The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-03-06
FORTUNES IN HIDES.
4 Great Busine 50 Done Ia Hand.
iieg Furs and Pelts.
Tie skins OF Animals, Wild and Tame.
Have Always Been In Great De-
maed in the East-Some In
teresting Particulars.

cotton and fax. while still the stout
old merchants of the swamp maintain
the tradition of the days when the
foundations of great New York for
tunes were laid in furs and pelts. In
the weird shadows OF the old ware
houses one would scarcely be surprised
if the painted ghost of chief of the
Manhatoes should step forth from the
draperies of leather, with his eelslin
noccasins. spurning the prosaic dust
Of commerce. Back of him might rise
another phantom-Savage Man. as
Carlyle describes him, with his thick
natural fell' and naught else.
Not all in the swamp is tame, do
nestle. Calfslins and cowhides arc
there, of course, the great staples OF
the leather trade. Buta hundred beasts
of the wilderness have taken Scriptural
counsel and yielded their mantles 70
their enemies. Their pelts adorn the
shelves of the merchants yonder. from
the canvas spread of the Asiatic ele-
plant to the pathetic hands-breadth
Of the Brazilian lizard.
It is long day since the hide Of an
elephant has appeared in Spruce street
The market is supplied by travelling
showmen who have the big brutes die
on their hands. No hides are shipped
from Asia or Africa They would spoil
IN transit. About once a year an Gle
plant skin reaches the swamp. 1t
takes a tweivemonth for tanning and
there is only one establishment in the
country where the business is carried
on. That Is in Newark.
An elephant hide so prepared Is
worth $500. 1t is so thick that il is
split dozen times, thus simplifying the
area of the skin in much the same in
genious fashion in which Dido's city
was laid out. These splits are used for
making pocketboolos and carpetbags,
which sell at a princes ransom. The
pocketbools bring as high as S25 and
the bags as high as 500. Only two
houses are known TO manufacture
them. The elephant has a rival in the
walrus hide, which is corrugated and
marvelously tough. 1t has no use OF
vestment, but it is valuable for polish
ing purposes, emery wheels and the
like. Another sea animal, the por-
poise, Yields a hide which is cut into
strips and makes shoe strings. There
is some small trade in it in the leather
district.
The scalp of "that old serpent, the
natural enemy of woman" now dam
giles in triumph from her girdle. Snake
skins are in high favor for reticules,
belts and pocketbooks. Chiefly the
rattlers and boa constructors are
sought out for destruction. A skin
eight inches wide and eight feet long
brings about $3.50. For similar use the
jungles have witnessed run on Java
and Brazilian lizards. The skins of the
former are sometimes three feet long,
while the Brazilian variety is only a
few inches in length, but brings even
a higher price.
Every house in the swamp has an
alligator hide hanging on nail. There
is tender strip of skin on the belly of
the gigantic saurian that answers the
same purposes as the garb of his little
brother the lizard. This segment of
epidermis sells for about S1.25. Very
few shoes are any longer made of alli-
gator skin. On the back of the brute
is an area rough as cobblestone pave
ment, that has recently been levied
upon with artistic results for the COW
erings of bags. Occasionally a croco-
die hide comes into the market, and
then it takes one of the older heads
to distinguish the Egyptian from mis-
American cousin. There is always a
lively business in kangaroo leather.
The raw hides are shipped here from
Australia in casks, picked away in
brine. When turned they bring 20 10
* cents 4 square foet.-N. y. NAH and
Express.