The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-19
English Type Moving westward.
Equipment for the Militia.
From the 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 sad
die IS growing in lpopu arity year by year.
Black-leather saddles are giving way 10
light-coSored ones, the best of which are
made of imported pig-skin. The old-style
high -pommelled and cantled Mexican
saddles are becoming obsolete in The East
az ng with the disappearance of the bus
mess horsemans hip" of the stock ranch,
while the despised mOoley" saddle is grad
ually forcing itself forward in the West.
A large downtown dealer spoke to-day
of some of the tendencies and condi-
lions of the trade in saddles. THE most
popular saddle on the market now" he
said, SIS he fiat English style park-sad-
die, lined on the inside with leather, ana
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 horses
neck on the jumps. We have returned 10
the round cantle instead of the square,
and we are unable to fill all the orders we
receive for goods eff this kind
THE reason that we import our high
grade saddles is that they can be made
more cheaply abroad. In Engan a first
class workman can be hired for eighty
cents TO one dollar a day, while the same
grade of labor in this country demands
$3.50 for a days work. The duty on leath-
er goods is high, 40 per cent, but when
you consider that the who e cost of q sad
die practically is in the labor, you can
see the impossibility of $3.50 a day labor
competing successfully with the 81 40 pro-
duct represented by the cost of English
labor, plus the duty. American workmen
In
We import from England, but they are
not willing 10 work for the low wages paid
the English saddle maker. American tan
ners, too, when they give the same pains
taking attention to their work can pro-
duce just as good leather. But here again.
they are not content with the small, pro
fits to be gained from careful work.
Another American, maker of saddles in
the uptown district, explained the vogue
of English saddles in much the 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 when it
| comes to the very finest custom made sad
die we can make just as good an article
as the English. Most English saddles,
| however, arc factory-made"'
THE principal objection to black-leath-
| er saddles continued the downtown deal
| err SIS that the dye used to color the leath-
| er will rub off, to the discomfort of the
| rider and The Disagreement of the saddle.
| Then, too, this dye has a tendency to har-
| den and crack the leather. Harness made
| from ordinary black material calls for oc-
| casional oiling, and so with saddles. But
| with light-colored, natural saddles no
| dye is used and exposure to the air gives
| them a dark, rich color, as handsome as
| the black and far cleaner. There is a
| movement on foot now to have the light
saddles substituted for the black in the
| United States army, and l think it will be
| only question of time when the change
is made. The National Guard are COMPEL
| ed to use the regulation deep-seated,
| black, army saddle when they turn out in
drills and on parade, but many regiments
! provide, at their own expense, tan-colored
| practice saddles. Squadron A, of this city,
and Troop C of Brooklyn, are among
| those which have been fitted out with them
recently and l understand that the Twen-
| ty-second Regiment has declared also in
favor of the light style.
Not 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 tfle old kind
| have fallen off until this year | have sold
not more than two or three. Kansas City
and St Louis are headquarters for the
old style; and even there we are doing an
! increasing business in the light fiat sad
| die. The only reason for retaining the old
| style is that it is the most comfortable
TO men who are in the saddle ell day. For
| a park ride of two or three hours the
| English style saddle is far more satisfac-
| tory. A very large share of the new bust
ness in saddles is with the South. Pitts
| burg is a large distributing point; and
| from there southwark the new saddle
1 reigns.
| Probably the greatest change has been