Evening journal., 1905-08-19
EXPERIMENTS IN
CHROME GLAZED KID
History of HardshiPs and
Discouraging Failures of
Local Manufacturers
PATENT WAS FIRST TRIED H'RI

PATENT WAS FIRST TRIED HIRE
The hardship and discouragins failures
met by the leather manufacturers Of VIII
minston. in the early history OF glazed kid
Is known to many but TO their persever-
ance and nrm belief that they were on
the right track toward obtaining The goal h
which they sought. placed them at last
among the leading leather producing com
Germs In the world. Now Wilmington IS Z
known to every shoe manufacturer OF
prominence as the producer Of the best
leather made for shoes.
It was IN the latter part Of the eighties
and the early part OF the nineties that tho !
manufacturers here became deeply inter- /
csted. Previous 20 making the leather as II |
IS now made goat skins were used tho !
same as now but.the skins were tanned IN
sumac. The tannagc followed was a CONE
binaton Of alum and gambler. This made |
a satisfactory leather which was put IN /
finishes known as Bush kid pebble and |
straight grains
At this period a leather known 70 the
trade as French kid but 70 the mann- !
facturers as griscom kid manufactured in |
and about Paris was being heavily inn
ported into the United states and was
used almost exclusively In the better
grade OF shoes II came into the United
states to the extent Of si20OOoo or $4,000
900 worth a year. The American manu-
facmrers saw that they should control
their own market and wilmington which
was always pioneer began TO experiment
TO see II something better could not be put
on the market.
A man by the name Of Schultz finally
took out a patent on what was known as
the chome process. lie came to Whining
ton and tried to interest the morocco man
ufacturers. He succeeded in getting Pusey
Scott and Company TO experiment with
r It and the patent was finally bought by
Nat Roth who was az that time a member
. of the firm Of IT, Blumcntha and COM
nany. Of this city. He IN his turn sold
the rights TO use the patent 20 q group Of
4 Wilmington manufacturers and expert
menis began TO be made on a large scale.
i All the manufacturers in the county and
d elsewhere took hand in the experiments.
FIRST TO PERFECT LEATHER
The factories In wilmington were amone
the first 10 perfect It. It was with con-
siderable difficulty that the manufacturers
q of the old leather making the entirely new
y leather by an entirely new process radi
VI fcalTy dinercut from any other Thing on tn
Y market could convince the shoe manufac
turers OF the country or tho real meril
!, Of their product
This fact together with the thousands OF
dollars that had been lost In experiment.
- Ing, was most discouraging 70 them. but
! notwithstanding this. so great was thelI
confidence In the wonderful superiority
Of their product over the old leather that
. they persisted, though for the time suf-
ferlng loss. TO push this new leather
known as glazed kid until not only was
IL generally adopted by All the factories
N in the United States but soon not dol
lars worth Of the French kid was being
imported into this country.
y, The statistics OF the United States GUS
- tom house last year showed that s25,Oo0..
~ 900 worth of chrome glazed kid was ex-
IS ported. II is today Acknowledged by al
the expert leather men TO be the best
an around process for making a strong
tough and enduring leather In existence
IN The chrome process by which this leather
l- is made is now even being adopted by
~ what is known TO the trade as the heav,
=, leather men. or those who make sol
~ leather
4 The glazed kid gets the name glazed
n. from it's finish. The grain side, the hai
b side, Is FURNISHED 10 n brilliant brightnes
M just as gold and silver are FURNISHED. on,
OF the chief qualities OF glazed kid Is tn
finish. II has all the appearances Of
patent leather finish. II is not an artihcia
finish. no more so than is the finish Of
gold and silver. It Is the feathers owl
hnish and can be retained and maintaine,
n Just as the finish Is kept on gold an,
Ri silver If done I'm a sensible and right wa.
~ the service and wear OF its finish vii
equal the wear OF the shoes. Real elnze
IN lkid Is made from the skin Of a goat. Whei
~, tanned by the chrome process tho leathc
besides being light and pliable is 81
h- tough and strong that 1t may be soake
mt in water and dried and still retain it
ch unequaled comfort and wearing qualitie.
ed GOAT SKIN MAKES BEST LEATHEH
ty. Nothing but goat skin viii make glaze
az. kid Millions Of sheep skins have bee
tanned by this chrome process TO loo
'e like glazed kid. But the sheep skin ha
nd not the touehness and fibre Of the goa
.ed skin so Il does not wear as We'll
apI When worn In wet weather glazed lSi
be keeps out the dampness The glazed iSi
tanned by the chrome process can even
boiled in water and after It is dried out
I n will retain its velvety softness. only III
~ brightness is effected. Unlike the shoe
made of some other leather It will nc
crack or burn the feet. nor win the hr
=" ish peel on The gloss may be dulled dow
by the hard wear but this can soon
,o- brought back by using little care an
al1 dressing.
~, 16 FACTORIES IN WILMINGTON.
dn There are sixteen glazed kid factories
Ter wilmington in operation. The factori'
and their estimated daily output at n
aS present time follows:
~ Ford Morocco Company. 1000 dozens;
~ Blumenthal and Company, 1900 dozen
Mitchell and Thomas, $50 dozen; Amer
81 Continued on Page Three.)
of
.av Will Serve Light Luncheon.
nd Peter Celia, OF Fourth and Kir
am streets who cOndalcter the restaurai