Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-09-04
MERIT And Mertz,
'sNew Era'' Tailors,
600 F. Street N. w.
ODD KINDS OF LEATHER
Skins of Beasts, Birds, Fishes aud Reptile.
That Reach the Tannery.
Everything New Discovered i'm the
Line Quickly Reproduced by In
geniOus Initiation.

Written for The Evening Star
III mas heen demonstrated that all SORTS
OIL leather may be tanned" said a dealer
In fine skins and leather in New York TO
me writer recently. Beasts birds fishes
ana reptiles are nowadays brought 90 the
tan yards, where their skins are cured ard
then made up into all kinds of useful
articles.
Alligator skins have long been a IA
Vorite material for the manufacture Of
belts. pocket books. slippers and satchels
lie high price which the genuine article
Tow commands, from $40 to $50 for a sim
gle fair-sized skin, has Induced manu-
facturers to produce limitations. These are
merely embossed leather The peculiar
So ally nature of the real alligator hide IS
ssuSecessIuiIy initiated by means of steel
dies. which leave a durable impression
Upon the leather that is so perfect a re-
sehnblance to the genuine alligator skin
mat only experts can tell the difference
I ne same process is used to initiate other
fancy skins, so that there is no novelty
tfat is not initiated within three months
OIL Its appearance. The alligator skins
were Erst put on the American market in
1876
THE skin of the porpoise has long been
Used for making shoes, and is in great de-
mand because Of its fine grain and water
proof properties. 1t resembles q goat skin.
fi.to leather for shoe uppers, and sells for
about $40 dozen skins.
Immense Trade I'm Kangaroo Skins.
Kangaroo skins have been on the mar
ket for about ten years There are some
5000 kangaroo skins received in New York
every month. They are tanned in .ne
large establishment in Newark, n. j., and
are then made into fine shoes. They come
from Australia and New Zealand I'm 10
iS09 the Kangaroo We're killed and eaten
IN Australia, and only certain parts of their
hides were cut up into shoestrings. But
an Englishman named Brown in that wear
discovered the remarkable character of
the leather ana brought several thousand
SKINS on Speculation to this country
He tried 10 sell the hides to various
tanners, but they were shy of the novelty
and he had TO sell them at a sacrifice TO n
bookbinder. The latter made Triangular
corner pieces for ledgers and commercial
DOCKS out OF them. and so ascertaned the
good qualities of the leather 1t was in
this way that several large leather factories
We're hrst attracted to the valuable prom
critics of kangaroo hide The skin is founa
10 be very tenacious, and the commences
OF the grain prevents its absorbing water.
Whlle the acids in backing meet with an
almost impervious substance
RattIesnake Hides
Inc skin of the rattlesnake is now
used chiefly for making pocket books and
ladies' belts. The mo:tled appearance Of
the finished skin makes a pretty leather.
and it is expensive. There is an imi:a-
ton skin made Of embossed sheepskin.
The skin of the monkey is also tanned
ana used Tor making pocket books Bear
skins have long been used with the haiI.
on for caps, gloves and coats, and the hides
are also used for leather
horses hides are successfully tanned
and put upon the market as a standard
article of leather. There are two factories
in Philadelphia, that use up in a season
one hundred horse hides a week to cover
base balls. They are alum-tanned, One
hide viii furnish covers for ten dozen No
balls and from five to six dozen inferior
ones. Horses hides for this and other pur-
poses sell from $3.50 to 81, according TO
size. kips are also used. They sell at IL
cents foot, and sheepskins from $3.50 to
s. dozen. piece of rubber forms the