The San Francisco call., 1910-12-08
WISE WOMEN ARE
w BUYING EARLY
World Wide Advance in
Value of Furs Due to
Dearth of PeltS

'If We have furs TO buy, prepare to
Tbuy them now or else expect to pay
more than YOU had planned. This is
no idle whim Of the furrier in your
particular bailiwick, it is part OF a
worldwide advance in the price Of a
lcommodity-just as though steel had
gone up a few points.
Furs have doubled and in some in
distances trebled in cost in the last two
years. and the end is not yet 1t is
tprophesied by men prominent in the
fur trade that II viii not be many years
rbefore furs viii be worn only by those
who have diamond tiaras, racing aero
planes and radium mines
Just now there is a craze among
women for clothing made of the soft
E5nd shining skins Of different animals.
THE warmth and comfort Of the hides
sand pelts Of certain exquisite little
creatures OF the woods or frozen
wastes appeal to feminine natures, and
women feel that they are at their best
aAvhen their beauty is enhanced by furs-
and this is a 'fur year"
Women who have never had furs be-
fore are reveIing IN them now. and
the shop keepers say that the demand
IS unprecedented. Perhaps It is as
well. for next year the prices will be
so much higher that many who fail
no buy now will not be able to do so
WIN AnSuAltQ EOllhCAEtLCCc uCAL SCdcOll
Fur bearing animals are becoming
Scarce, according to information
CLEANED yesterday. principally through
Arthur Samuels of the D. Samuels Lace
House. representing the Revillon fur
company, and Benjamin Liebes of H.
Liebes & Co
Fur wearing IS a relic Of our primi-
tive ancestry, and when there were vast
.snanless tracts. where animals roamed
F-freely, &c was quite easy for a coat or
sentire costume to be secured at small
sexpense. but civilization has decreased
the unoccupied sections Of the earth S
bsurface. and the wild creatures re-
fuse TO dwell and multiply like so
b1nuch Of humanity IN tenement house
hdistricts.
In the PribIlof islands the seals have
Edecreased until the government has
kcanceled the lease Of the rookeries and
the seals viii be left unmolested until
kEhey have repopulated them.
-Four or five years ago there were
hanore than 100000 seals on these
tdslands. It is said, and now there are
krot more than 10000. In former times
tfrom $4,000 TO 100000 Of the fur bear
s1ng pups" as they are called when 4
or years old, were killed each year.
Hast year only 1920 Of these wonder
kful Pribilof seals were brought in.
land these must supply all the women
t-yho want the best sealslkfn coats. AS
s-each takes eight or nine skins, IL is
Eeasy TO see why sealskfn coats are
FbecOming more costly.
From the Lobos islands IN the South
sAtlantic $4,000 or $4,000 seals came last
tryear but the quality Of the South At
Flantic skins is poorer.
From Cape Horn came about 80, 600
.yslzins. also Of poorer quality, and the
"copper" or Comanche islands. on the
z siberian coast near Vladivostok netted
a = he ~
tseveral years few sealskins came
from the Shetland islands.
Mink ermine, chinchilla and baby
T1amb are much in demand and all in
Screasing In price with a rapidity that
is heart sickening. Even skunk fur
has gone up in price
There are slunks and skUnks in the
tfur trade. and one skunk differeth from
, another in value Northern New York
fhas the distinction Of producing the
best, although Pennsylvania is well up
In second place.
The great raw fur markets OF the
world are London and Leipzig, where
The prices are set In January the
wholesale fur merchants announce the
prices. and by March the fat as TO what
fuvs are TO cost has reached all the
cities OF the world
L. A. Dalton, head OF the fur depart
ment OF D. Samuels' Lace House, said
yesterday
It is true that all furs have in
creased from 20 to so per cent or
even more ia cost within the last
year and it seems q certainty that
the prices viii go higher. This is
not the result of any action on the
part OF fur sellers 1t is simply
beca use furs are becoming scarcer
As the outposts OF civilization
are moving on they are driving the
fur bearing animals into smaller
spaces, which means that they are
disappearing. The lynx, for in
stance, is nearly extinct. Ten or
fifteen years ago there were so
many fur bearing animals in
Alaska that every trapper could
make a great deal. Now they are
like the Indians or the buffaloes-
fast disappearing.
1t viii be but a brief time until
furs become articles for the very
rich only. Women are making the
most OF their opportunities now
and are buying furs in greater
quantities than ever before, and
y they are wise