The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1903-05-21

thread to shoe-latchet," became a
proverb for the most trivial thing. To
"put off the shoes, was an act of rev.
erence, Eek. 3:5). Accordingly the priest
were barefoot while officiating in the tenn
pie. To walk barefoot in symbolical of
mourning Elsa. 2o:2); to unIoose the shoe
was the humbleSt form of service Ono.
I:27);to shake off the dust of the shoe i'm
piled renunciation and retribution tIuke
o:;5) to take off the shoe and hand it to an
other was symbolieal of transfer in matter
of property ruth 4:7). 1t is said that in
Lynn, Mass, 24,ooo,ooo pairs of shoes
were made last year, in Brockton I7,ooo,-
900 pairs, ,and in Haverh'll I2,e o 1000 pairs,
These three cities, therefore, turned out
enough shoes to supply one pair for two
thirds of the population of the country. In
1893 the United States imported in hides
and skins S27,o2o,75o, manufactured
feathers e sI5,787,9o5. Exported from 1881
to 1895, 4,o57,o78.5I pounds of leather.
We had no improved tanning apparatus
during the war. but did it by main force
and natural awkWardness,w we had no extra
fine ''kips and kids" of the best quality,
but lots of homemade" We had no
leather buffng machine better than
our old drawing knife, no leather corruga-
ting machine to flute or crimp with, no
leather cutting or creasing fixtures, no
leather grinder to reduce scraps of leather
to shreads to make washers, insoles and
heels, much less a leather pebbling
machine to give our leather the semblence
OF morocco, levant, hog skin, or other
fancy styles. Our tanning process was
crude and slow; we used no steam sexcept
that generated by the old gentleman, at
the end of bIdckgum, or peach tree regu-
lator. We collected all the cow, sheep
and goats hides which had been taken off
in dressing beef, mutton and kid, as well
as the hides of the reedbreakers, which
sold their lives for a mess!of pottage, "and
subjected them to an infusion of oak bark,
bv which they were mpregnated with
tanning, or tonic acid land interspened with
crowling vermit half hair and half warm.
We had no bark mills or tan houses. The
whole process of tanning during war time
was about as follows:
After procuring the necessary number
of hides, we took the OK teams and went
to the blackjack hills, cut piled land burned
lot of.blackjack oaks into strong ashes,
then take the hides and after thoroughly
soaking them in water, put them in the
ashes for 9 days and then take them out
and rub the hair off. Now if could tell
you the whole truth and stop here would
gladly do it, for you had as we'll try to
handle tub fullIof wringling, twisting eeIs
or sack of dancing swimming bungholes
as to try to stop with those nasty never
to-be-forgotten bull, goat and kline hides.
After they come out of the ''pit wherein
there is no water but lot of Stacked
ashes, ,cowhair, and every abomination of
desoation that ever accumulated in a
slough of dispond were after this haried
process, taken to spring branch,o creek
of running water and strung on a chain,
or strong rope, cutting them through the
middle making two sides of each hides.
They would remain in the creek or branch
for 9 more days, but not without molesta-
ton you, may believe, for every day or
two, we had to hall them out, separate