The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-02
AUSTRALIAN SKINS AND HIDES.
The Important Industry OF Their
Preparation for The Market.

Preparation for The Market
How many people haze any idea Ct the
real magnitude of the australian trade IL
hides and skuz2 That Of New South
Wales alone. during 1883. represented q
value Of I.7ia .C94, the value Of the i'm
ports. chiefly hides from Queensland for
rs-ezgort. being e633, 1913. and that Of The
exports =. 0S5. sgt The latter were class
.Fed az follows: Sixteen buffalo hides
,frorn Queensland. &161 4C94 horse
skins. & sac; 49, ggs cattle hides, Gs55.-
sss7 1913 packages Of kangaroo skins
c1I.355. .3Z9 packages Of other marsIplaI
skins. e152. $50. 1896 packages Of rabbit
skins. EIC91. Z6.S49 packages OF sheep
skins. with wool. 1921 80; 1855 packages
OF sheep skins. without wool. &l3,5e2 ant
SIS packages Of other kinds. &f,5iH. N~w
South Wales furnishes the bulk Of sheep,
rabbit. and marsupiaI other than kangaroo
skins also about one-thtrd Of the horse
skins and cattle hides. The rabbit and
narsup.al skin industries afford remuuer-
alive employment to considerable num-
bers Of hunters ard tEappers. il all parts
Of the state. and have done mucn 10 keep
both classes Of animals within reasonable
limits. The preparation Of sheepskins for
the market is also an important industry,
representing the investment Of a consId-
erabIe amount Of capital and the employ
Inent Of q large number OF hands.
The great proportion Of sheepshins
reaching tne Sydney market comes from
freezing and bo:ling-down works; the bal
ance frcm the butchers. and odd lots from
4~f-
gathering up OF skins Of sheep killed for
ration purposes, and others. The remov-
ing Of the skin without injury is a process
recurring skin and experience. and good
hands can always command employment
al remuneratIEe rates Considerable guam
titles Of The skins find their way into 10
cal feIlmougerics. where they arrive IN
better condition for treatment than if ar
irving from distance. In these the
skins are first soaked in large pits, con-
tanning cold, clean water, where they are
allowed to remain from about one TO
three days. according TO the nature Of the
yelt. dry skins. for instance. requiring q
much longer time than those fresh from
The boiling works. After being taken from
the pits. the skins are allowed TO drain,
and then hung in the sweating rooms, a
process which enables the WOOL 10 be
readily separated from the pelJ. From
she sweating shed the skins are taken to
the pulling shed, where the wool Is
separated from the peiJ and classed at
the same time. From here the wool is
treated as ordinary greasy wool, and the
peIts. after being thoroughly washed and
lined, are ready for the process Of tan
ming into basiIs. or 10 be dealt with un-
der the many processes in the tanning
trade.
IN New South Wales bark is largely
used in the tanning processes. the skins
nus prepared finding a ready sale both
/ IL the Australian and British markets
Other skins are tawed. or prepared with
+ mineral substances. mostly alum, and a
small proportion are -'chamOised by
combination with oil or fatty substances
+ In the latter process the skins are treat
Cd similarly 10 those for ordinary tan
ming The surface Of The grain is shaved
or and they are afleTWard trca cj Hitn
fresh lime solutions. and repeatedly
washed TO bring the pelt 10 a someWh hat
open and porous condition. dEencEei WITH
lire and ri0sed IN an acid liquor Alter
J Ling rubbed with hsh oil they are ham
. Irerri 30. two or three hours to force
the oil into the substance OF the skin.
Having beer treated in this way several
+ times. the skins are heaped in a heated
room where the process Of oxidation is
{ quickly set up AS soon as h skins as
sll-= yellow color and give forth pc
, ,.Liar .ior he process is complete ,ssd