Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-17
BY RENE BACHE

Such effects are particularly noticeable
in bookbindlngs, especially sheep and calf,
which soon go to pieces. The leather bind
ings of today, as many an observer will tes-
tify do not last like those of thirty or forty
years ago. OF course, the object of the
bleaching process is to improve the color of
the leather, which, as 1t comes from the tan
yard, is more or less likely to be dark and
spotty BY bleaching it is made to assume
a uniform light hue. attractive to the eye.
Polishing Off Its Quality
THE shoe manufacturer, after he gets his
leather. too often puts 1t on an emery
wheel and scratches off all the grain; that is
to say. the outside surface. This is very
bad; for when the grain IS gone the leather
is all but worthless. The idea in view, of
course, is to make the shoes look pretty
the American habit being to buy pretty
things, regardless of quality.
In order to realize what happens as the re-
suit of this polishing process, one should
understand that the hide of an animal, like
the skin of human being, consists of o.
a surface skin or epiderInis, GU the under
lying derma or true skin, and beneath the
latter ca the corium, which consists
mainly of loose bundles of fiber. The cpl
dcrmis is removed in the process of tanning,
so that the surface of the leather IS repre-
posed OF closely compacted cells, IS hard
and Water-resistant 1t is this cellular
structure that gives to leather, of whatever
kind, its characteristic grain. To grind 1T
off is to destroy the wearing quality of the
material
If the shoes look pretty, however, they
will sell; and the manufacturer blackens the
soles so that the ultimate consumer cannot
see whether they are made of leather or pa
per- As a matter of fact, however, the paper
used in shoes of cheap grades goes into the
inner soles and counters; that is to say, the
parts that are least exposed to wear. For
this purpose leather scraps are commonly
ground and mixed with paper pulp, to be
nodded into the requisite shapes. Some
times the mixture is treated with oil, rubber
and glvcerin, the last named ingredient
serving to soften it. while the rubber and oil
render it waterproof.
Room for an Experiment
THE principal reason why leather is going
steadily higher IS that fewer of the ami
mails that furnish this necessity of clvlliza-
ton are being raised relatively to increased
population. A fortune well up into the mil
lions awaits the man who will find an
available and satisfactory substitute. Ex-
periments with this object in view are con-
stantly being made; but as yet with small
success-al although for certain uses, such
as making valises, leather-like fabrics are
produced by applying sulphureted linseed
or other oils, sometimes mixed with a solu
ton of rubber, to canvas or strong cotton
cloth Such material is waterproof and
wears fairly we'll.
The Bureau of Chemistry has no notion
of trying to prevent authorizations or sophis-
tications of leather, being powcrless to inter
fere with them for lack of any law bearing
upon the matter. But it does want to
teach the uselessness and harmfuness of
such processes as those here described. In
cidentally, through its Investigations, it is
endeavoring to acquire knowledge that will
lead to better understanding of the funda
mental principles of leather making. 1t
hopes to find out how to get greater per-
centage of tannin from tanbark, and to as
certain with more defniteness the character
of the work done by bacteria of different
species in the production of leather.
Such problems, it is true, have already
been worked out by leather makers a
rule of thumb basis to a wonderful extent
Take the matter of bacteria, for example
Manufacturers of leather made practical
use of these microbes long before anybody
knew they existed. Some species of them
attack and destroy hides; therefore it is
found expedient to use other species to fight
4 IN, 2f linn IN