Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-09
Ii HUNG CHANGES FURs.
A Sable Skin That Surpasses Anything
I'm Nature.


From the London Spectator.
Ii Hung Chang is believed to be the rich
est man in the world. This belief certainly
gains credit from a glimpse at one portion
OF his invested capital which has recently
made its appearance in the city OF Lon
con. Among other sources OF income, the
great Chinese satrap draws an annual
tribute of precious furs from one of the
northern provinces. This Is said to be the
mountain and forest district of Northwest
Manchuria, whose natural commodities"
of fur-bearing animals are mentioned by
the Emperor Klein Lung in the pious work
in which the imperial author describes the
country still held sacred as the dwelling
place of the spirits of his ancestors. Part
of the tribute of the Russian Tartar tribes
is also collected in the form Of sables. and
it is known that while the poor Tartars
send in the finest skins In true loyalty to
the car. dishonest officials substitute in
ferfor furs. and the choice of skins in the
imperial wardrobe come not from tribute.
things better in China Ii Hung Chang has
immense warehouses in Pekin crammed
with precious furs from top to bottom, and
no nIiddleman pliers the choice skins on
their way to this repository. 1t has been
done, but Ii Hung Chang is a watchful
ruler. and 1t Is rumored that the punish
Tent inflicted was so appropriate and d.
verting that no one has ever meddled with
LIS tribute SableS since.
There is an immense demand for rare
furs In China A nation in which neither
men nor women wear Jewels. but which
has an exquisite taste for personal luxuries,
fiEds a substitute for Jewels In costume.
An Indian or Afghan prince will perhaps
dress in white cotton. provided this be set
OH by some priceless gems on his sword,
dagger and turban. A Chinese mandarin's
ma no fnv To nf a
carnelian. but he makes up for this In
summer by the richness of his silks. and
In winter by wearing robes of furs SO
splendid that 1t needs certain education
to appreciate the full beauty of the Co.'S
tune. 1t has long been known that the
Chinese furriers were the best in the world /;
and that except In the dyeing Of sealskins,
their treatment of the fur itself, especially
rtvaled. 1t was not. however. suspected
that they could improve on the work Of
Lature. An inspection of some of LIS furs
recently sent to London showed that this
cient civilization Of the far east. There
were three or four robes which raised a
certain excitement of admiration. even
among the purely commercial experts of
tie wholesale fur trade. One of these
robes was constructed with special OBJ
ject.
The aim Of the Chinese furrier had been
to make G skin of sable magnified to the
creating gigantic sable, this genius also
wished that the animal should have fur
with the hair all lying parallel; whereas
In nearly every fur except that of the seal.
wien the long hairs are removed the grain
and direction follow the anatomy of the
tody, and give an unevenness to the whole.
To effect these objects the artist had cut
out the ''tit-bits'' of sable SKINS and d.
vided these into tiny strips averaging from
an inch to half an inch in length. These
strips were all from the same part of the
sable'S body, and were covered with fur
of even lergth. luster and thickness. They
were then sewn together with minute art.
SO that at the back the skin looked like
patchwork of tiny parallelOgrams like
the squares a fritillary flower. averag-
ing from three to four in the square inch.
In front the fur was absolutely uniform
Homogeneous and apparently without seam
or joining the kind of giant sable skin
which might appear in dreams as the ideal
of a Russian brides trousseau. But Ii
Hung Chang's furriers had produced some
thing better than this-a fur robe which
can justly claim to be an improvement on
anything that nature has given us in the
rarest furs of beasts. Sable was again the
material used. In this robe also the skins
were divided, and rejoined so as to Sc
cure uniformity of tint. fur and setting
But in the robe so made the artist had in
serted at intervals the skin of the sable's
shoulder and fore-paw. This. when cut
out, laid fiat and sewn together with a
little addition to the curves, forms an
"ocellus' like a peacock's eye in sable
damask, for the tint of the robe was uni
form. and only the difference in the lie
and texture of the fur produced the orna-
ment. The result was the creation of q
sable skin. adorned at regular intervals
with an apparently natural ornament of
peacocks eyes, such as one sees in the
tail of the white peacock. indicated by the
same alterations of reflection and lights
as in damask. The magnificence Of this
conception needs no comment.