The Worthington advance., 1900-09-14
MANY USES FOR DEERSK1N.
Guides Who Understand ThoFouEhly
How to Turn 1t to Good
Service.

now to tan the deerS moe, ana lew
who use as one of the tanning agents
liquid extracted from the brain of the
deer. From the tanned skin many ar
ticles of use are made. The thick hide
from the neck of an old buck is excel
lent for moccasins, and the art of moe
casin making still fingers here among
those whose ancestors learned it from
the Indians. The men and women Of
French-Canadian extraction are espe.
cially apt in household arts of this sort,
learned from the savages. Cheap as
factory made gloves are. few women
of the region still cut and stitch buck
skin gloves, says the New York Sun.
Whole, suits of bucks3kin are made
by expert women of these parts. Such
suits were once much used by the
thrashers, who Travelled from zone
mountain farm to: another to thrash
the small oats crop of the region. A
buckskin suit is good for a dozen years
Of hard usage, and with care will last
lifetime. It is remarkably warm and
1mpervious to water.
One rarely, sees nowadays. such a
suit with the hair on. A.garment With
the hair on to be serviceable must be
made from the skins Of deer just COM
ing into the "'blue," as the hunters ex-
press it, for then the hair is short,
smooth and tough. Later it il long and
brittle. It is necessary, too, if such a
suit IL to be Of uniform color, that it
be made from correspondiag parts OF
skins from deer of about the same age
and shot about the same time. Even
If the law did not stand in the way, it
would be difficult in these time. to
shoot in single week enough deer Of
the same age to yield the desired guam
tity Of hide Of uniform color, 80 a deer
skin suit with the hair on is rarely
seen. One, still does see, however, moe
casins with hair inside and out, and
very soft, warm, inviting slippers they
make. Raccoon skin now furnishes
cheap fur garments, and winter resi-
dents buy or hire Svercoats OF coonskin
to brave the January winds.
Raw deer hide Is used for many pur-
poses, It makes excellent thongs for
tying articles Of one kind or another,
good whips, and indestructible shoe
strings You may buy in the Adiron-
dacks rustic chairs with seats and
backs Of woven rawhide. The green
skin is cut in thin strips, stretched until
it is almost translucent, and then
woven into seat. The result is a
comfortable, elastic chair Of amost in
destructible material. Deerskins with
the hair on are still used for carpets
and mats, though here, again, as in
the case Of the deerskin suits, the skin
is not serviceable unless the deer be
shot just at the right season. Nobody
Is more fastidious than the Adirondack
guide in these little matters. II he
cannot have his deerskin coat or CARPET
just as it should be, he will 20 without,
though he is Indifferent enough as to
store clothes and ordinary household
furniture. fl. = + >. IT.,
Out Of, the marrow from the shank
bones Of the deer the guild e. make, by
laborious process, I autffully clear,
sweet oil, which will keep - good con.
dition for years. It is much used BIZ
jewelers. and watchmakers, because OF
peculiar qualities that exactly fit their
needs. This oil is sufficiently scarce
and useful to sell for . high price.
= = ~ 80