The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-12-25
DRESSING AND MOUNTING SKINS.
How They Are Made Into Rugs False
Heads With Animals Teeth.

| If the reports of the large furriers
| are to be believed there is a veritable
craze now for rugs made out of the
skin of some wild beast. Thousands of
skins are now converted into charming
| and delightful rugs, and they certainly
include great variety of animals, from
the monkey to the lion and the little
Teddy bear to the huge polar.
The dressing and mounting of these
skins is at once strange yet fasciEat-
ing business. Naturally the most valu-
able skin today is that of the king of
beasts. A lion skin, with well mount
ed head and flowing name, will fetch as
much as f100 or even 9120, though oc
casionally they can be picked up for $50
or a little less. 1t depends upon
whether it is full grown specimen,
the rarity of the species and its con-
dition When first received by the fur
rier the raw material certainly does not
look inviting; but after a fortnight s
work upon it, during which period it
passes through as many as twelve diff
ferent hands, it is converted into a
charming and majestic rug, fitting
adornment for any mansion.
First of all it goes into the "pick-
ling vat, receptacle containing GER
tain chemical liquids, where it remains
for two or three days. 1t is then
scraped with large knives, when it is
placed in a tub and beaten under foot
in sawdust. 1t now passes to the dry
ing room, where it is suspended on
hooks and allowed to remain in a dry
but. high temperature for several
hours. 1t is next beaten by two men
with long canes. This beating has the
effect of making the skin pliable. All
that requires to be done now is to
make all bad places good, such as bui-
let holes and rents caused through spear
thrusts, and mount it. If it is desired
to mount the pelt with a head the fur
rier has to call in the taxidermist to
his aid
The skin of the polar bear measures
from 10 feet to as much as II feet or
even IA feet in length, and from 5 feet
to feet in width, veritable minia
ture carpet of glossy white fur, / y to
2h inches in depth. These rugs, too,
are expensive, running from as low as
235 up to fSJ apiece and more. 1t is
only a connoisseur in skins that can |
tell their real market value. In the |
case of the polar bear it is very seldom |!
of these skins contain a slight shad3 of |
brown, whereas they should be of a
pure silvery white color. 1t is this |
whiteness that decides their value.
Most of the heads used on rugs now
adays are made of papier mache, with
the original teeth of the
animal. They are covered, OF course,
with the animal S own skin. Making |
good the whiskers, the hair of the eye /
Drows and getting a lifelike pose about
the face is a task which only an artist
in this line can undertake. The skins
of the tiger, leopard and the other great
cats go through the same processes.
Then the furrier will mount five or six
of the smaller animals, such as the
lynx, fox, wolf, etc, on one foundation,
making them up into a good sized rug
The skins themselves are obtained by
the furriers from the recognized mar
kets. They secure them from the
periodical fur sales held at the London
docks, Leipsic in Germany, Mini Nov
yorod in Russia, Bokhara in Persia, and
so on. To these markets the great
fur trading companies send their, wares.
These in turn obtain them from the
rrappers and hunters. We have some
idea of the enormous trade done in this
curious merchandise when it is stated
that the annual value of the furs and
skins sold in the recognized markets
amounts to 60 200, 000.-Tit-Bits.