The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1903-06-16
x RAYS LATEST USE.
Hides to Be Tanned BY New
Process Using Light.
WILL MAKE COST OF SHOES LESS

Invention Of Cincinnati Men said TO
he a Great Labor saver-worIx OF
-Four Months Under Present Method
win BE Done In Two Hours Under
New.
The discovery Of a process Of tan
ming by means Of which hides can be
transformed into leather in short
time By the use of the. X ray is the re-
suit OF four months Of experimenting
and VIII be the first application Of the
X ray to an Industrial use, says a dis
patch from Cincinnati to the New
York Herald. Heretofore the ray has
been valuable only to the medical fra
ternity, but the invention of Cincinnati
men opens the way for it to become
an important factor in the commercial
world
The hides viii be soaked in lime for
the separation Of the hbers and re-
moval Of the hair as is done now.
When this has been completed, which
usually requires about four days, the
hides will be soaked in solution of
certain chemicals, a part of the inven-
ton, for about two hours and will then
be exposed to the X rays for about if
teen on twenty minutes, after which
they VIII be thoroughly tanned. The
finishing will then proceed in the way
employed at present
The value Of the invention consists
in the exposition of the soaked hides to
the rays. The present process of soak
ing the leather in watts requires about
four months, SO that the chemicals
may penetrate every fiber of the skin.
Under the new system the chemicals
absorbed by the hides during the two
hours soaking are decomposed by the
Y rays in less than half an hour. Ev-
cry molecule IS thoroughly penetrated,
and the leather is as perfect as any
tanned by the old process. Prominent
and large tanning concerns and leather
experts have tested the product and
say that it is the equal of any other
leather.
After the hides have been soaked in
the solution they are put on a highly
polished steel plate and a series of
three tubes difense the rays upon their
entire surface They remain in this
state for about twenty minutes. when
they are ready to finish as usual into
enamel, patent leather or any desired
article. The great difficulty with which
the inventors met was to obtain a ray
sufficiently strong to penetrate the en-
tire hide. The discovery Of Sheldels
coil led them to further experiment
and gave them a ray powerful enough
to photograph hand after the ray
had been passed through a city direc-
tory. an oak board and the hide in-
tended to be tanned. This gave abso-
lutte proof that they viii be able to
tan about twenty hides at one time.
lying one upon the other.
Not only will this new process reduce
the time necessary for tanning from
four months to four days, but it will
also reduce the cost Of manufacture
fully 80 per cent More than that, it
will be possible to fit up a plant neces-
sary for the working of the process at
about one-fourth the cost Of erecting a
plant under the present system, and all
skilled labor win be dispensed with,
not even an electrician being necessary
once the plant is in operation.
The applications for patents and for
eign rights are now being made. and
as soon as they have been granted the
plant and the process win be put to
commercial use.
The inventors were led to make the
experiments which resulted in their
valuable discovery By tire chemical eff
feet Of the X rays III the process OF
photography. II their claims in the
present discovery materialize- and
from Ill appearances they are thor
oughly practical and substantiated by
the finished product they regard it as
but the first step in the use Of the X
ray in commercial industries which
will eventually lead TO its employment
in a great degree in the various manu-
featuring interests,
2---------------.------
A NEW FISH I'M BOSTON.