Evening journal., 1905-01-24
come raccoon skins, with 26s,i9o in 1908
and 32s, 465 in 1904.
Thousands Of Domestic Hides.

1
Thousands Of Domestic Hides.
There were also enormous quantities
of skins of house cats, rabbits hares
and other domestic animals, none OF
which are ever heard Of in the retail
lmarket. When they leave the auction
rooms and are shipped TO the manufac-
turers they undergo a transformation,
which changes them so much that they
! would never be recognized by the ami
mails that formerly wore them. Some
Of the processes are secret, but most Of
them are common to the trade.
! It is n poor furrier who cannot make
a beautiful set OF mink from skunk
skins. or n sealskin coat frcm muskrat
skins, while many sumptuous opera
wraps OF emnine are made from the
skins Of pussy cats that We're Pets in
! somebody's families. These furs are
pulled, dyed, trimmed and otherwise
manipulated. You never hear OF. a
rabbit or a catskin being worn by
] fashionable women, but millions OF
them masquerade as chinchilla, er-
mine, fox and even sable.
Last year chinchilla was one OF the
most fashionable furs worn, yet the
entire supply in the London market
was limited TO 23,5S7 skins, and the
number sold I'm 1904 was only 1885.
During 1903 only 1856 blue fox skins
came into the market, and I'm 1904 only
1858. yet blue fox collars and muffs were
worn by thousands of women and
thousands of yards of that fur were
used for trimming dresses. The entire
stock of genuine blue fox and chin
chilla for the season would not supply
one Of the large retail stores in New
York, Philadelphia or Chicago with
out considering the European trade.
Yet thore will be an abundance Of those
skins to supply the demands of the rich
as long as the pussy cat and the rab-
bit hold out.
Nor will there be any danger of n
scarcity of sealslxlns as long as the
muskrat and kangaroo breed as rap
ddly as they have done. The art of
dressing furs has been developed to
such n degree that none but experts
can detect the limitations, and as the
United States is the largest retail fur
market in the world our people are inn
posed upon 10 "a greater extent than
those OF any other nation.
Only a Trade Name.
A friend. who knows the fur business
thoroughly. tells me that the other day
he asked for a muff~of blue fox at one
0f the most reliable retail stores In
Chicago and insisted upon a written
guarantee of the genuineness of the
fur, which the salesman said he was
not authorized to give. Upon calling
the manager into the controversy, the
buyer was informed that blue fox was
simply a trade name applied TO "a GER
tain class of fur and had nothing what
ever to do with the animal that had
worn the skin, which was an honest
candid explanation, not often given to
purchasers.
Kendrick b. Murray. secretary Of the
London Chamber Of Commerce, by in
structions from that organization, has
started an agitation for law to pre-
vent and punish deception i'm the sale
of furs. IL is proposed to require all
dealers to represent, advertise and de-
scribe their goods truthfully and to
tell their customers whether a coat rs
made OF muslSrat or seal; or whether
a wrap is made of ermine and cat
skins. or whether their sable garments
are genuine or imitation. But the
movement is not popular and is not
likely 90 amount to much.
Mr.. Murray has. however, published
a circular giving a list of the most
common frauds and informing the pub
lie that muskrat skins. pulled and
dyed, are commonly sold as seal; rab-
bit skins and hare skins. pulled and
dyed. are sold as sable; rabbit and cat
skins as ermtne and chinchMla, and so
forth.
It has been suggested that a provis-
ion to prohibit sudh frauds might be
inserted in our traffic laws when the
next revision takes place, and that inn
porters be compelled to descnibe all
furs by their true names That is as
far as the national government could
go. and would accomplish very little.
There is no way to prevent the retail
dealer from selling cat skins as ermine
or mushrat skins as seal and as long as
people are willing to buy them neither
Congress nor the State Legislatures
can interfare with the trade.