The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-12-16
Many Pelts In Favor Russian Sables In
the Lead Fascinating Short Gar
ments and STATED y Long Ones.

Although the price of all pelts. even
those that are held In but the lightest
esteem. have gone up wonderfully, never
theless there has seldom been a season
when furs Of all descriptions were so
strenuously In demand.
London is the fur market of the world,
and every March there Is held series OF
auction sales there, when the raw skins
that have been collected from all over the
world are disposed Of to the highest bid
ders. From beyond the Andes and the
Rocky Mountains, on the American Cont
nent; from beyond the Uraiian chain that
divides Europe from Asia, and the Hima-
layas, that serve as a boundary between
the British civilization of India and the
unknown heathens of inner Thibet, hunters
and trappers send their entire catch to
London to be disposed of. Our American
furriers have strange experience In being
compelled to go to London for some furs
that are caught but a few hundred miles
away from their workshops. Just whatever
prices rule in London for the raw skins
sets the price at retail for the finished
product, the cost of import, labor and
workmanship, of course, being added.
And so it Is that several causes have
concurrently contributed to this marked
scarcity In the fur market. The Russo
japanese war really wrought havoc with
the sable and ermine supply, since all the
available men, wherever situated, were
drafted for the war and the usual indus
tries were, perforce, suspended.
The earthquakes In Chill and in Peru
played tricks with the supply of chin
chillas. those delicate little gray pelts
whose skin is no thicker and no stronger
than a suede glove, but whose vogue Is in
proportion to its perlshabeness.
1t really goes without saying that Rus
sian sabes lead the fashion procession.
From time immemorlal dark sables have
been the most costly items In the furrier's
catalogue, and the darker the skin the
higher its price. Hudson Bay sables, while
fully as thick and as furry, are so much
lighter In color that they lack the chief
charm of their Russian cousins. Some fur
riers manipulate these latter, dyeinS them
to more closely initiate the Russian fur;
hut to anyone who has ever owned the
real Russian skin of good quality and
coloring, the imposition is readily APP
parent.
That caracul Is really the fur of the
season Is already an accepted fact-a
foregone conclusion. Not that it Is at all
cheap or inexpensive. this glossy, we'll
marked fur; but it comes about midway
between sables and ermine on the one
hand and the cheaper grade of skins.
such as squirrel and the ike, on the
other.
Garments In creamy white caracul the
undyed skin. are charming to degree.
For children 1t Is used fully as much as
issermine, while for the adult generation
the younger section of society have taken
to 1t enthusiastically. In short garments
Is its vogue most pronounced. and the
fussy and frilly styles prove most at
tractive.
The gray--a smoky finland the brown
"a curious blending of smoke gray vel
low and brown, one that really defies
verbal description-one sees In snappy
little coats. usually with a modicum of
the undyed creamy pelt for trimming;
M one Of the prettiest fads of the sea-