The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-06-21
.FisHsklN sEATsHER,.
ID Is MnIies IN Great variety and Is
I,rcel1ent O unlit

ne Is Made In SaresR = aE e I
OF: Excellent sQun1its.t
1 :. 4 :sre.,t deal Of good leather comes
out of the sea-not the kind of leather
that comes from the backs of walrus,3
seal and otter, Everybody knows
about that There is a queerer leather
which comes from the bodies of hsh.
An extremely fine quality OF green
leather made in Turkey is manufac-
tired from, the skin of an ugly fish
called the angelhsh. This is kind OF
sharlS-a shark with thick, winslike
fins that have earred for him the name
of angel, though he does not look bit
like an angel, but rather the opposite.
The sword grips of the o:Iicers.of the
German. army are made FROM shark
leather too. They are beautiful In
pnttcrsl. being marked With dark dia-s
mond shaped figures. This skin comes
from, Il North sea shark known as the
diamond shark. German leather man
ufact;!rers have tried to DrodCce-a
leather from animal hides that SHAH
supp1anr The skin, but in vain. Unlike
animal leather, fish leather Is aoso-
lutcly inperviouS TO water AID never
gets SoScy from t1ampness; therefore IL
is ideal for sword grips. as, no matter
how much the hand may perSpIre, the
grip remains hard and dry.
The sturgeon, despite his luinpy ar
NOR furnishes a valuable ana zattrac-
tive leather. When the bonT plates, are
taken off, their pattern remains on cue
skin, Just as the pattern OF aiilSalor
scales remains on alligator leather Inc
Pacific coast sturgeon ana the SUR
econ of the great lakes produce u
tough leather betting that IS USED 10
make laces for joining leather peltlns.
for machinery, and the laces oAleii o''''
wear the betting.
The strange garfsh, IN American
fresh water fish. with long. toothed
laws like those of the crocodile, has a
skin that can be polished smooth until
II has a finish like ivory. 1t makes
beautiful Jewel caSketS and picture
frames. The skin of the garf1sh USED
to be converted into armor by some
tribes of American SayaSeS. Inc nlue
is so tough and hard that it makes
breastplate that can turn a knife VI
smear. Some of the finer specimens
that have been found are hard enough
to turn even blow from toInahaWk X.
The sayageS who wore this nSn
armor also used to wear a fish helmet
1t was made from the skin OF the
nrickly porcupine fish, and besides pro
tectinS the wearer's head 1t was nsed
&c q weapon of offenSe- The warriors
butted their enemies with it, and as
il had hundreds Of ironlike pixies the
oneration was eminently painful TO the
object of attack
In Gloucester, the liking town OF
fish the humble cod has been utilized
with success for making leather Tor
shoes and gloves In Egypt men walk
on sandals made from the skins of Red
sen fish. In Russia certain peasant
costumes are beautifully trimmed VIII
the skins of fine food fish, the tur-
bot. Bookbinders bind books with eel
skin. The eelskin serves another anu
less pleasant purpose. 1t IS braided
into whips The writer was the uh-
happy member of a European prlVate
school where one of these eelskln
whips was a prominent instrument. OF
discpline. and he has never cared for
eels since then.
Along the big salmon rivers OF 81
IBERIA the natives often wear briillanl
leather garments dyed red. and yellow,
They are made from salmon skins. Ii
Alaska beautiful waterproof bags are
made from all sorts of fShsklnS-
The U11eerest use is that to when Lhe
fntestines of the sea lion are put lheS
are slit and stitched together 70 form
hooded coats, which are superior 10
india rubber as waterproof garments.
WARNS intestines are made into SANS
for boats by the Eskimos OF north-
western Aruerica-Canadian Harness
and Carriage Journal
al