Evening star., 1927-10-30
A VERSATILE FUR-BEARER
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

1t is of tradition that certain kinds
of liquor concocted for human con-
sumption are Of a potency such that
one drink will make a rabbit fight
bulldog. But who would believe that
the rabbit, the most timid Of animals,
could disguise himself as a leopard or
a lion and make his disguise SO con,
vincing that 1t would fool anybody?
No one would believe that, Of course.
A rabbit has not the size, or the
strength or the disposition to mas
Querade as q man-killer, and the best
it's vocal equipment can do Is to man.
age squeak instead Of snarl or a
roar. Nevertheless, the skin of
rabbit can be so disguised by man that
it will pass for that of a leopard, a
lion or any one of long list of other
animals, many of which would make
an appetizer out of rabbit and then
look about for real food.
This Is on the authority Of the divi-
sion of fur resources of the Biological
Survey of the Department of Agricul-
ture, which says that rabbit fur is
used more extensively by the fur
trade than any other kind and then
enumerates some so kinds of fur for
which rabbit fur may be used as
substitute or imitation. In short, when
milady struts in her leopard skin. seal.
sable, beaver, fox, moleskin, ermine
or chinchilla coat-or what appears
to be any Of those kinds Of coats
she may in fact be just like Baby
Bunting. whose Daddy went a.hunting
Tor TO get a rabbit skin to wrap his
Baby Bunting in.
And poor Bre'r Rabbit never gets
any credit, for never coat is sold
labeled as rabbit fur. For some reason
the fur trade and the fashionable
world have decreed that rabbit fur is
not to be known under its own name.
When he's alive he's just a rabbit
one OF Gods most inoffensiye crea.
lures, or a pest or treasure, all de.
pending upon how you find him or
look upon him. But when he's dead
ne or his pelt may be an Arctic or
Australian seal: a Baltic black fox.
brown fox, leopard, lion, red fox, seal,
tiger or white fox: a bay seal, beaver.
cite. Belgian beaver, black hair, blue
beaVerette, castorette, chapchilla, chin.
chillette, coast seal, cony, cony leopard
or cony mole: an electric beaver, mole
or seal; ermline, erminette, fox hair,
imitation ermine or mendoza beaver:
French beaver. chinchilla, cony, leop-
ard. sable or seal: meskin beaver. mo-
lin or seal; minkony. molin, moline.
muskratine, near seal, northern seal.
nutriette, Polar seal, Red River seal.
Roman seal, Russian leopard, sable
hair. sealette. sealine, squirrelette,
squirreline or visionette, or anything
else that the ingenious and imagina-
tive men in the fur business can hit
upon to initiate or use as q trade
name.
Great Quantities Used Annually.
Vast quantities OF rabbit fur are
used In the United States every year
more than 100.000,000 skins, accord.
ing to the statistics Of the Depart.
ment Of Agriculture. OF that number,
about 55,000,000 skins. dressed and
dyed, are made into fur garments and
into trimmings for women's coats,
suits and dresses. The remainder, or
skins not suitable for garments, are
used as Innings for mems and boys
gloves and in the manufacture OF felt,
used chiefly for making hats. In sepa-
rating the fur for felting purposes,
it Is explained. the skins are cut into
fine shreds, but these are utilized in
the manufacture Of glue.
"About SO per cent of this enormous
quantity of rabbit skins, valued at
approximately $4,000 900, is imported
from Australia, New Zealand, Belgium.
France and other foreign countries"
says the governmental authority.
THE United States at present pro-
duces less than per cent Of the num-
ber required to meet the demands OF
the American trade.
THE quantity of rabbit skins used
annually is steadily increasing. Many
wild fur-bearing animals are disap-
pearing from various parts OF the
United States. and rabbit fur Is being
substituted in the manufacture of gar
ments previously made from more
desirable skins. Rabbit fur lends it.
self readily to imitation processes, and
American fur dressers and dyers have
| mastered so well the art of initiating
other furs by modern methods of
plucking, sfearing and dyeing that
the pelt of the rabbit Is being offered
| for sale under variety Of trade
| names, and, in many instances, Is re.
placing such costly and attractive
skins as ermine. seal, beaver and
| leopard"
Pelts Of the wild cottontail rabbits
| found in abundance in the United
| States, and of the wild hares common
| ly known as jack rabbits. are thin and
poor In quality and of practically no
| use to the furrier, says the depart
ment announcement. Every domestic
| rabbit skin. however, with the excep-
ton of those from the Angora, has
commercial fur value. regardless OF