Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-04-29
The HQSkin Letter o. r.. : !
FIRST IN FURS.

New York, April 26.-The beaver on
the shield Of the City Of New York,
| which at times has appeared q trifle
meaningless, has lately become as ap-
propriate as it was in the old days
when the shrewd traders Of Nieuw
| Amsterdam placed 1t there. For New
| York now claims to be the center OF
| the worlds fur industry.
Before the war, Leipsic enjoyed this
prestige, the German city holding Writ
ually a monopoly on the dyeing and
dressing of all expensive skins. But
this year, with some Of Europe's clever
est f~urriers transferred to New York
shops and certain secret processes evil
IDENTIFY transferred with them, American
furs are rivalling and even surprising
the fine peltries exhibited in the Leip-
| sic market.
Yet this lead is not likely to be main
tanned without a struggle. The repu-
tation of the German furriers, whose
skill has been famous for centuries,
presents a formidable obstacle. Stiff
| competition is expected not only in
the manufacture and sale Of the fin
ished skins, but in the control Of the
raw fur market.
Ever since the war. the American
fur trade has unquestionably held the
advantage in producing raw furs, but
the recent re-entry of Russia into the
worlds fur business has caused a good
deal of uneasiness in New York fur
circles. The first blow fell last fall
when the Soviet government shipped
auction, to pay for German locomotives
and farm equipment. It fell with all
the greater emphasis because most Of
the furs were the confiscated property
of private firms and individuals, in
GLIDING several Americans. Some of
them had come from the palaces of
former Russian mobiles, while others
had been removed from the packs of
small fur traders and the large com
mercial warehouses. Among them
were about four millions dollars worth
of skins belonging to a single American
firm. They had been gathered in with
fine impartiality by the Soviet govern
ment in its process of n~ationalizing all
resources.
81 suppose they demanded even the
fur capes and neckpieces from the
women of the Streets" remarked a
New York fur man recently, in explain
ing how his firm had failed to get It's
furs out of Russia. But, I'll say this
for them-they're always very polite.
1ufy sCut Ola OF 10 iubltdbiOho " At"O
over to Leipsic and bid on the goods,
even if they did happen to be our own.
Perhaps they thought we might cher
ish a sentimental attachment for some
of the furs. and they weren't going to
be so mean as to stand In the way of
our buying them back. il we wanted to.
Selling $50, ooo, 900 Of Furs
THE sale last fall was the first.
Since then, there have been several.
Gradually. the Bolsheviki are getting
rid of about $50,OOO.O0O worth of furs.
These represent old stock which has
been held since the revolution and do
not include new skins brought In by
the Russian trappers. We've got just
as good a chance to buy the new furs
as the Germans. Our fur scouts are
over there now-in Kamchatka and ST.
village fairs of Mongolia, Manchuria
and Persia. These Leipsic boys won't
have any cinch, believe me, even II
they are so friendly with the bolshe-
wiki. Besides, we have the great fur
resources of Canada and Alaska to
draw from, on the continent here at
home.
1.-THE fur trade today he continued
with enthusiasm, "is about as exciting
sport as it was in the old days when
the Hudson Bay Company was busy
forcing it's way through. the American
wilderness. The only difference is that
now the company's scouts are charg-
ing across the Boring sea and invading
the wilderness of another continent.
There's just as much risk and thrill
as there ever was-piracy on the high
seas, poaching in the seal rookeries,
Indians robbing caches and traders
starving, trappers freezing to death on
q lost trail, and others growing moder-
ately rich over night from the pelt Of
some wonderful silver fox
Trapper Gets $4,000
Last summer, the fur dealer related,
a friend of his. a young tenderfoot of
eighteen or nineteen, went to the Tan
ana valley in Alaska. to try to find a
gold mine. He had studied geology
in high school, and he believed he knew
how to hunt one. But he was unsuc-
~cessful. Finally he rave up the at
in the wilderness. He lust wanted
to see the country he told his disap-
proving friends, who tried their best to
argue him out of the idea. That was
in the fall. and they did not see him
again until February. But when he
appeared he caused the sensation Of
the year by bringing % pelts of silver
black foxes with him. He made $1O,-
600 on that one trapping expedition.
Yes" unused the fur dealer sadly,
"if I were only a young man, you
wouldn't find me here in New York. I
would be up in the north country max
ing a new fortune. Furs have never
been anywhere nearly worth what they
are today-why, o My q fair silver fox
pelt will bring from $3.50 to $500 on
the edge Of the trapping country-and
the demand is simply immense. There
has never been anything like it before.
Years ago, the Hudson's Bay Com
pany thought it was doing a fine bust
ness if it made 100000 in a year.
Today. wen a little fox ranch on Prince
Edward Island will sell for 100000.
In the heighth of the boom. $4,000
600 worth of pelts were sold in 10 days
at the st. Louis auction, and millions