The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1898-07-08
Ii HUNG CHANGES FURS.

Pi'e''"" i''iS from one OF the northern
provinces. This is said to be the
mountain and forest district of nolth-
west Manchuria, whose natural COM
moditics' of fur-bcaring animals are
mentioned hy the Emperor kicn Lung
in the pious work in which the inn G.
rial author describes the country still
held sacred as the dwelling place of tl.e
spirits of his ancestors Part of Il G
tribute fthc Russian Tartar tribes s
also collected in the form of sablcs. and
is is known that while the poor Tar
tars send in til, Enc st skins in true
loyalty to the car, dishonest officials
substitute inferior furs, and the choice
skins in the imperial wardrobe came,
not from tribute, but from purchase.
They manage these things better in
China.
Lii Hung Chang has immense ware
houses in Pekin, crammed with pre-
cious furs from top to bottom, and no
middlemen pliers the choice skins on
their way to this repository. 1t has
been done, but Lii HungsChang is a
watchful ruler, and it is rumored that
the punishment inflicted was so appro-
pirate and diverting 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 or women wear
jewels, but which has an exquisite
taste for personal luxuries, finds sub
stitute for jewels in costume. An In
dian or African prince will perhaps
dress in white cotton, provided this be
set OFF by some priceless gems on his
sword, dagger, or turban. A Chinese
mandarin::s 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
a certain education to appreciate the
full beauty Of the costume.
1t has long been known that the
Chinese furriers were the b~st in the
world, and that, except in the dyeing
Of sealskins. their treatment of the fur
itself, especially in improving its tint
and lustre, was unrivalled. 1t was
not, however, suspected that they
could improve on the work of nature.
An inspection Of some of Ii: 5 furs re-
Gently 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 certain excitement of admira-
tion, even among the purely CONNER
cial experts of the wholesale fur trade.
One of these robes was constructed
with special object.
The aim of the Chinese furricr had
been to make skin of sable magnified
to the size of the skin of a bear In
addition to creating gigantic sa-
BILE, 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, when
the long hairs are remuved, the grain
and the direction follow the anatomy
of the body, and give an unevenness
to the whole To effect these OBJ
jects the artist had cut out the "tit-
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 sable's body, and were covered
with fur of even length, lustre, and
thickness They were then sewn to-
gether with minute art, so that at the
back the skin looked like patchwork
of tiny parallelogams like the squares
on fritillary flower, averaging from
three to four in the square inch. In
front the fur was absolutely uniform,
homogeneous, and apparently without
seam or joining-thc kind of giant sa-
ble-skin which might appear in dreams
as the ideal of a Russian bride trous-
seau.
But Lii Hung Chang's furriers had
produced something better than this,-
u 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 mate
rial used. In this robe, also, the skins
were divided, and rejoined so as to Sc
cure uniformity Of tint, fur, and set
ting. But in the robe so made the art
lSt had inserted at intervals the skin
of the sable's shoulder and forepaw.
This. whom cut out, laid fiat, and sewn
together, with little addition to the
curves, forms an "ocellus' like pea
cocks eye in sable damask. The re-
suit was the creation of sable-skin
adorned at regular intervals with an
natural ornament of pes
cocks eyes, such rs one sees in the
tail of the white peacock indicated by
the same alterations of reflection and
lights and damask. The magniticence
of this conception needs no comment.
When doctors disagree, they can al
WAYS unite in attrib,,tiny it to heart
failure.