The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1919-11-01
LEATHER FROM
SKINS OF FISH
New Industry Is Established
Through Work Of Experts.
SHOULD Be NO SHORTAGE
Bureau Of Fisheries Makes Nets to
Catch Sharks and Other Fishes, and
Their Hides Have Been Tanned
Fishing Stations Established as
Well as Exhibits Of Shoes, Travel
ing Bags and Suit Cases.

At this time when there is increas-
Ing popular concern about the high
and prospectively higher price of
shoes, is pertinent to direct atten-
ton to the fact that there should be
no actual shortage. of leather. While
the war has interrupted and increased
the cost of transportation of hides
from South America, thereby enhanc-
Ing the value of one kind Of leather,
it has been responsible for the crea-
ton of another kind of leather, leather
from shark and other fish skins.
Through the efforts of experts under
the direction of the United States bu-
reau Of fisheries an important and en-
tlrely new industry has been estab-
lished.
Experiments Succeed.
Experiments having been made to
determine whether serviceable leather
could be made from the skins of fish,
Lewis Radcliffe of the fishing indus
tries division Of the bureau applied
himself to the task Of overcoming the
difficulties encountered. Unsatisfac-
tory attempts had been made at tan
ming, so scientific methods had to be
brought to bear on the problem. An
effective process Of tanning was dis
covered and the next step was to Sc
cure supply Of skins and put it in
operation. A special net was devised
by the bureau, 600 yards long, 10 feet
deep, 4-inch mesh. The top and bot
tim are lined with half-inch No. l8
thread rope, weighted with suitable
leads below, buoyed by corks above.
With one Of these nets 1000 big sharks
were caught in ten days.
Fishing stations were established at
Moorehead City, N. c., Fort Myers,
Fla, and Edmunds, Puget sound. A
New York company has a tannery in
Newark, while the bureau of fisheries
has a wonderful exhibition of fish
leather in one Of the rooms Of its
Washington building. There are to
be seen tables Of shoes, black and tan
colored travelling bags, suit cases, mu-
sic rolls, card cases, pocketbooks and
novelties of various shades, plain, en-
bossed and grained, that are a delight
to the eye and without offense to the
! nose, although every one Of them is
made from a fish skin. Near by are
sheets of leather, soft and beautifully
tanned, that once had covered that
useless fish, the shark, or a porpoise
or devilfish.
Superior Grade Of Leather.
None but an expert would say they
were not samples Of superior grades
Of leather made from the hides of ami
! mails such as are commonly used in
| the trade. One likes to feel them and
wonders at their pliability and their
varied shades-gun metal, tan, terra
Gotta, red, blue, gray and brown, to
those that seem like watered silk. The
! finish is superb.
Uses for all parts Of the shark have
developed. The hides are made into
leather, liver oil is obtained and sells
at the plant, unredned, for 80 cents
to $1.1O a gallon, and the flesh and
waste is turned into fish scrap to be
used in fertilizer. Fish meat, valu-
able animal food, also is by-product.
Shark meat for human consumption
is sold and demand for it is increas-
ing. Large quantities are reported in
storage in northern cities, especially
In New York and New England, where
Its popularity is most marked.