Evening journal., 1899-02-03
THEGRADING OFFURS
Differences Which Lead to a Wide
Range in Prices.
A Dealer Gives Some Interesting Par
ticulnrs OF the Misunderstanding
Now the Most ropu-
lar Fu-.

In a fur shop there are on sale scarfs |
OF various kinds Of sable at prices rang
ing from five 10 fifty dollars. The deal
/ er was asked why there should be such
difference in prices,
"ln the first place." he replied. "the
/ Alaska sable. which is the cheapest as
regards price, is not n sable at ALL II
is simply the fur of the plebeian skunk
made up TO represent the genuine arti-
Gle. The pelt is eifectually deodorized
in the tanning process. and makes real
/ IN one of the best and most serviccable
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 Adrondacks. 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
,rappers 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. scaDfs 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
il is different Take. for example, the
otter. and note how locality affects the
price Here arc two skins of exactly
the same color. The one from north
ern Canada costs S12. while the other,
which came from Florida. is dear at
I one dollar. If the otter had been taken
in central New York the skin would
be worth ten dollars, while If IL had
been trapped in the Hackensacl
marshes the prices would drop TO seven
@ dollars and for North Carolina skin
TO three dollars.
, 'eThls grading of furs as to locality
only applies in a general way TO the
cheaper varieties. A much more inn
T portant grading is based upon the
e beauty of the pelt, and here the range
e in prices is very much greater. Though
there are exceptions TO the rule, as "A
general thing furs increase in value as
their color becomes darker. These two
Q mink capcs will serve TO illustrate the
3 point. Both are 30 inches in length
d and the fur is similar in quality One
z Is n shade darker than the other, which
, adds greatly TO the rich appearance of
u the fur, and this enables me to put
a price of $3.50 on it, while the other
6 only sells for $3.50. / sold fne dark
mink cape few days ago for $500. We
: called the grade mink-sable, because
!, the fur rcsembled very closely the best
/. quality of sable In fact 10 was quite
- as handsome as a $1,000 Hudson bay
sable cape. and fcw'persons could have
n told the difference"
s The furrier was asked if $4,000 was
" not an exceptional price for sable
n cape. He replied that it was by no
means exceptional, and that capes OF
this fur frequently ran up to $1,000
in price. Ermine, he said. was very
ie little in demand just now, and only
Is used in the evening at the opera or
g some important social function. The
a price has not. however, been affected
'e The scarcity Of ermine will always
Ie make this fur costly. There seems at
s. present little chance that beaver wiz
se ever again come into general use.
W "The fur" he went on. (which has
T recently made the greatest strides in
\. popularity is mink. This is daily COM
t inc more into use, and dark handsome
- skins are becoming more rare and in
= creasing in price at the rate Of IS or
y 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
e though black. silyer-gray and arctic
foxes as well as seal, Persian lamb and
chinchilla furs are of course in con
slant demand. The market for furs is
ty practically limited 10 those STANDARD
e. varieties and few others, and it Is
r rare that a new skin comes into vogue
he A really beautiful fur and one thai
en- bids fair to become fashionable at nS
to distant day is that of the European
of fitch.
"a Electric Seals winch Will ~ uouH
y, replace the genuine article some day
OF when all the seals are gone, is manu-
e featured from the skins of the Euro
pean cony, small animal of the rab
bit family, completely metamorphose'
e by a process Of shearing, plucbing an'
'e- dyeing. This is a popular and service
n able fur and will last longer, it is said
IL than real sealsl1in costing two O
nd three times as much. To show how tn
IS preparation of such skins increase
their value an average sealskin, whicl
when captured in Alaska costs SIC
after it has gone through the variou
ne processes required TO fit il TO ente
20. into the construction Of a coat is wort
se $50. Cony skins are smaller, but bal
a' =, of 12 costs from IS 10 SIS in the fin
II ished state, whereas the trapper VIII
sold the raw skins probably only re
ceived a few cents for each. Will
r the natural furs are the most valuable
d..rd f,rc bnvo rnroh 40 rponnlmen d