Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1904-05-23
GOOD LEATHER OUT OF THE SEA
Fish Skins Used in Making Many
Things.

The Canadian Harness and Carriage
Journal.-A great deal of good leather
comes out of the sea-not the kind OF
leather that comes from the backs Of
walrus, seal and otter; everybody
knows about that. There is a queerer
leather, which comes from the bodies
of fish. An extremely fine quality Of
green leather made in Turkey is manu-
featured from the skin of an ugly fish
called the angel fish. This is a kind OF
shark-a shark with thick, winglike
fms that have earned for him the name
of angel, though he doesn't look bit
like an angel, but rather the opposite.
The sword grips of the officers of the
German army are made from shark
leather, too They are beautiful in pat
tern, being marked with dark diamond
shaped figures. This skin comes from
North sea shark. German leather
manufacturers have tried to produce a
leather from animal hides that shall
supplant the skin, but in vain. Unlike
animal leather, fish leather is absolute
~ impervious to water and never gets
soggy from dampness. Therefore it is
ideal for sword grips, as no matter
how much the hand may perspire, the
grip remains hard and dry.
The sturgeon, despite his lumpy ar
NOR, furnishes valuable and attrac-
tive leather. When the bony plates
are taken OF their pattern remains on
the skin just as the pattern of the ALI
gator scales remains ON alligator
leather. The Pacific coast sturgeon
and the sturgeon of the great lakes
produce a tough leather that is used TO
make laces for joining leather betting
for machinery, and the laces often out
wear the betting.
The strange garfish, an American
fresh water fish, with long toothed
jaws like those of the crocodile. has
skin that can be polished smooth until
it has a finish like ivory. 1t makes
Leautiful jewel caskets and picture
frames. The skin of the garfish used
to be converted into armor by some
tribes of American savages. The hide
is so tough and hard that it makes
breastplate that can turn a knife or
spear. Some OF the finer specimens
that have been found are hard enough
to turn even a blow from tomahawk.
The savages who were this fish ar
NOR also used to wear a fish helmet.
II was made from the skin of the
prickly porcupine fish, and besides pro-
tecting the wearer's head it was used
as a weapon of offence. The warriors
butted their enemies with it, and as 1t
had hundreds of ironlike spikes. the
operation was eminently painful to the
object of attack
In Gloucester, the king town" OF
fish, the humble cod has been utilized
with success for making leather for
shoes and gloves. In Egypt men walk
on sandals made from the skins of Red
sea fish. In Russia certain peasant
costumes are beautifully trimmed with
the skins of fine food fish, the turbot
Bookbinders in Europe are binding
books with eelskin. The eelskin serves
another and less pleasant purpose. It
is braided into whips. The writer was
the unhappy member of a European
private school where one of these eel
skin whips was a prominent instru-
fent of discipline, and he has never
cared for cells since then.
Along the big salmon rivers of ST.
IBERIA the natives often wear brilliant
leather garments dyed red and yellow
They are made from salmon skins. In
Alaska beautiful waterproof bags are
made from all sorts of fish skins.
The queerest use is that to which
the intestines of the sea lions are put
They are slit and stitched together to
form hooded coats, which are superior
TO India rubber as waterproof gar
ments. Walrus intestines are made
into sails for boats by the Esquimaux
of northwestern America.
Even the frog does not escape. Sew
eral factories in France and a few in
America make card cases and other
small leather articles from his skin.