Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-28
THE FRENCH AND OUR AMERICAN
KID

iured our trade with England ana else
where"
THE FRENCH AND OUR AMERICAN
KID.
'How about France" I asked.
France does not use much American
split leather said Mr.. Greeves. 1t IS
too hard and greasy Tor this market. II
your people would modify 1t in these
respects which they could easily 40. you
could sell it for Is per cent. more than
you are new getting in England and Ger
nary. Your manufacturers, however,
don't seem to know 1t.
"Eut the Frenc.i have the reputation OF
making excellent leather" said l.
so they do They make the French kid
and the French calf which is tanned
with the bark of the evergreen oak. O'lr
kid was once imported TO America ana
all parts of the world but the Americans
applied the chrome process to kid and
made the vici or glazed kid, which is SUI
perior 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 American
invention, was it not?:s'5
No" said Mr. Greeves. THE process
was invented by German. but the Anne
ricans made it commercial success II
was in 1854 that German. namesd
Knapp. found that pelt could be turned
into leather by bichromide Of potash anu
an acid. He did nothing with the discov-
ery. but German-American, named
Schultz. used it to make covers for cor
set ribs Then Boston firm put forth
chromed-tanned leather and called
it box calf and willow calf. They r7ade
Knapp's discovery commercial success,
and their work has been used In all parts
Of Europa The Germans have taken 1t
up and they had bid fair to monopolize
the European trade In such leather
FATTENS ON AMERICAN BRAINS.
sJust here" said Mr.. Greeyes. II want
to say that you Americans make great
mistake in giving away your IDEAS ana
experience. You sell your leather-nlaklHs
machines to u.s. 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
getting nothing out OF it. Europe is fat
tening upon it and it will be more so
in the future. You even send your ex-
perts here to show the people how to use
your machinery You give away your
trade secrets. and upon the basis OF these
the Europeans are establishing factories
which will eventually lead to the loss Oh
your foreign trade.
~ don't believe we will lose our foreign
trade" said l. I'VE are making new ma
chinery all the time and we shall continue
to improve faster than Europe can copy.
You may said Mr.. Greeves. "but 1t
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: L hope you VIII
come to England and let US show you
what we are doing Two years later the
American did come. He was received
with kind words and offered some nos
nitality. but not q word was said about
the tanneTy. At last the American asked
to 20 through the works.
"-'Ah.' replied the son CT John Bull.
with a 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 per
mission to go through our works, and got
it,
Yes, said the Engishman, but this is
our rule. and we can't go back on it,
"eWell,' replied the American. If you
ever come back shall assuredy see that
you are kept out of the shops. We are
not afraid of your competition. We have
thrown most of the ma chnery YOU saw
on the scrap heap. and have invented bet
ter. I suppose you have copied the old
shop. At any rate, no Engllshman shall
ever enter the new one, And he left
FRENCH AND ENGLISH SHOES.
The conversation here turned to the
Ane rican shoe and Mr.. Greeves said:
"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
market am surprised you do not sell
more shoes in France. You ought to have
a greater trade here than In England.
and il you will use the same energy to
capture this market as you have used in
England you will have much better re-
suits Your people ought to send out
drummers who can speak French. Ger
man, and English. AS 1t 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 arc not so good.
HOW TO MAKE SHOES WEAR.
In talking about leather the question
Of durability came up and Mr.. Greeves
gave me recipe which will probably de-
crease my shoe expenses. Says he:
THE first thing one should do on buy
ing a pair of shoes is to give the soles az
good greasing. You can do this with
.neatsfoot oil. greasing them at night and
rubbing them off we'll in the morning
This grensing. II repeated every month or
so. will keep out the water, and make
the shoes wear twice as long. They will
be softer to your feet. and II you are
an average walker they will last you at