New Britain herald., 1929-03-01
UNITED STATES IS
 GREAT FUR MARKET
More Than t00,M0,000 Foreign
 Animal PeltS Imported

,oar ,nr huvers to search the fur -oa7kets of the world to meet the demand for fur garments. a4lhoush the United States IS the world greatest fur producer, says a oul- letin from Washington. D, C. head quarters Of the National 0so- graphic society.
 Stand for half an hour or busy corner of the shopping district ot an American city. and literally watch tba animals 20 by--animals that ,oan drearv Arcuc wastes, African 1,ngles, and all the wild places De- tween. Then, picture the trappers' md your imagination conJdre pro n-ssional of Eskimo, sWarthy ->9'- a-ic. bronze African and tahadla' Il sdvan+urer. The romance ot lurs -S ons of the most thrilling chapters Ill all the annals of trade.
 Foreign Pelts Imported
 "Hild squirrels and rabbits CaNorl bout all the forests Of me Ill. 1u States: muskrats intest the marshes o- every state except Florda; TOT soma reason the raccoOn avoids ohI! Montana; martens, ninks, IoAes' onossums and skuuks range over d vide area of this country Yet more than 100. GOO. .oe0 peIts are lmporle0 annually to trim women's dresses line mems gloves and make 1uf coats for both sexes.
 "China is Americas largest source of furs. but only in Jhe suppy o, log and goat pelts does China eXcei other foreign countries. koraNul comes from the herds Of karakul lambs in India and Central Asia most Of our foreign mink pelts are rom the traps of the Japanese IAe r-nita5 Kingdom leads the list or sources Of squirrel, fox and mole belts: Germany supplies most O. our foreign marten belts; Peru Ci'I'e and Bolivia. chinchilla belts; Slber'a' srr,ine belts: Australia, rabbit peiIs' and for our additional supply or beayer and muskrat pelts, We LOOK to Canada.
 Bunny's Felt Takes Leopard spots
 "Early fur vearers wore onlS ,ar,1ine furs. Only the traQper anu Inc wealthy could afford fur gar ments. Then the demand for cheap turs developed. Like actors lA commercial drama, dressers ot cheap furs appeared in the fur world EA- nerts discovered that pelts of rap- bits, dog, alley cats, goats poHleS and many other animals could De made into exquisite pelts hy the dsf' bands of trained fur workers. A Hs- +ralia had been offering a bounty Tor killing rabbits which had oVeF- nm the continent, but the new UT trade turned a liability into an as- set. --
 More than hundred million rnaanar furs are used annually With q little dye and expert work nanship. bunny pelts are made 'o initiate those of the arlstocrats oL the fur-bearing animal world, hao- ',i+ furs dyed seal are known as Arctic seal. bay seal and northern seal. sealette and sealine. Dyed to initiate fox. they grace the conner of the fur store as Baltic brown, red and black fox, or fox hair. 4 ieopard may not be able 10 change its spots but leopard spots dyed on rabo'' belts make Baltic, French and hus- sian leopard. These are but a few of more than 50 aliases by Wnich rabbit belts are known. when they
 rs Curriers'
 E,,rs Vie With Gold in Exploration
 fertilization is invading the do- main of the fur bearing anImals IT the United States, yet from Sao,' 100000 to s75.0Go.0g0 worth or tIrs were taken iu 1927. The grea'es' wild fur prorucing area in the WorIe lies within e 60Q-mlle radius oi Sl Louis. In an attempt to increase tht supply Of genuine turs. fur farms ol ranches have been established ID tht United States. ApproXimately 99 pel cent of the silver fox pelts sold or American markets are ranch pred Prince Edward Island, north O Nova Scotia. where fox rachIng be- gan about g years ago is literally covered with fox ranches. skunk o1uskrat and rabbit ranches haVi also been established.
 "Furs have played an importan part in exploration. Explorers otteI find the cabins Of fur trappeF' marking the farthest outposts O civilization. St. Louis owes it's found ing to the early French fur trader! vho established a station on the slt' in l764. Trappers and traders iron the St. Louis station and those iron Canadian stations opened up a Iarg' mart of nor hern and western Lnltet states. Long before the forty-nlners crossed the plains the FrenchineI reached what is now the state c Utah where they learned that Cana dian fur traders had already been II that region.
 "Russian trappers crossed th' bleak expanse Of Siberia to Kan chatka in quest of furs and theE nushed or to Alaska. Furs and golt have vied in opening up seward Folly Or the Seven Million Dollai Ice Box as Alaska formerly va called. But gold booms have com' and gone. Fur trapping and tradlni have continued and today two htti' islands Of the Pribllof group In tn l,ering Sea send sSQQ.gG0 worth 0 seal and blue fox turs to the St ,ouis fur market annually. Blur foxes are also successfully ranche( on many 0, the Alueutian Islands.