The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-15

ing raccoon for black marten or passing of dog
| skin for French sable. but in the knowledge OF
| skins pure and simple they are well grounded.
| They could skin animal themselves II necessary
and skin II right too, and any lame -witicd fnrrier
even knows that the way a skin is taken of the
] beast is Of vast Importance in its trade vaiE
u our home country people could only ieetn ,nts
out West, in any part Of the country not settled
thickly. there are valuable furs \ great many
ore sent in 10 us offers, mink, fox, wild cat rab-
bits and squirrels hut they are ruined in the skin
ming. Instead oi being Opened only at the endI
from the Crcr urc like stool ny, that the under
or belly part could be used as well as the pack;
they are split open in the best part Of the fur and
places. thin in offers all Jagged and gasheo
and only part FIT for use. The uapper gels
smaller price thin he ' thought such ,S sEn S worth
These girl customers ul ours don't offer any
such poor quality skins; They have trained the
right and they send in a creditablc lot Of stun;
They deal in curius also. Just az their father did
in his, lifetime But the skins are their main
dependence and they are perhaps the only young
women in the country who conduct lust such
business. They come to New York once or twice
business in the making up Of skins, selling capes.
boas sleigh robes and the like to the people at the
the skins also and when they send off a consign
mcnt Of raw skins, you may know these skins
have been kept under good conditions The most
nlkative Of the two says she loves the fur bust,
ness that she always had u knack for II and
reads everything she can get hold Of ON the
subject of skins and their treatment, the dying
and so on.
"Thc woman who surprised me most Of the
lot in her acquaintance with furs comes from
every now and then but she does not buy them
dressed. Take me down in the cellar where the
raw stuff is, | pick out what | want she
told me The last time she was here we had Just
got in lot Of fresh stuff, some r W. hardly dry
yet from nearby traders and big consignment
from China dog farm. She turned up her
sleeves and went in to examine those raw skins
as i she had never known anything but skins
That wasn't her trade. but she wanted good sound
commonplace stuff and she got it, Not break
nor cash nor thorn mark about anything she
selected L can dress skin "a well as the best. she
said. Il could take any, ordinary shecpskin
and make soft and pliablc and delicate enough
stream within reach and could take my time
The Mexicans have this secret and | learned il
from the Mexican hcrdeIs on the Icxas sheep
German and he learned the fur trade in the old
country Since his death carry, it on but my
profits are too small to be spent in buying dressed
skins can do everything needed to any skin
from the time i, is peeled of the animal until it is
made up complete ready e pu. on ,,
with born talent Tor the business is from
Philadelphia," went on the expert, This woman
lynx black martcn. all choice quality goods
And she's good buyer, intelligent easy to deal
with, knows Just what she wants and is not to
be put of with anything else She has been
established in business on a good street now scv-
cral years and deals with the best paying people
to her She has ordered them for making into an
opera cloak to be trimmed with white fox and
real lace, took pleasure in picking out choice
stands her business and will enjoy having the
good material to work with. She is an out
dealer in Albany is also a native American. Also
does a good business in rcmodcling and has
occasional orders for new garments The woman
buyer for Buffalo house who visits us twice
year is as good fur cutter as you'd want To see
She gave ME demonstration of this in our work
room upstairs one day.
I'VE think Of furs as an odd business for women
because men have always taken the upper hand
in it. IT is trade that dates back the oldest
OF any in the world, unless it be farming. and
there's n strong dash Of primitiveness and almost
savagery in, fur interests, Then the values
men have generally monopolized the bigger
businesses Comparatively speaking, there are
few women who understand the Fundamental
edge and the commercial sense as well These
women have mentioned are really experts the
Others tnnd there are others dabbling in the trade
have merely superficial knowledge OF it. Many
with the Innings and ,,inE in Of hooks They
purpose and they handle the ready made stock
But although all this is highly important it is
Of the trade.
There are women who have been in these
and they have no more knowledge Of fu1s now
than thew had in the beginning. l myself began
a green boy in the raw skin department and
worked my way along through a dozen depart
ments to the post Of expert furrier. have been
in my present place fifteen years and learn some
thing new about the trade all the time. There
always new dyes coming up and new ways
Of manipulating fur TO increase dcprcss values.
There is time in the fur business for one To go
to sleep il he would keep up with the market
and the woman who devotes herself TO learning
the fur trade thoroughly. has n subject that will
have natural furs and artificial furs 4 few years
ago they didn't know thsi rabbitskin robbed
Of all its long hairs by electrical process would
give a marketable imitation Of sealSkin
New inventions are cropping up all the time to
change the fur business and there never was
occupation that offered more scope for study"