The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1899-01-26
GRADE IN FURS.
Interesting Particulars of the Busi-
ness Given by New York
Dealer.

er was asked why there should be such
difference in prices.
I'm the first place." he replied, 1.-The
Alaska sable, which is the cheapest as
regards price, is not sable at all. 1t
is simply the fur of the plebeian skunk
made up to represent the genuine arti-
Gle. The pelt is etfectually deoderized
in the tanning process, and makes real
ly one of the best and most serviceable
furs we have. AS regards the others,
the price is graded according to the
country from which they come. The
further north the animals are killed
the finer the quality of the fur and the
greater the price. This stone marten
scarf, for instance, which sells for ten
dollars, is manufactured from sable
killed in Maine or the Adirondacks, or
some other moderately temperate re-
| gion. Sable and marten, as no doubt
you are aware, are only two names for
| the same animal. One is the scientific
name and the other the name used by
| trappers. The furrier borrows from
both, and uses the names with no par
| ticular reason to distinguish his furs
according to locality. After the stone
marten the next most expensive is the
| Hudson bay sable, scarfs of which cost
$40 and upward. The Russian sable
brings the highest prices and cannot be
| touched under $50.
| "In the case of the sable, the distinc-
ton in names helps explain to our Gus
| toners the range in prices for the
principal grades, but with other furs
it is different. Take, for example the
| otter, and note how locality affects the
| price. Here are two skins of exactly
the same color. The one from north
| ern Canada costs $12, while the other,
which came from Florida, is dear at
one dollar. If the otter had been taken
| in central New York the skin would
be worth ten dollars, while if it had
been trapped in the Hackensack
marshes the prices would drop to seven
dollars and for a North Carolina skin
| 10 three dollars.
| This grading of furs as to locality
only applies in a general way to the
| cheaper varieties. A much more i'm
| portant grading is based upon the
| beauty of the pelt, and here the range
in prices is very much greater. Though
| there are exceptions to the rule, as
| general thing furs increase in value as
| their color becomes darker. These two
mink capes will serve to illustrate the
| point. Both are 80 inches in length
and the fur is similar in quality. One
| is a shade darker than the other. which
adds greatly to the rich appearance of
| the fur, and this enables me to put
price of $3.50 on it. while the other
only sells for $3.50. l sold a fine dark
mink cape a few days ago for $500. We
called the grade mink-sable, because
the fur resembled very closely the best
| quality of sable. In fact it was quite
as handsome as a $4,000 Hudson bay
sable cape, and few persons could have
| told the difference"
The furrier was asked if $4,000 wa
not an exceptional price for a ssEie
cape. He replied that it was Ey no
means exceptional and that caPes of
this fur frequently ran up to $1,000
| in price. Ermine, he said, was very
little in demand just now. and only
used in the evening at the opera or
some important social function. The
| price has not, however, been affected.
| The scarcity of ermine will always
make this fur costly. There seems at
present little chance that beaver viii
ever again come into general use.
THE fur" he went on, (which has
recently made the greatest strides in
popularity is mink. This is daily COM
| ing more into use, and dark handsome
skins are becoming more rare and in
| creasing in price at the rate Of Is or
| 20 per cent. each year. The different
varieties of sable are also increasing
| in value and are at the present time
perhaps the most sought after of furs
| though black, silver-gray and arctic
| foxes as we'll as seal, Persian lamb and
| chinchilla furs are of course in con-
slant demand. The market for furs is
practically limited to those standard
varieties and a few others. and il is
| rare that a new skin comes into vogue.
A really beautiful fur and one that
| bids fair to become fashionable at no
distant day is that of the European
| fitch.
"Electric seal, which will no doubt
| replace the genuine article some day
when all the seals are gone, is manu-
| featured from the skins of the Euro
| pean cony. a small animal of the rab-
bit family. completely metamorphosed
| by process of shearing, plucking and
| dyeing. This is a popular and service
able fur and will last longer, it is said
| than a real sealskin costing two or
! three times as much. To show how the
preparation of such skins increases
| their value an average sealskin, which
when captured in Alaska costs $40,
otter it has gone through the various
| processes required to fit it to enter
| into the construction of a coat is worth
| $50. Cony skins are smaller, but bale
| of 10 costs from S. to SIS in the fin
| ished state. whereas the trapper who
sold the raw skins probably only re-
ceived a few cents for each. While
| the natural furs are the most valuable,
| dyed furs have much tC recommend
them. Stone martens, which are nat
H.