and the length
Of time necessary to prepare it fer use Many
man has taken a long journey merely in
the hope Of procuring a good skin, to come
back disappointed. Human skin. the skin of
a cassowary or ostrich, the skin of a boa
constructor and the skin Of the horned alliga-
tor, may all be procured year by year IL only
the price offered is sufficiently large, but the
skin of an elephant comes by chance. Then
1t takes no small sum to purchase it, and, |
since cnly the finest work Is ever put upon |
it. the best workmen employed, and the most
costly materials used in its making up and |
finishing, it is an expensive luxury by the !
time it Is In the shops