The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1900-08-18
MANY USES FOR DEERsKIN.
Guides Undersand How to Turn it
to Good Service,


to Good Service.
Guides and the native hunters Of the
Adirondacks region have a variety of
uses for the deer they kill. There are
still a good many hunters who know
how to tan the deer's hide, and few
! who use as one Of the tanning agents
deer. From the tanned skin many
articles of use are made. The thick
hide from the neck of an old buck is
excellent for moccasins, and the art
of moccasin-making still fingers here
| among the, Indians. The men and
women of French Canadian extraction
are especially apt in the household
arts of this sort, learned from the
savages. Cheap as factory-made
gloves are. few women of the region
still cut and stitch buckskin gloves.
Whole suits of buck skin are made
by expert women Of these parts. Such
suits were once much used by the
thrashers, who travelled from one noun
tain farm to another to thrash the
small oats crop Of the region. A buck
skin suit is good for a dozen years Of
hard usage. and with care will last a
lifetime. 1t it remarkably warm and
imperviOus to water
One rarely sees nowadays such suit
with the hair on. A garment with the
hair on to be serviceable must be made
from the skins OF deer just coming into
the "blue," as the hunters express it,
for then the hair is Short smooth and
1,offor ic
1t is necessary, too, if such a suit is to
De or uniform color, that it be made
from corresponding parts of skins from
deer OF about the same age and shot
about the same time. Even il the law
did not stand in the way, it would be
difficult to shoot in single week
enough deer Of the same age to yield
the desired quantity of hide of uniform
color. so deerskin suit with the hair
on Is rarely seen. One still does see,
however. moccasins with hair inside
and out, and very soft, warm, inviting
slippers they make, Raccoon skins
now furnish cheap fur garments. and
winter residents buy or hire overcoats
of coonskin to brave the January winds
Raw deer hide is used for many pur-
poses. 1t makes excellent thongs for
tying articles of one kind or another,
good whips, and indestructable 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 q seat, i. The result is com-i
'forfabfe. e1astie ~ (,
tructable material. sDeerskiis wi iths Jiie
hair on are still used for carpets and
mats, though here, again, as in the
case of the deerskin suits, the skin is
not servicable unless the deer be shot
just at the right season. Nobody is
more fastidious than the Adirondack
guide in these little. matters. If he
cannot have his deerskin coat or car
pet just as it should be. he will go with
out, though he is Indifferent enough
as to store clothes and ordinary house.
hold furniture.
Out of the marrow from the shank
bones Of the deer the guides make, by
a laborious process, beautifully clear,
sweet oil, which will keep in good con-
ditfon for years. It is much used by
jewelers. and watchmakers, because of
peculiar qualities that exactly fit their
needs. This oil is sufficiently scarce
and useful to to sell for high price.