El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-02

a mineral substance is used. 1t effec-
| lively tans the hides and in addition
! renders the leather porous enough for
the admission OF air, but tight enough
for the exclusion of water. Who does
| not remember the days when boots and
shoes had 10 be creased 10 keep the
leather soft and pIiabIe?
The most costly leather in the world
is known to the trade as piano leather.
The old and the new world must unite
IN its making. A family Of German tan
ners hold the secret Of its preparation,
and it can be made only from the skin
Of the American grey deer found in the
vicinity of the great lakes. The tanners
have an agency at Detroit where the
skins are purchased from the indians
and half breeds. The leather is used ex-
clusively for covering piano keys.
Opera shoe at $50.
An eastern shoe house has put out
line of women's opera shoes which are
TO retail at $50 per pair. Not all Of the
! intrinsic value Of these shoes comes
from the leather that is in them, nor
from the workmanship The gold and
pearl trimmings and jet beads are what
bring the cost up so high.
One shoemaker has turned out a pair
of shoes costing $4,000. but their princI-
pal value lies in the diamonds with
which the vamps and heels are studded
In certain kinds Of shoes the leather is
made rough by being ground on rapid
~ revolving emery wheels. The grinders
have to wear silk masks or wetted
sponges over their faces to keep the
dust from their lungs. 1t is expected
that bronze shoe leather win be the
vogue during the coming summer sea
son.
Indian Tanners.
While great strides have been made
in the methods Of tanning leather, it
must be conceded t the indian per-
fected the art to a degree never yet
attained by the white tanner. Some
years ago Sioux indian chief produced
piece Of buckskin that had been
tanned so years before by a member
Of his tribe. A leading leather expert
compared it with the best buckskin ne
could purchase in the market, and
stated that the indian leather was su-
perior in pliability and every other par
ticular. Specimens of Chinese leather
1000 years old are as soft and pliable
today as they were when new
Special methods Of tanning are re-
CURED in making some of the big driv-
ing belts used in factories. What is
believed to be the biggest belt ever
made was turned out recently by a
New York firm for a lumber mill in
Louisiana Five hundred and forty spe-
cially selected Texas steer hides were
used in making this belt 1t is 240 feet
long, six feet wide. and cost $500.
Gloves Are Tawed.
The feathers which are used for wom-
ems gloves, and also for mems finer
gloves, are not tanned, but tawed, and
millions Of eggs are used in this pro-
cess. The finest glove leather comes
from France. The advent of the coal
tar dyes in the coloring OF leather has
proved to be harmful to the leather.
1t is not as noticeable in glove leath-
ers. however, as in boot feathers.
Bindings are supposed TO last through
years and years But the aniline dye
has proved so deleterious to the lasting
qualities of leather that the English
Library association has made a careful
examination OF the subject 1t declares
that, after all. there is no tanning for
book feathers like that in which sumac
is used in connection with the vegetable
dyes.
The First Tanners.
A writer for the Smithsonian instftu-
ton beautifully expresses the intimate
relationship of leather to the race by
tracing the activities Of the savage
woman after her hunter husband laid
, the first deer at her feet. She strikes
off a sharp flint flake for a knife, and
becomes the first cutler, the real found
, er of Sheffield. With this knife she
removes the skin, little dreaming that
she is to become the patron saint of all
the butchers that shall come after her.
She rolls up the hide, then dresses it
with the brains of the animal, smokes
1t. curries it. breaks 1t with instruments
Of stone and bone, and establishes her
reputation as the first tanner and cur
rier.
With fingers weary and worn, with
needle Of bone and thread of sinew, and
scissors of flint, she fashions the
clothes of her family; and though there
is no sign over the door. she becomes
the first tailor and dressmaker. She
fashions the moccasins OF her lord, and
is the worlds first shoemaker"
Tomorrow-The Cost of Living.