Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-12-27

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. I found Ametl-
can shoes In Switzerland. and 1t Is no
trouble TO buy them IN Paris.
AMERICAN LEATHER IN EUROPE,
one Of the most interesting men l
have met IN connection With this shoa
business Is Mr. w $. Grecyes, an
English leather expert, who is connect
ed with one OF the biggest tannerles of
Europe, situated at Lyons France Mr.
Greeyes has been making and selling
leather all his life, and his, father was
q tanning expert Said he:
THE leather business Is rapidly
changing In all parts OF Europe. Untll
lately everything was done by lndlvld-
uals or In small factories. We had an
nhnitiy OF little tannenes and petty
shoemakeYs. This was so to some eX-
tent I'm America, but the Americans
We're first 10 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 cheap rate. Their labor, however
was poor and the first leather sent to
Liverpool was so ugly aud stiff that
the English would not have IL. Now
leather Of that quality, better finished
Is shipped over In vast quantities. Il
furnishes the soles OF our boots and
we buy II for Bristol Leicester and
Leeds.
Later on" continued Mr. Greeves
the Americans Invented machinery 20
finish their leather They took a French
invention for splitting leather and Inn
proved upon It, and out Of that grew
the great split leather trade of today
You Americans call It satin hide and
split leather, You finished It artistically
and sent II over here In such quantities
that IT injured our trade with England
and elsewhere"
THE FRENCH AND OUR AMERI-
CAN KID.
"How about France?" I asked.
France does not use much American
split leather said Mr.. Greeyes. ut IL
too hard and greasy for this market. II
your people would modify II In these
respects, which they could easily do,
you could sell II for Is per cent more
than you are now getting in England
and Germany Your manufacturers,
however, don't seem to know It."
but the French have the reputation
Of making excellent leather" said I.
so they do. They make the French
kid and the French calf which Is tanned
with the bark Of the evergreen oak. Our
Kid was once exported to American and
all parts Of the world, but the Amerl-
cans applied the chrome process to Kid
and made the ylel or glazed kid, which
is superior TO French kid. With this
leather you have driven out our calf
and our kid, and you now send kid here
to France
1.-THE chrome process was an Amerl-
can invention. was II not?''
mo" said Mr.. Greeves, ''The process
was invented by a German. but the
Americans made Ii a commercial sue
cess II WIS in 1854 that a German
named Knapp, found that pelt could
be turned into leather by bichromlde
of potash and an acid. He did nothing
with the discovery, but a German
American named Schultz, used II 10
make covers for corset ribs. Then a
Boston firm put forth a chromed-
tanned leather and called II box calf
and willow calf. They made Knapp's
discovery commercial success and
their work has been used in all parts
OF Europe. The Germans have taken
1t up and they bid fair to monopollse
the European trade in such leather.
EUROPEANS FATTENING ON
AMERICAN BRAINS
"Just here" said Mr. Greeves, II
want to say that you Americans make
great mistake in giving away your
ideas and experience. You sell your
leather-making machines to us, and We