El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-02
THE LEATHER INDUSTY
ANNUAL OUTPUT WORTH QUARTER BILLION DOLLARS

y NO OTHER industry has shown
M greater strides or growth dur
- ing the past so years than that
OF leather making. The demands of the
individual for leather products not only
have multiplied MANIFOLD, but the list
of leather users is being extended with
each passing year.
Leather follows civilization, and hun
dreds of thousands of barbarians are
being converted to>its use each year. The
result is a scarcity of leather producing
animals. They have not multiplied as
rapidly as the demand for their hides,
and the tanner is forced TO ransack the
world for animals that hitherto were ex-
empt. Not even the fishes of the sea nor
the serpents of the forest have escaped
the tanners search. The porpoise and
the small whale are in favor, and the
boa constructor, the rattlesnake, the
cobra and the viper have not been dan
gerouS enough to scare the skin hunter
away.
States Lead World.
The automobile industry affords one
Illustration of the increasing demand for
leather and its products. Ten years ago
there were about 1000 automobiles in use
in the United States; now there are
nearly 100000. Each Of these machines
has required leather in its construction,
and requires even more in the aces
series.
The sartorial art journals declare that
autcmobiling has brought into vogue the
leather vest, which is going to be the
fashion during the coming season
The United States leads the world in
the production of leather. its 500 tan
neries producing One-fourth of the
worlds supply. Every year nearly 200,-
100000 hides and skins pass through
these 600 tanneries, and when finished
into leather they are worth a quarter
billion dollars.
II requires 1880 cords of tan bark
and $4,000 barrels of extract to meet
the demands of the American tanner in
the conversion Of these hides and skins
into leather. Two-thirds of the tanbark
used is from the hemlock tree, which
shows that the forests are levied upon
heavily. The quebracho tree yields a
valuable tanning extract, and the Amer
lean tanner already is established in
the South American woods gathering
this staple.
Saddle of Human Skin.
Philadelphia IS the hub of the leather
world The goat skins used there each
year would suffice TO cover a process
sion Of goats reaching from the most
northerly point of Alaska to the most
southerly point Of Patagonia. Other
kinds Of hides and skins may become
scarce or rare, but the goat is always
ready with a supply equal to the demand.
The Kid shoes men wear are usually
made from goat skins.
A man in Philadelphia owns a saddle
that was made from the skin of a human
being 1t is presumed that he got this
skin from some medical school He en-
ployed one of the best Saddlers in Phila-
delphia to do the work When the Job
was nearing completion the saddle
maker asked what kind of leather il
vast had such fine grain and such
a smooth feel" When he learned that
1t was human skin he threw up the job
Later another man was employed to fin
ish the saddle, but the employer was
careful not TO let him know what it
was made Of.
Many medical students have little trim
kets OF leather made from human skin
but this Philadelphia saddle is said to
be the only one Of its kind in the
world.
Alligator Center
Newark, N J., stands at the forefront
as an alligator leather center. Over ESQ.,
GOO alligators annually surrender their
lives to the needs of the Newark tan
neries and factories. The aurians have
a fashion of sleeping with their heads
slightly above the water and in the
darkness Of a moonleSs night their eyes
form phosphorescent lights which afford
splendid target for the hunter. AT one
time only the belly side of the alligator
skin could be used But the tanner has
learned how to get the hard scales off
the back, with the result that the most
valuable part of the tanned skin is
that which formerly was rejected
The snake skin hunter exercises much
ingenuity. He takes a forked stick and
pinions the snakes head to the ground
Then he puts a pinch Of snuff into the
reptiles mouth, and the nicotine pro-
duces instant death by paralysis, thus
saving the skin intact.
Mineral for Tanning.
The invention OF the chrome process
of leather making will be the means Of
saving millions of trees to the forests.
Instead of vegetable tanning extracts,