The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1911-01-26

~ has rapidly passed away. II Is
n followed now by tho romance
Of iron and steel the romance
OF invention, OF progress, Of a civilization that
is fast crushing out the last ycetige Of the
primitive and adding each day new chapters
10 its own marvellous achievements It seems
liz" fitting lccreo Of tato that tho oldest
and most romantic Of all the Industries Of
man, with the exception " his earliest fight
FOR food should be- the last 20 die There is
something Of pathOs IN 10, especially when It
IL pointed out to ono as n was pointed out
60 me by Lord Strathcoul ana Mount Royal
head OF the great Iludfous Bay Company
who said The last chapter Ia the romance
OF fur Ia being written It hus been a Gor
ious story glorious story"
For tire" thousand years the potts Of wild
beasts have played their part in tho lives Of
men. For tie last ten centuries fur haH
played Am important part u history II has
held ont the lure Of romance Of adventure
and gold It has caused Wars ana has led
20 'hc discovery of new lands Fur hunters
have done more exploring than any other one
class ~ men. II was tho beaver that lurcl
men from the St Lawrence TO the Mississippi
aud thence 10 the Rockies opening up con.
UnoUt u wus the sable that drew the tribes.
mon Of hsiatc Russia across to far KAN
Chatkn and the sea otter that led the Span.
ish and the English All around the world in
crazy craft, and gave ug our first knowledge
OF he Pacific coast from Alaska 10 California
when. away back In 1870. "a wandering and
adventurous Frouchmau by The name of Crosse
Her fired Prince Rupcrt'5 imagination with
glowing tales of q land filled with priceless
furs. and a little company was formed with a
capital Of $4,000, he did not dream that his
wild project meant the opening up Of a coun.
try almos, aB large ns the whole Of Europe
and the beginning of an adventure which was
20 run through centuries. II was this little
rompaur Of gentleman udycnmrcrs" who
formed what be- today tho liudsun's BAY com
pauy. the greatest landed corporation on
earth something which viii remain for all
time IN history as ccuotnrh TO tho trcmen
douE part which the turrcd things Of forest
and mountain ma sea have played in the
fortunes Of men.
Last year the raw fur industry of the world
amounted to forty million dollars. Next year
II Will be atty million and the year after that
Tho figures will be larger still. Five years ago
II was less than twenty millions Yet In
spite Of these figures in the face OF the fact
that the fur-trcasure OF the world is increas.
Ing in value each year. and will continue TO
increase for perhaps another decade. the
furred things Of tho earth are fast becoming
extinct
year ago big London fur buyer. whose
business amounts to over a million dollars
annually, said TO me, within another 1--WE
years only a very few people of moderate
meana will be buying furs Only the wealthy
will be able to afford those furs which are
cheapest today, and even the muskrat. whose
pelt sold for five and six cents few years
ago will be priced as n luxury"
Ten months did much to verify this fur
dealers statements Within that time raw
pelts advanced from twenty 10 one hundred
per cent, A Montreal dealer who purchased
80 900 muskrat skins at twenty cents per skin
year before sold them In London for seven.
ty month later they had gone to eighty
Two months later they were bringing a dol.
Ear In n single season the value OF the
worlds annual production of fur ieaped from
s25, 100000 to over s4COO0OOO | had Just
come down from my last trip to the Barren
Lands. where | had spent eight weeks among
the far northern fox hunters. when word was
passed from post TO post and from trapper TO
trapper throughout hundreds OF thousands OF
square miles of Canadian wilderness that n
fur famine had struck London and Paris the
fur centcrs OF the world. and that from Winni.
peg Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal both the
Independents" and the agents OF the big
companies were making fabulous offers for
pelts
II will be interesting " note the conditions
that this famine will bring about during the
next two or three years. Millions OF women
ARE as yet unaware of what the great fur
dener have quoted above describes as tho
mine that is about TO explode under their
feet" 1t cannot be said however that they
have not had some warning. The woman who
bought a mink nun for twenty dollars FIVE
years ago pays sixty for the same grade OF
article today; she viii pay from seventy to
eighty for It this coming season. hundned
or more two years from now.
These statements nre not made at random.
but only after the closest personal investlga-