The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-11-17
ENGLISH SADDLES
MOVING WESTWARD
From tho New York Evening Post.

From the New York Evening Post.
Nearly all of the best saddles that are
used in this country are imported from
England, and the English" style of saddle
is growing In popularity year by year.
Black leather saddles are giving way to
light colored Ones the best of which are
made of imported pig-skin. The old-style
highpommelled and cantled "Mexcan sad
dies are becoming obsolete in the east.
along with the disappearance of the 'busl-
ness Craftsmanship" of the stock ranch,
while the despised ''mooley'' saddle is grad
ually forcing itself forward in the west
A large downtown dealer spoke today of
some of the tendencies and conditions of
the trade in saddles. 1.-THE most popular
saddle on the market now" he said, ."is the
fiat English style park-saddle lined on the
inside with leather and furnished either
with or without the roll on the forward
edge of the fender. On all saddles used in
hunting this roll serves to keep the rider
from going over a horses neck on the
jumps. We have returned to the round
cantle instead of the square, and we are
unable to fill all the orders we receive for
goods of this kind.
1.-THE reason that we import our high
q dQt sdLutGS Is tIidl tt-ty can DC IEtsdt
more cheaply abroad. In England a first
class workman can be hired for so cents to
81 day, while the same grade of labor in
this country demands $500 for a days
work. The duty ON leather goods is high,
40 per cent, but when you consider that the
whole cost of a saddle practically IS in the
labor, you can see the impossibility OF $3.50
a day labor competing successfully with The
$l40 product represented by the cost of
English labor, Plus the duty. American
workmen can turn out saddles just good
as those we import from England, but they
are not willing to work for the low wages
paid the English saddle maker American
tanners. too, when they give the same
pains taking attention to their work can pro-
duee just as good leather. But here, again,
they are not content with the small profits
ito be gained from careful work.
Another American maker OF saddles in
the uptown district explained the vogue eff
English saddles in much lie same way. "A
great deal of the work. he said, can be
done by women and children, and is done
by them in England. But Wien IL comes
to the very finest custom made saddle We
make just good an article as the
English Nest English saddles, however,
are factory made"
THE principal objection to black-le&ther
saddles" continued the downtown DEALER
'is That the dye used TO color the lea,LleT
will rub off, to the discomfort of the ridep
and ule disagreement of the saddle. Then,
too, this dye has a tendency TO harden cad
crack dae leather. Harness made from Or
binary black material calls for occasional
oiling, and SO with saddles But WIZ light-
colored, natural saddles no dye is used,
and exposure to the air gives thera a dark,
rich color handsome as lne black and
far cleaner. There is a movement on foot
now to have the light saddles substituted
for The Back in the United States army;
and 1 think it will be only a question off
time when the Orange is made The ma
tional guard are compelled to use the reg
ulation deep-seated, black, army saddle
when they tutn out in drills and on parade,
buzz many regiments provide, at their own
expense, tan-colored practice saddles.
Squadron A OF unis city and Troop of
Brooklyn are among those Which have been
fitted out with them recently, and L under
stand that the Twenty-second regiment has
declared also in favor of the light style.
MOT more than five or six years ago we
sold a pretty fair proportion OF the deep
seated, or Mexican, saddle in this part of
The country, but since the introduction of
the English style The sales of the old kind
have fallen off uu,il this year l have sold
rot more than two CIR three. Kansas City
and st. Louis are headquarters for the old
style; and even there we are doing an in
creaaing business in the light, fiat saddle.
The only reason for retaining l.Lhe old style
is that 1T is the most comfortable to men
VINO are in the saddle all day. For a park
ride CT two or three hours the English style
saddle is far more satisfactory. A very
large snare of tine new business in saddles
is with the south. Pitts5urg is a large dis
tributng point; and from there southwark
'Ihe new saddle reigns.
Probably the greatest change has been
made in the womans saddle The old
style saddle sloped in the seat from the
right edge down, throwing a constant
strain on the stirrup and the supporting
pommel. A twist of the body was neces-
sary to hold the rider erect, causing, for
women who rode often, great discomfort
and actual injury. Then the old saddle had
very deep seat, and the knee that clasped
the pommel was forced into cramped po-
sition. But the present style of saddle sits
squarely on top of the horses back and the
rider sits straight and level on the saddle
The testimony of both these dealers re-
gardlng the increasing popularity of horse
back exercise comedies with that of a man.
ufacturer from the middle west, who exhib-
TIED stock of saddles and horse fittings
at the recent carriage makers convention.
THE horse is still a permanent favorite,'
he said, land in spite of bicycles and auto
mobiles, retains a steady and increasing
popularity. Makers of saddles and horse
trappings have to study their business and
adopt the newest designs in the same way
that maker of railroad cars does"
LIZ la, a