Evening journal., 1921-02-01
BUSINESS men
ARE OPTOMISTIC
tcontinued DOOM page tenl

/
when the business is on the decline
it behooyes US TO hustle the hardest
for the money the people have to
spenG. There is no surer way Of
getting it than by advertising in the
daily press
Besides the cooperation OF the
press WE also need the aid Of the
manufacturer and the banker
Leather Manufacturers Optimistic.
j. Writ Willis, yice-president and
general manager of the New Castle
! Leather Company, was introduced as
| The second speaker. Mr.. Wills IN
j his Introductory remarks said mat ne
was not among strangers when win
| furniture dealers, as at one time ne
had been employed as a salesman III
a furniture store. Instead OF TALKING
furniture, however, Mr.. Wills dis
cussed the leather industry.
He said. Mr. Miller has asked me
TO address a few remarks TO you anu
| shall try to make them as Drlei ds
possible. am reminded OF ule H,u ,ha
lady who was asked why she reau sile
dictionary SO much and replied that
il was full of good stories. interest,"
ing. but awfully short.
Il am going TO speak to you To-Day
as a tanner. Wilmington, you KNOW
h noted for its manufacture Of glazed
kid. There are at the present time
about thirteen plants turning out this
product; most OF them are very large,
and at least two Of them are We'll
known throughout the world for the
Il quality OF their output.
Tanning is one Of the most honor-
a.. la Of oil la
dustries. As far back as the days IN
the Garden Of Eden, when the ilrst
flg leaves began to wither and iade
away. Adam made a covering for NM
self ont of the skins OF animals, ana
from that day TO this the preparing
of skins has continued and Improved.
"There has always been leather.
Ever since the history OF mankind. we
read that leather has been fOund IN
the pyramids OF Egypt ana encloseu
with the bodies OF the ancient mum
mics. l have never seen any OF Inls
/, age-Old material but judging from
! What we have read OF it, it must have
in a way rcsembled the product OF
modern times. 1t was made from
goatskin. We know that by the for
. lmation Of its cells, the hair had been
removed by some process and the
skins were thoroughly tanned, other-,
wise they could not nave lasted
through the many centuries that tney
have. This ancient leather had also
been dyed red and blue and had been
shaved down so that the pieces found
were all OF the same thickness
throughout.
Z Leather is a by-product. In our
country the meat animals are beeNes,
sheep and hogs, the hides from the
; larger cattle go into belting' sole
q leather, harness and other products or
a similar nature. Sheepskins DeIng
soft and stretchy are not suitable for
= shoes. although they are used in Inc
manufacture OF slippers, but sheep
: skin is very largely used in the manu-
J facture OF books. Calfskins made an
ideal shoe. especially for men, but the
WOmen's shoes are made almost eX-
: clusively from goatskins. Goats meat
4 is eaten in most or the countries oil
. Asia. Africa, South America and
r Southern Europe, and in past years
glazed kid was manufactured to
r large extent in France and Germany
i and imported to this country. 1t Is
d | within the memory OF the present gen
Grafton when American tanners be
:. gan to perfect glazed kid to such 81
! extent. that it not only was sufficient
y TO supply all home demands. but Il
was soon exported TO foreign c0un-
- tries and for the ten years priOr to iht
j. opening OF the World War. American
$ leather or American-made shoes were
. known in every corner Of the civilized
world.
n ''Prior to 1911 the average importa
q tion Of raw gOatskins into the UnitaC
]. states was about 5OOOOOOO skins pei
year and represented % per cent. O.
the raw stock tanned in American es
y Establishments. There are only three
q sections in the country where goat
skins are tanned to any large extent
= Philadelphia, Camden and Whining
7 ton. OF course, there are some tan
u neries in other portions OF the coun
d try. but the great bulk OF the business
is carried on in the three cities jus
r named.
Il brought into this country, fully a.
per cent OF them come from India
:, with about 20 per cent. from China
: In former years the cost OF this raw
!. material at points OF origin were com
I paratiyely light, that is. speaking il
- round numbers; a good class Of goat
C skins could be bought at about s6 pc
! dozen. with a manufacturing cost her
y OF $3.50 TO 50 per dozen. Shortly ate
A. the outbreak Of the war, prices o
-- goatskins, like every other cOmmOd
r ity. began to rise with incredibl
N swiftness until the early part of i9i!
y when the price rose in some cases 4
as high as $50 per dozen. The manu-
featuring cost increased to betwec
A Sc and 81. This manufacturing cost
e. made up OF about 30 per cent labor
e p per cent. material and % per cen
e. overhead charges. or course, thes
high prices Of raw stock meant
: higher cost for the finished leather
= and ultimately a much higher cos
'. for shoes AS late as 1915, the to
p grade Of glazed kid was selling as loN
as 35c per foot. Consider, II You vii
&c this figure, in comparison with IN
a. top price paid for raw stock, which :
NJ many cases approached 81 per foo
4. In addition TO this unusually hig
$. cost we have TO consider the larg
percentage Of waste and the add 'tiOnS
!. cost Of manufacture and merchan
~ dising.
- 1T has always been a trade sloga
that there is nothing like leather an
s. that remark is as true today as eve
II, Many attempts have been made
er produce a satisfactory substitute. bl
y, none has ever been completely su,
Is. cessful We have had a product know
as leatheroid and Pantasote. whic
were used for the manufacture {
trunks and travelling cases an
proved fairly satisfactory. but the
were not a substitute for leather an
were only a good imitation. PantasO
was used 10 some extent as a furn
hre covering. hut the FabrikOid mac
on Inv the dupont Company is the neare
lanprOach to artificial leather that h;
vel been produced, and even that
so far removed from the real artic