Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-28

them in London, and their business is
enormous. The English shoe manufac-
turers have been importing American
leather and American machinery, but never
theless they are not able to make shoes
equal to ours. There are towns in Eng
land, like Leicester, which are almost
given up to the making of boots and shoes.
Leicester having 1000 member in its
Boot and Shoe Trade association. Such
towns seriously feel the effect of Ameri-
can competition, for it was only a few
years ago that Leicester was shipping
shoes to America. Now that town has
American shoe-sewing machines and other
machinery from Boston and elsewhere. 1t
is using American leather, copying Amer
lean styles and it has, l am told, a num-
Der of American workmen to teach the
English hands how to max the genuine
American article. Its shoes are often
sold as American shoes.
American shoes are sold in Holland side
by side with clogs, and some of the local
factories there have imported American
machinery. l found American shoes in
Switzerland, and 1t is no trouble to buy
them in Paris.
One Of the most interesting men l have
met in connection with this shoe business
~ "i W. % NIttNtSt all English ledluCT
expert, VINO is connected with one of the
biggest tGLneries Of Europe, situated at
Lyons, France. Mr.. Greves has been max
ing and selling leather all his life, and his
father was a tanning expert. Said he:
The leather business is rapidly chang
ing in all parts of Europe. Until lately
everything was done by individuals or in
small factories. We had an inhnity of
little tanneries and petty shoemakers. This
was so to some extent in America, but
the Americans were first to grasp
the idea of the big tannery and the big
factory. They had plenty of hides and
also the hemlock forests which furnish the
bark, so that they could produce leather
in quantity at a cheap rate. Their labor,
however, was poor, and the first leather
sent to Liverpool was so ugly and stiff
that the English would not have It. Now
leather of that quality, better finished, is
shipped over in vast quantities. 1t fur
nishes the soles of our boots, and we buy
II for Bristol, Leicester and Leeds.
Later on. continued Mr.. Greeves. the
Americans invented machinery to finish
their leather They took a French inven-
tion for splitting leather and improved upon
1t and out OF that grew the great split
leather trade of today. You Americans call
II satin hide and split leather. You finished
1t artistically and sent it over here in such
quantities that it injured our trade with
England and elsewhere"
How about Frances" l asked.
France does not use much American
split leather" said Mr.. Greeves. 1T is
too hard and greasy for this market. If
your people would modify It in these re-
spects, which they could easily do, you
could sell 1t for Is per cent more than
you are now getting in England and Ger
many. Your manufacturers however, don't
seem to know it,"
But the French have the reputation OF
making excellent leather" said l.
= 80 they do, They make the French kid
and the French calf, which is tame with
the bark OF the evergreen oak. Our kid
was once exported to America and all ports
of the world, but the Americans applied-the
chrome process to kid and made the Wei OF
glazed kid, which is superior to French
kid. With this leather you have driven Out
our calf and kid and you now send kid here
to France"
The chrome process was an American
invention, was II not?'
NO" said Mr.. Greeves. The process
was invented by a German, but the Ameri,
!, cans made II a commercial success. 1t was