Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-27

their leather They took a French inven-
ton for splitting leather and improved up
on it, and out of that grew the great split
leather trade Of today: You Americans call
it satin hide and split leather You fin
ished it artistically and sent it over here in
such quantities that it injured our trade
with England and elsewhere"
The French and Our American Kid.
"How about France?" asked.
France does not use much American
| split leather" said Mr.. Greeves. "It is too
hard and greasy for this market. If your
people would modify 1t in these respects.
which they could easily do. you could sell
it 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.
80 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 America and all
parts of the world, but the Americans APP
piled the chrome process to kid and made
the vici or glazed kid. which is superior to
driven out our calf and our kid, and you
now send kid here to France"
'The chrome process was an American
invention, was 1t not?"
NO" said Mr.. Greeves 1.-The process
was invented by a German but the Ameri
cans made it commercial success. It was
in 1854 that a German. named Knapp,
found that pelt could be turned into leather
by bichromide Of potash and an acid He
did nothing with the discovery, but Ger
man-Amertcan named Schultz. used 1t to
make covers for corset ribs. Then a Bos-
ton firm put forth chromed-tanned leather
and called it box calf and willow calf.
They made Knapp's discovery CONNER
cial success and their work has been used
in all parts of Europe. The Germans have
taken it up and they bid fair to monopo-
lie the European trade in such leather.
"Just here" said Mr.. Greeves, Il want
to say that you Americans make great
mistake in giving away your Ideas and ex-
perence. You sell your leather-making ma
chimes to us. and We are now making
American split leather in all parts of Eu-
rope The American brain is now going all
over the world and the Americans are get
ting nothing out of it. Europe is fatten-
ing upon it and it will be more SO in the
future. You even send your experts here
to show the people how to use your ma
chinery. You give away your trade Sc
crets and upon the basis of these the Eu-
ropeans are establishing factories which
will eventually lead to the loss of your
foreign trade
English Reciprocity.
ct don't believe we will lose our foreign
trade" said I. 1--WE are making new ma
chinery all the time and we shall continue
TO improve faster lUdH EuIOpe Cali copy.
"You may" said Mr.. Greeves, but it
seems silly to give so much when you get
nothing in return. The English go to
America and the secrets of the workshop
are shown them. Americans come to Eng
| land and they can't get inside the doors.
I know a big English tanner who went to
| the United States and visited the largest
tanneries. After going through one where
he had been especially we'll treated he said
| to the proprietor: I hope you will come
to England and let us show you what we
are doing Two years later the American
did come. He received with kind words
! and offered some hospitality, but not word
was said about the tannery. At last the
American asked to go through the works.
"'Ahv replied the son of John Bull, with
! grin. I should like to oblige you, but we
| English never show our machinery and
methods to our rivals in trade. We really
can't do that, you know
but said the American, when you
were in our country you asked for permits
sion to go through our works, and got it,
Yes, said the Englishman, but this is
our rule, and we can't go back on it,
"'Well,' replied the American, if you ever
| come back 1 shall assuredly see that you
afraid of your competition. We have
| thrown most of the machinery you saw on
| the scrap heap, and have invented better.
1 suppose you have copied the old shop. At
any rate no Englishman shall ever enter
the new one And he left"
French and English Shoes.
The conversation here turned to the
American shoe, and Mr.. Greeves said:
+ 1.-THE American shoe Is the easiest and
most stylish shoe made. The uppers are
| thinner and more durable than ours, but
| the soles are too thin for the English mar
ket. I am surprised you do not sell more
| shoes in France. You ought to have a
great er trade here than in England, and if
| you will the same energy to capture
| this market as you have used in England
you will have much better results Your
people ought to send out drummers who
can speak French, German and English.
| AS it Is, the English and Germans sell more
shoes here than you do, although the better
classes of the French would surely prefer
the American SHOE At present they have
most of their shoes made by hand by the
old-fashioned shoemakers. The shoes cost
| more than yours, and they are not so
| good"
| How to Make Shoes Wear.
| In talking about leather the question of
| durability came up, and Mr.. Greeves gave
me a recipe which will probably decrease
my shoe expenses. Says he:
| 1.-THE first thing one should do on buying
a pair of shoes is to give the soles good
| greasing. You can do this with neatsfoot
/ oil, greasing them at night and rubbing
| them of well in the morning. This greas-