Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-14
THE LADIES LIFT BUNNY'S
HIDE,
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN.
Especial Correspondence Of the Argus

Washington, D. c., Oct. 1.-THE old nur-
sery rhyme about getting rabbit skin to
wrap your baby bunting in has ceased to be
fiction. Thousands OF grown-up babies are
trotting around this fall wrapped in rabbit
skins, and thousands of American husbands
are hunting for money enough to pay the re-
sultant bills. For a rabbit skin coat, travelling
under some aliases. such as "seal1ne," near
seal coney, now costs anywhere from $65 to
$3.50.
This rage for rabbit fur has grown up en-
tirely since the beginning of the war. and has
apparently not yet reached its height 1t is the
latest development in long process by which
the majority of til fair ones have come down
from wearing seal and ermine and mink and
fox. they did a generation ago. to the con-
dition Of being glad if they can get house cat.
skunk, muskrat rabbit furs without bank
rupting their husbands.
Even the humble skunk and the muskrat
are fast becoming scarce under the pressure
of a fashionable demand which makes IT nee
essary for every woman to wear furs, not only
in the winter, but even IN midsummer. when
the fad costs a good deal in perspiration as
we'll as money.
This rise OF the humble bunny to place OF
honor about miladys neck and shoulders is the
unreasonable rage for furs 1t has depleted
the worlds supply OF nearly every other fur
bearing animal. because most Of these animals
are wild ones. and the high prices offered for
their pelts has been an inducement to hunt
them 70 extinction. True. some progress has
been made In DEMONSTRATING several species.
There is a small industry in fox farming,
skunks are raised in considerable numbers,
and few mink produced in captivity One
man in Ohio has made a success in raising
bears a farm. But the wild fur-bearers
must still be relied upon for most of the sup
ply, and all Of them are steadily becoming
scarcer.
The fur bearing rabbit stands on ar entire
ly different footing. He is essentially domes-
tic animal and has been for hundreds il not
thousands of years Hence the sudden demand
for his pelt has increased his numbers insteafs
Of decreasing them. A whole new industry OF
rabbit farming has grown up in this country
in the last four years. 1t has reached its
greatest dimensions IN certain states where
there is a ready market for rabbit meat as we'll
for the fur. Ohio, Michigan and California
are especially good rabbit states. A rabbit
show will be held in every county in Michigan
this year great show was recently held in
Cleveland, which is a great rabbit center.
Dallas. Texas: is getting ready to hold rabbit
show advertised as the greatest ever held any
where. One expert rabbits is scheduled to
act as Judge at % important shows this year.
Five years ago not half dozen rabbit shows
we're held annually in the whole United States.
The number of rabbits in the country has null
tiplied many-fold-nobody knows how many.
We even have rabbit kings and rabbit pIu-
tocrats now. For example, shortly before the
certain man OF Belgian birth in New
York observed with interest the growth OF a
demand for tanned rabbit skins. 1t was want
ed at that time chiefly for trimmings. but this
saw that the demand would grow because
other furs were becoming more and more hard
to get Furthermore, this man knew all about
the preparation OF rabbit skins. His father
bad made a business OF tanning and dyeing
them in Belgium, where they have been used
TO some extent for a long time He therefore
knew the value OF rabbit skin and how to
treat it. He hired a barn in New Jersey ad-
vertised for rabbit skins and went to work. In
b. T. lrrarf s-T- Fr,
ten million rabbit skins this year
Rabbit fur is not high quality fur. When
properly clipped and died it is often very
pretty, and some very attractive effects NAV
be obtained by combining different colors-for
example, a coat made OF rabbit fur dyed black
and trimmed with the fur of the blue rabbit in
its natural color. Most rabbit fur is clipped
and dyed to resemble SEAL and sold as "sealine"
or near seal There is a white variety which
is used imitation OF ermine. But none of
the rabbit furs have any great durability.
real seal skin coat will last almost a lifetime
A good coat Of muskrat-which makes the best
imitation OF seal-will last about half as long
as seal rabbit skin coat cannot be relied
upon to last more than one or two seasons.
Furthermore, rabbit fur lies down" that if
it is rumpled, or rubbed the wrong way its
beauty is married The furs of both seal and
muskrat stand straight up. so that you rub
them either way without affecting their APP
pearance.
The rabbit skin is at best pretty weak ma
terial. The skins of the various American
rabbits are altogether too tender for use as
fur It is only the European rabbit which is
used for this purpose It's hide is about as
good as sheepskin. but not nearly as tough as
the hides Of most fur-bearing animals.
Despite these drawbacks. the advent of rab-
bit fur is decidedly good thing It has found
ed new industry in this country in which
almost anyone may engage with very little
capital And the inevitable by-product OF rab-
bit fur is rabbit meat, which is nourishing and
delicate. In many states there is already a.
permanent and dependable market for it
notably in California. where rabbit is listed in
the market quotations every day.