The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-07
PRECIOUS FURS OF CHINA.
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT THEIR VA
RIETY, VALUE AND SUPPLY.

The Robes of Ii Hung Chnng-Skins
Are Chief Source of Income to
This "Richest Man in the World"
A Sable Garment to Dream About.
The "Open Door, in China Makes
Rivalry for Our Trade.
From the London Spectator.
| Ii Hung Chang is believed to be the
richest man in the world. This belief GER
tanly gains credit from glimpse at one
| portion of mis- invested capital, which has
recently made it's appearance in the city of
London. 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-beariug animals are mentioned by
| the Emperor KEN Lung in the pious work
in which the imperial author describes the
country stin 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 sabies and
| it is known that, while the poor Tartars
send in the finest skins in true loyalty to
the Car, dishonest officials substitute in
ferior furs and the choice skins in the i'm
periai wardrobe come not from tribute but
from purchase. They manage these things
better in China. Ii Hung Chang has i'm
mense warehouses in Pekin crammed with
precious furs from top to bottom, and no
| middleman pliers the choice skins on their
] way to this repository. 1t has been done,
| but Ii Hung Chang is waIchful
ruler. and it is TpInored that the pun
ishment inflicted was SO appropriate and
| diVerting that no one has ever meddled
| with LIS tribute sab,es since. There is
| an immense demand for rare furs IN chi
na A nation in which neither men nor
women wear jewels, but which has an
exquisite taste for personal luXuries, finds
a substitute for jewels in costume. An
| Indian or Afghan prince wlll perhaps dress
in white cotton, provided this be set off
| by some priceless gems on his sword,
| dagger, and turban. A Chinese Mandar
| ms sole jewels may be few bits of jade
or 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 it needs q certain education
| to appreciate the full beauty of the cos
tune. 1t has long been known that the
| Chinese furriers were the best in the
| world; and that except in the dyeing of
| sealskns their treatment of the fur it.
self, especially in improving its tint and
luster, was unrivaled. 1t was not, how
ever, suspected that they could improve
on the work of nature. An inspection of
some of Lis furs recently sent to London
showed that this was a task not beyond
| the art of the ancient civilization of the
far east. There were three or four robes
which raised a certain excitement of ad-
miration, even among the purely CONNER
cial experts of the wholesale fur trade.
One of these robes was constructed with
a special object. The aim of the Chinese
furrier had been to make the skin of sable
magnifed to the size of the skin of bear
In addition to creating a gigantic sable.
| this genius also wished that the animal
should have fur with the hair all tying
parallel; whereas in nearly every fur ex-
cept that of the seal, when the long hairs
are removed the grain and direction fol-
low the anatomy of the body and give an
unevenness to the whole. To effect these
objects the artist had cut out the It'd
bits" of sable skins, and divided these
into tiny strips averaging from an inch
to half an inch in length. These strips
were all from The same part of the sa-
ble's body, and were covered with fur of
even length, luster and thickness. They
were. sewed together with minute art, so
that at the back the skin looked like a
patchwork of tiny parallelograms like the
squares on a fritillary flower, averaging
from three to four in the square inch. In
front the fur was absolutely uniform, hon.
ogeneous, and apparently without seam or
joining-tne kind of a giant sable skin
which might appear in dreams a the ideal
of a Russians brides trousseau. But Ii
Hung Changes furriers had produced
something better than this-a fur robe
which can justly claim to be an improve
ment on anything that nature has given
us in the rarest furs of beasts. Sable was
again the material used. In this rooe
also the skins were divided, and rejoned
SO as TO secure uniformity of tint fur, and
setting. But in The robe so made the
artist had inserted at intervals the skin
of the sable's shoulder and forepaw. This
when cut out, laid fiat, and sewed togeth-
err with a little addition to the curves,
forms an "oceiius" like a peacock's eye
in sable damask for the tint of the robe
was uniform, and only the difference in
tho lie and texture of the fur produced
the ornament. The result was the creation
of a sable skin. adorned at regular inter
walls with an apparently natural ornament
of peacock's 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 magnihcence of
this conception needs no comment.
Three other masterpieces of this peculiar
art deserve mention One is a robe of
skins of the red fox mot the English rey-
nard, but The Canadian red fox. with fur
various in tint. but comparable in color to
the different shades of red amber. In the
golden parts were set eyes" of the bright
black foot Of this fox, with the smoother
and darker red of the leg above 1t, on the
same principle as the insertion of eyes
in the sable skin, but this time with a
contrast of color as well as of tone The
second was a robe of pieces from the back
of the "cross fox" so Joined that they APP
peared TO be taken from some much larger
animal. These were left the natural col
or. a cold gray and yellowish brown, but
set in a bed Of fur dyed chocolate color.